Akaysha slowly stalked through the forest undergrowth, using the shadows provided by the full moon to keep her hidden. Every step was carefully waited and considered, avoiding as much noise-making objects as possible. Her tail was held slightly off the ground, and her wings were slightly spread. Every movement she made seemed to be fluid and with the wind. To anyone looking she would appear completely one with the trees.

She flicked out her tongue, tasting the air. The horse-that-wasn't-a-horse that she had been hunting was about a hundred feet in front of her, grazing in a clearing with a beam of white moonlight illuminating the area. For a moment the dragoness stopped, suddenly distracted, thinking about what Ragin had called the animal. Deer?

She had only learnt to form words with her mind a week ago, something that Ragin was oddly happy about, and was still trying to understand everything that was being told to her. Usually she just went by what Ragin was picturing in his mind when he spoke. It was easier that way. The horned-two-leg was harder. He didn't allow her into his mind, and she was often forced to consult Ragin as to what he meant. Words, they were difficult things.

Turning her attention back to her prey she began to move forward again, approaching down-wind so the deer didn't catch her scent. She was about as big as a deer now, though her wings still felt a little too big and her neck a little too long. Ragin said she was a bit over a month old. She didn't really understand what that meant , but he seemed happy with it, so she was as well. It felt like they had been around the horned-two-leg's house for a long time though. She was glad. It was better than their previous house. More room, though they didn't allow her inside anymore. Apparently her claws ruined the wooden floor.

She snorted silently to herself before continuing to move forward. She reached out her mind and gently touched the deer's conscious, carefully so as not to disturb the animal. It hadn't seen her yet, but the closer she got the more likely it would. She was hungry, and didn't want it to escape. Ragin had stopped hunting for her a while ago, and told her that she needed to learn to do so herself. It had annoyed her at first, running through the forest was a good way of getting her scales dirty, but after her first successful hunt she couldn't help but feel a surge of joy. Since then she insisted that she find her own food, much to the relief of the two-legs.

The only reason she wasn't flying now was that it was too difficult to get in amongst the trees when chasing prey. The deer would be difficult to take down, so she needed to go for its legs. If she approached from the sky it would escape her far more easily than if she approached from the ground. The only problem was that it was faster than her on four legs, so she would have to take it by surprise.

In the back of her head was a constant presence, one that she recognised to be her rider. He was sleeping at the moment, though why he would do such a thing on a night like this was beyond her, but that didn't stop their connection. He hadn't put the mind-hiding-metal-ring back on for a long time, for which she was glad. When she couldn't feel his thoughts she got worried, and scared. Everything was so quiet without him, even if she didn't know that much about him at all.

There were hidden apartments to his mind, ones that even while he slept were inaccessible. The only time she had broken through was that night she found his memory of himself as a child and the burning building and the strange pointy-eared-two-leg they called an elf. It was a memory she still remembered vividly, as it was the only hint as to her rider's past.

She blinked, lightly shaking her head. Her thoughts were distracting her, again. She needed to focus on the hunt. As she got closer she realised that the deer was far larger than normal. Larger than her certainly. It had two massive great horns on its head that reminded her of the branches of a bush. She suddenly found it quiet humorous, imagining leaves sprouting from the deer's head.

The distance between the two got closer and closer, right up until Akaysha was right on the edge of the clearing. She waited for the perfect moment, not wanting to ruin a chance such as this. Slowly the deer approached, ripping up shreds of grass with its teeth. It was definitely a big one, and for a moment Akaysha wondered at the intelligence of going after such a large animal. She quickly shook it off. She was a dragon. She wouldn't be afraid of her own prey.

There was now only about ten feet between them, around the length of Akaysha's own body. She tensed her back legs, flicking her tail, preparing to pounce forward, when suddenly the wind shifted. It was only for a moment, but that moment was enough. The deer's head shot up with a snort and then with a bray of fear at the strange scent it caught in the wind. The dragoness hissed in annoyance and didn't waste a moment more, pouncing toward her prey. It turned and lashed out with its back hooves, catching the small dragon in the chest and knocking her out of the air, before kicking up dirt as it began to run away.

Akaysha fell to the ground with a grown, her vision growing dizzy as pain passed through her chest. A small cough escaped her muzzle as she watched the deer bounding away into the trees. A sudden frustration welled up within her. She had been hunting that thing for nearly an hour! She wouldn't let it get away so easily. She forced herself to her feet, a growl on her muzzle and she roared after the deer. Almost immediately a strange energy rushed through her body, like that of a dam breaking, and, without really meaning to, she directed it at the deer.

That animal brayed in pain as its left hind leg snapped under some invisible force, before it fell, rolling a couple of feet before coming to a rather painful stop on the ground. Akaysha blinked in surprise, and began to slowly limp over to where the deer was laying. Her chest hurt quite badly, but her scales seemed to have protected her from the worst of the injury. She walked over to the deer as it desperately tried to stand back up again.

Snarling the dragoness leapt onto its neck and with a quick bight to the throat and shake of her head, she put it out of its misery. She sat to the side, and looked at her kill in confusion, wondering what had just happened. That strange energy that she had felt rushing through her body was still there, though it had been rebottled up in its dam. However that dam was weak, and any pressure on it made it feel like it could quite easily be broken again.

Akaysha snorted to herself, a small trickle of smoke rising out of her snout, before shaking her head. She grabbed the deer by the throat and began to drag it through the forest, back toward where she knew the wooden house was. She hadn't got more than ten steps when the pain in her chest became unbearable. She dropped the deer, hissing and coughing again. It was hurting far more than it should have.

Growling softly Akaysha sat back on her haunches, thinking for a moment. She didn't really want to eat the deer out here. There were wolves in the forest, ones that liked to prowl around at night, looking for easy prey. While she wouldn't consider herself prey, she doubted she could fend off a pack of them from her deer, not while in her condition anyway. An annoyed rumble ran through her, which just made her sore chest ache again.

Her mind turned back to the energy she had used to break the deer's leg, and an idea came to her. If it had worked then, why couldn't it work now? Shuffling her wings slightly, she focused on that dam inside her mind containing that strange power. Almost hesitantly, she pressed against it. The dam cracked slightly. Akaysha rumbled again and pressed harder. Almost immediately the entire thing broke apart, and once again that awesome power flooded through her. This time, having a slight inkling of what to do, she focused on the deer once again, letting the power flow out from her. It reminded her of what Ragin did when he used magic without the ancient language.

The deer slowly rose into the air and was held there. Akaysha felt a sudden wave of self-awe as she realised that she, to, was using magic. She had no idea she was capable of doing such a thing. A torrent of excitement rushed through her. She turned around and began to limp through the forest as fast as her injured body would allow, the deer floating along behind her.

* * *

'Ragin! Ragin! Ragin!' a mental voice that was light, feminine, and slightly childish boomed through Ragin's waking dreams.

He groaned slightly, trying his best to ignore the excitable young dragon screaming in his head. But she wouldn't be ignored. He sat up in his bed and swung his legs over the side with a long sigh, before standing up and stretching. It was still dark outside, causing him to frown. It was probably around midnight.

'You better have a good reason for waking me up,' he muttered through their connection.

'I do! I do!' Akaysha replied.

She still had a very limited vocabulary, as she had only been able to really speak for a week. But the speed in which she was picking up different words and sentences was surprising to say the least. She could already hold a decent conversation, though sometimes she was forced to rely on images and feelings to get around to what she had to say.

'Alright, I'm coming,' sighed the thief as he made his way from his room and down the stairs.

The upper part of Uthun's residence had numerous rooms with a hallway through the middle. Most of them were sleeping areas, there were enough rooms to hold almost twenty people, and there was also a small library at the very end of the corridor, holding a numerous amount of books with all sorts of useful information. It was where Ragin had been spending a lot of his time lately, as he had wanted to learn as much as he could about the dragons, in which the library had some very useful knowledge.

He walked to the front door and opened it. A soft twilight breeze washed through the small clearing around the house, the tree leaves rustling back and forth like waves in an ocean. The full moon dominated the sky, its light seeing everything. There was a howl in the background from a wolf, but it was a number of leagues away. Not close enough to bother about.

"Hey, Akaysha, what's wrong?" he asked, spotting the dragon sitting in front of a rather impressive kill of an adult buck.

Their connection had grown stronger by the day it seemed, and while he didn't really want to admit it, he quite enjoyed the closeness he felt with the young dragoness. It was a strange but welcome feeling to be able to fully trust someone with anything, knowing they wouldn't judge you. That being said, there were still things he didn't want to show the dragoness. Parts of his past that he wouldn't show anyone. He knew she was curious about his hidden memories, but thankfully she never asked about them.

Sitting down, Akaysha's head now was higher than him. On all fours she was around the size of a small horse, a horse with a very long tail. He could sit on her back comfortably if he wished, and it wasn't uncommon for them to go for small rides through the forest. Still, she wasn't yet strong enough to carry him for extended periods of time, let alone fly.

She stood up quickly and let out a small growl. He felt a twinge of pain run through her chest and across their bond. She was injured, though how badly he couldn't tell. It had him a little worried.

'Nothing... wrong,' she said, the words seeming foreign to her, 'Just... want to... show you something.'

She was obviously excited, though about what he couldn't tell, 'If you've just woke me up to show me the meal you caught, I'm not going to be very happy.'

While the buck was an impressive catch, he had to admit, it wasn't exactly something he would deem worthy of interrupting his sleep for. He felt amusement flood through from the young dragoness as she shook her head, before letting out a grunt cough as the movement seemed to cause her pain.

He frowned, 'What happened Akaysha? You seem to be in a lot of pain."

The dragon grunted, before giving up on words and flooding his head with images of the night. He saw, felt and smelled everything that she had during that night. The hunt for the deer, stalking through the undergrowth, taking care to set everything up perfectly. He saw the wind shift, and how everything she had been preparing for fell apart. He felt her frustration and pain as she was kicked rather hard in the chest, then the surge of power she felt followed by what could only be a release of magic.

'Oh wow... you used magic!' he said, surprised she had done so while she was still young.

'There's more,' she replied.

He followed her efforts trying to move the deer and then the part she had really wanted to show. He let out a grunt of surprise as she willingly reached for the well of power inside her and lifted the deer into the air with little effort. He blinked, staring at the dragoness as the images faded away. What she had done... he didn't think it was possible. Dragons could use magic of course, but not willingly, not on purpose. Not like what Akaysha had done.

She was looking at him, and he could feel her excitement flooding through her bond. The same excitement he had had when he first figured out how to cast spells. But this was far different. It was well known that dragons, when able to use magic, could use much stronger spells than anything possible by humans, dwarves, or even elves. They were considered one of, if not the most powerful creatures when it came to magic. For one to be able to use it willingly was... frightening to say the least.

Hiding his concern he said, 'Could you do it again?'

She nodded her head. A moment later a sudden surge of magical power greater than anything he had felt before washed over his dragon. She focused the energy on the dead buck and it was lifted into the air. She held it like that for a moment, before letting it fall to the ground again, and looking at Ragin with what could only be a grin. However her excitement quickly faded when she felt his worry.

'Did I... did I do something wrong?' she asked him, sitting down on her haunches and curling her tail around her legs.

He hurriedly shook his head, 'No, no of course not.'

He quickly walked over to her and placed his hand under her jaw, looking into her eyes. He lightly scratched a spot under her chin that he knew she really liked. A small rumbling purr washed through her body, her pleasure flooding through their bond. He smiled at her, though couldn't keep his concern quite hidden. She blinked slightly.

'Then what is wrong?' Akaysha asked.

'It's nothing. We'll talk about it more in the morning,' he replied, 'I just need to... think is all. Here, let me heal you.'

He quickly healed her chest, then bade her goodnight. With that he walked back to his room, deep in thought. He could feel Akaysha in the back of his mind digging into her meal, all thoughts of magic gone from her head, for the moment at least. He scratched his forehead and let out a pent up sigh, before falling into his bed. This could wait until the morning, for now he needed sleep.

* * *

Eragon sat at a small wooden desk, papers pilled to one side and a document set out in front of him, lit by candlelight so he could see. It was late at night, too late for any sane person to be up, but there was work to do, work that couldn't wait. His study was massive, the roof reaching high into the air with thick stone walls encompassing either side. There was a door at one end, locked and padded, and a gigantic opening at the other, revealing the starry night sky outside. It seemed a little too big for only a table and a chair, along with a bookshelf.

The reason for its size was simple. Sleeping off to his right was the monolithic form of Saphira. Her blue scales twinkled in the light provided by the candle, and her deep breaths picked up the dust particles and sent them scuttling through the air. In Eragon's mind, she was a little large than her old mentor, Gleadr, from two hundred and fifty years ago.

He sat back on his chair, admiring her for a moment longer, before turning back to the papers in front of him. They were frustrating things. Letters, documents he needed to sign, writs for help, everything from all over the world. His dragon riders were spread thin as it was and he couldn't afford to send them to every single corner of the world that was in trouble. He couldn't afford to leave either, as there was still so much to be done in New Doru Arabia. That being said, he felt as though he needed a break. His first thought was travelling back to Alageasia, but every time he had attempted such a trip, another problem had popped up that had prevented him. In the end he had simply given up going back there all together.

He went back to going through his letters when a strange presence suddenly shrouded his mind. He tensed, frowning, and strengthening his barriers in surprise. Who would attack him while he was in the dragon hold? It took him a moment to recognise the mind surrounding his, and he relaxed with a small smile.

'Master,' he greeted the dragon as Gleadr entered his mind.

'Eragon,' the golden dragon greeted back, his voice tired and sad.

After exchanging the proper greetings Eragon said, 'To what do I owe this pleasure? It has been a while since we have last spoken.'

It was true. Now that many of the Eldanuri that had been under Galbatorix's rule had been fixed, Gleadr, along with many of the other's, had been prone to long periods of silence. They occasionally came out of their shells to give advice, make observations, or instruct promising young riders, but they rarely spoke any more. It had been nearly ten years since the last time Eragon had spoken with his old master.

'We, the Eldanuri, have sensed something rather... startling,' Gleadr spoke slowly, as if each word was difficult for him, 'Just recently, there has been a sudden surge of magical power originating from Alageasia. We were unable to pinpoint exactly where, but this magic was from a dragon.'

Eragon frowned. Yes, a dragon using magic was an uncommon occurrence, and was nothing to be overlooked, but he didn't quite understand the wariness he felt in the old dragon's mind. There were a number of dragon riders situated in Alageasia at the very moment, and it wouldn't be particularly surprising if one of their dragons had the opportunity to use magic. It had happened before. He voiced his opinion to Gleadr.

The old dragon seemed to sigh, 'I would agree with you, however this occurrence of magic did not happen just once, but multiple times. We counted three. Three bright pulses of dragon magic within half an hour. We believe that each pulse happened to come from the same dragon."

Now he understood their concern, and he drummed his fingers against the wooden desk thoughtfully. A dragon using magic three times in such a short period would rarely happen, if it had ever had at all. He continued to think over the problem for a couple more minutes before replying to the golden dragon.

'I will ask the riders in Alageasia if there has been any cases where their dragons have used magic recently. Would you keep vigil on the country while this happens? Finding the source of the magic would be quite useful,' said Eragon, thinking back to a month and a half ago when the dragon egg had been stolen.

'We will do as you ask,' Gleadr said, before withdrawing from his mind leaving the room startlingly silent.

Frowning Eragon reached over to a mirror located at the corner of his table. Saphira stirred slightly and he debated waking her up for this, before choosing against it. Her rest was more important than his worries. Sighing once more to himself he cast the spell over the mirror, ready to find out if this little incident was anything to worry about.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey guys! New chapter. Sorry its a bit late. Vote if you enjoyed and comment what you thought. The next chapter will be out shortly. See Ya!

Pennator^^