Eragon

This summary section includes Chapter 39: “Capture at Gil’ead,” Chapter 40: “Du Sundavar Freohr,” and Chapter 41: “Fighting Shadows.”

Once back on the road, the group makes slow progress because of Eragon’s injured ribs. When they pass through a market town, the Rider sells Cadoc. He will keep Snowfire as his mount for Brom’s sake. As they journey farther northward, the two young warriors fall into a routine. When they make camp each evening, they fight with blunted swords to keep their battle skills sharp. At the end of a month, they approach the outskirts of Gil’ead just as spring returns. They camp two miles from the center of town, and Murtagh proposes to go there to find Dormnad. Eragon will remain behind because wanted posters all over the realm have made him too recognizable.

After Murtagh leaves, the other two wait tensely for his return. Hours later, he approaches their camp at a gallop. He was spotted by a former acquaintance who will probably spread the news that he is in the vicinity. Murtagh assumes they will be safe for the night but should leave the following morning. Two hours before dawn, Eragon senses danger, as does Saphira. A party of Urgals attacks them. Saphira and Murtagh escape, but Eragon is captured and knocked unconscious.

The Rider awakens in a prison cell. He is uninjured, and the guards bring him food and water. He belatedly realizes that the provisions are drugged because they hamper his ability to do magic. Through the door of his cell, he can see many other barred rooms. Down the hallway, he sees guards carrying the woman from his dreams. She is unconscious. Eragon feels a desperate need to help her. He notices her pointed ears and realizes that she is an elf. Eragon also sees a man accompanying the guards. He has red hair and maroon eyes. This is a Shade—a creature of dark magic: “Even in his bewildered state, he knew that the presence of a Shade meant that evil was loose in the land. Whenever they appeared, rivers of blood were sure to follow” (295).

The next day, Eragon dumps his food and water out the window to avoid ingesting more drugs. He then receives a visit from the Shade, who wants to know his real name. Brom once explained that one’s true name is a word of power: “He wants my true name so he can control me! realized Eragon. But I can’t tell him. I don’t even know it myself” (297). Eragon tells the Shade that he is called “death of the shadows.” The Shade leaves but promises to return the following day to pursue the question.

Eragon must wait until after nightfall for all the drugs to wear off. Then, his mind is clear enough for magic, and he unlocks his cell door. He is determined to retrieve his sword and find the elf when he receives a message from Saphira informing him that he is about to be rescued by Murtagh. Shortly afterward, Murtagh arrives to help Eragon battle the soldiers in the corridor. One of them reveals the location of both the elf and the sword. The elf is unconscious when they find her, but they carry her upstairs to a banquet hall, where Eragon waits while Murtagh goes to the armory. He returns with Zar’roc and a bow and sword belonging to the elf.

They are about to leave when the Shade arrives. He challenges Eragon to a sword duel. Though he is better with a blade, the Shade doesn’t realize that Saphira is tearing off the roof of the banquet hall. Murtagh manages to shoot two well-placed arrows through the Shade, who evaporates. Murtagh says that the creature probably isn’t dead but will return in another form. As more soldiers arrive, Saphira succeeds in tearing the roof off completely and rescuing the three fugitives. She flies away with all of them on her back, though arrows have pierced her wings.

This summary section includes Chapter 42: “A Warrior and a Healer,” Chapter 43: “Water from Sand,” Chapter 44: “The Ramr River,” Chapter 45: “The Hadarac Desert,” Chapter 46: “A Path Revealed,” Chapter 47: “A Clash of Wills,” and Chapter 48: “Flight Through the Valley.”

After their escape, the group lands in a clearing far from town, where Eragon uses his healing magic on Saphira’s wounds. He tries to do the same for the unconscious elf. Her injuries indicate prolonged torture. Though he heals the superficial wounds, she fails to regain consciousness. Eragon and Murtagh continue on horseback to avoid capture while Saphira carries the elf. That evening, they consult about how best to escape the minions of Galbatorix. Eragon proposes heading southeast through the Hadarac Desert. This constitutes the farthest border of the Empire, and the lands beyond it are not controlled by the king.

Murtagh objects that they will have trouble finding water in the immense desert wasteland, so Eragon tries a magical experiment to convert rock to water. The effort depletes him entirely until he realizes that he can draw existing water from underground. With this ability, the travelers will be able to cross the sands. Before they reach the desert, they must first cross the Ramr River, which is broad and flows swiftly. Their pursuers aren’t far behind. With little time to spare, Saphira flies each of them over the water, including the horses. It will be impossible for their foes to track them easily from that point.

The next obstacle the travelers face is the desert itself, though Eragon’s skill at drawing water keeps them from dying of thirst. After several days’ journey, they see the high peaks of the Beor Mountains rising ahead of them. They are grateful to return to a landscape of moisture and green growth. It takes them five days to cross the desert, but they are now beyond the borders of the Empire. A dispute breaks out between Eragon and Murtagh as they prepare to enter one of the narrow passes through the mountains. Murtagh refuses to travel all the way to the lands of the Varden but won’t tell Eragon why. He says that the Varden will never trust him because of his past. The fight ends abruptly when Saphira spies a column of soldiers marching in their direction. They are Urgals and may have spotted the travelers miles ahead of them.

The small band journeys through the night, sleeping on horseback as they go. They succeed in putting some distance between themselves and the Urgals before they stop to rest during the day. Because the elf still hasn’t awakened, Eragon decides to try communicating with her telepathically. At first, the experience is frightening as the elf takes control of his mind and brings pressure to bear until he speaks to her in the ancient language and says he is a friend. The elf then says that her name is Arya and that she has been given a slow-acting poison. Each day her jailers gave her the antidote before a new round of torture. However, now that she has been taken from the prison, she will eventually die if the poison isn’t counteracted. She gives Eragon mental instructions to find the Varden town where the remedy can be obtained. However, she must remain in stasis, or she will die sooner.

Murtagh is skeptical of the plan to find the Varden stronghold, but he agrees to go along. He intends to slip away through another mountain pass before Eragon reaches his destination. As the party continues deeper into the mountains, they are set upon by a band of slavers. Using magic and swords, the two warriors defeat them. However, Eragon is upset when Murtagh kills one of their opponents, who is unarmed and about to surrender. Murtagh says that empathy is a luxury he can’t afford.

Meanwhile, the Urgals gain on their quarry. Murtagh, on horseback, is the most vulnerable member of the group, while Eragon flies on Saphira’s back to get a better lay of the land. They have entered a canyon with only one entrance and one exit. The Urgals who pursue them are of monstrous size and relentless energy. They are eight feet tall and known as the Kull. Though they may not have been sent in pursuit of the Dragon Rider, they are being summoned to war somewhere in the region. To slow their progress, Saphira and Eragon drop rocks down on the Kull.

Finally, the travelers approach their destination, and Eragon realizes that Arya will die soon if they can’t get her the necessary antidote. At the same time, Murtagh is increasingly angry that he finds himself boxed in between the Kull and the Varden. He can’t find another route except to go forward with Eragon. When pressed to explain himself, Murtagh finally admits the truth: “You have a right to know. I…I am the son of Morzan, first and last of the Forsworn” (368).