Luminescent (Inheritance Cycle and Beyond)

Chapter Seventy-Four: Blinding

"Okay Fen, grab your cloak and lets head down to Alethea." Fen grabbed her cloak before following me out of the bedroom. Hand in hand, we left the treehouse and walked over to where Thorn and Alethea stood, saddles on their back with our packs strapped to their bodies. Alethea looked at me as we approached.

"My rider, you finally look like yourself." I looked up at Alethea and smiled with a laugh.

"What you didn't like my dresses?" Alethea huffed out a plume of smoke.

"We both know what you'd rather wear pants." Alethea retorted before lowering herself to her belly. "Climb on, little one."

With a giggle, Fen scrambled up Alethea's side before settling into the saddle. While Fen started up a conversation with Alethea, I turned to Murtagh who was checking the straps on Thorn.

"Everything look good?" I asked as I rested my left hand against Selene's back. She was pressing her palms against my chest and babbling nonsense.

"Definitely, unless you count two restless Dragons who just want to get into the air," Murtagh replied with a laugh before pulling out a cloak. He swung it around my shoulders and pinned it together so that Selene's black just popped over the very top. "You should be good with this, but if it isn't enough, I packed another in your saddlebags."

"Extra cloak in saddlebag got it," I repeated before looking up at the sky. "How does the weather look?"

"Clear, should be an easy ride." Murtagh replied before he leaned in and kissed the top of Selene's hair. "if anything happens, just let us know."

"I will," I replied before standing on my toes and giving him a quick kiss. "see you in the air!"

I darted back towards Alethea as Murtagh let out a growl of annoyance. I bounded up Alethea's side and settled behind Fen.

"Alright ladies, shall we make those boys eat our dust?" I asked. Selene let out a squeal and banged her fist on my chest while Fen let out an evil laugh.

"Eat our dust!" Fen screamed, raising her fist in the air. Alethea took this as the indication to launch into the air. Alethea gained altitude quickly, leaving Thorn and Murtagh behind. As usual, Thorn let out a bellow at being left behind.

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We left the shelter of Du Weldenvarden, flying southeast at a leisurely pace. In front of me, Fen sat with a relaxed stance as she gently tapped her hands on Alethea's back. No doubt, the two were talking to each other.

Twenty minutes after we had taken to the air, Selene had fallen into a fitful nap, undisturbed by the airflow or the fact that she was thousands of feet in the air. Familiar land and sights greeted my eyes as we passed over valleys and plains.

Reaching into the wrap around my body, I ran my fingers over Selene's black curls. I really hoped she wasn't bothered by the number of people she was about to subject to. Selene had never been around more than a few people at a time.

"We are within an hour of the city," Alethea said in my mind as the wind picked up.

"That close already?"

"Thorn and I have been increasing our wing strength and speed over the last year and a half," Alethea replied smugly. I pulled up the cloak to cover the sleeping Selene before twisting around to grab the spare cloak.

Turning back around, I wrapped it around Fen's shoulders to provide her with a little more protection against the new incoming wind.

"Thanks, mommy!" Fen chirped over her shoulder before she went back to peering over Alethea's shoulder. I took a deep breath and tried to get my mind in a meditative state. I had said that I never wanted to go back to that city, and I hadn't been lying. But I wasn't going back to that city, no, that city had been destroyed and a new one built on the ruins.

New city. New name.

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Eragon stood patiently in the city full of both elf and human alike. After he had taken down Galbatorix, some elves had remained behind to rebuild the city to its former glory. That also meant changing the name back to what it used to be.

Ilirea.

Next to him stood Nasuada, the Queen of the Empire per Mal's wishes. Over a year ago she had taken the crippled Empire in hand and pulled it from the dark depths it had fallen into. Now the capital shone like it once had.

"What is it, little one?" Saphira asked, nudging Eragon with her snout. He looked back at Saphira and shook his head.

"It feels like something is going to happen, I can't place the feeling," Eragon replied before sighing. "I wish Mal were here, she would be able to pinpoint what it was."

"I am sure that wherever she, Alethea, Murtagh, and Thorn ended up, they are happy. Let us not focus on the bad." Eragon nodded at his dragon before returning his attention to Nasuada.

"Is there something wrong, Eragon?" Eragon shook his head.

"I do not know, your majesty," Eragon replied. "my gut is humming, but I cannot place the feeling."

Nasuada smiled, her facial expression remaining calm.

"I am sure that the answer is almost here." She told him cryptically. Eragon raised a blond eyebrow in confusion before his ears picked up a familiar sound.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

It had been a long time since he had heard that sound coming from another Dragon other than Saphira and Fírnen. Twirling around, the air in Eragon's chest disappeared as two Dragons descended from the sky.

The people that milled around in the city square started calling out and pointing up at the pair as they drew closer. The red and white dragons dropped from the sky and landed as people made room for them.

Eragon watched as his half-brother slipped off of Thorn, and walked over to Alethea who sported not one, but two people. Eragon's eyes instantly recognized Mal, though she looked older and more ethereal, the child sitting in front of her he didn't recognize.

Murtagh caught the girl as she slipped out of Alethea's saddle before he held up his arms for Mal. With carefulness that Eragon didn't understand, Mal swung her leg over and slowly slipped out of the saddle, landing in Murtagh's eyes.

Nasuada strode towards the five as Eragon and Saphira trailed behind her. She had obviously been expecting the five as her facial expression was not of shock. The three watched as Murtagh removed a large cloak from around Mal's shoulder before crouching down to the little girl and doing the same.

"I was wondering when you two would visit," Nasuada called out. Mal looked over her shoulder with a smile before she took the girls hand and turned around. Eragon's jaw almost dropped as Mal walked towards him and Nasuada, one hand the girls, and the other pressed against the black-haired baby strapped to her chest.

"Is that what I think it is?" Eragon breathed out. As they approached, Mal pulled down the black material holding the baby against her chest to reveal a mass of black curls.

"I believe the correct term would be baby, Eragon."