AN: Thank you everyone for your reviews. Sorry for the Upcoming long Author's Note.

To Bob the Builder of Stuff: Thank you for reviewing so much, it's people like you that make me enjoy writing and receiving feed back. First of all, I would like to say I knew all that when I picked Mir's name, but I got the name from Tolkien's elvish (it means jewel by the way.) That's actually how I get most of the names. Edhel-elf lhach-flame, ohtar-warrior, nar-fire lhug-dragon. Manswica comes from Old English.

As for Chapter 6. Ohtar would be the equivalent of Roran, and if Roran can kill 198 soldiers in one go, kill a Razac, and do all that, the Ohtar can at least equal Ajihad's feat of surviving an attack by Durza. I believe it says that Ajihad fought Durza and stabbed him, but missed the heart somewhere in Eragon. Granted those are still huge odds, but it's possible. Remember, at this point in Alagaesia, the Empire's army wasn't very disciplined and lacked magicians. To top it all off, half of the Empire's forces forces turned against their own forces at some point in the battle. Ohtar's outburst was caused by coming out of the huge battle, being a (well-treated) "mind" slave of Edhellhach.

The main reason for Edhellhach punching the tree is this, the Rider War happened a hundred years ago, and since then Edhellhach has had no contact with other thinking creatures other than his bodiless dragon. That would at least cause some amount of craziness, then his most trusted soldier decides to argue with him about the goal he has had for the last hundred years.

Please don't take this to mean I don't want you to review, I want you to review, I enjoy having criticism.

Chapter 9

Edhellhach stood in a dueling ring, a circle with a five foot radius. Across from him stood Manswica, the Empire's champion. The terms of the fight were these: No magic nor mind breaking was to be used, the loser's side would swear allegiance to the winner. Manswica stood six and a half feet tall and was thick, full of muscle. He had metal plate armor covering every inch of his body. Edhellhach was around the same height of his opponent, though he was leaner. He had his two swords for his weapons and he had only leather for his armor. Quietly, Edhellhach laughed, he was an elf and a Rider, there was no way this human could match his skill, speed, or strength. Unbeknownst to Edhellhach, Durza had augmented Manswica's abilities to rival that of an elf.

The warriors swore in the Ancient Language to abide by those rules and the duel began. The two champions circled each other, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Then, Manswica lunged forward, only to have Edhellhach step aside and slash at him from behind. Manswica twisted around and managed to parry the blow. Then he swung his sword in a high arc to come crushing down on Edhellhach. The mighty strike was stopped by Edhellhach's two blades crossed together. Edhellhach stepped forward, kicking at Manswica, who stumbled back from the blow. Taking advantage of this, Edhellhach stepped forward and swung his blades at Manswica's torso, twisting them at the last second to veer toward his head. Manswica ducked below the blades and stabbed at Edhellhach, who leaned away from the blades, pivoted and struck Manswica on the temple. Even though the blow was hard enough to knock a man unconscious, Manswica merely stumbled, and took advantage of Edhellhach's confusion by launching a flurry of strikes at Edhellhach. Edhellhach realized that this was no ordinary foe , and utilized his full speed to parry the blows, and make a series of quick jabs toward Manswica. Alas, they were deterred by armor Manswica wore.

Both groups of soldiers looking on were astonished. The two duelers were moving faster than the human eye could see. The fight was merely seen as two figures moving back and forth, with flashes of metal encircling the entire ring.

Edhellhach was astonished, even at his full speed, Manswica was managing to keep pace, only a fraction of a second slower than Edhellhach. Then, when Manswica swung his sword at Edhellhach's head, he leaped up going nearly ten feet in the air. Manswica barely had enough time to register this before Edhellhach landed on his back. Edhellhach held his sword at the back of Manswica's neck. He had defeated the Empire's champion.

Edhellhach stepped off of his foe and shouted out for all to hear, "Swear fealty to me and the Guardians now!"

After Manswica stood up and swore loyalty to him, the Empire's forces repeated the action.


Ohtar went up to Edhellhach, "I do not trust these latest additions to our forces."

Edhellhach chuckled, "They swore loyalty to us in the Ancient Language, there is no way they could turn against us."

Ohtar was not satisfied, "Still, I sense that something is strange about this group, especially their leader, Manswica."

Edhellhach nodded, "There is something strange about Manswica, he could match my speed and strength, which no human should be able to do."

Ohtar inquired, "Should I look into it?"

Edhellhach shook his head, "No, I shall look into it. If there is something going on we don't want to arouse suspicion. Besides, the men look to you to train them and they would notice if you began acting strangely. I, however, am already considered…strange and they would not notice if I changed something of my schedule. But I am sure it doesn't affect whether he will obey us after all, an oath in the Ancient Language is binding."

Ohtar nodded, "Thank you."


Manswica smiled into the pool of water, "Durza, I have been integrated into their forces with no problems so far. Only I have made the modified oath, I feared that if multiple people were not bound completely to them it would not go unnoticed."

Durza grinned, "Good, lay low for now. Later, I will give you 'information' on my movements. They quicker they begin to trust you the better."

Manswica bowed, "Of course, my liege." With that he cut off the flow of magic feeding the spell.