The Truth About Lies (An Inheritance Cycle Fanfiction)

Progress

That night, as we gathered in a grove of trees further outside of town, we planned our route. Our next stop: Yazuac. It was a little town that lay far across the plains and it would take about a week to get there, and we would be able to stock up on supplies. I was a little concerned, because this was the furthest I'd ever been from home. I'd grown up in suck protected surroundings, and I wasn't sure I was ready to go out into the big world. All of the things that had happened were finally beginning to set in and become overwhelming. So much had occurred in such a short amount of time that it was hard to believe it actually had happened at all.

"Are you alright, Tabby?" Eragon's voice snapped me out of my reverie and back to reality. I looked up at him, tears beginning to well in my eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine," I lied, holding the tears back. He nodded slightly and went back to speaking with Brom, leaving me to my thoughts for the rest of the night.

What did I hope to achieve by coming with Eragon? How could I help him? Everything he needed to know, Brom could tell him. The old man certainly knew more about dragons than I ever would. So what then? How could I ever hope to continue to hide from the Imperial soldiers? And what did they truly want from me? What had I done? I ran over everything I'd ever done in my life, and I couldn't pick out anything that would set me apart from anyone else in town. There was nothing special about me at all. What did the king want? Oh, how tired I am of these secrets!

I rode in front of Eragon on Cadoc, the brown stallion that Brom had brought in Therinsford, across a vast expanse of flat, open plains. The wind ripped at our clothes and hair, slicing through to the bone. It wasn't nearly as cold down here as it was up in the mountains, but it was still chilly. I could only hope that the further south we went, the warmer it got. I peered around at the dead grass of the plains and scanned the horizon...There was nothing in sight for miles.

"How far to Yazuac?" I asked over my shoulder, shouting over the howling wind.

"Brom says it's at least another day or so," he yelled back. I wasn't sure I'd be able to last in this hellish place for much longer. Pulling my cloak tighter around my face, I tried to brace against the biting wind as it pushed against my body, nearly throwing me off of the horse a few times.

After another hour or so, ominous thunderheads began rolling in from the southeast, directly ahead of us. A storm was coming, and it was going to be big. We suddenly saw the stalks of the long grass folding under the force of the headwind, and we all braced ourselves against the oncoming gale.

"Saphira!" Eragon yelled skyward. "Land!" I turned and saw her diving for the ground, trying to race the wind. She made it before the blast hit her, but she didn't get her wings folded in time. The wind caught hold of them, ripping them backwards like the sail of a ship. She dug her talons into the ground as the wind began to carry her away. Eragon yanked the reins and turned Cadoc around to race towards her. Jumping from the back of the horse and rolling on the ground to his feet, he sped towards her to help her fold her wings back down. I tried to calm the stallion, as being so close to Saphira frightened him. After a mighty struggle with the wind, the two of them finally succeeded in getting her wings folded underneath her, and they remained in the same spot until the storm passed.

The small village of Yazuac came into our sight as dusk was falling. Saphira landed near the Ninor River while we continued on into town. Almost immediately, I could tell something was terribly wrong.

"It's so quiet," I whispered, glancing around nervously. The horses whickered nervously as well, their senses picking up the same feeling I was getting.

"Too quiet," Brom mumbled darkly, scanning the houses around us. "We should go around from the side, in case the Ra'zac are planning an ambush." I nodded in agreement and we moved around the edges of town as quietly as possible. As we made our way to the center of the village, a rancid stench suddenly reached my nose. And then we saw it...