I woke up with an annoyed groan. I was sitting in a cell made completely of stone bricks, except for one locked metal door with a barred opening in the top, and a window set high in the wall and fitted with iron bars. Sunlight streamed through it, often blocked by moving shadows. I was sitting on a pile of rotten hay. Some jerk had tied my hands in front of me. I had a headache. And I was most definitely not the happiest person in the world.

I set about chewing the ropes off my wrists. I was done after a few minutes of vicious gnawing, and I picked out the strands of rope stuck in my teeth.

"Yo!" I shouted at nobody in particular. "Do you have any Sudoku puzzles? Or maybe an iPod or something? I'm sorta bored around here. You people need to improve your prison quality some. I mean, the department of health would have a fit if they could see this."

See, I was more bored and annoyed than scared. It's sort of hard for me to be scared of a clown who's addicted to make-up, nail polish, and hair dye. I was actually pretty surprised that Durza's sword wasn't covered in red and pink lipstick.

When no one answered, I just started playing with the mice hidden in the hay. Somebody must've gotten pissed off after a few hours of listening to frightened squeals and "Gotcha," because the clown himself came to visit me in my dingy little cell around midnight.

Needless to say, I was absolutely delighted when the metal door opened and white-faced make-up man appeared. Durza stepped in and two guards closed the door behind him. I leaned against the wall, trying to look as bored as possible. It wasn't hard.

"Do you have any crossword puzzles?" I asked him.

The Shade ignored me. "I see you are awake," he said in a smooth voice.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course not! I'm just sleepwalking. Hurry up and get to the point already."

"Very well, if that is how you want it," he said. "Do you know your name?"

"Duh! Who doesn't?" I said.

"Could you tell me what it is?" Durza asked. Man, these people have big personality changes. Last time I saw him, he was a confused moron. This time, his every movement radiated confidence.

"Nope," I answered. "I don't even know it. Well, I'm called Dusk, but that's obviously not my name."

"You just said that you did," Durza said, struggling to hide his impatience.

"When?" I asked with mock surprise. "I just asked you who doesn't, I never said I actually knew my name. You need to get more literal if you want to have a conversation with me."

"How did you get wings?" he asked me. "Were you born with them?"

"No," I said. "I just have them. Got a problem with that, clown?"

Durza gritted his pointy teeth together angrily. He seemed to be searching for a good retort, but none came. "King Galbatorix will be here in two weeks," he said finally, opening the door. "He will deal with you." And on that happy note, he stepped into the hallway outside and locked the door behind him with a click.

The second the door closed, I searched for Saphira with my mind. She was three cells away from me and still asleep. Next, I scanned the underground prison complex for Durza, and didn't find him anywhere. He had probably teleported or warped or something, but as long as he wasn't anywhere near, I was fine.

Now came the hard part. I had never entered anyone's mind before, let alone controlled one, so this might be more difficult than I thought. I checked out the two guards in front of my cell door. One had weak defenses, the other had none. I went for the defenseless one(poor kid) and quickly took over before he even noticed what was going on.

Next I was in completely in control of his body. He had a sword, a shield, armor, and, lo and behold, keys!

"Hey, man," I made him say in a stupid, drunk voice. The other guard glanced at him. "Look over there! It's a Metroid!"

"A what?" the guard I wasn't in control of asked, looking in the direction my guard was pointing at. The next move was easy. I forced my guard to unsheathe his sword and slew the other guy with a single thrust. Then I made him get out his keys and unlock the door. I told him to leave the keys in the door, then made him take his sword out of his buddy and stab himself. He was dead before he hit the ground.

I pushed the cell door open and dragged the two bodies into the cell. Then I took the non-bloody sword out of its sheath, locked the door behind me, and head off down to where Saphira was.

Six guards stood in front of the dragoness' cell. I did the same thing I had done with the two dead men back there, although it was more difficult because once the one I was in control of had killed two of his fellows, the other three and ended his life. Then I had to step in myself and kill the remainder, and believe me, it was not easy, what with my minimal training and all that.

I fumbled with the keys and unlocked Saphira's cell. I heard shouting coming from somewhere nearby; apparently, I had been too loud with my method of killing.

Countless chains held the sleeping dragon down, but with a few whacks from my trusty new sword, I tore them apart. I shouted at Saphira, from next to where I assumed her ears were, "WAKE UP YOU STUPID DRAGON!" I no longer cared whether anyone heard me or not, since, from the sounds of surprise from near my old cell, I had been discovered.

Saphira sprang upright, roaring loudly. "We need to get out of here before Durza gets back!" I yelled over her noise.

She asked, confused, Where are we? What happened?

"Does that matter!" I screeched at her.

Why, no, it doesn't, she said. Then she set to work doing what she did best: roaring and breaking down prisons with her nice little claws.

I'll be back soon, I told her with my mind, since I couldn't be bothered to shout. I need to check out the armory, they probably have all sorts of goodies in there.

Very well, but be quick, Saphira answered. We do not have much time.

I took off running the way where there weren't any soldiers. If I'm not quick enough, then you'll have to come fetch me.

I will.

I stepped into the armory. All the soldiers in the place had been too occupied with Saphira to give me any trouble, so I had gotten free reign of the whole prison. I whistled at the amount of impressive weapons in the room, and set about picking one I liked. I found a long, sharp dagger with a round piece of polished jet as the pommel-stone. I grabbed the the ebony leather hilt, which had been wrapped in black wire, slid it into its matching scabbard, and tied it to my right thigh with a strap of leather. I was about to head back out when I saw two other weapons that caught my attention: an exotic-looking bow and a sword without a sheath. I grabbed them as well and ran out of the room.

Saphira! Get yourself over here! I called. I sent her my location and ran down the corridor. Now that the soldiers had figured out it would be impossible to get Saphira, they would be coming after me. I heard footsteps from in front and behind me, and quickly took out my keys and unlocked a nearby cell door. I closed the door just in time. About thirty soldiers pounded by, yelling and screaming.

I was about to leave, but I heard a soft moan from behind me, and turned.

An elf with long black hair and pointy ears lay on the ground. Her eyes flickered open, and she said weakly, "Help."

Change of plans, I told Saphira. I'm over here.

The elf staggered upright just as loud screeching noises came from the ceiling. I knocked the elf out of the way of large chunk of falling rock before she got flattened.

"My weapons," she whispered, and I realised the sword and bow were probably hers. I handed them over, and she put the sword into her belt and slung the bow over her back. "Who are you?"

"Shut it," I said kindly.

Then Saphira's head appeared from a large hole in the roof. The elf stared and took an involuntary step backwards, but I grabbed her arm and lifted both of us into the air. It was tiring to fly and keep hold of her, though, so I took the easy way out.

"Here, catch!" I called to Saphira, and threw the elf lady into the air. Her eyes were wide as Saphira caught her in her claws and climbed into the air. I followed, ignoring the cries of surprise and the archers under us. Their arrows fell back short, and me, Saphira, and the elf vanished into the night.