Brooke: NO...that can't be true!

Rebecca: Yep.

Brooke: There's no way-

Ellie: Yep.

Brooke: How'd she NOT get a concussion?

Sarah: No idea.

Brooke: *turning to Meg* 10 times?

Meg: Yep.

"I don't care what they say, I'm in love with you. They try to pull me away but they don't know the truth. My heart's crippled by the vein that I keep on closing." -Leona Lewis

"What the heck were you thinking?" Ellie shouted as her blade crashed upon Meg's. "I trusted you! You were my friend for twelve years! What happened to that?"

Meg said nothing.

"Easy, Ellen," Galbatorix said. "Remember, you may injure, but not kill."

"We'll see about that!" Her next blow came so close to Meg that Ellie was inches from her face.

"Marry us,"

"What?!" She hissed as she spun around, none of her attacks managing to hit Meg.

"Marry Murtagh and I, change our true name. Free him."

In an instant, Ellie understood and looked over to where Murtagh and Eragon were having their own blasted conversation.

With a rough shove, Ellie switched positions with Eragon so that she was facing Murtagh. "Dearly beloved we have gathered here today," She murmured under her breath, then leaned back to avoid Murtagh's swing which managed to cut some of her hair. "To wit—I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"Do you, Megara Jackson, take Murtagh to be your husband?" Eragon asked. Meg spun past Murtagh and attempted to land a blow on Ellie (who promptly yelped) and whispered an "I do."

"And do you, Murtagh, take Meg to be your lawfully wedded wife?" Ellie asked.

"I do,"

"You may kiss-" Meg nearly nicked her arm.

"You may kiss-" Eragon tried, but Murtagh's thrust made him shut up.

"JUST KISS!" Sarah shouted.

And sure enough, they wrapped their arms around each other and kissed. Not a normal kiss, a passionate kiss that broke their bonds to Galbatorix completely.

The four turned to the King and stood defiantly to the man who merely laughed. "You should know, the child only needed to be created to ensure my continued rule."

"You should know," Meg mocked. "That the child was not conceived."

His rage was violent. He drew his sword and lunged for Ellie. Eragon and Murtagh were momentarily held back by his power, but Meg could move—and shoved her friend out of the way, accepting the blade in her navel.

She gasped, the cool steel slipping through her easily. He yanked it out and she slumped. "NO!" Murtagh cried and caught her, holding her close. "Meg, please, stay with me." He whispered, tears in his eyes.

"I...I love you," She murmured, then her eyes rolled back and she fell unconscious, unlikely to ever awaken again.

Sarah and Elva ran to Meg's side while Saphira and Thorn attacked Shruikan. Ellie looked up to Eragon, tears in her eyes from where Meg had shoved her, but he was preoccupied.

Murtagh rose suddenly, his eyes blazing with fury. He began to mutter a dozen incantations until he shouted, "I stripped him of his wards! He's-" Galbatorix sent a bolt of lightening his way and struck him, sending him flying until he struck the wall and fell forward.

With the last light of his consciousness, he crawled to Meg and took her hand, lying still as death.

"MONSTER!" Ellie roared and took up Meg's blade, formerly Murtagh's. She found that Eragon had subdued him to a mad man clutching his head and she went to him, relishing as he cried at the pain of the thousands who had suffered because of him before. With Eragon's hand on hers, they thrust the blade through the empty place where his heart should have been.

In his last breath, Galbatorix cried out a spell that made him explode, destroying nearly everything. Ellie and the others hovered over Murtagh and Meg and closed their eyes, trusting their safety to Eragon's spells.