The Chosen
~Prologue~
It has been nearly a hundred years since Eragon defeated Galbatorix with the help of Arya and Murtagh. The land was in peace for a time, new riders had emerged to protect that peace. Now there is a new danger, the Rogues. The rogues are a faction of the riders that broke from the order. They believe that the land should be ruled by a rider, and so their leader, Aldurn, rules over Alagaesia. He killed the previous king and declared himself the immortal ruler.
Little did Aldurn know, Queen Arya had given birth nearly fifty years after he took over. The baby had no elven characteristics in looks whatsoever and was kept secret from everyone except Murtagh and a select few others. Eragon was worried for the child's safety and so, he and Arya decided to hide her form the world by giving their daughter to a family in Uru'baen, the capital of Alagaesia, where no one would suspect her. Eragon left the couple plenty of money to live off of and a present for his daughter. It is now seventeen years after this and the girl has grown to be a beautiful young woman… her name, Raven.
~Chapter 1~
Raven scanned the area around her, keeping low to the ground, her bow drawn. She had brown wavy hair that reached to her mid-back, pale white skin, blue-grey eyes, and a beauty mark below the left side of her lower lip, as well as one below her right eye. It was illegal to hunt in the forest unless you were a soldier or had special permission from King Aldurn himself. At the moment, she was breaking a law by even having her bow, let alone being in the woods hunting after deer.
As she snuck along behind bushes, tracking a buck that she had spotted an hour earlier, she heard the snap of a twig a few yards from her. Panicking, she ducked down behind the bush, lying on her stomach, her body tense and ready to run.
"Hey, did you see that?" she heard a man say.
"See what?" another asked in response.
"I thought I saw a girl…"
She could see their boots through the bushes; they had gotten closer to her location. She lyed there, sweating in fear, her heart pounding. Please don't see me, please don't see me, PLEASE DON'T SEE ME. She whispered in her mind from fear of being found. She would most likely be whipped for being out here… but others had merely been executed, it all depended on the mood of the king that day.
One of the men stepped closer and let out a sound of exclamation as he saw Raven lying there. "I found a girl" he cried out just as Raven pushed herself to her feet and began to run for her dear life. She could hear the cries of the men behind her as they scrambled for their horses and their weapons, some cursing at her and each other. A feeling of dismay and despair washed over her as she heard the sound of pounding hooves gaining on her.
She reached the edge of the forest and kept running, thinking there was only a clearing up ahead. The men were just behind her and she was beginning to panic when she stopped in her tracks. She wobbled for a second then looked down over the cliff she had come to. Giving out a small scream she turned back around to face the soldiers chasing after her. Her stomach dropped as she recognized one of them as the youngest prince, Daman. He dismounted his charge and took a tentative step towards her. "There's nowhere to run, just hand yourself over now and I can promise you that you will escape severe punishment" he said as he inched his way closer.
Raven kept silent, keeping her eyes trained on his every movement. She then said "I don't trust you scum bags".
This seemed to anger him and his comrades, because he lunged at her and landed on top, catching her off guard. He pinned both her arms above her head, only used one hand while he used the other to grab his sword. "You shouldn't have said that" he smirked as he brought the hilt of the blade down on the side of her head, sending her into complete darkness.
