Shadow of the Abyss

The following day after his defeat in the Realm of Madness, Altair glowered at himself in the mirror. Defeat had been something he had not liked one bit. The sting of death at those vile hands of the Vale King only hammered at his ineptitude.

It was odd having two voices in his head. It reminded Altair of the stories in which the villain in the story always fell, having been consumed by a fragile mental space. The villains of those stories were all mad towards the end, killing their allies or making stupid decisions based on emotion rather than logic. It suddenly occurred to him that he saw himself as a villain.

A monster that needed to face the heroes of the world.

The thought made him smile. The fractions across Almore were already moving against him, And it wasn't merely the Shadow Tower he faced a month back. There would be more.

'If I don't evolve, I will die," He thought, peering through the window onto the bailey to where Raven stood with her Glaive. She had not moved from that spot since he last saw her. Yet every corridor and annex or building he went to held a Forsaken ready to give their lives for him. He was never without at least two guards at a time.

It was exhausting, though there was nothing he could do about it. Sired or not. He had commanded them away yesterday, and to his astonishment, they refused. Be it the Vale King or Altair, both nearly exploded into a fit of rage: children thought the Forsaken were; they held no right to refuse him.

He might have snapped them out of existence if not for the fact that they held their duty to protect him higher than anything else. They were all ready to die, to be wiped out from the Vale if it meant holding fast to their duty.

He could not kill them over such a small inconvenience. At least he held some privacy in his chambers. His two guards. Inca and Daris stood outside the door, Vale-wrought spears at the ready.

A knock at the door drew him from his thoughts as Medusa stepped in, attended by another of the Forsaken, Karla. There would be no guest, Forsaken or not, that would be with the Emperor without a member of his Valeguard.

There was a bit of an awkward smile on her face that slowly became rather proud and a little sad. "Lady Raven has grown up, hasn't she? How are you feeling?"

"Tired. By the time I regained control yesterday, more than half my stamina had been used up. As revenge, I used up all my stamina before the switch. And now we've come to a collective decision. Two-thirds for me. One for the Vale King." That had been a nightmare of a conversation and battle.

But the Vale King saw sense when he had to. He had five hours while Altair controlled the rest.

Medusa curtly nodded. "That must have been painful, giving up your time like that. Five hours isn't a lot. But it does add up."

Altair did not speak on it. He could not show weakness, not before his Forsaken, now that they were everywhere. Listening. Waiting. As much as he did not want to admit it. Knowledge was power.

His Forsaken might not be able to betray him, but they could certainly make mistakes. Until he could better understand those chosen to be his Valeguard, he had to be poised.

"It's nothing. I assure you," Altair said smoothly. "How are your studies going? How much longer must you learn under the Medarc?"

Medusa shook her head. "A few hundred years. There is a lot." and he was a failed product. A failure of a Medarc.

If Altair was impressed, he did not show it, grinning like one normally would between friends. "then will you take him with you to the Palace?" Enjoy exclusive content from empire

"No. He is good, but I'm sure you'll find someone better for me to learn under." Medusa's lips thinned, and her eyes narrowed. "I know a means to an end when I see it." taking his pulse, a cool flow of energy rippled through his meridians, nearly encasing them in ice. "Your energy is in really bad shape. Were you training?"

"I did say I expended all my energy to force the Vale King's hand, right?"

Medusa bonked him on the head, and Karla drew on her, ready to run Medusa through.

"Sheath your blade, Forsaken," Altair demanded. "Now."

The command echoed like a lashing. The young Forsaken paled, drawing away with her head down, color flaring across her cheeks.

"Medusa," Altair said, and she seemed to have understood.

They could not behave the way they had when in the presence of another. He was royalty, and she was his Swordmaid. In private, once Raven had agreed upon a few security measures that would allow more privacy between guests. Till then, they were Master and Servant. Not friends.

Medusa's sadness was palpable. Forcing a smile, she patted his wrist and said, "Will have a rich lunch brought up to you. An Eighth Circle creature was caught and killed recently. That should help with the recovery of your stamina. As for your soul exhaustion. Sleep.

You don't need to stimulate your mind more than you already have."

Altair forced a smile; He had always hated the idea of sleep, but anything was better than facing the Vale King each time his eyes would close. That was to say, nothing of the hours he slept facing him under the cover of his dreams. Each time they fought, the battle drew closer and closer. He could still not harm the Vale King, but he did feel some sense of joy cutting through his robes.

A small feat, but it was a start.

"I'll try," he lied, managing a smile that didn't look forced. Medusa did not seem to notice bowing on her way out.

Within the silence of his chamber, Altair closed his eyes and sighed, opening his hand to create a vale sword. When his eyes opened, the Vale King stood before him, that fiendish grin of his ever-present.

They fought and fought and fought, undeterred by the ringing of their blades against the other. Each time Altair fell, he would rise to battle. Even when he felt raw, nearly hopeless, he forced himself to rise from the ocean of blood to face the Vale King.

By the time lunch had arrived, he had died over a thousand times; he had growled to himself and forced himself to fill his belly, finding some comfort in food.

"Alright…' He muttered, biting through the bone what he suspected was some type of bird-like creature to find the marrow, and smiled. "Even weak, we can lay a trap to slaughter our enemies."

Emboldened with a sudden burst of energy, Altair hopped to his feet, sending out a psychic message to his Forsaken of rank, with a smile as he burst through his chamber doors, preparing for war.

***

"So you've found him!" Lord Atticus Ingleblade asked, a tad too sharply than he originally intended.

Keiran acted like he had not heard it, betrayed by the creasing of the brows. He could never control his emotions. "There is news from the Shadow Tower. Rumors of the one we seek:" It wasn't necessary to mention his name between men. They knew who. "The rumor has it that the one we seek is Nox De Nier."

Atticus's expression was stone save for the cold sweat running down his back. "Nox De Nier…" he repeated slowly. He had heard some rumors of the young lord who had recently awoken but gave it no other thought. Surely, a Dutchy had the means to figure out if another soul was in possession of the body of their loved one.

And he said as much, ending with, " That bastard would have a horrid death if that were the case. Get our bloody money from the Black Tower less we—"

"Listen, you bone-headed bitch; this is why you're going to die a virgin for the rest of your life. You don't listen," Keiran snapped. "The rumor is not about the Young Nox per ce. Yes, it has him as a potential target, but what really takes the cake is the bitch with him."

"Hells, Keiran. You can call them women, you know." The look Keiran had given Atticus suggested he had asked why water was wet. Somehow, it made him feel as if he were in the wrong.

"Anyway. It's the bitch by his side. The one with the Amethyst eyes, long flowing black hair, and impeccable assets? It was in the dossier. The one called Raven."

'So he had read it. Or maybe he read it after his loss," Atticus considered, caught between amusement and grief. His loss had come with a great price to his person, one that never seemed to recover no matter what potion he took.

"Apparently, this Raven made a name for herself, slaughtering countless spies in the City of Akrim. One of the Tower Masters said it was a blood bath."

Atticus considered it a while longer: "And where by chance is Nox now?"

"There is a rumor that he is packing up to head towards the Capital. But that is just speculation from the men he sent into town to gather— Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm going to check him out myself. I—"

"Professor Adel!" The pearly voice of Noctus sounded, rounding a smile on Atticus' lips, as he turned to see the little man charging at him. He paused, eyes widening, as he stared at the young boy, at the Young De Nier.

"Well, I'll be damned. It would seem fate is on my side."