Sorry for the wait! I have been giving my new story BloodSong (Mature!) a jump start. Plus, our home internet just cut out this week -_- Anyways, check it out if you think you can handle it! And of course, hope you enjoy this chapter and please leave a review!

Chapter 25:

Armed and Dangerous

After saying their good-byes to Roran and his family, as well as thanking them for their hospitality, the group of Riders had started toward Elesmera. Every few days of travel, Sapphira would swap passengers, allowing eveyone to get their rest and maintain their best speed. Fenrir rode Aunyx, though no one else trusted his flying skills enough to ride with him.

They made the journey in a little over two months, with only a handful of brief skirmishes with passing White Fire patrols.

Presently, they were approaching the border of Elesmera on foot. After the mental search by the Elven guards, who had no idea what to do with the Master Rider in front of them, they proceeded to the Queen's hall.

Queen Arya's eyes grew wide and tears began to swell as the group of them walked in. She started toward them but slowed herself as she remembered the guards that were still in the room.

She cleared her throat.

"Leave us," she choked.

The guards looked to one another in confusion before Arya shot them an authoritative glare. They averted their eyes and gave a quick bow before hurriedly marching out the door.

Arya walked (Her dress would not allow her to run) over to them and wrapped her arms around Evalette and Fenrir tightly. After an awkward pause she embraced Eragon as well.

"It is so good to have you all back," she said as she wiped her eyes.

It was only then that she seemed to notice the three other Riders standing behind her family, shifting about uneasily as they watched the affectionate scene.

"And the other Riders have my thanks for helping them return," she tried to add with a smile.

The Riders gave a half-hearted bow in response.

They spent the remainder of the evening catching up, mostly with Eragon, before they each went their separate ways for the night. No one questioned when Arya offered for Eragon to stay in her quarters. Fenrir and Evalette were shown to two spare bedrooms, usually reserved for visiting officals from the human or dwarf government. Valeria, Aerin, and Icerara left and went to stay in the small barracks that served as quarters for the Riders.

The following morning grew serious again. They gathered to discuss Fenrir's going rogue. He explained his motives and while none of them appreciated that he had risked himself on the fool's errand, he was at least partially forgiven, leaving them to discuss other matters.

Namely the White Fire Dominion.

There were equal sides of opposition and support for a confrontation of Du Hvitr Istalri Dominia, and their debate went on for the majority of the morning.

"Fine, don't waste your troops, just let us go ourselves!" Fenrir shouted, annoyed that such a seemingly simple decision had to be overcomplicated.

"I will not send our five young, inexperienced Riders against an enemy of unknown numbers!" Arya replied to his aggression sternly.

"We would not be inexperienced if you would just let us take our dragons out for training!"

"The new order of Riders is young and weak, Fenrir, we cannot afford to put you or your dragons in danger."

"So we simply sit and hide? That is the grand new order of Riders that you plan to show the world?"

"It is better than another dead order."

Fenrir withdrew from the argument in frustration.

They all sat back in their chairs around a large table on which lay a map of all of Alagaesia. A single mark was drawn on the map, marking the location of Fort Halifax. Once Eragon had found the name of the man in charge of the White Fire Dominion, Proteus, they had contacted the Elves' extensive network of spies and scouts to locate him. They had a loose lead that he was stationed at Fort Halifax, a few dozen miles northeast of the capitol.

Fenrir could not believe they were taking so long.

There was a threat; they should deal with it, simple!

For once, the look in Valeria's eyes showed she was in agreement with his impatience. They had avoided confrontation for too long.

"Alright," Arya broke the silence, "the Riders will accompany Eragon while he flies to the capitol to try a political solution with the queen. None of you will do anything at all until ordered to! If peaceful solutions fail, only then will we even consider further action."

Eragon nodded in agreement with the plan.

The Riders shared glances, knowing this was probably the best they would get.

"Still," Eragon broke in, "I would like everyone outfitted and armed enough to withstand a war. It is better to overprepare."

"Agreed," Arya adds.

They are dismissed with a wave of her hand, sent off to find the proper equipment.

They get into the royal armory and the Elves there fall upon them, taking measurements and making notes. After some arguing amongst themselves, they begin pulling out different chainmail tunics and padded overcoats, holding them to the Riders' bodies and finding which best fits.

After some switching around and changing sizes, they each slip into their chainmail, followed by the padded coats.

The measurements payed off and the protection fit snugly on all of them, while still feeling light and not restricting their movement too much.

"Riders, if you would follow me," said one of the Elves.

"The queen commisioned personlized armor for each of you soon after you were chosen as Riders. Our best smiths have been putting the final touches on them this past month. The more decorative designs are not as elaborate as we hoped, but they can be finished later, assuming you do not damage the armor too much," the Elf continued as we entered one of the back rooms of the armory.

Five mannequins were dressed in elegant armor, each with their own unique design and color.

Based on the size and shape of each, they found which one was theirs quickly.

Fenrir's was shining black, with white trim. It was reasonably slim and light, save for the slightly larger pauldrons on the shoulders. The knuckles were lined with small spikes that looked extremely effective for close quarters combat. Embedded in the left palm was a small gem already glowing with a small amount of reserve energy. Instead of a traditional helmet, it had a hood sewn into it, made of countless small metal plates layered over a chainmail cloth. It strongly resemembled dragon scales.

Evalette's armor was much the same, except it did not have the enlarged shoulders, and was a gleaming white with light blue trim. It had a single gem embedded in the outside of each thigh, just below the waist.

Aerin's armor was the slimmest of all of them, with a light amount of plating and fingerless chainmail gauntlets. It was the same green as the leaves of the forest around them, and allowed plenty of movement. The petite Elf's agility would be completely unhindered. There was a gem of stored energy embedded in the neck like a built-in amulet.

Valeria's was almost black, but the light reflecting off of it gave it a purple pearlescence. It had a plated skirt and long, knee high plate boots, the space between the two filled in with tinted chainmail. There was a gem in the waist of her plate skirt. The undersides of her gauntlets were elongated past the elbows into small blades. It was beautifully deadly.

Icerara's armor was the only one to have a helmet instead of one of the scales hoods. The sandy brown plate armor was a fine balance of Elven elegance and intimidating bulk. It looked heavier than the rest, with one one shoulder much larger than the other, providing extra sheilding. The gauntlet of that same side was similarly enlarged into a built-in sheild. A Large gem was placed in the center of the chest. The helmet was a barrel shape with a "T" shape opening in the face, revealing a slim strip across his eyes and down his nose and mouth.

Next they were lead into another weapon to retrieve their weapons.

Fenrir's was a sturdy longsword with an ornate black hilt. It was accompanied by a small, round sheild that slipped easily onto his forearm and still left his hand free for the most part.

Evalette received two elegant shortswords. They were slightly curved; the hilts trimmed with blue, the blades a chilled light gray.

Aerin was given a belt of deadly throwing knives, a light bow and quiver, and a beautiful dagger to defend herself in close quarters.

Valeria received a longsword and dagger which she held backwards in her offhand, the blade facing down in a position suited for parrying the blades of her attackers.

Icerara's weapon was a huge two-handed greatsword. If enemies didn't retreat at the sight of the weapon alone, it could easily cleave an unprotected human male in half. It had a strong leather grip and sturdy hilt, the blade itself almost as tall as Aerin and about half the diameter of her torso. Even in the hands of a strong young Elf like Icerara, it wouldn't be very agile. Luckily he would not have to do much dodging; between the heavy armor and the devestating blade, he would be a nigh unstoppable soldier on the battlefeild.

Walking out to meet their Dragons in the large open field they had used for training so long ago, the sunlight shining brightly over their new armor which was not yet scarred by use, they truly felt like real Riders for the first time.

Firnen assured all of them that he had trained the young Dragons well during all this time, but it did not ease their apprehension as they settled into the harnesses of their respective Dragons.

Even Fenrir found himself still nervous, despite having some experience already. He still found it uncomfortable and was uneasy when he looked down at the ground beneath them, but he pushed the worry aside.

The clearing roared as gusts of wind flattened the grass around them, Eragon and Sapphira launching off the ground almost effortlessly. The five young Riders followed soon after, rising unsteadily into the air and joining the Master Rider in the sky.

And off they flew towards the capitol of Alagaesia.

For your reference, and mine, a list of the Riders, their Dragons, and a short description of the appearance of each:

Rider: Evalette. Deep green eyes. Light brown hair.

Dragon: Seraphina. Shimmering white with light blue tiniting on her wings, claws, and underside.

Rider: Icerara. Thickly built young man, with short reddish-orange hair that rises in the middle like a small mohawk.

Dragon: Rotir. Bulky rust-brown. Slightly larger than Seraphina, much thicker colored wings, claws and underside.

Rider: Valeria. Black hair.

Dragon: Reneva. Pearlescent purple. About the same size as Seraphina, and her scales shimmer a pinkish-color as the sunlight gleams off of them.

Rider: Aerin. Petite young Elf, almost childish. Short blonde hair that just barely reaches chin-length.

Dragon: Eravadir. Lime-green. Different from the other males. He seems stretched out, with a long, slender body. His underside and wings are speckled with yellow and his eyes are bright red, standing out creepily against his otherwise solid green color.

Rider: Fenrir. Black hair.

Dragon: Aunyx. Solid black. Slightly smaller than Rotir, with more lean muscle than bulk.