Very fluffy father-son moment, find out why.

Chapter 27: Flower Killing

Eragon woke up at dawn and looked over to Saphira, who was curled up into a ball with Draken snoozing on her warm belly.

What a sight, Eragon whispered to himself. A Mother and her child sleeping together under the stars. He stood watch beside his mate until well after midnight, but sleep finally conquered his consciousness. Eragon fell asleep and had draped his wing over his family to provide them with a huge, velvety black blanket. He suddenly snorted and snaked his head down to nudge his son.

Rise and shine, son, Eragon said to his youngling. Draken squeaked softly and opened one emerald green eye. You heard me, little one, Eragon repeated. Come on. He watched as Draken squeaked again and shut his eye to fall back asleep. You are just like me! Eragon lowered his head and tenderly snapped his jaws down on Draken's neck to lift him to his paws. Now you need to obey your father, Eragon said sternly to his son. I want to do something nice for your mother, and you are going to help me. Draken cocked his head and flicked his tongue, causing Eragon to chuckle at the awkward cuteness in his child. Come along son, Eragon said, climbing to his feet. Draken chirped loudly, making Saphira groan in her sleep.

Hush now, Eragon said in a small whisper. This is going to be a surprise. Draken jumped into the air and hopped excitedly, waiting for his father to lead the way. I saw a patch of strange flowers just after the river, Eragon explained to Draken. Perhaps we can collect a few for her? Suddenly, he found himself trailing in a thought of serious doubt.

She is a dragon! He fought with himself. Why would she want flowers? She can sniff wild ones all the time! Find something better!

It is the thought that counts! Eragon fought back against his thoughts. Draken waddled behind his father and let out a muffled squeak to signal that he was ready to leave.

Okay son, Eragon said. Let us…Ow! Eragon snapped his head around to see that Draken had shut his jaws on the tip of his tail. He lifted his tail up and swished it, but Draken refused to let go. This is not playtime! Eragon said annoyed. He inched his head up close to his son to glare at him, but he made an odd discovery: Draken was not playing. Apparently, his son had latched onto him to avoid getting lost.

I suppose I owe you an apology, Eragon said with a chuckle. It did hurt a little bit, but Draken's teeth were too small to inflect serious damage. I hope that it is not far! With that said, Eragon slowly padded off into the brush to head towards the meadow that he saw earlier, with Draken still dangling on the tip of his tail.

- - - - -

"Has the message been sent?" Stave asked one of his top mercenaries (A/N: Soldier for Hire). The man nodded his head.

"The men you left behind completed their tasks," he explained. "None survived."

"And the others I sent?" Stave asked. The man shook his head.

"We managed to kill the innkeeper for coinciding with Eragon," he went on, "but all ten of our men were smitten by either Eragon's blade or his dragon's flame." Stave sighed.

"Why must it be like this?" Stave asked himself, twisting his saber with his right hand. "You told me that you would have Draken in front of me by this time, yes?"

"Yes lord," the man replied respectfully. Stave frowned.

"Where is it?" Stave asked. "I see no egg and I see no dragon. You have failed!"

"No my king," the man replied, taking to a knee. "I bring better news."

"What is that?"

"Me and some other men found another rider," he explained. "Just past Gil'ead, too. He looked similar to Eragon, but his dragon was red."

"Murtagh!" Stave spat out. "He is Eragon's brother. Find him…and bring him to me."

"But he is also…?"

"NO EXCUSES!" Stave yelled in the demonic voice. "If I want Draken, I must gain the things that he holds dear to force him to relinquish his own child."

"Murtagh betrayed Eragon, did he not?" the man asked. Stave growled.

"There is a possibility that he has forgiven him," Stave explained. He sighed. "Just like he forgave me." Suddenly, he shook his head. "No!" he roared. "Bring me Murtagh, or I stick your head on a pike!"

"Yes, liege."

- - - - - -

Okay son, Eragon said to his child, who was bouncing in place in the tall green grass. Do you see these pretty colored flowers in the field? Eragon lifted up his forearm to point at a field that was packed with red, yellow, purple, and white colored flowers. We shall split up in this field and gather as many as we possibly can, okay? Draken squeaked excitedly and flapped his wings. Eragon leaned his head down to rub against his son. That a boy, Eragon said. Try to keep the flowers intact. Consider this your first hunting lesson. Draken leapt into the sky again and fell back down to the ground, squeaking when he hit it. Ready? Eragon asked his child. Let us go! Eragon quickly ran into the field of flowers and lowered his mouth to gently scoop up a line of blue flowers, while Draken dashed beside him. Eragon turned to see that Draken was attempting to do the same thing, but he had to tilt his head and grab each flower individually by its stem. Finally, both father and son had their mouths full of dirt and flowers. Eragon turned and padded over to a clearing that had a large white boulder in the middle of it. Sit here, Eragon said, motioning for Draken to climb up. He obeyed and quickly ascended the large stone, still with the load of flowers resting in his maw. Let's see what you have gathered, Eragon chuckled out, as he dropped his cargo onto the grass below him. Draken attempted to squeak, but the flowers blocked the air for it to get through. He tried to squeak again and accidentally knocked a few flowers from his mouth when he did so, causing Eragon to laugh. Embarrassed, Draken dropped the remaining flowers on the rock and turned his back on his father.

It is okay son, Eragon said, rubbing against the back of Draken's head with his own. I meant nothing by it. You did outstanding with…? He moved his head away to count the remaining flowers that were on the rock. Twelve flowers. He paused again and reached down to push away the flowers that were damaged. Well, four flowers, he said kindly. Not bad at all. Draken whimpered and swished his tail. It is alright, my child, Eragon reassured. If this makes you feel any better, I only have twenty flowers that are unharmed, and I scooped up a hundred easy. He could feel his child's sense of failure and reached out to nuzzle him. Do you want to try again? Draken turned towards him slowly and lowered his head. I guess not, Eragon muttered softly. I suppose these will do well, don't you? He watched as Draken hopped off of the stone and wobbled away from his father. Please do not be so upset, little one, Eragon tried to comfort. This was only your first hunting experience. You do know that it hurts me to see you sulking like that do you? Draken stopped padding away and turned to face his father. Eragon tucked in his wings smugly and nodded his head. Help me gather these things and return home. Eragon turned away from his son to scoop up the remaining flowers from the rock along with the ones from the ground. As he bent down, Draken jumped up and latched onto his tail again, but this time it did not hurt. I suppose that one could get used to that, Eragon joked to his child, wondering if he was able to comprehend everything that had been said to him. Let's find your mother.

Eragon arrived back at the shore to see that Saphira had not moved since he first woke up.

She is still sleeping, Eragon told Draken, who muffled a squeak while still clinging to his tail. Okay, get off and let's get to work. Draken unlatched his jaw from Eragon's tail and landed with a silent thump against the sand. Eragon gently pulled the flowers apart from their stems and handed them all over to his child. Place them around her, Eragon explained silently. Draken nodded excitedly and used his mouth to transport the flowers from Eragon to his mother. While Draken was working on this task, Eragon padded to an area that was right next to Saphira's head. With an outstretched claw, he wrote something very familiar in the dirt:

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY

WE JOINED AS ONE IN SPIRIT

TWO MONTHS AGO THIS DAY

WE JOINED AS ONE WITH OUR HEARTS

Draken watched intently as he finished the last stanza (A/N: Poetic group of lines) and placed a spell over it to keep it in place. Eragon sighed and stepped back to check on his son's work. Every flower was positioned perfectly around his mother, evenly spaced and color coded with red, yellow, purple, and white.

Beautiful son, Eragon exclaimed quietly. Draken lifted up his head and extended his chest to show pride in his accomplishment. I am very proud of you. Not only did you collect the flowers for your mother, but you also put them in such an assortment. She is going to be surprised by what we did. Draken let out a soft squeak and waddled over to rest his head on his father. I think that she needs to wake, Eragon said, setting his forearm on the top of Draken's head. We still have to travel today. Eragon nudged Draken forward to wake his mother, but he squeaked in protest. This time, he shoved Draken with his snout, causing him to flip over and roll onto Saphira's nose. She snorted in her sleep and shot open her eyes.

Brave young soul, Eragon joked, leaning in to see what Saphira was going to do.

Good morning, youngling, she said sleepily. Playing already? She slowly climbed to her feet and gasped at the flowers around her and the words in front of her. Oh Eragon! She exclaimed loudly. This is such a surprise. How did you do this?

The words in front of you were my idea, Eragon explained. Our son and I picked the flowers.

Who put them out like this? Saphira asked, turning around to follow the vibrant colors.

That would be our boy, Eragon chuckled. He did well, did he not? Saphira stopped spinning to turn her gaze back to that sentence that her mate wrote.

I have not read this yet, she replied gently, taking to her paws again to get a closer look. As she continued to read, Eragon saw her shudder a few times. After she had finished reading, she turned her head over to Eragon to show her tear-filled sapphire eyes.

I had no idea, Saphira sobbed. Has it been a full year already? And two months since we became mates?

Saphira, Eragon said, padding closer to her. Yes, it has been a year since you hatched and it has been two complete months since we gave each other our hearts. I have placed a spell on this to keep this here on this shore, just for you. Saphira shuddered again as Eragon nuzzled her. She leaned into him and let a tear fall on his cheek.

I love you, she sighed. Eragon gently rubbed her last tears away with his snout.

Are you ready to leave? He asked. Saphira smiled and reached down with her mouth to scoop up Draken.

As always, she replied, still slightly teary eyed at the fact that he had kept all of their important moments cataloged.

We will find a meal along the way, Eragon said. He gently poked Draken's exposed belly with his nose, causing him to chirp loudly. Saphira winked one of her sapphire eyes at her mate.

You truly do give me your best.

Until the end of time, love, Eragon replied. Now with Draken, I can have more help to do it!

A little fluffy. Yeah, I set it up to where today was not only their two month anniversary, but also Saphia's "Birthday." I just figured that, if I had a child, I would draft him (or her) to gather stuff to earn brownie points from the mother, ya know? So now what happens? BtW, I am stuck on making this a 3 part story or linking it all together. Imagine the reviews I would have if all three books were into one? Laughs evilly Freaking sweet!

PEACE!