Starting information(you might want to read this):
Italic spelling means that the person is either thinking to himself or sending thoughts to others
"Fat spelling inside quotation marks means that the character is speaking in the Ancient language"
"Italic spelling inside quotation marks means that the character is speaking in the dwarven language"

Furthermore I will be updating this story every Wednesday and Saturday.

Hope among loss

Eragon POV
Eragon was walking down the streets of Feinster, it was the morning after Feinster had fallen, Arya had killed a shade and his mentors' had died. The only other people on the streets of Feinster were the Varden soldiers, who were busy either extinguishing the burning homes or carrying the wounded and dead. No happy noise from children playing or merchants setting up shop could be heard and in a way Eragon liked it like this, it seemed like the city was mourning his mentors' death as well.

Little one, why do keep wandering those empty streets with no purpose?, Saphira's voice resonated in Eragon's head. Although she tried to hide it, Eragon could clearly distinguish the pain in her voice.

What would you have me do? When Oromis and Glaedr lived, I always knew that if we ever were in need of guidance or instructions, then they would assist us, but now Oromis is no more and Glaedr is lost in his despair and we need their guidance now more than ever, Eragon said with a voice full of hopelessness.

Wandering those streets won't bring Oromis back or help Glaedr come out of his shell, so why don't you join me for a flight? In the sky all the problems of the world will go away, I promise, Saphira countered.

Sensing a lost cause, Eragon agreed to her proposal and within minutes they were soaring through the sky. They were not doing any aerial manoeuvres or acrobatics, but merely gliding through the clear sky, loosing themselves and their grief in the calmness of the wind and the clearness of the sky.

Eragon had no sense of time and was only dimly aware of the fact that neither he nor Saphira had eaten or rested in a long time, but he never felt like mentioning any of it to Saphira, it would ruin the peace. Saphira must have noticed his thoughts, because shortly after she descended towards a clearing in a nearby forest and landed there gently.

Let us rest little one, we both need to sleep and no one will intrude upon us here, Saphira gently said in Eragon's head. Her words had a soothing effect on Eragon's mind and not soon after was Eragon fast asleep under Saphira's protective wing.

Eragon was standing on a lane of grass, to either side he could see tall square buildings made of red bricks and with lots of windows on them and to the front the sun was setting. He began walking towards his left building and pushed open a door seemingly made of glass, at the inside of the building were a staircase and a long hallway on either side, with many doors placed exactly the same distance apart, where the only difference was the number on the door. Eragon moved towards the staircase and started ascending it, it looked to be made of a smooth grey rock and seemingly without any joints. After climbing to the third floor Eragon walked away from the staircase and into another hallway, which looked exactly like the hallway at the bottom. Eragon started moving to the left side of the hallway and stopped facing the door labelled 307.

Eragon was shaken awake by a couple of hands furiously shaking his entire body. He did not know who had woken him, but recognition hit him as he smelled the scent of crushed pine needles.

"WHY DID YOU NOT TELL YOUR GUARDS, WHERE YOU WERE GOING!", Arya screamed Eragon in his face as she continued shaking him wildly, "WE HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR YOU FOR HOURS!"

Still confused by the dream Eragon started trying to pry off the hands shaking him, but the furious she-elf would not let go of him, so he chose to simply open his eyes and look around. In front of him he could see a furious Arya with twigs in her hair and an expression that looked like she would throw him off a cliff, if there had been one near, to his right he saw Blödhgarn and an elf by the name of Yaela, to his left where two of his other elven guards and behind him Saphira was slowly awakening.

"I am sorry Arya. I did not think that I needed any guards when Saphira and I decided to rest here for a while", Eragon said with as much of an apologetic face as he could muster.

"YOU'RE SORRY! WE HAVE JUST WITNESSED THAT THE EMPIRE IS READY TO SUMMON SHADES JUST TO STALL US AND YOU DON'T THINK YOU NEED GUARDS SLEEPING IN AN AREA THAT WAS CONTROLLED BY THE EMPIRE MERE HOURS AGO", Arya screamed at Eragon before tossing him halfway across the clearing.

By this time Saphira had awoken and turned her head towards the elf group, You don't believe I am capable of defending Eragon?, she mentally asked them.

"We do not doubt your capabilities Brightscales, but with the loss of Oromis and Glaedr, your safety has become even more critical", Blödhgarn answered before Arya had a chance to speak.

We accept your explanation and promise to do better in the future, but know that we are used to being free to sleep and fly wherever we want without mentioning it and we have yet get accustomed to this new situation, Saphira answered and thereby ended the discussion.

The group walked back to Feinster shortly after that, with Eragon walking next to Blödhgarn on the way back. Eragon did not walk next to Blödhgarn because he wanted to talk to him, but rather because he was not sure whether Arya was done throwing him around and he was not going to give her another excuse to do so.

"You can't hide behind me forever, Shadeslayer. At some time you have to confront Arya Dröttningu", Blödhgarn whispered to Eragon, so quietly that even with his elven hearing Eragon could only barely hear it.

"I am not hiding", Eragon whispered back.

"Try saying that in the ancient language", Blödhgarn countered.

"I am n-", Eragon tried, but failed as no one could lie in the ancient language.

"See", Blödhgarn chuckled, "to be honest I would be terrified too if the Dröttningu was so angry at me".

"Do you have any idea how I can get her to forgive me?", Eragon asked Blödhgarn hoping the elder elf's wisdom would come in handy.

"You might want to start with talking to me about it, instead of cowering behind Blödhgarn", came Arya's voice from directly behind Eragon.

Eragon had not noticed Arya sneaking up behind them, actually he still thought she was at the front of the group, so naturally he was quite startled when he heard her voice, "I am sorry, Arya svit-kona. It was wrong of me to not inform my guards of my whereabouts and I promise that I will do better in the future".

"It is a start, but I expect you at my chambers later this evening, so I can try and force some sense into your head", Arya said right before she walked through the gate to Feinster and disappeared down an alley.

How long do you think she will stay mad at me?, Eragon asked Saphira.

I don't know little one, but if you tell her it was me who persuaded you to take a flight with me and who lulled you into sleep, I don't think it will be that long. Elves can't stay mad at a dragon, Saphira answered back.

Eragon decided against Saphira's offer, because he felt like he was simply shifting between hiding behind Blödhgarn to hiding behind Saphira, but did send happy feelings across their link to show that he appreciated what she had tried to do.

I don't know what to do about my dream however. It felt just like my other premonitions, but the buildings looked so different from anything I have ever seen before, the stone in the stairway almost looked like it had melted into that shape and I have never heard of anyone trusting enough to simply use a glass door as the front door, there wasn't even any guards, Eragon mused to Saphira.

I agree, nowhere in Alagaësia would anyone build something like that without even having someone guard it, but what if that place is not in Alagaësia, Saphira answered.

If it is not in Alagaësia then where would it even be? East, South, North or West of Alagaësia? There is simply too much ground to cover and why would I even be there when I am desperately needed here?, Eragon countered.

You are right when you say that there would simply be too much ground to cover if we did not know where to look, but we do know a certain individual who always seems to know more than she lets on, and if anyone would know this place, it would be her, Saphira answered, clearly pleased with her discovery.

Angela! You are a genius Saphira, Eragon said full of pride in his dragon.

"Blödhgarn, Saphira and I are going to see Angela. You don't need to come with us", Eragon saidexpecting lots of protest, but to his surprise Blödhgarn's only answer was, "very well, Shadeslayer".

Still confused by the elf's reaction, Eragon started running towards where he knew Angela had been giving her chambers. He reached it within minutes and when he knocked on the door, Angela shouted from the inside, "Come in Eragon, the tea is almost ready".

After entering the room, Eragon could see Angela pouring tea into two cups on the table, confused by this Eragon asked the herbalist, "How did you know it was me and how did you know I would be here know?".

"Oh dear, I don't tell you all of my secrets, now do I? But I believe those aren't the questions you came in here to ask me about", Angela answered mysteriously.

"Well no, I actually came here to ask you if you recognized a place I have been seeing in my dreams", Eragon answered confused by the herbalist's previous statement.

"Well how would I know what you are seeing in your dreams?", Angela countered.

"You knew about me coming here tonight, even when I did not know I was coming until a few minutes ago, so I thought maybe you knew what I would ask about as well", Eragon answered.

"Dear, I just knew you would be coming here to talk about something that would affect the outcome of Alagaësia. I did not know what you would talk about", Angela answered while sipping the burning hot tea.

"Okay... Well, I had a sort of a premonition, I think, when I was sleeping a little while ago. I was in a strange city, there were two tall buildings made of some sort of red bricks and they had lots of windows and I was standing on a grass lane looking at the sunset. I walked towards one of the buildings and the front door was made of glass, there were no guards anywhere, and when I got inside I started walking up a staircase made of stone with no visible joints, it looked almost like the stone had been melted into the shape of the staircase. I walked up the staircase to the third floor and entered a hallway filled with doors which had numbers on them. I then started walking to the left side of the hallway and stopped at a door with the number 307 on it", Eragon said as he recounted his dream.

"Hmm, I believe I might know where this place is, but it is not a place you can go to like going to Surda or Du Weldenvarden, you can only go there if I send you there, and I can only hold you in that place for an hour, so whatever is in that room you need to get it before the hour runs out... oh and Saphira certainly can't come", Angela said in a voice completely serious and devoid of its usual mystery.

"Why can't Saphira come, where exactly is this place and how do you even know about it?", Eragon asked confused and hoping he somehow could persuade Angela to let Saphira come with him.

I don't want Eragon to go to an unknown place that could be filled with all sorts of dangers, without me watching his back. He attracts too much trouble for me to leave him at a place like that, Saphira projected her thoughts to everyone in the room.

"I don't have time to both answer your questions and to prepare for your departure, so if you want answers, Saphira is going to need to pick up some supplies, which Solembum will know what is", Angela said while searching through her books with one hand and cradling some coal in the other.

Saphira?, Eragon asked. I will get the supplies, just let me hear what she says, Saphira answered as she sent a picture of her taking off with Solembum on her head.

"Saphira and Solembum are getting the supplies, so why don't you start telling me how you know of this place, why you can't just travel there and why Saphira can't come", Eragon asked Angela while keeping a connection with Saphira, so she could hear the answer.

"First of all, the reason you can't just fly there is because it does not exist anywhere in the world and therefore you can't go there", Angela answered while drawing a big circle on the floor.

"How can it exist and still not exist?", Eragon asked confused.

"Oh it exists, just not in our world. You need to cross over into a whole new world to get there. Second of all, the reason I know of this place is because I have visited it. Though the last time I visited it, the entire world was engulfed in some big war, but that was some 70 years ago", Angela said while still drawing strange symbols both inside and outside of the circle.

"Okay... and why can't Saphira come with me to this new world?", Eragon asked while still trying to wrap his mind around there being more worlds.

"Well, in their world dragons are thought of as mythic figures and have been for centuries, elves and dwarves are extinct too and there are not any magic users living there", Angela said, while standing up and examining her work.

"Why are there no dragons, elves, dwarves or magic user?", Eragon asked.

"The way I learned it, was that the dragons and the elves in their world never formed the riders, but instead the elves turned to the dwarves for help in the dragon war. The few remaining dragons then fled and encountered the human race, which they eventually went to war with as well. The humans in their world proved themselves to be quite innovative in their war, and soon the dragons were no more, but the humans were still wary of the possibility of more dragons, and decided to follow the dragons' trail to the land where the elves and dwarves lived. Once there they established a colony and eventually war broke out between the humans, the elves and the dwarves, but the humans had the advantage of numbers from their home country and the elves were never as powerful as those in our world, because they never formed the riders, so the humans won this war as well and exterminated the dwarves and elves", Angela said.

"What happened after that?", Eragon asked.

"The humans spread to cover their entire world with cities and settlements, but without any common enemy the humans soon started warring with each other and as the millennia passed by, the story of the dragons, elves and dwarves became mythic stories that no one believed had ever occurred. The reason for there being no magic users is because after the dragons were killed, the magic users became rarer and rarer, and the few that still has the inert ability to use magic can't use it, because the very magic of the world is dead. That also means that when I send you there you won't be able to use more than a few simple spells and your magic will fade the longer time you spend there", Angela said looking directly into Eragon's eyes.

"That still does not explain why Saphira can't come", Eragon countered.

"Damn it boy, don't you see. These people have not seen a dragon for countless millennia, what do you think will be their first reaction when they see Saphira?", Angela said angrily.

"They might try to kill her, but she could just take refuge in the sky where no one can see her", Eragon countered.

"Not even the sky is safe for her in their world, the last time I was there; they were flying around in metal machines and shooting each other down. Saphira won't stand a chance in their world", Angela said.

Eragon was about to answer that Saphira could take out anything in the air, but was stopped by Saphira's thoughts to them both, Listen to her Eragon, we don't want to drag attention to ourselves once we are there and my being there certainly will.

"Well at least your dragon has some sense", Angela said and ended the discussion with that.

Saphira made it back shortly after that and while Angela prepared her ritual, Eragon looked out at the window where the sun was beginning to set, that was when he realized that Arya was in her room waiting for him and that she might want to know about his imminent travel.

"Oh wait, I have to tell Arya about where I am going, she is expecting me for an appointment right about now", Eragon said to the assembled.

"No time for that dear, you said that the sun was setting in your dream and if you start running off to tell your she-elf where you are going, you will be late for that", Angela said and pushed him into the circle.

Don't worry Eragon I will tell her when you are gone, Saphira said knowing that he feared angering Arya further by going on this adventure without even telling her first.

Thank you Saphira and please try to not let her maul me when I get back, Eragon answered his beloved dragon before cutting the link between.

"Ready? If not then that is too bad, because I am starting now. Remember one hour, and don't move around in the circle when I start", Angela said before starting the ritual with a bunch of strange words that Eragon could not recognize, but they were the last thing he sensed before everything went dark.