Chapter Nine

"My name is Ayla Sharmila, a young fifteen year old girl from Therinsford who was regularly abused by her father. I worked in the forge during the morning hours and worked in the stables every afternoon. Life wasn't too bad for me, though it could have been a lot better. A few days ago, my house caught on fire while I was at the stables and I stood outside of it to watch it burn, then I fainted. When I awoke, a man helped me get back on my feet and gave me a horse, telling me to run and hide. He helped me. I came here and created a new life for myself, and now I'm here talking to you. The end." I told him, closing up the story and omitting all details.

Brom sat back and smoked his pipe thoughtfully. "That was rather short. I'm going to have to ask questions now to get any useful information." he said, grinning. I rolled my eyes but didn't argue...yet.

He leaned back in his chair and asked "Who was it that helped you get away from the fire?"

I leaned back as well and was debating whether or not to answer him when the elf maidens' voice whispered in my mind again "Those who you think are your friends may become foes later...trust none but the ones your soul calls to...You are filled with The Light, and it will guide, guard, and serve you..."

I puzzled over it all until I realized I didn't know Brom at all, even though he was being so friendly to me. I instantly threw up mental shields and a carefully calculating expression on my face as I thought over what she had said and how I was to answer Brom.

"He never told me his name, and he was different from when I had seen him before. He wasn't what I originally thought he was." was my carefully worded answer. Brom saw the caution in my face and sighed in annoyance.

"We can sit here all day Ayla until you give me some answers. Until you answer my questions, I can't answer yours." he said, blowing another smoke ring.

"Right, as if you would ever answer my questions truthfully." I said, rolling my eyes. Brom's expression darkened slightly, but he didn't argue.

"My life and its secrets are my own." he replied shortly.

"And can my life not be private either?" I demanded rudely. He paused for a brief moment, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion before he set his resolve.

"You volunteered information-" he began.

"I agreed to talk with you because you asked and it was the polite way to answer. I did not sign up for an interrogation." I corrected him, my anger beginning to flare dangerously. The white light within me began to expand at an alarming rate. My eyes began to glow slightly, the crystal gray standing out from the fading blue much more now. Realizing this, I pushed the power back down enough that it wasn't physically visible to anyone.

It was then that I began to wonder...The light will guide, guard, and serve me... will it get me into Brom's thoughts so I know what he's thinking? Or perhaps, shall it let me know more about who he is so that I can tell if I'm dealing with someone truly horrible in disguise?

The light within me flared up briefly, until I was seeing my vision only in shades of blue. Confused, I looked around. Brom, his chair, the table, and I were still there in our normal places, but everything around us was shifting and changing. I saw Brom as a young boy touch a blue egg in a cloaked room and have it flare up in his hand. It skipped ahead, to the egg hatching into a baby dragon. Watching the dragon grow, until Brom was abroad its back with a sword, flying with glee. It skipped further to epic battles raging all around the world, and Brom fighting each one from the back of his mighty blue dragon.

Then, it suddenly changed. Brom was working in a garden for a man, when a woman came out and kissed him. Skipping ahead to only the woman now, it showed her holding a newborn baby in her arms, handing it to a much younger Garrow and begging him to keep the baby and raise it for her, naming it Eragon. Then it went back to Brom, who was being protected by his dragon when another rider astride a red dragon pierced and killed the mighty blue dragon.

In Brom's grief and rage, it showed him spending months and years hunting down the rider of the red dragon, until he used the rider's own sword to kill him, and his dragon. The very last ones, except for the king and his dragon. It showed Brom going into hiding with the Varden, and running secret errands and missions to get them information and help. It showed Brom finding another blue dragon egg in Galbatorix's castle, and sending it to The Varden before he went into hiding as a story-teller in Carvahall. With that, my blue vision flickered and dissipated, leaving me with a very worried looking Brom in his small cramped house before the fireplace.

I sat up with a start, feeling the energy rushing back into me quickly. As the white light within me shrunk back down to its normal size inside of me, I sat up straight and looked around with practically new eyes. I looked at many of the relics and items in here and was able to place them into Brom's past, like pieces of the puzzle fitting together.

Brom gave me a concerned look, but then raised an eyebrow in confusion at my astonished glance in his direction. My wonder for a moment was incredible, but then I wondered how awful his sadness and pain must be. He's lost so much, and he's had to suffer in silence for all these years. Well, no more. Now I'm here.

I stared at Brom for a very long moment, trying to get a read on how he was now, but he was unwilling to give anything up without a fight. With a sigh, I leaned back in my chair to stare at him.

"Are you willing to answer any of my questions?" I asked him quietly. He sat back to think about it, blowing more smoke rings for a while until he finally nodded. I thought of how deep I wanted my first question to be, before choosing a simple one.

"Where did you go before you came to Carvahall? It's obvious you haven't always lived here." I pointed out. Brom blew another smoke ring as he thought up his answer.

"I was originally from Teirm, where I lived with a friend of mine. I went around collecting old stories from other trading stations and ports until I felt I knew all there was to know, and then I settled in Carvahall as a quiet place to live until my death was upon Me." he said smoothly, making it sound plausible. I small white light flared up before my eyes, and I realized it was more of my Light Power.

A flare of white light, what could that mean? I tried to figure it out until I realized with a start...

A lie.

I leaned forward in my chair and pointed out "That was a very good lie on your part; I'll give you some credit there. Now, tell me the real story before I tell it for you." I warned him. He laughed mockingly.

"Oh I see, you know the story of my life do you? This is a story I've got to hear." he chuckled, amused at his own joke. He sat back to blow more smoke rings as I leaned forward to watch. "Well, go ahead, tell me the story of my life." he encouraged, smiling and trying not to laugh.

"I want to ask a question first. What was her name Brom?" I asked with a very serious expression.

"Whose name?" he asked, still immersed in his own joke with a smile.

I took a deep breath before answering. "The name of your blue dragon."

There was a very, very long silence in which Brom blew more smoke rings. There was no more laughter in his face, only seriousness. He looked me squarely in the eye, looking deeper and deeper as though thinking he must have missed something. With a sigh, he leaned forward, his pipe momentarily forgotten.

"How did you know? Where did you get such valuable information?" he asked me quietly, his voice somewhat menacing. I didn't answer, but merely stared at him and waited. After a moment he heaved a long sigh and stood up from his chair, walking over to the bookshelf and looking at the spines of them, seeming to forget where he was as he answered.

"Her name was Sapphira, a beautiful sapphire dragon. Her scales ranged in every shade of blue at one point or another, and she had the most loving touch in her mind. She was always there for me, and always another part of me." he said, his voice slipping into that dreamy sort of feeling you get when you remember the past.

"You miss her dearly, don't you?" I asked him. He nodded silently, staring at the books and trying to keep a firm reign on his emotions. I was tempted to stand and comfort him, but knew I shouldn't move yet. I sat back and watched the flames flickering for a while before I softly voiced another question.

"Why haven't you told Eragon?" I asked him, my voice lilting in a dreamy fashion as I stared mesmerized at the flames. I could sense rather than see Brom stiffen in surprise, hardly moving a muscle. He turned to look at me but I completely ignored his gaze.

"It wouldn't be right, not yet. I'll tell him whenever the time is right, and whenever I feel that he is strong enough to handle it." he said, walking around the room to touch the many strange and mysterious objects. A crystal ball here, a ruby-hilted sword there, and books everywhere.

I continued to watch the flames, completely entranced in body as my mind wandered. "We all have certain secrets that we'd rather not reveal, and I suggest we leave it at that for now. Curiosity tends to kill those who walk the path with it." I told him quietly. He nodded without saying a word, staring into the flames as well. After a moment he broke from his trance and grabbed his pipe.

Brom blew a few smoke rings before saying "I suppose you had best be off now young Ayla. You have some shopping to do I believe?" he recalled, raising a speculative eyebrow. I nodded and stood from my chair. I smirked to myself when Brom wasn't looking as I realized he never found out who my travelling companion had been.