Half A Heart (An Eragon Fanfiction)

Chapter 1

        "The Dragon Riders are here, Ismae! Haven't you always said that you were going to escape this place someday? The Riders are your chance!" He made his way into the field, hopping the fence and sitting next to her. He ground his fingers into the soil, pulling out turnips and putting them in the basket, looking at her every so often.

        The Dragon Riders came every year to the small town of Belatona. They came with two eggs that they hoped would hatch for two kids. Ismae had always dreamed of becoming a Dragon Rider. She could be a hero, she could be strong, she could be independent and confident.  The complete opposite of who she was now. But it was just a dream. What dragon would choose her as it's rider?

        She gave Merrik a discontinuing look.

        "An egg wouldn't hatch for me. Dragons are too..." She couldn't find the right word and ended up shaking her head. They were dragons, she was a turnip farmer's daughter. She wasn't worthy of them. She couldn't live up to the standards that Dragon Rider's set no matter how much she may want it.

        "Well what's the harm in trying? All you have to do is touch it. Then you can come home and finish picking turnips out of the ground." Merrik ran a hand through his long, black hair before he reached into the soil to pick up another turnip and placing it into the basket.

        "He'll know." She replied, not looking at her friend, focusing on her work.

        "Not if you're fast. I bet he's already passed out. He won't wake up for hours."

        Ismae sighed and stopped harvesting. Silence passed between them. Her father did usually sleep for hours at a time. And Merrik would end up helping her with the harvest anyway.

        "Fine."  What was the harm in trying?

        Merrik smiled and stood, Ismae following him as they made their way down the path and towards the village. Everyone in the town knew that the Dragon Riders were there. There was talk of it in the street and children playing, pretending they had dragons of their own and were fighting villainous foes with sticks.

        "They're in the town center. There's already a line close to a league  long! And it's two elves this time. And their dragons are huge! One's red and the other is green. I bet they're at least twenty years old!" Merrik kept talking about the dragons. He was a fanatic about them. Since seeing them for the first time when he was seven, he had always wanted to be a Rider. He got ahold of any dragon related information he could. And though Isame often dismissed anything he told her, she was as interested in it as he was. It was a world away from her, and besides,  the times they came to hatch more eggs, they seemed like a fantasy out of a dream.

        It took close to an hour for them to reach the front of the line. The two eggs they had brought with them were magnificent. One was a dark black color with lighter grey veins stretching cross it. It looked like a polished obsidian stone. The other was small. It was rough looking and a red-brown color. As everyone went up to touch the eggs, you could see how they avoided the red-brown egg. It was small and ugly. Everyone wanted the big and strong dragon that would come out of the black egg. Ismae found that she couldn't look way from the deformed egg, though. She found it's difference beautiful.

        It was her turn now. She went up the steps and stopped at the eggs. The elves, one male and one female, and their dragons stood behind the eggs, acting as guards.

        "Place your hands on the egg. We will know if it bonds to you," the male elf spoke. Ismae's honey-colored eyes met the elf's blue ones before nodding. She placed her hand on the black egg first. Its surface was smooth and cool. It's surreal, she thought. I'm touching a dragon egg. An actual dragon. There was still that doubt in her mind that it would actually hatch, but just the thought of it brought her joy. She couldn't help the smile that came to her lips.