The Truth About Lies (An Inheritance Cycle Fanfiction)

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"What are you going to do? Since you didn't get a kill?" I asked him, changing the subject quickly. He suddenly stopped and looked over at me, and then over his shoulder to check that we were alone on the single dirt road that led in and out of town. "Eragon? What's wrong?"

"Come here, Tabby," he whispered, beckoning me over to the shelter of a few trees near the road. I didn't know what he was up to, but I went over to him anyways. Reaching around to his pack, he unstrapped the top flap and pulled something out. When I saw what it was, I couldn't stifle the gasp that escaped my mouth.

"Eragon! It's beautiful! What is it?" I said. He shushed me quietly, looking around again to make sure we were still alone.

"I'm not sure, Tabby. I found it deep in the forest, just lying there. I don't know where it came from, and I've never seen anything quite like it before," he explained, examining the shining, perfectly round, sapphire blue stone. I ran my hand over the surface and found that it was completely smooth, without any kind of blemish at all. I had never seen anything like it either, and for a moment, I thought that I saw a light pulsing around it. As soon as I saw it though, it disappeared.

"What are you going to do with it?" The light off the stone reflected in Eragon's dark brown eyes. He stared at it another moment before placing it back in his pack.

"I'm going to take it to Sloan," he said, his face somber and serious. "I think I can get him to trade me meat for it."

"You could buy enough meat to last you the whole winter with that!" I exclaimed.

"That's the plan," he smirked. "I'd best be going though. I'll see you later?" I nodded in response and he jogged off, giving me a final wave over his shoulder before disappearing into the town.

I continued down the road until I got to my aunt and uncle's house on the hill near the middle of town. It was one of the larger houses in town, with the forge behind it, the fires blazing away as my uncle worked. It was growing darker as the afternoon had worn on, and Uncle Horst would be coming in soon. Aunt Elain would be making dinner right now, preparing for the boys to come in, hungry as always. I stood outside of the house for another moment, just looking at it. This was my home, and it always had been, ever since I was a baby, but I'd never truly felt at home here. There was always something that made me feel as though I didn't belong, though I couldn't put a finger on just what that thing was.

Suddenly, I saw my aunt's blonde hair sticking out the kitchen window, quickly followed by her bright, round face. "Tabatha! Come inside, dear!" I smiled and waved to her before making my way into the house. "There you are!" she cooed, bustling over to me and wrapping her arms around me. She had been a good aunt to me, more of a mother really, but she was always so overprotective.

"Yes, Aunt Elain. Here I am," I replied, patting her lightly on the back. Albriech and Baldor, my cousins, suddenly burst in through the back door that led to the forge, arguing loudly about something or another. "Boys!" Aunt Elain snapped impatiently, turning back to them. "You get back outside this instant and wash up for dinner." They shied away from her waving spoon as it danced dangerously close to their arms and backsides. They may have been men grown, but they knew better than to get on Aunt Elain's bad side.

"All right, all right!" Albriech cried indignantly. They disappeared back through the door and I couldn't help but laugh. This was becoming a nightly occurrence, but it never once lost its' amusement.

Aunt Elain hurried back over to the heavy, iron pot that hung over the fire, stirred it slightly with her spoon and dipped out a little bit. She tasted it tentatively, smacked her lips together and declared it the best stew she'd ever made. This statement was also becoming a regular occurrence, but I smiled at her nonetheless. "Was Eragon there today?" she asked kindly, wiping her hands on a towel that hung on the back of one of the chairs. There was a glint in her eyes that had started appearing as of late whenever we discussed Eragon, but I ignored any underlying meaning she might have been trying to imply.