This story has been in the works for almost three years...

I hope you enjoy it...

Fiona smiled, the first tinge of snow washing over her as she breathed in the glory of the Anora river. She felt it in the air, she always knew when it was going to snow, or rain or freeze over. She had a feeling, one her gather Garrow feared but brother and cousin admired. It never led her wrong, not even once. Since she was six years of age, she could tell the weather with the finest of accuracy and today was no great exception. Breathing in the wonderous cold energy in the air, she smiled deeper as something else came to her heart.

"Eragon... he's coming home." Turning on heel, she sprinted as fast as her ugly dress could handle, fleeing the River and rushing towards the prison that was her childhood home. She reached her home and her cousin at the same time, using her considerably strong frame to tackle him hard. Eragon was strong and spritely and managed to not fall over from her tough love. "I missed you."

He laughed into her hair. "And I you." He held her tight, even with his bundle of meat.

She pulled back after a moment, frowning. "You feel warm... why is that?"

"How so?"

"I feel warmth around you."

He giggled. "With your witchy powers?"

She nodded. "Very much so." She was used to being called a witch by many in their ugly village. They feared her knowledge, her independence, her refusal to act the part of a woman. She worked as hard as her male relatives, she strived to be a hunter, a fighter, whatever she could to maintain her independence. They didn't like that... but she didn't care. She, like her Aunt before, would leave their town and rush to a life of happiness and freedom... but not yet. She would wait until her father passed, which she had a feeling would be soon. Not a witchy feeling but a strong one none the less.

He smiled. "Wait until I til Uncle Garrow, he'll want to hear this story... I think you'll like it too." And then they walked towards the house."Uncle, it's Eragon and Fiona. Let me in." A small shutter slid back for a second, then the door swung inward.

Garrow stood with his hand on the door. His worn clothes hung on him like rags on a stick frame. A lean, hungry face with intense eyes gazed out from under graying hair. He looked like a man who had been partly mummified before it was discovered that he was still alive. "Roran's sleeping," was his answer to Eragon's inquiring glance.

A lantern flickered on a wood table so old that the grain stood up in tiny ridges like a giant fingerprint. Near a woodstove were rows of cooking utensils tacked onto the wall with homemade nails. A second door opened to the rest of the house. The floor was made of boards polished smooth by years of tramping feet.

Eragon pulled off his pack and took out the meat. "What's this? Did you buy meat? Where did you get the money?" asked her father asked harshly as he saw the wrapped packages.

Eragon took a breath before answering. "No, Horst bought it for us."

"You let him pay for it? I told you before, I won't beg for our food. If we can't feed ourselves, we might as well move into town. Before you can turn around twice, they'll be sending us used clothes and asking if we'll be able to get through the winter." Garrow's face paled with anger.

"I didn't accept charity," snapped Eragon, to Fiona's pride "Horst agreed to let me work off the debt this spring. He needs someone to help him because Albriech is going away."

"And where will you get the time to work for him? Are you going to ignore all the things that need to be done here?" asked Garrow, forcing his voice down.

Fiona frowned at her father. "I do twice the work any of you men do, I am stronger than Roran and twice as smart. With my help, if you actually let me do the work, we'd never have an issue father." She spat, and her father looked down in shame. He knew she was right

Eragon coughed. "Besides, I found something that could be worth some money." He set a gorgeous blue stone on the table. She was in awe of it, it oozed warmth that filled her skin and soul.

Garrow bowed over it: the hungry look on his face became ravenous, and his fingers moved with a strange twitch. "You found this in the Spine?"

"Yes," said Eragon. He explained what had happened, of the explosion of sheer heat that scorched the world from it's creation or appearing before him. "And to make matters worse, I lost my best arrow. I'll have to make more before long." They stared at the stone in the near darkness.

"How was the weather?" asked his uncle, lifting the stone. His hands tightened around it like he was afraid it would suddenly disappear.

"Cold," was Eragon's reply but before he could finish, Fiona answered for him.

"It didn't snow, but it did freeze over, didn't it... "

Garrow looked worried by the news, even if he also shivered at the mention of her gift. "Tomorrow you'll have to help Roran finish harvesting the barley. If we can get the squash picked, too, the frost won't bother us." He passed the stone to Eragon. "Here, keep it. When the traders come, we'll find out what it's worth. Selling it is probably the best thing to do. The less we're involved with magic, the better "He turned to her, looking pale and afraid." . . . . Why did Horst pay for the meat?"

It took only a moment for Eragon to explain his argument with Sloan. "I just don't understand what angered him so."

Garrow shrugged. "Sloan's wife, Ismira, went over the Igualda Falls a year before you were brought here. He hasn't been near the Spine since, nor had anything to do with it. But that's no reason to refuse payment. I think he wanted to give you trouble."

Eragon swayed blearily and said, "It's good to be back." Garrow's eyes softened, and he nodded. Eragon stumbled to his room, leaving Garrow with his daughter.

Her father shivered and turned away. She knew he was scared of her, he had been for years. She was used to it really... most people feared her, bar the traders that came each year. She was comfortable with that, it gave her power. Power to protect herself from town drunks and idiots and those that thought she was a demon or a witch.

" A curious stone, it feels warm even now." She said, making her father freeze into place. "I wonder what it is...a curious stone."

Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

This was a lot of fun.

Love, your Ninja Ovelord,

Mika.