The Evils Deep In Your Own Mind

An Inheritance Cycle Fanfic

Chapter 1: Ialana, Companion of Durza

For the thousandth time, the human side of the half-Shade Ialana's mind cursed the Shade who had done this to her. Curse you a thousand times, Durza. You never told me this would happen, you never told me, you never told me, why did you never tell me? I hate you! She had thought he loved her, thought his interest was to teach her the laws of magic, and the ways of the Dark Spirits. He had never told her the catch - if the magic got out of control, the Dark Spirits would overtake her body and she would become a Shade.

Kneeling beside the graves of her sister and grandmother, she grieves simply to be alive without them, the only friends she had left in the world. A man approaches, lays his hand on her shoulder. "We have much in common", he says in a voice barely above a whisper. "Who are you?", she asks."I am Durza", he says. "Come with me", he says.

Those who met Ialana reacted in one of three ways. Most just ran in fear of her. A few spoke to her. If the Shade side of her mind was ruling, which it more and more often was, they would say something that angered her and, most likely, she would kill them, her human side not realizing what had transpired until it was too late. Only one had ever thought to offer her advice. Her name was Arya. "Seek out my friend Eragon Shadeslayer. He is Shurt'ugal Argetlam, a Silver-Handed-DragonRider. He is perhaps more powerful a magician than any other in Algaesia, in Surda, in all the Empire. He may be able to help you."

He had killed Durza, the elf-woman had said.

Now that, Ialana thought, I will only believe if I hear it from his own lips. And if it is indeed true, then all I have and all I can possibly obtain, will be his. If any man could indeed kill Durza... If any man had killed Durza, than anything he could ask of her would be his in thanks.

Being half-Shade was unnatural. It was almost unheard-of for Dark Spirits to incompletely possess someone. Dark Spirits wanted it all...or nothing. From Durza they had taken it all. From Ialana, they had only managed to take most of her. Human thoughts and emotions still ruled her mind some of the time.

And the human part of her hated the Shade part. Hated looking in a mirror and seeing flaming-red hair and dark violet-red eyes and cream-colored skin that had once been dark. Hated warring her own thoughts. Hated killing innocents and barely realizing she was doing it.

In short, she hated who she was.

Durza smiles at her, showing a flash of his pointed teeth. "You are learning so fast, so well, my protege", he says. Weakly she smiles back, energy still drained almost empty from magical exercises. "Thank you, my master", she gasps. "We will move on to advanced level tomorrow," he says, "but right now you need food, and wine, and sleep." She shakes her head. "No, master", she says. "I am ready to move on now." "Are you sure?", he asks. She nods. "Begin, then", he says.

Ialana glanced up at the sky. Night was falling. Perfect, she thought, a wave of Shade emotions washing over her. The glorious cover of night. Smiling a glinting, pointed, Shade smile, she hurried like a cat into the shadows.

The shadows led her to an inn. Cautiousness forgotten, Ialana strode inside. Heads turned as in she walked, up to the innkeeper. "I need lodging for the night."

"Sorry", the innkeeper muttered. "I don't give rooms to freaks."

Very unwise choice of words. Ialana lost it. "Fool!", she hissed. "You will regret the day that you insulted Ialana the Shade!" Pulling out a knife, she lunged at him. Frightened, the innkeeper pulled his own knife. Hurling it as a defense, he struck Ialana in the chest, just three inches to the left of her heart - a wound that would instantly kill a human.

But every DragonRider knows, a Shade can only be killed one way - by a direct blow to the heart itself.