Chapter 5

AN: This is where the main reason I had our drake befriend the pack comes into action and the second ability of his rune markings is revealed. It might end up long or might not and I do hope It doesn't seem rushed.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Inheritance Cycle or the original characters

This day I woke before dawn, flicking the air to taste the air as it blew towards me. With a draconic grin at the scent that wafted from one of the open windows I reached out to my teacher, mentally nudging her awake.

"She's joined the world." I told her with happiness and as I felt Fiori start to share my sight we watched. When dawn came, the door crept slowly open letting Eragon hurry out and towards a forest on the other side of the farm. With my draconic sight it was easy to see Saphira as a hatchling and it took every ounce of my masculinity to not to squee at the cuteness overload.

Seriously, she was adorable!

We watched him make a shelter then something like those leash halters parents put unruly kids in when at stores. Her expression as he returned to the farmhouse almost broke my heart but knew it was something she had to learn.

As the day we went on, my eyes followed Eragon as he went through his chores with a zeal I approved of while my mentor kept an unobtrusive mental eye on Saphira. I had almost missed it when a robin foolishly landed on one of the branches that made up her shelter. The young dragoness's first kill was savage and quick and the amount of satisfaction coming from my teacher at the results made me grin. That grin turned into a chuckle when seemingly the hatchling belched up feathers. Teach made a comment of how the wild spirit of our ancestors was strong with her and I had to agree. I was curious, would the real, breathing Saphira be like the one in the books or will she be completely different?

The day went on and when Eragon visited his dragon again with more food, we were both laughing as he picked her up and turned her over. No doubt trying to check her gender. I made sure to add that moment to the mental scrapbook labeled "Saphira's baby memories" with diabolical glee.

The pair then took off to explore the forest together with Saphira on his shoulder. Seeing as they were out of my mental range it fell to my Mentor to track them, relaying their position. While she kept watch, I left her there with the current group of wolves lounging, told them I go to hunt in the ancient language, and wandered a fair distance before taking wing.

This, This is what we dragons were. Free, Free and ruler of the skies. As soon as I took off I felt all my worries remain groundbound. I knew I will have to refrain from flying once Saphira learns and began to explore but for now the skies were mine and mine alone. I hung there amongst the gray wintery clouds, my silvery scales making me near invisible for what felt like hours before spotting a small herd of deer. Feeling adventurous, I decided to try the Fanghurs' mind trick. Turns out the effectiveness was beyond expected, three of the herd collapsed in mid bounding and remained there as the rest scattered when I went to gather them. I gave a sigh as I approached them, all three looked to be having a panic attack, their wide eyes filled with terror as I slit each of their throats with a talon. Letting a shudder pass through me that I could feel my instincts seem insulted or ashamed for there was none of the satisfaction that normally followed a kill. Heaving a disappointed sigh, I moved all three to my back and took off back to the overwatch, resolving to restrict the trick for battle if my enemies' mind wasn't shielded that well.

Landing far enough back to be out of view of the valley below, I weaved through the trees to rejoin my company. I dumped two of the carcasses to the wolves lounging before taking mine a bit further away to dig in. Fiori filled me in on her 'watch' while I did the same of my experiment and the results along with how I felt afterwards. She was intrigued but understood, stating such a method took the thrill from it and left one hollow.

I decided to remain there and awake though the night simply gazing at the stars.

Too soon however we were faced with our main worry during the first night. The wind shifted and already I was dreading discovery thanks to the fickleness of mother nature.

We both watched as Saphira caught a scent, and my teacher, keeping watch over her mindscape, reported alarm. When she next commented I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding, my hopeful theory proved true. The young dragoness's instincts had labeled the scent as "wolf". After immersing myself within Fern's pack for weeks, their collective scent had drowned my own. Now the only issue I faced was avoiding Saphira's own sharp eyes when she flew and that troubled me the most.

The next morning saw our rider rush from the house to his partner and she rushed to his embrace. According to teach, she was terrified the entire night and he subconsciously picked up on it which I felt a bit sorry for. They sat for a while and played within the safety of the trees before Eragon returned to the house to begin his day. The routine set for the next few days, He worked hard with determination and we could tell his family was curious of the reason and had the foresight to keep an eye out for being tailed. Saphira grew so quickly that Eragon had to make a new shelter when eleven days later she reached his knees then the moment came when he set her free to hunt for herself. At first she remained in the immediate vicinity but as days and weeks passed she ventured further. It was one of these days that she helped me learn something new about myself albeit without her even knowing. It was early morning and I was so caught up with how gracefully she moved in the air that I did not realize she was getting too close. Thankfully her eyes were looking at a higher area and away from where I was but I still panicked.

I could see the faint glow of my markings flare up and the wolves that were with me today went ballistic and I rushed to calm them down. Worried that the commotion would attract the skyward 'ness, I looked up for her. Sure enough her eyes were on me but instead of curiosity, terror showed on her and she abruptly wheeled around and put distance between us. At that point I was thoroughly confused and grew only more so when Fiori stated 'giant wolf' was repeating in her mind when she spotted us. The others had by now calmed down but were still staring at me and glancing down at myself and to either side still showed my talons, silver scales and furled wings. It was when with a frown that I melded my mind with a nearby wolf to look at myself from his eyes that I understood. Where I stood was a massive wolf. It was my size, had gray fur with a sort of charcoal neck mane that also followed down its spine to the tail, the eyes were the same as mine, complete with the faint glow. I returned to my own mind and looked again. Yea still looked like a dragon to me. I told my teacher and she looked at me from several of the packs' eyes and she confirmed it. I told them it was ok, it was still me, and to relax. As for me, when I calmed down the runes dimmed and Fiori said she and the wolves could see me as my dragon self again.

"Remarkable, a glamour spell woven into those markings of yours. The old one seemed to have known you might get discovered, yet It seems to only respond if you feel you need to hide." She remarked, her mental presence blanketing me.

I said nothing, simply laid back down in the thicket to watch the blue speck as the dragoness hunted. Later Fiori told me Saphira sent a mental image of me as the wolf illusion along with fear and he impressed on her to avoid 'the wolf's territory'. From then on she avoided our little area even as she continued to grow. By the end of present month she reached her rider's elbow and we could see how close the two had grown. Of course I didn't slack off either. If I wasn't doing my morning runs, with an accompanied pack, Then I was training my elemental abilities which I had learned back on Vroengard. I also learned how to use the glamour although It had its limits. The disguise made the animal forms I used and even the attempt at a human the same size and color of my dragon self. And while it hid my wings, talons, and horns, objects and beings could still bump into and feel them in the general vicinity they were on days Eragon had used to get a name for his partner from Brom slowly passed. I had used my 'wolf' to scout the roads for almost two weeks to let a few travelers see me in hopes of luring out my real goal.

One of Galby's soldiers.

Eventually word got around and two days before the ill-fated day, a group of five came for the so-called beast, 'me'. All had swords and only light armored tunics and none were magic users. I led them on a merry chase deeper into the forest and right into the ambush I had set up, a hole about seven feet deep covered in brush. With the pack in reserves in case they tried to climb out. Now that I had them, I looked them over, letting my fake form fade away and I swear I smelt two shite themselves.

I had found one that Might pass as garrow though he'd require a bit more mauling than I had originally planned.

Giving them all the full teeth grin I had reached in and plucked my decoy out. Of course they tried to stop it by striking my leg with their swords but they all simply bounced.

Cute.

Tossing him on the ground next to me and the pack surrounding him to keep him from bolting I turned back to the others who were by now cowering the farthest from me and one was crying. Internally I felt guilty for deliberately seeking to end their lives and their bad luck for getting chosen for the job. They could have actually been decent guys who only wanted a means to provide for his family. But they were men of my enemy and If I didn't end them here then I might in future battle and so I opened my maw and took a deep breath, letting the flames build in the back of my mouth. They cried out and begged for mercy as I unleashed my searing fury down into the hole, burning all four to a crisp. After no more screams filled the air save for the one whimpering next to me, I closed my maw cutting the stream then I began to refill the pit with the soil I removed before turning to my soon to be victim. I invaded his mind and forcibly broke it. Once that was done I had him follow me and the pack back to the watch to wait for the moment, having him strip down to his britches in the meantime. Fiori was very curious about what I was doing and when I told her, she hoped I was careful.

I knew It was cruel but I didn't make my decoy eat, did make him drink from the river and had him smear dirt on himself to appear like he worked on a farm though. On the day I planned to make a move we waited until Eragon and Roran left for the village, we made our way to the foothills of the spine. I had assumed the wolf look while we waited. One aspect I was grateful for was while using it, the pawprints I left behind appeared as canine. Really didn't want the ra'zac to know there was a dragon nearby and follow the wolves to me. There we waited until Eragon came running back, Saw him glance at his uncle as the older man made his way towards the barn, then Saphira kidnapping him. The moment she was away I had my decoy get on my back so not to leave human prints leading to the soon to be crime scene then I and the pack ran towards Garrow. Quickly we surrounded him and using my mind, I made him sleep then I had my thrall get off and put him in his place. After phase one was done I enacted phase two, telling the pack to attack. The ex soldier simply stood there and let himself be mauled then I had the wolves drag the body to another location in the treeline and leave the body before scattering. I ran long into the woods before spreading my concealed wings and winging it back to the watch. When I touched down I peeked out and saw the monster approach the farm and they weren't gentle with things. They busted doors, tore the insides up then did the same for the barn, slaughtering the animals. When they found the large pool of blood, one bent down to taste if it was human, the very reason I chose a soldier instead of a random animal. They followed the blood trail to where we dumped the body. I had to admit, the screech of frustration was music to my ears. From there they took out their anger of being denied on the farm, utterly demolishing it and sitting it aflame. The groan of grief from my back though, scared the ever living daylights out of me and I just barely kept myself from roaring in fright. I looked back at Garrow sitting on me, his sunken eyes locked on his home, even saw a tear.

"There goes so much of my work.. So many memories.."

He heaved a heavy sigh and turned to lock eyes with me. My respect for the old man reached new heights just then. Not once did his gaze falter, they had a firmness and while there was fear in them, he never acted like it. I knew he was looking at the real me because I had dropped the glamour once we were back here. He broke eye contact to glance around at the five wolves that had stayed behind during my deceit then looked again at me. A somber expression on his face.

"This was because of that blue stone wasn't it? They were looking for it and I can tell they weren't the friendly types either. I take it It was you who saved me? You match the big one of 'em I saw earlier." He groaned, as he eased himself from my back and covered his face with a hand, shaking his head slowly.

"I should have known that thing would be trouble, Nothing good comes from the spine."

I stared at him, I couldn't help it, He had taken one look and figured everything out. His is no doubt a bloodline not to be underestimated.

There are not many who'd meet a dragon for the first time and not balk. Even my mentor was impressed.

He straightened himself, widened his stance and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Well? You have to have some intelligence to pull off the stunt you did so I know you can understand me. What do you plan to do with me now?"