"Mi-Mistress, are you okay?"

"There's nothing for you to worry about, young Anna. Let's continue with the lesson."

"Not that I don't appreciate your teaching, but when will we focus on m-magic, Mistress Arya?"

"Master Eragon will take care of that part of your training, as it is important for you to develop a healthy, stronger, and more enduring body first."

That morning, Arya had taken the young Rider under her wing and showed her the first stage of Rimgar. To Anna, these movements and stretches seemed as if her teacher intended to tear the flesh from her bones. And when it was her turn, her movements were far from perfection.

They call this exercise 'The Dance of Snake and Crane'? No wonder. It looks like only those two animals could perform these movements!

"Does Mistress Arya even remotely resemble one of those strange creatures? Stop complaining unnecessarily and focus on your training. You want to impress your idol when you meet him, and you can't do that by criticizing a Rider's teaching methods."

"Alright, Altaris. How is your training going, by the way?"

"Master Firnen will only challenge me with some light flying maneuvers to improve my condition and strength. The really difficult things will be taught by Mistress Saphira."

"That's odd. Mistress Arya wants to focus on strengthening me physically too. She leaves magic and the like to Master Eragon."

"Anyway, we're not in a position to criticize our mentors since we're still just chicks."

After several hours of physical training, the blonde Rider sat in a side chamber of her sleeping quarters, which served as a washroom, and doused herself with a bucket of cold water. She felt as if she were repeating every exertion she had experienced in her entire life in that short span of time.

"Hey, Altaris, don't you find it really strange how Mistress Arya is behaving? Since last night, her mind seems to be elsewhere, and today she's been chasing us all over the Dragonhold."

"As I said earlier, we're not in a position to doubt our mentors' teaching methods, and as for her mental state, I think you're mistaken. She didn't seem mentally absent to me this morning. You're just getting worked up because you want to give up after a morning of training."

"Give up? No! I just find it strange that as a mage, I have to undergo such physically exhausting training. I thought she would give me a comprehensive magical education, but she said that Master Eragon will take care of that."

"You're just worried that you'll make a bad impression on your idol if you only know a few magic tricks!"

"Stop it..."

"No, I won't stop. Wasn't it enough that Mistress Arya scolded you on the way here precisely because you're so impatient and naive?"

"That's not true at all. She was just not happy that I couldn't keep our conversations private."

"And that you got fixated on a completely different topic during her lessons. I only need to remind you of various muscle groups that males of your races must have."

"Why are you always against me since we started training with our mentors? I thought you were my friend and companion, someone I could always rely on!"

"I am your friend, companion, and kindred spirit! It's not that I'm fundamentally against you, but when I see you criticizing an experienced Rider without any basis, I have no choice but to hold you back. I hope you understand that."

After finishing the morning training, the older Dragon Rider gave them the afternoon off to rest. The prospect of resuming training later dampened the mood of the young Rider, who was already feeling down. Anna took small steps out of the washroom and joined her black dragon, who had made himself comfortable in her cave, dozing off. But when Altaris heard the growling of her stomach, he urged her to go down to the Dwarven city to get something to eat.

"You were a bit too harsh with your chick, Snail. If you continue like this, she might collapse before we even reach Hedarth."

"Perhaps, but it made her focus more on her lessons than on other trivial matters."

"That may be, but it doesn't change the fact that you're being too strict with her and especially with yourself. You're comparing her training to yours from your childhood, and she can never catch up that quickly. After all, she's just a female Round-Ear-Two-Legs who never received any physical training."

"What exactly should I do then? This is the first time I'm training a human girl. With the Varden, it was mostly men, and when I did teach a woman, it was in magic."

"Well, at least you have a good baseline of her current maximum physical performance. Now you should treat her with a bit more gentleness and gradually increase the training workload. But don't forget that the standards of the Pointy-Ear-Two-Legs are currently irrelevant."

"Great, as always, you're right. I'll make it a bit easier for her until we reach him, but I feel like you're making it too easy for the black chick yourself."

"That's because I only demand things that I can do myself, and I instinctively know when a dragon can or must master something. He's also not yet strong enough to fly difficult maneuvers, but just as impatient as your student."

"I'll be relieved when we reach Ostmond and can entrust the chicks to him. I still can't identify myself as a Master of the Dragon Riders."

"Neither can I, Snail. Now, bring out your hand mirror and contact him already. You've been more than tense since that conversation with that Pointy-Ear. The little King wants to know what happened to him too, but thanks to me, he leaves it to you to inform him."

"How did you manage to convince Orik? You know very well that I can't face him like this! What will he think of me if I suddenly want to talk to him after such a long time?"

"That, little Snail, is entirely your fault. You never wanted to listen to me. Now swallow your fear, as there is essentially no reason for it! Besides, if you wait any longer, that female Pointy-Ear might beat you to it."

Arya and Firnen sat on a slope along the outer wall of the Beor Mountains, letting the sun warm their bodies. The elf briefly considered whether it would be worth it to contradict her dragon, but she concluded that this endeavor was likely to fail. Hesitantly, she opened one of the saddlebags and pulled out a small handheld mirror. To avoid being blinded by the sun, Firnen spread his leathery wings over his rider. But before she had the opportunity to contact him, a figure appeared on the surface, revealing itself to be Orik.

"Oh, you're easily reachable. I expected more waiting time."

"What can I do for you, King Orik?"

"Now, do away with the 'King' and the formalities already. You know very well that we can have a normal conversation in private."

"Apologies, but I'm not accustomed to this kind of conversation. What can I do for you, Orik?"

A smile brightened the face of the Dwarf King, and a 'See, there we go!' from the green giant made the elf smile as well.

"Ah, the advice I received from Firnen was really good. Finally, I see a smiling elf. That's a rarity among your people!"

"I think I need to have a serious talk with my dragon. Anyway, what can I do for you now, Orik?"

"Ah, I forgot. The smile of an elf is too rare to let it fade away with political talk. I just wanted to let you know that Nasuada contacted me again this morning and wanted to speak with you. She tried reaching you, but it seems your mirror was out of reach."

"Of course. I didn't want to be disturbed during the lessons. Thank you for informing me, and I will contact her now."

"No problem, Arya. However, there is one more thing. One of my city guards came to me earlier and reported that your two protégés caused some trouble in one of our kitchens and reacted a bit too curiously to a priest of the Dûrgrimst Quan, which angered him. I think you should rein them in before they do or say something that could lead to an unfortunate incident."

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will have to train them harder so that their excessive curiosity doesn't get them into trouble."

"You're welcome, Arya. That's all from my side, but if you have anything else on your mind, I'm here to listen."

"No, thank you, Orik. I will attend to my duties now. Have a pleasant day."

They bid farewell to each other with a smile. Firnen, who had shown an unusually high interest in the whole conversation, rejoiced inwardly. The little King was indeed the right choice to act as a good friend and cheer up his rider.

Firnen, thank you...

However, as Arya had two more conversations to attend to, her thoughts returned to her gloomy reality. She decided to tackle the greater evil for her, Eragon, as she couldn't think clearly otherwise. After repeating the Dream-sight spell from the previous day, a milky white surface appeared on the mirror again. The elf observed the void in silence for a while until her green soul companion gave her a mental nudge.

"Eragon...?"

To her great disappointment, another elf appeared before her, someone she would prefer to erase from her memory.

"I'm sorry, Argetlam, but he is not available to speak today either."

"And coincidentally, you are within reach of his mirror again. But I must speak with him, as it concerns a matter of the Order."

Yaela frowned slightly and stepped out of the mirror's view. Arya hadn't really lied since she spoke in the Ancient Language. However, she used those words with the intention of informing Eragon about Anna's behavior. Internally, she scolded herself for resorting to such unpleasant means to prevent Yaela from uncovering her true intentions, but the conversation from the previous day was still fresh in her memory. The elf from the East, apparently quite annoyed, returned to the mirror and informed her that Eragon was on his way back from a place called Souls' Peak and would contact her once he was back.