Christopher Paolini - Eldest (Limited Edition)

As always, this book is for my family.

And also to my incredible fans. You made this adventure possible.

S onr sverdar sitja hvass!

Synopsis of Eragon,
Book One of Inheritance

Eragona fifteen-year-old farmboyis shocked when a polished blue stone appears before him in the range of mountains known as the Spine. Eragon takes the stone to the farm where he lives with his uncle, Garrow, and his cousin, Roran. Garrow and his late wife, Marian, have raised Eragon. Nothing is known of his father; his mother, Selena, was Garrows sister and has not been seen since Eragons birth.

Later, the stone cracks open and a baby dragon emerges. When Eragon touches her, a silvery mark appears on his palm, and an irrevocable bond is forged between their minds, making Eragon one of the legendary Dragon Riders.

The Dragon Riders were created thousands of years earlier in the aftermath of the elves great war with the dragons, in order to ensure that hostilities would never again afflict their two races. The Riders became peacekeepers, educators, healers, natural philosophers, and the greatest of spellweaverssince being joined with a dragon makes one a magician. Under their guidance and protection, the land enjoyed a golden age.

When humans arrived in Alagasia, they too were added to this elite order. After many years of peace, the monstrous and warlike Urgals killed the dragon of a young human Rider named Galbatorix. Driven mad by the loss and by his elders refusal to provide him with another dragon, Galbatorix set out to topple the Riders.

He stole another dragonwhom he named Shruikan and forced to serve him through certain black spellsand gathered around himself a group of thirteen traitors: the Forsworn. With the help of those cruel disciples, Galbatorix threw down the Riders; killed their leader, Vrael; and declared himself king over Alagasia. In this, Galbatorix was only partly successful, for the elves and dwarves remain autonomous in their secret haunts, and some humans have established an independent country, Surda, in the south of Alagasia. A stalemate has existed between these factions for twenty years, preceded by eighty years of open conflict brought about by the destruction of the Riders.

It is into this fragile political situation, then, that Eragon is thrust. He fears he is in mortal dangerit is common knowledge that Galbatorix killed every Rider who would not swear loyalty to himand so Eragon hides the dragon from his family as he raises her. During this time, Eragon names the creature Saphira, after a dragon mentioned by the village storyteller, Brom. Soon Roran leaves the farm for a job that will allow him to earn enough money to marry Katrina, the butchers daughter.

When Saphira stands taller than Eragon, two menacing, beetle-like strangers called the Razac arrive in Carvahall, searching for the stone that was her egg. Frightened, Saphira kidnaps Eragon and flies into the Spine. Eragon manages to convince her to turn back, but by then his home has been obliterated by the Razac. Eragon finds Garrow in the wreckage, tortured and badly wounded.

Garrow dies soon afterward, and Eragon vows to track down and kill the Razac. Eragon is accosted by Brom, who knows of Saphiras existence and asks to accompany Eragon for reasons of his own. After Eragon agrees, Brom gives him the sword Zarroc, which was once a Riders blade, though he refuses to say how he acquired it.

Eragon learns much from Brom during their travels, including how to fight with swords and use magic. Eventually, they lose the Razacs trail and visit the city of Teirm, where Brom believes his old friend Jeod can help locate their lair.

In Teirm, the eccentric herbalist Angela tells Eragons fortune, predicting mighty powers struggling to control his destiny; an epic romance with one of noble birth; the fact that he will one day leave Alagasia, never to return; and a betrayal from within his family. Her companion, the werecat Solembum, also gives him some words of advice. Then Eragon, Brom, and Saphira depart for Dras-Leona, where they hope to find the Razac.

Brom finally reveals that he is an agent of the Vardena rebel group dedicated to overthrowing Galbatorixand that he had been hiding in Eragons village, waiting for a new Dragon Rider to appear. Brom also explains that twenty years ago, he and Jeod stole Saphiras egg from Galbatorix. In the process, Brom killed Morzan, first and last of the Forsworn. Only two other dragon eggs still exist, both of which remain in Galbatorixs possession.

Near Dras-Leona, the Razac waylay Eragon and his companions, and Brom is mortally wounded while protecting Eragon. The Razac are driven away by a mysterious young man named Murtagh, who says hes been tracking the Razac. Brom dies the following night. With his last breath, he confesses that he was once a Rider and his slain dragon was also named Saphira. Eragon buries Brom in a tomb of sandstone, which Saphira transmutes into pure diamond.

Without Brom, Eragon and Saphira decide to join the Varden. By ill chance, Eragon is captured at the city of Gilead and brought to the Shade Durza, Galbatorixs right-hand man. With Murtaghs help, Eragon escapes from prison, bringing along with him the unconscious elf Arya, another captive. By this point, Eragon and Murtagh have become great friends.

With her mind, Arya tells Eragon that she has been ferrying Saphiras egg between the elves and the Varden, in the hopes that it might hatch for one of their children. However, during her last trip, she was ambushed by Durza and forced to send the egg elsewhere with magic, which is how it came to Eragon. Now Arya is seriously wounded and requires the Vardens medical help. Using mental images, she shows Eragon how to find the rebels. An epic chase ensues. Eragon and his friends traverse almost four hundred miles in eight days. They are pursued by a contingent of Urgals, who trap them in the towering Beor Mountains. Murtagh, who had not wanted to go to the Varden, is forced to tell Eragon that he is the son of Morzan.

Murtagh, however, has denounced his fathers deeds and fled Galbatorixs patronage to seek his own destiny. He shows Eragon a great scar across his back, inflicted when Morzan threw his sword, Zarroc, at him when he was just a child. Thus, Eragon learns his sword once belonged to Murtaghs father, he who betrayed the Riders to Galbatorix and slaughtered many of his former comrades.

Just before they are overwhelmed by the Urgals, Eragon and his friends are rescued by the Varden, who seem to appear out of the very stone. It turns out that the rebels are based in Farthen Dr, a hollow mountain ten miles high and ten miles across. It is also home to the dwarves capital, Tronjheim. Once inside, Eragon is taken to Ajihad, leader of the Varden, while Murtagh is imprisoned because of his parentage. Ajihad explains many things to Eragon, including that the Varden, elves, and dwarves had agreed that when a new Rider appeared, he or she would initially be trained by Brom and then sent to the elves to complete the instruction. Eragon must now decide whether to follow this course.