For many years after the fall of Galbatorix, Eragon remained in the lands to the East of Alagaesia, training the new dragon riders while Saphira trained the new hatchlings. As there was always good in the world, so too was there always evil. Although Eragon trained the riders to the best of his ability, there were still some that possessed corrupted hearts. They realized that their power could easily be used for personal gain, often at the expense of others. Eragon and Saphira tried with all of their might to change these young riders' ways, but sometimes it did not help. In those rare cases, Eragon was forced to destroy both rider and dragon. He took no glee in his sorrowful duty, but it had to be done unless a terror akin to Galbatorix were to rise again.
The first rider that Eragon received was a young human girl by the name of Ana. Her dragon, Gorod, was a male with black scales and deep purple eyes. During the early stages of their training, they made significant progress. They achieved much more than Eragon had expected in such a short amount of time. Ana showed a very strong connection with deceptive magic. She was often capable of changing her appearance as well as the appearance of her surroundings. These talents were used very effectively in her practice combat bouts with Eragon. After a few months, she was capable of shrouding even her mind from Eragon, making it nearly impossible for him to pinpoint where she was. Ana often attempted too much at once, and blacked out on several occasions. Eragon tried to explain to her that such complicated spellweaving took significantly more energy than she could reasonably sustain. A gemstone circlet was crafted for Ana from beautiful purple stones and silver for her to further store energy. Ana was not very skilled with physical weapons, but she more than made up for her weakness with her magical prowess.
Gorod was a slow learner, but he was extremely powerful. By the time he was one month old, his physical strength was close to Saphira's. His mental capabilities lagged far behind his physical growth. Saphira taught him all that she could, but he could never really grasp tactics in combat. Gorod's primary strategy was to smash things. If that didn't work, his backup plan was to smash things even harder. Together, Ana and Gorod made an excellent pair. Ana was the brains and Gorod was the muscle. They did very well against Eragon and Saphira in mock combat, but Gorod's mental weakness was an enormous handicap. Eragon was very easily able to penetrate Gorod's mental barrier. They knew the importance of the mind, but it was something that Gorod simply could improve no further. Eventually, Ana fashioned an atrificial barrier to protect Gorod, but the barrier sometimes made communication difficult between the two.
The second pair to arrive was a male elf named Tsura and a male dragon named Akath. Tsura was tall with long black hair. Akath was a smaller dragon with silver scales. Upon their arrival, Eragon immediately noticed something different about them. They were reluctant to follow what they were taught, and often came close to injuring Gorod and Ana during their bouts of combat. One year after Tsura and Akath arrived, Eragon and Saphira returned with another dragon and rider to find Ana and Gorod very near death. Tsura and Akath were nowhere to be found, although Saphira could sense their trail. Ana awoke just long enough to explain what had happened.
Gorod had been down at the river, drinking the cool water while Ana sat under a tree, taking a nap. Akath swooped down onto Gorod's back and forced his head below the water. Ana jolted awake upon hearing the cries of her dragon, and ran towards the river. She summoned an enormous force and blasted Akath onto the opposite river bank. A mental force collided with Ana, and she suddenly found herself in a battle with Tsura. Gorod managed to overpower Akath and he bowled Tsura over with a fast sweep of his tail. This was no training excercise. Tsura and Akath were really trying to kill them. Tsura released a blast of energy that drained the life of everything in the area, killing all of the smaller creatures and knocking Gorod and Ana unconscious.
Eragon quickly healed them to the best of his ability and set off after Tsura and Akath. They did not get very far at all. Eragon caught up Akath in a clearing very close to the training grounds, but Tsura was not there. Akath's black eyes remained open as he lay on the soft summer grass, but he would not rise again. He was dead. Tsura had killed his dragon. Eragon could not imagine what would push a rider to do such a thing. He would be lost without Saphira. They searched and searched for Akath for weeks, but he was gone. He seemingly vanished from the world without a trace.
Twenty years later, Akath reappeared in a vicious attack on Surda. He was leading a large group of riders that Eragon was unaware of. Akath was riding atop a winged creature who had thought to have been extinct for many years. Eragon would not allow history to repeat itself. He returned to Alagaesia after all those years with seventy-four dragon riders close behind. Akath reportedly had nearly twice as many following him, but he had only a fraction of the experience that Eragon possessed.
Eragon gave Akath one chance to cease the attack and surrender. The offer was met with a full attack upon Eragon's new riders. He knew they were very unprepared for this, but he had little choice but to fight. Alagaesia could not be under the control of another such as Galbatorix ever again. Ana was one of the first to fall in the battle. Eragon could not save her. She was his first pupil and even he could not save her from this fight. Ana caught a blast of magic to the chest, and was vaporized in an instant. Gorod immediately went into a fury and ripped apart several dragons and riders. Never before had Eragon seen such anger in a dragon. Eventually, Gorod was brought down, but not before he eliminated nearly a dozen of Eragon's opponents.
On the second day of the battle, an enormous red dragon appeared on the northern horizon and was in the middle of the battlefield in an instant. Sitting atop Thorn was Murtagh, cloaked in a red robe. He shouted into the fray and every participant was immediately frozen in place. Unable to move.
"You ignorant fools. What have you done? This is the exact thing we have worked all these years to avoid. You have sacrificed everything those before you have worked for. Stop this. There is no reason for this bloodshed. You are all brothers and sisters. You blindly follow your leaders without the slightest idea of what you are fighting for. I expected such things from you, Akath. You are the worst of all. How dare you bring this world's peace to an end. You have no place here."
With that, Murtagh snapped Akath's body in two, ending the battle and preventing any further conflict. Once again, Murtagh had saved Alagaesia.