I woke up wondering when this dream would end. It all felt so real and vivid to be a dream, but of course I knew it must be. But even after all that has happened, I still couldn't help wishing that this was my real world and my old life was the dream. Ever since I was a little girl and received my first copy of the book Eragon, I would spend all my time picturing myself in that world, as a brave and ruthless warrior who would help the rebels (the Varden) take down the evil king and live in a beautiful, peaceful world once more… I even had a little crush on the character Murtagh, Eragon's half-brother…

But now that I am really here, I realized something … even though I am in a completely different world than my own, and can potentially be anyone I want to be, inevitably I can only ever just be me, Andrea.

After I had mulled over these depressing thoughts,I lay down and cried for a while, unsure of what to do now. Of course I knew that once Saphira hatched, things would be different. But I wasn't so sure when that would be exactly, but I knew it was soon. Very soon.

Just then, I heard a ruffling of leaves and branches being snapped back. I immediately got to my feet and picked up anything hard I might throw at them. All there was, was a stick …

"Whose there! Show yourself!" I hoped I sounded confident.

"Andrea!?"

"Eragon! Why are you …?" I was getting really confused, as I saw Eragon leave the path and find my hidden place next to the tree.

"I am so sorry! You were right about everything." He confessed.

"Does this mean that the egg already hatched?"

"Yes, she's right here," he said, gesturing behind him.

I eagerly hurried to look. The dragon was the same length as my forearm. Its scales were a dark shimmering sapphire blue. However, her wings were several times larger than her small body. She had white fangs curved down protruding from her upper jaw, and claws like polished ivory. She was magnificent!

"Wow…" I breathed.

"She's beautiful, I know."

"So what's the plan?" I asked.

"Well, I want to find a place for her in the forest, so that my uncle and Roran don't find out."

"Good idea," I conceded. "Why don't you tie her up to this tree off the path? Its branches are low enough aren't they? And I could look after her when you're not here," I asked eagerly. He looked a bit troubled by the idea, but he didn't object.

"Alright, I'm going to lie her up so she doesn't get lost, and then make her a small makeshift hut for shelter in the branches."

"Okay, let me help you with that," I said, reaching for the leather he had with him, to make a sturdy harness out of.

After a solid hour of hard work, we were able to make a hut out of sticks and build it high up in the branches. Eragon had layered the inside with rags, and put what looked like pieces of raw meat inside. Immediately, the dragon jumped up into the branches and started attacking the pieces of meat with vigor. Once she was done, she curled up and lay inside the hut, blinking down at us.

"Good, that should be comfortable for her. Stay here! Okay?" Eragon said to the dragon.

"I don't think she knows what you're talking about," I said. But Eragon was concentrating on something. He wrinkled his eyebrows, unfocused his mind, and then it seemed like the dragon felt or heard something, because she immediately stopped moving or blinking, and just stared at Eragon. I think that they were using their linked consciousnesses to communicate with each other. Cool.

After Eragon was sure she understood, he readied himself to head back.

"I would ask if you would prefer to come back with me, but then I would have to explain to uncle that I believed you … and well, I really need to keep the dragon a secret for now…" he told me.

"Of course! Go, I'll be totally fine here. And I'll take good care of her for you," I said with a smile. He nodded, and walked back onto the path and out of sight.

I sighed and setting down on the ground. I could hear her chewing and ripping the meat up above me, and smiled to myself. She was kinda cute. But I knew that wouldn't last long. She is going to become a ferocious beast someday soon.

Once evening kicked in, I heard Eragon approaching the tree once more.

"Hello, I brought some more meat for her," he explained to me.

"She's right where you left her."

Eragon climbed a few lower branches of the tree and threw the meat into the hut. Saphira ate it hungrily. He then climbed back down and settled against the tree next to me.

"I, I just wanted to apologize again Andrea," he said sheepishly. "I was wrong to accuse you. And if you're right about the dragon, then you are right about the Ra'zac, and Garrow could get hurt …" he choked up a bit as he continued.

"But that's never going to happen, because I'll be ready by then to fight them off. I'll stay and fight even if Roran doesn't believe you and leaves. The Ra'zac shouldn't be a match between a dragon and his rider," he said confidently. I wasn't so sure about that, but I figured, if they are extra prepared, then they could beat them with the element of surprise.

"Yeah, hopefully you kill them now and save yourself so much trouble in the future." I mumbled. He gave me a funny look.

"How do you know all these things Andrea? Are you a witch?"

"I s'pose you could call me that. I have seen your entire future as if I was reading it out of a novel," I said with a secret smile.

"Then can I ask you something?" he asked apprehensively. I think I am going to regret this.

"Yeah, okay."

"Do I ever find out who my parents were? Where I was from? Who I am …" he trailed off, probably feeling foolish for asking.

I hesitated before answering. "Yes, you find out who they are."

"Do you know who they are?"

"Yes."

"Will you tell me?"

"…no. That is something you should figure out for yourself. It wouldn't be right for me to tell you all the answers you want to know, because finding them for yourself is what shapes who you are," I told him.

"Yeah, you're right, forget it," he said, looking away. For a few minutes we sat in silence, until he broke it,

"Andrea?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are you from?"

"I, I told you, I'm from Gilead," I said, trying to sound convincing. It didn't work.

"No you're not. You aren't from any place I'm familiar with, are you? Where are you really from? Where is your family?" he asked me sadly. I couldn't speak. This was not supposed to be brought up in my own dream! This was the last thing I wanted to discuss. But I owed him some sort of explanation.

"I'm not from Alagaesia." I conceded. I heard Eragon gasp beside me without turning to look at him.

"Then you're from the lands beyond?" he asked in wonder.

"Well, sort of I guess… you could call it that. Where I'm from, everything is different. The people, the places. There are no urgles or dwarves or elves or dragons … just people, more bad than good. In all honesty, this world is a thousand times better than my own, even if it isn't perfect. To me it is." I said. And once I finished, I looked over at him to see his expression. He looked confused and awed at the same time.

"You're unlike anyone I have ever known," he confessed with a smile. I returned it and continued.

"My parents are still in that other world, but I'm happy they aren't here. My father left us for a younger, better family, and my mother has been bitter and unloving ever since. I don't think that either one of them actually love me."

"I know the feeling of being unwanted. The second I was born, my mother cast me away to her brother, and my father has never come to claim me." He said, looking really depressed. I should have kept my mouth shut, but I couldn't bear to see him look like that.

"Eragon, you're mother did that to protect you. It wasn't safe for her to keep you. She's … she's dead now. I'm sorry."

"She's dead! Are you certain?" he asked looking as pained as ever.

"Yes, but just remember that she did love you. Her name was Selena if that helps. You will see a portrait of her one day, by a very powerful, yet well loved master who will teach you," I said, smiling at the memory of reading about Oromis, the Elvin dragon rider and his gold dragon Glaedr. Eragon was looking at me with wonder again.

"What about my father?" he asked eagerly, with a desperate hope that he was still alive.

"He's very much alive, and knows of your existence. You will find out one day who he is, but just remember that he is closer than you think." Eragon looked around the darkening forest as if he could see him standing there among the shadows.

"I just have one last question, I swear," he said.

"Alright, what do you what to know?"

"Why is my dragon's name Saphira? Is it just because of her sapphire colour, or is there another reason?"

It took me a while to form an answer. But finally I decided to tell him the truth.

"Saphira was the name of your father's dragon …" Eragon gasped beside me and whispered in a shocked voice, "my father was a dragon rider." It wasn't a question, but I nodded anyway.

"What happened then?"

"His dragon died, and it took him years to move on, although I don't think he ever fully recovered … your dragon is a part of you now Eragon, you share a special link, a bondage. And if that link is severed, you lose a part of yourself. Or so I've heard…"

Eragon said nothing for the longest time, probably mulling over everything he has heard tonight. But eventually he broke the silence.

"It's getting really late, I should be getting back. But thank you Andrea, thank you so much for everything you've shared with me. It means so much to me."

"I know it does, and Eragon? You can call me Drea." I figured, since I am a witch and fortune teller in this dream, I might as well have a different name too while I'm at it.

"Sure, Drea," he said with a smile. After a quick check of Saphira in her nest, he bid me goodnight and headed back toward the house. I curled up under the tree, hugging my warm sweater around me and soon drifted off to sleep, feeling content for the first time since I began this never ending dream …