This is not my story! However it is on another fan fiction website (shur'tugal fan fiction). The reason that I have put it on is for both the enjoyment of you the readers.

This series is written by the incredible Blackdawn Mybook

And this world was created by the incredible imagination of Christopher Paloni

"Unbelievable." I muttered to myself, stunned beyond belief at this new bit of information (further proof that being normal was totally out for me).

Diane looked up at me, her bright brown eyes curious, "Is something wrong?"

I laughed coldly, "Yeah, my life. But besides that insignificant fact…you're in for shock."

Diane's eyebrows crumbled in confusion as her soft features pouted, her mind seeming to work twice as hard as usual. Her short, curly brown hair – I swear it was the exact color of her eyes – bounced as she rocked on her heels. The 'dress' she was wearing (also known as the rag that never failed to not be washed) was not even close to the color of her hair…it was more like a washed out, dying brown that totally set my mood towards life.

But Diane was, all in all, a very pretty woman. She had a soft body, face, and personality. I didn't even think this woman had ever raised her voice…but then again, I sometimes pushed everyone's buttons. It's more fun than most would think.

I rolled my eyes at her dumbstruck face - so like her when I threw my random air-comments at her - and propped my feet up on the table next to the chair I was sitting in. A small smile curved up my lips as I counted down from five…

Four…three…

Two…one…

"All right! Just tell me what this shock is!" her wispy, gentle voice sounded excited and exasperated as I turned my head back around to waggle my eyebrows at her.

"I knew you'd cave." I said teasingly, my eyes round and innocent.

"You know too much, especially for someone who's never been properly schooled." She pointed out, "But never mind that. I do believe good gossip is involved here." She walked over to me and plopped her own self into a chair next to mine, her puppy-like face pleading with me to tell what I had just found out.

I turned away from her and just stared blankly ahead of me, my thoughts turning, "You are aware of the war currently going on." It wasn't a question.

"Of course I am." Her eyes lit up even more, "Ooh, I do love your power, Deyja, whether you like it or not. But what have you learned this time? Do you know about who won at the battle in Feinster? Did the Varden lose?" she bounced up and down, "Did anything happen to that Eragon Rider? Did-"

I cut her off, "It is hard to believe you are the twenty year old and I am the fourteen year old."

"So I'm immature? So what! Just please tell me!"

"One, I do know about the battle in Feinster. Two, the Varden did not lose…they have overtaken the city. Three, that Eragon Rider is still alive and unwounded. Four, an elven woman named Arya is now a shadeslayer…that bit of information was strange and random. And five, the Varden are in need of great assistance and they march to where we live: Belatona."

Her eyes widened in disbelief, "Ohmygods! So, so unbelievable!"

I nodded once.

Then I saw Diane's expression change and reluctance enter her voice, "But you said that they need assistance…does that mean that they might lose this war? That what you've been trying to do all this time has been pointless? Or does it mean…that…that you have to leave me now?"

I continued staring straight ahead, "It means that they have a possibility of losing if I am not there to aid them. So yes, now is the time in which I leave you. I have awaited this moment for a while...it was inevitable, we both knew."

Her eyes watered up as I looked out of the corner of my eye. A pang of guilt hit me hard before it disappeared. Ah, the joy of not having any real emotions.

"Please don't leave." She whispered, "'I need you."

"I'll be back. I promise." I looked her in the eyes, "Always know I will come back. But now duty calls."

She looked down and away from my gaze, slouching out of the chair and into the kitchen. She didn't say a word as I again looked away.

Well, did that woman have a way with my feelings. And that's a pretty serious statement, seeing as how I have no real feelings…literally. But I had known this day was going to come for some time, simply because I knew a lot of things. I got Flashes of information, randomly and sometimes not so randomly. It was an odd gift that came in hand, but then again I was odd. And with power comes a price…which wasn't one of my 'okay' things. But staying here longer would only prolong the pain for Diane, because for some strange reason she could actually stand to look and me and care for me. And this was beyond weird, let me tell you. But we had known this day was coming, even if Diane had tried to block it out.

Now things had to get a move on.

"I'll go pack up my things." I announced, making Diane jump. Her head snapped up to meet my gaze.

"So soon? I don't even get another week with you?"

"In a week the Varden could be at our doorstep." I said without any emotion.

"Then why don't you just wait for them to come to you?" she said, trying hard not to whine.

"Because then it will be too late," I muttered to myself, irritated when Diane actually heard my faint whisper.

"Too late for what? Are you keeping something from me?" Her hands went to her hips as her eyes narrowed, an unusual look on her. I sighed…her mood swings were so…her.

"I hold my tongue to keep you safe. Don't worry…I'll be fine. And I promise the less you know the safer you'll be." And before she could respond, I was climbing up the stairs of Diane's home, the broken and crumbling walls of the building far from wealthy living. The space she had housed me in was actually kind of nice, with some windows and open doorways. There wasn't a lot of decorations, just the necessary items. And everything was, well, grey and falling to pieces.

I walked through the open entrance of my dull, gray, too small room and grabbed my traveling pack, stuffing a knife, a piece of paper, and a pen inside it. When I was satisfied with this – I really had no other items that I owned – I walked over to my bed and crouched down, searching the floor underneath it for my sword. (Yes, I was fourteen. And yes, I had a sword. I'd used it before, too…)

I sheathed the sword and buckled it around my waist on its belt, the weight barely affecting me. I swung the pack over my shoulder with ease and then turned to inspect myself in the mirror.

What I saw never ceased to amaze and disgust me.

My blood red hair curved in gentle and messy waves down to my waist, more than a few knots and tangles hidden within. My black pants, black long sleeved shirt, and black shoes were worn from use, as I normally put on nothing else. (Hello, I liked the color black…and this was the only pair of clothes I had.) My long, sharp fingernails looked scarily deadly, matching my sharp, pearl white feral teeth that were so pointed they looked filed. My glowing blood red eyes stared at the familiar stranger in the mirror with something close to disbelief. My skin was paler than a piece of paper and my expression was devoid of anything, although inside I was a raging mess. I was beautiful but wrong...and I was more than stronger than any man. I was simply a mistake.

Who would have thought you could have been born with a destiny like I had been?

Who would have thought you could have a power (eesh, powers) that you couldn't even control? Or when you could, powers that were so destructive that you didn't want to have?

Who would have thought you could have been born with a name like Deyja, especially when its meaning meant death?

But who could have thought you could have been born a Shade?

Because, right there, was the beginning of a very long, and very scary story.