Hello, Stella here. I know that it's been forever since I updated, but my hectic life is getting in the way. Anyways here is the long-awaited chapter, and it's gonna be a big one so just sit tight. Enjoy! I do not own the Inheritance Cycle or its characters, Christopher Paolini does. He has a really awesome last name . . .

After about 20 minutes of simultaneously talking to Dahlia and periodically checking on Arianna mentally, (Jeez that's hard to do) the family decided to go and see the animals that I had in therapy.

Looking outside, I was surprised to find that the rain had stopped. We all walked out into the clean, fresh air. Dahlia and I paused for a moment on the porch to draw in the cool moisture laden wind. Then we walked to the barn chatting amiably the whole time.

Once there I introduced them to the horses first. There was Andy the 5-year-old polamino stallion with anxiety problems. Rockelle the 3-year-old paint mare with a foal on the way. Fireball the chestnut gelding, age 3, with anger management issues. Onyx the 6-year-old white mare who had trauma. Her name came from the unusual black star on her forehead. And Arion my handsome stallion, that I raised from a foal. He had a gleaming amber-colored coat with a silky ebony mane and tail. His eyes were odd. Odd in the sense that they were green instead of brown, but I love him for that reason. He runs so fast that I named him Arion after the greek myth of the swiftly galloping stallion.

Dahlia, Mom, and Dad all remembered Arion, Fireball, and Onyx, but Andy and Rockelle were both new. After all of them showed sufficient attention to my horses, I had a little surprise for my little sis. Taking her hand, I led her to a new paddock in the back of the barn.

A white-tailed, silver bay gelding was galumphing about the twisted oak tree in the middle of it. Mom and Dad shot me dubious looks, as if they understood what was going on. To prove my point, while Dahlia was playing with him, my parents leaned towards me and asked how much the pony had cost. I murmured my reply.

"One of my frequent customer's mares had a foal and her could not keep her, so he gave her to me for free. I couldn't think of anyone else who might want her except for Dahlia, I mean you know how she begs me for a horse." They both nodded in reluctant agreement. The horse thing was one of the few problems my parents had with Dahlia.

"But where can we keep it, Pheoria? We live in Oklahoma city, you know that." Said Dad, a deep frown line slashing between his eyebrows.

"It's ok, the gelding can live here. Lia can hang out with her whenever you guys come to visit, and I can take care of her the rest of the time."

"Well," said Mom, the word riding on a sigh. "It is close to Christmas so . . . ok." She pulled me into a hug and pressed a quick kiss on my forehead. "Thanks for thinking of your sister. Now you two go have some fun while your father and I take a walk."

As they strolled off, arm in arm, I felt a deep surge of appreciation and love for these two wonderful people who I had the privilege to call parents.

Just as I turned away, Dahlia rushed up breathless and red-faced asking, "Can I keep him? What did Mom and Dad say?"

"Yes you can, but he has to stay here while you are away, and Mom and Dad said that they're going for a walk. Soooooo, you want to come inside and watch a movie? I have chocolate carame-"

"Chocolate caramel popcorn? Yes!" she exclaimed, grabbing my hand and practically dragging me back to the house. I laughed as she pulled me along and thought, 'Only Dahlia.'

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So after a long day of family fun in which I watched Stargate while Dahlia manipulated my hair into intricate knots and braids, Mom and Dad wandered around the property feeding animals, and finally all of us eating hearty homemade shepherd's pie with peach cobbler for dessert, we hugged and kissed and said our good bye's. Everyone was sad to see everyone else go, but looking forward to the next visit.

When they left, I shut the door and rested my back against it for a few moments.

I reached into the void and was greeted almost instantly by the now-familiar mind of Arianna.

'Have they gone?' she asked.

'Yes,' I answered wearily. 'Are you strong enough to fly, or should I come get you?'

'I will fly if you show me the way.'

I summoned up an image of the route I had taken back and sent it across our link. 'I'll leave a window open.' With that said, I wandered over to the couch and allowed myself to tumble length-wise onto to it, exhuasted. With a sigh I closed my eyes. A soft warmth snuggled into my side. Silver Star.

A minute or so later, the clicking of talons sounded through my living room.

"Hey." I mumbled sleepily.

'Hello.' answered Arianna.

"I'm going t'sleep. You can come if you want, my cat might be there." I had a cat named Forest. He had dappled golden brown fur with undertones of black and a creamy underbelly. His eyes glittered turquoise.

'He sounds delightful,' said Arianna, making me realize that I had sent her a mental image of Forest. 'Yes, you did.' she said.

I smiled and disentangled myself from my "blanket" before walking up carpet-padded stairs and turning right in the hallway to my bedroom with Silver Star and Arianna slipping along beside me.

My room is rather simple, but light and open. Dark wood covers the floor and the walls are a shade of teal so light that it's almost white, striped with blue of an equal shade. When you walk in, the wall directly opposite the door is made entirely of windows and opens onto a balcony that wraps around most of the second floor. The right wall has an inset closet which contains 2/3 double racks of hung clothing and the rest is filled with cubby-holes for shoes. One corner next to my bed is a bookshelf to house my favorite and most cherished books. The aforementioned bed sits on a lilac-colored circular carpet. The coverlet is a blue background with squares of honey dotting it in precise rows. The left wall is rather spare, being only graced with one door and a full-length mirror. The door led into a small bathroom decorated with mostly blue, gray and purple colors. A padded hanging chair was suspended in the middle of the room from a chain attached to the room's scaffolding.

I pulled my pajamas from the foot of the bed as Silver Star curled next to my pillows. I changed in the bathroom and tossed my clothes into the woven hamper next to my bed. Slipping under my covers by the light of the moon, Arianna rested in the curve of my knee.

Though moments before I had been ready to pass out standing up, try as I might now I couldn't go to sleep. Suddenly the pure ridiculosity of my situation hit me. I was snuggling. With. A. Dragon. Suddenly I had to keep back giggles.

Rumbling soon vibrated into my leg and soothed me to sleep.

. . .

. . .

. . .

BRRRRRRRRRRR! My alarm clock violently startled me from my sleep with its racoutious ring. Rather accustomed to it, I merely put my hand on the on the small mallet to stop it from lashing the metal bells on either side and searched around the back of the alarm clock for it's 'OFF' button with my thumb. Having done that I stretched and looked down to find myself face-to-face with Arianna's snarling teeth.

I luaghed, realizing the source of her panic, and said, "It's just my alarm clock. To wake me." I now saw the confusion radiating from her cut-crystal eyes. "Like the wooden buable that Oromis gave to Eragon in Ellesmera."

The mental dragon equivilent of a clarified, "Ohhhhhh," sounded across our link, the preempt noise of mild embarrassment.

'But it's so early,' said Arianna, climbing off of my lap.

'Indeed,' I said while slowly pulling my legs out from underneath Silver Star and trying not to wake the slumbering wolf. '4 o'clock in the morning. I have to get up before the sun to care for the nocturnal animals and the horses. They are what I specialize in. Horses, not the nocturnal animals.'

'I see. Can I meet them?'

'Of course. Just let me get dressed.' I got out of bed, stretched once more, and walked over to my closet. 'Hmm, I think that . . . and that. Oh, with those. Ok.' I had pulled out a pair of comfy jean shorts, a black racer-back tanktop and my favorite pair of leather boots. I quickly laced my hair into a loose french braid to keep it out of the way. Tying it off, I looked at Arianna.

'So you wanted to come watch me and the animals?'

'Yes.'

'Alright, follow me.'

We left Silver Star snoozing on my bed and headed to the nocturnal keeping area. I don't really have that many of them; a mother raccoon, a fox, an owl, and soon a sugar glider will be coming as well as the raccoon and owl leaving tomorrow.

The raccoon and her babies were both eating and didn't need anymore. I had to wait until the fox's back turned to lay my lavender and honey extract infused mouse in Red's enclosure. Red, the fox, is also leaving soon. The barn owl ruffled up it's feathers with a contented whoo when I passed.

'The sun is rising,' remarked Arianna.

'Yes, dawn comes early here. It's only about 5 o'clock.'

While talking, my dragon and I had come to the big taupe and white barn. I stopped for a moment and admired the dimly lit, cool, fresh morning. The emerald pine forest was backlit giving a mysterious black silhouette of the trees rising defiantly against the daybreak.

'You describe things in such eloquent terms.' Arianna said. 'All of your thoughts are unusually poetic. You know, there is always this strange music in your conscience. It rather reminds me of Arya's mind. She visited Du Istalrí Hvitr only a little while ago and she spoke to me.'

'What is that? Du Istalrí Hvitr.'

'It means "The White Light". That is the name of the land that Eragon chose to raise the dragons on.'

'It's still hard to wrap my mind around the fact that Alageasia really exists here on Earth.'

'Oh, it doesn't exist on Earth.'

'What?' I stopped dead and stared at the little dragon.

'Yes. In relation to the Earth Alagëasia is . . . well how do I explain it. Alagëasia is like, is like . . . oh! It's like that pocket of space that Eragon folded the Eldunarí into. No bigger than a pinprick in you world, but a whole different universe contained within it. At least that's how Saphira explained it.'

'Hmm, a scientific as well as mathematical question to ponder. Wonderful, I relish the opportunity.' A detail gleaned from the Inheritance Cycle suddenly intruded in my mind, a tiny seed that quickly germinated into an idea.

'You really think you'll be able to do that?' asked Arianna. 'Eragon was a special case, I don't know if you will actually be able to do what he did.'

'Well, then what danger is there in trying? If I fail, there is no harm to be had, if I should succeed then it will help.'

'I guess you're right. Go ahead and try it then.'

With a breath, I cleared my mind and pushed in the stable door. I reached out into the void and was greeted by the minds of my horses. None of them seemed to notice I was there. Probing a bit deeper into the conscience that I recognized as Andy, I opened my eyes and walked toward him, all the while projecting a calm and soothing feeling across out mental link. Instead of bucking, and rearing with high-pitched whinnies, as was his normal reaction, the horse simply stood and knickered softly. He let me gently massage his forehead in smooth circles. Andy butted my shoulder and I could sense his faint hunger.

I stepped away and severed our link.

"It worked!" I turned towards Arianna and gave a little hop, clapping my hands together with delight. "Normally, he wouldn't let me come near enough to try any sort of therapy at all, and no matter what else I tried he simply wouldn't budge! So I had planned to just get as close as possible and let him get used to me that way I could do some more therapy but now, now I could completely assuage his anxiety problems with only my mind! This is simply-wonderful!"

A deep, throaty rumble reverberated from Arianna's chest and a whiff of smoke puffed from her snout. 'So it appears that you have his talent.'

Hello guys, this chapter was a bit of a fail, so I'm gonna go sulk for a bit. *leaves*

*comes back a while later* Ok better. In response to your review Tytonic, no Pheoria isn't me. I wish she was, but no. Yes, thanks a ton, yep just hiatus, I can understand that, me too, and I wish I had 500$ to spend on a sword.

Oh yeah, one more thing. To get the accents over your letters: Go to the start menu, all programs, system tools, character map. Then you double click to select your letter and hit the copy button then right-click and paste where you want it.

Well, till next time Lots of Love and Awesomesuace!