Chapter 1
A ship floated down a river, carrying a passenger that would change the world. Eragon sat on the prow of the boat watching the plains roll by. Thirty days had they sailed this water, and still saw no changes to the landscape. The same grassy fields with the occasional scruffy, dried up tree. The same cloudless sky with the burning hot days and the icy cold nights. Even the same riverbed, not even a dip or hole to change the endless monotony. The plains were so flat, he could see all the way back to the curve in the river that had separated him from- No, he wouldn't think about it. He couldn't. Memories too painful to bear.
"Shadeslayer!" came a voice behind him. He snapped out of his reverie.
"Yes, Etlis? What is it?" he asked the woman.
"Ship's daily report." she replied. "We have six barrels of ale remaining, and five of water. Three crates of carrots were found infected, sir. We still have no idea of the cause."
Eragon swore. One thing was breaking their monotony, and he wished It wasn't. One by one, their crates of food were becoming infected by a strange fungus. No one on the ship had ever seen anything like it. It attacked their stores, leaving nothing but a pile of dust remaing, and spread to other areas faster than they could fight it. And they could barely fight it. Their spells were useless, in fact, they seemed to make it grow stronger. The only thing they could fight it with was water. And they had precious little water. It was almost funny, he thought, because they were on a ship moving through water, and yet they could not take it. Just like with the fungus, they could not use spells to pick it up. They had used buckets at first, at least until the fungus destroyed all of their buckets. And the few elves who tried to swim in the water, well, he tried not to think of them. And so they endured. Fighting on against a natural force that was killing them, and they had no defenses.
"…and six crates of apples. All of our other fruits have been eaten or destroyed." He realized she was still talking. He rebuked himself for not paying attention, and turned back to the matter at hand.
"Very well. Return to your station." He turned back to the river.
"Shadeslayer? I had something I wanted to ask you about. It's the crew. They seem on edge. They're starting to regret our decision to come with you."
"I know" he said. "But we must find a new home. Not just for us, but for the dragons! We can't let them go extinct!"
"This I know" she replied "Yet our voyage is proving to be fruitless! It's been days since last we heard from one of the old ones, and weeks more since we felt any life. And what's more, one of the nurses told me yesterday that the eggs are slipping. Reach out to them, feel their minds, and know it to be true!" She waited as he did so. A surprised expression came over his face, soon replaced by a grim one.
"You know I'm right! Besides, have you considered our food situation? We may not even have enough to get back! We must turn around now, before lives are lost!"
He thought about this for a few minutes. Finally he spoke. "I'll take Saphira up and have a look around. If we don't see anything, we'll turn back. Tell the crew." Etlis smiled, and returned to her post. He watched her go. With a sigh, he reached out with his mind.
Saphira! He called. He waited for a response. She had left hours ago to search for edible game, something very scarce on these harsh plains. At last he felt her reply.
I'm almost there. She said. And now he could see her, blue scales glinting off the harsh sunlight, reflecting in his eyes, blinding him…..
And suddenly the view changed. Gone were the flat plains, and in their place were beautiful houses filling a vast city, one with glistening spires and cathedrals larger than the largest building in Alagaesia . He looked around to get his bearings. He was standing in the middle of a boat, trundling down a canal that cut straight through the middle of the city. Light sparkled off the magnificent buildings, reflecting the people standing in the boat with him. He turned, starting as he recognized them. There was Etlis, standing by a shocked Blodhgarm, and a dozen other elves, all staring in surprise at the magnificent city. But then, just as quickly as it came, the city vanished, leaving a shocked crew staring at the flat plains once again before them. Saphira glanced at them with surprise.
Did I miss something? She asked.
The crew exploded, everybody talking at once. Eragon waited a few minutes for them to calm down, then explained to Saphira their vision. She grew startled and shared a similar recollection, one of her flying over the same city, and very nearly crashing into a large tower. Nobody seemed to notice me, though she said. Eragon agreed. It had been as if they were ghosts in somebody else's city.
"Perhaps it was a premonition?" suggested one elf.
"One we all had at the same time? No, it must have been an illusion, to trick us in some way." said another. But Eragon didn't believe him. The place had seemed to real, too substantial. He could still remember the taste of the salt in the air, and the firmness of the wood beneath his feet, and the wind rushing against his face. No, the place had been too real to be an illusion. It had to have been something more. After a moment's thought, he made up his mind.
"I'm going to ask the dragons. Perhaps they'll know of something like this." he proclaimed to the crew. There was another outburst of talking. When it died away, one elf stepped forward.
"Shadeslayer." he said carefully "they have been unresponsive for days! Why would they say anything now?"
"Because we need them" he said simply, and turned to the stairs leading belowdecks. He took them three at a time, and entered into the bowels of the ship. He rushed past the kitchens, where a group of cooks looked up from their work with curiosity, and past the hold, where he saw just a few barrels of ale and some crates. He took another flight of stairs down deeper, and then turned left into a room filled with various egg shaped objects of differing colors. He stopped before the largest by far, and bent down to touch it. Holding it in his hands, he reached out to it with his mind.
What he met was nothing like what he expected. He met no dragon's consciousness, ages old and of unfathomable wisdom. He found a consciousness, but not like that he expected. It was simply empty. No thoughts, no memories, no emotions, just a plane of nothingness. A feeling of panic rose up inside of him. What could do this to a dragon? One by one, he examined each of the Eldunari. In each of them he found nothing. He began to grow very afraid. Then a thought occurred to him. These were the heart of hearts of dragons. Every dragon had one. They contained the dragons memories and consciousness. If this was happening to dead dragons, what would happen to a living dragon? A feeling of dread came over him. he quickly spun on his heel. He was halfway to the door when he heard the screams. He hurried up the stairs and down the hall and up to the deck, right as Saphira fell into the water.