Chapter 5 – Pride -

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Eragon exited the chamber from where he and the other members of the council had just been discussing the state of the Empire and who should rule it. Since Galbatorix's defeat, they had been trying their hardest to put the Capital City of Urû'baen back together and make some semblance of order from the chaotic events of the final battle that had decided the war.

The battle that had torn Eragon's world apart.

Eragon quickly made his way through the streets of the city, his heart aching painfully as he thought of his beloved dragon, and how she had been torn from him so suddenly. When he and Saphira had discovered that the bond they shared had been severed, Eragon had been just as upset as Saphira had been, but he still retained some hope that their bond had been strong enough to guide them through this. He had gone after her, determined to comfort her, sure in the knowledge that even without a mental connection to her she still loved him just as he loved her, she was the other half of him now, and without her he felt lost. But then, she had turned on him, attacked him, though when she had seen his face, Eragon was sure that she hadn't known who he was, for the guilt and anguish that she displayed was all too real in her eyes. But then she had left before he could comfort her, fleeing to a place where he could not follow, and now had no way of finding her.

He had run to the elves and told them of what had transpired, and they and many soldiers sent by Nasuada had tried their best to find Saphira in the days that followed, but no one reported to have spotted any sign of her. She was gone.

Eragon had tried to distract himself with any job or duty he could, working from the early hours of the morning until late at night, until he literally collapsed from exhaustion. It was just a way to distract his mind so that he wouldn't break at any moment from the emotional storm that raged inside of him. He was sure that once Saphira had calmed down, she would return and be as determined as he was into fixing this.

But he was haunted by her eyes, that look of utter misery and fear that plagued his imagination with every waking hour. And as the days passed, and still Saphira did not return, his being had sunk even deeper into his throws of sorrow.

Brom had once told Eragon, that losing a dragon, a partner of your heart and mind, after suffering such a loss life was hardly worth living. And Eragon truly felt as if he wanted to die, for losing someone that had been a part of his very soul for so long, someone who had dominated the last year or more of his life with her unexpected arrival in his little farm house all those nights ago... to suddenly not have her, was a punishment he didn't think he could bare. But he held strong, the only thing keeping him together now was the hope that Saphira would come back to him eventually.

Back in the present, he soon found himself on top of the ramparts, sitting upon the wall that guarded the city, looking out over the plains beyond and watching the skies. He searched the clouds tirelessly, hoping beyond hope that he would see a familiar sparkle in the sky, hear a comforting voice in his head. But none of it came.

He sat there for what seemed like hours, until he eventually felt the presence of another close by, and casting out his mind, he only had to feel her aura to know that it was her. Arya stood a few feet behind him, silent as she respected his need for peace, though she knew when he sensed her, for she stepped forward.

"Eragon..." she murmured softly, her lilting voice oddly comforting despite how many times he had heard it cold and formal. It still sent shivers down his spine and a longing in his heart either way.

"Arya," Eragon said softly by way of greeting, though he did not turn to face her, his heavy heart keeping him seated as he stared out at the horizon. "Forgive me, but I am not myself tonight,"

"You have not been yourself these few weeks," she said and he felt the breeze of her as she came closer though he never heard her footsteps. "I can only imagine the loss of which you feel..."

"It is unbearable..." he murmured. "No wonder Galbatorix went mad when he lost his first dragon... I can barely hold myself together anymore..."

He then felt a comforting hand upon his shoulder, and he almost burst into tears from the simple gesture, his body going stiff with the force to contain his grief.

"I came bearing some new to hope to lift your heart somewhat..." Arya told him softly, like a mother to frightened child. "Sailors near Surda have reported to seeing Saphira flying west across the ocean,"

"What?!" Eragon breathed, unable to contain himself as he spun around to look at the beautiful elf before him, her long dark hair shaping her beautiful face. "Is this true?"

"I can only tell you what I have heard. Whether it be true or not, you will have to discover for yourself," she murmured as she reached out to place her hand upon his shoulder again, giving it a firm squeeze. The humane, un-elf-like gesture, touched Eragon in a way he had never considered such a simple act could. "You'll find her again," Arya whispered. "I know it,"

Eragon looked out towards the horizon once again, his heart aching, even as a determination came over his mind. He would find Saphira again, he swore it by the Ancient Language. He could only pray to whatever gods or spirits existed, that she was well and safe; wherever she was.

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They walked through the many halls of Erebor, Saphira following her captor as he led her through the huge passages that had either been built or smashed to make big enough holes to accommodate them. Further down they went, past grand halls and expanses of space carved from the very rock of the mountain into smooth halls and exquisitely carved walls and floors. Saphira did her best to memorise their route, which was rather direct the further down they went, more in a straight line and climbing over bridges over canyons. Saphira could scent the dampness of the underground world and also a very old musk, barely detectable, but still unmistakably that of dwarf. The odour only became stronger as they went further and further from the light, and Saphira felt a sense of longing arise within her as she glanced over her shoulder at the world she was leaving behind. For now, the day, the light, the warmth, the very sky and air were denied to her, at least until she could deal with her "host" and get out of here.

Speaking of which, Saphira was still cautious of him as she followed him at a safe distance, though her tongue could still taste her bitterness towards him. He had taken her very will from her, her freedom, and had treated her to far less then she deserved, and for that she hated him, and nothing would please her more then to snap his neck and leave him to rot and be forgotten down in this endless pit. But she could not, she was still exhausted and hungry, and she would only get herself killed. Better to be the patient hunter now and grab the kill when it was unawares...

But she was curious about him as well, being the first wild dragon she had ever encountered. She remembered that Glaedr had once told her that wild dragons were much different from bonded dragons: the wild ones answered to no one and no thing, taking whatever they pleased, living however and wherever they pleased and bore no thought of kindness for aught but their kith and kin. Fierce and proud were the wild dragons, even arrogant. If that didn't describe Smaug to the last ounce, Saphira thought, then nothing would. Saphira wanted to growl savagely as she thought that Smaug had taken her as he had so pleased, as if she were a thing. And considering that she was technically wild now due to the fact that she was no longer bound, she wished she had the strength to show him her own fierceness. But Saphira had to beat down her want for battle – yet again. Eragon had once noticed her love of fighting, and she had felt his concern for her. She agreed now that she would have to temper that if she was to survive.

After some time, they finally seemed close to their destination, as Saphira noticed that Smaug's tail began to twitch ever so slightly with agitation, the barest warnings of aggression in his stance as they came close to a tall door that could easily fit Smaug's great height and width. Smaug looked over his shoulder at her, his lip curling slightly to reveal his teeth as his eyes narrowed in a warning. Saphira looked at him with a bored expression, snorting softly to show how unimpressed she was by his display. She came forward until she was standing beside him and looked onto the chamber that lay sprawled out before her.

Her breath caught slightly in her throat as she gazed upon the sight that she had previously been unprepared for. Before her, a gigantic chamber opened up, so large that she could only faintly see the walls in the deep shadows at the edges, and the cavernous ceilings reaching far above so that even Shruikan would have been able to stand comfortably in this space. Great thick pillars were in rows to hold up the ceiling, but perhaps fifty feet between each one. But what lay upon the ground was the greatest amount of wealth Saphira had ever seen. Heaps of golden coins, jewels of emerald, sapphires, diamonds and rubies, great objects made from precious metals all littered the floor as if they were grains of sand upon a beach, until they all became a great mass of golden light. Lesser minds would have been instantly taken by the wealth that was laid out before her, and yes, Saphira did see the value and she could even appreciate how pretty it all looked. But what caught her attention, was the way the gold shone and sparkled... it was almost like the way Glaedr's scales used to shimmer in an evening's light. Saphira had to hold back her whimper of grief, remembering as she had witnessed Glaedr's murder through his heart-of-hearts. No, Saphira did not see the treasure that would send other minds into a form of sickness, all she could see was a reminder of the great mentor and friend that she had lost.

But her thoughts were brought back to the present, when she felt Smaug's eyes upon her, watching her, a soft growl rumbling through his chest; he was testing her, waiting to see what she would do. Knowing that whatever this meant to him, she had to be careful, Saphira's eyes traced along the edges of the chamber, until she spied a stone platform above her that came out of the wall and had its own set of stairs leading to the heaps of gold. Perhaps it had once been an observation deck. Either way, Saphira judged that it would fit her purposes. The gold smelled too much of Smaug, and she could guess that he spent a lot of time with it, for whatever reason that would be, and so she didn't want to be anywhere near him right now. With a casual dismissive flick of her tail, Saphira turned away from Smaug and leapt into the air as she glided lazily to the platform and settled upon it, curling around herself, noting with satisfaction that there was no room for anyone else to fit upon her perch.

"What are you doing?" she heard Smaug growl with annoyance, and she opened one eye to look at him lazily.

'Is it not obvious?' she stated dully, and had to fight her smirk of satisfaction as she saw his face twitch uncomfortably at having to hear her voice in his head, even when her lips did not move. If she couldn't fight him physically, she planned to make his life a misery for doing this to her. 'This is your den; I'm tired, so I chose a place to sleep.'

"Up there?" he smirked as if she were a foolish child. Saphira uncoiled her neck to lean her face off of the platform, curling her lip to reveal her teeth as she growled at him warningly.

'Forgive me if I'm not exactly full with a warm welcome at this moment in time...' she felt the flames rise in the back of her throat, though she kept her jaws firmly clamped shut.

"Everything you see before you," Smaug said smugly, gesturing to the grand treasure hoard with a sweep of his wing. "Every last coin, jewel and cup, is mine. The greatest treasure in all of Middle-Earth, and it is mine. And now, you are a part of it,"

Saphira merely snarled at him before turning her back on him, shooting a jet of blue flame at the wall in front of her as she grumpily curled up on the floor.

"This is your new home, and you do not seem impressed," she heard Smaug's irritated tone, and growled as she wanted him to just give her a moment's worth of peace.

'I'm sure many a common beast would be dazzled by this magnificent prison,' she spat over her shoulder, not even bothering to grace him with her full attention, allowing the insult to sting further. 'But your trinkets are of little value to me,'

"What foolishness is this?!" Smaug hissed angrily.

'Not foolishness,' she corrected icily. 'I simply do not care,'

"All dragons were in envy of the wealth I possess!" he snarled, clearly becoming more enraged by her dismissiveness. "Surely even if you were simple minded, your vanity would be stoked by such pretty things... as all females tend to feel," he added the last part under his breath, and although Saphira heard it, she tried her hardest to ignore it, even though her talons gouged the stone beneath her in her anger.

'You mistake me.' she replied in as even and dull a voice as she could manage. 'You hold much wealth: the collected weight of the gold alone down there is a material value the likes of which I have never seen. And although it is all rather beautiful, it is in fact... useless.'

"What?!" Smaug thundered in outrage.

'Meat has a purpose to fill my belly, water to sate my thirst, the wind to lift my wings, the sun to give me life, and the moon to give me rest, even this mountain holds a purpose to give me shelter. But coins fashioned from precious metals... the only use I can see of it would be to compare it to my own scales.' She said, a hint of contempt melting into her voice. 'And I already know my scales to be far grander than any coin... I do not need a reminder.'

She heard Smaug snort at her disdainfully, perhaps still thinking her to be foolish, for to one such as him her words of wisdom would only be considered as naivety. But she cared not for what he thought. She heard him then as his weight was absorbed by the metallic rushing sound of coins clinking together as he sunk into his hoard. Saphira shook her head, for if one of them was to be foolish then it would be him if he loved that heap of gold so much; for he could not move it all should he wish to relocate or retreat if threatened, and with such a tie that granted no obvious privilege other than the envy of others, many would wish to take it from him. It could be the death of him. Were all wild dragons like this? The two-legged Ajihad had once told Eragon that wild dragons used to steal the treasure of dwarves. Well, perhaps here was her proof, for the mountain was riddled with the old smell of dwarf, it was faint, hardly there from long absence, but still detectable.

But thinking of other wild ones made Saphira pause as she suddenly thought over what Smaug had said not a few minutes ago. All dragons were in envy of him... were... past tense... did that mean -?!

'Smaug,' Saphira snapped out suddenly into his mind. Her only response was an annoyed grumble coming from within the piles of gold. 'You said that dragons were envious of your treasure... but they are not now?' she asked, a hint of caution entering her heart as she begged whatever fates watched over her that the answer she dreaded was not coming. She heard the coins chink and chime, and risked a glance to see Smaug's head emerge from the gold from where he had completely buried himself within it, he did not open his eyes, only talked lazily at her from the ground, though she knew he was watching her.

"All dragons would have killed to possess my treasure. And they still would... if there were any left," he said in a dark tone.

'They're... they're all gone?' Saphira whispered, a sense of horror dawning upon her soul as she realised the gravity of her situation.

"I am the greatest dragon of the age," Smaug half boasted, though his tone slipped slightly into a form of lament when he next spoke. "But also one of the last. There are undoubtedly a few lesser drakes skulking in the shadows somewhere... but there are no more of the Great Fire Drakes. They are gone. All except for you and I."

Saphira felt her throat tighten in an unfamiliar way, a sense of loss coming over her as well as self-anger. She had been foolish to think that there were others. Foolish and naïve and stupid to believe the false hope that such a thing could be real: Wild dragons living in a far off land? She could almost snarl at herself for such a thought! And now, because of her desperation, she had placed herself into a trap and into a situation that would have been completely avoided if she had but kept her calm and collected head.

For some reason, she felt her anger towards Smaug diminish but her hate grow, it was almost enough for her to throw her sense of self-preservation to the wind and attack him right now in an attempt to slay him. But she didn't, for as it was she only had a slim chance of seeing Eragon again in her current situation, attacking would reduce it to an impossibility.

So she then turned her back on Smaug – who had been eyeing her as he sensed the sudden emotional turmoil within her – and proceeded to ignore him.

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Smaug's newest treasure was quite the proud little beast. He expected nothing less from a dragon, but it was rather bothersome on his patience.

For the first day or so, she spent her time upon her little perch above and away from him, refusing to even acknowledge him as she turned her back on him and pretended to doze. Smaug was almost relieved that she was not taken with his treasure as any other dragon would be. Upon seeing his enormous wealth, she should have either cuddled up to him for his affections or fought him for the right to possess it. The fact that she did neither both baffled and interested him. She was unlike any other dragoness that he had encountered before. Although her vanity and pride were still the same as any of the opposite sex.

She refused to look at him, or even speak to him, though he was somewhat grateful for her silence, as hearing that melodious yet fierce voice inside of his own head was rather unsettling to him. But he knew she was hungry, he could tell by the way she seemed a little undernourished, and so knew that he must provide for her as any decent mate should, and also it might get her to be more cooperative. But he didn't trust her enough to leave her alone for too long, and so instead of making his way outside the mountain, he had gone down to the caverns below, far into the dark where the sounds throughout the mountain echoed down, so he could always hear her, and also he was literally only a few minutes from the treasure chamber if he ran at full speed. Into the dark caverns he went, where the dwarves had once mined for the gold and jewels that now adorned Smaug's bed of treasure. In the dark, he found all manner of foul creatures that had crept up to live in the caves due to the fact that the dwarves had not been there to chase them out due to Smaug's presence, and Smaug himself had never before bothered with the dark pits down here, being more focused on the treasure in the levels above. But now, he made easy pickings of the blind creatures of the dark that were powerless against him; huge insects and grotesque looking worms the size of farm horses. He simply picked one quickly and brought it back to the treasure room.

As he entered the chamber, he saw that his female was half crouched, as if she had been in the process of rising from her platform when he had entered. But upon seeing him, she scowled and turned away from him with a soft growl in her chest as she put her back to him with a dismissive flick of her tail. Smaug growled to himself at her behaviour, but tried to hold his patience with the promise that she would break... eventually. So he tossed her up the meat, the carcass falling with a loud 'SPLAT' sound beside her. She had sniffed it cautiously, and he could see the hunger in her eyes, though she had kicked it away and lay back down.

Stubborn female, he had thought to himself bitterly as he had stalked away.

This happened for the whole of the next day, and the day after that. Smaug's patience was soon coming to a very swift end.

But, he knew that food was not the only way to get into a female's affections. Her hunger she could deny out of pride, but her instincts were far harder to ignore.

It had been a few centuries since Smaug had properly courted a female to win her affections. Back in his days living in the Withered Heath, due to his size, strength, prowess and great feats to earn his name as the dragon dread, it had been all too easy to simply pick whichever female he wanted to mate with and she would fawn over the honour and do her best to please him. That was what Smaug liked, he remembered with a wicked grin. But the other rituals were for when a male was building trust with the female, earning her affection, making her see him as a worthy mate, it was for when the pair were strangers or knew nothing about one another, or just because some did not trust to gossip and rumours about the feats of others. These rituals of dominance displays, preening, grooming and affiliation were for when the pair were trying to establish if they would make a good match and what their dynamic would be; it was a proposal of sorts. But Smaug had already established that he and this female, Saphira – he had to admit he liked the sound of her name on his tongue, fierce yet beautiful – were already mates and that he was the dominant of the pair. Surely he should not have to go through the rituals with her if that was already done.

With this train of thought, Smaug had watched his female, until he saw her rouse herself from her constant dozing, in order to groom herself, uncurling from her sleeping pose, stretching her body out and unfurling one of her wings to lick at the feathers. Her tail was still apart from the occasional twitch at the end in order to signal her boredom but slight agitation. She groomed herself until her scales sparkled with more vibrancy then any of the sapphires at Smaug's feet. He had to smirk to himself as he was reminded of one of the reasons he had taken this female, for her beauty, grace and elegance were utterly undeniable. But realising that this was probably his best opportunity, Smaug had smugly walked up to the stairs of the platform, climbing up to her level, though he was so large that the end of his tail was still at the bottom of the short flight of stairs as he came level with the platform. As his shadow fell over her, Saphira had gone still, her eyes narrowing at him as she growled a very slight warning, before turning her back to him as she licked a foreleg, cleaning her talons as she seemed to be ignoring him.

But Smaug wondered if she was merely playing with him; was this whole act a test in order to see and judge his commitment? The only reason he could think this, was because when she had given her back to him, laying on the floor before him, she had offered him a very... inviting picture.

Smaug's own instincts were very hard to ignore in that moment as the blood rushed through his veins with heat. And he quickly placed his jaws at the back of her neck, feeling the tough scales beneath his teeth, even as Saphira snarled in surprise, wriggling slightly as she tried to dislodge him. But Smaug ignored her, believing that she must be one of those females who had to be conquered before she submitted, perhaps this was what all of this was: a lure to get him to mate her so that she would know the kind of male that he was. Well, he thought darkly, he certainly wouldn't disappoint her in that regard. He placed his forelegs on either side, in-line with her shoulders, nudging aside her tail with his thigh, he lowered himself towards –

A roar exploded from Saphira's jaws as before Smaug could make contact, she pulled away from him, whirling around so that her tail smashed into his left leg, unbalancing him as he winced against the slight pain of his knee protesting where the force of her blow had smacked into the joint. She wriggled from of his grasp and spun around to face him, rearing unto her hind legs as she swiped at his face with her talons, her knuckles catching him unawares in his moment of surprise. He reared away from her, snarling as he shook his head from the blow. Saphira stamped her front feet back onto the ground, and unleashed a torrent of blue flame upon him. Smaug was driven back by the burning light that did not wound him but still caused him great discomfort. Saphira drove him back until he was back at the bottom of the stairs, only then did she extinguish the flames in her throat, standing at the top of the stairs, glaring down at him with hate filled enraged eyes.

'HOW DARE YOU?!' She almost screamed inside of his head, causing Smaug's eye to twitch from the slight pain. 'What do you think you were doing?!'

"You are mine, my dear, we are mates." He snapped irritably. "I was merely fulfilling my duty in that regard,"

'You simple minded, arrogant, beastly brute!' she shrieked, sides heaving with the effort of containing her rage, and Smaug could even see the light at the back of her throat where she threatened to unleash her blue flames again. 'You may keep me here for a thousand years, but I will never just mate you as if I were your breeding-mare! You will need to EARN that right!'

"You dare refuse me?!" he asked in a dangerously low voice.

"I choose who I mate with. No-one else!"

"I'm afraid you have little choice in the matter," he commented dryly. But it was true, for even if she were to escape him, there were no others of their breed to mate with, as he had already explained to her.

'You cannot take my freedom from me, for I am a dragon, the freest of all creatures.' A part of her seemed to deflate suddenly, and she seemed to be weary, weak, as she looked at him with a suddenly tired expression, her tail falling limp onto the ground, her wings slouching against her sides.'Surely even you can understand that, being a dragon yourself,' she said in a much softer tone.

"I am Smaug," he snapped, avoiding her seemingly accusing eyes. "I do as I please, kill where I wish, and none dare defy me. You will be no different."

'A dragon who is not free to do as he or she pleases, is no dragon at all...' he heard her whisper inside his mind, before she turned her back on him and almost collapsed as she lay back down, either from emotional or physical exhaustion, Smaug was unsure.

Smaug was left standing there, glaring at her back, and even if he wanted to ignore her, her words still echoed in his mind, refusing to leave.

So in an attempt to distract himself, he had looked at her body, and realised that her state did not please him, for she should not be so drained from such little exertion. She must be much hungrier then he thought. He carefully picked his way to the pile of treasure beneath the platform and picked up one of the carcasses that she had rejected and kicked to the ground. Smaug had to bite back his pride as he carried the carcass up to the platform and deposited it by Saphira. If he HAD to go through with all the silly ceremonies in order to woo her, then he should start from the beginning: Males would give to females that they desired an offering of food.

Saphira looked round to look at the carcass, before glaring up at him.

'I want nothing from you,' she spat icily.

"Do not let your pride be the death of you," he snapped. "I will not let you leave to hunt, I am not so foolish as that. But by denying food, your body weakens, though should you eat, only your pride will be hurt. I will not have my things go to waste." He then turned away from her and proceeded to slink back into his beloved treasure, burying himself within until only his head was sticking out. From there, he watched out of the corner of his eye as Saphira sat there glaring at the carcass of meat beside her. She sat there simply staring at it with such anger that Smaug thought that she would refuse him just out of spite. For a long time she sat there, for what seemed like an eternity, before finally, she grabbed the carcass with her jaws and viciously began to rip it apart as she ate. Smaug gathered that her ferocious table manners were in part to her hunger but also to her anger, as if she were begrudgingly doing this because even she could see the wisdom in his words.

But Smaug was rather pleased when he saw that after she finished her meal, eating everything but the a few pieces of hard outer-shell from the giant insect's hide, she quickly reached down with her long and graceful neck to snap up the other carcasses that she had turned aside for the past two days.

Smaug kept his smirk to himself, as he revelled silently in his victory. Now he just had to play by the other rituals with the same tact of patience and undeniable truth, and she would soon be in the grasp of his claws.

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Author's Note: Hello my lovely patient readers! I am so sorry this is late, but I was on holiday in Turkey for the past two weeks and was thousands of miles away from my poor laptop. And for the past two days since I've been home I have been working tirelessly in order to give you guys this, so I hope you like it! :)

Please don't forget to review and tell me what you think!