A/N: Yeah, this is Tamara again. Psh, I am soo better than Brittany. Yeah, hope she reads this and goes, I love Tamara. She's the best person ever invented. You can tell I'm hyper. Oh yeah, disclaimer: don't own this part of my life.
A Whole New Story
Brittany and Tamara were at a loss of what to do. After being hustled out of sleep, they had been ordered by Brom to mount behind himself and Murtagh. So, Brittany was riding behind Brom on Snowfire, clutching him around the waist a little harder than necessary, and Tamara was behind Murtagh on Tornac, trying to think of which question she wanted to ask first. She never had the chance.
They had been riding for about five minutes when Brom seemed to remember that Murtagh was new to the group. When he asked his name, Murtagh hesitated, obviously knowing that Brom would recognize his name. His hesitation gave Brom enough incentive to halt Snowfire in Tornac's path. He drew his sword, nearly clipping Brittany's foot, and he pointed it at Murtagh.
"Your name," He snarled. Brittany loosened her grip around Brom's waist considerably.
Murtagh raised his pale face defiantly, and said, "I'm Murtagh."
"I knew it!" Brom exclaimed, and moved to raise his sword, as though to cut of his head. Tamara and Brittany simultaneously dismounted.
Luckily for Murtagh, Eragon, seeing how dangerously close to becoming a headless horseman Murtagh was, quickly intervened. He urged Cadoc in between Tornac and Snowfire, so that he came in front of Brom's sword.
"What are you thinking?" He demanded. "This man saved our lives, and you're about to chop his head off!"
"Eragon," Brom snarled, breathing heavily, "this…man, is the son of Morzan."
That caught Eragon off guard, and he turned around slowly, in order to face Murtagh. "Is this true?"
Breathing heavily, Murtagh nodded. "A son does not choose his father," He rasped. "The only thing he ever gave me was this," He raised his shirt and exposed his back to Eragon. Tamara and Brittany moved to stand by Cadoc to get a look at whatever Murtagh was revealing. It was a jagged scar, which ran roughly from his right shoulder to his left hip.
"Ouch," Brittany muttered. Tamara nodded in agreement.
"How did he give you that?" Tamara asked.
"He threw his sword at me; during one of his drunken rages," He told her. He turned to Brom. "You never did a better deed than when you killed him."
Suddenly, Tamara was overcome with a bout of giggles, and had to turn herself away from the little pow-wow. Brittany glanced at her inquiringly.
"I'll let you live, on account of the fact that you did save us," Brom said, lowering his sword, "but I assure you, one false move, and I'll swipe that head of yours clean off your shoulders."
Murtagh nodded in understanding and put his shirt back on.
Brom turned to the girls. "Mount up." Tamara and Brittany mounted Tornac and Snowfire once again.
"What were you laughing about?" Brittany asked Tamara.
Tamara grinned, but after a swift glance at Brom, shook her head and said, "Later."
Tamara and Brittany got no further chance to talk as Brom decided that he was going to scout ahead, and he urged Snowfire forward. The horse bounded forward quickly and Brittany had to put all her energy into staying on the galloping horse.
Tamara was left to her own thoughts, since Murtagh wasn't very communicative. Something about his dark and brooking manner scared Tamara, and yet, she somehow found it incredibly endearing. She had so many questions for him, and she found the silence uncomfortable.
"So…this whole vampire thing…is it something you created for yourself, or is it hereditary?" Rather rude, perhaps, but she was dying to know.
"And what, pray tell, is a vampire?" Murtagh asked coldly.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Tamara exclaimed. "Every human in the whole bloody universe knows what a vampire is!"
"I don't," Murtagh replied.
"Vampires," Tamara struggled for words to explain, "Vampires are pale creatures with extraordinarily long canines, which they use to suck human blood. It's said their breath reeks of rotting flesh."
Murtagh shuddered. "That's almost as bad as the Ra'zac."
Tamara frowned. "They're purely legendary. Life would be more interesting if they were real."
Murtagh chose not to answer. Instead, he asked, "What made me remind you of vampires?"
"Several things. First of all, you're dressed in all black. Black is like, Dracula's favorite color."
"Dracula?"
"Dracula," Tamara enunciated slowly, as though Murtagh was a small and uncomprehending child, "he's like, the king of the vampires. He's in every story about vampires."
"I see," Murtagh mused.
"As I was saying," Tamara moaned, upset at the interruption, "the whole, dressed in black thing. Also your pale complexion and dark hair. They contrast heavily. Lastly, you're shadowed, dark eyes." Tamara seemed pleased with her description.
"I'm sorry, what's your name again?" Murtagh asked.
"Tamara."
"Tamara. How can you tell so much about me when you're staring at my back?!" Murtagh asked.
"Oh, I won't be forgetting your face anytime soon. After all, you practically knocked the wind out of me last night," Tamara explained.
Murtagh was about to respond when Brom came galloping back, Brittany still clinging desperately to Brom's waist, a look of absolute terror on her face.
"What's up?" She asked Tamara once Brom had halted.
"Nothin'. Have a nice trip?" Tamara teased. Brittany groaned.
"I've found some suspicious looking tracks," Brom interrupted. "I think you guys should look at them." With that, Brom took off again, followed by Eragon and Murtagh.
They reached a patch of ground where there were several tracks. Murtagh dismounted to inspect the tracks more closely. Tamara, nervous about Tornac taking off, quickly slid up in the saddle and took hold of the reins.
"Urgals," Murtagh spat.
"I feared it was so," Brom replied. "We'll have to ride faster and farther today. Whether to catch up, or for safety, I don't know."
"What about the girls?" Murtagh asked.
"Hold on tight," Brom addressed Brittany. Brittany gulped. Not more galloping! She thought.
Murtagh mounted and Tamara hastily grabbed his waist. "Hang on," He told her before urging Tornac into a full-fledged gallop.
They rode well into the night in this order: Brom and Brittany on Snowfire, Eragon on Cadoc, Murtagh and Tamara on Tornac, and Saphira took to the skies.
By the time Brom allowed them to rest, Brittany and Tamara had gotten used to the rocking of the horses' haunches and the initial exhilaration had worn off. They stumbled off the horses gladly.
Whilst Murtagh and Brom went hunting, Eragon conversed with Saphira, and Tamara and Brittany made their beds. They collapsed on their blankets and were silent for several minutes, until Brittany said, "So, are you ever gonna tell me?"
"Tell you what?" Tamara asked, perplexed.
"What was so funny this morning," Brittany reminded her.
"Oh yeah," Tamara mused, light dawning in her eyes. "It's like this: a couple weeks ago, when you had gone to the vending machines, I started to flip through Eragon, and, well, remember the part where Angela randomly laughed when Eragon mentioned Brom?"
Brittany nodded. "Yeah."
"Well, the part I had flipped to made a reference to that part. I was curious, so I read on. The reason she had laughed was because of his fate. Apparently, he was doomed to fail at everything he tried, with the exception of one thing: killing Morzan."
"What did he fail at?" Brittany asked, giggling.
" I don't remember," Tamara said. She reached into her bag and pulled out Eragon. She flipped towards the back and then frowned. Keeping her thumb in place, she shut the book and stared hard at the cover. She opened the book to the same spot, and her frown deepened.
"What's wrong?" Brittany asked, sitting up. Tamara opened the book to the front and stared.
"What's wrong?" Brittany repeated.
Tamara motioned her over and showed her the chapter before Brom's death. She continued flipping until she got the end of the chapter. The next page, however, was completely blank, as was the rest of the book.
All Brittany found to say was, "Wow." They had no further chance to ponder this discovery, as Brom and Murtagh returned with a dead deer strung between them. Could this possibly be the same deer that Eragon had failed to kill in the Spine? Alagaësia will never know.
After this hurried supper, they settled down to sleep, and Brom decided to stand guard.
"So," Tamara hissed to Brittany in the dark, "What was it like, spending the day with Brom?"
"I'm not sure," Brittany answered. "He's a bit short at times, but I think that, within time, he'll warm up to me. What about you and Murtagh?" I saw you guys talking."
"There's something about him…" Tamara replied and then refused to say anymore.
The next morning it rained. And then it stormed. Even if Brom hadn't awoken them absurdly early, there was no way they could've slept anyway.
They rode long and hard that day, during the strengthening storm. Saphira was forced to abandon the air and walk beside Eragon; they spoke little, and when they halted for the night, even Tamara and Brittany were irritable. They were both wishing that this dream would end soon, because it depressed them to know that it wasn't real.
As they unpacked, the felt their eggs wiggle. Excited, they watched, entranced, as their eggs hatched.
They found themselves staring at two baby dragons. Brittany's was a rich plum color, and Tamara's was a striking pink.
When the touched the dragons tentatively, they both felt a searing pain: Brittany felt it on her ankle, and Tamara felt it on her right shoulder.
The pain was too real to ignore, and by that fact alone were both Tamara and Brittany convinced that this was no dream: they were really in the extraordinary universe of Eragon.
A/N: So, that took me hours to type. This is so weird, reading this story again, because we started it around Christmas time, and finished it on Wednesday June 6. The next chapter is…A Fight With Brom. Yeah, I'm hardly in that chapter. Review!
