The man wearily raised his sword to parry one of the many blades that were slicing through the air, targeting him. Twisting after the closest sword was redirected by his blade, he widened his stance to take more of the heavy strikes. The more stable foundation would help him not to be battered around too much while he deflected the blades away from his body. Continually turning and taking in where each enemy was and when they seemed to prepare to strike, he was able to fend off the forces that were slowly beginning to surround him.

A strike got within his defense and left a deep cut in his left shoulder. A muffled grunt of pain escaped his lips as he turned his body again to take the injured limb further from danger, still fending off attacks with his blade and keeping his feet moving. He managed to strike down three more, even as another handful joined the large number of enemies already surrounding him.

He spat out a few words and felt a small drop in his energy as an Urgal dropped for no visible reason. Even with the killing words he had discovered, he could not use them too often without draining himself. There was no sense in draining his energy out completely if he could block the unskilled strikes well enough. Deciding it was enough of an emergency, he drew in some of the stored energy in his ring and continued blocking with a renewed sense of vigor. Perhaps there was hope still.


An immeasurable distance away, there was another man who held a youthful appearance, though his true age was something none would expect or guess. He had been through more than his fair share of things in life and had seen a great number of things the few could fully even imagine. His experiences were gained through many different jumps to different times and places. The ability to move on to another place was always there, but he was able to hold some measure of control over when he allowed his magic to take him to the next place he was needed. The result, however, was that the man who had now been around for a few millennia, could not complain that his life was boring in any sense of the word.

The now easily recognized feeling that came about just before he allowed himself to be taken to a new place fell over him and he did a few quick charms to ensure he had everything he needed before he left the reality he was in. The feelings differed between traveling through time, traveling to a side reality or dimension, or going to a different galaxy within the universe. This time, his travel would be to a reality and time he had never been to, not that he ever returned to the exact same time and place, but he had experienced a few travels within the same time, world, or universe.

There was always a sense of accomplishment when he left a world, having been placed there specifically to assist as needed, but at times it could be very wearing. A few millennia would wear down anyone after a time. Sighing, he forced himself to focus on the possible new experiences he could have. Confident that his belongings were secured, he stepped into the flow of magic that pulled him to his next adventure.


More hits landed as the man grew tired and the wounds were causing him to move slower and accumulate more. Even the stored energy in Aren couldn't fully offset the injuries he was accumulating. The cuts and pierces seemed to sap his strength directly. Blood was quickly seeping out of his body and a puddle was forming alarmingly fast beneath him on the ground as he still fought back. His hope of surviving this encounter was quickly dwindling as the enemies still continued to crowd him. He had never known that there was such a large amount of Urgals in this area. Angela had mentioned they had tribes in the area, but he hadn't known there were this many so close by.

A bright light erupted off to the side and drew the attackers' attention away from him for a few moments and he took advantage of their distraction to strike down another five Urgals. His red blade slicing through arms and shoulders of his enemies, drawing cries from the victims of his infamous blade and bringing the Urgals' attention back to him. The bodies of the attackers quickly started dropping as a miniature light show danced through the darkness that had been disrupted just a few moments earlier. A man who looked to be in his mid-twenties stepped over the bodies he had slain and continued clearing out the monstrous creatures and Brom allowed himself to drop heavily to the ground as the last few enemies were dispatched.

The man who had moved in to help kill the surrounding Urgals quickly stepped over to Brom and knelt next to him, his hand already beginning to move over Brom's battered body. A soft glow sprang up around his body for a few moments and a low curse was heard from the young man and he drew out a stick before making more intricate patterns over Brom's body and Brom could feel magic being pulled in around him and then being placed into the wounds on his body.

The wounds quickly closed up and Brom could feel his internal muscles knitting back together as the pain diminished and became more bearable. Breathing a little easier, Brom was able to sit up and look over at his rescuer in wonder. This person had just healed all of his injuries, as far as he could tell, and yet he did not seem winded at all.

"Take it easy, friend," the young man stated as he quickly scanned the area they were in before looking back at Brom, "I may have been able to heal the injuries, but you should still go slowly at first. Unfortunately I couldn't bring your muscles back to full strength with the spells I had to use to patch you up quickly enough to keep you alive. You will need to slowly work your way back to what you could normally do." The young man stood up and began to move around the area that was now littered with Urgal bodies. He used his foot to roll one of the slain beings over and looked at it contemplatively. "What are these creatures called?" The young man asked.

Brom coughed out a chuckle, "Urgals. What kind of rock have you been living under?"

"Ah. The question isn't what rock I have been living under it is, what rock have I been living on, for I am a traveller. Never before have I come across this species though. They seem fierce." The young man stated as he looked about the battle area.

A grunt of exertion from Brom had the young man sighing and shaking his head without turning around to look at the old rider. "I thought I told you to take it easy." He stated exasperatedly as he continued surveying the corpses.

"You don't know me, hang around long enough and you'll find I don't follow suggestions unless I like them. I've always said, better to ask forgiveness than permission and frankly I don't need either from you. However, my name is Brom, stranger, and I thank you for your help. You say you are a traveller, where is your place of origin?" Brom asked. He was curious as to where this man could be from that would keep him from knowing of Urgals.

The stranger looked at him for a few moments with unseeing eyes, "I sometimes almost forget truly. Having travelled for so long and seeing so much, but my beginning place is far away, across many seas." Which was true, space could be considered a black sea that few traversed and moving through time was like splashing in one of those oceans for a short time. The man chuckled, "How rude of me, saving your life without giving proper introductions. I have gone by many names in the past, though my birth name of Harry has always been my favorite."

There was a feeling of ancient power hanging about the man who called himself Harry, an odd name in Brom's opinion, but it could be worse he supposed. "So what now?" Brom questioned, not quite sure what to expect from this stranger. One could never be too cautious in times like this. He had a task to get prepared for and a small town on the other side of the Spine to set up in. Maybe he would even get to see his son... Brom shook his head as he focused back on the young man before him, "Do you have a place you are heading? And how did you get here in the first place anyways? I didn't think anyone was around for miles."

Harry chuckled, "And yet you still were ambushed by these Urgals. I don't have an exact direction I am heading in, nor a final location I wish to arrive at. Would you mind letting me tag along as a traveling companion? Perhaps you could tell me more about what all is going on here right now. I am severely out of the loop."

Brom looked at Harry for a few moments. He was wary of the young man, but something inside of him seemed to trust him, a part that had long been quiet within his mind. There was something within him that felt as though he would need this young man before the day was out. He nodded contemplatively to his new companion before hobbling towards his belongings that had been dropped when the Urgals first started their attack.

The pair slowly made their way through the thick underbrush and around the large tree trunks. They had to stop and rest often as Brom's strength was not at its normal level. The quick healing spells Harry had to use made the muscles a little weaker, sacrificing the quick return of strength for the ability to keep Brom from bleeding out while Harry worked on him. Harry had cast a few spells to make traveling easier however which Brom was exceedingly grateful for and marveled at. He didn't understand the kind of magic Harry was doing, nor had he ever heard of someone using magic in such a way.

As they walked, Brom spoke of the events happening throughout Alagaesia and of dragons and magic. Much like Brom had been fascinated with Harry's use of magic, Harry was intrigued at the Ancient Language and its uses and limits. It was during one of their breaks from walking that Brom felt a sense of unease flow throughout his body before pain racked his left shoulder.

Harry was on his feet and next to Brom within moments, casting revealing spells trying to find the issue. The healing spells had worked as they were supposed to, but there was something still causing problems. Harry had checked for poisons and internal injuries along with just simple injuries from the blades of the Urgals, but nothing came back as what could be causing the problem. Harry popped back to the clearing he had first arrived in and checked the blades. He hadn't wanted to cast any other spells on Brom, in case whatever was happening responded poorly to the interference of magic as he had seen before.

One of the blades, he discovered, was lightly coated in a solution of some kind. Harry cast a few more spells over the tainted weapon but still received no information on what it was. Still holding it, Harry popped back to where he had left Brom and moved over quickly to kneel next to him.

"Brom, is this a poison or something? I have never seen it before." Harry stated calmly even though he was internally worried. If there were substances that gave no reading at all for him here, he would have to work out new spells. Not a big issue, but definitely time consuming and not something he could do now to be helpful to Brom. The substance had no scent and Harry didn't want to try tasting it until he knew what it was, but usually people didn't put harmless substances on weapons unless it was for a ritual of some kind.

Brom looked as the coated blade and nodded in resignation. "There have been mutterings that a new form of poison was developed by the Urgal witchdoctors that can resist the Ancient Language if done correctly. The ingredients for it though are said to be nearly impossible to find in Alagaësia. This was likely one of the few times it has been used, most likely as a way to test if it works. I know nothing about it aside from those few things." Brom sighed and shook his head. "Nothing to be done about it now I suppose." He pulled his pack around in front of him, wincing slightly at the movement and began rummaging through it slowly.

Harry had a thought and quickly pulled out a small pouch and dug his hand down deeply into it. He had gathered up many different things over his travels and had run into plenty of poisons and such before that he didn't have an immediate antidote to, but he did always carry plenty of bezoar stones from various goats. One particular breed he had found a number of centuries prior had been particularly useful at curing poisons. He had come across a farm that raised the goats but hadn't known of the benefits of the bezoars. Harry pulled out one quickly, breaking himself from reminiscing and handed it to Brom. "Swallow this."

Brom looked at him confusedly and took the small dark mass from Harry, examining it in his hands. "What is it?" He asked after looking at it closely.

"It is called a bezoar, it is a general remedy that my people have used for many poisons. While I may not be able to cure you since it does not even register for me as existing, this may be able to help cure the poison." Harry replied hopefully.

Taking one last unsure look at Harry, he grabbed his wineskin and took a drink after putting the bezoar in his mouth to help wash it down. Harry watched for a few moments but looked down disappointedly when Brom gave a shudder of pain once more that was stronger than the last time.

Harry's gaze was lost on the sword's blade and the poison covering it. He pulled his wand out again and waved it towards Brom, slowly incanting the spells to reveal poisons but he received no response but as a grimace of pain racked the older man's body, he couldn't contest the fact that something was still wrong with him, and it was nothing Harry could fix. "I'm sorry Brom. I know of nothing else to do. I have potion ingredients to make antidotes for poisons I know of, and I might be able to make an antidote if I work at it, but it could take hours, days or even years. For some reason, I doubt you would coat a sword with poison that takes years to do it's job."

Brom gave a humorless laugh in response, "Too true." Brom fell silent for a few moments as he stared at Harry, the pain running through his body at more frequent intervals. "Amongst all my achievements and failures, there is one thing I will regret above all others, and that is that I will never see my son grow up. He will never know his father, and there will be no one to help guide the next Rider as I had sworn to do. Harry, I am sorry, but I must ask you to do something for me." He shakily pulled a letter from his bag and handed it over to Harry.

"You must make contact with Jeod in Daret. He is an old colleague of mine and he must be told of what happened to me. It was my task to wait for the next Dragon Rider to be found so that I can take them to the Varden to have them start their training. If this poison claims me like I think it will, someone else must do so in my stead, though I do not really know if there is anyone prepared for such a task. Regardless, I will give you my ring and sword and also have you write a letter to Ajihad to let him know of the circumstances that forces this change in plans. I need you to swear that you will do your best to make sure the Dragon Rider is given the best chance to learn and develop. The future of Alagaësia rests on this."

Harry looked at Brom silently for a few seconds as the man shuddered against the pain from the poison and felt a tug against his senses. Drawing his wand slowly, he asked, "Is there no one that could take your place?"

Brom hesitated for a moment and then shook his head slowly. "None that can truly give their fullest effort to it and those that could do not have the information that they need. Not to boast, but with my passing, the future riders will have to learn everything new on their own. Perhaps that is for the best..."

Harry could tell there was some twisting of the truth to the man's words, but didn't press. "If there was someone sitting in front of you that had the knowledge and ability to train the next rider, what would you ask of them?" Harry questioned quietly.

Brom closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths as a particularly painful wave washed over his body. "To swear that they would start to train the rider away from the influence of the humans, elves, and dwarves and then take them to the Varden and Elves to help against Galbatorix. There is nothing wrong with most of the people in those races, but if you have been around politics or large groups of people, you know that there are some bad members of every race, and I have no desire to see the next generation of riders be swayed to favor one race over another.

"After training them I would ask that the rider be taken to the Varden to help Ajihad, and then to finish training with the Elves. But obviously, if you do not know about Urgals then you don't know where any of those groups are, how to speak the language, or even know anything about raising dragons so it is entirely an empty hope."

Rocking back, Harry raised his wand in front of him and let power flow into his words, "While I may not know everything about how things are done on this world, I believe I can be of assistance. Especially if you have any books on the matter, or if I might borrow some of your memories. Just so that you know I am not trying to trick you," Harry held his wand aloft in front of him and magic began to glow at its tip.

"I, Harry James Potter, swear to wait for the next Dragon Rider to be chosen and will do my best to guide them, teach them, and train them to be a just and caring ruler. I will deliver or direct the Rider to those that will assist and teach the Rider in the necessary ways to succeed. If it is within my power to better their future, I will do so. This I swear, so mote it be."

A soft light circled out from Harry to Brom and Brom could feel magic responding to the young man's words before him in a way that reminded him of oaths being spoken in the Ancient Language. Gasping for breath, he settled back fully in amazement at the power this young man before him held. Harry knelt down in front of him. "Any final requests of me?" Harry asked softly.

Brom was mid breath when everything froze, the sounds of night were silenced instantly and Harry lifted his gaze to the area surrounding him.

"Yes, milady?" He questioned to the seemingly emptiness around him.

A shadow appeared a short distance from him and he could almost hear the pout as she spoke. "Awe, you're no fun any more."

"You have always had a certain manner when you appear, change up your approach and perhaps you will have better luck at catching me by surprise. It is hard to not notice when everything around me freezes without me trying to make it happen." Harry quipped easily, though he was still feeling sadness at the confirmation that Brom would be passing soon. "You generally come and go as you please when a person is passing, what is so special here that you decided to stop the world for a chat?"

"Can't Death just visit every once in a while?" The shadow questioned.

"Yes, and you do, though most people are less welcoming than me." Harry replied evenly.

"To true, it isn't my fault that people aren't usually ready to meet me. Their time comes, and I am never late to my appointments. You know this well." Death saw Harry smirk slightly and begin to open his mouth and waved off any retort about a certain Dark Lord. "When there are no extenuating circumstances. Now, you are correct, I have a reason to be here. This world is built differently than others; you have seen some that are similar to it though. The reason you are here is because things must be done—"

"That is how it always is. If one knew the conversations we have, they would think that you were the master here, I never get any breaks or worlds off, everywhere I go, you come around and say 'work, work.' No sick days, no paid vacation; there's always something to fix or a person to defeat and send your direction." Harry grumbled with a slight joking tone to his voice.

"Such is how things works. If I sent you somewhere I didn't need something being done, you would get bored. There is not a single world I have authority in that doesn't need something. As for the worlds I don't have authority in, I am not allowed to send you there since you would have no reason for being there. I send you where you are needed because that is simply how it works." She stated primly.

"Fine, what is it you need?" Harry questioned when she made no move to explain further.

"I need you to deal with a problem that…is of a delicate nature." Death hedged slightly.

"Things never go easily when you start out like this…" Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"You can't make any huge waves until after some circumstances have been met; nothing that draws much attention to you at least. Do things in the background, and set the ball in motion on what you can, but nothing flashy, nothing noticeable." Death declared seriously. "However, the chosen Rider's training must start away from the Varden, Elves, humans, and dwarves of this world, much as Brom mentioned. They would do well if it was left to them, but the perspective will be skewed to their likings.

"Brom would have done well, intimately knowing the treachery of humans, the pride of the elves and the stubbornness of dwarves. Without an impartial, or at least an equally honest teacher, this world will make no progress to speak of. Yes, Galbatorix will be overthrown still, but nothing worth mentioning aside from the end of one tyrant's reign will come about. There will be no changes to how the previous rider leaders became in the end if he is trained by any of the three groups."

Harry looked at Death in slight confusion. She sighed. "You must train him."

"But I am supposed to not be noticed by most others until after a certain point?" Harry clarified. Death simply nodded in response.

Harry scoffed "How to travel with the person that is going to set the world on its head and yet not be noticed…" Harry mused aloud. "Though I suppose if I do most of his training in secret and then let him make his own way until this 'certain point' that you mentioned. I could reasonably step back in after that and really start to help out more. It would be better that way anyways since at some point I will have to move on?" Harry questioned Death and got a small smile in return.

Taking heart at the positive response he looked back at Brom's frozen body, pain evident on his face, and hummed in thought. After a moment longer, he questioned a bit more. "What are these situational requirements you are talking about? What point do I have to wait for us to be past before I can step back in? And what is so delicate about this situation?" Harry looked towards her once more, but Death had already faded from view.

As the world began to spin back into motion, Harry gave one look between where Death had stood and the slowly dying body of Brom before letting out a sigh. He weighed the two options before him, inform the Varden of Brom's passing immediately as the old man had slightly implied initially, or follow Death's urgings and Brom's preferences of how to deal with the current situation. However, his magic swelled within him in response to his oath and his 'full-time duty', as he referred to the tasks assigned to his position, and he determined that there was only one true course of action.

Death had stated that Brom would have done well in training the Dragon Rider, his perspective on the various races of the world leading to a more mild and unbiased opinion of the world. The man also held many contacts that would be useful in the years to come, depending on how soon the Rider would be chosen. Harry gave a sigh and knelt once more by Brom's side.

"For this to really work in the best way possible, I need to know where you were heading and why, I will stick to that plan and wait where you planned to." Harry said, reaching out to check Brom's temperature as a more violent shake ran through the older man's body. Brom's eyes were beginning to glaze over and Harry watched for a moment with a pained and contemplative expression on his face. With a sigh, he placed his index finger and thumb on either side of the man's head and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry to do this, friend, but for me to do the best I can and prepare for whatever future Death has warned of, I must have information. I hope you can forgive me."

With that, he gently bypassed the man's mental shields and began copying the memories and experiences from Brom's life into his own mind. Starting with the first memories of Brom's training to become a Dragon Rider at a young age, Harry moved forward quickly, not pausing to actually watch the memories right then, but shuffling them over to his own mind for review at a later time with his Occlumency. Some memories, however, were too strong to simply ignore and pass over.

Because of this, Harry experienced Brom's wonder and respect for the leaders of the Dragon Riders during their prime, the deep strength that the dragons themselves held and the joy of bonding with a dragon. He experienced the overwhelming sense of loss and hurt from Brom's dragon being killed, the deep attraction felt towards Selena that later turned into love. The peace and regret that accompanied striking Morzan down, elation at getting a dragon egg away from Galbatorix and then the sadness mixed with hope after the ambush that Harry had met him in. The joy at the birth of his son, yet sadness was that he would never be able to truly meet him. Hope at the fact that someone as powerful and good as Harry seemed to be was taking over the role he would be unable to fill for the Varden and those whose future rested with him for bringing the new Dragon Rider to safety.

The final emotions Harry received from Brom were contentment and acceptance. Having felt and seen Harry's magic and intent as the man had copied his thoughts, Brom rested in confidence that Harry would be able to fill the role of teacher even better than him. The last of Brom's strength was used to latch onto Harry's mind probe, understanding what Harry had chosen to do and Harry felt his approval in the action. "Train the Rider well, Harry. Watch over my son for me too, please." Brom's mental voice asked, and with a final sigh, Harry pulled out of the man's mind as watched as Brom's face settled into a relaxed look and stopped breathing. Harry stood and looked down at the body of the man, sorrowful that he had been unable to heal him.

He watched the man's spirit rise and was met by Death and a woman he now recognized as Selena from Brom's memories. After a slight hesitation he motioned with his hand and ignited the corpse of the man he had only just met, but now knew as well as himself. Brom and Selena both turned to Harry and gave a small bow and a smile full of trust and appreciation before he turned and fully moved to the next realm. Harry silently mourned for the unknown loss that a son had just suffered. Intimately aware of how such an absence feels, he swore to help as much as he could in the life of Brom's son.

His eyes lingered on the space Brom and Selena had just been and gave a soft sigh. "A burial fit for a King. Travel well, friend."