Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Ranger's Apprentice nor Eragon.

Will awoke in a cold sweat. He had bolted upright and couldn't remember if he was screaming in his dream or in real life. In his dream, there had been a huge battle taking place. Unlike all his other battle related nightmares where he saw men that he had personally taken lives from, this was one battle he had never seen before.

Horace was there but there were many other people there also and as he sunk back down into the warmness of his blankets and he closed his eyes, he tried to think about the cause that they were fighting for and had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that if they didn't win that battle all was going to be lost.

He closed his eyes tighter and remembered there being a monster the size of a house that blew fire. What initially had awoken him in the first place was the feeling of falling through open space. As he laid there and tried to think about the dream more, it seemed like the details were fading. Like they were there but he just couldn't place them together correctly.

He shook off the thoughts and climbed out of his bed to put a pot of coffee on. As soon as it was done, he added some sugar and of course a generous helping of honey and went to stand outside on his porch, shirtless.

In the East, the sun wasn't even fully up yet and Will stood there admiring the hughes of pink and purple before that first Ray of sun broke out over the horizon. Will loved this moment of the day more then any other and after taking a sip of his hot coffee, he closed his eyes and let his surroundings fill his thoughts. He took in the sound of the birds chirping and a woodpecker pecking at a tree. He heard the sound of the leaves rustle together as close trees brushed against each other and Will smiled.

Better get moving. He thought to himself. No way Halt will let me go early today if I don't get a good head start on the day's work. And, draining his cup of coffee he went into the small cottage at the edge of the woods that was now his and started getting ready for the day, the dream he had that morning all but forgotten.

Little did he know, hundreds of miles to the Northeast of Redmont, the very same thing was happening to his close friend Horace. As did Will, Horace awoke with a jolt and was also in a cold sweat.

What was that? He asked himself, rubbing his ribcage on the left side. Unlike Will, Horace was awoken by the short spasm of pain that shot up his left side after something the size of a tree hit him. He had heard a momentary roar of agony that was almost in sync with his cry of pain and then the next thing he knew, he was here in his bed back in the castle.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes, the first light of the predawn was just creeping over the horizon and he groaned internally. He could've used these extra hours of sleep but now that he was awake, he was going to stay awake.

He walked to the window and when his feet hit the cold stone floor under his feet, he shuddered. There was something about that dream that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He had known that Will was there completely out of instinct but something else was bugging him too. As he thought about the dream images flicked across his mind like a movie playing without sound.

He saw a girl, no older then him and Will, running towards him with Will in tow and he knew that it was time. But time for what? He knew that it was important but try as he might, he couldn't put his finger on it.

He decided he would think about it later and decided he needed something to eat before his long journey today. So, pushing the thoughts away, he headed down to the kitchen smiling at the thought of scrambled eggs with toast and fruit.

Anya, finally getting over the initial shock that she was o.k was now running in the direction of the sun and after a fair amount of time she finally came out of the Spine. She looked around and tried to find her bearings but for some strange reason she didn't recognize anything around her. Was it possible that she had never been in this part of the woods before?

Oh well. She thought and pulled her long curly locks back and covered her ears with a piece of headband she had fashioned from an old belt and started south on the road that she was on. There was no harm in traveling if there was no immediate danger.

Along the way, she began to feel the loneliness closing in on her again. It was almost like she was suffocating, the silence crushing down on her like tidal wave after tidal wave carrying her out to sea with absolutely no promise of being rescued.

She shook off the sadness with great effort and when she finally came to a crossing road she tried once again to get her bearings in order. With another failed attempt to see where she was she began to panic just a little on the inside. It was made even more great without the reassuring, deep grumble that came from Verdos whenever she thought unpleasant thoughts and he would intrude to let her know that there was no reason for the thoughts.

I can't do this. Anya thought to herself, crouching down on the dirt pathway and hugging her legs. I'm not strong enough to make it on my own like this. Like Arya was.

The instant she thought about her twin sister Arya, she regretted it deeply. She didn't want to think about the falling out that her and her sister were going through. It was bad enough that she had just lost Verdos but now she truly felt like she had nothing left.

No doubt Oromis and Glaedr were going to be the most disappointed of everyone. More so then even Eragon and Saphira.

Stop this thinking. Anya reprimanded herself. You don't know what people will do in situations until you put them in that particular situation.

Anya continued on the path she was on and eventually came to a town that was full of the hustle and bustle of human life. She walked down the road and looked on in amazement at the way these people were going about their daily life like they had no care in the world. Weren't they worried about Galbatorix?

"Can you tell me where I am?" Anya asked a young passing boy in shorts.

"Yeah. Redmont." He said like it should've been obvious. He shook his head at her and continued on with the task that he was probably sent on in the first place.

"Where in Alegasia is Redmont?" Anya asked to no one in particular. She continued down the road she was on until she came to a draw bridge and examined the inside walls. There were posted guards on each side of the wall and as she walked past she could feel gazes upon her. No doubt that she looked unnatural in the attire that she was wearing and she began to feel uneasy once again.

"Can you tell me where I might find some lodging?" She asked one of the guards who was walking by.

"Just up the street on the left side there's an Inn there." He pointed down the road and Anya said her thanks by touching her finger tips first to her lips then her forehead. As she turned away and headed towards the place that the guard had pointed out to her the guard couldn't help but wonder where she was from. He had more important things to worry about at the current moment so he brushed it aside and continued on his way to see Baron Arald.

When Anya arrived at the Inn she bought one room for the night and decided to be out early in the morning. As she went to pay for the room, the innkeeper looked at her strangely when she handed over the gold coins, for she had never seen gold coins such as the ones that Anya had just given her but decided not ask her about them. Gold was gold, no matter what shape it came in.

"Would you be needing anything else?" The innkeeper asked her politely when they entered the room.

"No. This'll do fine." Anya answered, just as polite. The innkeeper left and immediately Anya set to putting up small barriers around the room. They were just for when she slept anyway. As soon as she was done, she sat down on the bed and tested out the feathering of the mattress.

This'll have to do for now. She decided and laid on her back staring at the ceiling for a minute. She closed her eyes and instantly she was in the trance that was the equality of sleep for elves. She was more tired then even she realized because of the events that had unfolded the previous day. How was she to know that she was going to be in even more trouble come the following days?