Sja Fram [Inheritance Cycle | Eragon Fanfiction]

Chapter IV: Desert Storms

| | Dream ||

With my heart pounding, I entered the burnt house. The fires had burnt themselves out long ago, and I had rounded up and put the horses in a round yard. I continued scanning the ground and walls for any sign of where the rest of my family could be.

A bit of clothing caught my eye and I ran towards it, mindlessly stepping on ashes and burnt wood. The cloth was a dark blue – the colour of my mother's top. I walked around the wall, I was heading towards the middle of the house now.

When I reached the centre of the house I stopped and opened up a secret room that had been hidden by a carpet on the floor. I shoved the carpet out of the way and pulled up the door before entering the room.

I reached the bottom of the stairs and spotted a figure on the floor. "Dad?" I shouted, rushing to him.

The figure's eyes opened, narrowing at me. "Umaroth?" He questioned, his voice sounding croaky.

I knelt down beside him, "Dad you're going to be alright, right?"

The man laughed, "You and I both know this is my time."

I shook my head not believing him, "I'm not ready," I whimpered.

"Listen Umaroth, your Mother and sister are further along, they shouldn't have gotten caught in the fire. However, I was caught in the flames before I got down here," My father said in a resigned voice.

My lips pressed into a thin line, "Why did you come here and not go outside?"

"This wasn't a natural fire," my father said with a cough, "Your mother and I think this was started by those Empire soldiers who were here earlier. They know who we are," my father said before closing his eyes.

Tears fell from my eyes but I angrily rubbed them away. "He's just sleeping, not dead," I told myself as I got up and ventured further into the secret area.

I spotted my mother leaning over my sister as I turned the corner. "Mother, Sis!" I called out as I approached the pair.

Mother turned with tears falling from her eyes and I felt my own eyes water as I realised. "She's... She's dead isn't she?" I said.

My mother nodded, and I brushed the tears from my eyes. "She wouldn't want us to cry. She'd say, 'only weaklings cry!' Then she'd race off to her horse and challenge us all to a race," I told Mother as I sat down beside my sister's corpse.

Mother smiled weakly, "Your Father?"

"Gone," I said softly, not able to deny it anymore.

Mother nodded and sniffled, obviously she had no more tears to cry. "Umaroth, your father and I think that this was started by the Empire's soldiers. That's because your father and I were once part of a rebellion that rebelled against the king. We were part of the Varden before we left after your elder brother died and your sister was born. We then started a horse farm. You need to go into hiding after this, everyone will think we're all dead, so you will be safe."

I nodded weakly still wiping tears from my eyes, "What about you?"

"Someone needs to make sure people believe the story," Mother said with a soft sigh. "I'll probably be killed or kill myself afterwards so people believe the story. Take your horse and Ajik's sword with you. Be safe Umaroth and be brave like who you were named after." I nodded and left, knowing from Mother's tone that I had to do what she asked.