Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Inheritance characters. Good ol' Chris does.

Warning: If you have not read all the books in the Inheritance series, there are major spoilers in here. Spoilers never bother me but incase they bug you…you have been warned.

Estara's life was about to change, but she didn't know it. She had the vague impulse to go into town that day, but for what she didn't know. She reached out with her mind, feeling about until she reached Gavnar, her brother.

Brother, we should go to town. she whispered into his head. She could sense her brother's indignation at her intrusion but agreed that he would take her. Estara smiled. She loved her brother dearly. He was the only person who seemed to understand her, the only one who didn't call her a freak.

It had always been this way. Ever since the fever that took her voice and changed her hair. When she was born, the midwife, an elf woman, had proclaimed her special, but had not told her parents why. When she was three weeks old a dreadful fever overtook her and she slipped into unconsciousness. The midwife was summoned, and although she sung her songs of healing the fever stayed. When eventually the fever broke of it's own volition, it left Estara incapable of speech-even the crying and cooing noises common with babies- and left her hair the color of silver.

She knew her parents loved her, she knew it from their minds. Although her parents would never say it, she also knew that they were scared of her. They thought her a changeling and blamed the elf woman for the abnormal changes in their daughter. Estara knew it because their minds told her. Her ability to read minds was something that even her parents didn't know about, only her brother. They also didn't know about her dreams.

Dreams were what she called them, even though she was not always asleep when they overtook her. Mostly the dreams were of little things, that should be of consequence to no one, Gavnar skinning his knee, or of her mother burning herself on a pot. But of late, the nature of the dreams changed. She had known that the harvest was going to be bad, she knew that one of the village men was going to kill his wife and that the King was going die months before each incident happened. She never bothered telling anyone this. Not even her dear brother. She just thought that the dreams were dreams, nothing else.

Her brother met her at the stump by the road to town. He smiled widely at her. "So why are we going in today?" Gavnar asked.

Not sure, Estara replied directly into his mind. Just thought we needed to go.

"You're a strange girl you know that sis," Gavnar said ruffling her silver hair. She straightened the few hairs that he had mussed and shrugged her shoulders in response, causing her brother to laugh out loud. The trip into town was a fun affair. The siblings walked, Estara remaining mostly silent, while Gavnar regaled her of tales of his most recent hunting trip with their father. He talked about how he had learned to track, reading the signs that the deer had left behind in order to stalk them. With pure joy he spoke of how he snuck up on the sleeping deer, how amazing it was to know he held the life of the deer in the palm of his hands.

It always frightened Estara when her brother spoke like this. She could sense a darkness in him, something that was barely there, but a darkness none the less. She had a dream about him once, one she prayed would never come to pass. She had see her brother screaming at her, telling her he wished she had never been born, before storming off, never to return. Her dream had gone dark after this, which was odd. She had no idea what it meant.

Before long, they had reached town. It was a small village that bordered the elves forest of Du Weldenvarden and as such was rich in the beauty of nature. Towering trees bordered the east of the village and a clear spring babbled along to the west of the town. It was a tiny town but it was home to Estara, no matter how the villagers feared her.

As Gavnar and her walked through the town, peoples conversations would stop as people turned to look at her. Adults talked about how sad it was for parents to be cursed with such an oddity for a child. The other children threw things at her, rocks bounced off her back and rolled to the ground. Gavnar would yell at the kids and chase them away, only for the children to resume when his back turned.

"Don't worry Estara," Gavnar said. "They just fear what they don't understand."

I know, Estara said smiling sadly. She did know. She could touch the minds of the villagers and sense the fear in them. No malicious intent, just fear. It was really the only reason that she tolerated the bullying. If it wasn't for my gift she thought then I would truly grow hard and hate them. She silently thanked whatever god was listening for this one oddity. Gavnar put his hand around Estara's shoulders comfortingly.

"Where too?" He asked. Estara smiled and pointed at the fountain in the middle of the town. Gavnar rolled his eyes. It was Estara's favorite spot. Whenever they came to town, this is where Estara wanted to sit. She loved to watch the hustle and bustle of the village, and this was the best vantage. Estara sat, happily. Gavnar walked over and began chatting to one of the local merchants.

Estara amused herself by closing her eyes, and trying to listen to as much as she could. She heard the thoughts of a mother as she punished her children for fighting, the merchant who was jacking up his prices for the traveler, and the thoughts of the ever present gaggle of children that followed her as she walked into town. She tried to press her mind to search farther, to the forest-the hunters who where there, the animals and something enormous. Something that touched her mind in return.

She immediately retracted her consciousness and waited in fear. Something was coming. Her frantic thoughts searched out for her brother, but he was pushing her call aside-something he learned to do over the years of telepathic communication with her. She frantically debated pushing into the minds of the villagers when she heard the horns, and she relaxed slightly.

She had heard the horns before, the horns that the Riders would blow as they drew near a town. She looked to the skies and saw them in the distance. Three dragons, their colors she couldn't tell, were headed directly for the village. She watched as one departed from the three and began to descend, and to Estara it looked like the Rider was heading strait for their village.

Suddenly her brother was at her side. "Riders," he said reverently. Estara smiled. Gavnar made no attempt to hide his desire to join the Riders lofty ranks.

Perhaps now will be your chance to join brother, she said. They watched in silence as the Rider and dragon descended into the village, landing right in front of Gavnar and Estara. The gust of wind that followed the landing of the dragon, was astounding. It nearly knocked Estara off her perch on the side of the fountain. The Rider slid down his dragon's side to land on the ground with a thud. Estara looked at the Rider, and saw that he was an Urgal.

It was common knowledge that the Urgals and dwarves had been added to the legions of the Riders after the great war with Galbatorix. But Estara had never seen an Urgal before. She stared at him as he surveyed the crowed gathered before him. His great purple dragon however stared directly at Estara. The dragons mind probed delicately at Estara's mind, Estara resisting the pull of her mind, for the dragon was indeed female. Suddenly the pull from the dragons mind was gone, but the dragon was still staring intently at Estara.

"Villagers," the Urgal Rider bellowed. "A camp has been set up for the Agaeti Wyrda. All children between the ages of nine and seventeen are asked to make the journey to the camp to be presented to the dragon eggs." He bellowed directions to the camp, which Estara knew was only a half a days journey from the village, and as abruptly as he arrived, he left.

Gavnar grabbed her hand and dragged her running back to their home. It took little convincing to get their parents to agree to make the annual trip to the Agaeti Wyrda. Gavnar was positively ecstatic. On the trip to the camp he kept saying how this was his year, how he was finally going to get chosen by an egg, how this year he was going to leave home and become a Rider. Estara hoped for her brother, this was his last year being that he was seventeen.

They arrived at the camp, and saw a great emerald dragon laying in front of the pavilion where the eggs were being kept. Estara was careful to keep her guard up, she knew that the Riders kept their minds open to search for threats, but she didn't want them to see her. Her family set up camp, ate and slept in preparation for the ceremony the next day.

Dawn came early for Estara, for she hadn't slept the night before. Images of dragons and evil magicians swirled in her mind, and fear, fear of a great danger that was looming over all of Alagaesia. Her and her brother were washed and scrubbed, and dressed in they're finest clothes. This was only the second time Estara had been old enough for the Agaeti Wyrda, which she knew meant Fate Celebration in the Ancient Language.

All of the children were to be presented to each of the five eggs, if one hatched for them, then they were the newest in a long line of Riders, since Lord Eragon had reestablished the old order. Estara was bustled into line to wait her turn to be presented to the eggs. One by one she watched children enter the pavilion, and one by one she saw the children leave. No one had yet been chosen. Before she knew it, it was her turn. A tall elf woman, with dark features gestured for her to enter. She took a deep nervous breath, and looked back at her brother. Gavnar gave her a smile. This steeled her nerves enough for her to walk into the pavilion.

When Estara entered, she was surprised at how dark it was. It was almost midday outside but the pavilion was almost dark as night. Several lamps hung about the pavilion lighting it dully. Estara could see a raised platform upon with five dragon eggs rested.

"Go on," the dark elf woman said from behind her. "It will be alright." Estara turned to the woman and was met with a kind smile. She turned back to the pavilion and looked at the eggs. On the far left was a black egg, to it's right was a green one, then a blue one a red one and finally a silver one on the far right. Estara walked up to look closer at the eggs, and almost touched the red one, but stopped herself. She looked over at the silver one, it seemed to be calling her, like a faint echo in her mind. She always trusted her instincts, so she walked over to the silver one and placed her hand upon it.

She felt the egg move, and she quickly jerked her hand away. She turned panicked to the elf woman, but she stared transfixed at the rocking egg. Estara turned back to see that a piece of the rock hard shell had already been poked away. She stood there watching, knowing that she should let the dragon work it's way out. Before a minute had passed, standing where the egg had been was a tiny silver dragon.

The dragon stared at her with an intensity that Estara had ever known. And then the dragon cocked his head, like a bird. Estara smiled widely. She extended her hand to touch it. She had always wondered what a dragons scales felt like. As soon as her hand came into contact with the dragon, a searing pain like fire ripped through Estara, and she passed out.

When she awoke she was in a small simple tent. She sat up, and heard a slight thump. She looked down at where the sound came from and saw a small very disgruntled dragon. Instinctively she reached out and touched it's mind, but was bombarded with images. Completely overwhelmed, she withdrew her mind entirely. Just then the dark elf woman walked into the tent, the great green dragon that Estara had seen the day before poked his head into the tent. She sat on the cot opposite Estara and said, "Do you know who I am?"

Estara shook her head. "I am Arya, the queen of the elves and a Rider." Estara looked at her wide eyed. She had heard stories of the elf queen, but never thought she would ever meet her. Her dragon crawled on to her lap and curled into a ball, intent on sleeping. "Your mother tells me your name is Estara." Estara nodded. "She also tells me you can not talk." Again Estara nodded, absentmindedly she stroked her dragons silky scales. Arya smiled gently, "But you do talk don't you." Surprised Estara smiled and nodded. "You are an incredibly gifted young girl." Arya continued. "To be able to teach yourself to speak with your mind, is quite astounding."

Gently and hesitantly, Estara reached out with her mind and touched the queens and the dragons. It was the only was I could speak to my brother. She said to them simply. My brother, her mind yelled and both Arya and her dragon, who's name Estara learned was Firnen, recoiled. Was he chosen by an egg? Arya frowned at her question and Estara had her answer. Her brother had not been chosen, but she had. Firnen's deep voice permeated her mind, Your dragon tells me his name is Argetrakr.

He spoke? Estara questioned But when my mind connected with him it was nothing but garbled images. She heard a deep rumbling sound that she could have sworn was a laugh come from Firnen.

That, little one, is the way that dragons naturally communicate. Firnen said Even when we learn human speech or the ancient language, that is still our first language and how dragons most often communicate with each other. Estara nodded, but she wasn't sure that she understood how the images she saw made sense.

"There will be a feast in your honor tonight and then tomorrow we will fly to Vroengaurd." Arya said with a sense of finality. She rose and said "You can join your family now." And with that the queen of the elves left the small tent. Firnen lingered only a moment before he too left Estara alone with her dragon. She studied the small sleeping dragon in her lap. His tiny razor sharp claws, the tiny ridges on his back and tail that would eventually turn into formidable spikes. He stirred slightly as she studied him. Yawning greatly he turned his shining eyes to her.

Hesitantly, she reached out her mind to the tiny dragon. This time he did not barrage her with images. So your name is Argetrakr, eh? Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue does it? She felt confusion through their link. She thought and decided to try something. She concentrated as hard as she could on an image of people talking and then a picture of someone stumbling and sent that to the tiny dragon. He stared at her, his confusion gone. She smiled. He seemed to understand.

Perhaps I can give you a nick name. she thought more to herself than to him. She struggled running over ever diminutive she could come up of Argetrakr. Arg? No. Get? That's awful. Tak? even worse. Trakr. As she thought this last one, the dragon perked his head up a little bit. hmm, that's on the right track. Uh…a series of images bombarded her from the tiny dragon, she tried to pay attention to each one. A dragon sniffing the air, tracks on the ground, a man with a bow following those tracks on the ground. A Tracker? Glee resounded across their mental connection. Estara smiled widely, You want to be called Tracker? In her mind there was an echo of the dragon rebounding her own voice,

Tracker…

Estara smiled, Tracker it is then, and with that, she picked up the tiny dragon, placed him on her shoulder and left the tent.

The feast was a blur of activity. Estara was overwhelmed, and Tracker was too. Everyone approached her to congratulate her on her being chosen. All the villagers were there and Estara felt odd at the praise she received from them. People who hadn't spoken to her once in her life, were saying how they knew she was destined for great things, and how she will bring the village honor. She felt in their minds that they were being honest, that they truly believed that she was destined for great things, but she too felt relief that the odd child would no longer be living with them.

Her parents fussed over her the whole night, they were proud. They thought her a strange child, but the midwifes words resounded in their minds, that she was to have a great destiny. The only thing missing was her brother. Gavnar was no where to be found. Estara hadn't seen him since before Tracker had hatched for her. She cast her mind out, looking for him, but there were just to many people for her to be able to pinpoint his location. Once she was sure that she had found him, she had even called out to him, but he pushed her aside, ignoring her pleas to come talk with her.

When the feast was finally winding down, she confessed to her parents that she could communicate with her mind. Though her mother was surprised, her father was not. Gavnar had slipped up and mentioned that Estara had said something. They weren't angry, like Estara had thought they'd be. They understood that she was just scared, that she'd be thought even stranger. She confessed to her mother that she'd been trying to contact Gavnar but to no avail.

"Go try to find him dear," her father said hugging her tightly. "I will make your excuses." And with that her mother took her hand and they began to search for her brother. They looked for an hour and still hadn't found him. Tracker sent Estara a stream of images, the same as last time, only this time it was him sniffing out her brother. Estara contacted her mother, and told her that Tracker had an idea.

Estara ran to the family tent, and rummaged around for something of Gavnar's, Finally settling on the shirt he had worn yesterday, she held it up for Tracker to smell. He sniffed, and huffed, and let out a sneeze. Estara sent a picture of laughter to her little dragon-who simply sent his irritation through their connection. With that Tracker leapt off her shoulder and with nose to the ground, much like a hunting dog, he began to sniff out Gavnar's trail.

Tracker let out a bugling noise, flapped his little wings and began to fly. Estara would have taken a moment to watch his first flight in awe, but they had pressing matters. She ran after Tracker, almost loosing sight of him in the dark.

He lead her to a small clearing in the middle of a wooded area, in the middle, despite the darkness she could see her brother. Gently she nudged his mind with her own. He pushed her away. She knew she had to make him listen, Tracker alighted on her shoulder. She touched Trackers mind and he sensed her unease. He made a deep rumbeling noise in his chest, which Estara knew was to sooth her. Gathering her resolve, she did something she had never done before, not to the bullies, not to the adults who thought her strange, not even to Gavnar who she trusted more than anything.

She forced her way into his mind. She pushed against his consciousness he fought her back furiously, but he was no match for her. She overwhelmed his defenses, and rushed him with her emotions, her sadness, her excitement, her love for him. Eventually Gavnar turned to look at his sister. Estara had never seen this look in his eyes before, and couldn't place it. Tracker hissed and sent a warning through their connection.

"Stay away from me," Gavnar croaked as he finally broke his silence. "Freak." Estara took a step back, tears in her eyes. He had never called her a freak before, he had always defended her.

Why brother?

"You ruined my life," he yelled standing up and stalking towards her. "You ruined my chance at being a rider."

Maybe I can speak to Arya, Estara said perhaps you can come with us.

"I don't need your pity Freak," Gavnar whispered angrily now just inches from her face. "I can make my own way in this world. I will become more powerful than you, I will become a thing even the Riders fear. Mark my words, 'sister'." A silence fell over the clearing, Estara could feel her eyes burn from tears she refused to shed. Tracker gave a small roar on her shoulder, and Gavnar turned his attention to him, "Stupid dragon. You must be as dumb as my sister is mute, you picked a rider who is barely even human." Gavnar moved to strike the tiny dragon, but Estara was faster.

She didn't know from where this strength came from or what even this power was but she blocked her brother's strike, and with her other hand open she struck him square in the chest. The power surprised her, and drained her. She shook her head fighting the sleep that threatened to overtake her. When she opened her eyes she saw that her brother had been thrown from his position in front of her, across the clearing where he sat slumped against a tree.

She willed her legs to move, but she seemed not to have the energy. She tried to contact Gavnar, but he pushed her away, as he stood up.

"I have no sister," he growled making a sound almost inhuman. "You are dead to me. Mark my words, I will destroy you and your order, even if I die in the process." Those were the final words he spoke. He sneered at her and turned and ran out of the clearing.

Estara collapsed in a shivering pile on the ground. She sobbed. She had lost her brother, her best friend. She was dead to him. She didn't know how long she cried in the clearing. She felt Tracker nudging her mind, trying to calm her, but it was no use. Years of bulling and sadness overwhelmed her at once and she continued to cry. She felt Tracker call to someone, but she did not know who. She heard the thunder of wings overhead and the trees and brush crush under the weight of a dragon. She felt arms pick her up, and carry her somewhere. She felt Tracker in her arms, never leaving her for an instant.

She felt a rush of air, and knew she was flying on dragon back. To consumed with her grief to look, she continued to cry. They landed, and those same arms lifted her again, and carried her to a tent. She heard a rush of voices some she could understand but most she couldn't. She felt her mother stroking her hair, and still she cried. Her mother never left her side, Tracker curled up on her neck his head resting just above her hear, making that soothing rumbling noise all night.

When she finally awoke the next morning, she was warm, and comfortable, but broken hearted. Her mother had, at some point laid down next to her and had held her as she cried. Tracker had not moved from his position on her neck. She touched his mind and knew that Tracker was awake. She sent him an image of their old tom cat sleeping in the same position. Tracker just growled playfully. The tent flap opened and she saw the Urgal rider standing there. He nodded to her and turned around and left. She understood that this was his way of saying that it was time to go. She was going to begin her training as a Rider.

Author's Note: This is actually my first foray into writing Eragon fan fiction. I know there is a lot going on in this chapter, from Estara POV. The other characters will flit in and out of this story, but it's mostly about Estara's mark on the riders. Hope you enjoyed!

~ChaCha