"It is indeed not good that two Dragon Riders are lost to our cause"Oromis said to Arya.

Arya was finally relieved that at least someone listened to her. She had impressed upon him the dangers of the pair of idiots and had made him to see what they were. She even managed to indirectly point out her inability to speak of the spell that Eragon had managed to cast on her.

Oromis had taken the issue seriously. Ever more so since Rhunon had suddenly died. Eragon and Murtagh had come clean, confessing to no crime. They even said it in the Ancient Langauge. Something that didn't sit well with Oromis. If they hadn't, and the elves hadn't either – it was obvious, which Elf would kill so obviously – that meant someone else was in. Eragon and Murtagh had also said they had let no one else or even revealed the secret of how to enter the forest to someone else.

Oromis could only think of one person skilled enough to do such things – the Emperor himself. It was quite possible that Galbatorix had finally come out of his palace. One or even two Riders were nothing but three well equipped Riders would even throw any Elder a big challenge nad hence Galbatorix might have felt threatened. Oromis had fallen to just two Forsaken, hadn't he? While Oromis had no doubt that all those Eldunari would make certain that Galbatorix won, there was still time for serious damage if three Riders were left to run free. Oromis hadn't informed Arya of his suspicions however. He didn't want others to panic without cause.

"It is a sorrow indeed that Dragons, in their wisdom chose children to perform a task beyond their grasps" Arya said.

Glaedr said to them I am not convinced of their 'cause'. Why are they after political power and money? It's ridiculous, not befitting a Rider of the Order.

"Be that as it may Glaedr, they have impressed the power-crazy nobles, signalling that they are game in the field of politics. They have the tendency of shrewd merchants to boot. Their goal is unclear to us. We cannot discount them as children. They are planning something"

Arya said quietly "Eragon's…ability"

"What of Eragon's ability? Which ability?"

Arya used the common language to convey her message "Magic"

"Gramarye?" Oromis asked "What about it?"

Arya shook her head and repeated, "Magic"

Oromis seemed to understand what she was saying – she couldn't talk about it either. Eragon wanted that hidden. Oromis would've to investigate it himself.

Arya nodded relieved when Oromis assured her that he would investigate the matter.

"What do you suspect? Anything else can you deliver to me?" Oromis asked.

"Do not be exposed. He can kill without…warning" Arya said, finding a word in the language that even she failed to remember properly. His spell messed with her mind so royally.

Oromis also noticed it. He hadn't met the new Riders one-on-one yet, thankfully.

If anyone decides to harm you, I will rip them apart, needless to say Glaedr said to Oromis.

…..

"You're crippled" Eragon greeted Oromis. He raised an eyebrow at the new Rider, surprised.

"You're very observant. How could you see it?"

"Ask instead why you don't" Eragon replied crisply.

Oromis paused, reflecting on the question seriously. "It is not the nature of spells to be seen easily. Only their effects can be seen, is it not so?"

"No" Eragon said in the Ancient Language, surprising Oromis again.

"That's…new to me. You are interesting, Eragon-finariel"

"You are very dumb, Oromis-fucker"

Oromis himself was only lightly unsettled at the disrespect – after Galbatorix's oath breaking, everything had been really shallow in the 'feeling insulted' department. But Glaedr roared in the distance so loudly that Oromis could only imagine the temporary deafness of those near him.

"And why are you suddenly so insulting?" Oromis asked, interested in the reason behind the insult.

"To see how high Glaedr's temper was" Eraagon said flatly.

Oromis chuckled, despite himself while Glaedr roared once again. He could feel his partner's fury at being tested like a youngling.

While Oromis was distracted, a spell hit Oromis with such force that he slammed into the wall. Glaedr roared once again. Oromis belatedly realized that Glaedr was roaring not from insults to Oromis but from pain of a spell casted by the other Rider – Murtagh.

Oromis himself was similarly in pain now. He saw Eragon standing over him calmly. Oromis had brought Naegling with him and Eragon was examining it. And after that, he placed it beside Oromis again.

When the pain faded, Oromis cautiously looked up at the new Rider, who was now facing a window. Glaedr also had nothing to say or think. Both of their ailments had vanished in some painful minutes.

"What I did is not free. I expect the Belt of Beloth the Wise as payment" Eragon said.

Oromis didn't say anything and only walked towards his home. Glaedr was astonished at his healed leg, but didn't say anything either.

…

"Tell me, in the least, how you know of the belt?" Oromis asked.

"Ask no questions of your elders motherfucker" Eragon said.

You are very insolent youngling! I will rip you apart if you dare think yourself greater than Oromis again or talk to him in such a crude manner. Just because you healed us doesn't mean we are your slaves!

Eragon was suddenly on top of Glaedr's throat, holding a sickly green blade at his throat. Oromis's eyes widened at the blade, as well as Arya's. Glaedr couldn't see it himself, but Oromis shared the image with him.

"Chrysanthemum" Ormois whispered in wonder. A lost Dauthdaert.

"Hand over the belt and we are done" Eragon said.

Oromis threw the belt carefully to Eragon. As soon as he received the belt, he slaughtered Glaedr.

Oromis stood dumbly, his pain preventing him from moving for a brief moment.

"I do not tolerate disrespect" Eragon said calmly to Glaedr's dying body.

You are a crooked little-

But Glaedr decided to eject his Eldunari with his last bodily energy instead then. He could kill the upstart later.

Oromis went up and picked the big golden crystal before Eragon did anything with it. Judging by the speed Eragon had moved, he could've picked up Glader's Eldunari if he had wanted to. Or perhaps he didn't know of the Eldunari's value.

"Your foolishness will be put to an end" Ormois said quietly.

"If you do not wish to be an Indlvarn I can change that" Eragon said, clearly dispelling any doubt in Oromis's mind that Eragon didn't know about the Eldunari's significance. If one knew about Indlvarn, then it meant one knew of the Eldunari's significance.

Glaedr took a few days to come around. The elves were horrified as to who had done the unspeakable atrocity – they believed the Dragon dead as Oromis would not reveal the secret of Eldunari to any non-Rider. Eragon was going through the library, researching something with Murtagh, taking notes and such when Arya finally caught them. They had been pretty evasive and slippery, despite this being her home city.

"What do you think prevents us from exposing you as a murderer?" Arya asked softly.

Murtagh looked up, interest in his face. Arya could smack her face at the expression. Could it be that Eragon had been so lazy as to not even tell his partner of that which transpired?

"You should not take these things so heavily. Death is but another adventure" Eragon grinned for the first time Arya saw. His teeth were so white and solid strong that she was sure he used spells to clean them. She herself preferred a brush to do the job or not at all.

"What are you grinning about?" Murtagh asked.

"It's nothing" Eragon replied.

Murtagh shrugged, Whatever. He asked Arya "What did he do?"

"He killed Galedr" Murtagh whistled and asked Eragon "That green blade you retrieved from the dumpster was that powerful?"

Arya couldn't believe what she was hearing "A dumpster?"

"A nasty one at that, covered in all sorts of shit – pig, dog, human, cow-"

Arya shuddered, not wishing to know how they had retrieved it, she remembered what she had come for and said, "The Queen awaits you"

Eragon put all his work on Murtagh's head and went to the palace hall.

"What is this I hear about you...killing the Great One?"

"I did not kill Glaedr" Eragon said coolly. The Queen seemed dissatisfied, however and pressed "Did you harm him in any other way?"

"No, I didn't harm Glaedr. I am not the one responsible for his demise or whatever it is that has befallen him. Nor is Saphira, Murtagh or Thorn, to my knowledge" Eragon said, immediately clearing all his lies away with the Word.

The Queen was satisfied with his speech and turned to Oromis, clearly displeased, "Oromis, what is this, then? How did you come to believe Eragon here is the slayer of your partnerofbodyandmind?"

"Eragon killed Glaedr's physical body and disposed of his body while I witnessed it" Oromis confirmed.

"I did not kill Glaedr's physical body and dispose it when Oromis was witnessing it." Eragon said, clearly contradicting Oromis.

The Queen said "It is obvious then. Someone, disguising himself as Eragon, captured a Dauthdaert and slayed Glaedr to pose blame on him. Saphira, do you testify to his statement, for confirmation?"

I wasn't watching Eragon. I was with Firnen and Thorn, hunting. I know of no murder committed by Eragon Saphira said.

"That is…unfortunate, but there is little doubt. Your word alone is enough and because you share his mind, there is more than enough evidence here. Thank you"

The Queen quickly apologized to Eragon for bringing him there under crime allegations and acquitted him of the charges against him.

Eragon privately said to Oromis You are one hell of a fool. Any more disrespect and you will ironically not be there to regret it.

You better watch your mouth, murderer. I know now that you can lie in the Ancient Language. Do you think I cannot expose you with a simple experiment? Think again.

Eragon turned to Oromis and walked up to him and said aloud "Disrespect me again and as the Leader of the Riders I will make sure you don't live to regret it" earning many angered whispers and shocked glares from the gathered nobles, including the Queen who just hid her reaction a bit better.

"This is hardly disrespect, Eragon" the Queen said "if even you commanded any respect. You are displaying an unseen arrogance in your threat at well-intentioned security concerns" she said softly, her tone icy.

"If you do not respect me as the leader of the new Dragon Riders, you will regret it too. Start respecting me or you will, seriously, regret it" Eragon said. Oromis was relieved, he had at least drawn out some of Eragon's other side to the public. Then why am I feeling this foreboding feeling? Oromis thought.

"You presume too much! I do not believe you are a fit leader, for your anger, arrogance and yearning for respect is not just" one noble elf roared.

The elf's eyes widened, clutching his throat while Eragon didn't even turn towards him. He fell down and Eragon said "I find your lack of faith disturbing" to the dying body.

"Oh boy, his lack of faith seems have killed him. How do you people dispose your dead?" Eragon asked the council.

Pandemonium would've broken out but these were centuries old Elves who didn't do such things. This was hardly the first assassination in the court.

Many elves stood ready with magic at their fingertips, ready to obey their queen. They hadn't seen his lips move and only those were visible under the hood. Some thought Eragon was the killer while the others, who didn't know of wordless magic, turned around and checked the room for unknown assassins. He had outright confessed to not being a murderer just then. Perhaps the real killer was near, they thought. But what he said wasn't registering well with them.

"Did you kill him?" Islanzadi asked, her voice low enough to be considered a man's or even an animal's.

"I didn't kill him. Bitch please."

"Eragon that's enough. Drop the act. Lying in the Ancient Language isn't totally impossible, we should know" Oromis said.

"Did you just give me an order?" Eragon asked, his vice imitating Islanzadi's easily.

Islanzadi advanced to give the Rider a slap, but as soon she hit the hood, her fingers broke off her palm.

"I will consider that as a lack of faith in me" Eragon said and moved towards her. She began to back away and ready a spell.

Oromis was quicker. He cast some serious magic at Eragon, knowing that he was going for a kill.

It was countered the instant he released it, creating a backlash at Oromis from the energy he wished to release but didn't. He fell down, unconscious. Glaedr, overcome by anger, managed to do some magic the Dragons were famous for. What surprised Glaedr very much was that encountered resistance. A lot of it. Even though he tried to plough through it, he felt his anger fading, his momentum decreasing till he returned to normal.

Eragon said, "Will I be challenged again?" Eragon said, over Islanzadi's head. He stared for a few more seconds till she fell down from exhaustion against fighting him in a mental battle. Eragon then addressed the silent council "Do not fear, I have decided to be merciful and therefore she lives. I am unlike Galbatorix, who kills or tortures. I don't even punish people. I just make my point." A few elves nonetheless decided to use gramarye against him for causing this much trouble but they were brushed aside easily.

Eragon picked the crown off Islanzadi's head and threw it out of sight. He then proceeded to break the throne with his hand chops. Eragon sat on the pile of wooden rubbish and brought his own cape out of a Pocket and draped it on himself. It was the same dull white.

"Well, looks like you people have a new temporary ruler!" Eragon said.

Arya was waiting in the library, talking with Murtagh and figuring out what they were researching, wondering what was happening inside the royal court.

….

Murtagh took leave from the Elven Nation and went to a place Eragon had recommended for him, citing that life wasn't going to be fun around him anymore. Murtagh nodded and left, surprised that things had come to an end this quickly. So he went to the place which Eragon said was really fun. Eragon might not see like the fun-type, but it was just that very few activities passed his high bar for the title for 'fun'. So when Eragon did move, it was huge fun.

Murtagh arrived before a broken elven tower. A small patch of vegetables grew where a garden could've been. "Anybody here?" Murtagh yelled.

An old man emerged from a door on the base, looking agitated at an interruption.

Who the hell knows this address to come and bother me? I just hope he will not publicize my residence. It is hard to find a civilized but quiet place…

Tenga took Murtagh inside and fed him some soup. Murtagh asked the old senile man, "What do you do?"

His grumpiness vanished and suddenly he answered very jovially "Search for the Answer"

"What Answer?"

"Like savages we have lived, without civility! I shall remove all that!"

Murtagh spoke the Word and asked whether it was the Answer.

Tenga looked shocked but said "Yes and No. You spoke the Word. Not the Answer. The Answer is not utterable, not worded. But yes, what you said is the worded equivalent of a wordless thing. What have you done to improve the Land with your low quality version of the Answer?" Tenga asked.

Murtagh shook his head, saying "Not interested in the welfare of the Land. Apparently, this Word is going to become so public in the future that it will be useless, according to…a plan." Murtagh suddenly knew what he should do, why Eragon had sent him here "What do you know about self-ancestry?"

"SELF ANCESTRY! Absolutely everything! It is a subject most intricately connected with the Answer! Along with Time loops and Shadeslaying it is the three fundamental clues to the Answer! My, you have researched your Answer well. Come, you are no ordinary man! To have found so much at such a young age, you must be talented indeed. Let's discuss some more…"

….

Eragon ordered again, "Again" to Islanzadi, who looked beyond disgusted. She hesitantly thrust her pelvis up and down on another elf's organ of reproduction.

"What are you all waiting for? Continue till you have finished fucking each other" Eragon roared. All over the hall, feverish motions took place. Seriously, the elves had a low population and Eragon was currently invested in increasing it. He himself wasn't doing it – being very lazy and a human – but he didn't spare the others. He had given them all pregnancy spells and baby care tutorials.

The way the faces spoke of the indignity and anger and shame, Eragon almost thought they didn't want to survive as a race.

…

Roran screamed at the people gathered from Therinsford and Carvahall, Sloan tied to a pole behind him "This is a traitor! He is the reason why we have taxes so high. Sloan betrayed us and these are the letters! He has been taking loans that never reached him from Uru'baen. He was the one who killed Ismira, his own wife, to keep the debts a secret. He has been selling people into slavery to quench debts, on top of that! And if these weren't enough, he's called guards into Palancar valley, to sell us all!"

The others were watching with their mouths open at the daggers thrown at them. Sure, they'd been expecting some feud of sorts between Sloan and Roran over Katrina, but nothing this big. Roran had been talking for over half an hour and at last had summarized his speech. At the end of which they knew that life wasn't going to be the same again. Their own had caused the suffering, not some evil Emperor for them to blame. Everyone was ashamed because someone else wasn't the cause of their suffering. Roran had argued that they didn't even know whether this so called King even existed. If he did, it was probably Galbatorix XXVII or something, because surely no one lived that long. The villagers had sunk into Roran's speech and were unable to come out. What were they going to do?

Over a few days they came to a decision. The only officials they ever saw was the tax collectors. It was better if they started their own ruling. Anonymously, Roran was made head. But there were only so many tools in the villages. It was then that he came to a decision. There were other villages and towns, equally untouched by Galbatorix and the Empire. They could ally with each other, perhaps?

…..

The alliance sucked, no one even responded to the ambassadors, believing that the valley was doomed to extinction by soldiers. The people of Palancar valley had only one thought in their mind after then. To flee.

Under Roran's remarkable fleeing expertise, most of the people fled into the mountains and built basic traps to evade pursuit in the future. All of the Palancar Valley people fled west into the mountains, where they eventually found the presence of Urgals. They found their alliance, despite losing a few men in initial tensions.

…..

Galbatorix was sitting on his throne, reading through political reports of the last forty years, just to be sure when he made his moves. He was just waiting for Shruiken to make up his mind whether to don armour or not. It was taking him some weeks to do that, so Galbatorix was using his time to make his rule absolute. He had already seen that Uru'baen was completely under him. He finally had people who could never cause a single problem for him. Galbatorix was happy, for the first time in his life. Since his first dragon had died, in fact.

"Sir, the city of Narda has been taken. We have received news from pigeon sir" a butler appeared and said.

"The Varden acting up that far in the north? Unusual…"

"Not the Varden sir. Urgals. And some humans"

"Interesting, but I'm more interested in killing the Varden first. Why am I explaining this to you, you wonder? IT MEANS KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! I'll ask information on this again when I need it. Until then, just file reports"

The butler bowed and left.

…..

Narda had been surprisingly favourable, once negotiations were held. They had not even killed the guards that much…

The Urgals were intimately familiar with the moutains and knew ore locations. The Nardans themselves had good blacksmiths. Roran married the skills together, earning some more leadership. Narda had been in the middle of a rebellion itself – because they too thought themselves far from Galbatorix's control. Once they had aided the rebellion, Roran was given authority, along with the Urgal leader.

Word spread among the Urgals, just as it did among the humans along the west coast. The rumour was of the Northern Federation.

…..

Brom couldn't leave the Varden without a leader. Nasuada showed promise but lacked power. Despite Brom backing her up, none of the councillors saw any reason to obey her without question. It was tiring Brom to an extent that he didn't even remember how he got into the room with Hrothgar.

"Oy Brom, wake up. Don't turn into automatic mode on me, you fool!" Horthgar said, after repeated attempts at waking Brom up. He finally woke up, a bit disoriented.

"I've got a solution to our problems" Hrothgar said quietly "I have finally devised a mechanism by which we can trick people into giving us a lot of power and stripping the overly debating council of its assumed authority. Here's how." And Hrothgar said his plan. And to Brom, it seemed brilliant. He detected a flaw here and there, but that was it – flaws once seen could be rectified.

…..

"The Varden is going through an administrative change. We shall let, not some clans and its leaders choose the leader to lead them against the atrocities of the Empire, but the people themselves!"

The crowds were astonished at what they heard – even the dwarves were going to be merged into the Varden, but it wasn't nobility alone anymore who decided who was to wield power. Even the common man would be playing a part in the choosing. It was unheard of. Rights.

And so Hrothgar and Brom founded democracy. The Election Commission, which oversaw the election, was all just made of Hrothgar's secret friends. They invented this thing – the newspaper, also run by Hrothgar's friends in secret. But the information and proof presented to the public was that the heads of both departments were completely honest common men and women. Anybody was allowed to visit the offices with an appointment.

Even as the upcoming elections came, Hrothgar and Brom used most of the Varden's treasury to buy votes for their party, the Might of Algaesia. Most of the other dwarven clans decided to form their own separate parties but were thrashed aside because they lacked the unity and strength of the MoA party. Soon, the people put their votes. The votes cast for MoA was only a measly 45% of the total voter population – not enough for majority but with some tinkering with the numbers and illegit voting, they managed to give themselves a score of 66% - enough to pass any law by themselves. Because they were out of funds for the most part, the MoA party decided to show results and action instead of the usual grind that was economy strengthening.

Brom and Hrothgar sat in a new room, President and Premier of the combined Dwarven Nation and The Varden.

"Your idea sure worked out, old friend"

"Yes, democracy. A form of government where people are tricked into thinking they have power. I read this nice book, where it stated that the people must be made stupider to be ruled better. That's where I got the idea."

A knock sounded on the door, signifying that they had to attend the meeting of the Parliament.

"We're coming" Brom said and they both went to meet the 600 member parliament in full attendance. They were going to approve the constitution today.

….

In less than a year, everything had been settled and their economy was back in the ranges of stability. They were using magic to supplement many vital industries, often teaching the magicians just what they needed to do. It was pretty amazing that Galbatorix had still not attacked them. Relationships with Surda were better than before and Surda itself picked up pace and threw out its monarchy in favour of the new rage, democracy. Az rak Anhuin was brought to its knees for not obeying the commands of the majority and its resources were plundered, adding a needed quick boost. The other parties were slowly drained of their cash and eventually Surda fell into the hands of the MoA too.

…

"Sire, the Varden and Surda have coalesced into one nation"

"Why are you bothering me again? Didn't I say I was in the middle of something? Haven't I told you before not to bring me any petty news?"

"Only that of the Northern Feeration, sir"

"Well, you can file away all report from now. I have bigger fish to fry" Galbatorix said. He had discovered something remarkable – wordless magic. When Galbatorix had controlled his magicians every instant, his magicians had actually rebelled against him. Galbatorix had been astonished to see that magic could occur without the Ancient Language. Most horrifying of all was that it was devastating. Galbatorix had spent enough years in research to know the principles behind magic to figure out that the thought of all thoughts must exist too, a wordless equivalent of the Answer. The research had been mindboggling. He had thrown aside some earlier documents in his research, some hints the Eldunari gave him and an occasional insight because they didn't lead him to the Word. But now, he was re-reading them, seeing more than before….

But controlling just three cities occupied all his attention. It was all he could do to not let the cities be destroyed on some accident. Name slavery still worked to an extent and hence it was taking up so much of his time to round up every imbecile who suddenly seemed capable of casting magic.

….

The Northern Federation had expanded to Teirm and Ceunon. Tons of trees were being felled to build an armada that could defeat Kausta. The Urgals of the southern Spine were mobilizing forces to takeover Kausta for the Federation. The northern federation had so many jobs that almost no one was unemployed. Though the pay was poor, no one starved any longer because there was always fish to go back to.

Even when Kausta was conquered, Galbatorix didn't rise. This only strengthened the people further. So far, they had not even interacted with the core cities of the Empire, where Galbatorix was still very strong. But the Federation ended its conquest, focusing on increasing its economy rapidly. With three coastal cities in their control, they had a phenomena they nicknamed an economic boom. But their defences were below average. And most of all, the thought of freedom rippled along the land, crying its own cries.

….

"The Shades were the enemies of the Grey folk. They fought a long and tedious war to control the language of magic. There was no language to magic before and they were trying to create one. The Shades, who knew that if magic was enslaved, all life they could torture would die, fought against the aliens to this land, who just wanted to conquer the energy of this world for themselves and their Empire. In one battle cum ritual that lasted a few months, no one really died, they were matched equal and there were few causalities. Only at the end, the Shades decided to abandon all hope and corrupt the ritual, securing a continent wide wave of destruction. The grey folk and the shades ceased to be a major species and others began to fill in the void. Magic remained wordless but could be worded too. You, boy, are a descendant of the Shade line. You have the characteristic heterochromatic eyes to prove that."

After hearing Tenga's tale, Murtagh had been sceptic. But he didn't have much time to ponder that.

Tenga had pushed Murtagh into a time machine – apparently, a basic device of people who looked for the Answer – that had planted him right in the middle of a huge stalemate between the Shades and the Grey Folk. It was because Murtagh, under the effects of a rape by a Shade woman, that he led the attack against the Ritual and made a huge blunder in the Ritual causing it to go rogue. Murtagh, the only survivor of both races – except his unknown child – only then recovered partially from the effects of the physical and mental rape. Murtagh had been a Shade for a few years before he had cooled down. Shades hadn't been insane all along – it just took a few centuries to turn them sane; but their cruelty was still trademark. Murtagh eventually found himself in the company of elves and worked as a normal elf among the yet mortal creatures.

When they sailed for Algaesia across the perilous seas, Murtagh was among them. He started the whole fight between the elves and the dragons on his own. He quickly gathered followers and he became fearfully known as Dragonbane. Murtagh was honoured with nobility status during that time and he built himself a mansion and a villa. Just before the war ended, Murtagh was drawn by the original reason he'd been sent into the past by Tenga – to find the Answer. After centuries of killing and hurting, he found what he had been looking for all long quite unexpectedly. He was hunting down one of the most powerful of all Dragons, the Dragon of Prophecy when he was attacked mentally again by the great one. The visions of prophecy finally eroded the grip of Shades from Murtagh's mind and he stopped killing Dragons. Murtagh was respected enough to have his own Dauthdaert – Rose. Murtagh went into healing mode for a few years, before returning. He found only that the first Eragon had founded the Dragon Riders.

Murtagh's return caused quite a stir among the Elves and the Dragons, as he had not been accounted for in the pact. It was assumed that he had died with the Dragon of Prophecy. Tenga sent Thorn back to him sometime around then, ending the war for real. Though all the corruption had been removed from his mind, Murtagh at heart was still a Shade. It was not in the atrocities committed lay a Shade's path – it was in feral activity, the predator nature that it lay. And Murtagh had permanently imbued a few things. Including the Answer.

Murtagh didn't join the Order, preferring instead to be wild. Thorn died one day accidentally from Rose. Murtagh then chose to join the Order, because he was out of entertainment. There he was given a Dragon again but he didn't last long because he was too weak. When he demanded another Dragon, the council refused him. He killed them all, gathered a band of people along the process and began to rule Algaesia. He always let people do the thing themselves, never bothering to do anything but the harshest of necessary work. He didn't raise a finger when Surda broke free. He didn't quell the Varden. He didn't care about the Federation. He idled his time, working on the Word and connecting it to the Answer. Even as Murtagh ruled the Empire, he felt a small resistance – of the original Galbatorix, fighting against him. Murtagh erased the snot from existence as he waited patiently for the right time.

Eragon stood before him one day, his mannerisms proving remarkably similar to the Grey Folk. But Murtagh was past the war.

"Why do I get the feeling that you know what happened to me?" Murtagh asked Eragon.

"I know what happened to you, because I too replaced someone else" Eragon revealed the face under the hood, shocking Murtagh.

"How the fuck? You are also Tenga!" Murtagh asked, his old self and new one combining finally.

"Magic, my friend. Magic never wants to be enslaved. Magic has always run free. It runs free now and will always. It can change the history, present and future to suit itself. That's why"

"Then how come Galbatorix existed in the first place?"

"It is because I was doing something back then. Now, I do nothing. Galbatorix doesn't exist now and as something separate from everything else, magic is free."

"You've been doing nothing for some time now but last I knew it was only Galbatorix on the throne" Murtagh said "I even felt him against me, trying weakly to fight against me for existence. But I prevailed"

"Friend, there are levels to doing nothing. When I turned seventeen recently, all of my magic broke loose and it crafted and modified the world to suit itself. I was but an agent riding on top of the wave."

"I am not what I was before" Murtagh said. Though very much like the Grey Folk, Eragon seemed a bit deeper – as if Murtagh couldn't care less that he had killed so many on sight before.

Eragon looked at him simply, his face changing back to his original teenage face "From today, reality is altered. This world is not like any other, where things are just culmination of events. No, this world ruled by magic is the essence of un-limitedness. Today, a new sun shines on us, literally. Nobody knows it but us, but once, people had fates, lives to live and were basically slaves to greater mechanisms than theirs. From today, each lives on a completely subjective experience, manifesting their own will to create their own worlds. Though everything overlaps as individual pieces, nothing will ever be separate" Eragon explained.

"So…this is a truly magical world now? So what?" Murtagh asked.

Eragon laughed and said, "It means all of us are now gods"

Eragon didn't explain it any further. And Murtagh didn't have the inclination to take the subject up again.

A/N: So this ends. Thank you for reading and reviewing.