A/N: Chapter 4 is here! Hooray!! It's a little bit shorter then the last, but it has more connections to the actual Inheritence Cycle. (Sorta.) But, once again, if you have any questions, fill free to ask. ;)

Story:

Chapter 4: Truth to be told.

We ran for two and a half days straight, going from here to there, and not stopping for anything. Halfway through the third day, we stopped in a small clearing and made a miniature camp. All we did was make a small fire in the middle of the clearing, and gather some wild berries and fruit. Dylan didn't even mention hunting, which I was thankful for since I wasn't a meat eater.

Sitting in the middle of the clearing, I held the stone in my lap and stared at the fire. Dylan wanted to be able to see the Stone every once in a while to make sure it was safe, hence why I had it in my lap now.

Dylan sat next to me and handed me an apple. "Thanks." I muttered, taking the apple and savoring every bite of it. "So, would now be an appropriate time to ask about my father?"

Dylan sighed, "I guess, but I can't tell you much. He was a great elf, very brave and strong. He was helping out the Varden when he met your mother. She, at least to him, was very beautiful, even for a human. After spending some time with her, he fell in love with her, and she fell in love with him. Since she was only a human, he had no right to bring her to our secret home in the ancient forest."

"Which forest? And the Varden? Do you work for the Varden as well?" I interrupted him, and he shot me a stern glance. I shrugged, mouthed 'sorry' and stayed quiet.

"Well, since your part elf, I guess I can reveal to you our home. We elves have been living in the ancient forest of Du Weldenvarden for many generations now. We retreated and hid amongst the trees of the forest when the Dragon Riders fell. And yes, I work for the Varden. You've probably heard bad stories about the people of the Varden, but we are only fighting for the peace of Alagaësia, and to overthrow king Galbatorix."

"Now, since your father could not bring Aiedail to Du Weldenvarden, he took her to the Vardens hiding place. There, he be wedded her, angering many elves. He was an important elf you see, and the queen wanted him to marry within the elves. Even though many people were angry with his choice, Aiedail was eventually accepted, and was even allowed into Du Weldenvarden after making oaths in the ancient language. Most of the time, Aiedail traveled with your father to the Varden and back, and anywhere else he wanted to go."

"When Aiedail came impregnated with you, your father refused to let her go with him on anymore of his missions. Instead, she stayed with the Varden. Three months before you were due, your father went out on a dangerous mission, and never returned. Your mother, stricken with grief, left the Varden and travelled back to her home town, which I guess is Kuasta. I was never told, so I didn't know. But, the story says that she gave birth to you a few days before she arrived home. She got very sick from giving birth to you without any help, and died after giving you to a friend. Or, so the story goes."

My head spun with all the information I had just learned, but I had to press on. "You look barely two or three years older then me, how do you know all this? And what of the ancient language you spoke of?"

"Ah, I may only be two years older then you, but I have heard the tail countless times, by a man who was rather close to your mother and father. Maybe some day you will be able to meet him. And, for future reference, don't judge an elves age by the way he or she looks."

"Once an elf hits about adult hood, they stop physically changing for many, many years. And then, after that, their physical appearance changes to their own will, or at an extremely slow pace. For example, ten to fifteen years would be like half a day in our physical aging process. You will be much the same, but because of the human in you, you won't live quiet as long as a normal elf, but you will still outlast countless generations of humans. Well, your actually more elf then human because the elf gene is more dominate, and your mother…Changed while in Du Weldenvarden. But, that's a whole other story."

"As far as the Ancient Language goes its quiet simple. It is the original language, our, the elves, native language, and a language of power. It is tied directly to the very fabric of magic. One cannot lie while speaking in the ancient language, no matter how hard they try. Also, if one is an elf, a dragon rider, or one of the few special humans that can tap into magical powers, they can use the ancient language to use magic."

"Magic! Really? Can you use magic? Will you show me? And, by any chance, was the writing on my mother's grave in the ancient language?" Excitement filled my body, and I listened to all Dylan had to say.

"You're an elf, sorta, so you can do magic too. Ah, yes. An elf that was trying to watch over Aiedail on her journey home put that there. It says: From your Elf Friend: May you be shielded from misery, and the stars watch over you. May you find peace."

"Wow, that's such a nice thing to put on her grave. Wait, I can do magic to? Really?! Show me how!" I jumped up out of excitement and the stone rolled onto the ground.

Dylan rolled his eyes. "Not tonight. Magic is very dangerous. Let us sleep, it is getting late." Dylan laid down next to the fire, put his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes.

"You can't be asleep already." When no answer came, I gave up and laid down as well. I positioned myself on the other side of the fire from where Dylan was, and placed the stone next to my stomach. I curled around it, and let my thoughts drift.

I really was part elf, for my dad had been an elf! How exciting! But, then again, I would never have the chance to meet my mother or my father. Chances are that there is no one but me left in my family. These thoughts started to depress me, so I moved onto lighter thoughts.

Magic. This whole time, I had been connected to magic, and never once had I used it. Fifteen and a half years, and I hadn't used magic. Determination swelled up inside of me, and I decided that I would use magic in the morning.

Trying to empty my head, I rolled onto my back and looked at the sky. The sky was clear and the stars were brightening the sky, with only a sliver of the moon showing. Stretching one last time, I rolled onto my left side and held the stone tightly to my stomach. I stared into the flames of the fire and was just about to drift off into a dream land when a horrible screeching noise filled the air.

*SCREECH*

"What the-?" I stammered, the noise still ringing in my ears. I quickly sat up, and looked around, trying to figure out where the noise had come from, or what it was for that matter. Dylan was on his feet, staring at me with a slightly horrified look on his face. "Do you know what's going on?" I asked, lilting my head. The screeching filled the air again before he could answer.

*SCREECH*

This time, there was movement with the noise. The stone, which was on my lap, was now shaking violently. "The noise is coming from this?" It was more of a rhetorical question, but I asked it anyway. I wrapped my hands around the stone and held it up, my eyes staring at it intently.

"No, this can't be happening now! Kyra, drop it!" Dylan sounded slightly frightened, and was slightly shaking.

"What are you talking about? Are you okay?" I tried to stand up, but was forced down by another violent shake, and more screeching.

*SCREECH*

"Owe." A small crack appeared on the surface of the stone as I sat back up. The stone lurched out of my hands and rolled away from me, a few more cracks appearing on its surface. Dylan moved to stand next to me, and pulled me up so I was standing as well.

"No, no, no, no, no! This is not good! I can understand it hatching for you, but why here, why now? Can't it wait till we are somewhere safe, like Ellesméra?" Dylan's words both confused and excited me. It was hatching? That meant it was some kind of living creature, but what could possibly be born from something like that?

Dylan stretched his hand towards it, like he was going to touch it, but then pulled it back. "It's an egg? For what?" I couldn't help but to ask, my curiosity was getting the best of me.

"Wait and see. But, I'll tell you this now, your life is going to change more then you can imagine. Now, try not to freak out too much…Even though it shouldn't hatch yet." Dylan frowned, and then took a step away form me.

I was about to ask him another question, when part of the stone, no, egg, started to come off. A small section fell to the ground, and another and another. Soon, a small dark head popped out of the hole in the egg, and it was followed by a weirdly shaped body.

I took a step back in shock. A dragon was now standing in front of me. It seemed to be no larger then an average house cat. Though, when it stretched out its wings, it revealed that they were two to three times larger then its body. Spikes, evenly spaced, ran from its head to its tail. There was a larger then normal gap in the spikes where the neck connected to the shoulders.

The dragon's scales where a deep violet color, orange glints from the fire reflecting off of them. The thin wing membranes were a light sky blue color. I realized that the dragon's colors had matched the colors of its egg. The dragon blinked its eyes open, revealing that they were also a sky blue color, but they seemed to be very deep and knowledgeable.

The dragon stumbled a step forward, a step closer to me. "Go on, touch it. You know you want to." Dylan whispered to me, and gave me a light shove forward. I reached towards it with my left hand, which was shaking do to my frantic nerves. When I got only a couple of inches away from its head, the dragon did something unexpected.

Tongue rolling out of its mouth, it looked at me, and then it ran its tongue the length of my palm. A blast of icy energy flew up my arm, engulfing the rest of my body. Every part of my body felt as though it was on fire, all of me was in pain. Soon, I could not control my own body, and everything faded into darkness.

It felt as though I was drifting in the darkness for an eternity. The whole while, even though it seemed as though I was alone in the darkness, I could feel the presence of another life form in my mind, as though I was sharing my thoughts with someone, or something. Soon, warmth started to seep back into my limbs, my fingers twitched, and I snapped my eyes open.

The first thing I noticed was that I was staring at the sky. The stars had faded away, and the moon was starting to sink below the horizon with the sun starting to rise. The sky was light enough to see everything clearly, but it wasn't bright enough to be quiet day time.

The next thing I noticed was the fact that I was lying on the ground, but my head was raised up on something, and there was a slight pressure on my stomach. "Morning sleepy-head." Dylan's voice drifted softly into my ears, and I realized now that my head was on his lap. I tilted my head back to see him leaning over me, his face inches from mine.

"Whoa." My voice was rough, "Kind of a weird thing wake up to. What happened? My hand, it hurts." I looked down, and slightly jumped as I noticed what the pressure on my stomach was. The dragon had curled up on my stomach, and had gone to sleep. Getting over my startled feeling, I moved my left hand in front of my face so I could see why it hurt.

A silver glistening mark, kind of like a scar, was in the middle of my palm; it was shaped like a crescent moon, the tips facing towards my thumb. "That is called the gedwëy ignasia." Dylan informed me, "It's what links you to your dragon, and lets others know that you are a dragon rider. Hmm," He grabbed my hand and held it closer to his face, "Though, yours is slightly different. Normally they are oval or circle shaped…Maybe it's because you're a girl."

"I'm a dragon rider? How…When did this happen?!"

"Try, when the dragon hatched for you! What did you think that was? A picnic or something?"

"Hey, I thought a dragon could be born without someone having to be its rider! Why me? And, is there something wrong with me being a girl dragon rider?" I was a little offended, and my voice showed that.

"Oh no, I'm sorry if that bothered you. It's just, well, in the history of dragon riders, there has been no talk, stories, or even thoughts of a girl being a rider. Hmm, but, considering who your related to, it's not all that surprising. Though, everyone else might find it as a surprise. You know, my people have been looking for you for a long time. All elf children are valued greatly; even ones part human like yourself. But, because of your mother, father, and, err, yeah, we have been looking for you more then we normally would look for someone."

"You're hiding something from me. And my what? Oh, never mind, you wouldn't tell me anyway." I let out a long sigh, "Really? I may be the first female rider? That's really weird. Um, now, about the dragon, it's going to need more then just the fruit and berries we found, and how do we tell weather it's a guy or a gal?"

"Ah ha! I took the liberty of getting some meat for it while you two were sleeping!" He pulled out a few chunks of meat from behind him, and, like on cue, the dragon raised its head up off of me and stared, wide-eyed, at the food. "As for telling what gender it is, that will have to wait till about a month from now. They have no distinguishing marks for a while, and it will talk to you in due time."

"Talk to me?" My voice was skeptical. The dragon moved off of me and started snapping at Dylan's hands. I sat up and rubbed the dragons head.

"Here mash this in your hand, and then hold your hands flat to feed it to the dragon." Dylan demonstrated with a small piece, then handed me the rest. As I started mashing the meat in my hands, Dylan began to explain. "Dragons can't talk out loud like me and you, of course. But, they can communicate through the mind. We can do it too. All elves and dragon riders gain the ability to talk through the mind, as well as being able to invade the mind. It is a cruel thing to do to someone, unless they are willing of course."

"First you tell me I'm part elf, then you tell me I can do magic, next I'm a dragon rider, and now you tell me that I can talk through my mind, and invade others minds?! When will the insanity end? Or will I just get used to it all?" My eye twitched, and I feed the mashed meat to my dragon. Its tongue tickled as it licked my hands clean.

"Hahaha." Dylan shook as he laughed, which had a pure ring to it, like it was music. "You never quiet get used to it, but I'm pretty sure stuff like this will keep happening, so be prepared. Hmm…I'll teach you how to use your mind as a tool and weapon and what not later."

"Okay, and, thanks for taking care of me, and helping me. Ah, there's no more meat, and I think it's still hungry. We need more meat." I pulled the little dragon into my lap, and held it close to me. "But, don't you have somewhere to go, and fast?"

"Not just me, all of us. This concerns us all, but since we have a hatchling, we need to give it the chance to grow up before we get to where were going. So, we will go at a much slower pace then before. It'll be a little dangerous, so we will have to be very careful. And, for the meat, well, the first few days I will get it food, and you can feed it. But, within a week it should be able to get its own food. Dragons are fierce powerful creatures, even when they are young. Now, we'll stay in this clearing for the day, and move out tomorrow. You should get some more rest."

"But I don't think I could sleep with my mind so boggled. Can't you teach me something about the elves?" My mind was getting bogged down, but I wanted to learn as much as I could. I yawned slightly, stretching my arms, and then a thought hit me. "Can you sing? You should sing one of the songs the elves like to sing!"

Dylan groaned. "What? You want me to sing? Well, it has been a long, long time since I've sung. And, I'll tell you a few things about the elves first, that way I can think of a song to sing."

"Now, the proper way to greet an elf is to hold ones middle an index finger to their lips and recite the following: Atra esterní ono thelduin, Atra du evarínya ono varda." Dylan then demonstrated, and explained the meaning of all the words, and why this was done.

"Sometimes, when one is being very courteous, they add the line 'Un atra mor'ranr lífa unin hjarta onr.' Most of the time that line is added when one is speaking with a noble of some sort. Oh, also, when in conversation, the person of lesser status speaks first, and the higher ranked second. I don't know why this is. Hmm, last thing I will say about this right now is thus."

"Instead of being part elf, its more like your part human, since the elf in you is more dominate, and there's more of it."

My eyebrow rose up in confusion, "How can I be more elf then human when my mom was a complete human, and my dad a complete elf?"

"Aw, well, you see, since the elf gene is more dominate, it takes over some of the human, turning it elven. Plus, the elders put elven blood in your mother in the hopes that it would extend her life, for the sake of your father. And being a dragon rider adds to you're elfishness."

I stopped to think about this, "You know, you never told me my father's name."

Dylan's eyes rose, as though he were surprised that I wanted to know my fathers name. "That is for another time. Anyway, you wanted me to sing? The song I'm going to sing is used to sing flowers into existence. Here:"

Dylan moved away from me slightly, and then rested his hands on the ground in front of him. Closing his eyes, he began to sing lightly, "Eldhrimner O Loivissa nuanen, dautr abr deloi/Eldhrimner nen ono weohnataí medh solus un thringa/Eldhrimner un fortha onr fëon vara/Wiol allr sjon."

The words fell from his lips like drops of water, water as pure as can be. The singing was music to my ears, and put me in a sort of trance, because it was so beautiful. Even more amazing, a flower started to grow right in front of Dylan's hands. As he repeated the lines of the song, which never ceased to amaze me, the flower grew more and more.

When Dylan stopped singing, the flower had fully bloomed, showing a beautiful deep blue colored lily, which was called a Loivissa. "That was wonderful. You're a great singer. Now, can you teach me how to do that?" I pointed at the flower, being a little impatient.

"Maybe some other time, but for now, I shall help you go to sleep. Lay down." His voice had changed again, and had a slight harsh tone to it. I overlooked the fact and laid down, and held the dragon close to me, which had already drifted off to sleep.

Dylan placed his right hand on my forehead, "Sleep well. Slytha." When he said 'Slytha' I knew he was using magic, and suddenly I became too tired to keep my eyes open, and immediately I started to fall asleep.

Moving to the other side of the flower, he stroked one of the petals, and took in one deep breath. A soft whisper came from him before he fell asleep, "I bet you could sing better then me, Kyra." His voice sounded almost hurt, but I couldn't tell, for I was already lost in the world of sleep.

Something cold touched my forehead, and my eyes, involuntarily, fluttered open. Dylan was kneeling in front of me, his hand on my forehead, and his lips curved in a small smile. "Ha-ha, I forgot that when you put someone to sleep using that much magic, you need to use magic to wake them back up. You could have slept forever if I hadn't remembered."

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, "Well, then next time, remember before you use magic on me, kay?" As my eyes adjusted to the light, I realized is was early morning. The dragon, my dragon, was curled up next to me stomach, softly sleeping. A pile of mashed, raw meat was only a couple of feet away from us.

Turning, my eyes widened in surprise, for the flower wasn't where it had been the night before; only a small pile of dirt lay where it had been. "Where'd the flower go?"

Dylan must have detected the sadness in my voice, for he immediately pulled the flower out of, what seemed like thin air, and showed it to me. It was just as beautiful as it had been the day before, but it seemed different. It sparkled softly in the light, and there were no roots protruding from the bottom.

"Since you liked it so much, I took the liberty of carefully plucking it from the ground, and using magic to turn it into a type of crystal. Now, it shall never wilt, and if dropped it will not break."

He handed it to me, and at first I was confused. He said that he had turned it into a type of crystal, but it felt as tender as a normal flower, and it kept all the textures of a normal flower. But, after a moment, I spotted the subtle differences; the small sparkle in the light, and the fact that neither the petals nor the stem would bend.

"Thanks." My voice was weak from sleep, but also full of surprise. I held the flower carefully in my hands, examining it once more in the light.

Dylan stood abruptly then, stretching, then boomed, "Well, we should get a move on. We have a long ways to go, and it would be great if we reached our first stop within a month and a half."

"Okay." I yawned. Rolling my shoulders and stretching my arms, I made a move to stand up, but realized that the dragon was still in my lap. My little amount of movement not only awoke the dragon, but rolled it from my lap and made it squeak like an overgrown mouse.

After that, we promptly packed up what little stuff we had out, got rid of the evidence that there was ever a fire, and headed back into the forest. Though, of course, we had to feed the, no, my, dragon some meat, and then I had to carry it in my arms because it didn't want to follow me.

End of Chapter 4!~

-Reviews are kindly asked for! (Please?) ;)

((Up next; Chapter 5: Rise and Fall.))