Tallim: Discovery

Prolog: In this fanfic, Eragon and his buddies probably wont show up. This is more about the main character, Ptoria (pronounced: Tore-ia) her dragon, Tallim (pronounced: Tal like talisman-im) as they adventure around Alagaƫsia. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: A Noble Death

It was about a hundred or so years ago, when a Dragon egg way laid. It was the mother's last hours, and she needed her child to be born. The Dragon race was dying out, and they needed to be saved.

She walked among the trees, and could find no place suitable for her precious spawn. It was already evening, and she knew she could not make it past nightfall. She tread the plush ground of the forest, and in minutes was out of the brush, her heavy body shaking with exhaustion. The mother glanced from here to there searching for a spot for her child dragon. And then she saw it: a glorious lake, with depths unknown. It was the perfect place to hide her darling egg.

She ran as fast as she could with out damaging her unborn child. She was weary from the day's journey, and was trembling with each step she took. She could clearly see the shore from here, but she had to slow down, due to her fatigue. She slowed to a walk, and made her way to the lagoon.

It was now of all times, she missed her wings. She was not able to use them because when she would land, it would likely break the egg from impact. Just a little more. She told herself. She was less than a furlong away, and was determined to get there. Every step she took was precious, and she was grateful for every step she took, because it meant she was one step closer to achieving her goal.

Slowly, she was able to get about fifteen yards from the lake. She rejoiced silently, and grinned to herself. But her glory soon ended when she heard a twig snap. Her hearing was sharp, and she did need not turn around to tell it was a human behind her. Panic and terror struck her and she ran to the lake as fast as her body would allow her. Soon, her legs, tail, and bottom were inside the water and she got into position to deliver her egg. She laid it quickly, and saw it drift silently to the bottom of the lake, knowing that it was the Dragon's last chance of survival.

And now, for the human. She turned swiftly, to see an archer stringing his bow. She would not die like this. She would rather be killed by the elements than be killed by an arrow. She lunged out of the water and blew fiery breath from her jaws. It came in an amass of heat and flame, torching the archer. But sadly, the hunter man had nearly succeed in his killing of a dragon, for his arrow left the bow before our dragon's flame left her lips. The flame had missed the arrow, and it pierced the mother dragon's chest scales. But the archer was dead now, and the dragon, clinging to life.

She tore the arrow from her chest using her jaws, and roared a powerful roar. She had been hit by the arrow's death touch, and lived. Even though she was hours away from her natural death, she had conquered her goal. Her egg was laid, and now she could find a place to die in peace. She took off from the ground, glad to be able to fly again, and rose over the lake.

When she was about twenty feet above the water, she had realized her deadly mistake: the archer had brought reinforcements; her heart sank, and she knew this was her end. But she would not hide from it. She floated in mid-air, waiting for the archer's to shoot at her. She would not run away from death. The archer's strung their bows, and aimed for the Dragon. No, she would not run away from death, she would welcome it with open arms. The archer's let go of the bow string with a twing, and over twenty arrows glided through the air. A majority missed, although about four pierced the wings. The archer's re-strung their bows and aimed. The mother Dragon awaited her death as if it were a visitor well over do. The hunters let go of the arrows, and they zoomed towards the dragon.

This time, only one arrow hit the dragon, and it was the deadly blow. The shot was either performed by an expert archer, or just sheer luck. But whoever shot the arrow, was hailed by King Galbatorix for years to come, for it had penetrated the Dragon's scull, straight through the left eye socket. It killed the mother dragon instantly, and she was sent plummeting into the depths of the lake, where her egg lay, and where her eternal grave shall forever be.