Author's note: SURPRISE UPDATE! :D I did the maths, and Cade's a speedy boi at full size. The distance as the dragon flies from Gil'ead to Farthen Dûr is about 390 miles. Monsterverse King Ghidorah can hit 550 knots, which is about 60m/s under the speed of sound, and is equivalent to 633mph. So the journey time is 40 minutes. I can't get over this. It takes Cade less time to travel over most of Alagaësia than it takes me to get to school on the bus! I'm using dragons as my transport now.

With thanks to my Patrons:
Regal Eagle

In response to reviews:

Daniel Clausen: Yeah, I try to keep the canon characters… in character.

ShortyMcCoy: Sorry about that, but it gets important pretty quick. You won't be able to skip it.

Blaze1992: Yes, but the movie SUCKED.

B.A: You're never late in commenting. I will always come back to read new reviews. Even when I start to write the sequel to Trial, I'll come back to this and see if there's new comments. How did I come up with the idea? Well, the whole 'multiverse' idea stemmed from someone's comment, and I ran with it, writing a lot of lore that explains it. As for having an OC become a dragon, I just read some other people's work and thought that I could have a good crack at it. Thanks for your compliments! I do try to structure my stuff in a way that makes sense, and I tried to make the multiverse stuff as encompassing as I could to fit in with as many universes as possible. And I have a LOT of stuff planned for the Riftiverse, don't worry.

W1LL14M: Thanks, and wish granted! Easter holidays are handy.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Inheritance Cycle.

Beta read by Regal Eagle and Slack Frost


Chapter 28: Are we there yet? Actually… yes.

We'd drastically overestimated how fast we could get to Farthen Dûr. Drastically. In the books, it took Eragon and Murtagh eight days to reach the mountain from Gil'ead. For us? Forty minutes. Yeah, you heard that right. Forty minutes. We checked. Either Alagaësia wasn't as big as we thought it was, or we were really fast at full size.

We guessed that we had been flying around half the height of a commercial airliner, so about five kilometers up, so we couldn't estimate very well how fast we were going. We were completely shocked when the Beor Mountains came into view, about thirty minutes into our flight, and as tall as the Himalayas back on Earth.

When we were almost to our destination, we shrunk down to our preferred size and landed in the thick forests that carpeted the surrounding valleys to be able to rift back to Locostral without anyone watching. If we suddenly turned up on the Varden's doorstep without Arya, then somehow had her with us later, that would raise a lot of questions.

After diving through the Rift and being bathed in the usual kaleidoscope of orange light, we emerged into the city that we now called home. Surprisingly, it had started snowing in the time since we'd left Arya here, flakes sizzling on the liquid rift as trails of gas swirled off it.

"This is… different." Sparta said as we started walking towards Mount Bluepeak.

"But nice." Kevin said, licking snowflakes off his nose.

"Perhaps Locostral just has different seasons than Earth." Driscol theorised. "It was nice and sunny when Christmas rolled around, remember?"

"Christmas was nice." Kevin agreed, and we crunched through the snow, our large feet leaving strange footprints in our wake.


Stepping out of the cargo lift, we shook snow off our feet before we took a look around the room. Given that it was the middle of the night, the lights were on their dimmest setting, everybody was asleep, and various muffled snores came from behind the doors to everyone's rooms. As we climbed up the circular ramp to our room, we felt gentle rumbles from behind Gem's door, some kind of strange clapping that we identified as videogame gunfire from Jacob's room, and fairly loud snores from Paddles's place.

All the other rooms were empty. Sal was part of a team that dealt with Middle Earth, so she was there all the time except for Gatherings. Regal apparently had a place in his realm to… roost? Probably roost. Amara obviously did the same thing we did. As for Rosa and Darius… a quick scan from our minds showed that they were out.

Pushing the door to our room open, we checked on Arya. She was still breathing, which we regarded as a win. So… what now?

"Do we take her now, or wait for tomorrow?" Sparta asked.

"Now." Driscol said.

"But our soft bed!" Kevin complained.

"Kevin, this is life and death." Driscol said. "We save Arya, then we sleep."

"On a hard floor!"

"Kevin, just grab some blankets or something." Sparta groaned as we gently picked up Arya.

Our left head was about to protest before he saw Sparta's logic. We packed our things into a large bag; armour, Islingr, entertainment, blankets, and threw the load over our back. Then we gently picked up the sleeping Arya and secured her on our back as best we could. We'd have to be careful not to knock her off or lose her. Still, we were now way ahead of schedule, so we shouldn't have too many problems.

As we left our room, we felt something in our minds that felt like telepathy, but was much more strained. "Hey… de, yo... Vard... yet?"

"Was that Amara?" Kevin questioned as we got back in the cargo lift and hit the down button.

Sparta decided to find out. "Hey Cuz, is that you?"

The response was choppy, like a radio signal that was dropping in and out of range. "Yeah… me. This… a bit... bad pho... line. Har… hear you."

"Well, we're in Locostral, so we're not really surprised." Driscol said.

"Lo...al? Ho… it! You ha… lm to rea… munications! Th… awesome!" Amara replied. "But why… ostral?"

"We've reached the Varden already." Kevin said smugly.

There was a short pause before Amara said "Say… gain? I th… heard wrong."

"Just wait five minutes." Driscol sighed. "We'll be able to talk clearly then."

"Oka… en." our cousin said as we came up to the departure riftpool.

The snow was still falling, but a lone figure waited in front of the giant circle of orange light. Walking up to the edge, we looked down into it.

"Do you ever wonder why Rift chose us?" Kevin asked Driscol and Sparta.

"Not really." Sparta chuckled.

"I don't think it's because of fate or destiny or something like that." Driscol said. "I think it's purely because we have some of the qualities that Plainswalkers need. We can think strategically, and outside of the box. We care about other people, and put their safety over ours. We're… at least I think we're still a good person."

Islingr, who hadn't heard our private chat, asked "Well, are we going back to Alagaësia or not?"

Kevin laughed and, making sure that Arya was secure, we entered the Rift.


Popping back out where we'd left Alagaësia, trails of the Rift clinging to us before dissolving. A quick check told us that Arya was still on our back. It was at times like now when we envied Saphira and Amara for having forelegs that were independent of their wings. We couldn't fly without risking Arya falling off, and carrying her with our feet would make landing awkward, so we were stuck with walking.

Opening a mental channel through the Eldunarí that was still in this realm, we said, "Okay cuz, we're back."

"Cool." Amara instantly responded. "So you three are at the Varden already!?"

"Yeah." Kevin replied. "We're having trouble believing that ourselves."

"I can imagine, Kev. How long did that take? An hour?"

"Well, only forty min-" Kevin started to reply before realising what Amara said. "Wait, how did you know it was me? All three of us sound identical."

"Not quite." Amara said. "It takes a while to be able to distinguish you all, but Kevin has a slightly higher pitched voice than you guys collectively did, Sparta is slightly lower, and Driscol is a bit more… not exactly flat, but you don't express yourself as vocally as the others."

"Huh." Driscol said.

"Point proven." Our cousin replied, and we could almost see her smile.

We trudged through the forest for a while, trees cracking and bending from our passing.

"Do you think Cade's dead?" Sparta wondered.

"How so?" Driscol asked.

"Well, none of us are Cade, are we?" Sparta explained. "We divided. We all have elements of Cade's personality, but we aren't him. I'm not saying this to get us nostalgic for 'the good old times', or to lament us not being one. We know that us being us is going to be what we live with, and we've accepted that, but I'm just wondering. Have we developed so far that Cade's truly gone?"

"That's pretty deep." Kevin said. "But I don't think so. I remember being Cade, as do both of you. We know each other like the back of our hand. The bond between us is more than that of brothers. We're literally and mentally connected. We have Cade's memories, and we can keep him alive through us."

"Guys," Amara cut in, "You… you might not be Cade, but I can see him in all three of you. He isn't dead. You aren't dead. The way I see it, Cade is… absent, but you three are looking after everything for him. But you're still my cousins, and that's what matters."

We kinda felt uncomfortable at that. We knew we weren't Cade, and we all had elements of his personality, but to just be… caretakers seemed wrong. But if that's what we were, that's what we were. There was no point getting mad about it. As we'd learned, envy and greed led to the dark side.

Islingr decided to add her two cents. "You three carry Cade's flame- his soul. You are him, and if you ever do become him again, he'll be you. Don't worry about what happens in between now and then. You'll all recognise each other as the same person."

We trudged on for a while before Driscol said "What would Cade think if he looks back on our time in charge?"

Sparta laughed long and hard. "He'd think we're morons!"

Driscol smiled. "Yeah. I guess he would. But we're doing our job, and we're doing it well."

Kevin's bottom jaw quivered. "If… if we ever do become Cade again… what'd happen to us? I… I want to be whole again. I feel something's missing from me. But… I don't want to go… I don't want to die again..."

Driscol looked at the ground as we continued to plod along. "I wouldn't say that we'd die. We'd just be one, not three. After all, haven't we just established that Cade isn't dead? If he isn't dead while we're around, we won't be dead when he's around. If we become one again, that is."

"I guess that makes sense." Kevin said. "But I'm still not fully convinced."

"Don't worry about it." Sparta said reassuringly. "Currently, we have no way to go back to just being Cade and, as Islingr said, let's not worry about what happens between now and then. If we become Cade again, great! We'll be how we're supposed to be. But if we remain like this, no big deal."

"So you're saying to not sweat the small stuff?" Kevin asked.

"Pretty much." Sparta replied.

"I can live with that philosophy." Kevin nodded. "Thanks Sparta."

"No biggie."

By now, we'd emerged out of the forest, and were standing on a beach of pebbles, a little to the left of the mouth of some river. There was a deep lake in front of us, although it wasn't as big as some others we'd seen. At the far end, a waterfall pounded into the lake, moonlight glistening over it all.

"Well this is scenic." Kevin commented.

Contacting Amara, Driscol said "Cuz, we're about to enter Farthen Dûr. We're going to break contact until we reach a point when we're alone."

"Understood." Amara said. "Stay safe, okay?"

"You too." Sparta replied. "Over and out."

With that, we severed the link to our cousin, walked round to where the gate was supposed to be, and tried to remember Arya's instructions. Scanning the shoreline, we picked up a boulder the size of a Smart Car and bonked it against the cliff wall as we mentally shouted the password.

Nothing happened.

"Well that… sucks." Sparta said as the waterfall thundered next to us. "What now?"

There was a sudden cracking noise that made us jump in surprise, and two thick doors of solid rock opened out of the cliff, Moria style. Well, it was more like how the door to the Vault of Souls worked, as there were no glowing runes over it, but at least it had opened for us.

We glanced uneasily into the mouth of a tunnel, its walls lined with flameless lamps that glowed like pilot lights. Inside was a group of armoured soldiers, both humans and dwarves, all of them gripping spears and aiming them at us, ready to throw.

A tall, bald man strode out of the group, dressed in purple and gold robes. One of the Twins. One of the traitors. Unfortunately, we couldn't unmask them, as that would prevent Murtagh from being captured and sent to Galbatorix, but that didn't mean we had to be nice with them.

"Dragon, why are you here?" He barked, getting straight to the point.

"Right." Driscol growled as we all scowled down at him, Kevin and Sparta entering the pool of light from the lamps. "Before we go any further, we have a passenger who needs urgent medical treatment. She's been poisoned with Skilna Bragh while in captivity in Gil'ead. She needs Túvinor's Nectar to counteract it. And if you say no, we will smash you into a pulp and go get her cured ourselves. Clear?"

The Twin's eyes narrowed, but he nodded and remained outwardly respectful. Smart move. Kevin snaked towards Arya, and managed to roll her so she was lying over his snout. Gently, he lowered her towards the group of soldiers, stopping with his chin on the floor about a meter from them.

They just stood still until the Twin snapped, "Well? Remove her from the dragon." Two men gingerly came forward, their eyes not leaving Kevin's as the Twin said "Quickly, quickly!"

To their credit, they didn't hesitate much after that, although it was a little awkward to get Arya off Kevin's nose, given our size.

One of the men examined our passenger's face and said, "It's the dragon-egg courier, Arya!"

"What?" The Twin said in shock before turning to us. "You have some explaining to do, Dragon."

Sparta decided to speed things up. "She's been poisoned goddammit! We've told you that already, now take her to the healers!"

The Twin's lip twitched, partly in fear, partly in anger that we were overruling his authority, but he eventually took action. "Very well. You two, take her to the healers and tell them what she needs. Guard her until the ceremony is completed. You will return to your usual duties after that."

The two guys holding Arya nodded and carried her off, down the tunnel.

Then the twin spun to face us. "Now your... demand has been fulfilled, I ask again. Why have you come to the Varden?"

Driscol took the lead. "That's information above your paygrade. All you need to know is that we're on the side of the Varden. Now, take us to your leader. Or leaders."

As fun as winding the Twin up was, we weren't being so difficult without good reason. The Twins were spies. The less information they came to possess, the better. Therefore, we would only talk with Ajihad and Hrothgar about why we were here.

The Twin smirked savagely. "No-one may enter Farthen Dûr without being mentally tested, not even you."

We burst into laughter, making some of the guards glance at each other nervously.

"Wanna bet?" Kevin chuckled as we stepped over him and started walking down the tunnel. "We're bigger than you. We're more powerful than you. We're also nicer than you, which is why you aren't dust on the floor right now. What can you do to stop us?"

We felt a mental probe impact our mental shields with a 'plink'. Of course he'd try brute force. We didn't even stop walking as we completely obliterated his attack, rushed through the link to his head, took control of his arm, and started making him hit himself in the face.

"Sorry," Sparta said, "but we're busy. Can we ignore you some other time?"

The guards overcame their shock, then all but one of them jogged or ran down the corridor to form up around us. The one that remained did his best to help the Twin subdue his rogue arm.

We walked in silence for a few minutes before someone started chuckling. "It's about time one of them was put in their place. Trying to mentally probe a dragon… that's a death wish."

There were a few laughs from the humans, but most of the dwarves remained silent. Evidently, they weren't too pleased with our arrival.

"You three handled that like a dragon." Islingr complimented us. "Very well done, Cade-finiarel."

"Wait, does this mean we've graduated from 'fledgeling'?" Driscol asked as we finally let go of our hold on the Twin.

"It does." Islingr said with pride. "We'll make a dragon out of you three yet."

Kevin chuckled, making some of the guards glance at us hesitantly as we walked on. We kept on walking for quite a while- well over an hour.

"So what do we do now?" Kevin wondered aloud.

"Well… er…" One of the guards said, keeping respect in his voice. "You have requested to meet with the leaders of the Varden, Great Dragon, and we shall take you to them. Runners have been sent ahead to both Hrothgar, King of the Dwarves, and Ajihad, the leader of the Varden. They will be alerted of your presence in Farthen Dûr, and both will wish to meet you. Although… rumors spread quickly here, so there may be a crowd waiting to see your golden majesty as you arrive."

"Dude, drop the flattery." Sparta said. "It just slows everything down. We haven't done anything to deserve your respect. Judge us for what we do, not what we are."

"You dealt with one of those bald ********." Someone muttered, resulting in a general sense of agreement.

"Are you the Golden Guardian?" Another man asked. "The one who saved a family from hordes of Urgals? The one who freed the slaves from Dras Leona? The one called Ghidorah?"

"Yes, we are." We said proudly, sending whispers through our entire escort as we reached a set of giant, black doors, with lines of silver covering them.

"Golden Guardian, we are about to enter Farthen Dûr." One of the dwarves said as three people lined themselves up on each door and got ready to push them open. "Look well upon its wonders, as it is home to our greatest achievement: Tronjheim, the city-mountain built from the purest marble, the capital of our race."

The doors started to open, and a few faint sunbeams of dawn poked into the tunnel through the gap. We saw hints of a massive crowd waiting, and one of our hands slid into our bag, pulled out our boom box, and turned up the volume to maximum. As the doors opened, we hit play, stepped out into the light, and gave a loud roar of happiness as 'Born in the U.S.A.' started playing.

The crowd cheered. Sunlight reflected off our scales. We shone with the light of the dawn, promising hope, triumph, and victory. The Varden would rise, and Galbatorix would fall.


Snapshot 8:

It was a calm day in Locostral. We were out in one of the parks with Sal and Paddles, bathing in the warm rays of the sun with our eyes closed, and doing absolutely nothing else.

"This is nice." Sal sighed. "No orcs, goblins or evil rings to worry about."

"Yeah." Paddles said. "No pirates, no krakens, and no living skeletons."

"No magicians, no mad kings, and no urgals." Kevin finished before sighing.

We took in the scents of the fresh air and the smell of the grass, trying to snuggle into the warm ground. This was the life.

Then our peace was shattered as the sound of a powerful engine roared through the morning, tires squealing in the distance. Sirens soon followed.

"What the heck do you think that's about?" Paddles said as we cracked open our eyes and raised our heads, trying to see what was going on.

A bright green sports car suddenly drifted onto one of the roads bordering the park, smoke streaming from its tyres. Then it accelerated savagely, eurobeat pumping out of it's stereo as the driver whooped.

"YEE-HAA! I'VE STILL GOT IT!" A familiar voice yelled as a large robot ran around the corner after the green car, transformed into a police cruiser, and raced after it, siren howling.

The green car drifted around another corner and vanished from sight in a cloud of smoke as the transformer tailing it cursed and did the same.

As the sounds of engines roared away, Sal turned to us. "Is it just me, or did that sound like Jacob?"

We started grinning, remembering what Jacob had been before he died. A street racer.

"It's him." Driscol smiled. "And he'd better have dashcam footage."