Kvistr by Melissa Nichols (elon musk reading list .TXT) 📕

Eragon Kingkiller sat around the sapphire blue campfire with his head lowered. He gave a sigh and stared into the flames produced by his dragon Saphira, whom was currently curled up around him, her bulk encircling almost the whole camp. She had grown immense in the last three years, and she would continue to grow for the remainder of her life.

Around him, Eragon observed the surviving members of the team that set out to accompany him and Saphira three years ago, leaving behind the familiarity of the Du Weldenvarden forest in Alagaesia, shortly after Eragon had killed the previous king Galbatorix, a Dragon Rider who had brought nothing but evil and tyranny to the once prosperous country. The camp was small. Only a third of the twelve elves that had accompanied Eragon and Saphira outside of Alagaesia survived. Life out here had been hard, the group having no knowledge or experience about what lay outside of Alagaesia, and new surprises often took an elf's life before the rest of the band could figure out how to stop it. When Eragon looked around, he saw only how downtrodden the group had become. Even Saphira, whom was often the source of wisdom and guidance Eragon went to, didn't know what to do anymore.

Saphira, we can't stay like this much longer. The stress will kill the rest of the elves, if some unknown creature doesn't do it first. Eragon kicked a stone into the fire as he spoke to his dragon through their mental link that only Riders and their dragons could share.

I agree, little one.

As always, Eragon was comforted by Saphira's voice. His bond with her was so strong that he could not sleep and wanted to curl into a ball of loneliness if they were parted by a distance great enough for their link to break. This had happened a few times in their history, but thankfully not since they had left Alagaesia.

There is one place that is already well-suited for dragons and Riders. Alagaesia. I know that we dismissed all of the possibilities within Alagaesia because of bloodshed that occurred there, but they are preferable to us raising the new Riders out here where we could lose a student every day. I'd rather the young Riders and dragons are safe in Alagaesia, even if the stronghold is someplace where lives were lost. Saphira continued.

Then let us begin the return journey in the morning. We have had nothing but failure out here. We must return.

The sun filtered down the canopy, lighting the forest below a brilliant green as it reached Alanna's window and hit her in the face. Waking herself from her waking dreams, Alanna sat up and stretched languidly before she threw off the covers and walked to her wash basin, her thoughts lost in how much her life might change today. After dowsing herself lightly in the brisk water, she walked to her closet and chose her outfit for today. Alanna's shirt was a rich amethyst purple, her pants made out of animal hide.

Three years ago, her mother and father had gone off to war, to fight King Galbatorix. Neither of her parents made it back, and so the care of herself and her brother went to their uncle, their father's brother. It was a living hell. Alanna had never liked her uncle and now she despised him. He wasn't a nice person, which was the understatement of the century in Alanna's opinion. But, hopefully, today her lot in life would change. No more eating last because she was female, no more playing restrictions. And, most of all, no more Uncle Gerard.Dressed and now excited, Alanna skipped to breakfast and stood beside her twin brother, Dusan. Together, perfectly synched, they bowed respective to their genders and watched as their uncle stuffed his face with breakfast. His scraps went next to Dusan. In the early days, her brother had tried to reason with their uncle to let her eat first, but his only reward was a switch to his backside and Alanna being starved each morning. Dusan never spoke against Gerard again. Now, Dusan did his best to leave Alanna as much as he could. Alanna knew her brother would have gladly given her all of his food and went hungry himself, knowing he could go out into the forest and handpick his food from the bushes and trees throughout the day, but their uncle needed to be sure that Dusan was eating enough because Dusan was the male and so he had to be strong so he could rule over the female of his life and be a good warrior in battle. Alanna and Dusan both agreed this was completely against their culture and their own personal beliefs but their uncle had the power to do whatever he wanted to them until they were adults so they did what they could to placate him, dreaming of this very day.

So, in his usual way, her brother ate enough to satisfy their uncle then he slid his plate to Alanna's spot, letting her come up to sit. Politely, Alanna ate until the plate was clean and drank every drop of the water she was given. After she and her brother gave their uncle their plans for today they were allowed to go about their way. Standing before their uncle again, they bowed again and demurely walked out of the dining room. Once the doors were closed behind them, the façade their uncle had cultivated slipped away and the two siblings became children again as they laughed and raced to the center of the city.

Because it was so early in the morning, there were not that many elves out yet, so Alanna and her brother raced into line and bounced on their toes as they followed the line toward the myriad of dragon eggs.

The eggs were set up on tables, organized by first color, and then size from smallest to largest. Alanna gasped at the number and color variety of the eggs and she could almost cry. For Alanna, there was little that was more important in life than color, and this was her dream come true, made even more perfect by the fact that the source of the colors were all dragon eggs, the very epitome of beauty.Alanna was so consumed with the eggs that her brother had to physically shake her to get her out of her reverie. It was her turn to receive her egg and she faced Queen Arya, curtsying."Good morning, Alanna! How do you feel?" Queen Arya asked after writing down her name."Nervous, excited, mystified, a little afraid." She answered quickly, practically unable to stand still. She had to keep bouncing on her toes to keep her excitement form getting out of control.Arya chuckled. "Yes, I can understand that. Alright, then. Let me see your eyes, darling?"Alanna leaned in toward her Queen and tried to not blink as Arya analyzed her eyes, her fingers gently touching her chin. Then Arya turned back to the parchment and wrote down a character in the ancient language that was native to elves before turning to one of her assistants."You see, Alanna, Eragon discovered that there is a correlation between the Rider's eyes and the dragon's color. We're using this to our advantage. Until you either become a Rider or until you hold all of the eggs available you will hold eggs that match your purple eyes. To make sure you don't hold the same egg twice and accidentally skip over an egg, we're keeping a careful record of the egg you hold every week. Each egg will be sized before you take it and before we take it back in one week. You'll only get one week with each egg and you'll have to give it back if it doesn't hatch. But even if none of the eggs hatch, don't worry. Eggs will be produced in the future and you'll be allowed to try again until the day you die. If, in the event one of the eggs does hatch, I want you to come immediately to me with the hatchling to begin your training, okay?"

"Yes, Arya."

"Good. Do you have any questions?"Alanna thought very hard and finally shook her head. Then the assistant came back and handed a purple egg to Arya, who measured its size and documented it before she handed the egg to Alanna. Alanna was so nervous that she held the egg like she would an infant. She bowed and stepped out of line to let her brother go. Dusan received a brilliant cyan egg and the two carefully walked back to their uncle's house.They spent the rest of the day in the same room, talking to each other and their eggs, dreaming about what would happen if they became Riders. When it became dark, they separated and went to their bedrooms to sleep. Alanna stayed up later than usual, though, still finding difficulty adjusting in her new situation. Staring at the egg tucked in beside her, Alanna unknowingly drifted into her waking dreams.

Week after week came and went. Alanna's first egg didn't hatch, nor her second, third, fourth or fifth eggs, much to her disappointment. As she had to return egg after egg, her confidence and hope chipped away until she had given up on the egg hatching for her. Now, she saw the egg as a mockery of her hopes and dreams. She wanted to be a Rider; who didn't? But, for her, being a Rider would have added benefits. In elvish society, children only left the household of their parents when they had reached adulthood, which was still several years away for Alanna and her brother. So Alanna saw the eggs she held and eventually had to give back as a sentence to more years with Uncle Gerard. At least she could take solace in her brother also not being chosen as a Dragon Rider yet. Together, they were able to share their disappointment and hopelessness and come to terms with living with Gerard for the next eight years.Alanna held a total of fifteen eggs for three months and three weeks. By now, she had not even dared to let herself hope that this last egg would hatch for her. And then, on the sixth and final night, the