"Has he been found?" The booming voice called down from the throne.

"No, your Majesty," a strong voice said from a kneeling position. "Morzan and his dragon are currently in pursuit of the thief, I know no more."

"Summon the Sorcerers. Leave me," the messenger dipped his head, stood, bowed once more, and hurried out of King Galbatorix's audience chamber as the king closed his eyes and brought his fingers to his temples. How was this happening? He had bound every security precaution he could to the only possible entrances of the vault and that wasn't to mention the veritable labyrinth of traps set for intruders and those who did not have his personal authorization to be there, yet in a fortnight those had been bypassed twice - once of which he had no knowledge of at all while the other occurred when he was out to capture creatures for his new interrogation master. This left him rather indisposed as Vroengard was a long journey - one impossible to traverse even on the fastest dragon in less than a fortnight. So, here he was, a week after the second intrusion and left grasping at how it was done.

Oh, there was no doubt of what the second thief wanted: what Galbatorix would give his throne over to repossess. The future of the Dragons. The blue egg hatching would have been a blessing of the greatest magnitude. He had already theorized methods to fertilize the bitch in vitro - even he would admit Shruikan would not be a feasible partner for a young broodmare and he would not have his newest toy harmed… Or that was the plan, only for it fall into dust before his very eyes.

Every year, the King had the eggs on display for the Nobility of the land's young hoping that the newest riders would be revealed - fate was hardly ever so cooperative. None of the eggs he had recovered had hatched for his bannermen, he could neither swell the ranks of the Forsworn nor rekindle the number of the near-extinct, once proud race of dragons… But his hopes to do so had been snatched out from under his nose with the sum of all of his research, armory, and treasury. The Brodring Empire was pauperized in a half hour and no one besides himself knew… Though the Nobles may have expected something due to the ten percent tax increase he had ordered throughout the land.

The King sighed as he looked over the still form of his dragon, without him things may have been much worse than they currently were. The first thief not only had the audacity to steal most of his possessions but he had taken the Eldunari and separated them from him! Him! Galbatorix! The strongest human mage to have ever lived yet the ties binding the Eldunari to him had snapped like rotten twine just recently. It was infuriating to the Black King. Almost as infuriating a having to recreate a false dragon egg from materials he had available in one of the few vaults scattered throughout the country - dragon scale, precious stones, and Eldunari he had tucked away in case a day should come that he was separated from his fortress - should the unthinkable happen.

The 'egg,' was nothing more than the Eldunari of a hatchling that had died hardly before it made it out of its shell, an easy task to mold and transmute the fledgling Eldunari to Shruikan's might and His own focus. He had three of the near-useless Eldunari but they worked beautifully in a scenario like this. The eggs were almost perfect replicas of the originals in all matters that could be seen by the naked eye and by a touch of the mind - only through a much closer investigation would it be revealed that there was no heartbeat or signs of life at all within the egg. Only the masters of the old council would know to look for such things - even Morzan was chasing the egg as if it were authentic. Though, that was mostly through lack of trust in his closest lieutenant. Morzan was reliable and fanatical, of that there was no doubt, yet he was also a vicious animal. If he smelt even a drop of weakness he would strike, and the King could not have that turned against himself - so the secret of the eggs remained… Until some upstart managed to infiltrate his castle and steal the sum of all his hard labor!

The King was furious but he leashed his anger as he sat on his throne and watched five of his best sorcerers enter. There were whisperings of a new Shade who walked the land - though there was no true proof this was so. Though having one for himself? It was a prospect now too tempting to ignore.

"My friends," the King said as he smiled magnanimously to his charges kneeling before the throne. "You are aware of our plans?"

"Yes, Majesty," the five of them said in unison, grinning hysterically as they looked up at their lord and master who was amused despite himself. Their loyalty was an excellent trait that he was about to usurp.

"The time is upon us, my friends. It is said a Shade roams these lands - Durza, is his name - we cannot have this upstart becoming a threat to our kingdom. Would you help me to end this threat?"

"Yes, Majesty!" came the impassioned cries from the five men doomed to die.

"Excellent, you may proceed." Instantly, the five moved from their knees to the compass points - besides the man in the middle. These five were about to give their lives to complete this ritual, and they knew it, but it had to be done - for the kingdom, for the Empire, for their king, they would give their lives.

The ritual took a much longer time than Galbatorix was expecting for something that should have been over rapidly… Yet it wasn't. For three days, the king and his servants attempted to coax the Spirits to them but none would come - in the mind of the King, his servants had failed… Until on nightfall of the third day, they succeeded. As one, all the sorcerors, save the one in the middle of the fey ring, fell to the floor - dead. The one in the middle though had changed. Gone was the vibrant blue-eyed man, gone the blonde hair, only to be replaced with skin of bone and hair of blood, the eyes though… They were unlike any eyes the King had seen with one a brighter green than an emerald and the other darker black than a moonless night, never had the King seen such a combination and it unnerved him. But he was King.

Galbatorix rose from his throne as the newly made Shade knelt on both knees as it stared up at him blankly from his place on the stone floor.

"Greetings, Shade," the King said in his baritone, descending from the Dais to meet his new charge. "I am Galbatorix, who art thou?" For moments nothing changed, the Shade simply sat there. Then it blinked. One slow, curious move that the king thought odd but one that set things into motion.

"Trion," the Shade said in a chorus of three voices as it rose to his feet, the king raised an eyebrow at the strange sound but nodded in greeting.

"Be welcome, Trion. I am King in these lands and face another as you."

"None are my like, there is but one greater - for Death our Ally," Trion said in a harsh, cold tone of voice that made the King falter.

"And who could claim to be greater than you?"

"Not you, Galbatorix, son of Indruic," the King felt his eyes widen at the mention of the name thought long forgotten. "Nor Durza, who was Carsaib, son of Huili, can claim dominion over us."

"Then who?"

"Death our Ally, Death our Liege, we follow the Master," the Shade said as it disappeared from view leaving Galbatorix standing there in the silence of the grave - broken only by the breathing of his Dragon.

XXX

AN: Alright! Super, super short chapter that I think is properly titled and something for you guys to chew on for a few weeks! Hope you enjoyed and the next chapter (Right now dubbed Sword of Night) is slated to be posted on the fifth of January (Americans 1-5, rest of the world 5-1) of 2021. I'm not sure who else is ready for it but, like I'm ready for this year to be over, this is just something for you guys to read and relax to. Nothing much but I thought it would be better than the epicness that my Beta (Hkurtz2013) has me trying to shove down your throats :)

Personally, I would love to slow this down a bit - just have to read any of my other stories to prove that much, but unfortunately, things in this story just require super-epic-awesomeness to ensue for the future… That will also be explained in it. But, here's a few short excerpts from it just for fun:

XXX

"Rider Potter," a voice like a river mixed with grinding boulders boomed in my head, "Come."

The stars disappeared only for images to flash before my eyes…

"The time has come. Search under the roots of the Menoa tree, for you shall need a weapon. Come to the Rock of Kuthian and speak your name, then shall the Vault of Souls open before you. The Riders shall rise again."

XXX

"Rider Potter," Oromis said quietly, grabbing my attention as I glanced over at the old elf curiously to find that he wasn't looking at me, "do you recognize that?" he asked, indicating something on the far wall with his sword. And here I thought I told him he could put it up. I scowled slightly but followed his line of sight…"

XXX

"…silver door embossed with a rearing, crowned, crimson dragon with the phrase Nos Levate Draco written in the same blood red."

XXX

"Humans," he said, "parent branch, lesser branch, tree branch, what does it matter? A clutch is a clutch." I turned to look him in the eye and he bumped me with his head. I rolled my eyes at the dragon's antics, I was about to answer him but was cut off…"

XXX

We were interrupted by the sound of a roaring Urzhad. I felt my face turn white as I turned to [my friend] who was one step ahead of me, literally and figuratively, as he was already sprinting away as fast as he could. We weren't fast enough. The lumbering, crashing sound of the enraged bear came upon us faster than we could comprehend. I turned to face my death as it came on us only to be shocked when the white death barreled past us in utter terror.

'What can terrify an Urzhad?'

XXX

I barreled in to see Oromis standing there, gaping up… I felt my breath hitch as I followed his line of sight…

XXX

I think that's enough for now, Happy Yule! Merry Christmas! And a very Happy Holidays to all!