I had been riding for a long time and I was exhausted, Liduen must have been exhausted as well because he slowed down and went no faster than a walk. I had been going west towards DrasLeona, but, I wasn't going to stay in that retched town, I was just going to stay away from the edge of the battle field. Liduen stopped, I urged him to keep going but I could tell he was tired and wasn't going anywhere, so I made camp.
After I started the fire, I went over to where I put my saddlebags and bedsheets and laid down. I tried to fall asleep but I couldn't so I took the green rock out of my bag and turned it around in my hands. It was odd, I had seen nothing so pure green in my entire life, the sea green veins running through it were pristine. I couldn't help but look at it, and that's what I did until I fell asleep.
The next morning I woke up, and rubbed my eyes like I do every morning. I saw that the fire was out, I didn't care it was to hot for a fire anyway. I looked over at Liduen, he was acting weird and standing as far back as the stake I tied him up to would allow. His looked at me, fright was in his pale brown eyes. I looked over to the emerald stone by my bed and it was in pieces, it was a shell. "An egg," I though out loud. I looked over to my saddlebags, things where strewn everywhere. I jumped up and ran over to them, I moved the larger bag and behind it, eating my salted pork strips, was a dark green dragon. It was only the size of large house cat but it was a dragon, I though that dragons were a myth. I was scared. The green dragon came out if the green stone—egg. I fell backwards from fright, and it looked up at me. "It is so cute," I said aloud.
It moved closer to me until it was sitting on my bed sheets in front of me. I reached out to touch it, and it welcomed my hand. It stretched out its long neck so I could pet him. He looked at me with intelligent eyes. Then his snout touched my palm, it burned really bad, I rubbed my hand on the bedsheets to try and stop it. When the burning stopped, I looked down on my palm, it had a silver oval in the middle of it, it was glowing, and it looked quite odd. While I was staring at the mark I heard a male voice rumble inside my head;food, do you have anymore food.
That scared me, I didn't know that dragon talked Did it talk? Was the voice only in my head?
"Did you just talk?"
The dragon made a deep rumble and I guessed that was it laughing. Yes, dragons aren't the stupid creatures man thinks them to be, now do you have any more food. I'm starving.
I walked over to my saddlebags, and turned to look at the dragon, it was licking it's long claws. I searched through my food bags and found some more pork, I walked back over to him and gave him the food, he gulped it down. Thank you Sylvana.
"You know my name." I asked, trying to be polite. "What's your's?"
I don't know, you didn't give me one, he replied. He looked up at me, his green eyes sparkling.
"You're mine." I said excitedly.
Well if you want to be possessive it would be you belonging to me, I chose you remember. I didn't have to hatch for you but I did. He said with a laugh.
"Why did you hatch for me." I asked, I reached out my hand and patted his scaly head. "I didn't believe dragons existed anymore."
I don't know why, I just felt something in you, and thanks for saving me from those two humans .
"Caren and Mattias, no problem, they were stupid." I said laughing. "You need a name." I thought about all the dragon names I could think of from the old stories.
"How 'bout Galzra?" I asked. The dragon shook his head.
"OK how 'bout Beroan?" He again shook his head.
"Roslarb?" He shook his head again.
"OK, what do you want in a name?" I asked.
I don't care, he said. You chose. He laughed.
I groaned. "OK," I said thinking, I smiled, I had the best name. "How 'bout Vrael"
He tilted his head and looked up at me with one big green eye, I like it, it has prestige. Vrael, the green dragon. Wasn't Vrael the leader of the the first Dragon riders, I thought.
Yes, he was. Vrael said.
"You heard my thoughts?"
We are connected, our emotions and thoughts are one. Wow, I thought. He's living up to his name already.
I heard that. He laughed.
I stood up and cleaned up the mess Vrael made with my saddle bags and went over to Liduen. He backed away from me. I told him it was okay and I stretched out my hand. He walked over to me and stood still. He didn't take his eyes off Vrael. I tossed his saddle on him along with his saddlebags. I went back over to Vrael, who was now digging in the fire ashes.
"What are you doing?"
Playing in the ashes. I started laughing, and I rolled up my bed sheets and tied them to Liduen.
"Vrael can you fly?" I asked. He stretched out his scrawny wings and flapped them. They only took him a foot of the ground and then he dropped. Not yet. He replied.
"Okay then, your going to have to get on the horse with me."
That thing, it's frightened of me, and I'd rather not. He backed away from the horse.
"Vrael, how else are we going to get to the Varden, I'm not walking and I don't want to leave you here." He looked up at the horse and then me gave in.
Fine, but when I can fly You are never riding that horse again. I picked him up and he wrapped his long spiked trail around my arm. Liduen seemed worried at first but then Vrael sent him calming thoughts and he settled down.
It took four days to make it to the Varden tents and by that time, the troops were taking them down and returning to Surda. In four days Vrael grew almost bigger than Liduen and he could fly. He last day it took to get to the tents, he had to fly close to the horse. We entered the encampment and a group of soldiers stood talking. I walked rode over to them, Vrael following. The looked frightened of us and bowed down to us.
"Don't bow, it just makes you look foolish. Can you point me in the direction of your leader." I said. Good job Sylvana. He said his voice booming in my mind.
"Lady Nasuada, is in the big tent," one of the soldiers said pointing in the direction he intended. "I think, Rider Eragon is there as well."
"Thank you." I said before trotting off toward the tent.
Eragon had been in this meeting for hours, and they had gotten nowhere. The Varden wanted to storm Urû'bean now, but the Elves and the Dwarves wanted to wait and bury the dead. Now the leaders wanted Eragon to chose what they did, but he didn't know. Galbatorix's troops wouldn't be ready for an invasion, but neither would the Varden's. Then he sensed something out side. It was another dragon, it was young, and it's rider was with him. It wasn't Murtagh and Thorn, but who was it. He looked at Saphira and he could tell that she could sense int too.
"Excuse me," he said. "I have someone that needs me out side." He and Sapphira left the tent and walked down the row of tents, he saw her before she saw him.
