Disclaimer and Summary: I do not own Eragon. This girl in the story is about seven years old. Not quite seven but almost. She thought she would never get away. She thought she was useless. But she was wrong. It happens that everyone is special in a way. And even if you never think that anything good will happen, it will. Some good things come in disguises. It's up to you to uncover them.

Chapter One

The slave girl knelt in front of the Water God's statue. Symbols of an ancient language was written on the stone. Her master, Master Flanders, could read it and speak it. She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. "Um, Water God. I don't know if you can hear me. If you can, can you listen to me for a minute. The Master says you use to help people and give them things. I was wondering, can you bring me a friend? Some one who won't run away or treat me like a slave. Even though I am one. I love my animal friends but they are just animals. I need someone to talk too. I hope I'm not pushing anything but I would really like it. So, if you are listening, can you please do that for me?" The girl prayed.

"SLAVE!" A loud voice came from somewhere in the house. "Are you done cleaning the Water God's room? If you are go clean the other three." Flanders yelled. The girl turned and nodded to no one in particular.

"I have to go now. Clean up your brothers and sister. I'll ask them too. Uh... Amen?" The girl finished, getting up. Pictures of fishes and water were painted on the blue walls. Sapphires gleamed on the floor, embedded into the stone. The girl walked out of the Water God's room. As the door closed, the statue's eyes gleamed blue then all went back to normal.

She did the same in each room. The Wind Goddess, whose eyes gleamed white when the girl left. The Sun God, who blinked when she left. And the Night God, who winked at her back. Little did she know the Gods did have something planned for her.

"Slave, go feed the beast." Flanders grumbled, after finishing his meal.

"Yes, Master." She mumbled, going to the fireplace. In a large pot was this repulsive looking mush. She scooped it up in a large bowl and headed outside.

It was deadly cold outside. The girl never understood how it could be so hot in a desert in the daytime but cold at nighttime. Their little village lived in a large oasis hidden well in the Hardarac Desert. She shivered and walked on, heading to the outskirts of the oasis. She opened the barn and walked to the back of the barn. There steps led down. She walked down them carefully, into the pit.

It was dark inside the pit, except for the spot where the moonlight came through. She looked around but didn't see nor hear the beast. Suddenly, a large white eye and a large purple eye stared at her. It started to hum deeply then coughed. (It sounds like humming then hack-hack-hack... hum... hack-hack..) It swept it's tail across the stone pit floor. The scales screeched on the stone. She walked a bit towards it. It stopped humming and watched her intently. Yesterday's mush was still laying there, half eaten. She scowled and bent down towards the beast, scooting the food towards it. The beast smelled horrible, not having been washed for years. "Slave." Master Flanders's voice called from up above the pit. "Clean the pit out." He mumbled, watching her. She nodded.

She grabbed the wick broom at the edge of the pit and began to sweep. The beast watched her work. Soon, she gotten close to the beast. She tapped the beast with the end of the broom. It hissed but moved. She started sweeping when a purple gleam caught her eye. Her fingers barely skimmed the surface when the beast lurched forward, slamming her against the wall. She cried out. "Stop!" Master yelled. The beast reeled back, scooting near the purple thing. She rubbed her bruised stomach and put the broom up. She walked up the stairs, taking a last look at the beast. It had stared hard at her while growling.

"Are you okay?" The master asked her as she got up in the barn. She nodded. Did he actually care? "Good. Because I don't want the beast spilling any blood." He said, as if to answer her own question. The slave nodded. "Come on, you got cleaning to do."

Saphria headed back to the camp. It was a bad day. She had to carry three passengers all day long. Then she couldn't find any food. So she had to go back. Eragon would worry about her. Everything was going peacefully when suddenly, a gust of wind hit Saphria. More wind gathered up, tossing her about. The wind was unusually strong. She tried to land. Suddenly, she felt her wing snap when she hit something in air. Her left wing dangled uselessly. The wind began to push her south. She could barely stay afloat with her one wing flapping so hard. What was going to happen to her? Where was she going to land?

The slave girl was just about to eat her dinner when she heard a loud howl. It came from the outskirts. Master Flanders frowned. "Go see what's wrong with the beast, slave." He grumbled. She nodded and ran outside. She have never heard anything that sad before. She ran down the stairs and entered the pit. The beast was looking up, howling. It stopped and turned to her.

"What is wrong?" She asked it. It walked forward to her. She stepped back. The beast had never willingly stepped towards her before, unless it was going to hurt her. She backed up against the corner in the moonlight. The beast entered the moonlight. She winced.

She had seen the beast before it was moved down here. It was allowed to roam outside freely, for dragons loved the heat of the Hadarac Desert. The dragon's once brilliant silver scales were now dimmed. Mold grew on it, covering half of it's body. It's wings were now dangling useless by it's body. Dried blood stained the scales. Fresh blood was oozing slowly out of it's mouth and nose. It looked at her for a minute then turned and walked to the corner where it rammed her. The beast came back to her. In it's mouth was a small pack. The beast laid it at her feet. Keep. Hidden. Safe. No one see. A voice said, as the dragon pushed the pack to her. She opened the pack. The purple thing was in there. It was a large, round purple stone. Small white veins were around the stone. She put the stone in one of her special pockets in the inside of her dress. The beast then picked one of the beast's few shiny scales and gave it to her. Same thing. It told her. She nodded. Why was it doing this to her? Suddenly, it sat back on its haunches and howl loudly. The beast stopped, getting back on all fours. She could hear the door to the barn open quickly.

Suddenly, the beast scratched her across her wrist. She yelped. The beast put it's large nose on the scratch. A flash of light came from the beast's nose and a quick shock of pain. On her palm was a silvery thing. (It's not the silver thing that the dragon riders have!) It was a picture of a dragon. Then to each side of the dragon, stood four symbols. A raindrop, a swirl, the sun, and the moon. Hide too. Show none. The beast said. It sat back on it's haunches again. Master Flanders came down the steps. The dragon howled loudly. Suddenly, the dragon stopped. The dragon fell down, dead.

The girl stared at the dragon. How did it die? "Help me bring the dragon up." The master said, grabbing the dragon's back paws. She had to grab the front paws and put the dragon's head on her shoulder. They put it on the barn floor. The master brought out a sharp knife then got an axe. Suddenly, he started skinning the dragon. He gathered all the scales. "Here. Grind these. Keep them with you for right now." Master said. The girl nodded. She picked up a large stone and glanced at Flanders. She regretted it. He was chopping the dragon up with the axe, putting everything in a pot and starting to cook it. She turned her head and commanded herself not to throw up.

She finished grinding. The scales were all red dust now. "Put it in a jar. Give me another jar so I can put this meat in." He ordered. She put the dust in a small jar and handed the Master a large jar. He slipped the meat in. The meat was off color. It was a greenish, yellowish, reddish color. He handed it to the slave. "Put this somewhere. Keep it till I tell you to bring it out." He said, shooing her away.

The slave girl ran out of the bar, heading up the large sand dune. She could barely see the tips of the trees. She ran as fast as she could. Soon, she was in a small clearing. She walked to an old tree with a hollow hole. In it were her precious things that she didn't want Master to break. She put the stone, scale, dust, and meat in the hole. The wind above her was whipping around like crazy, not knowing which way to go. She could hear something heavy hitting something. Then something landed in her little clearing. Dust piled up. She walked forward, coughing. The dust soon fell and she gasped. A large sapphire creature was sprawled out on the ground. It was a large dragon. She held her breath till she saw the chest rise up and fall. She walked towards the large dragon carefully.

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