Living in The Dragon World

The Talíta, strong and proud glided across the water, as smoothly as a swan across a calm lake, a fact that always astounded Eragon, considering that the river that was the Edda churned and roared pass the surrounding landscape. It had been a month since setting out from Alagaesia and still they had not found a place to settle and raise the dragons. The Eldunari were getting anxious, as a few of the younglings in the eggs were starting to wake from their spell-induced sleep.

Umaroth had stated that they had another month or so before the first eggs would hatch, and that worried Eragon. Even if they found a place to settle tomorrow, it would still take them time to build a place for the hatchlings to live while they grew, not to mention housing for the elves that had accompanied him and a safe place to store the Eldunari.

Two days after Umaroth's verdict, the river widened and flowed into a gigantic lake.

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From the deck of the Talíta, it appeared as if they had reached the sea, but from Saphira's back Eragon could make out the faint smudges of far off beaches. And within this lake sat an immense island. A small range of mountains sat on the southern end of the island and a lush green forest covered almost the rest of it. And, as if tailored just for them, a huge prominence sat near the mountains, large enough for a city of dragon proportions.

Using Eragon as their focal point, the Eldunari searched the island for inhabitants, but found only animals of many diverse species, many of which were new to the inhabitants of the small vessel. The lake was so large it took another half of a day before they actually reached the island, where they disembarked and, using the strength from the Eldunari, the elves transported all of their equipment to the hill. Once wards were set up to protect them from harm, they began making temporary shelters. As soon as everyone had settled down, Eragon and Saphira flew around the island, exploring its many features. A river, fed by lakes in the mountains, flowed to the north, around the city site, until it reached the exterior of the island. The mountains themselves were not overly large, larger than that of the Spine, but none nearing the great heights of the Beors. Many cliffs and caves dotted the mountains, assuring Eragon that the wild dragons would have plenty of shelter in the years to come. Also, the rich diversity of life on the island would ensure that the dragons would have plenty of food.

True to Umaroth's word, the first of the eggs hatched a month after they landed on the island, in the newly built hatchery. It was a little silver female who eventually came to call herself Bellui, although not many would know her as such; everyone just called her Istalri, for she was a fiery little dragon. Soon after an orange male hatched, and within in the same week a green almost the same color as Fírnen hatched. The hatchlings were a welcome sight that warmed the hearts of Saphira and the Eldunari. During the first weeks after the eggs hatched, the Eldunari kept a close eye on them, talking to them and such, to make sure they were not 'egg crazy' as Glaedr called it. But the young dragons acted no such way, only like those of ravenous newborns.

During that first year, the elves built the hatchery, which was the smallest of the buildings, and the living quarters, which could house fifty riders, along with four watchtowers along the coast. The rooms in which future riders would live were large enough to accommodate their dragons for decades to come; rooms were white, but a spell was embedded in each room so that when occupied, the color would change to match that of the rider's dragon.

Five years of ceaseless construction would pass before all the buildings were complete. The library, filled with all the books Galbatorix had stolen and many more besides, and dining hall, large enough to accommodate ten dragons Belgabad's size, were built on to the living quarters. Eragon and the elves used architecture from all the races, blending each into harmonious structures. The elves had sung their homes from the trees around the city, and, using the memories of the Eldunari, sang the rocks at the base of the mountains into a training facility reminiscent of a dwarvish hall. Eragon built his home a few miles from the city, for he wanted the privacy but did not want to be too far away from his students, atop a rise so he could still keep an eye on his city. He built it mostly himself, devoting many of his waking hours moving the two ton stone blocks that formed his home. He allowed no one to help him, save Saphira and the Eldunari when he needed the energy, for this was his luxury and he would earn it with his own sweat and blood.

The new city rivaled Vroengard, some of the buildings ending up twice as large as ones in Doru Araeba. In the very center of the city was a statue of a dragon, white as the snow caps of the Beors, and larger than Saphira by two, who had been called Bid'daum, and standing next to him was a blonde haired elf, who was Eragon's namesake and the first of the Riders, holding a purple egg in his hand. Built into the statue was a hidden door that led down a long winding staircase. At the bottom of the staircase was a room that housed the Eldunari and many of the treasures from Galbatorix's castle that Eragon and the Elves thought were too dangerous to let become common knowledge, even among the riders. Also among the treasures, were hundreds of Rider's swords that the elf Rhünon had forged. Like the Vault of Souls, one had to speak their true name in order to gain access to this secret chamber. Of the thirty or so elves living in the city, only Blödhgarm knew of the chamber's location, and not even he knew how to open it. The elves did not wish to know, lest the knowledge wrested from their minds.

It was a decade before the first of the bonded eggs hatched. The purple hatchling, Mithrim, bonded with Kellif, a dwarf from the clan Dûrgrimst Vrenshrrgn. By the time Mithrim was large enough to fly, the second egg had hatched, this time to an elf named Loivissa, after the flower; she named her white dragon Hvitr. Once both dragons were large enough, they set out to the island, which Eragon and the elves had named Ília Skulblakar, which meant Island of Dragons. With them traveled the Queen of the Elves, Arya. The scale and grandeur of the city astounded and amazed her, who had never seen buildings of this size or artistry. While there she met with the elves and many of the fifty or so of the wild dragons on the island. She and Eragon talked for long hours about the building of the city, of the training of the new riders, and of many things of no importance, but never did they mention the fact that she and Fírnen would soon be leaving. When she did finally say farewell, she took with her two more eggs to pass among the races.

Now, a century after the end of the war, Ília Skulblakar housed eight dragon riders and almost 300 wild dragons, for many had nested and birthed eggs for themselves. Many of the wild dragons lived apart from the riders, but a few, such as Yülqa, a red, and Telíf, a green, lived within the city itself, participating in the training of the bonded dragons. The oldest of them, the silver Istalri, had a place in Eragon's hold, where she slept, ate, and had even nested, giving half her eggs into the care of the elves to be bonded as Shur'tugal. Life was peaceful, or as peaceful it can get with dragons, and Eragon and the elves still found themselves awestruck when they looked out their windows and saw the dragons, for none of them had ever dared to dream that this was their life, their home.