Hey everyone!

Here's the second chapter (or the first if you consider the prologue chapter 0). It's a bit short and most likely will be disappointing, but I promise there will be a big revelation next chapter.

Eragon felt the most remarkable and inexplicable sensation: nothing.

There had always been something: the pressure of the ground against the bottom of his feet, the wind in his hair, light shining in his eyes, a general feeling of hot or cold. But all of that was gone. Even as he tried to focus on one sense individually, sight, it bewildered him. He couldn't see anything. It wasn't too dark, and his vision wasn't blank, but rather it was as if the concept of vision was gone. The same was true for smell, touch, and hearing.

There was just nothing.

After what seemed to be many years, or perhaps it was only a few seconds, Eragon felt.

He felt his stomach drop, as if he was on Saphira and she had just gone into a free fall. After so long in limbo it felt good to feel something, anything.

Gradually, he seemed to drift back to reality. When he dared to crack open his eyes, he was shocked.

He saw the same sky he had seen as he died. The same trees framed his vision, and the pale blue sky of a cloudless day served as the background. He turned his head to the side. He was still in the glade where he had fallen.

He turned his head the other way and gasped. There was Blodgharm, hovering over his chest. The three elves were slightly behind him. And Saphira was there too, wings outstretched as if she was just landing.

Am I still alive? thought Eragon.

"Did you save me?"

No response.

In fact Saphira and the elves didn't move at all. Saphira stood several feet away, her wings looming large over the glade, her back feet on the ground. She didn't move a muscle. Blodgharm too was stoic, seemingly intent on Eragon's chest, not so much as flinching when Eragon waved a hand in front of his face. The other elves too, were not moving.

Strange

Even as Eragon gingerly stood, Saphira and the elves didn't move a muscle. It was like they were frozen by magic. Eragon spared a look around. The whole scene might as well have been a painting. No wind rustled the leaves. No birds chirped or flapped in the sky. In fact, there were no sounds at all. Eragon turned back to Blodgharm. He was holding the knife that had been buried in Eragon's chest. About a hand's length beneath the tip of the knife floated a single drop of blood, suspended in space.

It's as if time is stopped for everyone but me, realized Eragon.

Eragon walked a distance before turning around to take in the scene. It was only then that he saw his body laying on the ground, right where it had been, underneath Blodgharm's gaze. His face was awfully peaceful, but he couldn't overlook the large gash right over his heart. Blood continued to pool around his torso, soaking the light workout tunic he had been wearing.

So if I'm on the ground over there, what body am I in right now?

He glanced down at his own feet and saw the same boots he had been wearing earlier. Except now they were slightly transparent. Eragon imagined that if he kept looking really hard, he would be able to see through his boots and feet and see the patterns on the ground. Eragon raised his hands in front of his face, and saw they too were slightly see-through.

This is too weird.

Determined to awake Saphira or the elves somehow, he took a step towards them. Just then, to his side, he heard a noise, almost like a pluck of a stringed instrument. Eragon turned sharply, ready to confront whoever, or whatever, was there. But he saw nothing, just the treeline at the edge of the clearing.

The sounds continued, morphing from isolated notes into a song that resembled a bawdy dwarf tavern songs Eragon had once heard.

Eragon hesitated, unsure of what to do. On one hand, he wanted nothing more than to find a way to awake Saphira and elves. Having his dragon with him was always reassuring, and the more backup the better, he thought. However, if he was right and time really was frozen, then there was nothing he could do to wake them, and it might be best to find the music and hope whoever was making it knew what was going on.

Reluctantly, Eragon turned his back on his friends, and headed into the forest.

There ya go! Hope you guys liked it!

I always welcome constructive criticism and ideas. I will try to have the next chapter done by Monday and up shortly after that!