Prologue
It was still dawn when Eragon opened his eyes. The light poured into his eyes, forcing them shut. It was only when he moved a little that he found that he'd had the only flicker of sunlight throughout the entire room.
Still half blinded, he pushed himself up, searching both mentally and physically, yet he did not find her. How?
"Saphira!" He waited. No response. He yelled again. No response came.
Then, grumbling, he stumbled to the door, not noticing that Brisingr wasn't there. Throwing it open left him awed.
The room was full of glittery, excited dragons, and all sorts of people, Urgals, dwarves, humans, and elves alike. But Eragon couldn't feel their consciousnesses. Music played, and they danced to it - but none missed a beat.
Then, Arya spun out from behind a curtain, smiling. Her gaze lifted to him, and her smile grew even larger.
"Come!" She laughed, and a tingle ran down his spine. It was beautiful- so why did it feel fake?
He took a step towards her. Another. One more. He slowly made his way to her. Right when he took her hand, stomach in his throat, the entire front row of people closest to the door swooned and fainted. The next nearest screamed and pushed to the opposite doors. The dragons flew away, none with a living being on their back.
Then, Arya fell. Just as Eragon went to turn around and see their enemy, blackness swallowed his vision, hearing, and pratically every other sense away from him.