Author's note: So, Trial is finally complete! We've reached the last chapter. But this isn't the end. Cade's story will continue! It's been quite a learning experience for me, and I've had a lot of fun writing this weirdness for all you readers. If you're still here, thank you for sticking with me and my crazy ideas! I'm going to launch straight into the sequel story, and I hope to see you all there! And I will respond to reviews for this chapter and the previous one in the first chapter of that, so don't worry! I will see your reviews! Again, a massive thanks to everyone who kept on reading to this point! I do this for fun, but it's you guys who make it worth it! Enjoy!

With thanks to my Patrons:
Regal Eagle

Disclaimer: I do not own the Inheritance Cycle.

Beta read by Regal Eagle and Slack Frost


Chapter 35: Ending the first quarter.

Sleep was a welcome relief. True sleep, that is. For some reason, we didn't have the option to shift to our Eldunarí. We could still feel them, but we just couldn't get into them. So we slept. And dreamed.

We were lying down in a sea of beanbags on the side of a floating mountain surrounded by clouds. A waterfall fell somewhere, producing a cloud of mist that fell away into a void of blue sky. Behind us, birds happily chirped in a rainforest, calling cheerfully to each other. And in front of us, a figure of orange light… Rift.

She sat with her legs dangling over the edge of the mountain, reading something that was like a book, but had holographic displays around the edges, displaying various pictures of regular people, like those back on Earth. Beside her lay a stack of more books. All the titles were written in a language that we couldn't read, except for one that said 'How to understand humans'.

"Oh, you're awake." Rift said, looking at us over her shoulder as she put down the book.

Not entirely sure what to do, we got up and awkwardly tried to bow. What kind of etiquette did you have to follow with one of the creators of the multiverse? None, apparently.

Rift sighed and gently said "You don't have to do that. Treat me as an equal."

Hesitantly, we sat down next to her and admired the view.

After a few minutes of silence, we asked "That power we unleashed… did you give us some kind of boost?"

"No." Rift said, shaking her head. "That was all you. You had that power ever since your body was reconstructed into your current self. You just uncovered it."

"But it was you who spoke to us, right?" Kevin asked.

"Yes." Rift said happily. "I have to stay out of the realms. Void can track my energy signature, but you and the others who have traces of my power are strong enough to mask it, which allows me to speak to you. Did I get it right? I was going for inspiring and reassuring, but I'm not that good with human emotions."

"Yeah, we'd say you got that." Sparta said.

Rift pumped a fist in triumph, then looked kind embarrassed as we laughed. "Hey, I only have limited experience with humans, so I regard that as a positive! Ragnar's the only other Plainswalker I've ever brought here, but I don't think he wants to talk with me any more."

"Wait, what?" Driscol asked in confusion. "Where exactly is 'here', and why is Ragnar the only other Plainswalker you've talked to? And why do you think he doesn't want to talk with you?"

Rift started fiddling with her fingers. "This isn't real. Not really. It's my own space in the rift, but it's more like a mindscape rather than a physical place. And Ragnar is the only person I ever talked to because he's the first and only person to get in here. After we got over our shock and stopped blasting each other, we became… friends? I think friends is the right word. But we kind of fell out… He made me realise that in ways, I was no better than Void."

"How?" Kevin asked.

Rift put her head in her hands. "I… I don't want to talk about it. I made terrible, terrible mistakes, but I know that now, and I'm trying to become a better Primordial. It takes a lot for me to admit it, but… but I thought that if I started getting to know you all, then you could help me."

"Us. Help you." We echoed in disbelief. "You, one of the creators of the multiverse, need our help."

"Yes." Rift said before briefly rifling through a book, skimming through a page and adding on "Please."

"Well…" we looked at each other and shrugged, "why not?"

Rift seemed to brighten and tentatively reached a hand over our shoulders, and tried for a gentle hug. "Thank you, Cade. Or Kevin, Driscol and Sparta. Am… am I doing this right?"

We nodded as we ignored the absolute insanity of the situation and hugged her back. Rift tensed up as our wing wrapped around her back and our hand rested on her shoulder.

"Did… did we just become friends?" Rift asked hesitantly.

"Err… yes?" we said, although it sounded more like a question than an answer.

"Is that good?"

"Yes." Kevin said. "Definitely."

"Thank you." Rift said as our… avatar for lack of a better term started glitching. Again, that wasn't the right word, but it was the most serviceable one. Rift sighed and broke the hug. "You're waking up. Or your body is. You should answer it's call."

"But how do we get ourselves here to talk with you?" We asked as we flickered, our senses jittering around.

"Don't worry, I'll bring you here!" Rift said. "Now go! You don't want to get trapped here accidentally or something!"

"Can that even happen?!" Sparta yelped as the mental world broke down, and we saw only orange light.


We shot awake and instantly had to fight the urge to throw up as our eyes flickered open. We'd lost our Rinjai aura, and we'd stopped glowing. Sk?lir was in pieces in a corner. An IV was attached into the back of our right wrist, and two heart monitors bleeped at regular intervals. A tesla coil was firing an arcing bolt of electricity at us, a low hum filling the air as the miniature bolt of lightning fired away.

We felt very sick. Sick, tired, and drained. Then there was a gentle hiss of an injector, and something cool, refreshing, and a feeling like everything was right with the realms flowed into us. We sighed happily, and snuggled further into the bad we were sitting on as the tesla coil turned off and the hum died. Then we caught the smell of food, and our stomach growled like a lion.

Angela wiped her sweating brow as she stepped into our field of vision, injector in her hand. "Well, that was the most difficult it's ever been for me to keep someone alive."

"What… happened?" We asked with a groan. "The last thing we remember is stabbing Durza."

"Well, Shadeslayer, you saved everyone. Eragon's already told me about Durza being empowered by Shadows, and how you finally tapped into your Riftheart power. Of course, he had very little idea about what happened, but you're going to be faced with an onslaught of questions. I've already told the Elders about what happened, but they need events from your perspective."

We nodded, and began our account of facing Durza and what he said about the Shadows, going Rinjai, and us and Eragon killing him at the same time. We held back our conversation with Rift on Ragnar's orders, but Angela listened intently throughout our story.

When we finished, she sighed. "I guessed all that from Eragon's less than serviceable description. You did good for your first encounter with Shadow stuff, and your first big battle. Nobody important died, and you stopped a lot of casualties on the Varden's side. Now, are you opposed to guests?"

We weighed up how ill we felt with how worried Amara would be, and decided "Nah, let them in."

Angela pressed a button on a watch-like device on her wrist, and the room's door slid to the side. Amara, Eragon, Saphira, Murtagh and Arya entered. The doorway was just large enough to let the sapphire blue dragon through, but our cousin had to shift into her human form to get in.

Every one of them started talking at once, but Amara grabbed one of Driscol's horns and started shaking him around. "You! Massive! Knuckleheads! Do you have any idea how worried I was, cuz?! Do you?!"

"Cuz, as good as it is to see you, if you keep on shaking me like that, I will throw up all over you." Driscol said.

Amara sighed and gently started stroking the side of his face. "Sorry. We've all been worried. You, Eragon and Arya were all in critical condition. Arya finally woke up the day before yesterday, Eragon became conscious yesterday afternoon, but it's taken you much longer. Hell, you were glowing orange when I first saw you after the battle, and you had a massive hole in your chest!"

"Did we?" Sparta asked. "I don't remember that."

"You did." Saphira confirmed, her expression a mixture of worry and relief. "Your armour had been blasted off, and there was a jagged tear the size of a dwarf in you. Your healing was regenerating it, but it was much too slow. You would have… You would have died if Angela had not tended to you."

"Really?" Kevin said, trying to see our chest. "Is it still there?"

"Congratulations on the fire-breathing." Sparta said to Saphira, making her eyes sparkle in pride.

"Thank you." Driscol said, meeting Angela's eyes.

"Hey, like I said, our people look out for each other." She smiled, but we could tell how tired she was. "And no, you don't have some kind of crater inside you. After you took in enough energy, your regeneration took care of everything, but it took a good while to stabilise you enough for you to be able to do that."

Sparta locked eyes with Eragon. "Nice work on that dual takedown with us, Shadeslayer."

Eragon groaned, but managed to smile. "Everyone keeps calling both of us that! I only killed him with Arya and Saphira's distraction, and your help. I'm no hero."

"Yes you are." Murtagh said, patting Eragon on the shoulder. "Only two people before you have managed to kill a Shade. You should be proud!"

"Humility, the mark of a true hero is." Kevin smiled, adopting a yoda-like voice.

"We'd give you a fist-bump, but we're too tired to move much." Sparta added. "Still, Murtagh and Jedi Master Kevin are both right. You're a hero, but don't let it go to your head."

"That is wise." Arya agreed. "Fame is just as dangerous as a sword can be."

"You have done exceedingly well, Cade-finarel." Islingr said in a gap between all the talk. "You have not just killed a Shade, but a Shade enhanced by forces beyond Alaga?sia. If everyone knew the real risk that you faced, the deeds of both you and Eragon would be sung of until there would be no one left to sing."

There was a pause as we acknowledged the praise before Driscol asked "So, what happened after Durza died?"

Kevin smirked. "You mean he was shot through the heart, and we're to blame. He gives Shades a bad name."

Angela, Amara, Sparta and Driscol all glared at him, but the Alaga?sians didn't pick up on the crappy joke.

"After you lost consciousness," Arya said, "I used my magic to slow the shards of the Star Sapphire to a halt, and then fell into slumber from overtaxing my reserves of magic."

Murtagh picked the story. "The Shade's spirits then screamed out of Farthen D?r. Everyone watched them go, and it was as if a spell was broken, as the Urgals all began to fight each other! We routed them after that!"

"And the remains of their army either fled into the tunnels, or met their death at my claws." Amara smirked.

"So all's well that ends well?" Sparta asked.

Eragon shook his head mournfully, and a little enviously. "I… I have a scar from my right shoulder to my left hip, and unlike you… my wound didn't heal. I am disfigured."

We locked eyes with him. "Listen to us. When we first realised that we were… different, we freaked out. We thought we were broken, irreparable, damaged goods. But we learned how to live with it. You're only disfigured if you allow yourself to be. Prove to yourself that you can beat what you think is an infirmity."

He nodded in understanding, and Saphira looked down on him fondly. "Whatever you may be, you will always be mine, Little One."

"And you mine, Saphira." Eragon smiled up at her.

"And we'll be somewhere in the mix." We smiled.

"And so will I." Amara promised, patting Driscol's neck.

"As will I." Arya said.

"Me too." Murtagh smiled. "Together, we defeated an army of Urgals and a Shade! What would it take to stop us?"


Next time…

"Your punishment is at hand!"

"You're the most powerful of the Plainswalkers. If anyone can do it, it's you."

"This is where you come from? This is what you are?"

"...Yes. This is what we are."

"This will hurt, but if you survive… you'll have everything you wished for."

"I won't let you do this alone."

"No, this is my fight."

"FEAR ME, PLAINSWALKERS! DARKNESS CONQUERS ALL!"

"Not while I still stand."

Where Lightning Strikes, Thunder Follows. Coming soon.