A/N: So this is the first time i've ever written a story in the first place, but after finishing inheritance and reading a butt ton of fanfic i just couldnt stop thinking about it so i decided that i would give it a try. Firstly i want to say im sorry that some words dont have the accented letters like in the books, but i couldnt figure out how to make them do it, so i just left them normal. Also i am starting from the battle of feinster after arya and eragon kill the shade. also Oromis and Glaedr's deaths. There are going to be some things that are the same from the book, but also newer ideas. I always found that i wanted AxE BEFORE the end of hte story, theres something about them being together but also working together at the same time to finish their campaign. so i wanted to try that. Ive done my best to keep good grammer and spelling throughout the story but ive never really been an author, so go easy on me lol.

A/N: I do not own anything in relation to the inheritance cycle as all that and the world of in his books belong to him, this is just a fake fan fic for my own pleasure, possibly yours.

Chapter 1

Despair, and loneliness were all that he could feel; it had been only a few hours since the battle for Feinster. Eragon sat on a crate just outside the flap to his tent, thinking back on those last moments of the battle.

After Arya and him had taken care of the shade Varaug, Eragon had walked over to where Arya was standing after slaying the shade. Walking over one of the spellcaster's limp bodies that they had cut down while they were trying to stop the shade from being created. Arya was rubbing her throat, seemingly having a little trouble breathing, as Eragon could hear the raspy breathing as he neared her. He walked up to her and gently moved her own hand, hoping that she would not get upset by it, and placed his there.

"Waise heill." He watched as an expression of relief slowly etched her elven facial features, usually so hard to read, but with the turmoil of all that had happened she must have let herself slip a little bit. "Sorry," Eragon moved his gaze away from her, "I know you could have done that yourself, but it seemed like you were having a little bit of trouble breathing. I figured it was probably going to be a little difficult for you to say the spell. Just consider it my thanks for ending the siege, Shadeslayer." The corner of his mouth twitched a little bit. She caught his eye, and he looked away, hoping that she did not see the pain that was in the forefront of his mind now.

"There is no need to apologize Eragon," Arya said, allowing a small smirk to grace her face at the mention of her being a Shadeslayer. "I am grateful for the help; I was not able to heal myself." She looked up from the ground, absent mindedly rubbing her throat where her injury had just been healed. Looking straight into his eyes. "It seems we make a good team…" she looked away quickly, but not before Eragon caught a glint of something in her eye. But what was it? He had never seen her eyes look that way at him before and he was not sure what she was thinking. He had become accustom to the idea that he would never truly be able to understand the way she carried her emotions, but he did think that he had a decent grasp on how she behaved when she was feeling a certain way or another. "Not many people can survive a battle with a shade and live to tell about it," she continued and looked back at him. "And yet, we have together, fought two of them. And Together we have slew two of them. I do believe no one else in history has achieved this."

Eragon felt a tiny corner of his heart jump at the way she talked about the accomplishments they had together. Sure, it was just as friends and shield-mates, but it gave him a little bit more of a feeling of closeness that he sorely longed for towards her.

It didn't last very long before the sorrow that he was feeling from his loss of Oromis and Glaedr came forth. Apparently Saphira had been distracted as well in the moment with the shade, because as soon as she recognized the feelings, he was having come across their mental link, she was overcome with sorrow and anger along with him. Eragon looked away quickly from Arya trying to hide his feeling from showing on his face.

Apparently, it didn't work.

"Erag- "she started to say, before both herself and Eragon, along with Lady Lorana all flinched. All they heard was a very loud, incredibly angry and mournful roar. Saphira was thrashing her tail from side to side, smashing furniture that had flown about the room during the struggle. Eventually she ceased her roar and laid down on the ground with her head resting on it. Letting out soft whimpers. Eragon ran over and started slowly scratching behind her jaw, resting his forehead on her snout.

"They are gone little one… Gone!"

Eragon tried to keep himself composed as there were still a few things that needed to be done before this siege was to end. But he couldn't, Saphira's grief along with his own were to powerful for him to overcome, and he started to feel tears falling from his face as they began to grieve together. Eragon heard hurried steps behind him. They came around to his front to reveal Arya with a concerned look on her face.

"Eragon what is the matter?" She put a hand on his shoulder, trying to convey a little bit comfort to him. She had no idea what had brought about this change in their behaviour. They had just won! Why were they grieving? Eragon looked up into those emerald eyes, pain etched all his features, as soon as his met hers she grew very worried.

"Oromis…" He faltered. He took a deep breath in preparation for what he was about to say. "Oromis and Glaedr have fallen…" More tears fell down his face.

Arya's eyes rapidly filled with tears. She gasped, trying to grapple with this news and hold back her emotions for later, but it was inevitable. Tears started to run down her slanted features to her chin. Eragon saw her other hand reaching for his other shoulder. "Eragon…" The next thing he knew he was holding her as she cried into his chest. Eragon's body tensed as he tried to control his emotions, he stole a glance in Lady Lorana's direction, making sure that she wasn't going to try and escape. But she was just sitting there on her throne waiting to be taken. Knowing she wasn't going anywhere he allowed himself to hold the woman he loved and grieve for his lost master's. They sat in each other's embraces leaning against a weeping Saphira for a few minutes before Arya removed herself from Eragon's arms.

"We need to continue with our mission," she said after composing herself. Putting on that blank face, hiding her emotions. "There are many people still outside shedding unnecessary blood."

Eragon coughed, clearing his throat. "Aye…" After standing up and wiping his face dry, he said: "I believe we were almost done?" straightening himself up and following Arya's example and removing his emotions as best as he could from his face, he turned towards Lady Lorana and began walking over to her.

Eragon sat in front of his tent, his head in his hands. "I can't believe it, after everything we've been through Saphira… I remember the first time I saw Glaedr rise from that cliff. The relief, the joy that we were not in this alone… I don't know what to do Saphira…"

"Eragon…" she replied, "it is almost unbearable, right now I don't know what to do either. But we must remain hopeful little one" She tried to convey a little bit of hope to her rider through their mental bond, but Eragon could still feel her sadness that she was only mildly trying to hide. "They wouldn't want us to lose hope, they believed in us. We can still do this; we still have everyone with the Varden. The dwarves with Orik, and the elves are also marching forth. Hopefully, they will capture Gil'ead soon and then join us. This is a sad day, indeed, but we must not lose hope. All is not lost."

Eragon sighed deeply, thinking about what Saphira was saying. He leaned back against the middle post of his tent, using it as support, he looked up at the sky. Looking up at the bright blue sky with a few little clouds dotting it, he could almost forget about all the blood and violence of the day by looking up at that peaceful blue expanse. He took another deep breath and stood up, shaking his head for a moment to clear it. He then walked over to Saphira and up to the saddlebags. "How is he?" he said as he opened the bag and looked at the golden orb within. It was very dull and faded compared to when they had received it from Glaedr.

Saphira turned her giant head to the side so that she could look at him with one of her giant sapphire eyes. "How would you be if I was separated from you for the rest of your existence?" He flinched a little at the steeliness in her reply.

"Absolutely devasted... I wish we didn't need him so much right now. I want to let him be with his grief without disturbance, but there's just so much at stake." He sighed. "We need to let Arya and Nasuada know about his Eldunari soon. At least to give a little bit of hope after the news we've all received."

"We could probably tell Arya about it since she already knows about Eldunari, but I think we should probably abstain from telling Nasuada at the moment," Saphira said, "At least until we can communicate with him that is." Eragon gave her a mental nod in agreement.

After capturing Lady Lorana with Arya and Saphira they proceeded to leave the castle and use her capture to persuade the army to stand down and surrender. After turning her over, and with Arya's permission, they proceeded to tell Nasuada and his elven guards about Oromis and Glaedr. Nasuada was first filled with joy at finding out there was another rider besides Eragon out there, but was immediately saddened by hearing that they were killed before she even knew they existed. They elves on the other hand, some gave solemn cries while others clenched their fists and jaws in anger at Galbatorix. Many tears were cried by them.

Eragon rested his head against Saphira's neck, wracking his brain, trying to find ideas about how he was going to deal with Murtaugh and Thorn next time they ran into them. Not to mention Galbatorix. "There has to be some way, some weakness we haven't thought of. Something…" he muttered to himself. Without him meaning them to, his thoughts went back to Lady Lorana's room in the castle and how after hearing about Oromis and Glaedr, Arya had embraced him with tears coming down her face. I wonder how she is dealing with this…. I have never seen her like that.

Eragon heard steps from someone walking up to his tent, after they realized no one was in it they started to head towards Saphira. They stopped on the other side of her, but he ignored it. They didn't move for a minute when Saphira's voice sounded in his head.

"Little one, there's someone looking for you."

Eragon let a breath out and steeled himself. "I guess duty calls huh?" He felt what seemed to be amusement coming from her across their link. "It would be nice to have a little bit of time to rest my weary muscles for a bit though."

Eragon walked around from behind Saphira, and as if she had heard his thought from before, Arya stood before him. At first glance anyone would have thought her in the same temperament as she usually was. But after many battles and near-death moments shared between them, he was starting to pick up on the subtle things. The edges of her mouth had a delicate curve downwards, and there was redness around her eyes like she was having a very tough time trying not to cry. Never had Eragon thought he would see this strong and resilient woman that he admired so much in such a state.

"Eragon…" One word. That's all she said, but he could feel all the sadness in it. He stole a quick glance at Saphira to make sure that she was ok.

"Go, she needs you more than I." His dragon replied to the look he gave her. Eragon walked up to Arya and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. She flinched at the contact, then almost seem to lean into it, welcoming the comfort.

"Come on," Eragon said. "Let's talk." They both walked into the tent. Eragon muttered "islingr" to light a lamp in the corner of his tent. He gave Arya the bed because it was more comfortable, whereas he took an old weathered stump of tree that he had been using as a chair for when he was working with his scrolls at his desk, and sat down at the middle support beam of his tent and leaned up against it. He looked at her emerald eye's as she gazed back at him. The light from the lantern casting shadows over half her face. "I have never seen you like this before Arya Svit-kona. Tell me what troubles you, for I can't stand to see you this way."