Ragin slowed his horse to a trot as he approached the gates of Teirm. The iron enforced oak gates had been swung open, letting hundreds of people move through the walls. Like most cities since Galbatorix's fall, it had grown substantially, and was now one of the largest and most secure cities in Alageasia. It's position as a port town and the fact it wasn't officially controlled by the empire had been a great help in its growth.

Lord Theam, the current ruler of Teirm, controlled the place both justly and with an iron fist. Being caught committing a crime often led to serious consequences. The guards and soldiers were payed well and most of them were loyal, so bribing was out of the question. Any weapons that were brought into the city were usually taken and stored away until the owner wished to leave, unless the owner was given special permission, so Ragin hadn't bothered to bring his sword or bow. He already had a small cache inside the city if he really needed a weapon.

One thing he liked about the city however was everyone within its walls was given an equal opportunity. It was seen as a place where anyone could grow, and more importantly stay, rich. With its access to the ocean it was a massive centre of trade, and most ships came through Teirm before making their way to the rest of Alageasia.

Despite the cities rigorous rules and regulations, there was still the occasional outbreak of crime. Ragin himself had been responsible for numerous robbings and assassinations within the city, and was one of the few that had managed to keep himself anonymous as he did so. It tended to be a place where a lot of important people who felt threatened gathered.

It had been a while since he had visited the city, three years almost, but this time it wasn't for a robbery. He was here for information. He passed by the guards rather easily, as they checked him for both weapons and magic. The magician that was supposed to look in his mind for malicious intentions was rather easy to trick. There was a technique one could do with the mind. Instead of guarding it, you could choose what you wanted the other person to see, and you could choose anything.

Ragin chose to pose as a traveller that was simply passing through, wanting to see the legendary Teirm. He used many of his own memories to create the illusion, considering he had already been to a lot of different places, and he could feel the magician was actually rather impressed with the extent of his travels. He didn't use this technique often, considering how difficult and how much concentration it required, especially to hold the façade for any extended period of time, but it came in useful at times like these. After a shared laugh with the magician, he was let through.

The city had a cobblestone pathway that was spread like a spider's web through the buildings and walls. The buildings were mostly a dull sun-bleached brown with flat rooves, each roof a little lower than the one before it. The make of the city made it far easier to defend from attackers that tried to do so, but it also made it a lot easier for people who wished to do wrong to get away if they knew how.

Ragin glanced at the mountain range of the spine he had left behind, where Akaysha and Uthun were eagerly awaiting his return. He had left early that morning, donning a brown and green travellers outfit. The dragoness had been rather sad, watching him go, and even now he could feel the general ache of being apart through their bond. It was so strange, not having her constantly in his mind. Their bond had been a growing comfort over the past couple of months and without having her near him he felt... empty.

But this was something he had to do. It had been a month since he and Akaysha had spotted the dragon riders flying toward their location. They had landed in Teirm, and since then spent every day searching the mountains high and low for something. Ragin a suspicion he knew exactly what. The riders' constant vigilance had left all three of them feeling anxious. The dark blue dragon hadn't even been able to fly in fear of getting caught. Eventually Ragin had had enough, he had decided to go into Teirm to figure out if there was any way to see exactly how the riders were operating, and maybe try and lead them off the scent.

Ragin figured that the dragon riders were more toward the centre of the city, probably around the main citadel, which was an incredibly difficult place to get into, even for him. He would only do that as a last resort. For now, the best way to gain information was to ask questions.

He walked over to a nearby stall set up on the corner of the street, selling some sought of red meat he didn't quite recognise. There was a bored looking, scrappy headed boy, about fifteen, at the table, not doing a very good job and selling his produce. As Ragin approached his eyes lit up and he stood a little straighter, seeming a little excited to finally have a customer.

"A good day to you sir!" he said, "Would you like to purchase some of our fine produce. It has been bought all the way from Gilmoran, some of their finest meats from animals I'm sure you have never seen before."

"So its not very fresh then," Ragin stated, coming up to the stall.

The boy almost froze at his words, internally slapping himself, "I assure you sir, it is as fine as the day it was first butchered."

The thief laughed, "Is that so? I may have to try some one day, but not today. I have something else I want."

"Oh," he sounded a little disappointed, "Well... what can I help you with."

"I'm assuming you know about the dragon riders that have recently arrived," Ragin said.

The boy nodded, "Of course, everyone does."

"Do you know what they're here for?"

The youth shrugged, "Not really. Some sought of training is what we've been told, but all they do everyday is head of in different directions. I think they're looking for something."

'Or someone,' Ragin thought to himself, before sighing. All this boy had told him was things that he already knew. He wanted more. How close were they to finding what they were after? How much did they know? What have they seen?

"So, there isn't anything else you could tell me? Any rumours? Whisperings?"

"No."

"Hmm, that's a shame," sighed the thief turning away and patting at a pouch full of gold coins attached to his waste, letting the sound jingle in the boy's ears.

He then began to walk away, trying to think about some other way of gaining the information he craved. His thoughts turned to a nearby inn when a shout from the lad behind him stopped him. He turned and raised an eyebrow.

"You manage to think of something?"

"Yes, well, not me exactly, but I do know of someone you could ask."

"Keep going."

"One of the dragons riders, a girl, doesn't go out with the others. I think she is a trainee or something. But anyway, she likes to come down to this area during the day and... I don't know, go shopping? If you have any questions you could ask her."

Ragin grinned, "What does this girl look like?

"Aah..." the boy hesitated, but when Ragin touched the pouch again he continued, "She's a red head... with a scar on her forehead, and she always carries an orange sword around."

"Thankyou very much," replied the thief, taking a gold coin from the bag and flicking it to the boy.

He caught it with glee and bowed ever so slightly, before pocketing the coin. Ragin nodded in gratitude before turning away once again and beginning to prowl through the streets, looking for anyone that matched his description. He had a sneaking suspicion that he knew exactly who he was looking for. It was a person he had not seen for months, one that had often been on his mind.

After walking around for an hour he realised he wouldn't find her if he just continued moving, so he chose a seemingly popular spot, a small bar with tables on the outside, ordered himself a breakfast of fried bacon and charred bread – a new invention that was the result of cooking bread over a fire, another name for it was toast – and sat down with the intent to wait. He was used to waiting, so he didn't mind.

The streets grew more busy as the day wore on. New travellers arrived every minute as the city seemed to almost double in size in the space of a day. It was a popular time of year, and many people liked to holiday up in the secure hold of Teirm, if only to get away from the Empire for a couple of days.

Ragin studied the crowd as they willowed by, catching minute details and judging the general trend. Most people were of the working class, or they were just dirty and exhausted from travelling. The occasional nobleman or woman passed by with embroidery stacked to their neck and more gold dangling from their wrists then what most people made in a lifetime. At one point a trading convoy passed by, the horses laden with bags of different items and produce the merchants had come to sell. He also spotted the occasional pickpocket moving swiftly through the crowd of people. As much as Teirm was an anti-crime hotspot, no crowd could exist without its occasional petty thief.

Another hour passed and Ragin was forced to order another plate of food before the bartender tried to kick him out. Finally he saw her. She would be impossible to miss. Her red/blond hair fell down her shoulders and curious green eyes shone. There was a sharp scar line on the left side of her forehead, something he had never seen on her before. Strapped around her waist was an iconic rider's blade, the sheath a dull orange with a single rune in the ancient language. Blodhren, or blood-oath in the common tongue. Ragin found the name of the sword especially interesting.

He turned his attention back to the girl. Freya. He knew her, even if she did not know him. Before she became a dragon rider, he had made sure to keep a careful watch on the girl, evaluating, judging. She had come from a noble family, but five years ago her family had been killed, assassinated by a member of the Black Hand. This assassination had in turn led to the downfall of the order, in which Freya herself had played a very important role, though she hadn't yet realised it. He did know one thing however, she had never forgotten her hatred of the Black Hand, unless of course in the past five months living with a dragon had helped her. She did look a fair bit more confident than before.

Deciding not to approach her directly, he got up from his table and slipped into the crowd, trailing behind the girl as she made her way through the streets. She didn't seem to be going anywhere specifically, occasionally stopping to talk to a stranger, or buy something from a street stall. There was a certain agitation to her walk, one that spoke of frustration, annoyance. She sighed a lot as well, as if something was constantly running through her head.

Freya eventually turned sharply down a more quiet street, more an alleyway really. For a moment Ragin lost sight of her. He hurried his pace a little and turned into the alley himself only to find that she was gone, completely disappeared. He blinked, startled, and slowly began to walk down the street. It was a littered place, with not a single soul in it. For Teirm, it was rather surprising.

Narrowing his eyes Ragin continued to walk through, his confusion mounting. Suddenly his eyes widened as he realised what had happened. He was a second too late to react however, and felt himself slammed against a nearby wall, the cold steal of a sword pressed against his throat. He went still, breathing calmly as he looked into the green eyes of the girl that was now threatening him.

"Alright jackass," Freya grunted, "Who the hell are you and why are you following me?"

He couldn't help but be a little impressed at her observation skills. He thought he had been rather discrete in his tailing. Obviously not discrete enough however. He studied the girl a little longer, not answering the question straight away. That frustration from before was gone, replaced by a calm, almost overconfident, expression, and also what seemed to be almost excitement. He could imagine her thinking 'finally, something interesting for me to do!'

"Well?," she growled.

"I just... wanted to ask a few questions," Ragin replied, noticing how her hands were shaking ever so slightly. She was also frightened, or at the very least nervous.

"You could have done that before. I'm easy enough to approach in the open," she replied, keeping a rather steely edge to her voice.

"I didn't think they were questions you wanted to answer where others could hear," he said evenly.

She frowned, beginning to realise that despite her sword against his neck, he didn't seem at all phased. In fact, he was almost calm, as if he was the one in control of the situation at hand. As if he was the one that had a sword against her neck. It served to make her even more uneasy.

"What do you want?" she growled.

"I simply want to know what you dragon riders are doing here. And don't give me that 'training mission' bullcrap. If this were a training mission, you would be up in the air with the others," he said.

"And why would I tell you anything?"

"Because it's easier."

"Easier then what?"

"Then this," Ragin twisted flicking the sword out of the way, ignoring the cut it caused on his hand, grabbed her by the back of the neck and slammed her into the wall. He grabbed her sword arm, pulling it behind her and grabbing her wrist with two fingers. Gently he squeezed, causing her to cry out at a sudden spike of pain and drop her sword. It clattered against the ground. Ragin kicked it away.

"You going to talk now?" he asked.

"Curse you, you son of a –," several rather impressive swear words sprouted from her mouth as she struggled against his hold, but every movement she made he just squeezed a little tighter on her wrist, until it wasn't worth struggling anymore.

She fell still, breathing heavily, but staying silent. Ragin could guess why. The moment he had grabbed her he had likely alerted her dragon, who would be in the vicinity very quickly. He wouldn't be able to make her talk before it came, and he didn't really feel like trying to go head to head with an angry dragon. The left but one option, save killing her. It was an option he would rather avoid, but he needed the information.

"Sorry about this, but I need to know a few things," he said, causing her to swear at him again.

Focusing his thoughts into a mental spear, he drove them into the barriers of her mind. She let out a gasp. Being only a rider for five months, she had barely begun learning many of the things that were required, like guarding her mind, while Ragin had been learning how to break and enter minds since he was eight years old. Her guard fell quickly.

She groaned in pain as he quickly flew through her mind, snatching at the pieces of information he needed and casting away any others he didn't. He could tell from her panicked state she was terrified. Her dragon was yelling in her mind, trying to get her to answer, but Ragin wouldn't let her.

'Freya!' he yelled, 'Freya! Hold on I'm coming!"

Finding what he needed he let out a gasp of surprise. He sorted through her memories of the last couple of days, remembering faces, names and conversations, all about the mysterious black dragon they had been attempting to find. One that was incredibly dangerous. He saw her frustration at her mentor that he hadn't allowed her to join them in the search, watched as she saw them fly away day after day.

What startled him the most however was that they seemed to know that Akaysha could use magic, or at least that was one of their theories. It caused numerous questions to pop up in his mind. How could they possibly know that? But there was another startling piece of information he found. The dragon riders they had sent were considered some of the best and most powerful in Alageasia, besides Freya of course. It seemed even Arya herself had decided to lead the mission.

Frowning to himself he quickly quelled the rising panic. One thing was clear however, Akaysha and him needed to leave. They needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. Knowing he didn't have much time he withdrew from her mind and turned, quickly racing out into the crowd of people once again. It would take Freya a couple of seconds to recover, which was all the time he needed.

An angry roar echoed in the sky overhead and he flinched. Moving quickly he revealed the ring from a hidden pocket and slipped it onto his finger. He then murmured a number of quick phrases in the ancient language, bending light around him until he was almost invisible. Once he was sure he was safe from sight, he slipped into another alleyway and looked to the sky.

A bright orange dragon circled overhead, his angry roars causing unease among the crowd. The dragon beat his wings and launched himself downwards, landing heavily on the cobblestone. He was rather small for a dragon, around the same size as Akaysha, so was able to fit on the larger streets of Teirm. The people around him scattered as he gazed fiercely around, looking for the person that had dared attack his rider.

A couple of seconds later Freya raced from the alleyway where she had attempted her ambush, and quickly rushed to her dragon. He looked down at her as a silent conversation passed between them. Slowly he relaxed and she breathed a visible sigh of relief. Quietly she climbed onto his back and the two of the took off into the sky, and began to circle around the city, seeming to be waiting.

Ragin smiled softly to himself, before turning his attention to the task at hand. He made his way back onto the street, still invisible, and made his way to the front gate. He needed to get back to Akaysha as soon as possible. They were in far more danger then he had thought.

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Hey guys! New chapter! I hope you enjoyed! Things are starting to grow a little more interesting in Ragin's world. Vote if you enjoyed and comment what you think will happen next. The next chapter will be out shortly.

Pennator^^