I DO NOT OWN THE INHERITANCE CYCLE OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. THIS FANFIC WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE IDEAS OF CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI
Aaron paled as he looked down at the ground almost a mile beneath him. He was resting on Thorn's back while Saphira, with Eragon riding her, circling around them. For the past day, Saphira and Thorn had been-unsuccessfully-attempting to teach him to fly. For the better part of the first day, his wings had been completely unresponsive to his commands, but eventually he managed to find the right muscles to move his wings with a flapping motion. But he still wasn't making progress.
His train of thought was interrupted by a slight push of something, Thorn's tail. He knew that meant he had to jump. He tensed his leg muscles and leapt off Thorn's back. Instantly the ground beneath him began to rise towards him at immeasurable speeds. He released his wings from his sides after five seconds and let the membrane catch the air. This momentarily slowed the fall and gave him time to take in his surroundings.
"Keep your mind focused in flying, little one," Saphira's voice rang in his skull. Aaron focused on moving his wings into a flapping motion. Below him, Eragon prepared a spell to stop Aaron's descent.
Only this time, Eragon had no need for the spell. Aaron realized after a minute of his flapping that he was no longer falling down, but propelling forward. He opened his eyes and saw the plains beneath him flying past him. Eventually he gained confidence in his abilities and began to flap his wings less and further apart, simply gliding through the air.
Saphira and Thorn advanced from behind him and took a place on either side of him. "Good Aaron," Thorn said. "Now let's show you some of the basics. I want you to turn your tail slightly to the right." Aaron did as instructed and he began to turn slowly to the right. "Good, and the smaller the bend in your tail is, the sharper the turn."
Aaron was hardly listening, simply letting Thorn and Saphira's praise wash over him. He didn't quite know why, but over the past weeks he felt far more attached to them, and their praise made him burst with joy. He felt as he did when he was alone with Saphira on his second day of hatching. Gleadr had said it was just his instincts, but now he felt too good to care if it was.
"Come, little one," Saphira said, her voice drawing him out of his moment. "Now that you can fly, you can hunt." Aaron gave a draconic smile as the thought of hunting entered his head; of raining down from the sky and delivering a fatal blow to an unsuspecting prey.
"Show me where the deer are," he replied.
After another few minutes of flying, Saphira told him to follow her to a herd of deer. They hovered above them, Saphira telling him how to coordinate his movements so that he could descend on the deer and quickly kill it. Saphira was the first to dive, while Aaron followed in suit a few seconds later. Saphira expertly drove her talons into a large deer and sunk her teeth into a doe next to it before the deer had time to react.
Aaron was having slightly more trouble in his kill. During his descent, he was distracted watching Saphira take out her kill with grace. When his attention turned back to the buck he had in his sights previously, it had begun to run from Saphira and the other deer of the herd. Aaron pulled his wings and limbs closer to his body and picked up speed, plummeting to the ground. He opened his maw as the deer came closer to him.
Aaron's teeth made contact with the deer's rump and he quickly latched onto it with his teeth. His sudden weight on the deer caused it to fall to the ground in a laying position, and Aaron separated from the deer, a piece of hide hanging from his mouth. The buck regained its footing and began to run when Aaron gripped the deer's hind leg and dragged him back to the ground. He quickly and deftly swiped his back claws across the deer's neck, killing it near instantly. He reared his head and released a savage roar of victory.
"Well, that was less than graceful," Thorn said as he descended into the clearing. "Although I must say, you've earned your meal tonight." Aaron gave a satisfied growl and dove into the deer with bestial gusto.
Aaron looked at the dead tree in front of him menacingly. It had been five months after his rebirth and he was now larger at the shoulder than the Urgal chief Nar Garzhvog. Saphira and Thorn had given him some freedom since he could now fly and hunt for himself, allowing him to stay away at a day at a time. Every day he flew to the same tree in the same patch of forest about half a league from the Varden camp to attempt one thing; burning it down.
Today had been the same as any other. As much as he tried to produce fire, he could only manage to accelerate the wood rotting with his hot breath and smoke. He swore silently to himself that he would burn it down that day before sundown, just as he did every day he tried.
That was the twenty-third time Aaron had sworn himself that.
It was fast approaching sundown, with less than two hours left of daylight. Aaron stood there, talons digging into the soft ground, jaw agape and breathing out a steady stream of smoke. Finally, he just lay there staring daggers at the piece of wood, expecting it to burst into flames just to mock him. "Why don't you burn, you stupid hunk of dead leaves," he nearly screamed with his thoughts.
"It won't burn because there's no fire," a harmonious female voice said through the trees. Aaron leapt to his claws and growled, waiting for the owner of the new voice to show itself. He hadn't placed any mental barriers, not expecting company. In a flash something dragged itself slowly down the length of his spine.
He turned to see a platinum dragoness standing next to him, stroking him seductively with her tail. "Peace, Golden One, for I mean you no harm," she said. "My name is Idria, and yours is what?"
Aaron just stood there, mouth agape. The dragoness stood there, her silver scales reflecting across the trees around him. She was lean, but he could see the strong muscles through her brilliant scales, and slightly smaller than himself. She exuded a scent that smelt like a roses', only magnified that played with his senses. "Idria," he thought dreamily, unaware that he was still in link with her.
The platinum dragoness chuckled. "No, that's my name, Golden One. What is your own?"
Aaron shook his head, thoroughly confused. "My name is Aaron, Silver One," he said, mimicking her tone. The dragoness circled around him, studying him narrowly.
"Peculiar," she said to herself. "Where are you from? I have seen you come here the past three days with only the intent of burning that tree. You have quite the hard head to realize that you can't breath fire yet."
"Well if you're such an expert at it, why don't you show me?"
"Unfortunately, I'm in the same boat as you at the moment. I'm still not old enough. Also, you have lacked to answer my first question; where are you from?"
Aaron smiled slightly. He had rehearsed what to say if he was asked that. "I hatched five moons ago to my mother and father, Saphira and Thorn. We've been traveling with the Varden since I hatched. And where are you from?"
"I hatched five moons ago in a long stretch of mountains," she said, looking up at the sky in remembrance. "I was found by a friendly two-leg who sheltered me until I could fend for myself. Then I felt something telling me to come west, and I found you." At those last words she paused slightly.
Aaron was about to ask what she meant when he heard a piercing roar break the evening air. He looked to the west and saw the sun had long since set. "I'm sorry Idria, but I have to get back to my family. If you would like to come with me…" he began.
"No, Aaron. I must decline. You go with your family, and I'll meet you here tomorrow." Without another moment of hesitation, she unfurled her wings leapt into the sky. Aaron just stood, awestruck by her draconic beauty. Another roar pierced his ears. He knew that if Thorn roared a third time he would hunt him down and keep him in the camp for the next three days. He roared to Thorn that he was coming and began to fly to the Varden encampment.
Sorry my update is so late. I intended to update earlier but I was fighting off a case of writer's block. Thank you those who enjoy my work and I will continue as long as the ideas keep flowing. R&R Please!
