A young Dragon Rider named Galbatorix recklessly took his friends and dragon to lands where Urgals were known to live, arrogantly thinking that their dragons and magic would protect them from danger. However, they were attacked and while Galbatorix survived, his friends were butchered and his dragon, Jarnunvösk, was tragically killed by a stray arrow and pierced through the heart. Galbatorix wandered around looking for death, half-mad with the loss of his dragon. Urgals and other monsters soon fled from him as he attempted to travel through the Spine. Galbatorix was close to death when a farmer found him collapsed in the mud and he summoned the Riders.