[1] The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm includes new characters and some already encountered in the original series, and tells of the many challenges Eragon and Saphira face as they establish the Dragon Riders in their new home far to the east of Alagaësia, integrating stories about Murtagh, Angela, and a village of Urgals.

A fight ensues, and Murtagh is unable to directly subdue them with magic, even using the name of the ancient language, due to amulets given to them by a witch called Bachel.

She has Eragon read a number of out-of-order chapters of a memoir she is writing, whose strange contents hint that she has the ability to travel to worlds beyond Alagaësia.

When its best warriors fail to kill Vêrmund, the clan learns to adapt, hiding in tunnels and leaving livestock for the slumbering dragon when he wakes.

Ilgra lures the three combatants into her trap and releases the flood, but it merely results in victory for Vêrmund, who returns to his mountain to heal.