AN- This story was started by Erebus209, but due to some reasons he gave me the permission to use his first 3 thousand something words and continue them as my own. Unchained is something I will not focus on primarily sine I have three other fanfictions and I am also starting on my own Original work. I will update it when I have time and inclination to do so.

AN2- Chapter 2 is available on my Discord and the link is available on my profile.

Disclaimer-Inheritance Cycle is the property of Christopher Paolini

Gil'ead, one of the largest cities of the Broddring Empire, was situated in the Northern Part of Alagaesia. Being the camping grounds for King Galbatorix's army, it wasn't unusual to see dozens of soldiers in the city at any time of day. But as the residents of the city came out in the morning with fear in their hearts and naked terror on their faces, they found nothing but death.

Scores of soldiers were cut apart on the streets, their blood flowing and drying up in pools all around. Torn limbs and ripped out bones were scattered everywhere, painting a scene right out of nightmares.

Sounds of retching filled the air as almost everyone lost their stomachs at the slaughter and screams echoed all around the city. After all, they had known about the rumours of a Shade walking the lands, and when trained soldiers with weapons were gutted like animals, what hope did they have?

Suddenly, sounds of crashing stones rang throughout the city, causing the already frightened people to jump in their places and turn towards the Keep. Some moved towards it, finding more dismembered and dead soldiers littering the roads. Barely keeping their bile inside, they soldiered on and came in front of the Keep only to gasp and fall to their knees at the sight. The Keep of Gil'ead was nothing more than a heap of dying fire and rubble with the stone and wood cracked and splintered.

A hacking cough drew their attention and they approached the sound with caution. Within moments they were lifting and removing the wreckage, the sounds of a man wheezing and coughing growing clearer by the second.

"Hurry up! This man is in great pain and not far from dying if the blood below us is any indication!" someone called out.

With a final heave, the common folk lifted away a heavy beam, revealing a sight which would have caused them to puke again had they not done so already.

Armor smashed apart and both of his legs mangled beyond recognition, the wheezing soldier raised his hand towards the nearest man even as blood continued to well up from a dozen wounds in his body.

Lowering himself, the man who had led the rescue effort brought his ear closer to the fatally wounded soldier

"Wa...warn eve-one, mo...monst…"

Wrought with shudders and coughs, the soldier died with his last words echoing in the winds. As much as the tremors in his voice distorted his words, the meaning was clear. A monster was loose in Alagaesia — a monster who killed, no butchered more than 100 soldiers of King Galbatorix's army.

Several Hours ago

On his Uncle's farm, there weren't many things that caused him pain. A cut here, a scratch there; However, those were easily manageable with herbs and plants. Then he started to hunt in the Spine, and promptly got his leg broken by falling in a ditch.

The pain had been all-consuming for his mind then, but that became manageable within a few days. Then Saphira had hatched for him after a few years and the bonding between them had felt as if ice and lightning was crackling in his veins, turning his body into nothing but air.

But, as he laid there on a blood smeared table inside the Keep of Gil'ead, he couldn't help but think of all those instances as nothing but needles pricking him slightly.

With lashes hitting him every second and a steady drip of diluted Seithr oil being dropped on the bloody wounds, Eragon had long since torn his own vocal cords with all the screaming he had done, for the sixth time that night.

When he had challenged the Shade in the armory, he had given it his all, following all of Brom's instructions and his own instincts. Eragon liked to think of himself as a good fighter, having equalled Brom and Murtagh both in the spars that they had, but when the Shade had effortlessly batted away his strikes with his blade, Eragon had realised how hopeless his skill was in the face of supernatural beings.

'Even the weakest of elves will overpower you with ease'

Before he could have changed his grip to a two handed one, he was immobilized and dazed with a kick to his head. Through his hazy vision, he saw Durza move towards where Murtagh was standing over the comatose elf with his bow drawn.

With the last vestiges of his waning strength, he had proceeded to draw upon his reserves and in the process somehow managed to take magical energy from his beloved dragon too. The result, a simple Jierda, meant to break the chandelier above Durza and buy Murtagh some time, had caused the whole ceiling to cave in.

Before his vision had faded to black from the drain, Eragon saw Murtagh slinging the elf across his shoulders and running off. Something had hit his head right after, rendering him unconscious.

When he had opened his eyes once more, it was to a sight which had chilled him to his bones, making the Ra'zac seem like nothing but bugs. The Shade was standing in front of him with not a scratch on him and his foot on Saphira's snout. He tried reaching out towards her through their bond, but she was unconscious, and, from what he could discern through the blood beneath her, she had attacked and lost against the Shade.

Rage the likes of never before filled his veins at the disgusting sight, and he had tried rushing towards the abomination to kill him with his bare hands. His struggles, however, were in vain — the Shade had chained him to a stone slab with manacles and chains.

The sounds of the chain links clanging alerted hi-their captor and the Shade turned from the azure dragoness bound at his feet towards the struggling Rider.

His crimson eyes alight with anger; the Shade didn't even speak anything. He simply walked up to Eragon's bound form, walking out of his line of sight, before something landed on his back. Liquid fire pooled in his flesh as what was surely diluted Seithr oil was dropped on his back.

An agony filled scream ripped itself from his throat as his skin burned away into blisters and flesh itself.

For a moment, Eragon found respite through the haze of heat and pain, only for him to scream the next moment as whips started lashing against his back, tearing his flesh from the bones.

After a dozen more lashes, his pain bled through their bond and Saphira woke up with an enraged roar, muted immediately due to the muzzle on her snout.

"You have committed a great folly Rider. Freeing a prisoner is a crime against the King, but freeing an elf which was to be taken to Uru'baen? It is only your worth as the Rider of the last female dragon which is limiting your punishment to this."

With tears streaming down his face and his throat choked with blood and snot, Eragon could do nothing but lay there and take the lashing on his burned skin, even Saphira's platitudes in his mind not dulling the impact of the Shade's words.

In the recesses of his mind, his thoughts whirled around, memories from the day he had started out to avenge his Uncle's gruesome death flashing by his mental eyes. Dimly, he was aware of his wounds being healed by the Shade only for the torture to begin anew.

While the pain was enough to make him keep on screaming, a growing part of him realised that now Brom was no longer here to show him the ropes. Never again would Brom help him get supplies from a fully armed village, never would he learn magic from the strangely powerful storyteller or learn the tales of Dragon Riders from the century old man.

'ERAGON!'

Saphira's mental shout breached through the walls between their psyches and temporarily removed all the pain and rage storming through his mind.

'Saphira? How are you captured? Did he hurt you?'

While his eyes were clenched shut, Eragon could imagine Saphira's blue eyes blinking up at him from her spot with a little smoke drifting up from her nostrils as she snarled, 'The Shade overpowered me easily by piercing my wings with arrows to bring me down. After that, he struck me with his sorcery and my body seized up, causing me to fall into the armory and watch helplessly as he and the soldiers carried you and I into this chamber.'

Before they could converse any more the Shade returned into the chamber, his footsteps surprisingly loud in Eragon's ears. Before he had any time to ponder the Shade came in front of him and leaned down.

With the light of candles throwing his face in yellows and black, the Shade smirked at him before speaking, "Do you now realise how powerless you are? You aren't capable of defeating human sorcerers without the help of your dragon and you had the foolish thought of challenging me? I am Durza, the most prized servant of King Galbatorix. My hands have enough strength to tear a Kull into two and my speed and magical power is equaled only by the greatest of elves. I have enough power to subdue both you and your dragon with naught but dust on me due to the rubble. This is the nightmare of your making Eragon."

Once again, Durza stepped out of Eragon's line of sight, before the whip landed on his back, this time with an unnatural amount of force behind it

"Your beloved Dragoness is bound at my feet because you are weak!"

A pained cry left his throat, even as he cried tears of anguish and shame at the truth behind the Shade's words.

"Your Uncle's killers are still alive and killed your mentor, because you are weak!"

A part of him realised what the Shade was doing and what he was about to do, but that part was quickly snuffed out by the hunger of power which arose within him suddenly. Unknown to Eragon, the Shade has been in his mind for a time now. Hidden from Saphira, he had been

subtly influencing his thoughts and like a viper, Durza struck at an opportune moment of weakness.

"And now because of your weakness, you and your dragon will be servants of the King for all eternity."

A fresh wave of shame and anger, no wrath flooded his brain, masking Durza's presence even more from the Dragoness trying to contact Eragon.

"Do you want the power little Rider? Do you want the power to keep your beloved Saphira safe?

Do you want her to live and breathe, unlike another Saphira you know of?"

With a final touch of implanting greed into Eragon's mind Durza removed his consciousness from the broken rider's mind, the physical and mental pain rendering Eragon devoid of all of his stubbornness and willpower.

Going by the renewed attempts at freedom and louder growls from the beast behind him, the Dragoness was also realizing what had happened, but was ultimately powerless in the face of Durza's silver tongue and powerful magics.

Durza leaned down again towards the unresposive Rider, his lips barely a hair's breadth away from Eragon's ear before his sibilant voice whispered

"Tell me Rider, do you want power?"

"Yes"

Cruel laughter rang through the chamber as the Crimson haired abomination laughed, relishing in the response. All the fighting seemed to leave Saphira for a moment, her draconic senses easily hearing the words spoken, before she renewed her struggles to break the manacles and chains.

"Do you want the power to annihilate the Ra'zac? Completely obliterate their existence from Alagaesia? Power to keep your Dragoness safe from everyone who wishes her harm?"

"YES!"

A wicked smile on his face, Durza walked towards the chest beside the wall and opened it, causing multiple colors of light to shine on his face. Reaching out within his vast well of power, Durza intoned in the Ancient language

"Slytha Skulblaka"

For a bound and wounded dragoness not even six months old, she took a surprisingly more amount of energy than expected to be put to sleep, though considering her and Eragon's situation it wasn't that surprising.

His eyes glowing crimson with magic begging to be released, Durza raised his hands towards the ceiling and started speaking in Ancient Language. His already formidable magical reserves amplified by the Eldunarya given to him, a heavy weight settled upon the shoulders of everyone in Gil'ead.

While unknowing of the reason, everyone felt a disgusting feeling of sickness and foulness all around them. While Durza's chanting in the prison grew more frantic, fires across all of the Gil'ead were snuffed out by the howling winds suddenly blowing across the land.

As if knowing of the sickening deed being committed beneath them, the heavens themselves poured out in fury, the thunder rumbling louder with each passing moment in the dark night.

As the rumbling reached its crescendo, with a final flash of lightning everything stilled for a moment.

And then everything returned to normal, the clouds disappeared, the winds stopped howling and the pressure upon the shoulders of everyone disappeared. In the tavern a soldier clad in just leather armor spoke

"I bet it was that Dragon and its Rider that are doing this. Freaks like them always caused such unnaturalness."

"That is right, though I don't understand why such fear of these creatures exists? Lord Durza took them both easily and he is a single human sorcerer."

A third soldier joined them, his mug of ale as big as his arm. Settling down heavily on the seat the soldier sighed and spoke

"The entire armory is demolished and much of the debris is blocking our way. Also the Elf got away in the middle of the fight. The King won't be happy with this."

Leaning forwards the man whispered

"I heard the Elf was to be taken to Uru'baen within days, she was the messenger between the Varden and the Elves. With her captured Varden would have been crushed within days."

With a laugh the first soldier replied

"Gedarth, what trouble can one elf cause, she is likely weak and agonized by her extended stay in Gil'ead. And we have captured the Dragon rider now; the King will surely reward us for this."

"If we manage to hold onto him and his beast till then, Do I need to remind you that you said the reward thing about the elf too?"

"Please, he is bound along with his dragon and you saw his arm was broken. What trouble can that boy cause without his beast and hand?"

Suddenly the door of the Tavern burst open, revealing a sweating man taking great gulps of air.

"The Dungeon! It is collapsing! Lord Durza and the Rider are still below there...come fast!"

Immediately all the soldiers in the tavern ran outside, leaving it completely empty save for the owner. Amidst the clanking of the armor and the shouting of the men, a new sound was heard throughout the town.

It was fury made real, it was terror personified. It was the roar of a Dragon.

Minutes before:

His chanting coming to a close, Durza grinned maniacally at the deluge of flashing lights streaming inside the room through the walls and ceiling and converging on the prone form of the Rider.

However, an alarmed expression grew over his visage as the number of spirits didn't stop even after a dozen had entered Eragon's body. Before he could do anything else, Saphira roared in anger and with a burst of strength managed to break the manacles on her forelegs.

Before Durza even had a chance to do anything, Saphira's jaws clamped down on him, turning him into nothing but mist as he disappeared with a loud wail.

Her gaze turning towards the suddenly writhing Rider, Saphira entered the mind of Eragon, only clamping her claws on her head as she too started growling and moaning at the spirits assaulting both of their minds now.

It would be months later that Eragon would come to know how being a Rider had caused him to do a lot better than the rest of the populace when it came to trying to resist the spirits. However, Eragon's fledgling power and utterly deplorable mental control were no match for the 21 spirits now fully settled in his mind.

However, a Rider's mind wasn't meant to be turned into a stomping ground for Spirits. Due to the bond with their Dragon's, Riders were unable to cope with the strain put on by the Spirits initially, his psyche breaking under the stress. Eragon was no different and within moments was bucking wildly against his restraints as his body started to burn up from the amount of magic inside him.

His pain and dawning realisation were easily felt by Saphira despite the Spirits clamoring in his mind and in that moment; Saphira felt a strange energy fill her entire being, much like when she had entombed Brom in the Diamond.

Almost overloaded with the energy brimming beneath her scales, Saphira opened her mouth and breathed azure fire all over Eragon's contorted form. She instinctively knew that her fire wouldn't hurt him and kept on the torrent of flames for as long as she could breathe.

All around her, the dungeon started collapsing due to the magical pressure breaking the enchantments Durza had laid over the walls and ceiling. Within seconds Saphira closed her maw, and looked on with shock at the Eragon before her.

While Eragon had developed muscles from his months of toiling with Brom across the Spine and to Gil'ead, he had never had the definition he was sporting now. His skin had been a healthy tan before, but now it was as pale as the Elf she had seen through his memories.

He had grown in height two, having grown a head more in height with broader shoulders.

His previously brown eyes were also changed, now a piercing blue color with red flecks scattered in the irises.

"Whu-What happened? I remember something entering my mind, turning my guilt around to drown me in it an-SAPHIRA?"

His mumbles were drowned out with Saphira practically jumping him right then and there and giving him a long lick from his torso to face, her barbed tongue scratching his skin and causing tears to form in some places.

'You are alright Little one, I was so scared when the Shade started hurting you and I couldn't do anything.

Paling her neck in a way that turned her into a purring cat, Eragon just sent feelings of reassurance across the bond they shared. Their shared moment was cut off as a new voice spoke in both of their minds

'It is good to see the last free Dragon and her Rider have such a strong bond, but unfortunately we have to leave these collapsing walls. We are in the chest which Durza opened, take us with you with haste. While we don't have time to explain, Eka eddyr aí skulblaka'

Before the realisation of a voice speaking in their minds could settle in, they relaxed slightly at the voice, saying it was a dragon, in a damned chest?

Hurriedly running over to the chest, Eragon almost fell down on his face at the change in speed and dexterity. Peering into the chest, Eragon saw almost half a dozen uncut gems ranging from the size of his fists cupped together to one almost the size of his head.

'What are these? How are you able to speak to us?'

'There is no time for this Shur'tugal, we will answer your questions, rest assured. But now we have to leave this place as soon as possible. While dispersed from his body, Durza will reform within hours, and I am afraid that the other two shades will also come here. Find your weapons and take us with you young Rider.'

'Listen to us Younglings; we will not lead the only hope of killing Galbatorix and reviving our race astray. But be warned Shur'tugal, we have been blocking most of your rage and hysteria at the torture and subsequent turning by the Spirits. We are currently expended and within seconds will be required to leave your psyche defenceless against your own emotions. I recommend that you don't try to fight it, otherwise you will tear your own mind apart and that of Saphira too.'

'All right, I am about to turn into a raging monster. It is not a big thing, I have handled it before'

'ERAGON! Calm down, your sword is kept just outside this room, find something to keep these 'Dragons' in and strap it to me before you go berserk. I can already smell many soldiers coming towards us and I am currently incapable of fighting with my wing torn and my limbs weak.'

Shivering slightly at Saphira's growl, Eragon nodded and half-stumbled, half walked to the door, still getting used to his new body and faster reactions. Opening the door carefully, Eragon found a small room with a lantern affixed to the wall.

Zar'roc's crimson sheath was easily visible on the wall, but the real shock came from the other three swords arrayed beside it. Two of the three were definitely Rider swords, for there was no way that such beautiful and vibrant sheaths would be created for any other purpose.

The last blade was made of a smooth white material and curved slightly with a serrated edge but no less beautiful than the others.

Strapping Zar'roc to his right hip and the purple sword to his other one, Eragon took the other two swords and dropped them into a leather bag hanging on the door. As he hurried outside and started shifting the gemstones inside the bag carefully, Eragon leaped up at the sound of feet striking the stoned hallways of the castle and turned around with Zar'roc drawn.

'It is your heightened senses Rider, you will get accustomed to them soon enough. For now just break the wall where Saphira was chained, the stairs there lead straight towards the main gates.'

Exhaling deeply, Eragon looked into Saphira's eyes for a moment and let his thoughts flow freely through their bind, the raw emotions conveying much more than his words ever could.

Receiving acceptance and comfort in return, Eragon took a deep breath before raising his hands towards the wall and spoke

"JIERDA!"

This time there was no exhaustion, no sweating or even deep breathing as the whole wall broke into nothing but pebbles and dust. Even Saphira gaped at the display of power from Eragon but soon they realised that this was the result of Spirits being in his body, no doubt turning into a Shade-Rider if the words of the Dragon in the gemstone were to be believed.

'Saphira, I will meet you outside the city gates if possible, otherwise you can find me in the morning by my smell. Go find a cave or something to rest for the night'

Saphira was instantly worried for her Little one, easily able to hear the guttural undertone to his voice, as if he was struggling to keep his mouth closed. Before she could say anything, Eragon drew Zar'roc and flew up the stairs.

'Worry not Hatchling, your Rider is strong in body and mind. By morning he will have a grip on the tempest brewing within his mind. Spirits are not malevolent by nature, but when bound to a body, they wreck the mind of the mortal coil and remake it into something monstrous immediately.'

'Then how was Eragon coherent and not like Durza?'

'Because of you Saphira, a Dragon's bond is powerful. From what we were able to see and discern, the Spirits were destroying his body and mind to make him something which wasn't bound to you, for as powerful as the spirits are, the bond between a Dragon and a Rider is more powerful.

And then you breathed fire into him, burning the Spirits completely out of existence. But by the time you destroyed them, Eragon's body had already undergone the changes caused by them. He is now stronger and faster with greater magical powers, though how much greater that remains to be seen. Fly now Bjartskular, we must leave this keep before the walls collapse'

With a rumbling growl, Saphira turned towards where she could feel the wall was hollow on the other side before sweeping her paw and breaking it into pieces. Crawling forwards for a few moments, she came out into the open air, the tunnel having led her directly out of the keep towards the northern area of Gil'ead.

Even as the inferno of anger started growing within his mind as the Dragon's stopped helping him, it did nothing to diminish the awe Eragon was feeling. His senses were better than ever, still growing sharper by the minute and so was his body.

He was faster, stronger and was able to see the minute cracks in a stone wall at the other end of the hallway!

Before he could marvel any more at the changes wrought by Durza's attempt at turning him into a Shade, Eragon brought up his left hand sharply, catching an arrow inches from his chest.

This time, Eragon did not smile and became awed by his reaction time, instead he simply broke the arrow into two and looked above towards the archer.

The beads of sweat rolling down his forehead were clearly visible to Eragon but none of that mattered to him at the moment. With a grunt, Eragon flexed his legs and pushed off the ground, easily jumping up to more than thrice his height.

Before the soldier could even look up at him, Zar'roc was out and driven down his skull. Wrenching the crimson sword from head and removing his brains entirely, Eragon turned towards the corridor behind him and started running towards the footsteps audible to him.

Breaking the door took him less effort than it used to take for him to knock an arrow, the wooden thing no match for his new strength. Showering the group of soldiers on the other side with splinters and dust, Eragon lowered his knees and jumped forwards, swinging his swords around in a circle and decapitating five soldiers at once.

Fountains of blood erupted from the severed necks, showering all of those nearby in the warm lifeblood as the bodies toppled over. Screams and whimpers came in equal measure from the suddenly less sure enforcers of the empire, each of them stumbling back in fear from the monster amidst them.

One of the men pointed his spear at him and screamed with all the bravery he could muster, "Lord Durza will have your head freak! You and your dragon will pay for this! You both will be brought down in chains and caged like the animals you are!"

A part of Eragon's newly sharpened mind could realise the ramblings of a drunk and scared man, so he planned to just leave them be and run towards where he could feel his partner flying towards.

"I bet that dragoness's hide would make nice footwear once Lord Durza and our King flays some of it off her!"

There wasn't even a moment lost before Eragon's hand was buried inside the man's guts with sick squelching noises coming from his body as the rider utterly lost it.

With deep breaths and animalistic fury he snarled, "YOU...DON'T...TOUCH SAPHIRA!" and ripped out the man's heart with the last syllable of his wrathful declaration, Eragon simply burst the muscle into pulp and leapt upon the soldiers like a Ra'zac upon a human. A maelstrom of steel, Eragon spared not a single soldier's life as only one thought dominated his existence,

Leave no threat to Saphira alive.

Screams were cut short and hands raised in surrender were cut down like stalks for harvest as he continued his rampage throughout the streets. Blood flew through the air and ground in streams, the dark liquid seeping through the ground with each slash of Eragon's swords.

Mindless rage and fury flowing through every fiber of his being, Eragon hacked away at each soldier he found with his mind reaching out into the city to root them out. Even the ones running wavy from him in terror were not spared, his currently primal mind recognising them as danger and dealing with it in a suitably primal way.

Finally killing the last soldier he could feel with his mind, Eragon's rage simmered down with exhaustion creeping up his limbs. As the horror of what he had done came over him fully, bile rose up in his throat and he retched in the pool of blood at his feet.

Dropping into a mess of his own creation, Eragon could only curl upon himself as the memories of the past few hours finally overwhelmed him. Whimpering slightly he welcomed the blackness encroaching his vision from all sides, knowing by Saphira's warm and rapidly encroaching presence that whatever had happened, at least his dragoness was safe and here for him.

Many thanks to my discord editor Mercurialists