Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda: Twilight Princess or the Inheritance Cycle. All original content belongs to me.

A week had passed since the unexpected arrival of the stranger and his dragon, who Ilia now knew as Eragon and Saphira. The days had passed by without major chage: Eragon remained confined to Rusl's house so that he could heal properly and life went on as usual (save for the strange rumours floating around about how the stranger and his pet arrived in Hyrule in the first place.)

"Come on," Ilia coaxed. "Let me see your wing, Saphira."

The dragon extended her wing without protest and Ilia was once again amazed by Saphira's intelligence. She was unusually smart for an animal and quite tame, even surpassing the highly trained Epona in mental capacity. Bending over, Ilia examined the wing.

The girl noted with approval that the wing was doing much better than it should have been at this stage. Ordon Spring's mystical properties had sped up the natural healing process and now Saphira's wing barely showed signs that if had been damaged in the first place. The dragon had now recovered enough so that she could now fly short distances and hunt for her own food (much to Fado's and Ilia's relief.)

"Hey, Ilia," Beth said. "We've been cleaning Saphira for the past week. Her are blinding blind me with their brightness! Can we please take a break from doing this stupid chore and do something a little bit more fun?"

Saphira snorted, training one disgusted blue eye on Beth. Well, little one, aren't you whiny. From where I come from, the elves considered even touchinga dragon a great honor. Much less having the privilege to clean their scales. I can see that you do not have the same frame of mind.

Ilia smiled slightly and shook her head. "Beth, you heard my father's order. 'You kids are to take care of that dragon to the best of your abilities 'til she and her master are ready to ride leave.' I don't think breaking the law this early in life is a great start for you."

"It's wasn't exactly an order," Malo protested. "Mayor Bo only askedus to take care of Saphira until she was better. Look, she's almost all better! Can't you handle Saphira by yourself for a little while."

Ilia sighed playfully and pretending to consider it. "Hmm," she said doubtfully. "I don't know. What if Saphira suddenly gets hungry and tries to eat Epona while you're gone? I don't think I'll be able to hold her back by myself for very long."

As if she understood and had caught on to the joke, Saphira let out a menacing growl. The children only stared tiredly back, too used to the dragon's tricks to be frightened anymore.

"Come on, Ilia!" Talo, Malo, and Beth all gazed up at the girl with the best 'cute and innocent look' they each could muster. "Please?"

Grinning, Ilia nodded.

With whoops of joy, the three children dropped their rages and sponges into the water. With cries of "Thank you, Ilia" the youths took off running back to Ordon Village, no doubt to retrieve their wooden weapons for yet another play-fight. Colin lingered for a moment longer, casting a doubtful glance back at Saphira as if asking for permission. The dragon dipped her head and immediately he too abandoned his old cleaning cloth and took off running after his friends.

Alone at last, Ilia tucked her own sponge into her belt and reached down to retrieve the discarded objects. Personally, she was glad the children were gone. All of their arguing and complaining had been starting to irritate her. Now she was left alone with only the dragon for company, with only the peaceful sound of rushing water in her ears.

Ilia went back to rubbing Saphira's scales with a cloth, even though there was no more grime to wipe off. She liked coming alone to Ordon Spring with only Epona. Having all the noisy children with her all the time spoiled the magical feeling of the spring.

"Well," she joked to Saphira. "Alone at last."

"Except for me," replied an unfamiliar voice.

Ilia whirled around, coming face to face with a handsome stranger. He had light brown hair (she supposed it could be called dirty blond) and the same facial structure and pointed ears she had come to familiarize with Hylians. He was dressed in clothes she recognized as Rusl's too big for his lithe form.

Ilia panicked for a moment and felt the need to shout for help, but the calm attitude of Saphira and the vaguely familiar features of the stranger eased her fears. This must be Eragon. Yep, she could see that one of his arms was still bandaged.

"Except for you," she amended. She extended a friendly hand which he took. "Hi. I'm Ilia."

"Eragon," he replied. "You must be the girl that was in charge of taking care of Saphira." He let go of her hand, instead focusing on the massive sapphire-scaled dragon. Saphira rumbled in greeting, thrusting her snout out to muzzle Eragon affectionately. The two remained still for a moment, entirely absorbed in the other as if they were sharing a private conversation.

Ilia nodded, feeling as if she shouldn't be interruptting the intimate moment. "She was really quite an easy charge. Saphira was extremely well-behaved and the younger children loved her. Her wing was badly burned from the lightning, but it's pretty much better by now.

Eragon furrowed his brow. "By now?" he repeated. "It's barely been a week."

Saphira extended her wing as if on cue and allowed her master to inspect it. Eragon ran expert hands over the wing membranes, feeling for anything abnormal. His fingers paused at the scorched flesh, gently touching it. The dragon barely flinched at the once barely tolerable pain.

"Rusl told be you weren't putting anything on the wing, but it looks almost healed!" He looked up with an expression of pure amazement.

Ilia pointed at the water, which seemed to glow with a soft light entirely on its own. "It's Ordon Spring," she explained. "The water here has been blessed by the resident Light Spirit, Ordona. It has special properties which speeds up the healing process."

Eragon looked as if he didn't believe her answer and Ilia couldn't blame him. He had grown up in a land far away from Hyrule, a kingdom that had been created by the Goddesses themselves. If she hadn't grown up with so rich and magical a history, she might not believe in it herself.

"I don't believe in gods," Eragon replied. He looked back at the wing with confused features. "It must be...something in the water."

"A few other skeptics thought so, too," Ilia said. "But if you remove water from the spring, it loses its healing properties. Same goes for any other for the three springs."

Eragon looked her in the eye, and she jumped slightly in shock. His eyes were a brilliant and intense blue...almost like those of a wild beast, if she wanted to get sentimental about it. "There are other springs?"

"Four, if you count this one. One spring for each of the four main provinces. One provinces for each of the four Light Spirits: Ordona, Faron, Eldin, and Lanayru. The Three Goddesses charged the Spirits with watching over Hyrule and they do it through their springs."

"I see." Eragon nodded as if he had any clue what she was talking about. Ilia could see that he was clueless about Hyrule mythology. He probably didn't even know who the Goddesses were! An akward silence followed as the two ran out of things to say.

"Thank you," Ilia said at last, "for falling from the sky and giving Ordon Village something to be excited about. We're a small village off in the middle of woods. Nothing important happens here. Having a strange boy from another land crash-land into the spring and playing host for a dragon really boosted everyone's mood here."

Eragon smiled and nodded. "Happy to be of service," he answered. He turned to leave, but was stopped when Saphira gave him a meaningful nudge. "And thank you for taking care of Saphira when I was unable to," he added quickly, eyeing the she-dragon. "She means the world to me and we both appreciate what you did."

Ilia shrugged, her cheeks turning bright red. "Don't thank me. It was Ordona's Spring that really did all the work."

Eragon smiled, glancing upward as he did so. His smile turned into a frown. The sky was beginning to darken and soon night would be upon Hyrule. "I better get going," he said. "Uli wants me back by nightfall and promised to skin me alive if I wasn't. It was good to meet you, Ilia." Dipping his head, Eragon turned and vanished into the gathering shadows.

Ilia sighed, staring after the young man. Turning, she grinned ruefully at Saphira. "Can you believe me?" she asked. "Here I am, having a little crush on a man I barely even know! Oh, well, I'm pretty sure you're used to this, Saphira."

Saphira nodded. That boy is too good-looking for his own good, Ilia thought she heard a voice say. You are better than the last slattern that had feelings for him. She bared her fangs in a show of defensive jealously for Eragon. I still desire to sink my fangs into that girl.

"Colin," Uli said to her son. "Time for bed."

The young blond-haired boy nodded, trying to cover a yawn with his hand. "Going, mom," he replied sleepily. He paused and looked pleadingly. "But, can I have a story first?"

Eragon glanced outside, shocked by the time of day. The sky was still a delicate shade of purple, not even close to night. But, then again, Colin was still a child. Eragon supposed that Garrow had used to put him to bed when he was the same age.

Rusl smiled and nodded, waiting for Colin to crawl under his covers. Once he did he sat on the bed, clearing his throat in preparation for the bed-time story. "Let me guess," he said playfully. "You want to hear about the Chosen Hero?" Colin grinned in response.

Eragon, who sat on his own cot, stirred at the last two words. Though he had never heard them before, the title sounded vaguely familiar. "Who is the Chosen Hero?" he muttered to himself.

Colin heard the question and replied, "The Chosen Hero isn't just one person. He's an entire force!"

"Yes," Rusl said in agreement. "Every time Hyrule is in danger, a hero chosen by the Three Goddesses rises up to defeat the evil."

"Three Goddesses?"

Rusl groaned. "Eragon, I keep on forgetting you do not hail from Hyrule. Everyone here has heard of the Goddesses. The Three Goddesses are the deities whom we believe created Hyrule and all that is in it. Din is the Goddess of Power who created the landscape of Hyrule. Farore is the Goddess of Courage who created all the life in Hyrule. Nayru is the Goddess of Wisdom who set place the physical laws of Hyrule."

Eragon nodded, satisfied. So the Three Goddesses were the beings that had created Hyrule and everything in it? Okay, he could work with that. "And the Chosen Hero?"

"Hyrule has long since been under the threat of Ganondorf. Every so often he appears to try and take over Hyrule. Whenever he or another evil emerges, the Chosen Hero rises up and defeats him. You see, Eragon, the Chosen Hero is a force. It will be reborn into a new body whenever it is needed. There have been numerous Heroes, including the most famous, the Hero of Time. All, or the ones we know of, have been born with the name Link."

"So the Chosen Hero is reborn as a boy named Link whenever danger comes to your land and saves it?"

"Pretty much." Turning back to Colin, Rusl began to tell his story.

Eragon tried listening in for a while, but he quickly lost interest. Instead he picked at his bandage, gazing out the window to the outside. Twilight had come and gone, and now the world was covered in darkness. Colin had fallen asleep to his father's story and now Rusl and Uli were preparing to go to bed.

The woman glanced at Eragon, putting one hand on her swollen belly. "It's getting late," Uli said, causing Eragon to look over at her. "You best go to bed and get some rest. Something tells me you'll need it tomorrow."

Eragon blinked. He was looking forward to yet another day of conversing with Saphira and wandering aimlessly around the village. "Why?"

Uli shrugged. "Woman's intuition. It's never failed me yet."

The Dragon Rider decided to take her advice. After all, it was getting late and he certainly wasn't going to spend the entire night by sitting in the dark all by himself. Eragon leaned back into the cot, closed his eyes, and allowed sleep to claim him.

That night his slumber was dreamless, undisturbed by troubling visions of the mysterious woman or by an ominous vision. It was a small favor from the Goddesses; the calm before the storm. Tomorrow that storm would break, and Eragon Shadeslayer would be thrown into a world of shadows and chaos that would change his life forever.

Like I said, not a big chapter, but it formally introduced Ilia (who will play her little part in the story) and gave Eragon some background on some important topics. The next chapter actually has plot-movement and fight action. Let's see how the Bulbins handle Eragon.

Next chapter: Eragon is well enough to leave Ordon Village and to begin the long trip back to Alagaesia. However, before he is able to leave, he discovers that the children have run off into Faron Woods earlier that morning and haven't been back since. It's a rush against time as Eragon has to find the children without Saphira before something terrible can happen.