The dragons flew on endlessly over the rolling emerald forest below, trees roaring in the wind as the others hovered all around them. Dream kept weaving between everyone present, unable to stop smiling as he showed off his magnificent green wings that shone in the daylight.

Reaper would often just float along with them, wings spread wide in the illusion of actually using them as he hovered on his backside as though laying on the ground a ways below. Nightmare was playing with the new weapons gifted from queen Islanzadí and a gorgeous sickle he'd been carrying for a while, seated atop his currently blackened Blaster, wind whistling through his tendrils.

Bird was further up above their group, riding on updrafts as he tried to stay out of hearing range, humming and even singing to himself up there as he did so. Horror was chatting with Dust and Ghost as Killer and Cross lazily tossed knives between each other, calling out taunts as X endured Phantom and Powder including him in their conversations.

Blue was chattering with Dream as the other looped around, pausing now and then, even landing behind him on the saddle as GB joined in their chats, Nightmare joining in himself at times, but preferring to talk to Eragon, Saphira and Orik as the trio had their own riddle game with each other.

Hours passed like this, the group shifting around as everyone had the chance to catch up with each other on their misadventures during the stay in Ellesméra. At some point Killer and Dust got to talking about hunting again as Blue moved on to catch up with Reaper, Dream settling on Cross's Blaster as they caught up and Bird swooping down to talk to GB.

By sundown, they had already reached the plains between the Du Weldenvarden and Hadarac Desert, landing down to break camp in the tall grass around a pleasant fire that GB kept shooting small bursts of heat at to make it flare up, sending clouds of embers into the air to blend in with flickering fireflies as everyone dined on Blue's velvet cake and banana pudding, coupled with Horror's fresh venison, meat being something they'd missed in the land of the elves.

Now that they were free of the concealing magics of Du Weldenvarden, the Apple Twins wasted no time in meeting each other and embracing one another before stepping into the realm of the unconscious, letting the others wind down and fall asleep as they wandered the thoughts of the sleeping Alagaësia.

In one place, familiar minds were aglow, yet fogged from their view.
The mists of a timeless and broken god's power shrouded these consciousnesses when Cicállaé reached them, instead a pair of turquoise eyelights stared blankly in their direction, as though the entity behind them were blind or asleep.

And a part of Cicállaé recognized the aura emanating from the spirit, as changed as it now may be from their last meeting.
The night went on, and the god of emotion returned to it's state of two beings in the early hours of the morning. The lighter half drifted to sleep, yet the darker… the darker brought forth a fragment of power he had come into possesion of many years ago.

A beautiful orb glowing the color of midday skies shone in his hands, whispering incoherently, a forgotten shard of a greater entity, a being torn asunder in a terrible event long, long ago, something that echoed across the Multiverse when it occurred.
An event capable of killing a god, leaving them forever a shadow of themselves, lest they finally returned all their lost shards and became whole once again.
It had taken him decades to discover what this orb of power truly was.
And Nightmare knew who it belonged to.

He knew there was another god of the Multiverse in Alagaësia.

. • ° . • ° . • ° . • °

They had been flying for another day, drifting between sand and sky as they floated over the Hadarac, countless waves stretching to the horizon made not of water, but of sand.
As they day drew to a close once more, the team fell to silence, gazing at the distant mountains to the east known as Du Fells Nángoröth, the place wild dragons called home.
We must visit there someday. Saphira commented, metaphorically breaking the silence.

As night fell and they rested amid the sand, the air so dry Nightmare felt himself withering, coated in liquid that was beginning to dry out and become like hardened tree sap. He struggled to move, Dream groaning as he tucked his vines in under his ribs, complaining of a dryness that made them burn.
Nightmare even went so far as to dive into the pool after everyone was finished refilling on water and scrying, returning still goopy and promptly hugging Dream with all his limbs, the lighter twin accepting the wet hug gratefully.
The Twins took shelter under Saphira's wings with Eragon that night, where at least some moisture was retained, curling around each other protectively.

The third day they got lucky, the wind picked up behind them and pushed the dragons forward, giving them an enormous boost in speed and driving them all the way to the other end of the desert.
Here, on the wild plains, they flew over nomads on horses and clothed in many robes, shouting and shaking spears at them, only for GB to roar in response, the rest of the team laughing and whooping as the nomads scattered, a few swooping down to mockingly chase them before continuing on.

They settled on the southern end of Silverwood Forest, named such due to the majority of the trees being beech, willow and poplar. It was very different from Du Weldenvarden, full of sun and joyous chirps while the pines of the north were silent and full of deep shadows. The air was also still quite warm, not the blistering heat of the desert, but nowhere near as chilly as Ellesméra had been.
The team collectively shrugged as the Twins went off and slept standing, merged limbs yearning upward like that of a tree, the skeletons themselves hugging each other peacefully.

Here they flew on to Aberon, Surda's capital, no longer bothering to hide themselves, so they were treated to the sound of many shocked and even frightened folk of the villages below as they soared overhead, GB sometimes roaring for effect, Saphira calling out in response despite flying right beside him.

By late afternoon they arrived at the capital, a squat city that sat close to the flat earth, centering on a bluff that beheld Borromeo Castle, guarded by three walls, many towers and several hundred ballistae designed to kill a dragon.

The group landed within one of the inner wards, the air clouding as the dragon wings sent plumes of dust into the air. The horses tied to posts nearby caused such an uproar that several minds managed to converge on them at once to calm the equines down- which resulted in a laugh from a few of them before they all looked to the soldiers racing around to the ballistae on the parapets.
Then a group of twelve emerged from the castle to greet them, at their head a tall dark-skinned man that bowed at them, guards copying him.

"Welcome Your Majesty, Rider, and Wyrdaí Islingrya. I am Dahwar, son of Kedar. I am King Orrin's seneschal."
The skeletons and Riders nodded, before several introductions rang out. Dream seemed to surprise the man, who apologized for not addressing him. It was dismissed, but the human quickly moved to the subject of importance.

"I apologise that no one of higher rank than myself is present to greet guests as noble as all of you, but King Orrin, Lady Nasuada, Lord Error and the Varden have long since marched to confront Galbatorix's army." They all nodded.
"They left orders that if you came here seeking them, Rider Eragon, you should join them directly, and a desire for the rest of you to follow, for all of your prowess is needed if we are to prevail."

"Then will you bring out a map for us all?" Nightmare suggested, tendrils flicking behind him.
"Of course, Your Majesty. While I have that fetched, would you care to step out of the heat and partake of some refreshments?"
Nightmare shook his skull and gestured to Eragon, who spoke.
"We have no time to waste. Besides, it is not us who need to see the map but the dragons."
"And I doubt they can fit in the castle right now." Blue added, GB nodding with an amused snort.

The seneschal seemed surprised, even slightly bewildered by this, glancing over the dragons.
"Quite right, sirs and Majesty. In either case, our hospitality is yours. If there is aught you and your companions desire, you have but to ask."

Eragon nodded and let Nightmare speak. "Nothing but two day's worth of provisions for my men and allies-" He turned briefly for suggestions from the others.
"BACON." Killer bellowed loudly, earning a few snickers from the others as Cross's eyelights flashed. "Chocolate." "And that!" Killer added.
"Something with meat." Dust waved boredly as Horror wiped his teeth and spoke rather calmly, ordering several kinds of meat before sitting back on his Blaster and winking at Dust.

Ignoring the chaotic outbursts he glanced at Dream and Reaper, Bird standing awkwardly a little ways behind them.
The God of Death shrugged. "Maybe I want an apple."
Both Twins shot him a look and he snickered. "Whatever you wanna get, I don't care."
"Maybe some hasenpfeffer or mutton?" Bird suggested awkwardly before backing away as the attention focused on him.
"I'd rather have fruits and cheese.. and chocolate. And goji berries." Dream smiled as Nightmare chuckled.
"Dark chocolate, grapes, cheese, fruits-"
Both twins' eyelights flashed as they suddenly spoke in unison.
"And no apples!"

The human nodded slowly, disconcerted by the strange behavior as he faced Eragon and Blue.
The two began ordering foods without meat except for Blue, ordering a certain amount of beef and a few spices-
"Oh my God you weren't kidding." Dust interrupted.
Blue pointed at him without skipping a beat. "I told you as soon as we left Du Weldenvarden I will be making tacos and now you will all endure my delicious tacos!"

He continued on, unfazed by the interruption unlike the bewildered humans awaiting their orders. Orik was the last to order, asking for several kinds of meat like Horror had done, before the humans were sent off to collect the foods- just in time for the map to arrive, the lonely page inching over to set it on the ground before the dragons before dashing away in terror.

Dahwar kneeled down and unrolled it, pointing at the map as the others gathered closer. It was an image of Surda and the nearby lands. "Last I heard, King Orrin and Lady Nasuada stopped here for provender." His finger rested on a city labeled Cithrí. "They did not intend to stay, however, because the Empire is advancing south along the Jiet River. This is only my humble opinion, but I would say the best place to look for them would be the Burning Plains."

"The Burning Plains?" Eragon quested as Blue's eyesockets went wide in a silent revelation. The human smiled at the Rider, nodding to the group. "You may know them by their old name, then, the name the elves use: Du Völlar Eldrvarya."
"Ah, yes." Eragon seemed to recall something as Blue nodded quickly, Nightmare studying the map critically and silently, Dream mute beside him, remembering what he'd read about these lands.

They were created in a fight between the Riders and Forsworn, where the dragons accidentally set the peat deposits alight, where the fires continued to burn, tunneling into the earth and simmering ever since then. No one could live there anymore, for the toxic fumes wafting from the land were difficult to breathe in.
The twins noted a brief shiver from Eragon.

Then GB spoke in Wingdings. "I got it. We can fly there." He glanced to Saphira, who drew back from the map, Dahwar staring in shock at the skeleblaster.
I have seen enough. You? She peered at the Twins, both nodding.
"The fate of Alagaësia is converging upon us all." Nightmare murmured as they stepped back. "Wyrda." Dream agreed, the rest of them nodding along.

There was a moment of silence as Dahwar rolled up the map and handed it back to the page that brought it over, then bowed his head and asked Eragon.
"May I assume by your presence here, Shadeslayer, that you completed your training with the elves?"
The human Rider shook his head. "My training- our training- shall never end so long as we are alive." He nodded to Blue, who chuckled softly.
"I see."

In the time as they waited for the food and a continuation of the conversation, Dahwar prompted another question. "Please excuse my impertinence, sirs, for I am ignorant of all your ways, but are you not human, Shadeslayer? I was told you were."
"That he is." Orik spoke up, voice gruff. "He was… changed. And you should be glad he was, or our predicament would be far worse than it is."

Another silence once Dahwar chose not to press for more information. Then, with some fear, the seneschal queried Nightmare and Dream.
"I am sorry, Your Majesty and Lord, but I was most curious: How exactly are you lords of Emotion?"

The Twins shared a look before answering. "You could never live without feeling. It would be a pointless existence of you were to never feel joy at the good things," "or never feel hurt from the unfortunate misgivings of life."
"But all the same, both the good and the bad cannot exist without each other. You can't feel gratitude for a savior, for example," "if there was nothing to rescue you from. You cannot mourn the dead, care for loss, if you never loved and treasured them in the first place. Yet, all the same, both good and bad can become too great, and life would be meaningless." "If you were too miserable, you would commit suicide." "But too happy, you would wither away, fade to lifelessness with nothing to push you to keep living."
"So we keep the overall balance in check." Dream finally ended.

"Ironically," Nightmare continued. "When we arrived in your world, we discovered that it's own caretakers had failed their duty, as they had naught the ability to interact as a true Guardian must."
"So, we now fight in your war to correct your world's imbalance, because-" They both spoke as one.
"Galbatorix has thrown it too far into disarray, as this is the most negative world we have ever seen."

The courtyard fell silent, Dahwar blanching from the eerily synchronized speech.
Then a single clack drew their attention elsewhere.
Reaper was grinning, clapping his hands as he floated along.
"That sounds so well rehearsed." He commented.
Nightmare glared, unimpressed as Dream stared in bewilderment. Blue facepalmed from his seat as Dust joined in the sarcastic applause, only for Cross to throw a knife, the handle thunking on his skull.
"Ow-!" He rubbed the area and glared at the monochrome, who only rolled his eyelights.

"Commendable actions, Cross." Nightmare praised lightly as Dream blinked. "He threw a knife." "Yes he did." "How is that-" He was cut off by a tentacle, the food finally arriving, carried by five pages. Dream glared at his brother as the other fixated his gaze on the arrivals.

With a sudden bark not unlike a dog, Horror threw himself at one of the poor unfortunate humans, the young man screaming as he was knocked over, only for Horror to be whining as a tentacle dragged him away. "But meat! Boss, I need meat! Bo-Ah!" He was twisted upside down and held there.
"Please excuse him, he often forgets to be civilized." Nightmare spoke in monotone, ignoring the writhing Horror, Ghost floating below him and shrugging.

The pages rushed to drop their loads safely within distance, to which Blue, Orik, Eragon, Cross and Bird went to take them, the winged skeleton apologizing profusely for his companions before GB spoke.
"Relax, buddy. No one was hurt."
"...Right."

He started handing out the orders to the others, to which Killer snatched a paper-wrapped chocolate and tore into it chaotically, Cross shooting him a lethal stare, twitching slightly before throwing a bag at him, knocking the maniac off his Blaster.
"My spine!"

"Serves you right, that's my chocolate."
"You forgot communism; it's our chocolate."
"You-!" A white spectare flew at Killer, to which the other scrambled to his feet and took off, only for the chocolate to be torn from his hand. "No! X, get back here!"
"No!" The human spirit fired back, floating out of reach- only for the chocolate to be ripped from him by something invisble."
"YOU DON'T EVEN LIKE CHOCOLATE!" X screamed at the hidden entity, the chunk of chocolate floating back to a now standing Horror, who took it gingerly before grinning, holding what was clearly the rest of the chocolate.

Both Cross and Killer glared at Horror furiously, X fuming. He merely studied the chocolate coolly before his eyelights flicked to Nightmare, back to the others, and to the treat. Then he stuck it in his inventory, shifting the bag to do the same.
"How 'bout this." He began, putting it away and pointing at the chocolate addicts. "We wait to fight over the chocolate when we're in the air again."

Cross huffed and turned away, X doing cartwheels as he groaned. Killer just resummoned his Blaster and hopped on it.
"Guess what? I'm in the air."
"What if I just kept it?" Horror fired back, earning a grin from Nightmare as Blue stifled a giggle. Killer shot him a look, white ring eyelights narrowing, then he flipped him off and collapsed backward on his Blaster, arms folded in front of him.

By now, everyone else had their stuff packed and stowed away in their inventories, patiently waiting- well, most of them were patient.

Reaper waved as they all prepared to take off, only for Eragon and Blue to pause. The Twins both blinked before Nightmare spoke. "Dahwar, you might want to check the stables."
Upon seeing the seneschal's confused expression, Dream continued. "There's an argument happening in there."
"The groom named Tathal plans on murder." Blue added.
"You can stop him, though, if you send men right away." Eragon finished.

Even Orik seemed shocked, twisting to stare between Eragon and Blue.
"How do you know this?" Dahwar questioned in awe.
"Because we are Riders/gods." All four of them spoke at once, Saphira stretching out her wings as GB crouched, everyone scrambling away to avoid the wind buffeting them as the blue dragon took flight, rising above the castle. GB merely leapt upwards, only to teleport to a higher altitude and swoop down to catch air, already moving faster than the true dragon. The rest of the team began to ascend after them, Reaper standing on the sandstone as Dream and Nightmare rose on a single Blaster, lighter twin waving his almost trademark staff at the audience before they picked up speed and joined the others.
And yet, Reaper remained. He held his scythe quietly, peering at them with a faint smile.

"You know… I'm always watching." He said silently, dust settling around him as he wiped it off his simple blade.
"I can't help but notice how hated I am."
"We do not hate any of-" "You know who I am, right?" The god interrupted.
"You did not introduce yourself, I am afraid." Dahwar spoke nervously. Reaper ran the sleeve of his robe over the blade before humming. "I am Death. I watch from the shadows. I am what the crow follows. I am the one to haunt the old and diseased."
The humans all backed away, suddenly terrified.

Reaper pointed the blade at Dahwar. "See, you know me. All mortals do, no matter the world." He glanced at his scythe, tilting it slightly as he studied the blade, before tilting it downward to lightly touch a weed growing from the sandstone. It withered and died. Then he let his signature weapon disappear.

"What are you here for, O Death?" Dahwar spoke, voice wobbling slightly. Reaper shrugged. "I'm not here to kill anyone." He stated, hands behind him.
"Then what for?" A voice cried out in fear. Reaper inclined his skull towards the one to call out. "In the end, I never wanted to enter a world without a god of death. I miss my brother. You would prefer him to me- he is the god of peaceful ends." He glanced at the receding group flying off in the distance.

He sighed. "But as gods are meant to, I must right what is wrong. There is not only justice, but balance at sake. I am needed in war, as the god of sudden, painful, and 'honorable' death. Maybe one day you'll see how little honor there really is in war. War is genocide. War is brutal cruelty. War is Galbatorix's madness. And yet I must take a thousand Souls to their eternal destination to heal this broken land." He waved one hand sarcastically, robe shifting down his arms as he did so as he mocked the poetic speech.

"Where do you bear all those Souls?" A human asked from elsewhere. Reaper paused, glancing at the one to speak. The human cringed and sank into himself.
He answered.
"In the world I came from, when I reaped, I took the Soul to the land of rest, where they could recover from the exhaustion that is living. Then they would move on to the next realm, the land where Souls go to be reincarnated. But in this world, it is broken. Souls here cannot be reborn, the land between afterlife and existence is broken, locking all in what has become their own purgatory. Do not put stock in your gods, because I have seen that your gods have abandoned you like a child abandons their toys for something newer. You worship false idols."

He closed his eyesockets and sighed, slowly bringing out a new weapon, a black scythe of stone and obsidian that radiated darkness. "If your gods still cared for their own world, they would have never allowed Galbatorix's slaughter. Even after he is defeated, evil will remain. Remember this. That is all I ask. Remember and spread the truth to any who will hear it. Gods should never require unquestioning worship. Gods are meant to care for the land, air, and sea, for it is because of it and it's peoples they even live. Now I must follow the crows and join the war of mortals. Remember this day. This.. I beg of you. You deserve more than this."

The humans seemed shocked to hear a god, a god of death no less, reduced to begging. Pleading to them for them. He stood in the center of the courtyard and slowly unfurled black feathered wings from his flowing robes. "Your gods have forgotten you." He told them tensely before giving an enormous flap, shooting straight upward and vanishing as he went invisible, flying after the others that had left him behind, his message made.

𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙬, 𝙄'𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪.. 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙤.