A thousand years had passed since the defeat of Galbatorix.
At times, Eragon had felt as if the days, weeks and months refused to pass.
At other times, they seemed to just disappear in an instant.
But throughout all of it, some things had never changed:
His dragon Saphira had always been with him, making sure he didn't do anything too stupid.
He and Arya as well as Fírnen and Saphira had become mates about seven years after the defeat of Galbatorix and, surprisingly enough, still are today a thousand years later.
Despite not being the head rider anymore, he still had a lot of influence among the Dragon Riders.
He and Arya had started their own family.
What had started out as just a small family had, over time, become larger and larger.
Every single one of their children had become a Dragon Rider.
But to everyone's surprise, none of Saphira's eggs had hatched for one of them.
Speaking of her, Saphira had laid eggs a few times, with Fírnen always being the father.
The eggs she had laid had always been split in two groups of equal size:
The ones she gave to the riders and the ones that would hatch as wild dragons.
And while she and Fírnen had met every single one of their children, they didn't have a close relationship with any of them.
The ones that hatched for a rider usually spent their time with the other dragons that were around their age.
And the wild ones preferred to stay with the other wild dragons in their territory, which was located to the east of mount Arngor.
As for the order of the Dragon Riders, he had been the head rider up until five centuries ago, with Arya and Murthag being second and third in command.
But after five hundred years, the three of them decided that it was time for a new generation to take over.
It had taken the new trio a couple of years as well as the support of the old trio until they were accepted by both, the Dragon Riders and their allies in the west.
Both he and Arya had decided to become scholars, whereas Murthag had decided to travel the world, saying that he had already spent enough time doing nothing but sitting around and talking.
Eragon thought about all the other people, who had left.
Some of them, like Roran and Katrina, had died of old age.
Others had died in battle or by assassinations.
Some were still alive, but in places so far away that he would most likely never see them again.
And a few people appeared to have simply vanished without leaving a trace or ever being seen again.
The most prominent ones of the last group were Angela and Solembum, who had last been seen a few centuries ago.
Eragon told himself, that her absence probably meant that nothing too "interesting" would happen anytime soon.
But he also knew that, if he ever saw her again, he would have to prepare for something important.
Speaking of interesting:
Alagaësia had changed.
Or more specifically: It had grown.
The population had grown, as a result of capable monarchs, peace and agricultural improvements.
But so had its territory.
In the past, the inhabited territory had stopped around the Hadarac desert, with Hedarth being the only settlement east of the desert. Now, however, it also included the plains east of Hedarth.
People also pushed further and further north, even though the harsh weather made it difficult.
Eragon was proud of the people in Alagaësia. The people there were by no means perfect. But they did their best.
And they had already overcome many challenges.
The most important one being that the prejudices and racism had slowly but surely faded. But Eragon knew that they would never fully disappear.
People like Othmund would always exist.
.
Eragon sat at the top of the house he had built together with Arya.
A simple, two-story treehouse at the edge of the forest south-west of mount Arngor.
Visitors were usually surprised at the modesty of their home.
And when they would express their thoughts, Arya and Eragon would simply smile and lead them to their private library, located a bit deeper into the forest.
A gigantic structure, sung out of many trees and filled with countless books and scrolls.
Eragon sat at the top of their house, remembering the things that had happened to him over the course of those 1000 Years ...
AN:
This will be a series of connected one-shots (if I can find enough time, ideas & motivaton).
There will be no paticular order to them. It'll be based on the order in which I come up with new ideas.
These chapters will be my take on how the time after the end of Book 4 could have played out.
Should for the most part be Canon Compliant with "The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm".