tad longer than normal, was gonna make it longer but decided to stop there so they'll be more next time, sorry it took so long to update but i rewrote the plot so at least i know what i'm doing now so im not just gonna ramble the whole time.

claimer:I own the plot and most of the characters..yaddayaddayadda...

enjoy :D

44.-Cry of a dragoness

I awoke to something nudging my side and my eyes flashed open, my muscles tensing, preparing for an attack. After the two months since my transformation I had become more paranoid and agitated, prepared to be ambushed at any given second. The lessons we had been getting from Oromis and Glaedr weren't helping with my condition either. They were constantly reminding us of the dangers of the land and magic, how could something so amazing and spectacular be so dangerous and life threatening?

I leapt up and immediately took on a fighting stance, my feet apart and my hands curled into fists, but I relaxed as I recognized the face in the half-light, Dorran. We were in our human forms because by the end of a hard days training we were barely able to keep our forms long enough to fly back to the tree house without our cover being blown.

I stood up straight and took in the sight of his face which had changed slightly since being forced to retain our dragon forms for weeks on end. If anything, he was more elf-like, accompanied by the feline grace and almond-shaped eyes. But his beautifully toned skin had remained the same, as well as his deep onyx eyes and midnight colored hair.

It made me wonder how much I had changed, physically and mentally, since we had arrived here, I shuddered at the thought of not being completely myself.

"What is it Dorran?" I asked tiredly, looking out the exposed side of the wall to see that the sun had not risen yet.

He smiled wordlessly, something glinting in his eyes, and stepped forward to embrace me, his thick arms wrapping around my waist and locking me in his steely grasp.

I stayed still, stunned at his unexpected gesture, and then unsurely hugged him back, entwining my arms around his back.

"What's this for?" I whispered, too tired to talk louder, but curiosity burning in my words.

He pushed away from me and smiled mischievously, then walked off, his hands in his leather pants and whistling an unfamiliar tune, before jumping out the window, morphing in mid air, and flying off, his enormous black form rising through the moonlight.

I shook my head and sat back down; his actions were definitely unexpected, I didn't know what had gotten into him.

I looked over at the wind-up buzzer thing Oromis had given us, I still had a couple of hours before I would be forced to wake up and return to the old rider for even more training. I groaned, knowing I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep now. I made my way to the hole in the wall, staring up at the stars. We had been here for almost a month now and a full moon was nearing, I could feel it in my bones, the anxious tingling vibrations traveling the length of my body almost too discrete to notice.

I sighed and jumped down, morphing as the wind whipped past, hurting my eardrums. When I opened my wings I angled them differently, the way Glaedr had taught us, so that they didn't yank painfully when the air caught them.

I didn't know where I was going, but right then just flying around was peaceful enough and the night flavored wind helped to clear my mind so that I was able to think straight. I tried to contact Dorran but he had shut his mind as usual, he was being even more secretive than normal. Something was happening, and I was in the middle of it, more or less unaware.

Faolan was still unconscious in his bed and was highly unlikely to be a source of intelligent conversation, so I angled my wings towards Eragon and Saphira's tree house, hopefully at least one of them would be awake and willing to talk to me.

Eragon had recovered a few weeks ago, but the mark still remained on his chest and didn't look like it was going to disappear any time soon. And much to their dismay a small chance of collapsing at any given time still lingered, if at all, in the near future.

I landed smoothly on the hard polished floor and skidded to a stop, glancing around the main section of the house. A huge statue stood in the middle, a carving of two hands entwining around each other, the forearms never touching.

Who is there? I heard Saphira ask, her thoughts groggy from just waking up.

I peaked round the corner into the bedroom and morphed, stepping lightly into the room as not to disturb her rider who lay curled up at her belly. I smiled at the sight, her rider was probably the closest thing she would ever have to having a child, after all, there were only five male dragons left, and the only ones currently available were Dorran and Thorn, and both were highly unlikely to become her mate.

I felt a stab of pity for the sapphire dragoness, and the remainder of the dragon race, they were doomed.

She smiled sadly at me as I sat on the empty cot, obviously sensing my thoughts.

It is a hard thing to admit to yourself, that you have no one in the world that could be with you in that way, with only your rider as a companion. Do not get me wrong, I love Eragon with all my heart, but it does make you wonder what life would be like with a significant other, besides someone tied to you by destiny.

I could hear her sadness and I looked at her in despair, but then an idea came to me, what about the emerald egg, isn't that male as well? I asked, suddenly excited for my friend.

She nodded her glittering head slowly, obviously having already considered the possibility, that is true, but I do not know if he will be right for me, and that we would even like each other at all.

I shook my head, hope fading, what has Eragon said about it?

She smiled lovingly down at her rider, her tail tightening around his sleeping form. A smile twitched to his lips at the familiar touch and his body stirred slightly, but then remained still.

He has said that he will help me find someone, no matter where we have to fly to find the right one for me; he is far more amazing than he is given credit for. Her voice supported so much affection that I felt my own heart swell slightly from the fondness.

And what of Eragon? I asked curiously, I had never seen him show an interest in any woman for the time that I had known him, except perhaps towards Arya.

The dragoness cast her eyes down sadly at her only love, so far. Since Arya was murdered he has never laid eyes on another woman, and I am not completely sure that he ever will. Although I do wish that he had never liked her in the first place, his heart has been torn in a way I cannot understand having never felt the emotion before.

Her rider suddenly woke up then, his tousled brown hair sticking up on all ends, his eyes groggy and unfocussed. I giggled slightly at his disheveled appearance and he suddenly focused on me, his expression confused and disbelieving. "A-Arya?" he stammered, his eyes wide and overjoyed.

I shifted uncomfortably, "Uh, no, Eragon, it's me, Kalanie, remember?" I said, embarrassed at the look he had been giving me. He shook his head, seeming to come to his senses, and looked back at me, his eyes growing downcast and miserable. "Oh, I'm sorry; you just kind of resemble her in the dark." He admitted, his hand automatically reaching out to stroke Saphira's scales absentmindedly. His dragon nuzzled him affectionately, her eyes distressing as she tried to comfort her rider.

I felt increasingly uncomfortable, and was about to leave when Eragon looked up, all traces of longing gone, covered up on his now emotionless face. "Sorry about that, I was still half-asleep, what did you come to talk about, or did you just come to converse with Saphira?" he asked cheerfully, his eyes brighter but disappointment still lingering in the brown depths.

I shrugged, "I just came by to have someone to talk to, Dorran's off in his own little world and Faolan is passed out in our house, but I suppose there's no time now because it's almost dawn and Oromis and Glaedr will be expecting us." As I said that I head the buzzer sound in the distance, my sensitive ears picking up on the ringing sound from leagues away.

"Later then." Eragon replied, standing up and running a hand through his thick brown hair. I stood and made my way to the exit, watching over my shoulder as the rider mounted his dragon, a sight that should strike fear into the hearts of any man who saw it, but to me all I felt was the love and connection between the two, the absolute sense of admiration and a bond so strong that not even the mightiest force could tear them apart.

I smiled and leapt out the hole hearing a gasp of shock coming from behind me, and then morphed before I hit the ground, my wings adjusting almost automatically to soar upwards, and I headed towards my shared house to pick up Faolan seeing as his brother was off losing his mind somewhere.

I felt a stab of uncertainty when I thought of the dark dragon, what was wrong with him these days? Or on another thought, what did he know that I didn't? Judging from the extreme secrecy coming from him there was definitely something he wasn't telling me.

I shook my head, realizing that I had arrived on the hard wood floor without noticing where I had been flying. I morphed and made my way to the cot by the wall where a snoring heap of sheets and clothing lay bundled. I sighed, men were such pigs, and went to the closet with the indention in the floor that Oromis had told us was a bath house, and popped out one of the plugs allowing freezing water to flow into the bowl. I put the stopper back in and morphed, trying to not let my talons scrape on the floor as I tiptoed towards the sleeping mound.

I grinned uncontrollably and grabbed the mattress in my fangs, pulling it from the metal frame and sliding it on the floor towards the bathing area, the deep breathing never faltering even as he was jolted suddenly. I sighed, stone head, and dumped the form into the icy water, morphing then grinning with satisfaction as a sound like a squealing pig emitted from the now sodden fabric, accompanied by thrashing limbs and much spluttering.

"Are you seriously that deaf or do you just act like that in a vain and completely lost attempt on attracting females?" I asked in as serious a tone as I could muster. Faolan's head suddenly found an opening and his red face emerged, his eyes outraged and completely embarrassed.

"Why are you so mean and abusive?" he whined, his voice joking but hurt still lingering around the edges enough to be noticeable.

"It's a gift, now hurry and get dressed, we have to meet with Oromis and Glaedr in only a few minutes and I don't think it'll be smart if we're late again." I smiled and made my way to the bedroom to wait for his majesty to finish changing.

Faolan emerged a minute later, hair wet and water dripping into his sapphire eyes. "Did you seriously have to make the water so cold? Or are you trying to give me hypothermia for the rest of my life?" he joked and I smiled too, werewolves rarely got sick because of their amazing immune systems, and the fact that they had to digest raw meat frequently definitely helped too.

I shrugged, "Stop being such a pansy, we have to go now or we're going to face the wrath of an old man and dragon that posses powers far superior to ours, and I'm sure you don't want to experience that again."

I saw Faolan shudder at the thought and reach for the sword that one of the sword masters had given him to train with, while I morphed and curled my claws around the edge of the ledge.

He reappeared and vaulted onto my back, hooking his legs around the front on my wing muscles and gripping to one of the spikes running the length of my spine. I leapt off the edge into a freefall hearing Faolan yell with exhilaration behind me. I pulled up and set off in the direction of the rider's house wondering what the day would bring.

If only I had been prepared for what was about to happen.

dun dun dun, this is where the plot picks up and gets exciting...hopefully :D

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!

-Firesilk:D