From a dense forest, squirrels chattered. One with a partially cut off tail scampered about, looking for acorns for winter reserves. His golden fur shone in the low forest light. A flea started to bite him and he paused to try and get it out of his fur. It was a particularly stubborn one. He had it in his tough jaws, but it wouldn't let his skin go. Frustrated, he paused for a moment, hoping to trick the flea into thinking it was over. Then he began to viciously attack it. It still wouldn't budge!
Beside him, maybe three feet away, a magnificent dark stag burst out of the brush His horns were long, beautiful, twisted masses of branches and his coat was a gleaming copper. Taught muscles rippled beneath his skin as he came to a sudden stop; listening for something, panting a little. There came a frustrated roar and a series of heavy thuds on the air. What the squirrel saw next made the stag look, in comparison, like a dog's chew toy.
Between the trees, a bright flash of sapphire blue came out and with lightning speed, ensnared the stag. Deep red, life's blood trickled on to the ground from behind a set of massive fangs. The fangs…the fangs of a dragon.
A dragon!
No one had seen a dragon in forever! And now he had! If there were any left in the wild, they were the forest's best kept secrets; like finding all the treasure in the world in a pig's trough.
With a beat of its thin, massive wings, the dragon left the squirrel's sight. The other creatures that saw it saw after only as flash of blue as it sped to a camp of humans. There, a copper haired girl with eyes a crystalline blue sat on the lap of a man with a curly mat of brown hair and brown eyes that matched. Rolling up mats in the far corner sat another man with curls of light brown and eyes of warm chocolaty brown.
"Nice catch, Saphira." Commented Eragon.
Thank you, little one. Saphira spoke with a voice like the roar of waves in the sea.
"Thanks, Saphira. You've kept us well fed." Said Roran.
"She says your welcome, Roran." Said Eragon.
Only the girl, Katrina, didn't thank her. Instead, she took the stag and began to strip the meat of it. She seemed skilled with meat.
Don't worry. I'm sure she's glad for the meat.
Glad for the meat? Yes. But glad to see me again? I think not. Her words came out hurt as she began to beat her massive wings. One flap, two flaps, three and she disappeared from their view above the tree line.
Eragon bit his lip. She was right. Katrina had never been too fond of her. She didn't realize that Saphira had feelings and that she was doing one hell of a good job at hurting them. Small things like this were no so bad, but it wasn't just this. That was the problem.
Saphira? He said to his dragon in a sympathetic voice.
Yes little one. She answered dismally.
I'll talk to her tonight okay? I'll convince her to lie off.
…Thank you.
Later that night, when they were all fed, Eragon motioned to Katrina to follow him. She had on a puzzled look for about five seconds, then followed. Through thick, dense trees they traversed. Eragon cleared the way with magic, but he missed some branches and soon they both had scrapes and scratches.
Finally they came to a clearing. Eragon sat down, crossing his legs in the center of the clearing. Katrina, wordlessly, did the same. Eragon closed his eyes and let the animals in. He felt the bird's mindless chatter, the squirrels and the chipmunk's endless war, the earthworm's lazy motions, and the rabbit's endless work. From a distance, he felt Roran and Saphira, pacing, wondering what they were doing. He gave a wry smile, and, for a long time, remained quiet. He found some ants and began following their secrets. Their battles, their struggles. And then, finally, he spoke.
"I come to places like this to sit and meditate and see what there is to see."
"Eragon, this field is empty and-"
"Empty? No, never empty. Just because you cannot see anything with your eyes, does not mean nothing's there. You've never seen a dwarf, yet you know by my stories they exist. I can feel thousands of creatures, all around us."
Katrina gulped. "You can? Where? What do they look like?" She was clearly scared.
"Everywhere. Some have feathers; others have smooth, hard shells. Some have fur; others have leathery wings. One is apart from all others. She is the largest, most amazing one by far. But she is all alone. There are very few of her. Most she's never seen. All creatures run from her. Few stay by her to learn her secrets. But she flies all alone in the sky; not to be seen. Not to be heard. Creature shouldn't be so mean to her, don't you agree?"
"She wouldn't happen to have blue scales, six inch fangs, and a scary roar, would she?"
"…She might…"
"And she wouldn't just so happen to be around you twenty-six-seven, would she?"
"…Possibly…"
"Forget it, Eragon. I just don't trust huge talking scaly lizards." She answered then added, "I guess you've told me how your last few months have been. I, now, believe it is my turn. Maybe then you may understand."
Flashback. A month after Katrina's capture. Two and a half days till the battle of the Burning Plains
"Get up, worm bag." Said a moldy voice. Katrina simply shut her eyes tighter. She would not entertain these…these…these creatures. Yes that is what they were. She thought of Roran, her only true love. A silent tear crept from beneath her lids down her face to the moldy cot. "I ssssaid 'Get up!'" creature hissed as he kicked sharply on her side.
She gave a slight yelp and turned to face the shadowy beasts. She glared into their eyes; sure they were glaring right back. "We have a mosssst important guesssst." Hissed the other one. Her heart jumped. Could it be? Could it possibly be her Roran…? "You musssst mind your mannerssss. If you don't, our massster would be mossst angry with usssss. And we would have to punisssh you. That would be mosssst…unpleassssant…."
She got up. Part of her wanted to smile as she anticipated Roran coming through the doors to her prison cell. The other part wanted to gag with disgust over that he had been caught. She heard the flap of Lethrblaka wings.
The doors opened and light poured in. A figure stood in the doorway. He looked almost god-like. She looked him over. He wasn't Roran…but there was something familiar in his eyes. Like she knew him from somewhere or knew one of his family members at least.
His brown eyes looked over her. She suddenly felt very embarrassed as she noticed how worn her clothes were. She hadn't cared with the Ra'zac-they weren't human after all. And she didn't care with all the slaves-they wore no better attire then she did. But this man was wearing rich-looking wine-red armor and had expensive looking…everything on. His hand-and-a-half sword glittered in the lantern's light.
"Leave." He said. Well more like commanded.
"Thissss issss our prissssoner, not yourssss and-"
"Leave!" he barked. To Katrina's surprise, they got up, bowed, and swiftly left the room. The man looked tenderly at Katrina. "What's your name?" Even though he seemed nice enough, something about him profoundly frightened her.
"Katrina of Carvahall." She was surprised at how bold and daring she sounded. When she said "Carvahall," something lit up in the man's eyes. Like he knew someone there or something. He smiled with a spark running through his eyes. "What's your name?" He ignored her question.
"Well, Katrina, do you know why you're here?" She shook her head. "Why, you're here to help us get together a family reunion of sorts."
"What do you mean?"
"Ah…that I shall not say. A man needs to keep some secrets." He gave her some fresh looking bread from his pocket. "Now, tell me all you know of Roran. Particularly his relatives."
"Why?" she said as she nibbled the bread.
"No other reason then that I can make it worse for you here if I don't hear what I want. I can also make it better."
She hesitated. Part of her thought this would be betrayal. But something about him made her feel she could trust him. "Well, both of Roran's parents have passed on. We suspect his cousin, Eragon, has too…" The man began to snicker when he heard this. "What's so funny?"
"Let's just say Eragon is alive…"
"How do you know?"
"Trust me, I do." He said. Then he added, "continue."
Katrina shrugged. "I don't really know anything about Eragon's dad. But I knew his mom…" He listened intensely at this. "One month, she came by. She and my mother were best friends…before she died…" Katrina paused so not to appear grief stricken. But instead, a tear fell from her eye. She saw the man staring at her and sucked it up.
"It's okay. You can cry. My mom died too." He sighed. "And I miss her every day. Not my dad, though. I could have lived a full life without him." Katrina wanted to know more about these harsh words and stayed quiet incase he had more to say. When he was silent, she continued.
"It was just a short visit. But I'll never forget what she told me, 'When you marry, marry someone good. If you don't, you and your children will pay…'" The man wiped away a tear. Katrina gave him a quizzical look, but he said nothing. "And then she left, only to return a few years later with a pregnant belly. She gave birth to Eragon at my house. He was cute as a baby." The man gave a low snicker. She had learned to just ignore him by now… "And then she begged and pleaded for Roran's parents to take him. Something to do with a prophecy… I don't really know. And then, Selena vanished. Never to be seen again. Not even to visit Eragon. When I first met him, I watched nights where he'd cry himself to sleep because he thought his parents didn't want him. That's all I'm going to say for now…" The man looked stunned. Was it something she said?
"I-I have to go now. I'll tell them to increase your rations."
"Thank you…" she said. He turned for the exit. "Wait!" she yelled, chasing after him. He was out in the hall when she caught up to him. Grabbing his arm, she said, "You never answered my question. What is your name?"
He hesitated a moment, then said, "Murtagh."
Katrina opened her mouth to say something, but as she did, in a giant red flash, a dragon charged into the cave. It gave a low growl when it saw her, puffing out a thick plume of smoke. Wrenched slave girl! A voice cried in her head as the monsters tail crashed into her. The blow smashed her across the chest, sending her clear across the cave. Never touch my Rider again, slut. It threatened before slamming its tail into her again, knocking her out cold against the stone wall.
Thorn, you just knocked out my soon-to-be sister-in-law. Thanks.
Ignoring the comment, Thorn asked Murtagh, Did you find out what you wanted to know about your family?
Yes and no. Murtagh answered solemnly. He gave a deep sigh and eyed his dragon angrily.
Which is it? The dragon asked, confused.
A little of both…
End flashback.
"And that's why I hate dragons…" she said
"Can you at least lay off a bit? Please. She's not like Thorn. Not at all. If not for her sake, for me? I am hurt just as badly when you say such things…" his voice trailed off. He could feel something. Something large, cold and cruel. It came with another presence. A bit smaller. Suddenly he recognized them. He gasped.
"What?" Katrina asked. Eragon hushed her, clamping his hand around her mouth.
"Be quiet." He whispered as he unclamped her mouth. She paused for a moment, confused.
Then she whispered, "What's going on?'
"Murtagh." Eragon said breathlessly.
