Crazy. The word barely ever reaches the front of my mind. Here's the reason: if you flip through your encyclopedia to the word crazy, it's plastered with pictures of my life. If something happened in my life that I could call crazy, there would be some nastier words that could come to my mind first.

I'm a mutant bird kid. You might think that's cool, but you'd still be in the crowd of people giving me looks if I walked past you. One minute, I might be helping people, the next minute I'm flying for my life. Of course, I enjoy flying, but being on the run is not cool. And I think my flock and I handle it pretty well.

I doubt you've never heard of me before, but if you live under a rock, my name is Maximum Ride-though I prefer to be called Max. To sum it up, I have bird DNA inside me, which hopefully explains how I can fly.

Now, if you really know nothing about me, you're wondering who I hang with. How many people want to be best friends with a fugitive mutant? Thanks, I appreciate that one. Well, I live with my flock, and we're just like a family.

First, there's Fang. Fang is probably my best friend and definitely my partner in crime. He helps me take care of the rest of the flock and he's there for me all the time. I also like him a lot. Also, there's Iggy. He's a pyromaniac, and he's blind, thanks to some freak in a lab coat's handiwork. But don't think for a minute that he can't take you. He will. Then there's Nudge. She's a chatterbox, but out of the younger kids, she's the one that has had to grow up the most. The second youngest is Gazzy. His full name is the Gasman, and it's pretty obvious why if you know him. He is a pyro-in-training, who follows in Iggy's footsteps. Finally, there's Angel, the youngest of the kids in the flock. She's got special powers that scare me to death, but once in a while the come in handy. And that's my family-pretty much the only ones I trust.

Somewhere along the way, I found out who my mom and dad are, and I do trust my mom. My dad is different. I used to trust him, but not anymore. And I never will.

My flock and I have been all over the country. We've been to New York, L.A., and everywhere in between, and both good things and bad things have happened along the way. For example, in New York, we got a dog named Total. The strange part is that he talks. Yes, talks. Even though that gets annoying, he's become part of the family too.

So like I said, not much happens in my life that you can't call crazy. Of course, when that one moment comes that throws me off, it's got to be truly unbelievable.

"Max, when are we stopping?" Nudge asked, looking at me with tired eyes. We were flying over Montana, and we had been going for hours.

"Yeah, sweetie. Just a little longer." I was getting tired too, so I was thrilled when I caught sight of a place to stay. Now, when I say, "place to stay", I'm not talking a five star hotel. Not even two star hotel. I angled down toward a cave close to a valley called Paradise Valley, the rest of the flock in tow. The sun had just set, and so it was really hard to see. But we got over it, ate a snack from inside my backpack, and hit the sack. I decided to keep watch; I wasn't ready to sleep yet.

Fang joined me on the ledge. He came out nice and quiet like a dark shadow, just like usual, but then threw a curveball at me. He asked me a question.

"What's your plan now?" He asked.

"Well, I figure we keep flying for another day or two and-

"I mean about that voice in your head and everything."

"I guess I don't know," I answered. "This whole "save the world" thing didn't exactly come with an instruction manual."

Fang sighed. "If it were up to me, I'd forget saving the world. I mean, if anybody can do it, it's you, but…maybe you should focus on where we're at now." Yeah, I thought, if only. I was interrupted by Gazzy's panicked voice from behind me.

"Max," he said, "Angel's gone! I woke up and she was just gone."

"What?" My mind reeled. I ran into the cave. The rest of the flock was up and freaking out, but Gazzy was the most worried. I guess it's because Angel's his real sister.

I knew she hadn't come out of the cave, so she must have gone further back. Calling her name, we went deeper into the cave. I glanced at my watch, which read 10:00 pm. Leave it to Angel to wander off into a dark and dangerous place at night. The kid was scaring me to death all the time. Of course, she could probably take care of herself, but that wasn't a chance I was willing to take.

We walked on and on, calling her name. I couldn't tell how much time had passed. I looked at my watch. 10:05 pm, the green, digital numbers read. Only five minutes had passed, but it had felt like hours. All I knew was the shocked feeling that breezed through me when I saw daylight at the end of the tunnel. Angel, where are you?

Hesitantly, I stepped into the light. Bright daylight of midmorning streamed down through the trees. When we'd started in the cave, it had been pitch black, but not here. Where were we? I had this sick feeling that we were being tricked, that we were all really in a white hospital room doing tests like little lab rats. But I decided that wasn't true as we walked on. Everything was real, and there was no way any guy in a lab coat could argue with that.

Angel was still nowhere to be found. I launched up into the air, and everyone quietly followed. And that's when I saw a huge shape on the horizon. It was coming fast, but I could hardly tell a thing about it. One thing I knew for sure: it was big.

I, Eragon Shadeslayer, was just as surprised when I saw five bodies rise up out of the trees in the Spine. Saphira and I were far away, but I could make out that they were people. What has Galbatorix thought up for me now?

Saphira had noticed it too, and when she growled, I started growling as well. It still gets me excited when we do things together like that. But I was too nervous to think about anything other than what lay ahead of me. Should we turn around? No, I would look like a coward. I wanted to ask Saphira what she thought, but I had already built up walls around my mind, and I didn't want to risk letting them down.

Most people seem to know who I am these days, but if you're not one of those people, then let me explain myself. My name is Eragon. I used to be an ordinary farm boy, but now I am more than that. I am a Dragon Rider. If you don't know, a Dragon Rider is a person who is chosen by a dragon when it hatches for them. A dragon will only hatch for one person-its Rider- and the two become bonded in a very special, magical way. This very thing happened to me, and now I have the gift and curse of magic.

If you wondered who Saphira is, she is a dragon. She chose me to be her Rider, and now we are all but inseparable. We love each other very much, but sometimes we argue. We have such a relationship that we say things at the same time without even knowing it.

I don't have much of a family, just my cousin Roran and his wife Katrina. Roran is like a brother to me, and I believe Katrina to be family as well. But other than them, Saphira is all I have. And in the future, she will be all I have. You see, Dragon Riders can live forever unless someone kills them, so I will most likely end up outliving the rest of my family by far. I'll most likely outlive everyone by far.

But anyway, back to the present. I decided the best option was to face the danger. Saphira agreed and sped up. As a Rider, I was gifted with heightened senses, so I could already make them out now. They were five children, the oldest just a few years younger than I was. The strange part was that these children had wings.

I let my walls down cautiously for only a minute.

Saphira, I asked. What do you think-

Magic is a very strange thing.

Do you think it was Galbatorix?

Perhaps, but we will find out soon.

Eragon was very nervous. Would this be the day that the king outplayed him?