Shadow Slave vs. The Inheritance Cycle

A beautiful woman lay curled up in a lavish bed, sat in the corner of a darkened room. Her long hair was tousled and messy, spread like silvery moon about her pillow in silk-like strands. She lay on her side, chest rising to match her soft breaths, silver lashes met with her closed eyes. She wore a loose shift made of white silk, embroidered around the neckline with the intricate designs of flowers made of gems.

Then her eyes opened, revealing bloodshot irises with dark, baggy lines. She groaned, rolling over and planting her face into her pillow. The woman had a sudden urge to scream into it until she lost her voice.

Instead, Nephis decided that it was time to start her day, once again, without having slept a single wink.

She sat up in her opulent bed, sheets rustling as she threw the blankets over her torso and legs simultaneously, freezing as she watched them fly through the air and land with an audible whump against the wall opposite. She blinked wearily.

Apparently, exhaustion was leading her to underestimate her own physical abilities, yet another addition to the list of her rapidly growing concerns.

'I really don't need this today.'

Rubbing her eyes tiredly with her palms and yawning widely, she slid her toned legs over the edge of the bed, ready to propel herself into what was a very important day.

She had an appointment with the leader of the Varden this morning, where they would be discussing "issues" regarding recent events in Farthen Dûr over an undoubtedly tense breakfast, where she doubted she'd actually get to eat.

Nephis had met with Ajihad several times now, all of which he had spent trying, and ultimately failing, to recruit her into joining his cause. The Varden's ultimate goal was the destruction of the Empire, who, like her new friends and followers, attested to be tyrannical and ultimately evil, and that the Varden was in need of Nephis' "strengths" to combat such a force.

She'd refused each time under prepared excuses that "she needed more time to be situated" and "had duties to attend to before making such decisions." The justifications had lasted her a while, as she was indeed busy and had been moved around quite often over the past several weeks, but he'd successfully arranged another meeting with her following, this time one on one with the exception of guardsmen, so she couldn't pretend to be deep in conversation with her subordinates or a delighted clanmember. She doubted any further excuses would work even if she tried, and he would run out of patience if she continued to hold off.

Nephis had hoped to avoid the man for a while longer, but eventually decided it was about time to let him "catch" her anyways , since she knew in the back of her mind it wouldn't be beneficial to dodge his authority any longer. It was safe to say that the Varden, as well as all the other dwarven clans, were appropriately desperate for her to choose allegiance, what with the plethora of gifts she had received. They filled a room three times the size of her own from corner to corner, top to bottom, and only more kept flowing in as time went by and she became more famous by word of mouth.

Her soon-to-be faction members had suffered great issue either repurposing or selling the gifts behind their backs for currency that could be redirected into actually useful funding. She had hundreds of visitors vying to see her daily, some traveling weeks of distance just to catch a glimpse of "the angel in silver armor", which, much to her chagrin, they had taken to calling her as of late. 

At least it was fantastic for publicity. Nephis had been the talk of Farthen Dûr since her arrival, and her publicity had yet to die down. In fact, it had only grown, exponentially so.

Stories about her origin had taken Farthen Dûr by storm. She had heard dozens of them at this point. For the humans, the stories largely centered around variations of her departing from the heavens to vanquish evil from Alagaësia, but the dwarves, which were wonderful storytellers, had much more interesting ideas.

Most, if not all, had agreed that her sudden appearance was a sign of good favor from the gods, but fascinatingly enough, they all seemed to have differing opinions on whose good graces she had appeared.

Some claimed it to be Gûntera, the ruler of and most powerful deity of the dwarven pantheon, and believed she was shaped and infused with his own great power. 

Others thought her to be sent by Kílf, not due to the range of the deities's abilities, but because she, too, had chosen not to take sides with the races, which the angel in silver armor never seemed to do. 

Sindri, Goddess of the Earth, didn't have much of a following, as neither her powers in myth nor her actions seemed to be connected to Nephis, but they somehow existed regardless.

However, there were three gods that were the most popular of all.

Morgothal, Urûr, and Helzvog.

Morgothal was the god of fire, clearly the most obvious choice, as that was what Nephis had been seen wielding as she performed her 'miracles'. Those that thought her to be an emissary of Morgothal believed that she was the physical manifestation of his divine flame, sent to Alagaësia to remind it of his terrible power. He had created dragons with his brother, Urûr, which had drawn in speculation about Eragon and Saphira, who were famous in their own right.

Urûr, the god of the heavens and the wind, was typically viewed with his brother, Morgothal, as a pair. Those that supported one typically supported the other as well, as the two brothers were said to be unable to live without each other in myths. Those that believed in Urûr backed their claims with the sightings of Nephis' wings, we she had sported on occasion during her miracles or in the early weeks when some had witnessed her flying about in the hollow mountain of Farthen Dûr to get to places faster. Those had grown wildly popular when first spoken of, but some refused to believe the Urûr supporters claims because Nephis had been tied to the ground lately, busy with her behind-the-scenes deals and plans.

The god with the most conflict, however, was Helzvog. Helzvog was, to Nephis' understanding, the token favorite of the Dwarves. In myth, it was said that it was he who had shaped them, as a people, from stone. Those that devoutly supported Helzvog believed that Nephis was a creation of molten stone, and claimed that her flames were able to heal them due to her being close with their creator. 

The group that she liked for the most, however, considered her to be the gift of goodwill between all three of the most popular gods, Morgothal, Urûr, and Helzvog. They claimed she had been shaped by Helzvog with heavenly stone, imbued with Morgothal's flame, and granted wings by Urûr. They believed that she had been created as an impartial, seventh deity, sent to Alagaësia to judge the actions of the evil.

It was the most popular theory that seemed to be growing at the greatest speed, steadily overtaking the Morgothal and Urûr believers as well as the Helzvog supporters, despite being relatively new only coming to be a week and a half ago.

Nephis' own supporters all had their own choices and beliefs, but she had only smiled when asked from whom she had been sent, causing the tension to only grow. A week ago, a Helzvog believer had gotten into a fistfight with a Sindri believer, which had to be broken up by the crowd.

Nephis didn't lay claim to any god, nor planned too, but it had grown so popular a topic of conversation that she was getting nervous if she did not act first, a theory might be forced on her, which she would then have to support or be dubbed a heretic. She had to be exceedingly careful in her decision, if such a time ever came.

But Nephis had been biding her time for a reason, receiving the clan's gifts with vague letters of gratitude that kept her neutral, letting them think they were softening her up, refusing any gifts with strings attached politely.

After all, it had likely never occurred to any of them that Nephis would have the necessary structure, backing, or power to create and maintain her own faction so quickly, unbeknownst that she had secretly began working towards it mere days after arriving. Her explosive popularity granted her Aspect, the source of her power, strength and influence over all that believed in her.

That was why the clans were so desperate to get her, and, by proxy, her ever-growing followers, on their separate sides. They all saw her as a golden egg to be fought over, much like her experience on earth after escaping her third nightmare without ever leaving her second, making her an instant celebrity backed by those who saw her as having sacrificed herself when she had failed to escape with them back to the real world.

But that changed today. Nephis finally had enough funds and internal structuring to formally launch the Immortal Flame Clan back into existence, something she had wanted to do ever since she was left as its sole heir as a child. She had scheduled it to be announced the same hour she met with Ajihad, making useless the shackles he sought to tie her down with.

The only regret Nephis had was that the Immortal Flame Clan would have to wait for its resurgence in the world that she had wanted to do so originally, but she had no real concerns. That would come with time, after defeating this Nightmare and making it back to the real world. She would only be stronger, then, more ready to face her enemies head on.

As she was finally ready, she had instructed her itinerary manager to "accidentally" let slip the schedule for the week to her work friends over drinks two nights before, all for a sizable gift that had become the last push needed for them to launch. 

The next few days would be more chaotic then ever.

The other, significantly more important of her events scheduled for today, regarded her accompanying Eragon and Saphira in meeting the Dwarf King, Hrothgar, the sovereign ruler of Farthen Dûr. He was the one who had the ultimate say in granting the Varden living access here originally, providing them asylum from the Empire. She had her guesses about what he requested meeting with her and the heir of Dragon Rider's about, and the time came perfectly. She had to request formal allowance for the creation of her faction, and who better to ask than the King? She heavily doubted that he would dare deny her, what with her ever expanding following, which was especially prevalent in his own people. There would be a riot if he did.

Nephis also remembered promising to visit Murtaugh again. He was currently jailed, on account of being revealed as the son of some hated political figure who had worked for the Empire before being killed, despite Murtaugh's hardly veiled hatred both his father and his employer alike. Nephis couldn't exactly remember the significance of his father's identity, what with how incredibly busy she had been both with preparations and keeping them secret, but did recall how shocked and surprised Eragon had been when he found out.