The Undead Dragon: An Eragon Fanfiction COMPILATION

Chapter 1.1: Flight From the Cliffs (Rough Draft)

To you goes the cover... to you goes the love! Thank you for making the beaut of a cover that now graces this book! To a long friendship, my friend! 

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Kade

Running through the underbrush, I look back quickly towards the mountainous cliffs and the cliff face with a strong sense of wariness. I half-expect the cliff to come alive with Archers shooting me down with their arrows, yelling 'Fie, thou shouldth used armor of metal! Privy, doth thy try again some other time!'

And yet, here I am, still running as I near the tree-line, almost a hundred feet from the safety of the trees when I hear a shout from behind. I know then that I've been spotted by someone, and I hug the black Dragon Egg I found to my chest, heart hammering as I push myself to run faster. More shouts sound out, and then a horn sounding. Oh, that isn't good. With a slightly frightened snarl, I throw myself into the trees, vanishing from their sight and landing on my back, egg nestled in my jacket and arms tightly. I pant heavily and lie there for a moment, then quickly get onto my feet and look back towards the cliffs. No sound of pursuit yet, though the horn was still sounding.

I set my pack down and take off my jacket, wrapping it around the egg carefully, my raw-leather gloved hands tucking it into my pack gently and sinching the flap shut over it. I get up, shouldering my pack and start to jog further into the woods, the horns fading into the distance, and I soon lose the sound. I relax a bit at no longer hearing the call, and I know that people will likely be searching for me. Thankfully, I knew as well that the forest canopy was too thick to look down into where I was situated. I was safe from any aerial scouts, should any Dragons fly overhead. I continue to jog for several minutes, before spotting a familiar tree and moving over quickly, stopping at the base and tracing out the gouges I put into its surface. At one particular spot, I gently pound my fist twice on it, and the wood slide falls out of place, allowing me to reach into the hollowed-out section.

Within the Hollowed-out segment, I reach in and pull out a bow, and a quiver made of deer-hide. I count my arrows calmly, before slinging it against my pack, and pull out the other object in the hollow. A very sharp, hand-whittled wooden sword, with an edge that can cleave wild mellons in two. I strap the sword onto my waist and tighten the belt, before closing the opening with the wooden slide, hiding the hollow effectively. With my hunting gear secured, I move out quickly towards the direction of my home, hoping to get there before any search parties can come out this far and locate me.

I've traveled these woods for twelve years. Twelve long, hard years of being alone, surviving off of whatever I can gather, hunt, and kill. These woods are my home, and I know them so well that I could get from one side of the mountain range to the other without being spotted from the sky, or without being tracked on foot. However, I doubted that these people would send scouts in the air. They would likely try to cut me off by having people head to the Tall-Grass Clearing, as I call it. It was the only safe way to get to my home, either that or I try to navigate across the falls, or hike at least five days around the Falls and up the smaller mountain face.

Trudging my way through the dense undergrowth, I listen to the crisp, peaceful silence around me, hearing nothing but a bird breaking the silence to sing out to its brethren that I was there. I listen to the song, before gently pursing my lips and repeating the song back to the bird, and it looks at me intelligently. I watch it calmly as it chirps, before taking flight and singing out another song, and I smile softly, chuckling inwardly. I watch the bird fly away, before continuing forward and checking my bearing off of nearby, marked trees. I was getting close to Tall-Grass Clearing. Proceeding with caution, I make sure not to make any noises that would give me away to any search parties nearby.