Fox-Kun: Geez, not even your second update and you're already slacking off.
A/N: I know, I know. to appease the readers (and beacause this chapter is so short) I will upload two chappies today.
Fox-Kun: Good. (looks down at chapter) Wow, this is pretty short.
A/N: I had writers block when I wrote this, and I started writing the next chapter instead of extending this one by accident.
Fox-Kun: How very like you. Anyways, at this time we would like to thank the wonderful people that take the time to read this pathetic thing that Sqrl-Chan calls a story-
A/N: Oi!
Fox-Kun: -and to say that Sqrl-Chan does not own the Inheritance Cycle, the land of Alageasia, or it's original inhabitants. All other characters, though, such as Cedric and Darson, are hers.
A/N: (busy shooting death glare at Foxy) Indeed. Oh, and for those of you who haven't heard, good 'ole Mr. Paolini has decided to extend the series to at least four books, as he realized that he couldn't cram all of his ideas into one book without it being larger than your average dictionary. Both Fox-Kun and I will refer to the Cycle (as Mr. Paolini calls it) by it's correct title from here on out. Just a word of warning.
Oh, and for those of you who were too lazy to read down to the bottom of the last chapter (myself included, if I hadn't written it) a Dirk is a blade too short to be considered a sword, but too long to be a dagger. It is excellent for both throwing and hand-to-hand combat.
-oOoOoOoO-
They reached the Stone Tables, a rocky outcropping in the middle of the desert, just as the sun was beginning to set. They lit a fire and started to spread out their sleeping blankets. Cedric was about to lay his folded up cloak down to use as a pillow when he heard a strange peeping noise. He and Darson exchanged a quick look and drew their weapons. They stayed absolutely still until they heard the sound again, this time accompanied by a hollow thunking noise. They pinpointed its location and crept toward it. It had come from the direction of the buckets, which they had put down on the far side of the camp. The sounds were coming from inside one of them, the same one that Cedric had placed the stone in…
They peered inside the bucket, dirks raised to deflect an attack. To their surprise, there was nothing in there except the motionless golden stone. Cedric reached in and nudged the stone, to see if there was anything underneath it. As soon as he touched it, the stone sent off a cacophony of squeaking and tottered back and forth, knocking against the sides of the bucket, creating the thunking noise they had heard before. He took the stone out of the bucket and went over to the fire with Darson trailing behind. He sat down on his blanket and peered at the stone. As far as he could see, nothing had changed other than the squeaking and trembling. He placed his palm on top of the stone, as if attempting to placate it. Darson sat a few feet away on his own blanket. As far as he could see, the world had gone mad. First a stone starts crying, and then his friend tries to comfort it. Weirder and weirder. Suddenly the stone gave an extra loud squeak, making them both wince, and fell silent.
"Well, I suppose that's that," said Darson with a nervous laugh," maybe now we can get some sleep!"
"I don't think s-," said Cedric, breaking off as a large crack appeared on the stone.
The crack lengthened at a rapid pace, causing more cracks to branch off from it. Cedric snatched his hand back as if he had been scalded, and watched as the cracks scurried across the stone. Very slowly, the perfectly round section where his palm had been started to rise. It stopped for a moment, and then fell to the ground, as if the thing beneath it decided that it had had enough of waiting. Cedric sat there, dumbstruck, as he peered into two big golden-amber eyes. Darson opened and closed his mouth several times, like a landed fish, but no words came out. He lifted his hand to point, and two pairs of eyes, one golden and one blue-gray, swiveled around to look at him.
His speech seemed to return then, if not his articulation. He remained pointing, his hand trembling, as he gasped out "A dr-…a dra-…a dra-… A DRAGON!" and then his eyes seemed to roll up into his head, and he fainted with a dainty sigh.
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Fox-Kun: Geez, this is even shorter than the 1st chapter.
A/N: Shove it, Foxy. This is the dramatic introduction of the next chapter. I'll probably upload the next chapter at the end of the week instead of next week, seeing as this one is so short.
Fox-Kun: well, is the next chapter as short as this one?
A/N: Oh, good god, no. It is a lot longer than either of its predecessors.
Fox-Kun: I hope so.
