This is indeed going to be the chapter of the battle of Farthen Dur. You'll get a good view on how powerful Connor actually is, as well as how much he's come to value Irelia in such a short time. This will probably be the longest chapter so far, so enjoy!

"I would like to join your movement." Connor, fully armored, stood beside Irelia in front of Ajihad in his office. "And since I will be joining in your movement, I do feel obligated that within twenty-four hours Farthen Dur will be invaded by the shade Durza along with an urgal army."

"That is troubling news, but I am glad that you have decided to join the Varden. I assume you will not allow any of our spellcasters to examine your mind?"

"I would allow Irelia or Murtagh, nobody else. I need to properly meet Murtagh anyways."

"That would be acceptable, you may find him in the dragonhold. Irelia, would you show Aatrox there?" A confused expression appeared on Irelia's face, before quickly disappearing.

An hour later, Irelia and Connor walked into the dragonhold. Connor, not bothering to knock, pushed past the wards on Murtagh's room door, entering with no noticeable drain in energy.

A loud roar was immediately heard, Thorn rushing over towards the two, before pausing. "You cannot just do that! What the hell man?" Murtagh appeared from behind Thorn, panting. "Greetings Irelia, I assume this is Aatrox?"

"Indeed," He took a step forward, facing Thorn, "She likes you. I'd like to talk to you alone some time, Thorn, is it?." Irelia and Murtagh ignored him.

"He has agreed to join the Varden. He is going to allow you to search his mind." Irelia assured.

"Can he at least take off the helmet?"

"He will not."

"Has anyone seen his face even? Is he actually named Aatrox? I can't believe he didn't rename himself."

She blushed a little and stammered, "I-I have. And his real name isn't Aatrox."

"Whatever then." He walked up to Connor, "Do I have your permission to inspect your mind for any sources of treachery?" Connor nodded. "Let's begin then."

"I warn you, my mind is not a place to be delved into, if you go anywhere you shouldn't be, death is almost certain." Murtagh turned deathly white.

After a moment of breathing, Murtagh reached out with his mind. Connor allowed him into his mind, and he was immediately swept away.

He was laying facedown on a stone slab. Pain shot through his body, his vision swam, but for some reason he didn't pass out. A demonic laughter echoed through the dungeon room he was in. Suddenly, the sharpest pain he'd ever felt stabbed through his left shoulder blade. He saw vast amounts of blood running down the slab, his mind completely blank save for pain, and only pain.

He was being attacked. A dark haired man stood before him, a massive longsword in his hands, swinging in for a killing blow. He went to raise his sword, but there was nothing in his hands, and he instead ducked and rolled away. Looking more properly at his hands, they were covered in blood, his knuckles covered in blood, bone visible at parts. Again, pain, and only pain. Pushing himself up through the immense pain, he turned to face the man. Letting out a yell, he ran forward. As the man swung the sword, he angled his bare arm to catch the edge of the blade, a loud, sickening crunch sounding out, he punched the man with such force his fist went through the man. Both collapsed, as his vision faded, he heard a slow clapping and looked up to see Galbatorix, grinning. "Get up boy, you've got two more opponents!"

He was staring at a dragon, a beautiful dark purple. She stared back at him, but there was a sadness, or maybe pain, behind her amethyst eyes. She wasn't very big, maybe two years old, although she looked like she was built for speed and agility rather than size and power. He took a step towards her, and another. His next step, he was yanked back. Looking down, he saw he was chained to a post, his dragon free from restraints, but seemingly not allowed to touch him. He screamed, deep from his lungs as his heart broke just a little bit more.

I'm so sorry…

Pushing Murtagh out of his mind, Connor looked at him, his pained expression hidden behind his helmet, "You're weak, but I see potential. Be glad you haven't suffered such as me. You're lucky I like your dragon."

Murtagh just looked at him, before falling down, Irelia rushing to his side. "What did he see in there?" She yelled at him with a concerned look on her face.

"Ask him when he wakes. He only experienced a small portion of my life." With that, Connor turned and walked away. Irelia waited until Murtagh woke up, informed him of the impending battle, then headed down to the training grounds where the army was being informed of the incoming invasion.

Connor stood alone in front of one of three tunnel entrances. He had tried to convince the commanders that he could simply kill all the urgals by himself, but they refused to believe him. A third of the Varden's army stood hundreds of feet behind him, most of them staring at him. They must think I'm crazy. Maybe I'll finally get my chance to kill Durza.

After waiting at that tunnel entrance for nearly two hours, he finally heard the urgals, distant grunting and heavy breathing steadily growing closer and louder. The first urgal stormed its way out of the tunnel, slowing down and staring at the solitary knight before it.

"I will give you two options, urgal. Turn back and tell the rest of your army to leave before it is too late, or every single one of you shall die before the sun falls today." He stepped forward, sword still not drawn. The urgal simply stared at him, before charging forward.

Connor shook his head. "Death it is." He started walking towards the charging urgal, getting faster and faster until he was just a blur. Before the urgal could react, his fist was completely through the urgal, sticking out the other side. The beast stared down at his chest as he pulled his fist out. It collapsed, dead. Connor immediately disappeared as the urgals started to pour out of the tunnel, appearing in empty spaces, sword finally drawn for the first time. He started to blink in and out of vision, his blade a dark opal with pulsing purple veins. Every time he appeared, dozens of urgals fell, and it didn't even look like he swung his sword. Many died with a look, or a mentally cast spell.

He couldn't see Irelia or Murtagh, but heard Thorn roaring in the background, and knew the dragon was holding his own. Where the hell is Durza? He thought to himself, still killing dozens of urgals a minute, completely covered in blood and gore. Eventually the small army behind him started to spread over to the other two armies to assist.

Suddenly, a chill covered the whole battlefield. A mind pressed up against his. He held his barriers up heavily, eventually realizing that the mind was Irelia's, letting her in. Murtagh is in trouble, the shade is here, in the dragonhold. Taking only a moment to think, Connor turned towards the seemingly endless amount of urgals, and cast a spell. His energy truly drained a little bit for the first time in a long time, as a hundred urgals caught fire and started to attack other urgals. He disappeared, reappearing a hundred feet closer to the dragonhold, running fast.

As he approached at full speed, he could hear Durza's cackling laughter, quickly followed by a scream. Reaching out with his mind, he could feel Irelia and Thorn moving towards the dragonhold. Pushing through the large door, he saw Durza standing over Murtagh, bleeding profusely out of his back. As Durza lifted his sword, bloodied with the blood of the rider, Connor barely managed to block the killing blow to Murtagh.

"Ahh, Aatrox, I was wondering where you were, old friend!"

"I have never been your friend." Lifting his sword, he moved forward, "Today is the day that this world will be rid of a shade, may fate decide." Flames spit out from his body, forming a burning purple ring. Both shades move forward at lightning fast speeds.

Blocking a few blows with ease, Connor reached through Durza's guard and cut his thigh shallowly. After a few more blows, both shades backed up, never breaking eye contact. "Take off the helmet. I wish to see the man I kill today!" Durza shouted at Connor. Connor lifted his sword, held it up and dropped it, embedding it into the ground due to its weight. Slowly reaching up, he removed the helmet. His eyes were completely blood red.

Both shades rushed at each other, blades flashing in a blur, metallic screeching screaming out every time their blades met. They danced around each other, blocking every blow from each other. Eventually, Durza hit a blow on Connor, stabbing into his hip before kicking him in the chest. He flew into the nearest wall, cracking it and many of his ribs.

Suddenly, the entire ceiling shattered, the Isidar Mithrim blowing up into a million pieces. Irelia rode on the red dragon, her blades billowing around her, dripping blood. Despite all of the pain that the shade was in, Connor could only think about how she looked so majestic.

Focus!

Shaking it off, the pieces of the star sapphire falling around him, he blinked and appeared in front of Durza, blade in hand, standing straight up despite his injuries.

At the same time that Connor stabbed Durza through the heart, Irelia rushed towards Murtagh, healing him with all the energy she could muster.

Durza, looking down at the sword in his heart, laughed. "I will haunt you forever, boy." Cackling loudly, sputtering out blood, he threw his sword. The bone-white abomination of a weapon flew towards Irelia as she stood up to face the battle. The sword stabbed straight through her abdomen, pinning her against the wall, blood rushing everywhere.

He turned, leaving his sword embedded in the shade, and ran, he ran faster than any other creature ever had before. Disappearing, he showed up next to Irelia, pushing his energy in her, keeping her alive while he removed the blade from her abdomen. Meanwhile, Thorn picked up Murtagh with a large clawed foot and started to fly away, giving a vast store of energy to Connor as he left.

He poured freely into her wound, no care for his own safety. "No no no no!" He screamed as he poured his own life into her. He didn't think he could walk anymore as he knelt over her.

As Durza died, he let loose a wave of energy, darkening the entire battlefield. Connor picked up the elf and started running, hearing cracking and scraping within his own chest. The moment he got out of the door to the dragonhold, another explosion erupted from Durza's corpse, knocking him down with Irelia safely in his arms. A piercing pain came from his chest, and he saw one of his own ribs had broken through his chest plate and was sticking out.

Before he could pass out, the spirits that resided in Durza came flying to him, entering his mind. The spirits healed all of his cuts and bruises, unfortunately not his ribs. They fought for access into his mind, and he threw up his mental barriers stronger than ever before, forcing them away from his consciousness. The spirits settled down in the back of his mind as he passed out, the Ionian blade dancer in his arms.

Okay, so I know that our main character could probably be classified as OP, but just know that at his current state, the king is still stronger than Connor. PS: the name confusion between Aatrox/Connor is going to be over soon, just bear with me lol.