Disclaimer: I don't own anything you can recognize from 'Eragon' by Christopher Paolini.
Summary: Kelli was a spy for the Varden, sent to act as a slave in Uru'bean. One day, as she is sent to clean the room containing one of the remaining two dragon eggs, she seizes her chance and steals it to take to the Varden. But when the egg hatches, nothing goes as planned…..
Briam
By: kgk
Chapter 1: The Egg
Rough hands shook Kelli. "Go away," she mumbled sleepily as she swatted at the violator.
"Get up! The Master wants to see you! Hurry!" said Ailani. Kelli jumped up suddenly wide awake.
"What? When?" she asked, frantically getting dressed into her slave's breeches, shirt, and tunic.
"As soon as you're able," replied the head slave. "And he asked for you specifically. And here, he said to bring cleaning supplies!" Ailani thrust a bucket full of water, some soap, and a brush into Kelli's hands before she sprinted out the room. As she ran down the hallways of the slave's quarters to the main courtyard, she wondered why she was being summoned. Normally a summoning of a specific slave to be summoned wasn't good. But, as he had her bring her supplies, she supposed she was in luck. Kelli was sixteen, and a slave in Galbatorix's Castle (a/n for lack of a better name), working undercover as a spy for the Varden. It was her job to listen and collect any useful information and give it to her contact, and blacksmith in the city. However, for the past two years, she had only gathered a gossip hear and there. She knew when the sapphire dragon egg was stolen and later that the egg had hatched for Rider named Eragon. However, the Varden had already acquired that information by the time she heard it. She was ready fro some action, she thought as she skidded to a stop right before entering the courtyard to catch her breath. She spotted Master Kyros immediately.
"You called for me, master?" she said, bowing in the correct fashion.
"Yes. You are to follow Garron. He will show you your work." Kyros said, gesturing behind him to a burly guard who looked half-asleep. Kelli started to bow, but he cut her off. "You are not to look at or touch anything in the room, only clean the walls and floor. You will be under guard, and you are not to try anything unexpected." He said, looking at her from under bushy eyebrows.
"Yes, master." Kelli replied, confused. She followed the guard, deep in thought. What did he mean by 'don't try anything unexpected'? I wonder why he was acting so odd. Maybe something special is in the room. Perhaps this will be my chance to finally get some vital information to the Varden. Garron looks like he's drunk. She thought, excitedly.
Kelli was about 5'7", and all in all, she looked very normal and inconspicuous with her shoulder-length auburn hair, and tan skin. She was the perfect spy, except for her eyes, which were green, with silver specks in them. However, she was a spy, and was expected to keep her eyes down, and she did so, so as not to attract unwanted attention. Now, she flicked her eyes up to look at the guard, and confirmed her guess. He was staggering slightly, putting a hand on the corridor wall to keep straight. I guess this is my lucky day. Kelli thought triumphantly. Now it all depends on whether or not there really is something of value in this room.
Garron stopped suddenly at a door that Kelli would have missed had he not brought a ring of keys and unlocked it. She followed him in, keeping her eyes dutifully down, and began washing the walls. When she was about halfway done, she glanced up at Garron, who was leaning against the wall, his eyes half-closed, and was mumbling to himself under his breath. She grinned to herself as she went back to washing. A couple of minutes later, she checked to make sure he was in the same state, and looked to the middle of the room, where there was a plinth with something on it. Crouched down as she was, though, she couldn't see what it was. She stood up and reached up, pretending to scrub at a particularly stubborn spot on the wall to get a better look. When she saw what was on it, her heart jumped. For on the plinth in the middle of this room, bathed in a soft light, was an emerald dragon egg. She knew what one looked like from her training with the Varden before she came to Uru'baen. This one was a deep emerald with white veins spiderwebbing across its surface. Kelli shook herself, realizing she had been staring, and went back to work, deep in thought. That is a dragon egg. A dragon egg! The Varden would give anything to have this. Finally I'll be able to help. But I'll have to get it now. I can't count on being sent here again. But the guard…..I can take care of him, he's not even fully alert. Kelli felt around under her folds of clothes for the knives she always kept handy. Suddenly confident, she quickly spun around and jumped on the guard, knife in hand. He went down with a soft thump, his throat slit. She slid the knife back in its sheath, and crept toward the egg. She ran her hands over its surface, reveling over what she was about to do. A moment's doubt ran over her, seeing herself flee from Uru'baen's whole army, but quickly banished the thought from her mind, frowning. Doubt would not do, not now. Briskly, she grabbed the surprisingly light egg, put it in her bucket, and covered it with the towel.
Glancing up and down the corridor, she dashed to the stables. There were only slaves and servants about since it was still early, right after sunrise, and surprisingly, no one tried to stop her. Waiting hidden in one of the hay lofts for her, was a bag of supplies, including rope, food, water, an Elvin bow, twenty or so Elvin-made arrows, perfectly balanced daggers, and a change of clothes. She had prepared this for a case like now, when she had to flee Uru'baen as quickly as possible, for she believed in always being ready. She slipped into the stable of a light bay, and started saddling it. In the saddle bags, were all her supplies, and the dragon egg. Just as she was about to mount, a gruff voice called out, "Hey! You there! What're you doing? I had no orders about someone riding' out today."
"I'm on urgent business for Master Kyros. He's sending me to the guard barracks," she said quickly, referring to the new training facility built just outside the city.
"The guard barracks, eh? That'd be the new one?" Kelli nodded. "Why d'you need a horse for that? It's just outside the city walls."
"As I said, its urgent business," Kelli said impatiently. "The master wants the message there as quickly as possible."
The groom looked at her shrewdly for agonizingly slow minutes, then determined her trustworthy. He nodded at her shortly, and he turned his back.
"I'll have them open the gates for ye then." He called over his shoulder.
Finally, Kelli thought, as she mounted the bay. When she got the gates, they were open and waiting for her. She waved at the guards on her way out, and galloped off towards the barracks. As soon as she heard them clank shut, she changed direction and headed for the forest. Only when she entered the protected cover of the trees, did she slow to a trot.
After riding all day, Kelli was sore and tired, so once she unsaddled Etana, as she had decided to call the horse, she collapsed on the ground and fell asleep immediately.
Right after she shut eyes, it seemed, she was woken by a tapping noise. Confused and befuddled, she sat up, blinking the sleep from her eyes. As she tried to identify the source, it stopped. Then, as suddenly as it had stopped, it started back, this time accompanied by squeaks. She finally realized it was coming from her saddle bags, which were lying on the ground next to a tree, where she had lain them the night before. She started toward them, and was about to reach inside, when they started to rock. She quickly withdrew her hand, startled. The noise stopped, but the rocking continued. Kelli gathered her courage, and reached forward to uncover them and revealed the emerald dragon egg. Suddenly a high-pitched squeak sounded, and multiple cracks appeared, marring its once flawless surface. Oh no! It's hatching! Kelli thought in growing apprehension. She watched as the dragon's head pushed through, followed by the rest of its oddly-shaped body. It stretched, revealing almost transparent wings, several times the length of it body, which was about as long as her forearm. Its scales were a deep emerald, shining in the moonlight. Mesmerized, Kelli watched as it turned its wise emerald eyes towards her. An odd feeling filled her, a feeling of comfort and joy, one that she never wanted to let go of, as she and the dragon hatchling stood motionless, looking at each other.
author's note: Well, there you go, the first chapter of my fanfic!
Review and tell me what you think! If you have any ideas for future chapters, tell me, but I do have an idea of where this is going, so, don't be surprised if I don't use your ideas (though I will give them serious thought, and I will give you credit for them!). also, if you have a better name for "Galbatorix's Castle", please tell me, I know it's terrible, but it's all I could think of! Review!
