And I have returned with the first chapter! I have changed the rating for this story from T to M. So really it is because of the dark themes and also violence that will come.
Enjoy!


Seth P.O.V (10 years later)

Bodies littered the road side. His sword bloody after ambushing the convoy. The convoy was full of food supplies and an immense amount of gold. It also contained lots of weapons from bows to swords and spears. It was quite hard to take by surprise since the soldiers guarding it were trained veterans.

Though he managed to succeed on the third ambush. He had tried twice before to attack and take the convoy. Each time his men were defeated by the two hundred elves guarding it. Luckily the soldiers let their guard down after the second attack. They were not expecting another one.

There was one other reason this armed convoy of troops and supplies was attacked. It was reported by his spies that Roran Stronghammer was among them, protecting the shipment. Though after removing all the soldiers' helmets, it was found that he was not there.

Quite a disappointment for him. He looked forward to capturing such an important leader to Rauthr, the new resistance. It meant 'misfortune' because of the betrayal everyone had suffered from Eragon. Also because of Eragon's actions, they plan to bring about his misfortune.

He wiped the blood off his sword and put it back in its sheath. His men were busy gathering all the bodies to be burnt in a large fire. The burnt corpses would send a message to all that opposed the king.

Seth was one of four generals that served his majesty, Eragon. He came into service a few days after Eragon rose to power. It was quite an unpleasant day, for the king had made his generals. People that originally resisted him but when they were turned into shades, they gave their allegiance. Their original identities gone. No longer the person that they were.

Instead they now go by the names of Seth, Legion, Zolona and Culdreth. They were the most powerful shades ever seen. Much to Seth's distaste, Legion was the strongest among them and was seen not just as a shade but truly as a demonic being.

They were all feared for different things throughout the land. Legion known for his ruthless tortures of the mind and body. Zolona is known for her being manipulative. She is also feared for her skills in dark magic. Culdreth was known for his creative yet brutal ways of dispatching enemies. And Seth was known for his intelligence and feasting on the flesh of men.

Eragon shared a lot of these traits with his evil servants.

Seth had to wonder how his king would react to his failure in capturing his famed cousin.

No doubt the others would point out his failure and won't let him forget it.

That was another thing he hated, trying to compete with the others for Eragon's favour.

Seth was brought out of his thoughts when one of his soldiers approached him.

"My l-lord, the bodies have been dealt with. What shall we do with s-supplies?" The soldier stuttered.

He stared his soldier with his blood red eyes, how he reeked of fear. It was disgusting. He looked as if he was about to piss himself.

"Take as much as you can. What you cannot bring, burn it" He said.

"Y-yes my lord, right away my lord"


Seth and his company of a thousand men made their way back to the capital of the Empire, the great city of Uru'bean, on horseback. As he rode through the streets he witnessed beatings and executions of traitors happen throughout the city. It made him grin in delight, especially when he witnessed the sentence 'death by spikes'. It was a cruel way to die, which was what brought a smile to his face, one of Culdreth and Eragon's creative executions.

A man would be tied to a wooden post firmly upright. Then massive spikes would be hammered into your palms and feet. They would wait five minutes before moving up a little on your arms and legs and hammer the next spike in and so on and so forth. Soon your body be impaled with spikes all over, the final blow was to the head after the rest of the body was covered though the victim would be dead before then.

Magic was used to keep the victim awake and survive longer to truly enjoy everything the death sentence had to offer, which namely was pain. The screams of agony erupting around the city was music to his ears. It was the sound of a new era, Eragon had finally solidified his accession to the throne and was now seen by everyone as the new king. It was either that or die, he preferred when people resisted. That way he could carry out their death sentence.

His soldiers were tense as they watched the cruel executions be carried out by magicians and soldiers alike. The worst way to be killed was a sentence called 'death by oblivion'. It was more of a symbolic name to the true horror of the sentence. The sentence had only been used once just to try it out and see if it worked and it did. It actually made him shudder. Not even a shade could escape it, it was unnerving and he pushed the thought away from his mind.

Seth's men went to the army barracks, he guessed they would be drinking to drown out the horrific noises coming from around the city. Seth however made his way to the citadel. The guards let him pass with no problem. He entered and made his way to the throne room to report his mission to the king.

As he approached the door he found the other three generals waiting at the door. They all smiled and flashed their pointed teeth. Zolona was a pale tanned woman with a good figure. Culdreth had a more muscular build and was deathly pale. Legion was a large man or shade. He was built very well and also deathly pale. In fact the only one that didn't look as white as snow was Zolona. She was slightly tanned but only slightly. He noted that they were all wearing black tunics and black leggings. They all wore maroon robes.

Legion stepped forward to greet Seth. His pointed fangs and blood red eyes studied him closely.

"Seth, we heard you failed your mission" Legion said. His voice was deep but it echoed and multiple voices spoke at once in unison when he spoke. It created his saying that struck fear into the hearts of men 'We are Legion, for we are many'. It was true, there were many spirits within him.

"I did not fail. I ambushed the convoy successfully. Only one thing was missing, Stronghammer" He answered back.

"Same difference, the main reason you went there was to capture Roran and you failed. Wait till the king hears about this" Legion said smugly. Seth gritted his teeth in anger. The four shades worked tirelessly to bring each other down and make themselves look good in front of Eragon.

"Enough of this, the king is waiting. And you all know how he loves to wait" Zolona said and pushed the doors to the throne room open.

Their all made their way to the foot of the throne were they all bowed in a row in front of elf dressed in bright blue sapphire armour. He wore a sapphire close helmet, he face was not visible. His gauntlets were made out of diamonds. He beckoned for them to rise.

"How did your mission go Seth?" Eragon asked.

"It was good and bad" He said looking at the floor slightly.

"Why is that?"

"I ambushed the convoy carrying supplies and took it from them. But Roran Stronghammer was not among them at all"

"Leave us" The king said and the other three shades left without a word.

Eragon leaned forward on his throne.

"What do you mean Roran was not among them. I thought your spy said he was" The king said, his tone held no emotion.

"I thought so too but he was not there" He said quietly. Eragon stood and made his way in front of Seth. Brown eyes stared into red ones.

"So your spy had false information. Either that or we have a traitor in our midst"

"I guess so your majesty-" He was cut off when the king moved as fast as lightning and a fist connected with the side of Seth's face. He was sent flying backwards halfway across the throne room floor.

"You guess so?! A traitor is among us and all you can say is 'I guess so'?!" Eragon growled.

Seth coughed up blood and struggled to get back on his feet. The blow was extremely painful. The gauntlets and Eragon's entire armour had magic weaved into them. The magic was so powerful that his armour was considered to be the most powerful, strongest and effective armour to have ever existed. It would take a lot to damage it. The gauntlets were a nasty piece of work. Spells to strengthen them and also a knockback spell that could be used at will when Eragon wanted to use it or not. It was used to increase the damage dealt in a punch.

"Sorry your majesty. You are right, a traitor is among us" he murmured.

"Of course I am right! Go now and find this traitor. I sentence him or her to death by spikes and you shall carry out the order. Now go" Eragon said and returned to his throne.

Seth quickly scrambled and ran out of the room. He made his way to his quarters. He was about to enter his room when Legion appeared in front of him and would not let him pass.

"Something you want?" Seth asked.

"We want to help you find and kill the traitor"

"How is it that you always know what is going on?"

"You are the smart one. Your figure it out" Legion smirked. Seth just clenched his fists in frustration. Before grinning, showing his teeth.

"Then let us go to Ceunon. A traitor awaits us"

Rhord P.O.V

The silver haired elf had a sword pressed against another elf's neck.

"Very good, you have come a long way in your training" Said the elf with the sword pressed against him.

Rhord put away his sword and helped the other elf up.

"Thank you Líef. It is only because I have a great mentor" Rhord said.

Líef smiled and brushed dirt off of his brown tunic and leggings. He retrieved his sword that was on the ground and put it back in its sheath. The training session was interrupted when another came into the forest clearing.

"Rhord, Líef! Come with me. Queen Arya has requested your presence" The silver haired elf said. He was very big for an elf, in fact he was a relative of Lord Däthedr. He took over position after his cousin was killed, his name was Ophion or Lord Ophion. Ophion was also Rhord's father. They both had silver hair.

"Of course father. Lead the way" Rhord said.

They walked through the beautiful city of Ellesméra. It never ceased to amaze him. It's beauty was unrivalled with any other city in Alagaësia. It was said that Eragon and his dragon Saphira once stayed here for training from another Rider.

Rhord was young at the time but now he had grown. He practiced sword play and magic with his mentor Líef, a young elf of the age of fifty. He was present during the time of Eragon's betrayal. No one truly knew why the Rider did betray them. There was many speculations and guesses from what they knew from Queen Arya.

His mentor had told him of the horrible day and the days that followed. Arya was still fleeing with the thousands of soldiers with her when out of nowhere four shades appeared. They caused havoc and destruction among the fleeing soldiers. They had been sent to capture Arya and then flee back to the capital but they failed in their mission due to so many elves being present.

Ever since that day the rebel group Rauthr was formed and was based in Ellesméra since it was the safest place. Surda also was another place of operations for the group. No one knew how long Surda would hold out against Eragon and his armies. It was only a matter of time before the small country was invaded and wiped out. King Orrin had worked tirelessly to create a massive army from all of Surda's able bodied men. They would still work as blacksmiths or merchants but they would be trained with the sword and ready to fight at a moments notice.

They walked towards Tialdarí Hall. As they entered the hall, they found in the middle of the room was a large table in front of the throne. This table had lots of documents on it and a large map of the land along with little things that looked like chess pieces standing on top of the map. Arya was leaning on the table studying the map before her and talking with her advisers. Ophion approached the queen.

"Your grace. I have brought Rhord and Líef here"

The queen of the elves gestured for them to come stand by the table, Rhord stood on the opposite side with his mentor. He wasn't sure why the queen would want him but he would be happy to serve her, even if it meant giving his life.

"Greetings. I imagine you are both wondering why I asked you here" Arya said.

Both young elves nodded.

"Rhord, you are extremely young but are more skilled in the ways of a sword and magic than a lot of elves. You are sixteen now and have come of age. I have a mission for you, your mentor Líef and Livisa" The queen said.

His heart stopped beating for a moment, Livisa was coming with them? That was too good to be true. She was a beautiful elf with violet eyes, black hair and a perfect face. She was seventeen, one year older than himself and he was love struck from the moment he first saw her. They were good friends and did many things together.

"Why is Livisa coming with us your majesty?" Líef asked, he must have been very curious as to why the queen would send three young elves on a mission together.

"Your mission is to head to Ceunon. We have a spy there that has been found out. Two shades are looking for him and we need to get him out of there before they find him. If they manage to find him they will learn everything, who our spies are in the Empire, where our troops are moving and when supply convoys will make their way to Ellesméra" Arya explained.

Líef had a confused look on his face. "Excuse me your majesty. But why would a spy know so much information. It would be dangerous if he was found out and had so much knowledge on our operations"

He had to agree, it was stupid for a spy to know so much when they had the chance of being caught.

"Our spy is not ordinary person. It is Lord Vern of Ceunon. He knows everything that goes on in his city and naturally would know of our movements. Your job is to get him out of there, or silence him before the shades find out he works for us. Livisa is going with you because of her exceptional skills with a bow, she can take out Lord Vern from a distance if need be. Are you up to the task?" Arya asked.

"We would be honoured your grace" Rhord said and Líef nodded in agreement. The queen smiled.

"Good, you will leave tonight. Take all the supplies you need and I wish you a speedy and safe journey" Arya said and went back to talking with her advisers and pointing out things on the war map.

He took that as a sign to leave and pulled Líef away with him, apparently that stupid blond haired elf thought the queen would say more and stayed there standing. He can be smart but he does have his moments, any elf could tell you that.


Packing for the journey was easy enough, he grabbed two sets of clothes, five hundred gold coins and some food that would last about five days. He had been trained to pack lightly and that is what he did. He strapped all his supplies to his horse. The sun was going down and the moon could be seen, it was almost time to leave. He rode his horse over to the entrance of Ellesméra and saw Líef waiting for him.

They both smiled to each other, they had both packed lightly and were ready for a long journey ahead. That was when two more horses came around the corner and approached them. They carried not only Livisa but a tonne of stuff. Someone had obviously not told her about the importance of packing lightly. She glared at the two elves for staring.

"What, I am not allowed to bring what I want?" She asked.

He just shook his head.

"Has no one told you of the concept 'pack lightly'?" He asked, she just shook her head.

"For our mission we only need to carry essentials and take as little as possible to maximise speed. Here let me help you" Líef said.

Much to Livisa's disgust, Líef removed almost everything she had packed with her. She was left a few coins, a change of clothes and some food to last her a few days. She could not believe it, they get rid of so much of her stuff. It almost made him laugh but he knew if he did, Livisa would kill him. Líef on the other hand laughed when he saw her expression. Luckily he was older and so Livisa could not hurt him.

"Come now, in the real world you never have luxuries with you. If everyone did then no one would have won the war" Líef said. Livisa just made a humph sound.

"Now that we don't have to carry an entire bedroom with us, let us be off" Rhord said and their journey began.


Riding through the thick forest of Du Weldenvarden was not as easy as he thought it would be. On many occasions he and Livisa fell off their horse because they got hit by a branch they could not see while they rode. Líef had no problems though and laughed at them.

The latest and greatest fall was when his horse jumped over a log and while in the air his head came into contact with a solid branch. He was flipped off his horse and landed face first in the mud. Livisa laughed at him but hit the same branch when it was her turn and landed right next to him in the mud. They both spat mud out of their mouths.

"I thought this would be a fun adventure" Livisa complained. He had to agree, he did not expect to be stopped by his forest home when he left for a mission.

"When you are faced with the threat of encountering a shade, this mission is not so fun" Líef said to them.

"Fair point. How long until we make it to Ceunon?" Livisa asked.

"Possibly two weeks, maybe more at the rate we are going at" Líef answered her.

She just had to ask didn't she He thought.

They got back onto their horses and continued through the forest. When you weren't knocked off you horse, it was actually a fun and enjoyable ride. This was going to be one interesting adventure.


There we go, hope you liked it. Who are the shades? Who were they before? All shall be answered in the future! You may be able to guess one but no way you will be able to guess all of them. Some of you are thinking 'Challenge accepted' and to them I say good luck bro. Well anyway, I shall see all of you at the next chapter! That has become like my ending trade mark "See you all at the next chapter!" Or very similar. Oh well, cheerio people, please review and all that jazz. And if you see any mistakes that I missed, please point them out to me.
Also if you are wondering what Eragon looks like in his armour, imagine glass armour from Skyrim. And google close helmet if you don't know what that is.