Chapter 12
Eragon's mind raced. He was in a helpless condition, and the little creature before him cried out fiercely and incessantly. If the tiny creature had a mother, it would hear and return to slaughter him, doubtlessly tearing him to pieces and feeding him to the little, fierce critter.
"Shhh, Little One," Eragon tried desperately to sooth the small creature.
The baby dragon rose his head and screeched angrily at Eragon.
Eragon glanced quickly around him. The putrid smell was coming from small, dead game carcasses spread around the small outcropping. Doubtlessly, the mother left this for the dragon when it hatched. Some were still of a fresh kill. But where was the mother? A shiver of fear ran up Eragon's spine.
As Eragon inched slowly away from the fierce baby dragon, he remembered one of his old Masters saying that, according to legend, a dragon understood the Ancient Language of the Elves. Some of the students had snickered at this, Eragon remembered, for popular belief held that dragons were mindless, stupid, and bloodthirsty animals.
Eragon tried this new tactic. "Shhh, Little One," he repeated in the Ancient Language. "I am a friend."
Eragon touched a bloody carcass. Repulsed, he picked it up and offered it to the doubtlessly hungry dragon. Ferociously, the little dragon leapt onto the carcass in Eragon's hands and sunk its teeth deep into the dead animal. Startled, Eragon cried out and dropped the carcass and the little dragon. He watched in amazement as the dragon devoured the dead creature.
To Eragon's horror, the dragon then approached him, licking its jaws from its satisfying meal. Eragon shrank back, but the little dragon approached him boldly and jumped onto Eragon's chest. It looked deeply into Eragon's eyes. Then, he turned in a circle and curled up on the young elf's chest.
The baby dragon was surprisingly warm. Eragon had always imagined them as cold. Hesitantly, he put his arm around the little creature and curled into a ball to try and keep warm. Eragon forced himself to remain calm. Soon he heard the gentle humming of the little dragon as it slept. Once again, Eragon felt deeply exhausted. Slowly, he too fell into a fitful sleep.
A few short hours later, Eragon awoke with a start. He was not sure what had awoken him, but a freezing drizzle of rain was falling from the sky. The elf shivered violent. The baby dragon still slept peacefully on his chest.
Slowly, so as not to disturb the sleeping dragon, Eragon lifted the little dragon in his hands and set him on the ground beside him. The dragon stirred, but did not wake.
Eragon rolled onto his hands and knees, his body shaking violently from cold and pain. Slowly, he crept to the ledge of the outcropping and looked down. His head spun and his vision blurred. It was a long way down. A VERY long way down. How would he ever get off of the outcropping? Surely, he would die now.
SQUEAK. Eragon turned. The baby dragon was on its feet, walking clumsily towards him and tripping because of its overly big, paper-thin wings. SQUEAK. Instinctively, Eragon reached his hand out to it.
The dragon touched its warm nose lightly to his outstretched hand. The baby dragon's eyes seemed to turn from the hard white stone into a floating sea covered in the mysterious white foam that was always on the crest of the waves. Eragon didn't understand the change at first. Suddenly, he felt as though he was among the waves of the sea, floating and being tossed by the waves. The tide was strong and violent, but it never pulled him under nor did he even come near to drowning.
Eragon jerked away from the touch of the dragon. The dragon hummed as if amused.
Eragon felt different. He stood suddenly, stretching his arms and legs. He felt better. Not strong, but definitely better. Looking down at himself, he gasped. His wounds—the deep gashes, the painful bruises—were gone.
Looking down at the little dragon, he stammered, "H-how did you do that?"
The dragon hummed to itself. Eragon thought it sounded almost like laughter. He watched, fascinated, as the little dragon purposefully turned away from him and curled up into a ball again, determined to sleep again.