Chapter 3: A Name

Author Notes: WEEEE!!!! I love writing!! I could do it all the time!!! Oh, BTW, I made up the Ancient Language words for Mother and Father, Matera and Patero. :P

Disclaimer: I do not own the Inheritance series. Just the charries that come from my mind.

Brom.

The name rang in his head, and some thing clicked, like he had never heard it before. That is my name. What is yours?

Vervada. Vervada of the Shimmering Scales. You are my Rider, yes?

Yes. Vervada. The name reminded him of something, but he couldn't remember what. He shrugged it off, gathered the hatchling in his arms and joined the throng of elves that were cloistered around the new Riders.

ééééééééééééééééé

Vervada grasped the shirt under her claws tightly. She was riding on Brom's shoulder, chatting with him quietly.

Everyday, Brom learned something new about his dragon. Today, she had given him a taste of her temper after he had left her in his rooms while he went to breakfast. Brom made a mental note never to upset her.

Vervada was smaller than the other hatchlings. Grace, the yellow female, was the largest, already the size of a small dog. Merala and Frasier, the forest green male and the gray-blue female tied in size. Dawn, Aurora's scarlet male, was the last, slightly bigger than Vervada, but still bigger. Eragon said every dragon grew differently and by the time she was three months old, she would be big enough for Brom to ride.

"Brom!!" He turned and saw Aurora running after him.

"Hey Rorie. What's up?"

"Nothing much. I got tired of my family fawning over Dawn, so I came to take of a walk."

"Oh." They walked in silence for several moments.

"When are we going to Doru Araeba?" Aurora asked. Brom shrugged.

"I don't know. Grandfather doesn't seem too eager to leave. It may be a few weeks. You can come stay in Tialdarí Hall if you want to. Mother said she was going to talk to your parents about it."

"Cool." Aurora sighed and patted Dawn's head. "I wonder what we will learn in Doru Araeba."

Brom frowned. "Well, most likely dragon care. And history. Ugh. Why can't lessons just stop?"

Aurora laughed and patted Brom's shoulder. "Don't worry. After our apprenticeship is complete, we will be full Riders and can go anywhere we please."

"True. Hey, Matera wants you to come have dinner with us. Want to?"

"Sure! Thanks sounds like it would be fun."

éééééééééééééééé

In the darkness of the forest that night, a cloaked figure slipped through the trees. The moon hit his bared head, reflecting off his blond hair. Icy blue-green eyes darted about, looking for any sign of life.

"Gods be damned, why in this gods forsaken place?" he muttered. He glanced at the wide silver band on his right wrist that held over a dozen charms. He grinned. "At least I will try to wring the truth from him before I complete my mission."

A twig snapping caught his attention and he quickly climbed a tree. He looked down and saw two figures walking below. One had light brown hair and the other black. He listened to their conversation.

"So, did you like dinner?" Brown Hair asked.

"Yes, I did," the black haired figure was a girl, he could tell from the voice. "Your father is funny. Is he always like that?"

Brown hair snorted. "Patero is just weird. He has some strange ideas of humor."

The girl laughed. "I think Caleb is funny?"

The cloaked figure didn't catch the rest of the conversation, because the couple continued walking.

"Caleb, huh? I wonder…" with those words hanging in the air, he slipped away into the forest.