Disclamer: I do not own any of the characters or stories created and owned by Christopher Paolini but i sure wish i did!
Warning: This chapter and the next is intended as an epilogue for Christopher Paolini's book Inheritance so please do not read if you have not read the book or do not wish for spoilers.
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Early in the morning Eragon woke up and looked out from his window to the fields in the east. He could see many of the younger riders sparring and could see that most were rather lacking in skill. "Hard to believe I was once just as new" he thought to himself remembering the time Brom had trained him with a pair of wooden sticks and the bruises he had received then.
Seven centuries it had been since he left his home and all that he knew behind, to set up this magnificent structure that the riders now called home. It was located on top of a rather large mountain that Eragon, Blöthgarm and the elves, and the young un-bonded hatch-lings had discovered several leagues into their travels. Halfway up the mountainside towards the peak they had begun the tedious process of construction and organization. The new rider recruits came much before anticipated, actually they had arrived only a year after the new base was established, and their training was more in the wilderness then anything else. After several years of hard work, with the skill and strength of the races of dragons, elves, humans, dwarves and urgals they had finally managed to establish what was now the splendid city of 'Du Edoc'sil istalri abr ilumëo'.
The structure from a distance practically blended in with the mountainside, no doubt a testament to the dwarves skill with stone, and somehow also contained a system of tunnels that ran underneath most of the structures above the mountain, using which it was easily possible to travel from the dock by the edda river that was at the base of the mountain right to the highest reaches of the city, without ever having to see the sun. The region for several miles around the mountain in all directions to almost halfway up its side was covered in a thick blanket of pine trees which had now grown so large they could, at the base of the mountain, reach almost a hundred feet in height, fifty paces in diameter and still had enough place in between to accommodate all but the largest of dragons. Beyond this point the mountainside was dotted with elven tree-homes strikingly similar to the ones in Ellesméra, Halls and massive building like structures of Vroenguard that looked a little like an amalgamation of the lifestyles of all the races, and even cave dwellings like the ones in du fells nangaroth where the wild dragons now resided though most chose to dwell in the nearby mountains as game was more easily available there. Dwarves were the only ones of course, who with any degree of permanency resided below the ground and these were the only places where most dragons older then a century could not in account of their size venture. The Eldunari were rather well guarded inside a structure inside the cavity at the peak,where spells ensured that they were warm and had enough sunlight. All young riders were prohibited there and had no knowledge of what lay therein. Only Eragon and a few select elders were allowed to go to the summit without permission. The rest of the city was indeed so large it appeared as if giants lived here. Rarely was there a structure where the dragons could not easily walk side by side or flare their wings.
As soon as the sun was a little higher in the sky Eragon went and sat in his courtyard. Being the leader of the riders his was the house closest to the topmost part of the city yet not so far up for it to be frigid. It was in his opinion one of the best locations in the city. His tree-house was quite tall but had rooms at both the top and the bottom, also instead of being made up of a single tree he had personally shaped eight different trees into his home which now stood nearly a hundred and fifty feet high and was nearly sixty feet wide. He was not needed to take students but he did once in a while as it had been so peaceful there was little or no work to be done. Yes disputes sometimes arose and he did have to reprimand the kings of the urgals dwarves and humans once in a while but nothing to serious. He missed Roran with whom he had spoken nearly every week and who had lived to a ripe old age of ninety and had passed away a few months after Katrina, but he knew his passing was unavoidable and was glad he lived a full life. Nasuada had taken his offer to come to his residence with Murtagh and Thorn and thus she lived a much longer happier life but in time she too had passed, though she left on a good note and Murtagh after a while had accepted it. He was now was one of the foremost members of the council of the riders. Orik had also kept close contact with Eragon and before passing had declared Durgrimst Shurtugal as a new clan specifically for dwarven riders of whom Eragon was Grimstborith. Eragon now had a rather unique post by which he was not really answerable to the dwarven kings for which he was grateful. Orik had also surprised everyone by being the longest living king in dwarven history and had ruled for three-hundred years before finally passing into the void
The elves had been the least troublesome of all the races. They were indeed the only race Eragon did not have frequent quarrels with and they had shown to be a civil race who as a whole almost never did anything wrong. This was also in Eragon's opinion a credit to Arya's excellent leadership as the queen of the elven nation. Arya... she was the one subject that Eragon had tried to think least about. No he had not lost his love for her,and he still felt the all too familiar pangs of discomfort when he spoke to her through the mirror system he had set up with all the leaders, they were still close friends but Eragon preferred to think of her as less as possible as he would always end up in a rather bad mood and ended up accepting fate and feeling rather miserable about it.
His brooding was interrupted somewhat when his students Thorv, Aiedail, Heergreth and Barton arrived with their dragons Kagra, Leviathan, Colt and Vitra behind them. They looked rather disheveled after their sparring training. Thorv was a dwarf, Oriks great-grandson to be precise and was of a rather open-minded view to the world compared to the rest of his race. He had long bushy eyebrows a long braided beard, and also long dark hair. He was of a stocky built and had shrewd eyes. His dragon Kagra was black in color and now nearly ten years of age, unlike her rider however she was of a much more carefree nature and had been reprimanded by Saphira on numerous occasions. Aiedail and Barton were both twenty years old, with jet black hair however since elves are only exposed like the dwarves and urgals to the dragon eggs when they are twenty years old, Aiedail's purple dragon Leviathan was only six months old where as Vitra who was pale green was almost eleven. Heergreth was the eldest of Eragon pupils and he and Barton had just started learning magic. His dragon Colt was the same color as Saphira if a bit lighter and he hated being compared to her.
As was custom they greeted Eragon and Saphira and waited till they were assigned tasks, while the dragons left with Saphira, Leviathan proudly sitting on Saphira's Head. "Aiedail" said Eragon, "both you and Thorv Will go meditate in your designated areas by the waterfall, Barton and Heergreth will remain here today". The silver haired elf left skipping while Thorv kept pace. It was still quite a shock to Eragon to see a dwarf move so fast, he had originally thought his transformation to elvish strength unique however every rider in ten or eleven years acquired the same strength and speed. Barton and Heergreth in the meanwhile were looking rather puzzled at being asked to stay and looking quizzically at one another. "You two will not train as usual today" said Eragon "today I teach you how to attack with and defend your minds". "But eberthil we already know.." said Barton appearing rather disgruntled. "Do you now? Very well, both of you will merge your minds, Heergreth will only attack, Whereas you Barton will only defend,Ready yourselves" so saying Eragon waited a minute and then rammed against Heegreth's mind and as Berton could not protect them for long, Eragon soon breached his barriers giving both students a rather massive headache. "Do you still believe yourselves competent?" Eragon asked them, "No eberthil,we are sorry". "If there is one thing I have learned in my tenure a s a rider it is this, overconfidence will be your downfall. I may be the leader of the riders but to this day I still learn, do not forget this. You will now train by attempting to breach each others minds while sparring, start by-" and so the hours passed as Eragon instructed his charges in the art of mind breaking and eventually he bade them all return to their holdings and to prepare for the next weeks lesson and as usual to their despair, a lot of homework. Just as Eragon was going back to his house Thorn soared into view, "Greetings brother! you are ready to leave I hope" boomed a voice from Thorn's back. Murtagh and Eragon had quite a good friendship now and over time all but the elves had lost their hatred towards him.
"I am" said Eragon "we leave the tomorrow afternoon". "Thorn and I are leaving a little early, I don't want to miss this, on the personal invitation by the queen no less! I hope Ellesméra is as good as you say it is Eragon I cant wait to attend the Agaetí Blödhren. I'll meet you there" and then Thorn flapped away towards the west. "What a strange time to leave" commented Saphira "Why not wait till morning" asked Saphira. "Because he does not wish to be seen leaving Saphira, you know how irritated Blöthgarm would be if he knew Murtagh would be able to leave before him." "Mm even so the festival is not for some weeks... Are you ready Eragon? she will be there you know". Eragon sighed "That cant be helped can it? I have procrastinated enough and they will be offended if I do not attend in the absence of any duty. No, it seems I will have to attend this time". "I know how you feel Eragon, even if I were not bonded to you, I too miss Fírnen". Eragon sighed and grinned "Then let us be happy about the reunion eh?" he said scratching her ear as was his habit. Saphira snorted with amusement. "Very well little one, go pack and rest now. This journey is long and I must hunt before we leave"."Alright, see you tomorrow." and so saying Eragon went back to his house and lay thinking on his bed. He would finally be returning to Alagaesia.