A/N: I'm back. Sorry I took so long but if you read my last note you will know I was half way across the world for 3 weeks and unable to update. And to make things work when I got back I had to catch up on all of the homework I'd missed. This chapter is a little rushed so forgive me if it is a bit poor. Well I will not keep you for much longer.

I would like to thank everyone who reviewed for the last chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Eragon. I am not Christopher Paolini, I'm not getting any money for this.

On with the story…

Ch.15 Chapter 14

As the sun began to set, Eragon, Arya and Saphira landed for the night. They were about a league from the border line of the Hadarac desert. They had landed in the centre of a group of sand dunes and were invisible to all but the creatures of the sky.

"I'll go get some water," Arya said as soon as they had settled in.

"Would you like me to dig a hole? I am in need of a drink anyway," Saphira offered.

"Thanks."

"Well, if you ladies are going to get some water, I will start dinner." Eragon began collecting shrubs so he could start a fire. Arya quickly collected the water skins before leaving the clearing with Saphira.

When Eragon had lit the fire, he began to prepare the vegetables. As he did this he hummed a tune he had learned many a year ago while he had been in Carvahall.

When Eragon had almost finished the vegetables, Saphira landed back in the clearing.

"Where's Arya?" Eragon asked, turning his head so he could see Saphira.

"She is fine, just finishing filling the water skins." Eragon nodded and turned back to the vegetables, but just as he picked up the knife, Arya's scream rippled through the Hadarac desert. Before Saphira had registered what had happened, Eragon had Yawë in his hand and had jumped onto her saddleless back. Saphira realized what was happening and as soon as she felt Eragon's familiar weight on her back, she jumped from the clearing. Before her feet had hit the ground, Eragon was off her back and ready to take on any danger that awaited them.

Eragon looked around, and his face filled with confusion. Arya was kneeling, looking at the object in front of her with great bewilderment and concentration. Eragon ran to her side.

"What's wro-" the words caught in Eragon's throat. Arya was kneeling in front of an amethyst dragon egg.

Eragon knelt beside Arya, looking closely at the egg. It was the colour of the purest amethyst with emerald veins running through it. Eragon smiled at the colour of the veins, they matched Arya's eyes.

Arya picked up the egg and turned it over in her hands. She then held it close to her chest as if it were a new born babe.

"It's not possible," she whispered.

"Clearly it is," Eragon said, looking at the egg in confusion. Eragon stood. "We need to go back to the camp, and then you need to tell us exactly what happened." Arya got up and walked with him to the campsite, her brow furrowed in thought.

Saphira followed quickly behind them. 'This proves it,' she thought. 'I was right.' Saphira began to hum happily.

When they were back in the clearing, Eragon quickly threw all the vegetables into a pot with some water and spices. Once he had put them in the fire, he lifted his head and faced Arya who was deep in thought.

"What happened?" he asked gently.

Arya lifted her eyes from the egg and looked into Eragon's eyes. "I…" Arya took a slow breath and placed the egg in front of her. "I don't know," she said, shooting confused glances at the egg. "I went to fill the water skins, so Saphira dug a hole for me. I let her have a drink first then I began to fill the skins. While I was doing this, I told Saphira to go, so she left to go back to you. When I had finished, I let the water go as I usually did. When the hole was empty, I stood up to leave, and was about to walk away when I saw something glint at the bottom of the hole. I was curious, so I jumped in to take a look. I saw something glittering in the sand, so I went over it and cleared the sand away. And there was the egg. I screamed in shock."

Eragon stared at the egg, perplexed. "Well at least we know where the second egg is. The question is, where did it come from?" Eragon shook his head. "If we can get this egg to hatch, we will have a rider that the empire doesn't even know exists. No one knew of this egg's existence, so this will give us the element of surprise."

"That's good," Arya said weakly, staring intently at the egg once more.

Eragon picked up the egg and turned it around in his hands. "This is at least a half larger than Saphira's egg was." Eragon held the egg up to Saphira. "What do you think?"

"It's a boy," Saphira said happily.

"A boy," Eragon said quietly with a smirk planted on his face. He handed Arya the egg.

She ran her delicate fingers over its smooth surface. Admiring its beauty.

Suddenly, a shrill squeak pierced the air.

--------------------------- Wouldn't I be cruel if I stopped it here -----------------------------

Another squeak shortly followed it. It took Arya a few seconds to realize that it had come from the egg. The egg fell from her hands and began to rock violently. Arya jumped back, unsure of what to do. She looked wide eyed at Eragon. The egg was hatching. It was hatching… for her. She was going to be a rider. Arya smiled brightly. Eragon's expression matched her own. A long crack appeared on the smooth surface. Then more jagged cracks began to appear on the surface.

If it was possible, Arya's smile widened even more. It was all too much. She was going to be a rider. "I'm going to be a rider," she screamed happily. Before she could stop herself, she threw herself into Eragon's arms. Eragon barely caught her, stumbling back a few paces from the force.

Eragon embraced her tightly. "I'm not alone anymore," he whispered so low that she could not hear. Eragon felt as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. There was someone to share the burden. The fate of Alagaësia no longer rested on his shoulders alone.

Arya's face was radiating with joy. Her wide smile lit up her beautiful face. Eragon had never seen her so happy.

Eragon let go of her lithe figure and they turned to face the egg. As he let go of her, he realized that he was now about a half foot taller than her.

They watch the egg intently. Arya and Eragon both jumped back as a large bit of the shell flew off. A few more bits of shell fell away until there was a large hole in the center of the egg. From the hole emerged a tiny amethyst head. More bits of egg flew in all different directions as the small hatchling fought its way out of the egg.

When the hatchling emerged from the egg, it ignored Eragon, Arya and Saphira as it proceeded to lick off the membrane that enclosed it. With the membrane gone the small dragon spread his wings. The moonlight bounced off his scales making the hatchling look stunning and noble. The small dragon yawned displaying a row of sharp white teeth. Slowly it opened its eyes looking around.

Arya took this chance to closely examine the majestic creature. He was the colour of the purest amethyst. Along the hatchlings spine from the top of his head to the tip of his tail was a row of emerald green spines. His claws were the same shade of emerald as the spines along its back. His teeth gleamed an untouched white and his eyes were a deep emerald.

The dragon turned and stared at them with an intelligent emerald eye. Eragon looked from the small dragon to Arya and noticed that their eyes were the same colour.

The dragon walked up to Arya, stopping for a few moments to sniff her feet before going up to Eragon. He looked up at Eragon curiously, before moving on to Saphira. He stared at her attentively for a few moments before sniffing one of her claws. Eragon laughed at this, thinking back to when Saphira had hatched. She had been slightly larger than half that size, though now, the small dragon was barely the size of her claw.

When the small dragon was bored of Saphira, he proceeded to look around the camp, examining everything carefully before trotting back to Arya. The small dragon stretched his neck, as if trying to see her better. He stared up at Arya with glittering eyes, waiting for her.

Eragon nudged Arya in the ribs, bringing her back to her senses. Arya knelt down and stretched out her hand, laying it on the dragon's head. An intense pain seared through Arya's hand, flowing through the rest of her body. Arya bit her bottom lip to stop herself from crying out in pain. Her body felt as if it were on fire, the blood flowing through her seemed to burn her veins like hot metal. The pain slowly subsided and Arya removed her hand from the dragon's head and examined it. There on her palm was a silver-white oval, the gedwëy ignasia.

When Arya touched the dragon, she began to glow with a silver light. The light ran up her hand through her entire body, engulfing her in a silver glow. Arya bit her lip and shut her eyes tightly, making Eragon remember the pain he had gone through when he had first touched Saphira. This is what it was like. Eragon was amazed by the pure beauty of the bond. Slowly the light faded and Arya removed her hand from the dragons head, examining it closely.

Eragon leaned his head over her shoulder to take a decent look at her gedwëy ignasia. It was the same as his own. He lifted his own hand, and watched his silver palm shimmer in the moonlight.

A/N: well that is all for now. I will update as soon as I can. Who knows, if you review I might be inclined to update sooner. OMG, the Eragon trailer is so awesome. All who read this, I recommend that you watch it.

Cya

Love Maddy

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