I was falling through empty space. My leg hit a rock jutting out of the cliff behind me. I clenched my teeth, fighting away the pain and exhaustion of the last few days. My leg was broken, and I could only blame myself. I had grown careless in the years of peace that had caressed Alagaesia and its inhabitants.
I had been blind to a dawning era of death and suffering until my own brother betrayed us all. He had wanted revenge when we refused to listen to him. He had wanted us to march on the dwarves, but our queen, Tamunora, would have none of it. Now his revenge was coming, but not in a way anyone, elf or dwarf could have predicted. The dragons were coming.
I was jolted from my thoughts when I suddenly hit a tree root sticking out of the side of the cliff. I hung on desperately, trying to stop my momentum from carrying me past the root and to certain death. I managed to cling to the root and looked down. My head spun with momentary relief when I realised how close I had come to death. The ground was only a few metres away, with sharp rocks, angled upwards, jutting out from the cliff. I scrambled down the last few metres, careful to keep the weight off my injured leg. When I reached the bottom I looked up. My stomach jolted with dread when I saw a face peering down at me. My brother smiled wickedly, and pulled his head back over the edge. Those blasted dragons! I thought angrily as I limped away from the cliff. They were coming for me and I had to hide. The only problem was, where?
It has been 5 years since I fell off that cliff. I now have a wife and son, a rare honour for elves. My son is named Eragon, and has great magical power for one so young. Our race has high hopes for him. I suppose I should tell the story of what happened after I fell off that cliff.
I was running. I had regained enough strength to heal my leg, and after a quick rest I had started running for my home in Ellesmera. A green dragon had pursued me for many weeks before I made it safely to the forest of Du Weldenvarden. It was a majestic and deadly beast, but one you would never want to have to fight.
When I had returned home I had needed to rest for many days before I was fit again. Then I resumed practicing my spells and archery. I practiced sword fighting every day until I nearly dropped from exhaustion. After deeming myself presentable I washed and dressed in my finest clothing. It was time to warn the queen of the impending danger.
"Atra esternί ono thelduin."
"Atra du evarίnya ono varda."
"You're majesty, my brother has betrayed us all. He has teamed up with the dragons and plans to use them to destroy our race. I assure you, he is not part of this family anymore, and no one in this family shall follow in his footsteps."
"This is terrible news!" The queen exclaimed, horrified. "We must fight this new development. What do you say, my husband?" The king nodded his head.
"It is absolutely necessary that we either destroy the dragons or make peace with them. Since the latter seems unlikely we must put our best spellcasters to the job of destroying them. We may also need others to destroy any eggs or young of their kind. None can survive." I looked up in shock at the king. He had never killed something unnecessarily before, let alone asked for an entire race to be wiped out. It wasn't like him. I decided to look further into this, but now wasn't the time. "Of course Your Majesty's," I said respectfully. "Shall I convince Rhunon to make us some swords?" I enquired. Rhunon was the best smith Ellesmera, and possibly Du Weldenvarden, had.
"We shall see," Queen Tamunora answered. "We may not need them yet."
Five years passed, but this time I didn't fall into a sense of security when there was none. I trained vigilantly. Now my son trains vigilantly. He is already a capable spellcaster and an expert swordsman. He waits for the chance to prove himself worthy, but the war has not yet started. I, and many others, must prepare the elves by going on scouting trips, spying on the enemy and looking for alliances with dwarf clans. Many return, but some do not.
I lie on my bed writing this last part of my story. A dragon had spotted me on one of my scouting trips, and injured me greatly. I know I am going to die soon, and I keep a record of my journey in the hope that others may learn from my experiences and be warned of and prepared for the danger.
AN- Wow, it took me ages to find this old story. Its not brilliant, I did start writing it a few years ago. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this story, and please remember to review!
Disclaimer- I do not own Eragon
