"Galbatorix's Shruikan"
by Hailie Jade
Chapter Two - Shruikan
A/Ns: This is the second and final part of my really bad story. Same as before - I probably got a lot wrong, so please don't hesitate to tell me via review. In fact, please just review, period.
Galbatorix was remembering again. Again, it upset him. He glared at his sword, hanging on the wall. It was black, midnight black, Shruikan black. Shruikan. Galbatorix remembered the day, too well...
He tore, grief-maddened, through anything in his way. Whether he was on a prairie or in the woods, he couldn't tell. He was blind, agony searing through every fiber of his being. He couldn't take it, he couldn't live like this, SHALLARA WAS GONE!
He finally stopped, falling to his knees, ragged sobs racking his thin frame. What was going on? His head was spinning. He couldn't see, couldn't think, couldn't imagine what was happening to him. A fresh wail burst from his mouth.
Just then, a smallish black dragon wheeled down. His name was Frendai, and his Rider was Lumnan. Lumnan climbed quickly down from Frendai. He hastened to Chenran, worried for his fellow Rider. Chenran wasn't even aware of him. Shallara, Shallara, Shallara, where are you? You're gone, I can't find you, YOU'RE GONE!
"Chenran?"
The soft, scared voice made something snap inside of Chenran. He leapt to his feet, tear streaked face contorted in fury. "Never. Call. Me. That."
"It-it's your name," Lumnan said, even more confused. "Chenran… Chenran, where's Shallara?"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Chenran roared.
"Why not?" Lumnan took a frightened step back. "Are-are you – what's going on?"
"THAT WAS MY NAME WHEN SHE WAS HERE!" With those words, Chenran collapsed into a heap, shaking and rattling. Lumnan scurried back to Frendai.
"Chenran," he said, his voice shaking with fear. "I-I'm going to get help."
"No."
Surprised that Chenran had spoken, Lumnan stopped mounting. "Why not? You're not well –"
"You're not going anywhere." Chenran's face had split into a maniacal grin. His eyes were wild and not as sane as they should have been.
"Ch-Ch…" Lumnan stammered. "What are you –!"
Again, a word burst to Chenran's lips, unbidden. He had never heard it before, and yet he knew what it was, what it would do. And he delighted in it. "Caçâsreíth," he whispered in a low, cruel voice.
Frendai gave a bellow, and swung his head around, trying to protect his Rider. But the flash of light came anyway, and Lumnan, screaming, fell to the ground. Chenran walked slowly forward, every part of him pulsing, throbbing, every sense heightened, everything illuminated. His strange grin was still plastered on. Frendai began to rear back, striking out with his fearsome claws, but Chenran just murmured, "Do you want the same as he got?"
Warily, Frendai dropped back onto all fours. He cast one last nervous look toward Chenran, then immediately turned his attention to his fallen Rider. He made a low, anxious sound. Chenran watched. He felt amused. No, that wasn't right. He didn't feel at all. He felt only emptiness.
The emptiness inside of him was fascinating. He ignored the dragon and dying Rider, choosing to examine himself, instead. He was sensing everything, and yet there was nothing within him. It was so odd. As though someone had cut off his arm, and he was feeling nothing. A part of him had been removed, he realized detachedly. Shallara. His Shallara. He pushed away thoughts of her. What was going on? Why did he feel this way?
Suddenly, Frendai emitted the most terrible sound ever heard by human ears. He screamed, throwing his head back, vibrating with the intensity of his call. Lumnan flopped to the ground, as Frendai pulled away the foreleg that had been supporting him. Lumnan was dead.
I killed him. Killed him like I killed the Urgals.
Like I killed Shallara.
He had killed his own dragon, and was about to have caused another to die. No! Frendai wasn't going anywhere. Chenran's lip curled maliciously. He stretched out one hand, the glint in his wild eyes flashing. Frendai paused in his death keen, frozen in terror by the murder, the ex-Rider.
"Ensä mraríê, fèlka zhãïnck, Cáyséthal," Chenran began to murmur. The words were dark and powerful, he knew. He knew what he could do with them.
He was not Chenran now. He was Galbatorix, great king. He grabbed Frendai's head, still chanting in his new language.
You are Shruikan. And you are now mine.
With two final syllables, Galbatorix was done, and he flung back his head with a deep, terrible laugh.
When he lowered his head again, his eyes flashed red. He was different, and before he was done, the world would be, too.