Before The Fall {An Eragon Fanfiction}

Chapter 34- A Perilous Revelation

Despite how calm of a demeanor I put on for Niro, on the inside I was panicked. This egg had just chosen its rider, it shouldn't have been ready to hatch for a couple days at least. Yet, here it was, cracking open right in front of my eyes mere hours after the Choosing Ceremony.

"Hey, it's going to be fine," I said, both to myself and Niro. At this point, both of us needed a little comforting.

I couldn't believe what rotten luck we had been dealt. Not only had we had to deal with a Ra'zac attack and a Lethrblaka attack, now this egg was hatching early for unknown reasons. What if there was something wrong with the hatchling inside? Perhaps the fight had disturbed the young dragon, forcing it to exit its egg early as if anticipating another fight.  I didn't even know if the others riders were alright.

'The other riders!' I said to Vascar, but mostly to myself. I was ashamed I hadn't checked on their progress as soon as the Lethrblaka was dealt with. They could be hurt for all I knew, or worse.

Reaching out to Oromis's mind, I berated myself for not paying attention to both situations at the same time, like Vascar and I had been taught to do while we trained separately.

As I reached my mind out to the other riders, I silently prayed to myself and any gods above that they were alright. If something had happened to them... I couldn't even bare to think about that possibility.

As soon as I touched Oromis's mind, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. His thoughts were focused, calm, and without even a hint of panic. If someone had been injured or killed Oromis's thoughts would have been filled with sorrow and grief. But, as it was, he even contained the slightest bit of pride in his emotions; a pride in himself and in his students. At that moment I knew they had been successful in their mission, and for the briefest second I could forget about the egg, the Lethrblaka, and all the other horrors we had experienced that day. I deserved a moment to relax and revel in our success. Everyone had survived. Everyone had survived.

'Master,' I said, announcing my presence.

'Talia,' he replied, his voice weary yet warm, 'I must express my deepest apologies for leaving you in danger yet again.'

'It's not your fault master,' I replied, knowing have weak of a response it was, but I was too exhausted to put more thought into this conversation. Instead, I changed the topic to more pressing matters. 'Everyone is fine, and that's what matters. But, we do have a situation over in the dragon hold... Niro's egg seems to be hatching.'

'Hatching? But that's impossible...' Oromis said with a mixture of shock and wonder. As he began to ponder the situation, I felt him begin to shut away his thoughts from mine. Soon, all that remained between us was a small link barely large enough to speak through.

'I will be there momentarily,' Oromis's voice whispered in my mind before our mental link vanished all together. If he suspected something about the egg, which I was fairly certain he did, he obviously wasn't going to share it with me just yet.

"Talia," Niro murmured, his voice shaking with panic or excitement, I could not tell which. I turned to him and offered him a reassuring smile, but I wasn't sure how reassuring it actually looked.

"Talia," he said again, his teeth starting to shake and chatter, "is something wrong with my egg?"

"No, no," I said, crouching down to his level and looking him in the eyes, "I'm sure everything is going to be fine. Your dragon is just a little anxious to meet you that's all."