Chapter 1

After 4 days of chasing a herd of deer, Eragon, a 16 year old boy, with brown hair, and eyes to match, slowly and silently picked up his bow and knocked one, absentmindedly holding two in readiness.

Silently he pushed his way through the dense underbrush and trees and found himself in a clearing. 40 yards away he saw the herd of deer he had chased through the spine the previous 4 days.

He felt the tension seep though his veins. The pressure bore down on him. If he missed he would go home empty handed, and his family would surly starve. They had no money and his uncle would never take charity.

He tightened his grip on the bow and pulled back on the string. He quickly chose his target aimed and-a green, blinding flash erupted in the forest. The bow twanged when he quickly let go to shield his eyes. A soft thud echoed in his ears as the arrow struck the ground.

When the light had faded he quickly glanced around. He grimaced as the last deer disappeared into the forest then turned again searching for someone or something that could have caused the disturbance. Seeing none, he walked over to the quivering arrow sticking out of the ground and grabbed the arrow. (Shit!)

He grunted and kicked the ground sending up a spray of dirt. A bare spot in the corner of the field caught his eye. He carefully walked over to the spot.

"What the?"

The trees were stripped bare, still puffing flumes of smoke. The ground encircled by trees was stripped bare, forming a perfect circle. In the middle of the circle a polished, green gem laid, the ground surrounding it was charred black. A grayish plume of smoke, lazily drifted over the stones perfectly cut edges, before disappearing into the morning mist. He carefully stepped into the circle.

Using the tip of his arrow he poked the stone, when nothing happened he leaned over and poked it with his finger, then scooped it up. "What the?" he grunted to himself. "Guess we will have money for food." He let his fingers slide over its smooth surface, before he began the long walk to Carvahall.

"Damn!" Screamed a shade as he quickly searched through a small parcel.

"Its not here!"

He glared at an elf that lay crumpled on the ground. "When you wake I will torture you, until I get the information I want, or you die, whichever comes first……."

In a nearby bush a single tear touched the ground, filling the misty air with a tinge of salt. The shade dropped the small bag he had searched through, and slung the elf on his shoulder. She was beautiful, but to him, she was just another face. He whistled and a black horse emerged from behind a bush. He quickly glanced around, and then with a swift kick, he was off. Dodging trees, and bushes, he raced from the forest.

A scream pierced the night as the shade rode off, the elf over his shoulder and anger swelling within him.

Eragon walked down the cobbled road to Sloan's butcher shop. He took a deep breath and pushed open the door. Sloan, was a feisty, big man, who ran a butchers shop. He was a seething liar, who would do anything, and stop at nothing, to get on anyone's bad side, and wouldn't miss a chance at making Eragon in particular, look bad. He stood behind a counter cleaning a knife. Jessica, his 15 year old daughter, was nothing like him. She had blond hair and dark green eyes. She was unusually skinny for her age too.

Sloan smirked from behind his counter. "Oh hello Eragon what do you want? To buy some meat I suppose ….. But tell me Eragon, how do you plan to pay?" Eragon grimaced. It seemed like every time Sloan said his name he had poison in his mouth. "No, Sloan, I don't have any money but-"Sloan cut him off. "Then get out of my shop!" His body jolted as he yelled. Eragon calmly sat the polished green stone on the counter. Sloan eyed it wearily. "You've got to be kidding me! I'm not going to trade my meat for a cruddy rock!" Eragon snatched the stone as Sloan pushed him out of the shop. Eragon sighed and dropped the stone in his knapsack as the door slammed behind him.

"PSST!" Eragon looked around. Jessica stood behind the shop. "Come here!" She motioned for him to follow.

Jessica disappeared behind the building. Eragon followed her. "Eragon, I'm sorry my pa kicked you out of his shop so…., I'm gonna get you some meat, okay? And don't say no because I know how you are." He stared at her. "Are you sure? I don't want you to get in trouble…" She nodded. "Yeah, but I won't." She slipped inside; "Oh!" she stepped back outside the door. "I'm gonna need your bag too." Eragon nodded and handed it to her.

She quickly stepped inside again. There was a series of quick chopping before she stepped outside with his bag in hand. "That's as much as I could fit. I hope its enough." He nodded. "You don't know how much you've helped me." She smiled and darted down an alley that led to her house.

Eragon began the long walk to his house. When he got there he found that the light was on. Garrow, his uncle, was sitting in an old rocker, watching the sun set. Eragon picked up his pace. "Uncle Garrow!" His uncle stood up and waved. Eragon started to trot. Garrow opened the door when Eragon stepped on the porch. "You were gone for quite some time!" His uncle smiled at him. Eragon stepped into the old house, the floor boards creaked under his weight. Eragon smiled as familiar scents, and sounds flooded his memories.

"So…Eragon? Did you get one? Eragon shrugged. "Sorta…" Garrow frowned. "What do you mean sorta?" Eragon laid his bag on the floor and pulled out the polished green stone. "I had the deer sighted, and"-Eragon told him the story as if he were still there. When he was finished Garrow shook his head. "I almost don't believe ya but sure enough, here's the stone, so what about the meat?" Eragon dumped the bags contents on the table and explained what Jessica had done. "So you're saying she stole the meat for you?" Eragon shrugged. "Yeah but she wouldn't let me leave so….." "You owe her now." Eragon nodded. "I know." There was a mischievous glint in Garrow's eye as he grabbed a slab of meat. "Okay, just telling you, now let's eat!"

Eragon looked around. "Where's Roran?" Garrow put the meat on the stove. "Oh, He's outside finishing the chores." Eragon nodded. "Is it ready yet?" Garrow nodded after a while. Eragon Jumped up and grabbed half of it the slab. "Pig" Garrow grumbled then grabbed some for himself. Eragon grunted as he wolfed it down, and then lumbered off to his room. He clumsily shoved the stone onto his shelf with the other little things he had found in the spine then dropped onto his bed, falling asleep immediately.