The Age of Farris

Chapter 1

As the sky faded into the pinks and purples of twilight a large shadow covered the earth as a lone dragon flew over the rugged landscape of cliffs and streams. Farris lazily scanned the ground below him search for a meal. He was flying north scouting the edge of the river bank as he came upon a lone buck drinking at the waters edge, blissfully unaware he had been deemed someone else's dinner. Ferris pulled in his wings and angled his flight path slightly downward. Just as Farris's talons were nearing his unsuspecting prey, the deer bolted across the river into the safety of the dense forest.

Huffing in annoyance, Farris landed on the bank and looked around for whatever it was that spooked his meal. Seeing nothing obvious he crouched down readying himself to take flight when a shrill cry echoed through the air causing him to freeze. It was like nothing he had ever heard. He began trying to locate where the strange sound was coming from. Perhaps it was a bird or some sort of small rodent. He carefully wound his way through the trees, honing in on the noise, which had quieted into a soft whining. Then he spotted it. Cautiously he lowered his head toward a bundle of cloth that was wiggling around on the forest floor. large dark eyes peaked out, staring curiously back at him as a small chubby hand reached out to grasp the cloth, pulling it up to hide its face once more.

Farris jerked his head back in surprise. what was this tiny thing, its too small to be food. he inching closer inspecting the small thing, which was peaking out from the cloth once more and happly squeeking "peek'a'boo" repetevly. perhaps it was the call of its species. unobserved by them a pair of unfriendly eyes were watching from the forest. the intruder stood quietly, resisting the temptation to draw their sword and kill the creature right then and there. instead they watched, waiting for the right moment.

Having decided the creature was not going anywhere, Farris looked around for any clues as to what it was and where is came from. in all his 3 years of hunting, he had never seen anything quite like it. he gently reached out with his mind and brushed the tiny consciousness. it was warm, bright and full of curiosity. almost like a hatchlings mind, he mused. unsure about what to do he began to walk away. surely who ever left it here would come back for it.

As he reached the clear land on the bank of river he again readied to take off when something grabbed the end of his tail. startled he spun around to find the thing standing behind him wobbling unsteadily after he had pulled his tail from its grasp. Seeing it was about to fall over he gently lowered his head to steady it. unsure of what was coming over him he looked at the child, as now he was sure it was a hatchling. Tears filled its eyes as it was griping on to his face with all the strength it had in its tiny hands, seeming to beg him not to leave it behind.

Farris stayed still for the moment debating the hatchlings existence with himself, when a sharp cracking of a stick disturbed his thoughts. he swiveled his eye towards the noise, being careful not to move his head, and spotted a human holding a shiny stick running at him and the hatching. knowing he only had a few seconds before it reached them he twisted his head to grab the hatchling in his mouth. taking a few leaping bounds to gain speed, he leapt into the air leaving the bank and the offending human far behind.

He banked west toward the outcrop where he knew a much older dragon stayed, hoping he could give some insight about the shouting creature it held between his teeth. the light had long disappeared from the sky when he landed. The old one spent most of his days sleeping so Farris headed towards the cave opening in the crumbling rock. as he drew nearer a low grumble cut through the dark.

Farris walked slowly into the cavern, stopping in front of the larger amber dragon letting the small creature roll out of his mouth. The poor thing was barely recognizable, its hair soaked in dragon drool and its face an angry red from screaming the whole flight. it looked up, glaring at the old dragon, as if challenging him to judge its appearance. Farris looked at the pitiful shivering thing, feeling a tad guilty he tried to dry it off by breathing warm air over it. Instead of appeasing it the small thing accusingly turned its glaring eyes to him. it stood up, stubbornly defying gravity's attempts to pull it back down, and ran over to sit beside the older dragons front feet.

After studying the creature for some time he finnaly answerd farris' unspoken question. it is a human, the old dragon conveyed while watching the toddler try unsuccessfully to stack some small stones it had found.

"but its so small. And it was all alone" Farris protested. he had seen humans before. there were the ones from the village that came to the forests to hunt and the ones that lived on the mountains.

"are you sure it was alone?" he queried, tilting his head to watch the younger dragon for any hints of deceit. the memory of the human with the metal stick rose unbidden to the front of Farris' mind. he quickly tried to bury it but the old dragon had already seen it. so it wasn't alone, he huffed, causing the child to startle and knock over its stack of rocks again. you should take is back.

Farris let out a low growl as he remembered the actions of the human that ran at him and the tiny one. take it back Farris it will only bring trouble, the older dragon tried to convey to him. how can something so small bring any trouble he wondered, but he silently agreed that he may have been to hasty in taking it. He would put it back tomorrow he reasoned, it was much to dangerous to leave it now.

Chapter 2

Balfour's steps were heavy as he walk through the roughly cobbled streets, memory's of yesterdays council weighing him down, Everything had been fine till a starfall appeared in their sky. The council had conferred for days trying to find its meaning. It was not till they looked back and read that the last time this had happened was two years prior on the birth of a small baby girl. thinking it was a good omen at the time it was passed by but for it to happen again, on the same child's date of birth, sent the council into a frenzy. they all came to the same conclusion, magic. the word itself was enough to send shiver down anyone's spine. nothing good came of it and the child was destined for it. the prophecies were never wrong so the council decided to eliminate the risk "it was for the protection of people" he was told. He sighed as he reached the large cedar door he had helped his father carve when he was just a boy.

he knocked twice on the door frame before he opened the door, quietly listening to the soft hums of his wife that came from the kitchen and smiled to himself sadly. I did it for them, he steeled his heart. He walked over and wrapped is arms around her putting her hands on very pregnant stomach cause her to jump and swat his hands away as she continued to try and cook. "how was council today?" she asked in a nervous voice. the disturbance in the stars had been well noticed "it has all been settled" he said reassuringly as the eyes of the child flashed in his head. sleep would not be coming easily.

Farris groaned as the first of the great lights rays came over the trees and shone on his face. it would have been nice if the old dragon had let him know that, apparently young humans do not sleep. he raised his head and turned to where the hatchling lay unmoving, curled into a ball leaning against his warm belly. he froze unsure as to whether this was simply a ruse to get him to relax just so it could wake him again. carefully he curled his tail around it, just so he would know if it moved, he told himself. it looked peaceful when it slept. he layed his head down on the grass making sure he could still see the hatchling as he drifted off to sleep.

"Balfour you've been summoned by the council" his wife watched from across the table as Balfour's shoulders slumped and he raised his hands to rub his eyes. as he had guessed the previous evening his sleep was troubled with visions all the terrible things that could happen to a child left alone in the woods. "when?" he asked the man outside. "now" came the coarse reply. he sighed and stood, leaving his morning meal on the table, he quickly kissed the top of his wifes head and slipped out the door. the air was cool the ground still damp.

"Good morning" a familiar voice said, looking up baflour saw Eletier walking towards him. the old man had always been someone he would go to for advise. He had been offered a spot on the councel endless times but always refused and Balfour could not help but wonder if he had the right idea "morning" he replied, rather sure it wasnt going to be a good one "I apologize my friend, but i'm on my way to an urgent meeting. i will find you later, we have much to speak about"

Eleteir watched him go, a sad smile touching his lips.

Chapter 3

Balfour stalked quietly through the forest. it was well known that the beasts liked spending their time out sunning them selves on the rocky shore beside lake Nipon. they were hoping it had stashed the child some where in the caves that riddle the cliff side. he came to a stop on the edge of the open space beside the lake. his heart pounded against his chest as he spotted the large creature move to take a drink. he had seen an orange dragon a few times flying over him when he was hunting. even from the earliest records of their town, that dragon was there and had never bothered them. yet this one the he had not heard of till recently, it was the colour of the forest. the sun making its scales shine like emeralds. he marveled at its beauty until a fit of giggling and splashing broke the silence.

the child was sitting in the shallow water near the mouth of the river where the trees grew thicker. it was a fair distance from the dragon and Balfour judged this to best chance to complete his mission. he started creeping toward the child, staying within the shadows of the trees as he edged around behind the house sized beast.

Farris' nose twitched as he smelt the human that was lurking in the undergrowth. pitiful things always hiding and cowering, maybe its for the best he thought. after all they are very small. he turned an eye to check on the hatchling and make sure it was still safely in the shallows. he had placed it on the shore closest to the trees where the humans could get it without leaving the cover, but as always it had decided not to listen to the plan, and had tiptoed over to play in the water once more.

this should be close enough, Balfour thought to himself. he reached for an arrow from the quiver slung on his back. he glanced at the dragon while knocking the arrow. It hadn't seen him yet, just maybe everything would go to plan. taking a breath to steady himself, he raised the bow, pulling the string back to full draw. he sighted his target and prepared to send the arrow on its way when he hesitated. his eyes blured with tears. its not a child, he told himself as he lowered the bow a fraction. its a curse. a danger to our families. the councils words echoed in his ears. gathering his resolve he brought the bow back up and aimed at the child's back.

the human must have stopped as Farris could no longer hear it rustling through the underbrush. why isn't it just walking over to the hatchling and picking it up, he wondered. suddenly a strange presence made itself known to Farris by forcing an image into his mind. an image of an arrow flying through the air, aimed strait at the hatchlings heart. startled into action, he twisted in place, leaping towards the empty space between the hatchling and the last place he had heard the humans. the sound of scattering river stones, displaced by Farris' rear paws when he leapt, covered any sound the human might have made. but it did not cover the sound the bow made as it released the arrow.

Farris felt a burning pain as arrow enbedded itself in his left shouder. growling, he lunged at trees bitting and snapping. he knew he was too slow. he could hear the human running away. He turned back quickly to find the hatchling standing alone on the shore. sighing with relef he limped over to it, feeling the arrow cutting into his flesh with every step. sitting down on the stones, he reached his head back to inspect the wound. the arrow would need to be removed. he glanced at the hatchling, who was looking up at him with its big brown eyes filled with worry.

it nervously took a few steps forward, skrunching its face together upon seeing the wound. "owwa" it proclaimed very seriously. Farris turned his attention back to arrow, knowing that delaying in pulling it out would only make the pain worse he grabbed the arrow with his teeth and jerked his head sideways. growling with pain he dropped it onto the ground. His eyes bleared with hot salty tears he looked back at his tiny human child.

The determined little hatchling looked worried as she tugged on the injured dragon's arm. Farris didnt quite understand what it was going to do, but he laid down so it could have a better look. With eyes so stern for such a little one it took a hand and placed it on the wound. He winced a little and then began to feel a strange heat and he heard a whooshing sound. slowly his pain faded away all the while the small being was starring intently at his shoulder.

the elf watched the girl, his anger visible on his face. how dare she heal that beast. He wasnt overly surprised that she was capable, in fact he was counting on it. Nevertheless the beast beast didnt need helping, it would suit his plans better if it stayed injurd. but he was in it for the long game. The dragon would die another day. Today he would need the dragon to give him its trust.

farris took a few experimentel steps. the pain was gone. he turned his head to look at his shoulder. there was no trace of the wound the arrow had made. he turned again to look at his tiny human. it was smiling at him happly reaching out its arms as if wanting to be picked up.

"that is quite the trick" a voice called from other side of the river mouth. farris took a pace forward putting himself between the child and the stranger. for good measure he extended his left wing, allowing it to settle over the child hiding it from veiw. he serched the opposing bank for the sorce of the voice. to his great suprise an elf stepped out from under the trees."i mean her no harm" the elf said calmly. he spoke using unfamilar words yet somhow farris understood what he meant.

who are you? farris prompted, but even as he asked relised there was something familer about his presence.

I am the one who warned you about the arrow, the elf explained, as he searched for a suitable place to cross the river.

why did the human try to harm the hatchling?

"they are a primitive and savage race" he explained to Farris "if you gave it back they would just try to kill it again. they might even try to kill you too."

"I promise, i can take care of her" he said reassuringly to Farris, who still had the end of his tail rapped around the child. he turned his gaze to her now as she struggled to climb over his tail. very well the dragon seemed to say as he reached his head back to pick up the child by the back of her shirt. he streached out his neck and gently put her on the grass in front of Eletier. She looked up at him curously.

"come here little one" he said reaching down to pick her up. She shook her head defiantly and ran back to Farris and hid behind his leg. Farris was shocked, why didnt this little one want to be with her own kind. Feeling that she was confused Farris once again picked her up and placed her gently in front of Eletier.

Eletier calmly reached down and picked her up. With sad eyes Farris watched as they walked away.

It was for the best he told himself, although the sadness in his heart took him off guard. He had never felt this way before.

Eletier took the child to his home and locked her in his cellar. She was quiet and sullen. He didnt want her to starve so he left an apple and a chunk of cheese on an old table for her. She would need to be strong and healthy for the ceremony.

chapter 4

The council had already gathered by the time Eletier made it too the hall. perfect he thought, now they cant get in my way. he ran to the center of the village shouting "the dragon! the dragon is attacking" the people of the village gathered around him looking at each other with worry.

"what do mean the dragons attacking?" a man Cedrik asked.

"Ive seen it," Eletier gasped, while pertended to catch his breath "it was eating a child"

They all gasped and exchanged looks of horror "now just a moument Eleteir," a womans voice piched in "all the children are here. no ones missing"

"where is Elena?" he cast his gaze desperately around the faces surrounding him. "where is she?"

"you know very well my wife hasnt left our house" a low and angry voice from the back of the crowd responded. Eletier looked to the ground as if guilty as the crowd parted to let the speaker through "now i dont want to hurt a old man, but if you dont tell me what this is about right now! i'll drag you to the council this very minute!"

Eletier look up to face him with tears in his eyes and said in a quiet voice "it was Maya, Cedrik"

a startled silence fell over the crowd "no! it cant be." the cedrek instisted, but the look on his face betrayed him. "the council said they sent her to live with the monks in the western mountain."

"im sorry, but there was no mistaking it. It was her" Eleteir watched the him closely as he spoke, he watched the pain and sorrow fill his eyes. then he watched as they emptied of everything but hatred. "we need to kill it, cedrik" he said delibretly, waiting for him to take charge. cedrik stood turning to adress the crowd

"this dragon has lurked around our home. scaring our goats, eating our deer. and now! now it has killed my daughter! We must gather our strongest men and weapons to rid us of this wretched beast."

the villagers all coroused their agreement and the quickly started dispersing in serch of wepons.

Eletier put a comforting hand on cedriks shoulder. "how are you going to trap it?"

"we'll figure it out" he said coldly.

"could you at least let me give you some advice on that?"

"what would you know about it, anyway?"

"for the start i know where it sleeps" he said smugly.

Chapter 5

Eletier watch as the villagers drove the dragon into a corner, as the panic and fear showed in its eyes. he reached out with his mind to let know everything was going to be just fine.

hello again beast. Years of waithing and the chance to get the power I deserved was finally in my reach, only to be ripped away by you! a stupid dragon! the other elves all thought your race was worth saving. They stole my spell and used it to bond themselves with the very creatures I crafted it to destroy, then they cast me out!

Years of hiding, living with these pathetic humans like one of their own. but not any more. today, I shall claim the power that is rightly mine!

All thanks to you Farris, with the child in my grasp I shall use the spell I designed to siphon her magic to myself, in turn healing the wound caused by your murdering race! Your kind took everything from me, my family, my home! my magic! but now im going to take everything from you.

-authors note

unfortunetly i haven't the time nor amount of words left to finish this story. this is the work of my sister and I. We read the inheritance series as teens and they have been my favorite books ever since.

while i have the space i would love to ask if any of your up coming books contain any more about broms past. or if you would consider writing another book about his past, his adventures and his saphira during the golden age of the dragon riders.

thank you for your time and inspiring stories.

-sincerely a stressed young writer