A/N: Sorry I missed an update - was a lot harder to write than I expected, and my computer has been killed by my little brother. But speaking of expectations, the votes this story has been have also exceeded them, so I'm increasing the prize to every twenty-fifth vote, starting with seventy-five. That's only six votes away, so get to work, people. The next chapters will feature a REAL showdown, a cameo, and Eragon! ;D

Picture of the Progenitor up above.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, two brothers were making their way out of the city. One turned his unnaturally brown eyes to the other and said, "I still think we should have waited for Nia."

"She's busy," Nathan argued for what had to be the thousandth time since they'd left Angela's house. "We shouldn't bother her over such a small thing as checking up on Toparien and the others."

"If it is truly such a trivial endeavor, then why not inform her?"

"Because she's training to use her seer powers so that we can get started training with the Progenitor!"

Nick continued to grumble. "The witch said that she knew the way."

Throwing his hands up in exasperation, he asked, "So what, you expect her to travel with a group of young Riders to find a secret teacher who lives in the mountains halfway across Alagaësia?"

"...yes."

"Your train of thought is impossible," Nate uttered in mock disbelief as he broke into a sprint once the gates had disappeared from sight behind them. "And despite that it all makes sense now."

Frowning, Nicholas cuffed his elder triplet on the head and ran past him to avoid any retaliation. He knew he should just accept that their sister needed to train, but there was a nagging concern for her well being that scratched at the base of his skull. He couldn't place it, couldn't understand it; all he knew was that it felt like something bad was going to happen.

Twirling the focus ring the queen of the fairies had gifted him with one their last birthday helped Nick - well, focus - on the task at hand. It had been several days since one of the Riders had last checked on the non-human members of their party, and the dragons were surely getting antsy. The two had to take care to cover their tracks after they left the main road, and so their pace slowed enough that it was he who was antsy. It didn't help that they couldn't risk altering their sklinabragh chains enough to allow them to contact their dragons.

Still, the young man managed to rein in his impatience as he followed his brother through the forest to the empty glade. Since it was enchanted to seem as such, Nicholas had little to be concerned for as he stepped past the boundary.

It was then that the concern grew into outright terror.

His wards saved him from the burning effect of the flames that soared around him, but the smoke smarted his eyes and stung his lungs until he managed to rasp out a spell to clear the air around him. Immediately turning his attention to Nathan, he saw that his triplet had done the same, and wished for a moment the third member of their trio was there: Niaomi could have drawn the energy from the flames to extinguish them with a single thought. But this was no time for I-told-you-so's.

Thinking quickly, Nick said, "We have to draw the energy from the fire!"

"How? We can't use magic!"

The reminder did not deter him as he glimpsed through the colorfully tinged fire the flash of a green scale. "Emere is here, and dragons breathe fire, not smoke!"

He dug out the silver chain from beneath his once white tunic and ripped it off. The sudden flood of consciences was staggering, and it took him a moment to orient himself as he reestablished his mental shields before he could find the words to for the spell. "Taka du eimi fra du þveit!" Nate took his advice and dealt with the fire as his own spell removed the smoke from the clearing.

Emere snicked open his inner eyelid as he coughed out the smoke from his lungs and breathed in the clean air. His throat still tingling (and not from the flames he had spewed), the green gemfire dragon raised his wing and allowed the two pegasi underneath it to emerge. The one-bound-to-his-partner whinnied and said, Bless the Horse Lords, are we glad to see you!

"What happened?" his Rider asked only after ascertaining that he was fine.

The golden snake came and entrapped us within this barrier, the firebird explained, the soot making her feathers as dark as her eyes. I did my best to stop the flames from spreading, but I could do nothing about the smoke.

Luckily, the dragons tucked all of us besides Flair underneath their wings, Dewdrop added with a wag of his tail.

Ava meowed loudly as she walked across Luminous's paw. Which wouldn't have been necessary if they hadn't lit the fires in the first place.

Emere studiously avoided Nicholas's sharp gaze as the white she-dragon toppled the werecat over with a nudge of her claw and told them, We must make with haste and find Niaomi; if the snake has us here, then the females are certainly being pursued by its mistress.

"What do you mean 'has us here'?"

We cannot leave this clearing, he told his befuddled Rider as the brother attempted to prove his point with fists. The snake has somehow turned the magic of the barrier against us. One can enter, but none can leave.

Nick frowned as his mind raced. "But Kuniva couldn't have done that, which means... "

As the realization dawned upon him, he turned to Nathan as he scrambled to remove the sklinabragh chain from his pocket. "Nate, put your chain back on, it's a - "

Turning at the frantic call, Nate gasped as he saw his brother go sailing into the far side of the barrier and slump to the ground. Emere's accompanying roar was so loud he fell to the ground holding his ears, and looked up to see Liress standing there smiling.

The air suddenly felt hot, and he turned to warn, "Wait, Emere! You can't - "

It was too late. With a mighty heave, green painted flames soared across to scorch the enchantress where she stood but were halted by the barrier, lighting up the clearing once more. The smoke quickly spread, faster than Nathan imagined was natural. He knew it was so when it passed by him and swirled around the others. The pegasi were able to beat it back with their wings for only a moment before they too succumbed to the fumes and fell unconscious.

As Toparien's mind faded from his, he felt a surge of hate rise up within him as he looked into the Black Hand's cruelly beautiful face, and the red lips sneered and parted to say, "I believe the word your brother was looking for was..."

"Trap," Nate finished with a glare. "I'm the one who ends his sentences, not you."

"And you also end mine, it would seem," she replied, beckoning the golden snake from where it had hidden in the shadows with grim delight shining from her hardened gaze. "Kuniva, come out and say hello to this handsome young man!"

As you wish, mistress. The snake was much larger than the last time he'd seen it, as large as his own dragon. Onyx eyes glimmered as Kuniva said, Greetings, Nathaniel.

"And good-bye, Kuniva. Eitha!"

While Nathan felt the energy begin to drain from him as he attempted to force the snake away, it did not move. Gritting his teeth, he altered the direction of his spell, but Liress's wards protected her. "If the introductions are over, I think it's time to we got down to business."

Ending the spell, he spat, "What do you want from me?"

"What all women want from such a handsome young man as yourself, though I do miss your natural skin tone; it adds a touch of exoticness, wouldn't you agree? Ah, but I'm getting off track." With a flick of her hand, the air rippled and the barrier was removed while she walked towards him. He began to bend down to draw his dirks but found out he could not look away from her eyes. Even as his heart rebelled, Nate felt himself falling victim once again to the enchantress's charm as she reached out to caress his cheek and finally answer his question. "What I want from you is your heart, Nate. But it seems that I already have it, don't I?"

The Black Hand's smirk grew into a grin when the Rider's gaze became adoring as he answered, "Always."

"And you would do anything for me?"

"Anything."

"Even if it means hurting - " and upon uttering this name the sneer returned - "Rosaminda?"

If there was a flicker of resistance in the depths of his brown irises, it went unnoticed. But his response, stated in a clear and loving tone, did not.

"Of course."