The days leading up to the Dagshelgr Invocation were busy for the mountain. While Ragin and the rest of the trainees were stuck in their normal routine, the other riders that were left prepared for the celebration. Hundreds of people arrived of all different races. Mountains of food were prepared to accommodate the sudden increase of hungry mouths.

The influx made Ragin a little anxious, as he knew that Tharin was still sending people after him, and if there was a time to attempt to get to him this was it. Logan had assured him that they checked to make sure that everyone had noble intentions, but it still didn't appease that more paranoid part of the rogue rider. Despite this though, he was finding himself growing more and more relaxed as the days went by, even training was becoming less offensive as the others began to catch up to his skill. It would take them a good couple of years to get to a point of challenging him, but they were improving rapidly. Even in terms of magic they were beginning to learn a little more. Ragin was surprised to find a couple of niche spells he had never thought of before, such as one that somehow turned a flower into living gold.

His companionship with the other riders also grew, and before long he found himself thinking of them as friends, much to Akaysha's joy. The dinner nights often ended in light hearted fun and laughter. Even if he wasn't quite as open as the others, he found himself going to bed with a smile on his face most nights.

The bond between Akaysha and himself also continued to grow. Emotions flowed freely through each of them, even if there were still some secrets of his past he couldn't part with. He had a sneaking suspicion that she still knew more than she let on, but didn't voice his concern and simply enjoyed the dragon's company.

As the day of the Dagshelgr Invocation arrived he found himself looking forward to it. They still had the morning of training, but once that was done they had the afternoon off to prepare for the start of the song that night.

'Are you sure you want to do this?' asked Ragin as he strapped his sword to his waist.

'I've told you Ragin, yes,' Akaysha said, watching from her nest, 'I made up my mind on this a week ago.'

'But you're only, what? Six months old now?' he told her.

'Seven, nearly,' she responded.

'Still... seven months, it's a little young don't you think?'

'Only young for you humans. A dragon reaches maturity at about five to six months old. Most have eggs in their first year or so of life. And dragons don't mate for life either.'

Ragin rolled his eyes. This had been a frequent point of discussion for them over the past month. A week prior Akaysha had finally decided that she would allow herself to be swayed into finding a mate the night of the Invocation. Her decision was a little confusing, for both of them, and she was a little nervous about the upcoming couple of days. But in a way she felt she needed to, not in a lustful way, but in order to fully become a dragon, she felt she needed to. It was something Ragin disagreed with, but if she wanted to he wasn't going to stop her. That didn't stop him from teasing her though.

'So, you're just going to fly up there tonight, find some random male and then... fly to a secretive cave and stay there for the next couple of days.'

She snorted at him as he chuckled, leaping away as she attempted to sweep his legs with her tail, 'It's not random. I have someone in mind.'

'Oh? And who is the lucky drake?' he asked her, attempting to probe her mind for the information. She blocked him.

'I'm not going to tell you,' she said with a small growl, 'You'll find out later.'

'That is mean,' Ragin crossed his arms.

'Mean? That is not mean. Mean is something that is underserved, like this,' Akaysha suddenly moved, pouncing forward with surprising speed for a creature so big.

Her rider wasn't ready for such a movement and with a yell he found himself pinned under her claws, stuck against the ground. He struggled against her for a moment, but quickly gave up. Without magic, there was no way he would be able to force himself out of her grasp. She looked down at him with a twinkle in her eyes, as if daring him to try something.

'Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I won't question you anymore,' he said in a desperate attempt to talk her out of it, 'You're ruining my clothes.'

She tilted her head, before snorting, 'Good, as long as we have that sorted out.'

She sat back, her tail twitching from side to side as Ragin got to his feet and brushed the dust from his clothes, using a quick spell to smooth out the sleek looking black garb he had chosen for the night. It was the nicest piece of cloth Akaysha had ever seen him wear. He watched her warily, waiting for any sign that she might try and pin him to the ground again.

'I should report you for abuse, picking on your rider like that,' he told her.

'Yet we both know that everyone else with think it well deserved.'

'But you said it wasn't!'

'They don't know that,' she laughed, her body rumbling softly.

Ragin rolled his eyes, before walking over to her and climbing up her foreleg and onto her back, 'Alright, you win this one. I'll get you back later. We need to get going.'

She rumbled in agreement, and with a quick hop and a jump she moved herself onto their balcony and then out into the open air. Ragin hadn't bothered saddling her, they were only flying down to the courtyard below. Akaysha landed as softly as she could and he slid of her back. The sun was setting in the horizon, and thousands of small fires and lamps were being lit all along the banks of the river, creating the illusion of stars when flying from above.

'Last chance to back out,' Ragin said to her, putting his hand against her nose.

'I thought you said you weren't going to question me anymore,' she rumbled.

'It wasn't a question,' he smirked, before growing serious once more, 'I'll see you in a couple of days.'

She pushed her snout against his chest, nuzzling him, 'I love you.'

'I love you to.'

With that final goodbye the dark blue starlight dragon pushed herself into the sky with a thump of her wings, her scales reflecting the many flames and the setting sun. Ragin watched her with a smile on his face, before sighing and looking away. Settling his mind he cast the spell around himself to protect against the Invocation's influence, and walked inside the great hall.

* * *

Ragin quickly found a seat with his friends around the outskirts of the great hall. All the tables and chairs had been moved out of the main food hall and into the entrance, as it was a bigger area and could fit more people. Food was served and it wasn't long before the crowded area was full of laughing and eating. It was one of the largest feasts Ragin had ever seen. Mead flowed freely, and as the night wore on the crowd became more and more boisterous.

"So Hanzi, Thoran isn't joining in with the others tonight?" Freya asked, talking about the elf's turquoise coloured dragon, who was currently laying toward one side of the hall, talking with another larger dragon who had also decided to skip the Dagshelgr Invocation.

"Nah. Say's he doesn't like the idea of being under the influence of a spell," the elf replied, waving his hand dismissively, "I reckon he's just being scared."

"To be fair," Eshaz, the female urgal, said, "I wouldn't like to be under the influence of some spell either when being so intimate with another. I was surprised Rexin wanted to be a part of it."

"I agree," Ragin said, taking another swig of his mead, "But I guess for dragons an action like this isn't quite as... meaningful."

"Exactly! And Thoran needs all the help he can get if he's gonna land a nice female to have his egg," Hanzi exclaimed.

'I heard that,' the turquoise dragon spoke to all of them, 'The only reason I would have any trouble is because you're constantly around me shouting profanities.'

The elf looked at his dragon in mock horror, "Profanities? You do me wrong, my dear drake."

'Not as wrong as your poor choice of vocabulary.'

The other riders had a good snicker at that. They all knew that when Hanzi got going, he could be quite the spectacle. It was especially surprising considering he was an elf, and elves weren't really known for their rambunctious, over the top attitude. He had blamed it on the rather common influx of humans he had lived with for the first part of his life.

Before Hanzi could get another word in, the room went silent as Eragon's voice boomed out over the crowd, obviously enhanced by magic, "Thank you all for making time to be here tonight. Especially all those who have made the long trek from Alageasia."

There was a cheer that went up as the rider spoke.

"I am glad to see that despite the troubles that have come up over the past year we are still able to hold this celebration of life..." Eragon continued with his speech, and Ragin relaxed, not really listening but enjoying the atmosphere in the room, never having allowed himself to feel this relaxed before.

"And now, as it hits the twenty first hour, we will begin the Dagshelgr Invocation. If you have yet to be protected from the spell I suggest you find someone to do so, for it can be almost harmful if you are not prepared."

Ragin felt the release of magic as a couple of spells were cast over the few humans, urgals and dwarves who had yet to request the protection. In the back of his mind he could feel Akaysha's nervousness as she realised that the invocation was about to begin. All eyes were turned to the leader of the riders as he waited for the magic to end.

Once he was sure that everyone was protected, he began. He sung in the ancient language, his voice surprisingly deep and powerful as he began to weave the magic into the air. Those that had access to magic soon joined in, their voices mixing with the rider's. The dragons present in the hall hummed along, their deep throaty rumbles mixing an almost enchanting element to the song. Despite originally not wanting to join in, Ragin found himself raising his voice to mix his own magic into the enchantment. Hanzi also joined in, but the other three were not yet fluent enough to try. Instead they sat back and listened.

The spell was one of the most complex and intricate pieces of magic Ragin had ever heard. It spoke of growth, of life, of passion, of love. It mentioned the trees of the forest, the dirt of the ground, the water of the pond and the wind of the sky. It spoke to the birds, the fish and the animals the roamed the earth. Anyone that listened was instantly enraptured by the sound, and as the spell moved from the great hall and out into the wilderness and mountains surrounding the, Ragin could feel its influence, especially to Akaysha.

The dragoness had been waiting on a mountainside with a number of other dragons, and as she heard the song it was like an inner fire suddenly spread through her. Her entire body felt it was aflame. One after the other dragons rose into the sky to join with their mates, and with little hesitation, all nervousness gone, she followed them with a roar of her own.

* * *

Ragin sat back in his chair near the corner of the room, catching his breath. He had weaved a fair amount of energy into the song, and that mixed with the mead had his head spinning. Still, he listened to the enchanting sound as words of the ancient language mixed with the very air itself. Every beat of the song made his entire body reverberate, and the emotions and feelings that Akaysha was experiencing in the very back of his head didn't help. He hadn't completely closed himself off from his dragon, but her thoughts and emotions were a dull throb in the back of his skull.

Tables and chairs had been pushed out of the centre and stacked to the side, allowing for a dancing arena in the middle of the hall. It was a strange song, as their was no music or beat to really follow along with, but every voice and word matched each other in a perfect harmony. The dancers themselves, most of them being elves, were flitting back and forth in an odd grace that again matched the words they sang, their movements mesmerising and surreal, like fire or the ocean waves.

He looked over as someone sat by him. He glanced and recognised the red headed figure of Freya.

"Hey," she said with a small smile, "Feeling alright?"

"A bit dizzy. I'm surprised that they are still going," he nodded to the dancing elves.

"Same. I heard they have spells that fix drunkenness," she chuckled.

Ragin gave her an odd look at that, "Really? But where is the fun in that?"

"That's what I said," she replied.

He sighed softly, laying back against his chair, "Where are the others?"

"Here and there. I lost track of them around an hour ago. Although I remember Hanzi getting a bit drunk and being hauled back to his room by Thoran."

"That sounds about right. I'm glad someone can keep that elf in check."

"He's a bit of a character," agreed Freya with a sigh of her own.

They lay back, watching the dancers and listening to the song, allowing themselves to be lulled into almost a trance by the motion and the noise. Or at least Ragin did. Freya kept on glancing at the rogue rider, as if trying to summon the courage to tell him something. Eventually she took one last swig from her cup of mead and blurted it out.

"You want to join in the dance?" she asked him.

He barely looked at her, "Hmm? Not really."

She narrowed her eyes and stood up, forcing him to look up at her, "When a girl asks you to dance, you say yes."

"Never heard of that rule before," he said, glancing up at her glare.

"Ragin," she said slowly.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Get off your thieving ass and dance with me," she said, sticking out her hand.

He watched her for a moment, before letting out a sigh of defeat and grabbing her hand, letting her pull him up from his chair, "You realise we are going to ruin this lovely spectacle. I've never danced before."

"Me neither, but they'll hardly care."

"That's not the point."

"It's the only one that matters."

They reached the edge of arena and Freya turned to face him, a small but nervous smile on her face. She brushed her hair back and looked up at him. He smiled back and gently took her hands in his. He pulled her a little closer, and they gently began to move to the song, stepping back and forth in awkward steps that slowly grew more fluid. They stay silent as they danced, not bothering to try and match the tempo and movement of the elves around them, but allowed themselves to be trapped in their own little world with the enchantment of the Invocation and their alcohol addled minds driving them into the dance.

Others joined them as well, though none could possibly match the natural grace and beauty of the elves. Ragin allowed his voice to join in with the others again, his words perfectly mixing with the others. He didn't put much energy into the song, or at least not as much as before, but he allowed the magic to take him again as he spoke of the new beginnings that were being formed at that moment.

And so they danced, the thief and the girl, for hours until the lateness of the night began to slowly creep up on them. Ragin drew her to the side of the arena once more and they exited, leaving the dancing to the elves and those brave enough to join them.

The two looked at each other for a moment, and Ragin leant forward and placed a kiss on her lips. She blinked in surprise, but allowed herself to enjoy the fleeting moment. It ended all too soon as the rogue rider drew back with a short breath. He smiled slightly at her.

"Goodnight." He said.

"Goodnight," she responded.

With that he turned, leaving the great hall with quick steps, and leaving her watching him with the slightest of smiles on her face. 

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Hey guys! Surprise! New chapter XD. Again sorry for the long wait. I've recently had a spurr of inspiration for this story and found myself typing out the chapter. So yeah, vote if you enjoyed and comment what you thought. I consider this chapter to be the highest point of the book... for Ragin anyway ;) What happens next is when everything really begins. So look forward to it, and I'll get the next chapter out as quick as I can. See ya!

Pennator^^