As it landed, the burrow grub divided into a dozen small, bright green centipedes, which swarmed over her arm before each chose a spot to sink its mandibles into her flesh and bore its way through her skin. Then its fat, limbless body contracted, and it hopped four, five inches straight up into the air and then dove headfirst toward the inner part of her elbow. It did not move as it should, and its obscene little mouth reminded her of a child’s, and the sound it made, the horrible, horrible sound, elicited a primal loathing within her. there seemed to be something profoundly wrong about the burrow grub. Its tiny mouth opened, and she saw that it had sharp cutting mandibles behind its upper and lower lips. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the burrow grub lift up its eyeless head and point it toward her face, as if testing the air. it was heavier than it looked, and its underside gripped her with what felt like hundreds of little hooks. Nasuada was unfortunate enough to experience the effect of just one grub: Burrow Grub, by Christopher Paolini They move by hopping and each can divide their original form into a dozen small green centipede-like insects, which burrow under the skin of their victims. The carnivorous, white, thumb-sized larval creatures make the noises skree-skree, skree-skra, and skree-skro. Truly terrifying, burrow grubs only came into existence following the Battle of Doru Araeba.

Readers learn of four of these now mutated, mysterious creatures during the events of the Inheritance Cycle: The radioactivity altered much of the local flora and fauna, often in insidious ways-even the trees seemed angry. Those who lived to tell of it said that, for a time, the world went mad and nothing they saw or heard could be trusted.” (Glaedr, Inheritance Deluxe, page 515) Much of it was bound in spells, but much of it was not. Not only that but, “The Riders, the dragons, and the Forsworn loosed an enormous amount of energy during the conflict. Nuclear fallout from the battle that raged left buildings in ruins and poison permeating the area. Galbatorix’s rise to power signaled the doom of Doru Araeba, its residents, and a good portion of the island. Waterfalls gush down cliff sides, their waters flowing toward the heart of the Riders’ once great capital, Doru Araeba.ĭuring its prime, the city’s visitors would gaze past gigantic buildings filled with many wonders to see glittering dragons soaring overhead and the nearby ring of mountains standing guard-life was idyllic for a time. The island’s volcanic caldera offers fertile grounds for species endemic to the area, with the surrounding mountains providing protection from the brunt of oceanic storms. Vroengard has always been a special place, even before the arrival of the Dragon Riders.

Misty Mountains, by Tobias Roetsch, via DeviantArt.

Inheritance cycle