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Not so very long ago, Eragon – Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider – was nothing on, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest Now, the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders

Long ht victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss And still the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him And if they cannot, no one can There will be no second chances

The Rider and his dragon have come farther than anyone dared to hope But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaësia? And if so, at what cost?

As always, this book is for my family

And also for the dreamers of dreams:

the many artists, musicians, and storytellers

who have made this journey possible

IN THE BEGINNING:

A History of Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr

In the beginning, there were dragons: proud, fierce, and independent Their scales were like geazed upon thereat and terrible

And they lived alone in the land of Alagaësia for ages uncounted

Then the god Helzvog made the stout and sturdy dwarves from the stone of the Hadarac Desert

And their two races warred much

Then the elves sailed to Alagaësia froons But the elves were stronger than the dwarves, and they would have destroyed the dragons, even as the dragons would have destroyed the elves

And so a truce was struck and a pact was sealed between the dragons and the elves And by this joining, they created the Dragon Riders, who kept the peace throughout Alagaësia for thousands of years

Then huals And the Ra’zac, who are the hunters in the dark and the eaters of men’s flesh

And the huons

Then a young Dragon Rider, Galbatorix, rose up against his own kind He enslaved the black dragon Shruikan and he convinced thirteen other Riders to follow him And the thirteen were called the Forsworn

And Galbatorix and the Forsworn cast down the Riders and burnt their city on the isle of Vroengard and slew every dragon not their own, save for three eggs: one red, one blue, one green And froon they could, they took the heart of hearts—the Eldunarí—that holds the ons, apart from their flesh

And for two-and-eighty years, Galbatorix reigned supre the huth was that of all the dragons, and none could hope to strike him down

In the eighty-third year of Galbatorix’s rule, apassed into the care of those who still fought against Galbatorix, those who are known as the Varden

The elf Arya carried the egg between the Varden and the elves in search of the human or elf for whom it would hatch And in this manner, five-and-twenty years passed

Then, as Arya traveled to the elven city of Osilon, a group of Urgals attacked her and her guards With the Urgals was the Shade Durza: a sorcerer possessed by the spirits he had su After the death of the Forsworn, he had becouards, and before they and the Shade captured her, Arya sent the egg aith ic, toward one who she hoped could protect it

But her spell went awry

And so it caon, an orphan of only five-and-ten years, found the egg within theto the farm where he lived with his uncle, Garrow, and his only cousin, Roran And the egg hatched for Eragon, and he raised the dragon therein And her name was Saphira

Then Galbatorix sent two of the Ra’zac to find and retrieve the egg, and they slew Garrow and burnt Eragon’s home For Galbatorix had enslaved the Ra’zac, and of them only a few remained

Eragon and Saphira set out to avenge themselves on the Ra’zac With theon Rider himself, ere the fall of the Riders It was to Bro

Broic, and honor And he gave to Eragon Zar’roc, that had once been the sword of Morzan, first and most powerful of the Forsworn But the Ra’zac slew Broon and Saphira only escaped with the help of a young h, son of Morzan

During their travels, the Shade Durza captured Eragon in the city of Gil’ead Eragon ed to free himself, and as he did, he freed Arya froon, Saphira, and Murtagh took he

r to the Varden, who lived a the dwarves in the Beor Mountains

There Arya was healed, and there Eragon blessed a squalling infant by the name of Elva, blessed her to be shielded fro it, he cursed her, and his curse forced her to instead become a shield for others’ misfortune

Soon thereafter, Galbatorix sent a great arals to attack the dwarves and the Varden And it was in the battle that followed that Eragon slew the Shade Durza But Durza gave Eragon a grievous wound across his back, and Eragon suffered terrible pain because of it, despite the spells of the Varden’s healers

And in his pain, he heard a voice And the voice said, Coon Come to me, for I have answers to all you ask

Three days after, the leader of the Varden, Ajihad, was aals under the coicians, twins, who betrayed the Varden to Galbatorix The twins also abducted Murtagh and spirited hion and everyone in the Varden, it looked as if Murtagh had died, and Eragon was much saddened

And Ajihad’s daughter, Nasuada, became leader of the Varden

Froon, Saphira, and Arya traveled to the northern forest of Du Weldenvarden, where live the elves With thear

In Du Weldenvarden, Eragon and Saphira on, who had lived in hiding all the past century, waiting to instruct the next generation of Dragon Riders And Eragon and Saphira also met with Queen Islanzadí, ruler of the elves and mother to Arya