Edited 1/22/22 - all chapters are getting a overhaul. Things might not match until this process is complete.

I do not the Inheritance Cycle

Enjoy this chapter...


The Little Menace

Rose kept the steep incline to her right, following the vague directions Dunion had given her. She weaved around yews and birches, under draping grapevines and past ancient oaks and their undergrowth that dotted beneath the mighty tree's countless branches. Watching for when the winding river morphed into marshland, she continued on.

From between the skeletal branches she could see that the sky was a very pale blue, though it held precious little warmth to it. A chilling breeze continued to blow steadily cutting through her thick wool cloak and jerkin straight into her bones, freezing her from the inside as well as the out. Her breath came out in puffs of white and she could not seem to rid herself of the shivers.

Rose strode on, thinking of the warm fire she had left behind as birds squabbled form the brushwood seen, and the crunching of her footfalls echoed in the trees. Once she heard the baying howl of a dog in the far distance, and thought of Wolf, the stranger's small hunting partner. There was little other sound: for the first time in her life, Rose was completely alone, with no other human being in call. It was a strange feeling, both liberating and unsettling.

She walked until nightfall, when she thought that she should have come across her trail from earlier that day. There was no evidence of her footprints or earlier struggle with the grapevine and the slim river still ran strong.

Rose looked at the river and then sat abruptly onto the ground, placing her head in her hands. It could not be true, but she knew it was, that she was lost in wilds with a dragon egg. The irony her situation was not lost to her, and she laughed grimly; had she not said only days before that she did not wish to be trekking through the wilds alone and without any true direction. Yet, now, here she was doing exactly that.

She sat for a long time while the night grew colder. Her lips were parched and cracked and her body was aching with hunger. But she had no water to drink and no food to eat…

She sat unmoving, sinking slowly into hopelessness, and it was only when she shifted to ease the aches in her body that she realized that she had to get the dragon egg to Ailis, no matter what it might cost her. In a sudden haste she fumbled the pack off her shoulders and opened it, her fingers were numb from the chilling air and kept slipping off the fastening. Eventually she got the pack open and pulled out the dragon egg. She hugged it close to her chest, knowing it would be no use to wander in the woods with only the dim light of the moon to guide her.

Eventually Rose remembered the river and she stood placing the egg back into the pack. She walked over to the steep hill and picked her way, slowly and painfully down the slope, holding onto branches of trees for balance. Every time she slipped on the snow or a loose rock tilted from her weight, Rose thought she would go crashing down again. She pushed these notions aside with an effort of will and concentrated her mind solely of the present: this step and the next step. After a lengthy effort she reached the bottom. She looked up at the sheer mound, thinking that it give the impression of a large white cliff.

Rose turned away and stepped towards the flowing river. She stared at the water for a short moment watching the distorted reflection of the spherical white moon. Making up her mind, she unwrapped the bandages of her left hand, knowing that it wasn't as torn as her right hand. She braced herself for the icy water, but still she cringed violently when she made contact. Icy cold pain shot up her arm, pickling her skin like tiny, bitter needles. Letting the water rinse away the salve, she soaked her hand for a short time. When she could no longer stand the burning cold, Rose cupped her hand and brought it out. She sipped the water, marveling at its freshness before dipping her hand in again. She drank five handfuls before she could no longer stand the stinging of her palm. She patted her hand dry with the cloak and walked over to the base of a tree, where she sunk down into the snow.

She shivered and watched the sky. Small bands of clouds glided across the heavens momentary covering the pinpoints of stars and a pale ample moon. She blinked in tiredness.

Rose removed her rucksack from her back and tugged out her dampened cloak, she shook it out and, pushing the snow away until she sat on ground only dusted with white, then placed her cloak under her. Pulling out the egg she cradled it to her chest with one hand and grasped her knife in the other, she used the sack as a makeshift pillow. For a long time, she lay awake listening to the rustling in the chilled night, shifting on the hard ground. She hardly slept that night, but lay awake blankly staring out, looking for the predators that lurk about. She heard nor saw nothing but found that she could not relax enough to sleep.

Not long before sunrise the next morning Rose was so stiff from cold she could hardly move. The early day was dim and the dreary overcast had returned. When she saw the glow of the sun at the edge of the forest, she packed her belongings away and walked back to the river where she drank once more, before facing the sheer hill. She had decided somewhere within the night to keep to the riverbank and head to the east, as the stranger, whoever he was, had advised and though following his advice so far had gotten her nowhere rather quickly she had no better idea.

She turned over with a groan and sat up, trying to rub some life back into her arms and legs but it was to no avail. She still felt like icy prickles had crystalized within her and for a long moment she did not want to move from her spot. Eventually she remembered that it probably best to warm her blood and move, and so she packed up and began a swift pace along the sloping borders of canal.

She continually had stop to swallow down handfuls of the running water in hopes to trick her belly that it was satisfied, this worked for a short time before her stomach ached worse than before. She also had to break continuously to relieve her bursting bladder.

By midmorning, Rose noted with relief that river's torrent began to weaken and she sat at its edge to rest. She felt weak and lightheaded from her lack of food and her hands were trembling and stiff with cold. She looked at her palms; one concealed by dyed fabric and the other hardened and cracked with blood. As she had walked, she had attempted to rewrap her left hand while walking but she found that it was more trouble than it was worth, and in the end, she chose to hold the bandages in her palm.

Rose removed her cloth rucksack and placed it in her lap. She rested there watching the water swirl away.

Ailis would be back today, Rose reflected in ravenous silence, but what will she find? Tornac unaccompanied and unknowing as where Rose had disappeared to, fading footprints in the forest, and then what- a trail that lead them to Dunion's camp or perhaps nothing? They would probably search for her for a while, but after a time they would have to halt their search, perhaps afterwards the two of them would turn their shadows her direction and start towards Kausta and later to The Varden as intended. That way, at the very least, the green dragon egg would find safety.

Rose sighed and licked her lips.

Overwhelmed by sudden weariness, Rose closed her eyes and drew her knees out from underneath her. Oh, how she wished for a bed swollen with downy and above all a hot meal! Roast beef and fried mushrooms and roots: carrots and beets and anything else she pleased. Her mouth watered. She would have them baked, roasted, poached and sugared. And she would sit on a large couch in a room adorned in cloth of all colors, and there would be a warm fire flicking in a grate, and she eat until her stomach was full and ready to burst. She swallowed, almost smelling the sweet meats and candied fruit-

And then a sudden screech broke the silence, tearing her away from her fantasy. She jumped up onto her feet and looked around the forest, clutching the woven the bag to her chest. Another shriek filled the air and she startled. She yanked the knife from her belt and turned around, craning her head to the peak of the hill. Instantly, she cursed herself, if there was an enemy she was at a disadvantage. She should have stayed above and trailed down to get water when needed, instead of trapping herself below.

Another screech rang in her ears and this time she felt a vibration through her bag. She yelped in alarm and dropped it. The bag wobbled on the ground and Rose kneeled down, opening the flap with the blade of her knife. It quivered as soon as she flipped open the flap, and she jumped back. The bag shuddered and she carefully inched toward it and peered inside. It trembled again and this time Rose was able to identify that the wobbling was coming from the egg.

Suddenly the egg groaned and a crack appeared. Rose's eyes widened and she dropped the knife. She grasped ahold of the egg and pressed her hands against the surface, in attempt to cease the cracking. Panic rushed through her and she gasped. If she ever made it out this forest and saw Ailis again, Ailis would likely kill Rose for breaking the dragon egg.

The egg wobbled underneath her pressure and another creak appeared. Rose's hands fluttered to cover this one as well. The egg creaked again and Rose moaned hopelessly and pulled her hands out. At the top of the egg where all the creaks met up, the sizable piece wobbled and levitated shaky before it fell back down. Then when it rose again a series of squeaks were heard. She knelt in silent horror as a small gleaming head poked out of the hole. The head squawked at her, and then a curiously angled body pulled itself out. Soon the creature was all the way out of the egg. It stayed in place for a moment on top of her bag, before it wobbled and tumbled gracelessly into the snow.

Rose recoiled in alarm.

The creature, the dragon, poked its head out of the snow and wiggled its way upright. It shook itself and began to lick away the oily membrane that sheathed it.

Rose shifted away and the dragon's triangular head snapped around and it looked at her, its barbed tongue flickering out of its mouth. The dragon swished its tail across the snow, scattering it about as it considered her. Then it looked around with wide eyes, before moving away from her, examining its surroundings with curiosity. With a flutter of its wings it jumped onto a fallen, hollowed out log and crawled away to the edge where it craned its head downwards. It peered into the log with interest and leapt off the edge and crawled its way inside, vanishing from sight.

Rose, who had been watching the dragon in a frozen state, stirred when the dragon disappeared into the rutted log. She crawled over to it and peered inside the opening of the hollow. The dragon turned around and blinked its slanted eye at her. Its cherry-colored eyes gleamed with amusement.

Rose frowned.

"Oh, no you don't," she said reaching her hand in after it. "We're not having that."

Her fingers brushed air and she gazed back into the log.

The dragon, which was just out of her reach, flickered its long thin tongue at her.

Rose huffed at it in annoyance and turned away. "You'll have to come out eventually," she told it.

Standing up, Rose grabbed her knife off of the ground, where she had discarded it earlier. She cursed violently and forcefully threw the knife at a nearby birch. It nicked the hard, papery bark and bounced off, landing into the snow. She swore again and went to retrieve it.

When she turned around she saw that the pesky dragon was peaking its head out of the log and was watching her with a single eye. Rose cursed at it and dove at the log, but it was too late, the dragon snaked its long neck back inside the log. She got up and turned away. Sitting down facing the log, she waited for the dragon to show its nasty little scaly face.

She hadn't broken the egg as she originally thought and hoped, no, it was much worse, the dragon had hatched into the world. It had hatched for her, this she was positive of. Rose grumbled angrily at the log. It had hatched for her like her father's beast of a dragon had hatched for him.

Rose cursed loudly at the grim choices that lay before her. Perhaps she could stuff it back into the egg and fasten the egg shut with cloth, she discarded this thought as soon as it came, the dragon would only find a way out. She could not leave the hatchling to fend for itself and, hopefully, return to Ailis and Tornac with an emptied and shattered egg. Ailis would scold her and proceed to search desperately in the forest for the dragon. She could not undergo killing the thing, which would be worse than leaving it in the wild. Killing it would solve much of her problems, but it would mark her as Morzan's daughter as well as keeping it would and then she would have to live with the dragon's death on her mind. No, she could not do such a black deed.

Rose gulped.

She liked the last option the least but it was the only one that she could find reasoning in. Rose would have to accept the dragon's appearance and continue to try to find her way back to the cabin. She would have to accept her parent's heritage, this was something she did not wish to do as it was the reason why she had absconded from Urû'baen. Rose closed her eyes and rubbed them with her hands. Her luck had run out the moment she left the capital.

Rose stood up and walked to log, she glanced inside, the dragon was tightly coiled with its tail wrapped around its body. Even in its curved state, the dragon was a foot longer then her forearm; it had stocky and compact body and thick legs. Its scales gleamed in the dimmed lighting like crimson embers, the same color as the egg. The dragon flicked its long tail and fanned out its wings as best it could in the tight space. The wings were the color of the finest speckling raspberry-wine in Urû'baen, the very kind that she and Tornac would sit down with in the evenings. A procession of small spikes ran down the creature's spine from the base of its head to the very tip of its bulky tail. The spikes were the same color as the freshly fallen snow on the ground. The dragon's triangular head had two white spines prodding out from its cheeks and wide crescent shaped horns. Two diminutive white fangs jutted down from its upper jaw, they shone like daggers and Rose thought them to be very sharp.

Rose knelt down and stretched her hand out to the dragon willing it come out. The dragon twisted its head toward her and sniffed her hand. It blinked at her. Tentatively, she stretched her left arm out and touched the dragon's wrinkled snout with the tips of her fingers. A flare of icy energy surged into her hand and raced heatedly up her arm like flickering flames. She lost her balance and fell to the ground with a piercing cry. A loud ringing filled her ears, and every part of her body scorched with pain. She tried to draw her hand back, but was unable to do so. Her heart pounded frantically in her chest and she listened motionless to the pounding, waiting for whatever had processed her to release her from its grip.

After what seemed like hours, warmth slowly returned into her limbs and she was able to slowly sit on her knees. Her body tingled and ached, and her lift hand was numb. She blinked and looked back into the log, trying to understand what had occurred.

Inside the dragon was crouching, its tail rapping against the wooden interior. The dragon squealed at her and she felt something brush lightly against her consciousness. The dragon looked up at her and blinked. She blinked back. She felt it again, but this time the feeling was stronger, more solidified. A tendril of thought she identified as interest, but she did not know if the thought belonged to was her or the dragon.

Rose knew little about Dragon Riders but having grown up a castle where one was present, she knew that when a dragon and its Rider were bonded it was a union that enforced them to mend their minds, bonding them for life. She knew that the King could use magic because of him being a Dragon Rider and she wondered if she could now as well.

Rose shook the thought away. She did not want this and the moment she found Ailis she would give up the dragon and demand that their bond be revoked. Afterwards she could get on with her life as if the dragon had never hatched.

The dragon stood up on trembling legs and wobbled out the log through the other end, furthest from her. Suspicious, Rose stood up as well and followed it with her eyes. The creature walked around the log toward her attentively. It stood before her, its head craned high in a dignified manner. Rose leaned down and looked it in the eye.

"You're a little menace, you know that?" she said to the creature.

Luckily, the dragon did not answer her back instead it blinked at her and she felt another tendril touch her mind. It was an overpowering, ravenous hunger, which somehow made her own hunger even more evident, and Rose groaned at her rumbling stomach.

"If I had food, do you not think I would be eating it?" she told it. Then she smiled slightly. "I could eat you."

She laughed grimly and reached for the dragon but it jumped back. It eyed her warily.

"Peace, little nuisance, I shan't dine on you," said Rose shaking her head, suddenly feeling rather foolish for talking to the dragon.

She walked over to her pack and slung it across her back. Then she turned back to the dragon, who was idly watching her with bright eyes. She walked pass it and begun down the trail without looking back. The dragon could come with her if it pleased, Rose had decided, if not, then that was that. Problem solved.

The dragon trailed after her in slow movements causing Rose to sigh and slow her pace, to match the tiny dragon's. Every few moments she looked down at the creature as it shuffled beside her, its wings spread wide for balance. The dragon's wings, she noticed, were several times longer than its body and ribbed with thin white fingers of bone that extended from the wing's front edge, forming a row of widely spaced talons. Rose looked away.

In the distance, she could see small animals scattering about the broad trunks of trees. After a time she saw the little dragon scuttle ahead of her after a small squirrel and Rose watched as the dragon crouched down, much like a cat would to pounce, in the crunching snow. The squirrel ear's wagged and it scurried up the base of the tree and it whirled around at the dragon to chatter unhappily with it before scampering high into the branches. The dragon huffed at the tree, smoke plumed wispily out of its nasals, before scuffling back to Rose its head held high.

Rose laughed softly and shook her head.

"Nice try, little nuisance," she told it, before walking on.

The dragon, Rose soon found out, helped to keep her mind off of the worst of her hunger. It would dart ahead and jump onto a rock or log, its wings flapping wildly and at times it would squeal comically at the swirling water. At one point the dragon repeated its attempt at hunting, only this time the dragon caught the small woodland animal and gobbled it down whole. Rose scrunched up her face in disgust at the dragon when it returned licking its maw. It looked at her innocently. She scoffed at it.

For some time she and the dragon walked side-by-side along the river banks. The rays of sun, that occasionally escaped the cloud cover to warm their faces and later their back. Soon their path fell into long winding shadow and Rose's sweat chilled her skin. Now the river was truly beginning to weaken until it was but a stuttering icy stream and Rose no long dared to drink from it though her mouth was dry and chapped. Their process was reduced to a sluggish stroll and Rose had to stop when she felt too dizzy to continue. She had decided that she couldn't take another step when she looked around and saw with a great relief that the stream ended completely and the land turned muddy and filled with brown reeds.

She knew this place.


...in which there is a thorn in a log