Chapter 1

((The only character I own is Amani, all the others belong to CP))

((Please review if you read.))

Brom glanced at the sword in the merchant's hand, but he was only pretending to pay attention. He did not really care about the stout man with his grimy hands and sweat-stained apron. His interest was not in the piece of short flexible steel the man held out to him either. Instead, it was whirling around in his cranium, trying to make sense of what he had heard, or what he thought he'd heard.

Brom.

He whirled, not sure what he was expecting to see. But instead there was nothing—no, wait! There! He'd seen it. A brief flash of white, and then it was gone. Could it have been?

"Sir?" Brom ignored the merchant. Thoughts still raced through his mind. Could it have been her? But she was dead; he'd seen it with his own eyes. Shaking his head sadly, he turned back to the man before him, and handed out a few coins. Money was scarce, and the sword was badly made, but his confusion had put him off balance and he found that he could not refuse the man's offer. So he took the sword, gathered his belongings, and returned to his horse. His shoulders drooped with a weight unknown to all but himself, and his eyes watered with a grief only he could bear.

Flashback

Brom walked down the hallway, pressing his hand against random cool stones. Saphira was out, hunting presumably. And he had only free time to kill. He was young, only about 15, roughly a year since he'd been chosen, chosen to uphold the great legacy of the Dragon Riders. He smiled to himself, seeing the battles he'd win, and the honor he might one day accumulate to his name.

He came to a window. He was in Ura'baen. Tronjheim would send for him in a few days hence, so he was trying to make the best of his time while he had it. His glance took him out the window and in the direction of a pond. There was a rock nearby, where the dragons would sometimes be seen, sunning themselves. However, the creature there now was no dragon. It was a tentative friend of his, Amani. Feeling a bit mischievous, he snuck down the stairs to his left and came out a door just behind the rock. Amani appeared to be sleeping, and very carefully, he crept up, reading himself, hoping he wouldn't laugh and give himself away.

Amani's back came into view. She was a slender human, with fairly decent proportions, and though she wasn't beautiful, she wasn't plain either. He gathered himself to jump up beside her, waiting just a moment longer—

Hello Brom.

He jumped, but not towards the rock. Instead he fell over backwards, tripping over his own feet. He laughed as Amani turned to face him and smiled. A full grin, all teeth visible. Laughing now too, she reached out an arm to help him up onto the rock. Gratefully taking the offered help he hopped up beside her.

They talked for while, but Amani, he noticed, was fidgeting nervously. As if she had something she wanted to say, but could not. Suddenly, a different, but welcomed voice entered his mind.

Hello little one.

Hello Saphira. Have a good time hunting?

Yes. She purred. He was sent a mental image of her standing triumphantly over the body, or more correctly, remains of a large buck. He smiled. Something is bothering you. It was a question, not a statement.

Well, not me really. Something seems to be bothering Amani, only she wont tell me what.

Tell her about the other day. The other day? he thought to himself. He knew what she meant, but still—

"You know," he said, fingers poking at anything they could find. Discussing his own problems made him nervous. "Sometimes I regret being a Rider. I don't really fit in anymore. People, they just treat me like an outside." He sighed and was about to drop his gaze, when he noticed something. Amani was smiling.

"It's not funny." he said, indignant.

"No, of course its not. I know exactly what you mean." She paused, but it seemed that her mind was made up about something. "Can I show you something?" He nodded, wonder what in Alagaesia she could be talking about now. Moving away from him, and dropping down by the water so that he was the only one that could see her, she crouched and closed her eyes. Brom waited, feeling that he was on the verge of seeing some important life changing event. And that he did, for suddenly, one of his best friends was no longer human. Instead, staring at him through beautiful, deep golden-yellow eyes, was a wolf.

End Flashback

Brom awoke with a start, but found himself safe and still in the saddle. He was coming over a ridge in the mountains, and though still several leagues from Carvahall, he would make it there within the next few days ride.