Half A Heart (An Eragon Fanfiction)

Chapter 2

They landed several hours later, just as the sun was disappearing over the horizon and the sky turning orange. Ismae found herself relieved as the ground started to get bigger under them, and nearly fell off of the red dragon once she hit the ground. Flying upset her stomach and she had to put her head between her legs for a few moments to settle it.

Merrik, on the other hand, was whooping as he hopped off of Glenwing's dragon, Soreth. The elf even smiled at the humans excitement and the dragon rumbled as well.

"That was awesome! I can't wait until my dragon hatches and learns how to fly and I can..." Ismae turned him out after that. She was used to his lively, talkative nature.

With Glenwing's direction, Ismae started to collect some firewood as the others set up for the night. As the sun set, camp was finished. The girl lay out on her bed mat, the egg on her lap, and a fire crackling not far from her. The night was cold, causing goose bumps on her skin, but the fire soothed her a bit, as did the egg in her lap. Her eyes didn't leave it, silently wishing that it would hatch in that moment. She was excited to see the beast that lay within.

Soft singing drew her focus away from the egg. She saw Alia and Merrik sitting around the fire, both staring at Glenwing. He was slowly rocking back and forth as he sang. It was beautiful. It wasn't of any language that Ismae knew of, but sounded like bird song. The two humans listened with fervor. It was as nothing as they had heard before. Alia added her voice  every once in a while, adding some words of the Ancient Language to Glenwing's song, and together, the music created was alluring. They couldn't help but listen. Even the dragons that lay behind them seemed to be entranced by the elves' melodies.

It was Merrik who broke the trance.

"It's hatching!" Merrik's voice drew Ismae away from the elves' music which had abruptly stopped as the elves focused their attention on the human boy. The black egg lay in the grass, it's rider crouching behind it, watching it carefully as it rocked back and forth. A few minutes passed before the first cracks appeared, small ping's sounding out every so often, like something was knocking on the egg.

"Stay back. This moment is only for Merrik." Glenwing whispered. Both the elves and their dragons looked on in wonder as cracks snaked along the obsidian egg. No doubt they had seen eggs hatch dozens of times. Perhaps it was simply because they were elves, and valued the miracle of a new dragon emerging from it's egg.

A loud resonating ping drew Ismae's attention away from the elves and towards Merrik's egg once more. The cracks now covered the egg, and with another rock, the egg broke. A small dragon lay in the broken shell pieces. It's eyes opened, revealing an icy blue iris that stood out against it's obsidian scales. It cawed, and looked towards Merrik. It blinked once. Then it's attention was torn from the human and towards itself. The baby dragon attempted to stand, struggling at first, but was eventually able to stand on it's own legs. It's membraned wings flared as it's blue eyes met Merrik's brown orbs again. A silent moment passed, like a subconscious connection passed between the two as Merrik reached out his hand and the dragon took a step towards him.

As the hatchling's head and Merrik's hand met, Merrik let out a pained gasp before his eyes closed and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Ismae's eyes widened and she attempted go to Merrik's side, but Glenwing's hand on her shoulder kept her in her place. How did he get next to her so fast?

"He will be alright," were his words. They didn't calm Ismae, but they kept her in place. The hatchling sniffed Merrik's fingers and cooed quietly, as if worried for the human. Then, with a gasp, Merrik's eyes opened and he sat up with a groan. He lifted his hand and looked at it with a confused expression.

"It is the gedway ignasia," Alia said, speaking for the first time since they had landed. "Every Rider bears the mark." She lifted her own hand, removing the leather glove and showed off the silvery mark on her palm. Both humans looked at the mark. They were learning more about riders then they had expected to this soon.

"Ismae..." Merrik didn't take his eyes off of his dragon, nor his silver palm, but called his friend to him. Leaving her own egg on the mat, Ismae joined Merrik by his side. "I- It won't happen to me, will it? The mark on my hand if I touch his dragon?" Isame looked towards the elves, but the red dragon spoke first. She didn't know if anyone else could touch another's dragon or if it was taboo.

"A dragon will only bond once, and that is with it's rider," Alia's dragon El'nil, spoke as he brought his head over to the small hatchling, sniffing the new creature. Merrik's dragon growled at the bigger dragon, attempting to appear strong, but El'nil blew smoke, surrounding the black dragon in plumbs of grey clouds. He rumbled, a laugh, at the hatchling before pulling his head away to focus a single eye on Merrik.

"He is spirited," A soft voice spoke in their minds, Glenwing's dragon, Soreth. "He will grow to be intimidating to all who see him." Merrik smiled at that.

"Rest now, Merrik, we must wake early tomorrow to get to Ellesmera by late afternoon. It will be a long flight." Glenwing said before making his way over to Soreth. The fire continued to crackle as Ismae laid down on her sleeping mat and curled around her egg. It was as if she was protecting it from the world. She closed her eyes and dreamed of herself on a dragons back with a sword in hand.

She woke the next morning to see that the fire had gone out and the elves awake, packing up what few belongings they had. Ismae stretched with a yawn and stood. They were up in the air within the next hour. Isame was sitting behind Alia on El'nil and Merrik was riding with Glenwing on Soreth. The air was cold at the altitude they were flying so Ismae was forced to wrap herself in a blanket.

A few hours into their flight, Ismae spoke up. "Alia," She shouted over the wind that was roaring in her ears and distorting her words, "Can I ask you something?"

'Think your question within your mind, so you do not have to yell over the winds,' Came a female's voice, much more calm then Isame's own.

'Okay,' She wasn't used to communicating using her thoughts. 'I was wondering - I've seen a bunch of eggs go through Belatona, and all are like polished stones.' She looked down at her egg. 'But why is this one rough and dull?'

It was silent for a few moments, and Isame considered yelling her words aloud to make sure that Alia had heard them.

'No one knows why that egg is as it is. It was born of a wild dragon pair, who have never been seen and whose names are not known. He thought it was left to die because of it's appearance. The Great Eragon and The Mighty Bid'Daum - the first Dragon Rider pair - found the egg while flying for leisure. They picked it up and brought it back to Ilirea, where all eggs that are destined to be bonded to riders go. He cast the spell over the egg himself, and until yesterday, had shown no signs of life. Not many know of this story, but I suppose this story will be known when the dragon inside hatches from it's unusual egg and all lay eyes upon him.'

Ismae thought for a long while on what Alia had told her. The egg wrapped in her arms was found by the first Dragon Rider? Merrik had told her of Eragon and Bid'Daum on several occasions. He loved the story of the little elven boy who ended a war by taking a dragon egg and raising it. They traveled across the land, making peace between dragons and elves, thus ending the war and founding the Order of the Dragon Riders. It was that man who had found this egg abandoned and decided to give it a chance at life. She smiled, thinking of how fate had to have brought the two of them together.

'Thank you, Alia.'

The elf simply nodded.