A/N: Merry Christmas all! Enjoy ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Inheritance Cycle setting or characters. Christopher Paolini does.


"Eragon?", came a worried inquiry from Arya.

"Yes?", was Eragon"s reply.

"What is wrong? Is there some sort of danger I should be aware of?"

"No.", said Eragon, and Arya gave him a mystified look. Eragon responded by saying "You'll see."

Arya crossed her arms, wishing she had an explanation. Was Eragon okay? What could cause him to suddenly divert from the course of action they had discussed? Though Arya tried to hide it, she was insanely glad Eragon had come back. What she was worried about though, was what Eragon's return meant. She hoped nothing bad had happened.

Eragon and Arya had reached Fírnen and Saphira. They were out of breath due to running so fast. The two riders saddled their dragons and were about to take off. Vanir and Alanna were behind Eragon on Saphira, while Bloödhgarm sat just behind Arya. Though Eragon would never admit it out loud, he thought Bloödhgarm was too close to Arya, especially with his hands around her waist, even though he was just doing it to stay on Fírnen.

Eragon shook his head. Why was he even thinking that? He denied that he even had feelings for Arya. Besides, even if he did, it was not the time for them. Now was the time to make decide how he was going to convince the Alagaësian council to support his plan.

While Eragon sat slumped in his saddle, sleeping, Arya had a conversation with Fírnen.

They discussed details of their journey, or rather what they knew so far. Eventually, Fírnen brought up Eragon.

"So...", Fírnen's deep voice rumbled through Arya's mind. "You find Eragon... cute?"

Arya couldn't flat out deny that she thought Eragon was cute, because of the Ancient Language, so she went with a more evasive response. Choosing her words carefully, she responded by saying "I believe Eragon... looks the part of a rider, do you not?

Fírnen chuckled, a smile spreading across his lips. Through their connection, he knew Arya's true thoughts.


Eragon stood in front of a circular table. At the table sat King Orin, Surda's representative-to-the-people; a man named Biln, Queen Nasuada, the empire's representative to the people; Katrina, Queen Arya, the elven representative-to-the-people; a light-pink haired female named Ëlna, Nar Gharzvog, the urgralga's representative-to-the-people; a male named Venro, King Orik, a dwarf woman named Mena, and Grimmr Halfpaw. For the most part, Alagaësia's council was made of one ruler and one representative-to-the-people (one who made sure the general public of the people had a voice when all of the rulers of Alagaësia were gathered) from each race. A new representative would be appointed for each race every three years.

The council had a way of magic allowing them to travel to the same room in less than a minute, so meeting was easy. Their headquarters were located at the center of Alagaësia, which was close to the center of the empire.

Eragon wet his throat. "Um... Uh..."

"Say something!", Saphira's voice echoed through Eragon's mind.

Eragon took a deep breath. As I was leaving this land, an idea came to mind, I think I may not need to leave Alagaësia, after all. I believe I can raise the new generation of riders here, in Alagaësia.

Everyone was stunned. There were a few moments of silence, and then Eragon was plundered with questions. Eragon cleared his throat once again, and everybody turned to him, falling silent. "I plan to cleanse Vroengard of the poison rendering it uninhabitable."