Thirteen years earlier...
POV- Jack, the Giant Slayer
I took another sip from my ale. "Tell us again, Jack; How'd you get those magic beans?"
I explained once more that I sold my cow for a pig which I then sold for a bowl of chili that I gave an old man who thanked me by giving me beans.
"And how did you beat the-" a little girl began to ask.
Just then a man burst into the dragon and yelled, "Dragon!"
I snorted. "Dragon? No. It was giants I fought."
"No! There's a dragon! It laid an egg. The Duke demands that Jack leads his soldiers to seize the egg," the young man who had just burst in called out.
I stood up, banging my knee on the table. I cursed under my breath, then walked up to the messenger. "Why does he want me? The duke many good captains."
The young man, seventeen maybe, looked quite nervous as he spoke. "The duke said you'd be best since you've fought giants, and the dragon is quite, well, giant."
The young man held out a sword for me. He held another in his other hand. "Who's the other sword for?" I demanded.
"It's for me. The Duke wants me to fight too." He said proudly.
I raised an eyebrow. "What's your name, lad?"
"Eragon. It's Eragon."
* * *
We stood in the woods, just outside of a scorched clearing. There were twenty soldiers plus Eragon with me. The half of the soldiers held pikes while the other ten, me, and Eragon brandished swords.
The Duke wanted us to capture the egg so he could raise a dragon which would be a powerful weapon.
I had other plans. I'd take the egg for myself and leave the rest to the wrath of the mother.
"Charge!" I yelled, raising my sword. I purposely lagged behind and let the rest gain way. I broke through the treeline. A large red dragon was spewing fire towards one of the soldiers to me right.
The soldiers were occupied with the dragon and the dragon with them. This was too easy. The egg was too my left; Not twenty feet from me. It looked like any other egg, except it was glowing purple,and looked more like a gemstone. Also, it was the size of a small dog.
I sprinted towards the egg. Screams and roars erupted from behind me. I stumbled and almost fell. I stopped four feet from the egg. It simply laid atop the burnt grass.
I stepped forward and tried to pick the egg up. Either it weighed a ton or was fused to the ground because it wouldn't move. I couldn't hear anymore noise from the battle. I wondered if the soldiers had already beaten the dragon. I had to hurry if i were to get away with the egg.
Warning: Graphic ouchies
I leaned against the egg with all of my weight. It would budge. Move already, you dumb- I looked down. Sticking out of my chest was a blood-smeared talon. The large claw withdrew back into my body and out my backside.
That damn reptile! I could feel blooding seeping out of me. I let go of the egg and drew my sword. It hurt to move, but I twisted around and faced the dragon. Its head darted at me, its maw wide open. I leveled my sword, not a moment too soon. My sword went through the dragons tongue, severing her under-tongue veins.
I fell over backwards and the dragon collasped at my feet. My tunic was soaked with blood, my blood, a lot of it. I could tell I did a number to the dragon. It hollered and made a shrieking sound, but it didn't get up. Gallons of blood poured from its mouth.
POV- Narrator
Jack lost consciousness and bled to death. The dragon bled from several wounds causes by the soldiers and the one caused by Jack. It also died.
At dawn the next morning, the egg hatched. A human girl climbed out. She looked to be three years old. Her long brown hair hung over her eyes, hiding their piercing green presence. The girl wandered west. She came upon a small village where a kindly old man named Rumplestiltskin adopted her.
Rumpelstiltskin named the girl Renée. Rumple ran a small shop which mostly sold trinkets and particular items.
Nobody knew that Renée was half dragon.
They lived happily ever after... at least for the next few chapters, anyways.
