Last Outside Reading Post! Horray!

I think I'll give a little summarization of the last blog and beginning of this one. Murtagh and Eragon had recently traveled the vast Hadaric Desert. When they reached the other end they encountered the gargantuan Beor Mountains which facinated both of them. Then they decided to head toward the Varden after hearing Arya's (the elf) condition was sever and she had to reach the Varden soon. They barely escaped the kull, the elite urgals and headed into the Varden's sanctuary. Unfortunately Murtagh was imprissoned, ""I'm not surprised by your choice, though I had hoped otherwise....Guards!"" (405). Now Eragon and Saphira have their own private room near the top of the mountain and have just eaten a very pleasurable dinner.

One would not think that Eragon would encounter more conflicts and struggles in the Varden... but it is true. It is very political and everyone seems to be wanting a piece of him. Most of the dwarves do not trust him which just adds to the mess. Luckily Hrothgar, the king of the dwarves trusts him. The Varden's leader, Ajihad is the most trustworthy and openly admits to Eragon what he will face in the Varden. These however are not the least of his social struggles. The twins are by far the worst. They are magic users and have tried to steal ancient words from Eragon and to learn of his abilities. He despises them, however they are still powerfull allies in times of trouble. Eragon has learned that he has to be very wise to be able to survive in this enviroment, and now knows he must become an individual.

Unfortunately the Varden are now faced with a fatal threat. The kull have found them. There is a vast army of them that approach Farthern Dur, " "He was bleeding and nearly incoherent but he had enough sense left to tell the dwarves what was pursuing him:an army of Urgals maybe day's march from here" " (468). There is a huge scale battle against the kull. Even with a strong defensive there seems little hope for the Varden. The kull's numbers are large and their blows devastating. Not to mention their 8 foot tall size. Eragon then discovers it is the Shade who is leading them and they fight. Eragon gains a terrible slice down his entire back. As he looks up he sees Saphira flying down breathing fire. Then the shade begins to cast a spell and Eragon uses his last energy to get up ignite his flame with magic and stab the shade through the heart. He then passed out. When he woke up, three days later, he was told that when the shade died the urgals scattered and fought eachother. He was then proclaimed Eragon Shade Slayer, and was now considered an individual in the world of the Varden.

As one can see, this is similar to ELIC. It ends with an overall happy ending by killing the shade and winning the battle. In ELIC Oskar and his mom get over their bad times and love eachother again, and Oskar realizes that he has to let go of his Dad's death.