The Return of the Guardian

Chapter 1

The moon was bright against the cold, dark sky. It shown down upon the ancient forest and the lone girl that wandered aimlessly. She was both tired and hungry, as well as scared, for she had been lost for several hours. Her name was Lena, and she was out camping that weekend with her best friend Tany. Earlier that day, they were hiking through the woods, as was tradition over Memorial Day Weekend, but Lena had to go pee, so Tany had convinced her to go in the woods. No one was around, so Lena gave in, and she assumed that she must have wandered too far, because she was never able to find Tany afterward.

Lena sat down on a log to rest. She had her backpack with her that held a few supplies, like water and granola bars. She took out one of the bars and began to eat. As she ate, she studied the woods around her. For years she had been camping at Warren Park, and never once got seriously lost, so it confused her how she could not find her way back to the camp. She had screamed her best friends name many times, and never once got a response other than the song of a bird, or the chatter of a squirrel. Aside from calling out her friend's name, she tried to call her as well, but she never had any reception, which made no sense because there was a cell tower near the campgrounds. What really mystified her was the fact that even the woods suddenly looked unfamiliar. She shook of that last thought to take a drink of water. She was putting the cap back on when a howl reached her ears sending goose bumps along her arms.

Wolves? How can there be wolves here? She tried not to panic, as she put the water bottle away and stood up. She lives only twenty minutes from Warren Park, and never were there any reports of wolves in the area. Several minutes past before she heard another howl, this time, the sound was closer. Lena wasted no time; she knew that the wolves must have caught her scent. Her inkling was correct as the wolves darted out from the trees only minutes after she began to race away. She had no idea where she was headed; all she knew is that she had to keep running.

As she ran, she looked for any climbable tree, or anything that could be used as a weapon. Finding nothing to use, she was forced to keep running. Her side began to cramp and her legs burned, causing her speed to decrease. A wolf nipped at her heels, but she dodged out of the way when it tried to pounce on her, with a scream.

The woods flew past as she ran until it gave way to a steep ravine. Lena began her descent, but tripped. She felt her body rolling down the hill, colliding with sticks, stones, and other forest debris. At the very bottom, she hit her head on a boulder, the wolves nearly upon her.

Eragon yawned, tired from the long day that had just transpired. Saphira was nestled beside him, humming deep in her throat. They were camped along Leona Lake, the cool water reflecting the moon. Brom was unrolling his bedding when they heard a distant howl.

"Another benefit to having a dragon, lesser creatures will stay away from you. If, by chance, they do decide to attack, Saphira can either tear them to shreds, or fly you away."

Eragon chuckled, and closed his eyes, allowing himself to succumb to sleep. If it wasn't for the bone-chilling scream, he would have already been asleep. He quickly became alert, grabbing his sword, and stood up next to Brom who was wielding Zar'roc. Soon after the scream, there was another howl. "The wolves are after someone!" Eragon concluded, running towards the sounds. Brom chased after him, telling Saphira to stay at the camp.

Within minutes, Eragon could see the ravine and the girl that was beginning to race down in, but tripped. He saw her roll the rest of the way down and hit her head, the wolves starting to make their descent. He knew that he could not traverse the distance in time to attack the wolves with his sword, so he stopped and raised his right hand. "Brisingr!" A garish blue flame shot from his palm and struck one of the wolves before it could bite the girl. The wolf yelped in pain as it crashed into a bush. The other wolves disregarded the girl to fake their new opponent.

Eragon used the spell again. Another wolf was struck, and after, the pack finally decided to disperse, leaving Eragon and the girl alone. Brom caught up with Eragon, who was making his way towards the girl. The first thing he noted when he saw her was her strange clothing. She was in blue pants made from an unfamiliar material, and a red shirt with white writing on it that was cut off at her arms. She was also wearing a backpack and on her feet were strange looking shoes.

Covering her face was long dirty blonde hair. Eragon kneeled down and wiped the hair from her face. "Brom, she is hurt, we need to take her to our camp and tend to her there."

Brom gazed at the girl on the ground. He was puzzled by her appearance as well, but had no reason to believe that she was working for the King. "Fine, but you are carrying her." Eragon lifted her up bridal style and carefully walked her to their camp. "Have Saphira stay far enough away so that the girl will not immediately see her when she wakes up."

Saphira rolled her eyes and proceeded to rest farther from the camp, but close enough where she could still see her rider. Where do you think she came from? The dragon asked both of them.

Eragon shrugged. Brom sighed, and said, "We will have to ask her." Within forty minutes, Lena began to stir. She was on a blanket near the fire with Eragon hovering over her. The first thing she saw when her eyes fluttered open was Eragon's blue eyes. Disoriented, she paid little attention to his attire.

"What happened?" She asked, weakly.

"I drove the wolves away before they could hurt you." Eragon helped her to sit up.

She rubbed her head and looked at her surroundings. "I do not recognize this part of camp, so where exactly am I?" Her words slipped out before she noticed horses tied to a tree. She looked back at the men and finally saw their clothing as well as their swords. "Who are you?" she groaned.

"I am Eragon, and this is Brom." He was glad that Saphira was out of her line of vision because the girl was beginning to become frightened.

"I am Lena, and I will be waking up from this dream very soon, so do not get your hopes up. I just want to see my best friend Tany." Lena closed her eyes and pinched her skin. When she opened her eyes again, the men were still there giving her concerned stares.

"Are you all right, miss?" Brom asked.

"I do not know. Pinching usually does the trick."

"Does what?" Eragon was confused.

"Wakes you up from a dream. This is a dream, right?" She was starting to hyperventilate.

"No, I do not think this is all a dream." Brom said, carefully. "Where are you from?"

Lena looked at Brom. "Obviously not from around here. Where is here exactly?"

"Why, you are by Leona Lake."

"Impossible! There is no such lake where I am from." She felt her heart begin to race once more. "This is all a dream, this is all a dream." She repeated to herself to try to stay calm.

"Tell me, where are you from?"

"Well, I was on a camping trip with my friend Tany and we got separated while hiking. I should not be by a Leona Lake, if anything I should be along Lake Michigan. This has to be a dream, and I will wake up from it."

"What if this is not a dream?"

Lena scoffed. "How can that be possible? Logically, that is absurd. No, this is a dream, and I really hope I wake up from it soon."

"Lena, I believe that this is real, and that you somehow crossed some portal into our world. Michigan is from Earth, isn't it?"

"Look, Brom, you sound ridiculous. There is no such thing as crossing a portal like in those sci-fi movies, this is just a dream!" The more she tried to convince herself that this was a dream, the less she began to believe it, which started to freak her out.

"If this were a dream, then your pinch would not hurt, would it?"

Lena's face paled. She pinched her skin and felt the pain that went along with it. "If this is real, then where the heck am I?"

"You are in Alagaesia."

"Oh okay." Lena said, her head spinning. Eragon caught her before she hit the ground, unconscious once again.

Brom looked at Eragon and then at the girl. Never once did he believe in the prophesy until that very moment.