The Truth About Lies (An Inheritance Cycle Fanfiction)

In Hiding

"I wouldn't dream of not repaying you for your kindness," I replied. Garrow smiled and laughed to himself.

"You remind me so much of my Marian," he mused quietly, staring off into space slightly, his mind elsewhere.

"Thank you again," I said. I left him reminiscing by the fire and headed towards Eragon's room. I opened the door and saw him sitting on his straw mattress, the room barely illuminated by the sliver of moonlight that was peeking through the clouds. His face looked so sad, but I couldn't think why. "Eragon?" I called softly. "Are you alright?" He looked up at me slowly and nodded his head slightly.

"I'm fine," he mumbled. "What about you? What happened?"

"The soldiers came looking for me, so Brom sent me here to hide," I said, coming to sit beside him on the low bed. The frame groaned slightly in protest as I lowered myself onto the mattress, unaccustomed to the extra weight.

"Why are they looking for you?" he asked in concern.

"I wish I knew. No one seems fit to give me any answers. From what I heard though, Galbatorix has put a bounty on my head. He's sent soldiers to every corner of Alagaesia to find me." I wasn't entirely sure if I should be sharing this information, but Eragon was my best friend, and I knew that I could trust him with anything. Eragon remained silent for a while, his eyes wide.

"What in the world did you do, Tabby?" he finally uttered, though he was laughing. "Did you steal Galbatorix's crown off of his head from the throne room itself?" I had to laugh aloud at that and punch him on the arm.

"Come now, Eragon, you know me better than that," I replied, mock indignation in my voice. "You should know me well enough to know that I stole his dragon, rode it all the way here from Uru'baen and hid him in the Spine." He laughed again, but something was different about it this time. "What's wrong?" I probed, poking him slightly as he looked away from me.

"Nothing," he replied softly. I could tell he was lying. My ability to see through peoples' lies was one of my talents. I only laughed a little at his vain attempt to mislead me. I would have thought that after all this time he would know that there was no way anyone could lie to me.

"You're lying," I simply said. "You were always a bad liar." That much was true. "What's bothering you?" I suddenly jumped as I heard something rustling around in the corner. "What was that?" I breathed quietly. Eragon looked even more nervous than before.

"Oh, it's n-nothing." He was stuttering... Eragon never stutters. "Probably just r-rats." I stood up to go investigate.

"You're lying again, Eragon," I said, stooping lower to the ground. Suddenly, I felt Eragon pull me by the waist and we toppled to the floor. He was on top of me, pinning me to the ground.

"I said it was nothing!" His voice wasn't angry. It was more pleading than anything else.

"And I said that you're lying to me." Now I was angry. "What is it?" The noises were coming closer. Then, I saw a flash of blue come between my face and Eragon's. I screamed and struggled to get away, but Eragon had me secured to the ground. He placed a hand over my mouth to keep me from crying out again.

"Shh! Tabby, please, keep quiet," he pleaded in a hushed whisper. I tried to speak, but his hand muffled my words. "What?" he asked, removing his hand from my mouth.

"What was that?" I whispered angrily. He shifted his eyes nervously, and then he suddenly realized the position we were in, his dark eyes going wide and his face turning scarlet in embarrassment. His legs were straddled over my hips and he had my wrists pinned above my head. Even though I'd broken his nose when we were children, he'd grown stronger than me by far from working on the farm his whole life. His ears began to turn red at their edges as he scrambled to get off me.

"Sorry," he mumbled. I pulled myself up off the floor and told him it was alright. I looked back at the sapphire creature and realization suddenly dawned on me.

"It's a dragon, isn't it?" I breathed quietly. The little dragon tilted its' head at me curiously. It inched towards me slowly, nostrils flaring as it sniffed the air and tiny talons clicking softly against the wood floor.

"How did you know?" he asked in surprise.

"Brom told me about a dragon egg that had been stolen from the king. After that, I just put two and two together."

"I'm afraid," he said abruptly. "If the soldiers found it, they would kill it. I don't know what to do." I went over to him slowly and grabbed his hands.

"Do you know what this means, Eragon?" I said, moving some of his dark hair out of his face and gently stroking his cheek. "You are a Dragon Rider, like the stories Brom used to tell us. This is for real. You're a keeper of the peace, and now....you will be expected to be a warrior. But you have to decide what for. You've been chosen for an immense responsibility, and you've been placed, very suddenly, into a position of great power... and danger. You can't afford to be afraid anymore." He stared at me for a long moment before sighing heavily and looking down at the little blue dragon. It was rubbing up against his leg, the way that a cat would, and it hummed softly, a pleasant sound that emanated from its chest.

"I know," he replied somberly, leaning down to rub the dragon at the back of its' head. "I realize the great task that lies before me."

"No," I cut in abruptly, "you don't. There are so many things about to come your way, Eragon. Things that you can't even possibly begin to imagine. And I'm sure I can't even imagine them myself. This is only the beginning." His eyes fell and his shoulders hunched forward slightly, and I could tell that he heard the truth of my words.

"Will you help me?" he finally continued, looking up at me with his dark eyes, the little blue dragons' scales reflecting in their depths. "Will you go on this journey with me?"

"Yes," I whispered, smiling slightly, "I will." He grinned back at me as the little creature crawled up into his lap and curled into a ball, wrapping its' tail all the way around itself. I sat down across from Eragon and just stared at the pair of them for a while.

We'd been hearing stories of the mighty Dragon Riders since we were children, and I never imagined I'd see one in my lifetime, let alone that it would be Eragon! The dragon was truly a magnificent sight to behold, even in its' tiny state. I knew that it would get much bigger, but I couldn't even begin to imagine how terrifying that would be. Slowly, I reached out a hand and stroked along its' shimmering blue scales, feeling their smoothness at my fingertips. The dragon twitched slightly at my intrusion, but I just couldn't help myself, and I began to laugh quietly.

"This is incredible," I whispered, looking up at Eragon. He was still grinning wildly, just like an idiot. But he was my idiot.

"Yes, it certainly is. I still can't even believe it's happening," he mused quietly, staring down at the creature in his lap lovingly. "Who would have thought a hunting trip into the Spine would change my life so completely?" I just shook my head and laughed again, sweeping a bit of dark hair out of my eyes.

"You know," I continued, "we're going to have to figure out where to hide it. Once she starts eating and growing, she's going to get a lot bigger. What are we going to do then?"

"There's plenty of woods around here." He shrugged nonchalantly, as though finding the perfect hiding place for his dragon was a daily occurrence. "We'll figure something out."

"I hope you're right," I replied skeptically. I bid him goodnight soon after that and took his extra straw mattress, dragging it out to set up in front of the fire. As I lay down, reveling in the heat given off by the flames, I fell asleep to dreams of dragons soaring through the air, Riders sitting proudly upon their backs. What I wouldn't give to become one myself.