The New Red Rider (Inheritance Cycle fanfiction)

Ch. 2 Hiding

PLease read the message at the end!

Heather rubbed her sleeved arms as the chill of the summer evening grew. She looked down at her cousins as they ran around, playing with carved wooden swords. She smiled. I wonder if Harold and I were like that when we were younger, she thought to herself. She couldn't remember much of her older brother, only that he existed and went with her father when he left.

She shook her head, brushing off the growing emotion inside her, and looked to the pale green-blue sky and orange clouds.

"Heather?" called a little voice.

Heather looked down; it was Rose, in her green dress, holding her tiny sword. "Yes, Rosey?"

"I'm getting hungry," she complained. "When will Momma be starting dinner?"

"I'm... not sure." Heather looked to the wagon. "Let me ask her, alright?"

Rose nodded her head, her long, fair locks bouncy up and down. She jogged off to join her brothers again as they continued their chase.

Heather walked up to the wagon and peered inside it. Her aunt was on her hands and knees near the driver's seat of the wagon.

"Where is it?" Aunt Cass muttered, rummaging in the storage area beneath the seat.

"Can I help?" Heather asked, stepping up into the wagon, lifting her red skirt so her boot didn't catch on it—such an inconvenience.

Cass kept rummaging. "I'm not sure. You wouldn't have happened to have seen a thick leather book with a dragon on the front, would you?" She lifted her head up from her search.

Heather rose onto the tips of her toes and reached for her bunk, lifting a corner of her mattress. "You mean this one?" she offered, dragging out a leather book so thick she could barely fit her hand around its spine. Embroidered on the red leather cover were pretty woven patterns around the edges and the simple outline of a sitting dragon, filled with scales and other intricate details.

Her aunt rose to her feet and smiled. "So you found it."

She shrugged and looked aside, pulling an awkward face. "I might have... a while ago."

Cass snorted amusingly and shook her head, smiling. "Curious, like your father. Forever interested in dragons and magic and elves." She touched Heather's cheek and took the book from her. "then I guess there's no use in giving it to you now," she sighed, placing it back on her bunk. "I was going to give it to you, to help with your—" she looked over Heater's shoulder to make sure no one was near the wagon and lowered her voice, "—egg situation."

Heather glanced at the book. "I've taken a peek at it," she whispered. "Supposedly he should hatch by itself? On his own accord? And there's no need to incubate him?"

Cass nodded. "Pretty much." She glanced around the wagon. "Where have you been keeping the little thing, anyway?"

Heather clambered up onto her bunk and rummaged around in the storage space above her bed. Inside were little dragon carvings she'd bought at various markets, her flute and a small sack filled with books, and now, a dragon egg.

Her dragon egg.

She gently lifted it out of the sack, holding its red, shimmering shell carefully as she slid down from her bunk. The wagon rocked when she landed, but she didn't feel it, entranced by what she was holding.

Inside this gorgeous, crimson, stone-like egg was a dragon that would bond with her, grow with her and stand by her for the rest of time; such loyalty was almost non-existent.

Heather held the egg in silent awe between her hands. It still amazed her that there was a real-life dragon snoozing in it, and she was astounded because the little dragon was hers. She hadn't held the egg much, fearing she'd break it, but when she did, she could almost imagine feeling a rhythmic heartbeat.

Cass took a step closer to her, looking at the egg with curiosity. "May I?" she asked, holding out a flat hand.

She looked from the egg to her aunt, hesitating. Then she remembered that Aunt Cass has been around a dragon egg before and has been around two fully grown dragons for a long time—her father's and her brother's.

She handed over the egg, gently placing it in Cass' hand.

She placed her other hand gently around it, clasping it. "Wow," she whispered. "I can almost feel how alive it is." She looked at Heather with a smile.

Heather nodded, stroking the shell with the pad of her finger in a small circle. "How soon do you think he'll hatch?"

Cass gazed at the egg intently. "Any day now, I'd say. He knows you're close by. When he's sure it's safe; he'll hatch." She handed the egg back over, and Heather placed it back in her sack above the bunk.

"What will I do after?" she asked, closing the door of the compartment.

"I've thought about that," Aunt Cass started. "And the only thing I can think of is if we lie, saying you're going off to find a permanent job among the Traders when you'll actually be going to the Academy."

"In the Boer Mountains?" Heather asked worryingly; she had never travelled alone.

Cass nodded. "Yes," she murmured. "alone." Her gaze shifted to the wooden boards beneath them. "You'll be fine," she said confidently. "He'll protect you." She stole a glance at the compartment.

Heather looked down, gripping her arm anxiously. This wasn't what she'd imagined facing when Aunt Cass told her that the egg was for her.

"Momma!" cried three voices at once, followed by the thundering of tiny feet. "What's for dinner?" Peter wailed, waving around his tiny wooden sword.

Cass looked from the triplets to the sky. "I didn't realise the time," she whispered. She sighed and looked at the tall walls of the city of Furnost ahead. "How about we go into town and get some nice dinner in there?" she offered, putting on her sweet, motherly voice.

The triplets cheered and clambered up into the wagon. Cass gave Heather a small smile.

Heather gave a false smile back. She couldn't help but feel like this could be the last dinner she'd have with her family in a long time.

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Howdy doody Inheritance fan! I have some bad news relating to this book. Unfortunately, I am no longer going to be continuing the story. But in its place, I will be starting a different Inheritance Cycle short story fanfiction. The story was supposed to be part of this one, but I'm impatient so I'm just starting a new one. It's called Shruikan's Rider and it's available on my profile!

Sorry!

EmmaPRIME <3