Hunting Trip

Tristan looked at his target and let the arrow fly from his fingers, hitting the red spot just beneath the branch of the tree, sinking deep inside the plant's bark.

He felt pride swelling inside him and walked to take the arrow out of the target. However he was distracted and he did not notice the swift movement of another being. It attacked him from behind and Tristan felt the full force of the being's weight. He crashed to the ground, the air rushing out of his lungs as he strained to turn around and get the being off of him.

"You are a good shot but you still need to work on your reflexes" Grion said and smiled as he went to help Tristan up. Grion was older than him by a year and the son of the village's head protector so he had always been trained by the best around. He had been more than willing to train and help alongside Tristan and Buster.

Tristan returned the smile but he did not hesitate to take the advantage and as he was being pulled up, he kicked his friend's knees. Grion fell on the ground, making a big thump and swore. Tristan smiled back to him, holding his bow up.

"So do you" he replied and then threw his bow to the side and fell on his friend with full force. Grion struggled and kicked him just below the ribcage, once. Tristan released his hold on Grion's head and his friend got the chance to free his legs which were now dangling around with no control. Tristan threw a punch at Grion's shoulder and his friend flinched. They continued fighting like this for a while, trying to gain control over one another but soon enough it was clear that it was a draw.

When Buster came to find them they were both breathing out hard and loud and had their backs against the wet forest ground.

"I don't think our plan is working" Buster said miserably and slammed to the ground next to them. Buster was the youngest of the three, only 14 and this would be his first year in the Brasungr ceremony.

"When you say plan… Which one of them are you referring to?" Tristan asked, curious, as Grion shot up to his elbows.

Buster exhaled angrily and pointed at Daisy, the goat. She was standing only a few meters away from them and she was concentrating on tearing the roots of a certain weed with her strong jaws.

Grion smiled and Tristan chuckled as Buster shot them murderous glances.

"Haha. Very funny. Wrapping the goat in bacon pieces and taking her out in the woods to attract bears and the short, in order to practise shooting, was not a good idea. I have been watching her for all this time while you guys have been doing actual training and nothing has appeared!" Buster shouted and Daisy raised her ears just as a piece of bacon fell from her shoulders.

A bird dived from the sky just then and picked up the piece of bacon and quickly flew away to a nearby tree to chew on the meat happily.

Tristan raised an eyebrow. "I believe a bird is an ideal target in order for you to perfect your…" he started but Buster's murderous glances stopped him mid-sentence. He smiled politely.

Grion chuckled in the corner. "You call this training? This was a mere play-fight. Tristan needs a lot more to catch up with me. As for the goat thing, it was not my idea"

Tristan decided to ignore the comments about his training. He knew just as well as Grion, that their wrestle had not just been a play-fight.

He shot his hands in the air and grinned apologetically. "I know I am full of good ideas, aren't I? Speaking of which… Daisy come here, my lovely goaty…" he said and went to remove the bacon pieces from the goat and grabbed from his leather pouch some pieces of string and another object.

"His relationship with the goat is beginning to worry me" commented Grion as he watched carefully what Tristan was doing.

"I think it's reaching a point where some would consider it unhealthy" continued Buster and gave a hand to help Grion up.

Tristan, hearing their comments snorted loudly.

"Nonsense! Daisy has been nothing but helpful" he said as he put the goat into place and picked up his bow. He walked back quite a few steps, his feet sliding across the wet grass as his two friends watched him cautiously once more.

"You guys want proper training? Then watch this" he said as he let out an arrow that hovered across in a straight line and cut the apple that had been placed on top of daisy's head in half.

…..

Kayla was threading some flowers through a thin piece of string in order to make a necklace for tomorrow's celebrations. Even though she greatly disliked dragons she couldn't deny that she loved the ceremony that took place every year.

Many people would visit their town and make-shift table stands were set, where itinerant tradesmen would place their products. Even though the money they had was little, their mother had never denied them the chance to pick a treat.

Kayla remembered, last year, that they had bought a very intricate piece of stone that the tradesman swore, was carved from a diamond that Saphira had made. Her mother had thought it to be pretty but it was Tristan who insisted on buying it as he loved all things that were related to dragons.

The years before Kayla and her mother had tasted a new type of fruit that was orange, soft and gooey and tasted very much like caramel. The tradesman said he had brought it from the lands of Surda.

Her stomach rumbled at the thought and her gaze fell on the roast chicken that her mother was cooking near the fireplace. The juices fell from the chicken's skin, making the fire sizzle underneath and the meat had now began to caramelize, the outer part turning crispy and dark brown. Her mouth watered.

She looked at her mother who was standing near the window with a worried expression on her face as the dark had begun to settle. It was a late summer night and there was a faint breeze coming through the window openings.

Kayla saw her mother biting her lip, sighing once, twice, until she got up and went to check on the chicken.

Just then the door opened and Tristan entered with a huge grin fixed upon his face. Kayla saw her mother's shoulders relax as she greeted her son and went to get plates.

"Did the hunting go well?" Kayla asked her older brother and placed the necklace she had been making in a draw.

"I caught a bird" he replied and placed a small thing, the size of both her hands put together, on top of the table. Feathers flew at her direction and she coughed.

"And how did your special training go?" she asked in a smaller voice so that her mother wouldn't hear. Tristan grinned and made a sign that indicated he would tell her later.

Once the meal was served Tristan didn't pause to talk and stopped only to take short breaths of air in between as he gnawed on every chicken part he could get his hands on. Kayla on the other hand took a chicken leg and tentatively chewed her way until the bone while she regarded her brother with disgust.

Their mother had a few pieces of chicken and bread and then stopped and looked at her children happily. Kayla saw her mother's eyelids beginning to shut. She quickly snapped them open and looked at her children once again.

"Excited for tomorrow?" she asked, smiling. Tristan's mouth was full of food so the only thing he could do was nod while Kayla went on to talk about the different objects that would be present in the market and the sort of celebrations that had appeared last year. They talked a bit more about the number of eggs the elves would present to them this year and then their mother excused herself, heading to bed.

With their mother gone and nothing left but the chicken carcass, Tristan was free to speak his mind.

"It's my year Kayla, I can feel it!" he said and there was a glint in his eyes, made by the fire's light.

"You know, no eggs have ever hatched for someone in our village" Kayla said. She was the reasonable one whereas Tristan was the person who would jump straight into something without thinking about the possible consequences.

"Yes, but I have been training with Grion and Buster and my shot has improved greatly…" her brother continued looking lazily at the ceiling.

Kayla said nothing as she put the plates near the side and said goodnight to Tristan. Kayla was no fool and she did not read only princess tales. Before she had gotten her hands on them she had read every book there was in the library, including the ones about dragons. She had never liked their species, they were too big and ugly for her tastes. They were slithery reptiles that feasted on a thousand cows, if the legends were to be believed, hard to tame and breathed out fire.

But from what she had read and what she did know was that a dragon egg did not just hatch for anyone. Even though 10 eggs were sent each year across the land not even half of these, hatched. The students in Brasungr hardly added up to 40 even though the eggs had been going around for more than 15 years.

Kayla spread her blond hair around her pillow, like a fan and touched with her toes the edges of her bed. She had never really considered there was a possibility for her brother to be picked as a dragon rider, but what if he did? Would her mother be happy? Would her life continue to be the same?

Anxiously she turned around on her bed as these thoughts penetrated deeper into her unconsciousness. She hadn't appreciated the importance of having a brother. She did not have any close friends or even just people she hung out with, unlike her brother. Apart from her mother he was the closest she had in this world and in all her life she had disregarded him.

As the new sun was rising, a mark of the day's beginning, Kayla knew she was being selfish, but she wished with all her heart that Tristan would not be picked as a dragon rider.

Eragoner since I can't figure out how to directly reply to your review I will post the answer to your questions here. Brasungr is a new word that I use to name the place where the new dragon riders will be trained. Eragon and Saphira are not the main characters but they appear quite often as they are the dragon rider trainers and I am thinking of writing chapters from their perspective as well. Thanks for your helpful comments and I will take your pointers on board!