Endless Fire: an Inheritance Cycle Story

Chapter Two

"Miri! Miri! Tell us a story!" said Louisa, my little sister of six years. She was finally snuggled in bed next to my other little sister, Bella, who was nearly eight. Across the room, my baby brother was snoring slightly in his crib.

"Shh," I told Louisa, holding up a finger to my lips. "Don't be so loud. Which story do you two want?"

Louisa's eyes lit up. "Tell us the funny one about the rabbit that—"

"No, we've heard that one a million times! Besides, it's my turn to pick," scowled Bella.

"No it's my turn!"

"No, remember last night when you wanted the one about the princess?"

"Fine," grumbled Louisa. "We get to do the rabbit one tomorrow."

"Which one do you want, Bella?" I asked calmly.

She thought for a minute. "How about..." she looked around, almost guiltily. "How about the one about Eragon Shadeslayer and the Varden and Galbatorix? Mother told us about it once."

I listened for a moment. I could hear father's distinctive snores coming from the next room. He would not hear.

"Okay," I said, recalling the tale. Unlike most of the stories I knew, it had actually happened. And not that long ago—a hundred-and-fifty years at the most.

"It's kind of a long one, so I'll shorten it a bit, alright?"

They both nodded.

a/n: an incomplete synopsis of the Inheritance Cycle follows. If that sounds boring, then skip to the next a/n :)))

"Once upon a time," I began. It didn't feel quite right to tell history this way, but I was telling it as a bedtime story. "There was a farm boy named Eragon. He was hunting in the mountains when a mysterious blue rock suddenly appeared out of nowhere."

"What was the rock?" asked Louisa excitedly, who was young enough not to remember this story as history.

"I can't tell you, it's a surprise," I told her.

"Oh. Okay."

"He took it home and kept it in his room. His family thought it was just a useless rock. But then, one day, it cracked open and out came... a beautiful blue dragon!"

Both of the girls gasped, even though Bella had been expecting it.

"He kept the dragon a secret from his family and named her Saphira."

"Saphira? That's a funny name," said Louisa. "Why'd he name her that?"

"Stop interrupting," chided Bella.

"The evil king, Galbatorix, didn't want anybody to be a Dragon Rider unless he controlled them, so he sent the Ra'zac to capture Eragon and Saphira."

"What are the Ra'zac?" asked Bella. "I don't remember them."

"They were monsters that worked for Galbatorix," I said. I didn't want to elaborate on their appearance or eating habits and scare Louisa. "Stop interrupting, you two.

"They came to Eragon's home, but he wasn't there so they killed his uncle Garrow instead. He was so mad that he decided to chase and kill the Ra'zac, and he left his home with an old storyteller named Brom to go hunt them down.

"Brom taught Eragon how to fight and use magic while they were looking for the Ra'zac, and he gave him a Rider's sword. When they finally caught up to the Ra'zac in Dras Leona, a big city in the south, the monsters caught them by surprise though. They killed Brom."