When Princess Jenna is pursued by a dark wizard, it is the apprentice, Septimus Heap, who must save her while enduring such terrors as a night in the Forest with hungry wolverines and carnivorous trees.

After successfully evading an Urgals ambush, Eragon is adopted into the Ingeitum clan and sent to finish his training in magic and swordsmanship so he can further help the Varden in their struggle against the Empire.