Chapter 23

Sorry this chapter took so long for me to upload. Rant at the end of the chapter.

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The next morning, Eragon awakens underneath the wing of Saphira. He gently moves her wing to the side and stands up, stretching his muscles while staring at himself in a full length mirror. As he stares at himself in nothing but a pair of trousers he notices something.

"Were my ears always like this?" 

Eragon reaches up and feels his ears, finding that they are slightly pointed. While nowhere near as pointed as elven ears, it is still strange to him.

"I did not have ears like this before my body enhancements… Maybe I have elven genes from my great grandparents or something?" Eragon sits down cross legged on the floor. "Wait… Doesn't that mean that the Agaeti Blodhren won't turn me into an elf, it will just enhance my elven bloodline? I was planning on skipping the blood oath celebration, but if I can get a free power up I won't complain…"

Eragon sits in contemplation for the next half hour, finding his deduction to be quite sound. An elven heritage would at least somewhat explain his proficiency and strength in using the ancient language.

Eragon is brought out of his thoughts when Saphira wakes up, she stretches out her neck and accidently releases a jet of smoke right at Eragon, causing him to cough and wave his hand in front of his face.

"What are you thinking about so early in the morning, Eragon? Your thoughts were so loud they woke me up."

Eragon gives her a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that, I just realized something…"

Saphira stands up and walks over to him. "Oh? Do tell…"

Eragon explains his thoughts on his elven heritage, Saphira mulling over his words.

"Seems like a logical conclusion to me… Maybe you are the descendant of a famous elf from a faraway land, destined for greatness…"

Eragon shakes his head exasperatedly. "You may be saying that as a joke but it's most likely true. You have to remember that all the elves and humans of Alagaesia came from the continent over the western ocean to here. They never say anything about this other continent in the books but we can infer that it has humans and elves at the very least. Oh wait... The urgals and Razac travel over here as well..."

Their conversation is put on hold when Nasuada appears from the doorway and stops in her tracks, realizing from Eragon's facial expression that she must have interrupted something important.

"I'm sorry if I am interrupting something…" 

Eragon sighs and walks over to her. "Don't worry about it, we can pick up our conversation later. So what brings you all the way up here?" 

"I came to see you before you left. I wanted to thank you for giving both me and my father such a wonderful gift. It makes me happy that you were thinking of our safety."

Nasuada gives a curtsy whilst smiling brightly at him. Eragon rubs the back of his head sheepishly. 

"You don't have to thank me, I just wanted to keep the people I care about safe."

Nasuada's eyes widen slightly and her smile turns slightly mischievous. "So I am someone you care about…"

Eragon's cheeks turn a light shade of red and he looks away in embarrassment. Nasuada's smile widens and she walks up right in front of him.

"Maybe when this is all over you can give me a ring for my ring finger…" 

Nasuada stands on her tippy toes and plants a swift peck on his cheek before running off, leaving a stunned Eragon with his mouth agape and a dragon chuckling to herself in her wake.

…

A few hours and a hearty meal later, Eragon is strapping on Saphira's saddle and making sure they have all of the supplies they need for the journey.

Both Brom and Orik wave them off as they take to the skies and fly over top of the Beor Mountains, heading north by following the valley that they came here through. 

Having left in the early morning, by the end of the day they glide past the mountains and forests and dive straight into the blazing heat and unending sand of the Hadarac desert. 

During their travels, Eragon and Saphira converse to pass the time, bringing up a diverse array of topics. They talk about his previous world and how to incorporate that knowledge and make more powerful spells. 

Saphira surprises him when she asks him if he can convert solar power into energy then store it in a gem or even his own body. 

Curious to test her theory, they decided that they will make camp a few hours before dusk while Eragon figures out how to enchant an item to absorb sunlight and turn it into energy. 

By the time they land, the sun is nearly setting on the horizon so Eragon pulls out some silicon that he had stored in his material bag and uses the plentiful sand at his feet to make glass before combining the two, creating a rudimentary solar panel.

The solar panel has four segments with a hole in the center for a gem. Eragon places a topaz gem in the slot and angles the solar panel towards the setting sun, leaving the device to do its thing as he prepares a meal for himself. 

Eragon comes back to the solar panel after eating some beef jerky and some bread that has the toughness of a rock and finds that the gem has a mediocre amount of energy, barely enough to lift a boulder for a few seconds. 

"Huh… I was expecting a lot more energy than this even accounting for the setting sun. I will have to experiment more when I am with the elves. With a source of near limitless energy, I could make some crazy contraptions…"

Normally he would travel to Du Weldenvarden with haste but Eragon decided that he needs daylight so that he can find Du Fells Nangoroth and then find this ring that he is supposed to find. 

Eragon stops in his tracks. "... Huh…"

Saphira looks at Eragon weirdly. "what?"

"I think I know what world we are in."

Saphira gives him a quizzical look. "Truly? What is it?"

Eragon stares into the distance. "Lord of the Rings…"

Saphira's eyes widen as she recalls the movies that she watched from Eragon's memories. 

Eragon sighs. "It makes so much sense. The soldiers that will attack Teirm from the ocean are definitely Easterlings and the man in black armor reminds me of Sauron if he was normal human size. I'm surprised it took me so long to realize."

Saphira snorts. "So you're saying that an Easterling army led by a Sauron cosplayer is going to attack this continent in the near future… Great…"

"I swear, the sass coming out of your mouth is too much for me to handle sometimes…" Eragon exhales sharply. "If middle earth is truly over there, that clears up some of Angela's cryptic words from the other day. The foul spirit that must be slain is definitely Sauron, at least I hope it is him and not Malkor. If I am so far down the timeline that Malkor returns from the void we are fucked."

Saphira curls up on the soft sand. "I'm sure that you could come up with a way to defeat him, don't sell yourself short."

Eragon smiles wryly. "I won't… I just wish that was the worst thing I have realized. We have to go under the ocean and just pick up a fucking Silmaril. I mean… They are supposed to burn all those that come in contact with it that have evil in their hearts. I might be a nice person but I can't believe that I am that good."

"I think you are forgetting something about them, Eragon. The Silmarils can only be wielded by Feanor or his descendants…"

Eragon tilts his head. "But if, theoretically, I can wield them… Wouldn't that make me a descendant of Feanor?"

Saphira's eyes widened in shock. "So that is why you turn part elf at the Agaeti Blodhren!!! You must be a descendant of Feanor…"

Eragon sits down next to Saphira, leaning against her belly. "This is too much to take in all at once, especially with most of this being speculation. We can continue this tomorrow while we fly."

Saphira wraps her wing around Eragon, the two of them getting comfortable in each other's embrace. Eragon's thoughts wander, causing him to stay up for a few more hours before he finally falls asleep. 

… 

Four days of travel later, Saphira is flying over Du Fells Nangoroth, a host of small stone hills in the dead center of the Hadarac desert. 

Eragon speaks in the ancient language, casting a spell to detect the ring. 

They fly over most of the area with no success until Eragon finally gets a ping. He directs Saphira to fly down into a small crevice between three larger mounds, there being just enough room for her to land. 

Eragon hops off her back and walks closer to the location the spell pinged from, eventually realizing that whatever he is sensing is buried under the ground. 

With practiced ease, he lifts a chunk of solid rock to the surface, setting it down gently. 

He breaks apart the rock, finding the fossilized remains of a small rodent, most likely a guinea pig, with a green ring right next to it. 

Upon freeing the ring from the rock, Eragon inspects it, trying to determine its origins but is unable to tell what material it is made of. He can't even feel any magic from it nor see any runes or inscriptions, in all aspects it is just a normal ring.

With a shrug and a 'I will figure it out later', he pockets the ring and reburies the rodent fossil before leaving the area behind them as they head to the elves. 

… 

It takes them another three days and two nights of travel before the desert sand transitions back into lush greenery, Saphira being slightly impatient so she had set herself into a fast pace. Eragon spends his time pushing the rampant thoughts of the future out of his mind and just relaxing, knowing that developing a calm mind and expanding his senses will be one of the first lessons Oromis will push him to learn. 

Around midday on the twelfth day since leaving Farthen Dur, the expansive forests of Du Weldenvarden appear on the horizon, the trees being thick and tall from hundreds of years of growth. 

Saphira lands a good distance away from the forest to avoid the protective wards that will stop all airborne creatures from entering the forest, a defensive mechanism that has been in place since the war between the dragons and elves nearly a millennium ago. 

Eragon walks alongside Saphira as they approach the forest. Waiting for them is a female elf with skin as pale as snow wearing lightweight metal armor that gleams in the light. 

Eragon gives her a slight bow, placing his hand over his sternum and speaking in the ancient language. "Greetings, guardian of Du Weldenvarden. I am Eragon Bromsson, and this is Saphira. We humbly request entrance to the elven domain and a guide to Ellesmera."

The elf returns the gesture, replying in the ancient language. "Greetings, Eragon-Elda and Saphira Brightscales. I am Ildae (ILL - DAY), and we have been expecting your arrival. You have permission to enter our lands and I shall guide you to Ellesmera myself."

Eragon smiles at her. "Lead the way, Ildae Svit-Kona. (honorific for an elven woman of great wisdom).

Ildae smiles at the compliment and is quite impressed by Eragon's knowledge of their customs. She beckons them forward and leads them through the dense foliage and around the trunks of the massive trees that only seem to grow in size as they travel deeper into the forest.

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To clarify, there will be no spoilers in this rant so don't worry. 

Alright, I have been mulling over some stuff for a while now. I bought the Murtagh book a few weeks ago, I only have read the first 7ish chapters so far but it has revealed to me a fact of this novel verse that may or may not impact the future of the novel. 

So when i was first writing this novel, I used the term 'intent casting'. by this I mean using the ancient language without saying the words out loud. 

Wild magic, is when you use magic without the ancient language at all.

And apparently, wild magic trumps all forms of casting, even using the name of the ancient language which gives you full control of the entire language.

Wild magic is completely unaffected by wards made with the ancient language and subsequently, wards made by wild magic cannot be destroyed even if you use the name of the ancient language specifically to remove said wards.

Also, when Eragon casts the spell that makes Galbatorix feel the pain of all those that have suffered under his rule, that spell was cast using wild magic, meaning that if my protagonist casts that spell normally, it will most likely get repelled.

Next we get to the all important topic. This world being a mashup of Eragon and LOTR.

Now there are going to be inconsistencies between these two works. (I am not going to sit and read thousands of pages of lore just to fix these small inconsistencies).

On the other hand, these worlds do have an abundance of similarities that I can work with.

The entire eastern side of middle earth is mostly uncharted territory, making a perfect canvas for me to paint my own narrative. (urgals can be living their, maybe even some surviving Razac).

the blue wizards have no lore whatsoever, giving me even more freedom to write whatever I want. 

I think I will explain dragons in the novel itself when I get to that point. 

If their are any other major inconsistences you can think of between these two works I will try my best to merge them in as lore friendly of a way as I can. I may end up just choosing one or the other in some scenarios. 

That about sums up what has been plaquing my mind these last few weeks. I hope you are enjoying the novel so far.

Stay Awesome! Undeadwizard7