Feeling the warm light of the sun touching his eyelids, Eragon awoke. It was a beautiful spring day with the birds and other creatures singing and the beautiful smell of freshness hung softly in the air. He stretched his arms and called out good morning Saphira.

Morning little one, lessons start in an hour so you better get ready to leave.

An hour! Of course I'll be by you in ten minutes.

Don't forget to bring Sofia, Eragon, Saphira warned him sternly, because I'm not flying to bring her in when you forget her.

I know Saphira, I honestly won't forget. Eragon ended their conversation and walked silently towards the waters edge, where he bent down and splashed his face. Upon hearing another sound opposite him he looked up to see Sofia bathing. His face went bright red and he quickly turned away, hoping see hadn't seen him. No such luck. 'Eragon!' she called out, 'hey, over here!' What, thought Eragon, she wants me to go over to her? But why? She cried out again and he reluctantly turned, ready to close his eyes at the slightest flash of skin. Sofia smiled brightly and pulled herself out of the water and onto the bank and sat there waiting for him. As he drew closer Eragon saw she was wearing what seemed to be a second skin, curiously he stared at it until he looked up for a second and caught her eyes.

Blushing he stuttered 'w…what are you wearing?' while trying to look anywhere but at her. She stood up quickly and said 'it's a swimming costume, I normally don't wear them but then again I normally swim alone.' She pointed out.

'Oh,' Eragon said and then, 'what's a swimming costume?' she smiled prettily and answered 'it's like clothes girls wear in the water, only we don't bother unless there are men around.' She took his hand in her wet one, leaned up towards his ear and whispered 'I don't have to wear it though, not if you don't want me too.' Eragon found himself blushing once more just as she ran off, giggling 'I was only joking!' Shaking his head Eragon followed, she was much harder to deal with than Arya especially as Arya tended to be short and irritable with him lately.

Once he got back to where they had slept Eragon found Sofia fully clothed once more, relieved he told her about Oromis wanting to talk to her. Sofia's smooth face became troubled and she looked slightly afraid. Remembering that she had only just got here and the state she had been in when she had first arrived, Eragon gently took her hands and looked down into her eyes. 'It's ok,' he said firmly, 'I will be there with you and master Oromis is one of the nicest elves I have ever met.'

'But why does he want to speak with me?' she asked faintly.

'I don't know, but I'll stay with you until you're happy to be with him by yourself.' She looked up hesitantly, 'you promise?' he smiled, she was just like a scared human at times, though I guess she has lived with them most of her life, he thought wonderingly. 'Yes, I promise, now we'd better be leaving or I'll be late for my lessons.' They began to walk down the hill towards the path that would take them back to the centre of Ellesmera. 'Lessons?' Sofia enquired,

'yes, my training to become a rider.'

'Oh, they must be very advanced,' she said nodding.

'What do you mean?' he asked casually,

'Well, normally it takes several years of training to become a rider. But in this time we don't have years so you must be training harder than any rider has had to before.'

Eragon was silent for a moment as though brooding on what she had said. Eventually he replied 'yes, I guess I am.'

They stayed silent as they walked towards Oromis's hut, Sofia stopped at a bench outside it and sat carefully down. Her nervousness only apparent in her agitated movements as she gently smoothed down her hair. Knocking on the door Eragon was told to enter and he gently opened the door and bowed. Pleased Master Oromis said smoothly, 'Eragon good morning, glad to see you on time. Have you brought Sofia with you?' Nodding Eragon turned and led him outside to where she was sitting. Her face was upturned and her gaze was towards the trees but Eragon and Oromis could tell she didn't see them. Her sightless eyes moved around seeing things Eragon and Oromis could only guess at, her movements began to get jittery and her eyes moved now in a frenzy. Her body twitched and she made a small crying noise at the back of her throat while pulling her arms around her self.

Eragon rushed forwards but with a cry Master Oromis stopped him, 'you mustn't interfere,' he gasped unsteadily as his strength waned. Stopping Eragon gently prised himself from Master Oromis and turned to continue watching Sofia. Her face was pale and full of pain as whatever she witnessed drew to a climax, then her body crumpled and with a small gasp she closed her eyes and began to fall off the bench. Leaping with in humane speed Eragon caught her and gently laid her across his knees, looking up questions were written all across his face. Master Oromis sighed and said tiredly 'bring her inside, then we shall talk.' Obeying Eragon carefully rose to his feet and held Sofia, supporting her head on his chest. Once they had her settled on Master Oromis's hammock, Oromis bade Eragon to sit down and surveyed him silently, 'I have a lot to tell you my young rider and know not where to begin.' Oromis said solemnly looking down at Eragon.

'Try the start,' said a female voice wearily, 'and to be honest, there isn't a lot to tell.' Eragon jumped and twisted round to face the prone elf, she still lay on the hammock and looked slightly ill but her eyes sparkled strongly up at them and Eragon knew to say nothing. Pushing herself up Sofia surveyed the hut with a critical eye before remarking 'nice place you have here Master Oromis, very homely and warm.' Oromis smiled sadly and nodded his head looking at Sofia as if she was extremely fragile, like a piece of china about to fall of a cliff. Standing she made her way towards the table and leaned on it for a second before turning round and going outside. Following, Oromis and Eragon saw she had sat herself at the bench once more and was gazing around at the beautiful scenery that surrounded them. 'Where to start?' she asked herself searchingly, 'I guess like I said earlier at the beginning would do.' she smiled patiently as she waited for Eragon to seat himself.

'Many hundreds of years ago, elves came to this land. But, contrary to common belief, there were two different races the Golden elves and the Midnight elves. The Golden elves were smaller than the Midnight elves and had much lighter hair and eyes while the Midnight elves were taller than none-existent man in those days.' She paused as though gathering her words and continued 'we co-existed peacefully for many years, the Midnight elves on the open land and us living in the forests. There were hundreds of forests back then.' She smiled wistfully, 'you could travel from one side of the world to another and not have to leave the shelter of green leaves, it was heavenly. Humans then came to the open land and the Midnight elves let them have half of it, as they didn't use it all anyway. The dwarfs came out of their tunnels and soon dragons flew across the skies all through the day. Those were the brightest days in the world, each race helping out its neighbours, no wars or feuds just a calm warmth that seeped into your veins.'

'But,' Eragon interrupted, 'how do you know all this? You told us yourself you've only been alive 35 summers!'

She paused looking at him strangely, an alien emotion frozen on her face. 'I have been told about those times by my parents and they were told by their parents before them and so on. Also I have seen it, felt it, heard it and smelt it in a premonition, I have the sight Eragon, it enables me to see the past and future though when it comes and what I see I have no control over. It is a gift past down in the Golden elves, appearing randomly in each generation. Isn't that right, Master Oromis?' he nodded and Eragon watched the golden elf carefully, remembering that she had just had some sort of fit or perhaps… 'What did you see?' he asked in an eerie voice.

'Eragon I…'

'What did you see?' he shouted suprising even himself.

The elf stayed silent and stared at him suspiciously, watching his every move. Why did things have to get complicated all of a sudden, she asked herself angrily, why can't we just get on? He paced in front of her his anger building as he asked himself why he was so angry, yet he could find no answer. With a panther's fluid grace Sofia stood in front of him and cocked her head, her eyes staring intently at him. She raised her hand and placed it on his cheek, suprising him with the sudden gesture and openness. 'I saw a dark sky with rain pelting down framing a barren landscape. A huge black dragon hung silhouetted in the air with a rider on its back while another dragon and rider faced it, a sapphire blue dragon with a rider fully armed in princes armour. I saw them crash together,' her eyes once more had the far away look in them as she carried on,

'and break screaming apart, each dragon supporting fearsome wounds. I saw them land as both riders efficiently healed them and threw words at the other while the dragons roared as loud as a thousand waves crashing down on the shore. Then,' she frowned, 'darkness. Just pitch black darkness and then as though a mist being lifted, the black dragon detaches itself from the ground and disappears into the distance. The other rider and dragon do not move,' she sighs as Eragon turns pale and sways his eyes never leaving hers, just like the day we met she thought suddenly. She held a finger to his lips and continued 'you did not let me finish. The other rider and dragon do not move, they stand side by side watching the sun set behind lifeless trees and sink beneath the hills.' A silence echoed across Oromis's garden, sounding as loud as Saphira roaring. Oromis watched as Sofia looked down and turned away, walking towards the horizon before stopping and gazing without interest around her. Eragon looked up confused and frustrated, within seconds the sound of wing beats reached his ears and Saphira landed beside him looking agitated. 'What does it mean?' he asked finally but a resounding silence was all that answered him.

Authors notes

Please tell me if the last two chapters have been boring because not much has happened in them. i hope you all like this chapter and many thanks to Binkawv, Vixen hood, Silver Unicorn 66, Draumrkopa, Sagestar, thechosenmay, CaptainUnderpants92, Lisa Fox, Dar Spar7aN, LegalAddiction20, Snowyfiredragon, Kohanita, Fluffy dark angel and I-dun-did-it for my reviews and story alerts and favs:D! Sorry if i forgot anyone.