Chapter 5

"How is he?" asked Charlotte, peeking into Caroline's part of their room. Caroline had brought Klaus there, and he was now resting on her bed.

"Not good," Caroline answered in a very concerned tone. "Thankfully, I treated him for infections, and he shouldn't die of his injuries, but then there's his venom being used against him… and he's burning up, and he keeps having hallucinations… about his dad." Caroline grew sad when she said the last part.

"I just don't want him to have to feel that pain again," Caroline whispered in a tiny voice, seemingly to herself.

Charlotte decided to leave her alone with him, so she said a few words of comfort to her friend, and parted.

She went downstairs and met with the group. They discussed the details of their mission. It would happen three weeks from now. Until the end of the second week, they would recruit as many skilled members as possible. Then on the first day of the third week, with the help of the Varden's psychic, they would teleport to one of the Varden's hideout bases, which was situated near where Murtagh would be. They had received intel that Murtagh would be away from the palace that week. He would be away on a mission to take over another city. They would attack him then, and end him.

They then laid out maps to go over their battle strategies. It was a long day. They trained for hours and hours, and when they weren't training, they researched information on any weaknesses Murtagh might have, or any special tricks they could use against him. They also assessed risks, and made backup plans.

A younger girl named Alana asked Charlotte, "Is Klaus okay?"

Charlotte said, "I haven't checked on him in a while. I'll check now, alright?"

When Charlotte went into her room, she heard Klaus grunt in pain. She went over to Caroline's side of the room. She was helping him up. He seemed much better. His skin tone was a lot less grey and unhealthy-looking. His injuries also seemed to have healed a fair amount.

"Are you okay, Klaus?" Charlotte asked.

"I'm fine. A lot better," Klaus said curtly. Charlotte guessed that he wasn't used to people seeing his vulnerable side, and felt embarrassed about it, so she said, "That's good. Care, call me if you need any help or anything. I'll just go back and return to practice. See you guys."

When Charlotte told Alana the good news, she seemed very relieved. In fact, she told everyone, and they all seemed relieved. "How great, Klaus is loved by all these people!" she thought, knowing Klaus' backstory.

Worn out from a long day, Charlotte went up to bed. Within seconds, she fell asleep. That night, she had vivid dreams. The sky was a bright purple-red, and she was standing in the middle of a green meadow. It was very peaceful. As she walked, she stroked the long grass with her fingers. She looked around and she saw a blond figure who was doing the same thing as her. He was walking along with a happy, carefree smile planted on his face. She slowly walked toward him. She said, "Hi there."

He looked at her, and jumped a little. "Whoa!"

"Sorry to scare you there," Charlotte laughed.

The boy laughed too. "It's fine, I just didn't expect you. Usually, no one shows up."

Charlotte was puzzled, "What do you mean?"

The boy said, "Never mind that. It probably wouldn't make much sense anyway… what's your name?"

Charlotte answered, "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

The boy said, "Come on, I asked first!"

Charlotte said, "Alright, fair enough. I'm Charlotte."

"Charlotte… I've never heard that name before, but it's really beautiful."

Charlotte's cheeked turned rosy at the sudden compliment.

"I'm Eragon," the boy told her.

"Eragon? That's an interesting name. I've never heard your name either, but it's a cool name."

"Thanks," Eragon smiled. His face suddenly lit up and he said, "Do you like the ocean?"

Charlotte replied, "Yeah! Totally, it's so beautiful."

At that, their surroundings changed and she found herself at a beach. The temperature was very nice. It was warm, but not too warm. It was evening, and the sky was crimson. The waves were going in and out very softly and rhythmically. It was the epitome of tranquility.

Charlotte gasped, "Wow, this place is so beautiful!"

Eragon said, "Yeah, it is. We should go and swim. What do you say?"

Charlotte thought it was absurd, swimming with some guy she had only just met, but heck, it was just a dream, right? Still, swimming at beaches wasn't really her cup of tea, and so she was about to politely decline, when she looked at the water again. The colour of the ocean was a beautiful pale blue, and more importantly, it looked clean. It was too inviting to resist.

"Sure!" Charlotte said, and then got an idea. "Race you!" she called, and started running to the water.

Eragon sprinted after her. He was surprisingly fast. As an elf, she was usually able to beat most people, but he was hard to beat. Still, she was able to stay in front of him by a hairline. Eragon suddenly said, "Hey, who is that?" and came to a halt.

Charlotte stopped too. She ran towards him and asked, "Where?"

Eragon had a worried expression on his face. "Over there," he said, pointing to the left. Charlotte looked in that direction. "What do you mean? I don't see any… Eragon?!" He wasn't next to her anymore. She was slightly alarmed and confused for a moment. Then, she saw him already in the water, smiling widely at her.

"You cheater!" she cried as she ran after him. Eragon started laughing as she made her way over. Charlotte pushed a wave of water at him with her arm. She laughed as he sputtered, not expecting the wave.

"Oh yeah?" he said as he squirted water at her face. Charlotte laughed. Then she flutterkicked away from him, kicking as hard as she could. She was having so much fun. Then, a moment later, she saw Eragon next to her, swimming. He was catching up, and now, he was ahead of her!

"Hey, how'd you get here so fast? I even kicked water at you for good measure!" Charlotte joked.

Eragon smiled, and shrugged. "I swim a lot. I find it relaxing, and it relieves a lot of stress too."

"Do you have a lot of stress?" Charlotte asked him.

"Yeah… but this is the first time in a long time that I've had this much fun. Thank you for that."

Charlotte said, "No problem. I had fun too. The pleasure was mine."

Charlotte woke up from her dream. She felt disappointed that it was cut short. She was having so much fun, especially after the past few days, which had been long and stressful.

Then, she remembered something. The guy's name was Eragon! The same guy as the half-brother of Murtagh, and honorary member of the Varden! She thought, "I can't believe I imagined someone I don't even know. Does he actually look the way he did in my dream? Or was he just a figment of my imagination, someone who doesn't actually exist in real life, but he just happens to have the name Eragon? That was the most likely answer, she thought. Durik had talked briefly about Eragon before. That was completely feasible. She suddenly became curious about Eragon of the Varden. At least now that she was an agent of the Gard, there was a chance she could meet him, especially since she was going to go to Alagaesia, his world, shortly. She couldn't wait to meet him.