The euphoric terror of her first bare-handed kill was fading fast and it sucked out all adrenaline along with it. She was more than halfway up the cliff’s face and her hands were only getting heavier, her arms slower.

Stupid move, Amberosin. Stupid, stupid move.

Amberosin had no idea why she had run towards the incessant cackling that fell down the cliff’s edge like a nauseating waterfall of sound. At the time her body moved forward she was more than glad to just get away from the shattered remnants of Senfe. Climbing the cliffside sent the chunks of gore and grime from her violent attack off of Amberosin’s hands. Fortunately, most of it missed her face on the way down.

Out of sight, out of mind.

She was running out of time to make it to the top of the cliff before her body gave out. Amberosin could feel herself slowing but knew she didn’t have much of a choice left. Going down wouldn’t be any less stressful unless she wanted to go too fast and end up as a nice sized splat on the forest floor. Not an ideal outcome. Amberosin decided it was best to just keep moving up, no matter how leaden her limbs felt or how hard it was to close her fingers on the small handles she could find in the cliff’s rigid face.

Make it easy. Count and keep it low. One, two, three. One, two, three. One… two…. Ah fuck.

She was finding it harder than ever to will herself against her own body. The wound Mezir had stitched up in her back had torn open, a small ache building along the edges of re-split skin. Amberosin could breathe but it was nowhere as easy as it had been before her unfortunate street surfing incident. Mezir hadn’t been able to patch everything with essence like Ta’K had and Ta’K had been so exhausted after he’d helped her. Senfe had been unable to cast against Amberosin in self-defense. There was something itching at the back of her mind, an answer she’d not even gotten the question to yet, but she couldn’t focus on it.

She was too tired.

Amberosin’s legs started shaking against the winds that rustled Noctra’s wilders. Always made her think of dancing, something she had never done in her entire life, but admired all the same. She’d loved the sound as a child, it was tranquility, even when the rest of the world was chaos incarnate. Like everything else in Amberosin’s life, the dance of the leaves was tainted by a single horror; in this case, it was guttural cries, screams, from Heria far behind and below where Amberosin clung to the cliffside. She didn’t dare turn to look back for she feared her body would not stop turning when she demanded; though, it didn’t take much imagination to piece together what had likely happened. Amberosin had seen how the woman looked at Ragoth, recognized the look of longing, of unrequited love that life seemed to give to the unfortunate souls of Noctra with flippant abandon.

Amberosin had heard the roar of irreparable loss, had belted it out herself more than once and felt for Heria. The woman had nearly buried Amberosin in the grounds of the noble’s training grounds not even a week ago but Amberosin knew what Heria was going through now. Knew how much worse than death it could seem. How much worse than death it could be.

Ragoth…. Who I thought dead for so long…. Who abandoned me…. My mother… Ragoth, who Mezir had expected to be beneath his mask. Amberosin’s hands tightened on small stone handles, begetting a tiny puff of dust and pint-sized rubble. Her fingers were buried to the first knuckle in stone, stone which stabbed into the callous skin on her hands and brought forth steady streams of red on the grey and greens of the cliff. Ragoth, who I mourned… who I neglected to bid farewell, twice now… because of my own fickle emotions. Ragoth! She surprised herself with a burst of energy fueled by the immense rage that Amberosin struggled to keep reserved far beneath her snarky, sarcastic exterior. The young woman leaped upwards a good four paces before slamming blazing arms back into the stone.

There was more blood, more pain, and severe mutiny from her tiring limbs. Blood that fueled her rage and energized her very cells. Blood that threatened to break her grip if she didn’t move fast enough. Mutiny that challenged her to fight back while she still could. It was a miraculous second wind that numbed the pain in her split wound upon her back and guided her body upward. Amberosin got a quick taste of the confidence and assurance she usually held in her own abilities, confidence that had fallen sharply since her run-ins with Ta’K, Mezir, and Heria- real living Legends in the making- in a very short amount of time. She savored the familiar boost that her strong granted, tongued the delicious taste of sure victory ahead of her, and leaped up one last time.

Amberosin’s hands slapped down flat on the top of the cliff and she hugged her body to the side. The ground beneath her hands relented to her touch a slight bit more than the stone and for a split-second, she was sure it was going to give way and drop her all the way back down. An express route to splat-town. After exhaling a painfully held breath she decided it was safe to pull herself over the edge.

Just then Mezir flew by her on a shimmering mass of what looked like swirling winds situated beneath his feet. The force from his rising threw Amberosin up and over the edge where she crashed into a grassy area, landing right on her opened back wound. Even as the air left her lungs Amberosin thanked Noctra that it hadn’t been stone where she landed.

Pat would have counted me lucky for such a thing. Would have…

She rolled from her back to a crouched position that was more to give some solace to her pain-ridden figure than hide her presence and saw Mezir dispel his cloud of air. The laughing that had been consistent for at least five minutes straight suddenly stopped. After a few tense seconds, Lord White stepped out from behind a tree thin enough that it should not have hidden his massive visage.

“Why, Mezir- my boy! You should have told your dear father you were coming home, I would have prepared a feast! A party in your honor!” White threw his hands out in extravagant motions and held them wide facing Mezir as if he were expecting a small child to run into his arms and hug him tight.

Mezir shook visibly from behind with his fist clenched.

“Oh, dear. Are we still upset, my bo-”

“Do not!” Mezir exploded and brought his natural fist to his mouth, baring his teeth down on the skin so hard Amberosin thought he was going to break through and start devouring himself in a senseless rage. Just before it seemed inevitable that he would pierce through his own hand, he stopped- took a deep breath. Put his hand back to his side and stood tall. Fully facing White.

Amberosin was terrified for the man. For both of them. She’d scarcely survived a short encounter with White and she’d had Ta’K to help… sort of. And Mezir… well she’d rode on a machine of cogs and stone that he made without breaking a sweat! These two were giants and Amberosin felt like a mere rodent groveling on the ground, accepting that her fate rested entirely on these men's decisions. It was humbling enough to be sickening.

“Father.” Mezir’s voice shook but his body was still now. “Let us not pretend as if you were unaware of my presence in Blancana. Let us not pretend you give a rat's ass about me… Let us not pretend that if we had an audience sizable enough- credible enough- that either of us would be speaking.”

Lord White’s hands fell slowly to his sides. “Ah. Yes. I was aware that you were around, however, I do care about yo-”

“Furthermore, father,” Mezir seemed to ease a little as White’s own fists clenched for a moment, obviously unhappy with being interrupted a second time, “I was around for much of your conniving and planning, even if I did not see it as such then. I know how your empire works. How your legalities work. If I am to have any true claim to the throne it will have to be through legitimate means. Seeing as I am no longer a citizen of your tragic kingdom nor member of your household there is only one legitimate claim I have to the throne. My blood. Since I have renounced your name, I cannot ascend peacefully.”

There was a thickness to the air around the men emanating far enough that she felt her chest tighten just at being so close. No one moved or said a word for a good few minutes. Both men analyzed their opponent- Their father and son, respectively. Heir and Emperor.

“Then it is war.”

“So it shall be.”

Lord White turned to leave without saying another word but stopped after three excruciatingly slow steps. “Ah,” he turned with a finger held high in the air as if a thought had just occurred to him, “I nearly forgot! What do you say about dear Lili-Bon? It really was my fault for manipulating the poor, poor girl… will you spare her? Her transgression precedes the war, technically, as it was just officially declared- Such is the protocol for all of Noctran armies. A notion that itself precedes my… claim to the empire.”

“Such was the protocol, you fuck.” Mezir growled out before shaking his head with a long sigh. “ If I am to ascend to the throne, I must follow your established protocols, I know, as it is now law. If I took it otherwise your citizens would surely revolt, no matter how much better their lives would be for it. You’re smart, Lord White, but you are not omnipotent. I’ll let you think about what I shall do to Lili-Bon once she's back in our encampment. Nothing so heinous as you would do, surely, though… Trallen's are always rather fond of their fires and scathings.”

Amberosin wasn’t sure what a scathing was but by the way it hung in the air between the men she knew it was nothing to be desired. Hearing Mezir talk as such made her stomach go cold. But, she understood. She could see his position, at least somewhat. It apparently wouldn’t be easy for him to kill the noblewoman- Lili-Bon- or he’d likely already have done it. Amberosin would have gutted anyone who stabbed her in the thigh with such an ominous looking blade. Thigh wounds were a bitch… but if it was someone she knew and cared for…

Like Senfe? No. No. That was different. She… she wasn’t who I thought. But.. who is?

“Fine. Since you want to be so difficult, Mezir… you are therefore taking one of my soldiers, one of my assets involved in our recently established war, and I shall have to do the same-”

“You took Patri.” Flat, cold, terrifying fury.

“No, no, Senfe killed Patri. Just because she is my daughter does not mean I commanded her to do it. Precedes the conditions.”

“Ragoth.” There was a growl growing in his throat.

“I have no idea where Ragoth has gone.”

Mezir looked as if he was going to charge his father and choke the man to death despite what it may do to his plans which were evidently important enough to stall the revenge of a whole continent, the whole world so far as they knew. But he eased once more. Amberosin could see a swathe of quick glowing essence shoot up and down Mezir’s spine from where she crouched.

“You have him hostage. That will be enough.” This time Mezir turned to go.

“Ah, no. Sorry Mezir, I cannot let this one go. Of course… I could just kill myself and will the empire to one of my other bastards. One who will keep my ways alive for generations to come…”

Mezir stopped. Stopped, but didn’t deny that he thought his father would do it.

Amberosin didn’t doubt he would. Crazy fuck.

“Or….” White paused longer than necessary, chuckled just loud enough to make Mezir’s lip flare, “I could just take your sister, for the time being.”

“Sister?” Mezir’s face told Amberosin he was as confused as she was. “Stin’s is nowhere near here you delusional…” he stopped and trailed off as a painful thought crept over his face. He covered it with a quick confident smile, forced, but true so far as she could tell. “She is too far down there for even you to get her, you senile. Korrin and Heria are as ready to gut you as I am and I do happen to believe Korrin has taken a small liking to her. So, good luck.” Mezir chuckled briefly himself before White burst into full-blown laughter.

“Oh, Mezir, my boy! You still do not pay enough attention, do you? Not always. You’ve got that damn tunnel vision, just like me I suppose.”

Korrin… Heria… he wouldn’t be talking about Senfe… was Lili- no, no they spoke of her differently. Close. But not family. Ta’K’s bandages are wrapped tight enough that anyone could tell he has got the parts of a man. An impressively e-

The ground beneath Amberosin’s feet ripped out from that which was around it and propelled her into the air. She fell through nothingness in a full state of shock for a second before her senses kicked in and she tried to spin. Too late. A white-gloved hand wrapped around the back of her neck. She felt a small prick of warmth at the nape of her neck and then she felt nothing. Could move nothing.

“Hello, Amberosin. My darling.”