The Truth About Lies (An Inheritance Cycle Fanfiction)

The Prophecy Fulfilled

"This is incredible," I whispered, fearing that any noise would disturb her. I happened to glimpse my right palm, and saw a shimmering, silver sunburst that exactly matched the pattern of scales upon my dragon's head. My dragon... The mark was nothing like Eragon's gedwëy ignasia. Asron had been right when he said that this dragon was unlike any other.

"Congratulations," Asron said, finally breaking the silence, "you are now a Rider." The statement filled me with inexplicable joy, but also cast a shadow of dread over my heart.

***

Although I'd seen Brom interacting with Eragon and Saphira when he was alive, I had not witnessed any of Eragon's further training, and I was completely unprepared for what would come my way. Asron was impressed with the grasp of magic that I already had, but he taught me many more things. Apparently, fire was not the only element I could harness to my will. I could control water, and earth, and the air; these skills would come in handy one day, I knew, but right now it was difficult to harness the energy.

"Feel the energy moving within the earth and in the air," Asron said one day as we stood outside his hut. The forest was unusually active this morning, and the birds sang loudly overhead. "When you have mastered feeling the energy, then you will even be able to see it. Every living being has an aura, and these auras take on different shades and hues."

"What can I tell about a person from these auras?" I asked, taking a drink of water from my waterskin while my dragon stalked a field mouse close by. She was growing bigger every day, but she was not quite a month old yet. And she still had yet to decide on a name. I'd given her a myriad to choose from, but none of them seemed to satisfy her childish demands.

"Many things," Asron replied, picking a blade of grass from the ground and twirling it between two fingers. "You can tell how adept a person is at magic by how brightly their aura shines, and also the character of their soul. Most of the time, a Rider's aura will match the color of their dragon. Your friend, Eragon, his aura is most likely blue. This would also indicate that he is a loyal person, and he makes decisions justly and of an unbiased mind. He also probably makes rash decisions, does he not?"

"Yes, what you just described sounds very much like him," I admitted.

"I have known many Riders in my time," Asron said wistfully, staring up into the canopy of golden-rimmed leaves. The sun was shining brightly beyond the forest, but down here it was covered in shadow. "You will tend to see trends amongst people of similar natures when you have lived as long as I have. Now, this other Rider—Murtagh, is it? His dragon is red; therefore his aura is more than likely red as well. And Galbatorix...well, there is no doubt in my mind that his aura is as black as coal."

"How do I do this?" I asked.

"Close your eyes," he said, coming over to me and placing his gnarled hands on either side of my face. I did as he commanded and felt his fingertips pushing down on my temples. "Tap into your power; wherever it is that you feel it is stored. And then clear your mind of distractions. Focus only on one thing at a time. For now, try focusing on the birds. Pick out one song that you hear and focus solely on that. Imagine what the energy of that song would look like." My head began to buzz as my power flowed through me. I felt my dragon's consciousness pressing against mine, but told her not to worry. She didn't leave though; she just continued to observe what I was doing. The birds' songs were a cacophony of different voices fighting to be heard, but I heard one songbird—it sounded like a Kingfisher—whose song soared above the rest in high, melodious tones. The notes flowed into one another smoothly, going up and up to the climax of the song. I began to envision the notes in my head as a glowing string, softly undulating in time to the bird's singing.

And when my eyes flew open, the forest was alive with color. All around me were shades of yellow, orange, red, blue, and purple—every color one could imagine! I gasped involuntarily at the beauty of it as the colors flitted back and forth amongst the trees. Upon the ground, there were more colors. I saw the field mouse my dragon had been stalking, outlined in yellow and scurrying away as fast as it could. The light pulsed wildly with the beating of the tiny creature's heart, and I could feel his life force flowing into the thrum of energy around me.

"Well," Asron said, cutting through my thoughts, "you certainly took to that faster than I thought you would. You really are an enigma." I smiled sheepishly and then looked over at my dragon. She was glowing a brilliant shade of violet, with hints of lilac and silver weaving throughout the cloud of color. She tilted her head at me curiously and I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my throat. This was all too wonderful! "I think we will break until this afternoon," Asron continued, smiling at me and heading back into his hut.

I ran over to my dragon and knelt down next to her, bending over to allow her to scurry up onto my shoulders. Soon, she would be too big for me to carry up there, but right now she was the size of a large cat and perfect for resting upon my shoulders. She nibbled softly on my ear and I patted her snout.

'Now, now,' I chided. 'No biting. What shall we do on our break? Perhaps think of some more names? I'm anxious for something to call you.' I wasn't expecting her to respond with words, but she sent me feelings of happiness and I knew she was in agreement. We traipsed through the woods back to the glade where I'd first made camp and sat by the bend of the river. I took my boots off and rolled my breeches up to my knees, dipping my legs into the running water and reveling in the feel of the water against my skin. My dragon hopped down off my shoulders and splashed through the water, sending it flying up into my face.

I squealed with delight as we played in the water together, and then she crawled up onto the bank and spread herself out to bask in a little beam of sunlight that had broken through the trees. 'So,' I began, 'what do you think about Jura? Or perhaps Opheila?' She shook her head slightly. 'Lenora? Or maybe Vervada?' She snapped her teeth together and I felt her mind pressing against me.

'A... Am... Amera,' a tiny, female voice spoke within my mind. I was shocked at the strange contact, but knew immediately that it was my dragon. She looked up at me with wide, silver eyes and drew back her lips. From my time with Saphira, I knew this was a dragon's way of smiling.

'Amera?' I asked incredulously. 'Is that your name? Amera?'

'Yes,' she replied. I laughed aloud and scooped her up into my arms. This was my dragon; my Amera.

***

Note: Tabby's dragon's name is pronounced uh-MARE-uh.