As Leon and the Dragon Lord clashed, the skies over Dragon Mountain convulsed with every strike.
Fire and force collided in blinding flashes that split the clouds apart, shaking the realm itself. Each blow from Leon cracked the air; each counter from Eragon tore apart the ground beneath them.
But amid the chaos, Leon's gaze wasn't only on his opponent,.it was fixed inward, analytical even in the middle of carnage.
He'd noticed something.
When the Dragon Lord had begun his monstrous transformation, it wasn't just flesh and power that had changed.
The cores inside Eragon had changed too. Each pulse of fury, each surge of corruption twisted them further.
The more bestial Eragon became, the more the cores followed suit, reacting, reshaping and darkening.
Leon had seen it clearly.
And while the corruption didn't concern him, it was something he could cleanse later but the possibility of losing those cores altogether wasn't an option he'd allow.
