Adurna

Late Night

Chapter Eight-

 Not too soon after the dragon had fallen asleep, it had awoken while I was in the midst of joining it. The intense whining it had started up had me scrambling to my feet. I hushed the small creature the best I could and hoped that Gran hadn’t been woken by its excessive noises. For the second time tonight, I lit the candle to see the dragon. To my surprise, it sat by the doorway watching me with wide green eyes. Making my way towards it, I watched as it opened its mouth yet again to screech. I ran towards it and thankfully startled it enough to quiet the thing.

I sighed and looked around the room, but not quite sure what I was searching for. Grabbing the candle by the stand, I unlatched the door and pushed it open easily. Before I could take a step out of my room, the dragon sped through my legs and towards the stairs. I darted after it, though my ankle yearned to be back in bed. Luckily, it had healed enough from earlier that I could walk without a bad limp. I heard it tumble down the flight of stairs and hurried after the noise. The candle light opened a small door of sight for me, but it was enough to notice the small shadow of movement scurry into the kitchen. A loud smashing sound of pots colliding with each other filled my ears and stopped my heart for an instant.

My legs were moving before my mind was able to anticipate their move. I dashed into the kitchen to find the dragon chewing on a half-eaten fish. The fish were wrapped tightly in a paper material above the pots and pans, and how it had reached the top was beyond me. It had finished the first fish and was eagerly biting into the next when I heard quick footsteps coming from upstairs. Gran was awake. Whirling around wildly, I scooped up the dragon, much to its protest, and stuffed it into the closest cupboard to me. It whined loudly within so I grabbed the package of fish and threw it in with it which quieted the small beast.  Next I grabbed the nearest pot to look like I was doing something as Gran ran in quickly. Her face, full of fear and rage, turned into a twist of confusion at the presence of me. In her hands she clutched a broom, as if that would be able to hold off any burglars.

“What are you doing?” Her voice seemed loud in the still silence. I noticed her eyes kept darting around the pub, as if expecting someone to jump out at any moment. Slowly, I slid in front of the slightly parted cupboard that held the dragon the keep it closed.

“I-I-I was hungry…and I came down stairs to get a snack,” I lied on my toes, widening my eyes to feign innocence so they would twitch at the lie like the once had before.  “The pots fell. I’m sorry I woke you.”

Gran relaxed visibly against the door frame and nodded her head in understanding. “Clean before sleep,” She said in a tired voice. “I trust you can make snack, no?”

“Yes,” I replied a little too quickly. “I can.” With that, Gran made her way back up the stairs and to her room slowly; the weight of her sleep still laboring within her foot falls. Turning back to the dragon container, I opened the cupboard and stepped back as the creature tumbled out of the wooden holder. It licked its lips and looked up at me with those large eyes again. The same pull that had happened earlier poked at my mind, much stronger than it was before. Confusion overtook me. What’s happening? The dragon tilted its head to the right while continuing to watch my every move. I flinched viably as the pressure increased in my head, but quickly abated into nothing again.

I shook my head to clear the strange sensation; I lifted the fallen pot in my hands and looked up at the small compartment Gran had somehow gotten it into. Once I had gotten the pot safely into the space, I turned back to the dragon who didn't move since it had escaped the cupboard. It watched with interest as I gathered the ripped paper it had shredded.

“I don’t suppose you’d like to help clean this up, would you?” I asked, not really sure if I wanted a reply or not. The dragon’s eyes sparked with awareness at my words, but didn’t seem to understand anything I was saying. My brows furrowed at the new ears I had for listening to my problems without putting any input or, for that matter, thoughts on the subject.

“I’m gunna tell you something, dragon,” I started, not sure if this was the right thing to start with. “You’re not one for words. Sure would help if you were, that way I’d understand why you’re here. I suppose Eragon brought you, but why did you hatch for me? Does that make me a dragon rider?”

I came to a sudden halt in my one way conversation with the green creature. The egg, what I had believed to be a rock earlier, had hatched for me. This dragon was mine. Wonder soared through me at my realization. I was the new dragon rider. But was I the right one? I watched the tiny dragon watching me and tried to picture me flying on it battling my enemies. The mental image didn’t look too promising. The next question I asked, I directed at the dragon head on. It was, after all, my equal.

“Why did you choose me?” There was no answer. I continued to speak to it anyway. I’d take a sack of potatoes to talk to these days. “I’m just a waitress. I shouldn’t have found you in those woods. I wouldn’t have found you if it wasn’t for those idiots they call girls. They think I purposely fell into Eragon, as if I needed another man’s attention. I can’t even handle one. Marcus tried to propose yesterday, I’m sure of that. Gran could have made it more obvious with those glances at my left hand she kept throwing me when I got home. I’m still mad at her for saying I’ll marry him, you know? He’s my best friend, and I don’t want to ruin that. If I marry him…I won’t be his best friend anymore. I’d be…his…wife.”

I blinked in surprise as I revealed my biggest worry and fear to the dragon in front of me. It hadn’t moved and seemed to have listened with extreme attentiveness, though I’m sure it didn’t understand a word I said to it. Sighing, I lowered myself to the ground across from it.

“You’re a good listener.” I concluded, and then fell silent to the power of the night. The dragon narrowed its eyes at my mysterious movement before crawling slowly over to me. Copying me exactly, it let out a sigh-type-thing. My eyes widened as smoke came through its nostrils, but no flame followed. Then, it sank to the floor next to me. I watched as it folded its fragile looking wings against its sides gracefully. We sat in silence until I felt the dragon’s head fall into my lap with yet another copied sigh. I smiled widely down at it while stroking its small, sleek head. Absentmindedly, I crumbled the ripped paper from the eaten fish inside my clamped fist. The dragon’s head lifted slightly at the noise and sniffed the air before placing its head back on my lap.

“Do you eat a lot?” I thought to ask. It rolled its large eye towards me and blinked, as if telling me it heard the sounds I made. Not that it made a move to actually reply. “I guess you do since you ate five fish in two minutes. How am I supposed to feed you?”

Irritation flooded through me at the silence I received from the green dragon. If dragons are so smart why couldn’t they just come out and talk to us right out of the egg?

“Ugh, talk!” I commanded sharply from my frustration at the little knowledge I actually had on these creatures. The dragon’s head shot up quickly from my exasperated tone, but, yet again, said nothing. Its large green eyes watched me more intently than before as if measuring my anger.

“I need to talk to Eragon.” The idea popped into my head and suddenly seemed like the most logical thing to do. If my dragon couldn’t answer any of my questions, than perhaps an actual dragon rider could. Plus they need to know that the egg had hatched. What happens beyond meeting with the rider was unknown for me, but I knew I can’t just go back to the normal me with a dragon in my room. Yes, talking with Eragon would help. However, where would I find him? Both of the times I’ve had contact with him was by chance and accident. I had no idea where he was staying or where he would be during the day. And walking into him on the streets didn’t seem too reliable at the moment. I needed to talk to him alone, I thought, remembering the trail of fans he had behind him yesterday while he walked through the village. Maybe if I locate Saphira first I’d be able to get her to answer my questions. It shouldn’t be that hard to find the giant blue creature here. Unless she wasn’t here. The last I saw of her was during the meeting before the whole town the first day they showed up. It was very possible that she had flown away during Eragon’s visiting days in town.

I rubbed my head in frustration as the endless possibilities stacked up inside my head. My eyes connected with the dragon’s for an instance. Another round of limitless opportunities that lay within this creature’s hands…or claws, piled into my brain at one glance. The vulnerability in this tiny dragon made my heart break. This was forced upon it as much as it was with me. I cupped its head in my hand gently.

“We’ll talk to Eragon tomorrow,” I decided at that instant in desperation. What was the point in waiting when we could have the answers we desired as soon as the sun rose? “We will be fine.”