A/N: Sorry, meant to post this yesterday! As promised, the action resumes. A lot of things are gonna go down in the next chapter. Character development will definitely be explored as these five turn from children into Riders, and hopefully I'll have more time to write. Eragon is again featured in here, because I love him more than Niaomi does, since she doesn't love him at all...yet. Also, be sure to check out Pjbunny in the external link down below; her thriller Teke Teke is absolutely horrifying in the best way! ;)
Picture of Liress up above.
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"You have to keep trying, Niaomi," Angela chided. "Feel the Mist."
Gritting her teeth, the young woman replied, "I can't 'feel' anything since there's nothing to actually feel!"
"Are you as blind as a mole?" the woman harped back before muttering, "I never understood why humans felt the need to call bats blind just because they fly in the dark. So do owls, and no one calls them blind - "
"Angela!" Nia snapped, her face almost undetectably flushed. "You're not helping!"
"You shouldn't need help." The older seer sighed and focused her attention back on the aggrieved Rider. "It's all about focusing. Channel the energy that brings you to the Mist. Feel it encircling you. Breathe in the power of time."
Niaomi tried to keep her jaw from clenching with little success. "Maybe I'd be doing a better job if - "
"You weren't talking?"
Her glare hardened. "If you could tell me what sort of mist I'm supposed to be seeking out."
"You don't have to seek it out," said Angela, placing her hands in her lap opposite from where she sat across from the raven-haired woman. "The Mists of Time and Space are all around us, constantly moving forward as the days pass and the lands change. It's everywhere in time and space, as the name would have you believe, yet the only ones who have access to it are seers. Some can travel forwards like the Mists do themselves, seeing only visions of the future; mages can use it to transport objects to other places. And you, you can do both and so much more. The Mists are yours to walk among, to travel, to explore. But in order to walk the Mists, you must find them, so concentrate!"
Closing her brown eyes, she did as her mentor directed, focusing her energy. Nia breathed out slowly as she recreated the sensation of being pulled by her navel into an endless fog that always accompanied her visions. Suddenly the feeling was gone, and she opened her eyes only to groan.
She was no longer sitting in the small courtyard of the herbalist's shop. Tall tree trunks surrounded her as she breathed in the scent of pine. This was not the same forest where they'd left the dragons and bondmates; this one was unfamiliar to her, the terrain more mountainous and the trees less friendly. Seeing the mist that rolled in the far reaches of her sight, Niaomi grimaced upon realizing that she was having another vision yet again.
"Apollo damn me," she muttered, standing to her feet before foolishly aiming a kick at a tree. Clutching her toe as she held back the vile string of curses, the woman pushed away the pain to begin exploring her surroundings. She pulled the jacket closer around her, shivering slightly from the frosty air. As a coastal town, Teirm didn't seem to noticed that autumn was ending and the winter approached, and so her wear - consisting of the small felt jacket, tall leather boots, and red knit dress - was unsuited for the cold weather. And since she could feel her surroundings -
"I must be inside this vision!" Nia groaned, this time banging her head against a different tree. "Of all the rotten, ill-begotten luck - "
Her ranting paused as she sucked in a breath, the sheen of dark hair and the flash of a blue scale catching her eye. Crouching out of sight, Niaomi's eyes widened in shock as she spotted Eragon and a blue dragon traipsing along. They disappeared from her view, and she hesitated for only a moment before following.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After the fourth person crashed into her without an apology of any kind, Renata decided that she hated towns.
Why did I allow Rose to drag me into this? she asked herself as her sister continued to pull her through the crowd, deftly weaving in and out of the many persons while she herself managed to somehow collide with people who weren't even in her way.
"Come on, Ren!" Rosaminda urged, dragging her along even faster as they neared the docks.
"Why do we have to go to the fish market of all places?"
Rose rolled her eyes at her twin's griping. "Because Angela said she'd make us this fried fish and tossed greens dish that she managed to scrounge from the same tribe Faðiras was a part of!"
She looked back at Ren, who still looked annoyed at having to accompany her. Still, they had both promised the boys that there would be no traveling alone. Galbatorix would never stop searching for them as long as they lived outside his control, and so Liress would hunt them down to the ends of the earth.
Rosaminda's grin faded as she remembered meeting her aunt for the first time on Alalëa, when she'd brought the Lethrblaka to invade their home and capture the Riders, a plan which had failed but resulted in the death of both of her godparents. It was still a mystery as to how Liress had found them in the first place; Niom had mentioned a sudden surge of energy, but none of them could determine where it could've come from. Nia especially seemed to get quiet when they had discussed it before.
As the faux brunette reminisced on the events of that fateful day, the one trailing behind her wondered how much longer they would have to spend in Teirm. It had already been over a fortnight since their arrival, and Renata was concerned that they were spending too much time lollygagging instead of tracking down the Progenitor. Of course, the development of her godsister's skills was important, but so was learning how to be proper Dragon Riders -
Another body slamming into hers jarred her thought process, and the rein on Ren's temper finally snapped. Turning around to call to the cloaked figure that just kept on walking, she yelled, "Unless you're a mute or a brute, you should apologize when you hit someone!"
The person paused at her words, spinning around to pin her in place with a frighteningly familiar gaze. Her jaw dropped as she stared at her aunt until Rose tugged her back with an impatient, "Come on, Ren!"
Renata saw the flash of recognition light those the icy eyes before they disappeared from view as the press of bodies surrounded the twins once more, and now she was undeniably grateful for the obnoxiously large crowd as she began darting through the people.
"Oh, so now you want to go?" her sister complained as she became the one being dragged down the street.
"Liress is here. And she knows that we are here as well. So we have to - "
"Out of my way!" the Black Hand's voice screamed from a startlingly close distance away, and the two increased their speed.
"How did she even find us?" Rose asked as they turned the corner, breaking out into as much of a sprint as their skirts allowed for while the crowd thinned. "We've all been wearing our necklaces!"
"Letta!" the mage's voice cried before Renata could respond, and suddenly she found herself frozen in place. Her mouth couldn't move even though she directed it to do so, and she began panicking as her twin just stared at her in confusion.
The approaching footsteps seemed to jolt Rosaminda out of her shock, who ripped off her chain to say, "Gánga," allowing them to stumble forwards. They darted around the next corner before the mage could fire off another spell, looking for a place to hide. Ren spotted a narrow alleyway and pulled her sister towards it, ducking down beneath a vendor's fruit cart as Rose put her metal warding back on just before their aunt came running around the corner.
Liress paused, scowling at the small trickle of shoppers, none of whom were her quarry. She searched her immediate area with her mind and eyes, but could find no trace of either young woman. "Damn," she spit out, spinning on her heel and striding back down the way she had come. Capturing her nieces would have been best, but at least she knew that she was in the right place.
And now, the Black Hand had an herbalist to visit.
As their aunt's footsteps drifted off, Renata finally began allowing herself to breathe once more. She turned to meet a wide gray gaze as Rose asked, "What happens now?"
"We have to leave Teirm," she answered, slowly standing to her feet as she ascertained that Liress had truly left.
Her sister sighed as she followed suit. "Looks like we won't be having fish tonight."