Prologue – Dagger In The Dark

Disclaimer – I do not own or am affiliated with the Inheritance Cycle in any way nor do I own any of the characters. They belong to Christopher Paolini.

Note: If you haven't read Distant Truths you almost certainly must do so before reading this as without reading the prequel none of the story will make sense. Just a forewarning! If you look on my page it should be there or just search 'Distant Truths' under Inheritance Cycle fics. Anyway I've wasted enough of your time! Enjoy the fic!

The bar was empty except for a few seats here and there; it was late into the night, even into the next morning although Aris could not be sure, and the revellers of the pub had departed to their homes or rooms. Only he, Elena and another strange looking man remained.

Sed man had his back rested against one of the clay brick walls; his hood obscuring the side of his face – for Aris' view was not a direct one. All that could be made of his appearance was a rather long nose and a pipe which poked out of his mouth. The dark haired rider had his suspicions of the man as he did not know him, at the moment; however, he knew that this man knew more than he. This may well have been the contact he and Elena had been advised to meet with.

Glancing across he noted a certain wariness in Elena's visage which he had not noticed before. It was something bespoke of long days spent in the saddle and many more travelling by other means. She still retained her certain natural beauty but that was overshadowed by her fatigue.

Aris leaned over and whispered to her, "I think that's him, that's the contact,".

She nodded slowly in agreement attempting to draw little attention to them, "Yes. From what I have seen of him, the little that I have as his hood conceals his face well, the man fits the description almost exactly. Shall you or shall I?"

"If you wish to have the honour of introducing us to him be my guest," Aris replied, motioning towards the hooded individual and grinning.

As Elena rose from her seat to go and confront the man the doors of the pub flew open causing her to, instinctively, jump back into her place. A figure of what appeared to be a human stood at the door, legs spread wide and arms hanging at its sides; all that could be seen outside was the darkness of the night and the odd light in the distance. The man must have stood almost seven foot tall as he almost clipped the top of the doorframe with his bulky head. Aris was in awe of the person, mostly out of fear of the humongous man who stood before him; he seemed dangerous, threating. Even though Aris had not seen his face he could tell the man would be trouble.

Attempting to gauge what the person's intentions were Aris sent out a mental probe, as he could sense Elena doing also as well as Arelía and Heleth, to see what he could glean from the mind of the man. When they reached it all that could be found was a mental fortress the likes of which Aris had never even witnessed before.

"More and more people are becoming skilled in mental protection these days," The rider muttered to himself, "I wouldn't be surprised if our ability of invading the minds of others will be redundant very soon.

Striding forward the footsteps of the miniature giant rattled the battered floorboards; he noted that the hooded man now watched with intent also, curious as to whom the stranger was.

Instead of heading to the bar where the landlord stood, as was the custom generally in pubs, the hulking beast bore down on Aris and Elena. As the man came into view Aris noted some of his features which the light now revealed. Piggish eyes seemed to have been bored into his skull and placed inside, leaving less space for his brain to fit in. There was not much room for that either as in comparison to the rest of his body the man's head was rather puny. Huge muscles rippled down his arms and thighs intimidating Aris, and Elena he assumed too, who lightly gripped the hilt of his rider's sword, ready for a fight.

"Found you." The man declared, smiling savagely, almost with glee at what he was about to do.

"What do you want with us sir?" Aris replied, attempting to be polite despite his fear and anger at this person approaching and threatening him and Elena.

"I want you dead,"

Fast as lightning the hulking figure nimbly whipped out a throwing knife and hurled it with precision at Elena. Aris assumed that her wards would protect her; however, the blade passed straight through and penetrated her abdomen.

"Elena!" Aris screamed, swinging at the man with his sword. The blade cleaved the man in two, no wards to protect him which the dark haired rider thought strange although at the moment he was more focused on tending to Elena.

"Elena," He whispered, "Elena…"

"Funny isn't it." She was smirking now, "How we are always brought down by the ones we think are the least dangerous. I shouldn't laugh now, in the face of death though… It's just… I don't know what to say…"

He felt her life ebb away as he held her petite form in his arms; tears rolled down Aris' cheeks and onto her chest as he attempted to put energy into her to help Elena retain her conscious state.

"Aris! Give her to me, I can help!"

Aris was unsure who was shouting at first until he noted that the hooded man now stood behind him, hood removed. The strange man was old, in his early sixties. He had a short, well-trimmed grey beard as well as grey hair which fell down to his shoulders. The hooded cloak he wore, the colour of the abyss, covered the rest of his body meaning that all could be made out was his face as well as his rather long nose but kind, warm blue eyes.

Quickly the cloaked man rushed over and laid Elena down to the floor, he glanced at the form of the woman lying there with despair at the wound inflicted with a simple blade.

"Aris." The man said, Aris' vision fading around him, "Aris, I need to tell you something. Aris!" Suddenly the dark haired rider passed out and the vision was no more.

Aris shot up in bed, panting and sweating profusely.

Eugh… Another nightmare… But. But what if that was a premonition? Like the other one.

I wouldn't worry about that until it comes little one. Arelía reassured her rider. Now go back to sleep, and try not to wake Elena, she needs her rest too.

Carefully Aris lay back on the mattress trying not to hit Elena who lay asleep next to him. Sleep came back quickly and no more night visions troubled him.

For now.

Author's note: Oh my god! I'm back! Yes, I am not dead. At least I don't think so… I've just had a month or twos break from writing (at least it feels like that). College has been rather hectic recently as I have been working quite a lot to make sure I'm doing well and getting all my revision AND homework completed. Safe to say I am now in a good position to begin writing once more although don't expect as regular updates. Apologies for this but I can't update every week; I'll update whenever I can though. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this prologue, it is a bit confusing I know but the italic text at the start will become clear later on ;p Thanks very much for reading, hope you enjoyed, don't forget to rate and review and the next chapter (the first chapter) shall be out soon!