Authors Note: Well, here is the next chapter. A lot of surprises and hopefully everyone will like what I have done, but again it may not be very popular. Like I have said in my other stories, I try to write situations that have not taken place with any other story, so I hope this is accepted. One hint for all of you, did you ever see the t.v. show Lost, well...in this chapter there is a line from that show that I like. Can anyone tell me that line? DreamWriter89 helped me edit some of this, without his help, this could have been a whole lot worse.

Chapter 3

New Breed

To Eragon there was nothing but silence, he felt like he was just floating in oblivion for a really long time.

How long has it been? Eragon wondered.

He knew that he was dead now, but perhaps what flabbergasted him more than anything was being stuck where he was. He was nowhere, alone, without his family, without Saphira, without … Arya. It was just him, his mind and the continual music of waves.

Waves? What are the sounds of waves hitting a shoreline doing here?

It was then, like a miracle, Eragon saw a light in the small distance of the dark void that he was in. Pulling himself together, he started walking towards the light as it slowly began to grow in size. Eragon then broke out in a dead run at the light. He let the light envelope him as he burst through, and felt that he was alive again. Eragon could now sense his body was lying somewhere; he then opened his eyes. At first his vision was blurry and his head felt as if he had been bashed with a rock; the sky was foggy and the clouds where out of focus, but over a few seconds, his eyes began to adjust to the light. Eragon stared up at the clouds in bewilderment as he lay where was. His mind was a blank, the only consistency the sounds of waves.

The repentant, soft booms of the waves that rolled and frothed as they hit the shore was one of the most calming and beautiful melodies Eragon had ever heard. They could easily be compared to the flutes the elves of Ellesméra used to play at special times, but only this rhythm was so natural. It started out as the waves roamed closer to the beaches and then rolled over themselves and crashed, causing the rhythmic music. It was so tranquil to lie where he was, and he was content just to remain there for all eternity in a peaceful bliss. Listening to this wonderful music made him sleepy, so much so that he opened his maw and yawned.

Maw? … Maw!

Eragon burst up from where he was lying, highly confused and scared. He brought his hands up to touch his snout, but instead of the pale flesh that he was used to seeing, two large hands with long, angled, sharp nails were in their place and this made him jump back in more fright and surprise, causing him to take a step back. The confused rider stepped on something that shot an intense pain up his lower back and to his spine. The same thing caused Eragon to fall completely over and smash two more unknown sensitive areas of his back that he had never known that he had. This pain was just as great as the pain from his lower back. Now lying in the sand in a total state of shock, Eragon's heart pounded in his chest. He could tell that he was breathing heavy just by the two twin jet streams of air that could be heard from his nostrils.

He needed a moment to think, while trying to slow down his breathing. Taking in deep breaths of air and releasing it out of his new nostrils, which also blew out twin, jet black puffs of smoke, only caused him to dive deeper into the stress and shock that he was already under. Again, trying to slow down his heart rate, breathing deeply and steadily, but the puffs of smoke continued, albeit every other breath.

Finally his heart slowed and Eragon began to think about the situation at hand, starting with the jolts of pain that he felt from his back. He stood back up and turned to look down at his bum and got a whole new surprise that nearly made him faint. There was a … a tail! It had completely ripped through his pants, which were in complete shreds, and reached just right over his rump and connected to his back.

Well … that explains that pain … but what about ...

Eragon looked up toward his shoulders and yet again, he got another surprise. Protruding just slightly from where his shoulder blades ended, were two wings. They were massive, not by any dragon's standards, and large enough that he could probably fly, given time and practice. With all of these signs; a maw, claws, a tail and wings. The confused rider finally put the connections together, and not wasting another second, Eragon dashed forward and ran until his, now longer, taloned, feet where under the cool, salty ocean water. The rider looked down to see his reflection, only now he did not see the elf that he once was, but instead he saw a dragon shaped like a human being.

Eragon was covered in rich, blue scales that covered his head and started down his shoulders, arms, legs, his new tail and wings. A rough skin that was a lighter shade of blue was around his pictorials, abdomen, and a lower area that he dared not look at right now.

Eragon's face hand become more angular, adorned with two, charcoal black horns that protruded from the sides of his head. Moreover, he possessed claws, with talons that were of the same shade of black as his horns. He no longer had hair and his ears were gone or shrunk down at least. On a closer look at his face, Eragon's eyes had also changed from brown irises that he was used to, and now they were blue, Sapphire ones just like Saphira's. The rider also noticed that his muscle tone had once again been enhanced. His biceps were larger, his shoulders were more muscular, his frame was slimmed and his legs also had the same muscular change. In the Water, Eragon could see the length of his wings, which were somehow spread out, and very large. They were also blue, with webbing that was of a lighter shade; sky blue. His tail was also long, probably between seven and eight feet in length, he thought, the tip thin and tapered, thickening as it crawled up towards his rump.

Eragon was speechless; he was … a … dragon.

But before Eragon could think about anything else, a bright sapphire light shining to the right caught his eyes. Eragon turned to see that Saphira lied on the beach only several feet away. She lied on her belly, with her head in the sand, her wings were tucked back and her forelegs where sprawled out. Saphira's tail swished back in forth as she slept.

For some reason, upon seeing her sleeping form, Eragon was stuck with his feet cemented where he was. He furrowed his draconic brow in confusion of why he was not able to move. Eragon had always been able to approach Saphira before. Why would that change now? Shrugging it off, Eragon slowly began to stride forward, with the new weight of his wings and his unconscious tail flopping about, the rider was having the utmost difficulty just walking in this new body. After a few minutes and several more trips and falls Eragon finally made it over to her.

When he tried to link minds with her…something… felt off about how their minds connected. It was as if it caused him to use energy to call to her. Not wasting another moment Eragon tried to wake up Saphira.

Saphira... Eragon asked.

Hmm…, what is little one? Saphira groggily asked. Her maw opened and she yawned.

Saphira please look at me. Eragon said.

The dragoness sighed in his mind, she rose up, eyes still closed, and stretched like a cat. The dragoness hired her haunches and pushed her forelegs down toward the sand and stretched her toes and claws by pawing at the sand. Then Saphira stood to her full height, she opened her eyes and looked down and at Eragon…only he wasn't there. Instead what stood before her was something strange indeed, but Saphira did not assess the situation and out of her protectiveness of Eragon, Saphira roared at the strange dragon and pounced. She pinned him between her front forelegs.

Saphira it's me, Eragon! He told her frantically as her claws began to scratch his scaled chest.

Lies! My rider is a human, not…whatever you are. I don't know how you stole his voice and was able to connect your mind with me, but if you do not return Eragon to me at once, you will feel my wrath. She growled. Saphira's teeth were bared and her piercing eyes struck him with an incredible ferocity

Saphira please, how can I convince you that I am Eragon? He frantically asked her.

Saphira paused for a moment, she thought about the things that Eragon and only Eragon new about her. Then an idea popped into her head.

What is the name that the elves gave me? She asked.

You are Saphira Bjartskular. Saphira Brightscales. Eragon answered.

An easy question, you could have stolen that from Eragon's memories. Fine then, who is my mate? Saphira asked cleverly.

For some reason unknown to Eragon, at the mention of the word mate made something inside Eragon stir with for some reason, it momentarily gave him uneasiness of heart. But he needed to convince her and so he truthfully answered her.

Your mate is Fírnen. Eragon answered.

With that Saphira's eyes softened and then filled with confusion. She closed her maw and remained silent for several minutes.

Eragon…is that you? Saphira asked, full of a pleading puzzlement.

Aye, I am Eragon, your rider and friend.

And as suddenly as she had pounced. Saphira backed away from him, she took several steps back before planting herself on her haunches with her forelegs stretched at their max. She seemed to be leaning away from him.

H…How Eragon?

I don't know either, the last thing…the last thing I remember is trying to get you out of that storm and then it's blank. Eragon had tried to see through his memories past that point, but it was like the void of oblivion, absolute darkness.

Several more silent moments happened in between them and then Saphira decided that she wanted to get a closer look at him. She got up off of her haunches and walked up to Eragon. Sticking her head down, she sniffed Eragon's bare chest and after taking several long whiffs, Saphira started to make a few circles around him, looking at all his new draconic parts, from his horns and wings to his tail and feet. He did seem to have all of the features of a male dragon. Except Eragon still wore pants, that were torn to shreds, and he still stood on two legs. Eragon was a dragon, but he still retained the walking capabilities of a human, elf or dwarf.

Finally Saphira stopped and returned to sitting in front of Eragon, and she once again grew silent. It kind of made Eragon feel awkward just standing there waiting for her response.

Well? Eragon asked.

You are a handsome dragon, Eragon. Saphira said.

She mentally kicked herself for calling him handsome, but upon her inspection, Eragon seemed to contain the physical stature, aside from standing on two legs and wearing pants, of all the characteristics of a male that would be highly attractive to a female. His shoulders were broad, his arms and legs where muscular, his wings and tail were strong and healthy. Eragon was indeed a handsome dragon and she could not help herself. Trying to immediately steer him away from what she said, Saphira decided to ask Eragon a question that also needed to be answered.

Eragon, where are we?

Eragon took a moment to think, bringing his hand over his head and rubbing the back of his scaled neck. The two legged dragon took the moment to look around the beachside. As he looked, he made a mental note of all important features. The beach seemed to stretch for miles, there were deep green trees on his left and the ocean was on his right; far down the coast there was an angled rock protrusion that looked as if it was reaching out to the sea. Wave after wave smashed its side, causing an explosion of mist and foam. This Cliffside intrigued Eragon and he pointed at it for Saphira to see it as well.

That cliff side looks like good place to start. Eragon said.

Saphira nodded her head in agreement. With that Eragon tried to make it over to Saphira to climb on her neck so they could fly over to the cliff formation, but he was having a really embarrassing time getting there. The closer he came, the more Saphira seemed to back away from him. Eragon's brow furrowed in confusion.

Saphira what's wrong?

I…

She had to be honest. With his change still so alien to her, she was not ready for him to ride her like he once did as an elf.

…Eragon I am not used to how you look now, it's still so strange for you to be a dragon. So can we just walk over there instead?

Eragon remained silent for a moment. He wondered why she was so uncomfortable with him now. He may have been changed physically, but he was still himself at heart and mind. So with not wanting to make it anymore awkward, Eragon nodded his head in agreement. But before they could go anywhere, Eragon needed to get this walking thing down.

As a human, walking was something you learned when you were a child and before he gained his powers of a rider, Eragon could not even re-call when he learned to walk. It was like one day he woke up and could walk, but now it was just as foreign to him as the sea was. He needed help with balance, carrying a tail and two wings were not the lightest things to have when walking.

Saphira before we go … could you… could you teach me how to walk? Even though his cheeks now had scales, he could still feel the heat that rose from them out of his embarrassment.

A low rumble was heard from Saphira's throat.

Don't laugh at me, I can't help that I don't know how to keep from falling on my rump. Eragon said, turning his head away from her in embarrassment and frustration.

I'm sorry, but it is quite funny, Eragon. Saphira blurted out between her laughs.

After another few minutes of Saphira's laughter, she finally calmed down enough to teach him. She first walked around to face him. Then the sapphire dragoness grew silent and cocked her head to one side in thought about how to go about teaching him. Again he was not a typical dragon and walking on two legs was something that she had never experienced for herself, except through their link. The only thing she could think of was to simply show him how her hind legs worked when she walked. Turning around facing straight ahead with Eragon behind her, this made her draconic cheeks flare with embarrassment, no male, not even Fírnen had seen her backside up so close. Then something else came to her mind that made her even more embarrassed and she slightly tensed up.

A dragoness' tail was a tool that was used to lure in reluctant males that strayed away. The way they swished their tail and moved their hips were mesmerizing to males, causing him to chase after the female in hopes of courting her, but now it was Eragon who was behind Saphira. Eragon, her rider and friend needed her help in balancing himself when he walked with his wings and tail behind him and here she stood thinking to things that was inappropriate for a rider and dragon. Taking a few deep breaths and releasing a few puffs of smoke, Saphira began to explain the ways of walking to Eragon.

Era … Eragon, when you walk, you should sway your tail from side to side. For instants, if you are leading with your right foot, your tail should swish to your left side to balance out the shifting of the weight. Then you do the same with your left foot, you swish your tail to right.

Swallowing down her embarrassment, Saphira demonstrated by taking a few steps forward. Swishing her tail in the opposite direction of the hind foot the she lead with.

Eragon studied her movements, the way she moved was like how she flew, gracefully. When she walked she flicked her tail and it intrigued him though, it flicked right at the end of each swish. For some strange reason Eragon began to feel the need to follow her. Like in a trance of some sort, Eragon unconsciously began to move towards Saphira, mimicking her movements, though not as graceful, and before he even knew it, Saphira had stopped and Eragon walked right into her backside, eliciting a yelp from Saphira. As she turned around, Eragon snapped out the trance he was in. Shaking his head trying to refocus on his dragoness and when he did he could feel something that seemed to pierce him whenever Saphira got like this, it was anger.

Eragon why did you run into my backside? Saphira growled.

I, I, I, I don't know, it just happened before I knew what had happened. Eragon defended, throwing his arms up to defend himself from her wrath.

Well don't let it happen again. She snapped.

Eragon put his clawed hand over his heart in promise, then try to get to her side to keep from walking behind her. Taking it slow, Eragon did as Saphira had instructed, he Lead with his right foot, imagining the muscles in his tail moving to the left, as he walked forward, it seemed to work, he could feel his tail move to his left side as his muscles worked to keep him balanced. Taking it slow, Eragon worked up to his normal pace that he usually walked at and finally made it to her side, but instead of stopping, Eragon caught sight of the Cliffside and silently took the lead.

As Eragon led on, Saphira mentally fought with herself again.

Why? Why did I say that to him? He did not mean to run into me, I know Eragon would never do that on purpose, but at the same time it was such a surprise to me that I could not help what I did.

A female's tail and backside were tools for seduction, but they was also a precious part to them as well. It was like a human woman's hair. A dragoness' tail was a sacred area that only their mates were allowed to get close to and Eragon did not mean to do it. So even though she lashed out at him, Eragon did not seem too effected from it. He probably just brushed off her ranting and continued on. He was always like that when she lashed at him. He just shook it off and did what he wanted to and that would be what was best, if he just brushed it off. Saphira began to follow behind Eragon.

Taking it slow, not wanting to alert any danger or get into any unwanted trouble, they walked along the beach at a good pace. The waves still rolled and crashed on the shoreline, it was really nice to just listen to them as the rider and dragoness walked along. All of their foot prints were washed away as the frothy water receded back into the ocean. Finally after about an hour of walking, Eragon finally set foot on the rocks of the cliff, with Saphira close behind, the two legged dragon began to climb the rocky walls. As he climbed, he could hear Saphira's wing beats as she took flight and circled him to try and help him when she could, mostly from falling to his death.

After another hour, Eragon finally made it to the top. Once he got his footing, Eragon stretched out his tired muscles and yawned. A moment later Saphira landed next to him, causing some dust to blow around them. As Saphira walked up behind him to be by his side, Eragon turned to examine where they had come from, and instead he got the shock of his life. There not too far from where they had just been walking on the beach lied the remains of Talita. Eragon's maw dropped open in disarray. The ship was in pieces and puffing out smoke from a smoldering fire. Some bigger pieces of wood lied on shore, while planks and splinters rolled and floated out in the ocean. This made Eragon question this island that they were on.

Saphira…where are we?