Hello everyone,

Back with another chapter!

As always there is an authors note at the bottom of the chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Now, luckily everyone in this group has had no experience with magic, so this will be easier for all of you." I started as I had my group sat down in a room.

"Why were we separated into different groups?" Someone from the back randomly asked.

"Well it's simple really, everyone here is new to magic. The other groups consist of people who are already familiar with magic but want to specialize a little bit, for example, everyone in Angela's group are healers and have no interest in fighting or power. The other group under Vanir is for people who will march with the armies and fight the magicians of the empire." I said summing up how I split the groups up.

"And what is it that this group will focus on?" The man that looked about the same age as me asked from the front.

"What is your name?" I asked him.

"Carn." He answered quickly.

"I am going to set the foundations for magic, while also unlocking everyone's magic, since I am the only one who knows how. Now, anymore questions?" I asked slightly annoyed at being interrupted constantly.

"Good. Now I like to think of magic as being split up several ways. The language, the mind, the world, and energy. These areas encompass every aspect necessary to use magic." I stopped to let that sink in.

"We will all start with the mind, it is the most necessary to unlocking magic." I continued and I noticed I still had everyone's attention.

"Carn? Would you mind stepping up please." I asked of him.

He looked nervous but nodded his head and obeyed. "Magic allows one to extend their mind in certain directions, past their body, you can touch other people's minds, plants, rock, everything. This is going to be one of the most important lessons you can learn."

"Carn, I want you to close your eyes and tell me if you feel anything." I told him.

He nodded once again and I reached out to his mind and touched it. Immediately his feelings and thoughts came to me.

What is that? I heard him ask himself, he obviously felt me. I decided to be a little more forceful so I 'grabbed' onto his mind and pulled.

His mind didn't snap back into place like mine did when Brom did the same thing to me. Instead he seemed familiar with the act, his mind told me that this wasn't the first time he felt this foreign sensation.

I guided his mind around the room and let him touch the others minds, their feelings, but I didn't let him delve too deep.

That is the one that was standing beside you. I spoke into his mind.

Roran? He asked me once he realized who it was.

Yes. I'm going to put you back, pay attention and recognize the feeling of returning to your body, you must never get lost, ever. I told him as I put his mind back to where it was supposed to be.

He opened his eyes and looked around excitedly. "Incredible."

I smiled at him and then turned to the rest of the room.

"Next!"

"They're pathetic." Vanir told me as he walked into the study that I had taken over.

He's right. Shadowcat said from my lap. She is way clingier than Solumbum apparently.

"Yes, that's why I gave them to you. You have more patience than I do." I told him.

"Take them back." He whined in my ear.

I sighed. "Vanir, they are not like me, you cannot expect them to take to it like I did. Teach them what they need to know and teach them the language, they will do the rest. Think of it like you influencing human magicians for the millenia to come, because once we win, these humans will be the new teachers for the rest of our race."

He eyes narrowed but I saw something click, he didn't say anything, instead turning around and walked out.

Well said young one. Shadowcat told me in my mind. Most of the time I forgot she was even there.

Love you too.

"How goes the training?" I asked walking up to the training fields and startling our military commander.

"It's only been a week, but the improvements …well they speak for themselves." Jormundur said looking out over the marching formations.

It was fairly early in the morning, the sun had yet to shine through the giant hole in the top of the mountain we were in.

"We have enforced the strict rules listed out and there was an uproar at first, but after a few examples ...well, things have improved. Every morning they are awoken before the sun rises and they start their run, in full armor. After that, we begin the marching formations, and we have been beating that into them. Afternoons are for the shield walls, which need improvement but as it stands ...we have improved by leaps and bounds since the battle." Jormundur finished.

"And our numbers?" I asked genuinely curious.

"Just over twenty-thousand. And that's with boys in the ranks, no older than fourteen some of them." He answered bitterly at the end.

"They'll be men soon. Whether we want them to or not, but these tactics will help them survive, this gives us the best chance." I said trying to justify such a thing.

"Little more than children." He continued.

"Aye." Was the only thing I could say, what was I supposed to say, he is right.

"And the magicians?" He asked me.

"Some are taking to it faster than others but it goes well, much better than I expected." I answered and he nodded.

"You asked for me." I asked walking into Nasuada's quarters.

I hadn't seen her in the two weeks since our little chat. She looked like she was getting less sleep but adapting well.

"Yes I did." She answered simply.

"What is your plan after the war?" She asked me randomly.

"Rest." I said truthfully after a moment's contemplation. She actually seemed surprised at the revelation. Before she could ask another question or comment I continued.

"Then I will start a magical school somewhere, where? I don't know but I would like to teach for a while. Then hopefully after I have given the world the tools to educate itself on magic, I can retire to a little cottage somewhere and help raise grandchildren, then I would like to die peacefully, in bed, next to the love of my life."

She just stared at me. I returned the gaze although mine was much less intense than hers.

"A noble goal." She said as she broke eye contact.

"Aye, and one that I feel will be impossible." I returned.

"Why do you say that?" She asked as if I had just broke her heart.

"This is war. Assuming I survive, I am Eragon Shadeslayer's cousin. People will want things from me, and I'm not sure I will be able to resist."

Her eyes seemed like they understood everything I just said. "Still, a noble goal."

"You? Have you given thought to afterwards?" I returned the question.

"Honestly? If I survive, and we win, I imagine I will become queen." She answered.

"Is that what you want?"

"More than anything."

I saw her in a different light, not necessarily in a bad light, respectful. Someone who wanted something in life and made it happen, it was inspiring. It was also frightening.

That lust for power can be dangerous. I thought remembering a certain someone with silver hair, purple eyes, and dragons.

"What you told me about being a tyrant, last time we spoke, I've been thinking about it." She continued.

"And where have your thoughts led you?" I responded.

"Everyone is a tyrant, in some way. Do you think it is possible to rule without being one?" She genuinely asked.

She's been thinking alright. My thought supplied.

"Yes, there is a fine line all good rulers must walk between administration and oppression. The people will do your job for you, culturally, but every once in a while, someone or something will tip the balance. It is your job as a Queen to make sure we all walk the proper path, and the only way to do that is to walk it first, and have us follow." I answered, thinking about the 'good' King/Queen archetype.

"You would make a good King." Nasuada said out of the blue.

I met her eyes again to see if she was lying or not. Or maybe that was a proposal.

"Is that a proposal?" I asked her mirroring my thoughts.

"Not now, but if we win, you would be an obvious choice, politically and ...personally I know you make a good partner." She continued with a straight face, no blush at all.

I smiled. "I am flattered, really. Why don't I think on it?" I answered.

"Of course, first we have to win, I don't need an answer until then."

I didn't say anything, instead I was lost in my thoughts about this.

"Now onto the real topic. You are free to recruit magicians from wherever you want, you have free reign. I have accepted my ignorance and I have also accepted that I was scared of magic because of my ignorance. That is the last we will speak on it."

I was about to respond when she beat me to it, no doubt realizing how much time we had spent together.

"Don't forget that we move out and start marching next week. You are dismissed."

Organizing a convoy of about seventy thousand people was no joke. My seat on the council and rise to power was also showing off my intelligence, I quickly made myself the number three person in the Varden in under a month since joining.

This was why I and the rest of the Du Gata Vrangr were leading the procession. Or maybe it's because of our ability to scout better than anyone else in the army.

Either reason didn't matter to me, it was a wondrous opportunity to train the new magicians in my care. It also allowed for longer uninterrupted lessons on the ancient language, and longer periods allowed for getting the body used to transferring energy.

Carn rode beside me, someone I saw that was a lot like me from my last life, before the 'merge'. He was ambitious, he was hard working, and most importantly, he tried to be a good person.

Sometimes life just doesn't let us be. I thought thinking about what he told me about his family.

*Flashback*

I twisted and pulled on his mind, with much less force than I did with the Twins. I still wanted him sane after all. Then I slipped through his barriers.

Blood. The image splattered across my mind as Carn cut the connection.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.." I started before he interrupted me.

"It's ok." He said as he got up and started walking around the room.

I didn't say anything, instead I just watched him. He was the only one who showed up everyday after the normal lessons. Every single day, he stayed until nearly dark. We were getting to know each other fairly well.

"You know that I travelled here from Gilead right?" He asked me.

I nodded, not sure where he was going with this.

"I wasn't alone when I left, I was traveling with my mother and sister. My father just passed away, right after my eighteenth birthday, and the debtors came to collect. When we couldn't pay, they threatened to sell us into slavery. They had connections in the imperial army. So we ran, to the only place we could." He continued.

"We were almost here when we were attacked. He made me choose, he asked me, your mother or your sister? Which is most important to you?" Carn said with shadows under his eyes. I wasn't actually expecting him to tell me about it but he continued.

"So I chose, my mother had lived longer and she would have wanted me to choose my sister, so I did." Carn continued and looked away when he spoke next.

"He slit both of their throats. I blacked out and they were all dead, not a scratch on their body, eyes wide open. I assumed it was magic. I was found by Varden patrols the next day and brought here, a day before the battle. " He continued.

"Who was it?" I asked, curious as to how he got into the situation anyway.

"Slavers. In the end, the thing we were running from, caught up to us and I couldn't protect us. Now you know why I am here every day."

"So you heard of someone willing to train magicians and you thought you could figure out whether or not it was you who killed those men?"

He nodded.

*Flashback end*

Ever since that particular lesson, I had taken him under my wing so to speak. A motivated person can be very dangerous without guidance after all.

He was also soaking up knowledge like crazy. His knowledge of the ancient language was growing faster than mine had under Brom's tutelage. He was still nowhere near fluent but he was farther along than he had been in the books for sure. He was also extremely crafty with mind magic, he was built for wizarding duels.

"Come on everyone, we're going hunting." I said to all the members of Du Gata Vrangr.

I got a bunch of inquisitive looks but everyone got off of their seats around their fires that were spread out around the campsite.

I didn't actually mean to make Angela get up but it looked like she wanted to see this particular lesson. I started to join minds with the members of my group. We all melded together seamlessly because of our practice.

I sent out the command to Angela and Vanir to do the same and then the three of us combined the groups, making sure no one got lost in each other's minds. It was rare for that type of thing to happen but the odds increased with an elf and Angela in our midst.

I let them all see my intention and made sure they 'watched' me reach within myself and grab the power within myself. The all followed me and whispered the spell needed to silence our footsteps and make us scentless. A perfect spell for hunting, and one we could keep up without feeling the drain on our reserves.

I sent our minds out, guiding us around the forest as we walked together. I touched the minds of all of the plants, went deep inside the minds of trees and showed them the wonders of truly understanding the world through our minds.

Then I finally found a stag, a perfect way to teach them the next lesson.

I want you all to feel his mind carefully. Vanir if you would. I told them as I disconnected my mind. I didn't want them to know the spell I was about to use to cause the death of this noble creature.

I stopped its heart with no words, only will. Something extremely dangerous but I wanted them to understand the feeling of another beings death, not how to cause it, not just yet. I melded my mind back with the groups before the animal truly died and I could feel some of their anguish at experiencing that first hand. I took the energy from the animal and guided it to be stored within the necklace hidden under my shirt.

This is one of the most important lessons you will learn from me. Energy can be transferred between living beings, and it can be stored in crystals. There is no need for the ancient language to do this, simply will. I stopped explaining this to them as I bent down to the magnificent stag and grabbed it.

My enhanced strength easily allowed me to lift the animal and drop it onto my shoulders. I started walking back towards the group and led them back to the campsite.

This is also a perfect reason to explain why the elves are vegetarians, as were most of the dragon riders of old. Most cannot stomach the thought of taking another's life after they experience this, even to feed themselves.

I paused again to let everyone digest the information.

Magicians and death walk hand in hand, this is something you must accept if you are to continue down this path. On the battlefield, I will ask you to hunt down the magicians of the imperial army and kill them. I will not judge if you decided to, instead, become a healer and join Angela's group. That is a very noble thing to do. But for everyone else this will be our main mission during the battles, the soldiers will handle everything else.

I revealed the reasoning for this little expedition of mine. Before I had been teaching them magic, building their foundation, letting them forget that we are apart of an army. Now they all had a decision to make

Now you can make that decision fully understanding what we will be doing. I finished and broke off the connection just as we reached the camp again.

You did well, young one. Shadowcat told me as she came up and rubbed herself against me.

Thank you. I wasn't sure if I was laying it on too thick. I responded. She didn't answer.

Vanir went about skinning the animal and preparing dinner for everyone who wanted it. The only people who ate were me and Carn. Everyone else, instead decided to eat from the vegetables given by the army.

Afterwards after the food had settled I nodded to Vanir. He got up almost immediately and Carn found a wooden stick about the length of a sword thrown into his hands.

"What is this?" Carn asked Vanir.

"I would pick it up if I were you Carn." I answered him.

"Why."

*SMACK*

"That's why."

Another swing by Vanir, except this time it was blocked and the next swing hit.

I raised my voice to where all the students could hear me. "Last lesson of the night! The easiest wait to kill a magician is to get close to them. From now on, everyone but the healers will be required to carry a weapon and more importantly, learn how to use it! If any healers wish to join, well that is your decision. Vanir has volunteered to teach you the ways of the sword! Everyone else gets me! Everyone come grab a stick and wait in line."

I could see Angela grinning from ear to ear, enjoying this just as much as Vanir and I were.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Carn asked me dodging another swing.

"Nope!"

A/N: Boom another chapter done. We are moving to Surda!

What does everyone think of Carn? I have been waiting to introduce his character for a while now and he was one of the finalists of the SI back in the planning stages. I think someone could do a really good Carn!SI if they tried.

There have been some MCxArya requests in the reviews, what does everyone think about that?

How was the chapter? Any thoughts? Let's talk about it in the reviews!