The Truth About Lies (An Inheritance Cycle Fanfiction)

Time Drags On

It was two hours later and almost dark when Eragon finally returned. He came running out to the hiding spot, his face alight with excitement.

"What happened?" I asked, smiling at his apparent joy.

"It was amazing! Brom knew so much about dragons. Much more than I even thought possible. Apparently, the dragons don't start breathing fire until they're about six months old, so I'm not too worried about that for now. But then he said that Riders can't hear their dragons' thoughts, which I know isn't true since I did just before I left here," he replied hastily, not even taking a breath.

"Eragon! Breathe between sentences! I know you're excited, but you're going to start turning blue in the face," I exclaimed, holding up my hands to signal him to stop. He took in a large breath and then let it out with a great roar of laughter.

"I'm sorry," he replied innocently. "He knew everything I wanted to know, and more. I'm just excited, is all."

"Did you find a name?" I asked, leaning my head back against the rowan tree while the dragon jumped around his feet in excitement, tail waving excitedly.

"Brom told me a few," he said, glancing down at the little blue dragon dancing about his feet. He bent down and sat in the snow cross-legged, looking fixedly into its sapphire blue eyes. "Let me ask it what it thinks." I settled in for his discussion with the dragon, watching with interest. "What do you think of Vanilor, or his successor, Eridor? Both were great dragons." He paused for a moment and then looked a bit flustered. "That's my name. You can't have it." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, if you don't like those, there are others." Eragon continued through a long list of names, most of them foreign sounding and strange to my ears. "There was Ingothold, he slew the..." He suddenly stopped and beat his hand against his forehead.

"What's the matter?" I asked in concern.

"That's why it refused all those names!" he exclaimed. "I've only been listing male ones. It's a girl!" I smiled happily.

"Ha! I knew it!" I cried ecstatically. The dragon snorted and I could almost swear there was a look of satisfaction on her face.

"Hmm," he said quietly. "I like Miramel, but that doesn't fit. She was a brown dragon. Hmm...are you...Saphira?" Eragon smiled and I thought that she must have said yes. She flapped her tiny wings and pawed at the ground.

"I like it," I whispered, smiling contentedly. "It is a powerful name, but still feminine. And it matches her well... Saphira." Saphira looked at me with her large, blue eyes and it almost looked like she was smiling.

We talked for a while longer as we walked back to the farmhouse, but I could tell his mind was wandering throughout the entire conversation. I was continually having to repeat myself. "Eragon? Is something wrong?" I finally asked. He heaved a sigh and looked down at the snow-laden ground.

"Roran is leaving for Therinsford in two weeks' time to become a miller," he said quietly. My head shot up in surprise.

"What!" I exclaimed. "Why didn't anyone tell me before?" He hung his head low.

"We didn't want you to worry, Tabatha. We know how you are," he mumbled, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his breeches to escape from the growing cold. I had things I wanted to say, but I held my tongue until Roran was present. I stomped towards the house, fire blazing in my eyes and Eragon following quickly behind.

"Tabatha!" he called. "Wait! Just wait!" I ignored his pleas as I burst through the door, letting in a cold draft of the night air in with me, my boots making loud thumps against the hard, pine floor as I searched for Roran. I finally found him in the kitchen with Garrow. For a moment, I just stood there in the doorway with my hands on my hips as Roran and Garrow stared at me in bewilderment. Eragon came up behind me, out of breath, and Roran shifted his gaze to his cousin.