Tyrant of the Ruined Sun

A long horn then sounded out throughout the bustling camp, officially signalling the beginning of the hunt, much to the cheer of many, who rushed out their tents, with the wistful chants of bloody recognition and possibly even the exciting fate of an accidental romance, born of a chance encounter with a bejewelled crown upon a thornbush's prickling crest, as they enthusiastically headed to the western gate, which offered the most direct route to the mountain's depths.

And much like them, a similar cry escaped out from our tent also, as a rabid looking Cyrus rushed out of his room, asking with a feverishly exuberant expression "Has it begun?!"

"Yes, but..." I wanted to speak more, but like an ill-trained hunting hound who'd caught the scent of prey, my words couldn't reach him anymore, as he unhesitatingly charged into the door flaps neighbouring his own, which was quickly followed by Nizam's frantic protests.

"Would you calm yourself, for the love of the Gods!" His voice rang out in indignant rage, as Cyrus smilingly dragged him out by the arm. "It isn't as though the hunt is about to sprout legs and flee from you!"

Yet contrary to the norm, where he would immediately swivel around, ready to engage him in another round of their usual verbal spars, he instead turned to Nizam and merely sighed, as though he was disappointed in him, before further explaining "Honestly brother, I can't understand how you are so laid-back with all this, because if any of us should be anxiously hoping to enter the mountains sooner, it should be you."

"And why is that?" Nizam asked with furrowed brows and a hint of trepidation lacing his words, as he felt the incoming arrival of a cleverly laid trap for him up ahead, and he already had an idea to the nature of that pitfall, as it had been his bane for the last few weeks now.

"Because someone might beat you in finding sister Ziyi's crown before you do." And as expected, Cyrus then revealed his true intentions, using the newfound weakness of our usually eloquent brother against him once again.

Yet our brother was never one to so readily accept defeat, even in spite of the faint blush slowly colouring his face, as he confidently declared "Impossible."

"And why is it impossible?" Cyrus smirkingly challenged, though his brows had also crossed just then, as though readying his defences against our brother's counterattack.

"Have you already forgotten what brother told us in the carriage?" Nizam calmly answered, as he smugly straightened his ruffled sleeve. "It is impossible, because unless they are fools or madmen, who dare earn our ire, they would never dare present it to her, even if they did find it, when she is betrothed to me."

Cyrus seemed slightly stumped by his precise retort, but before he could formulate a response, another voice intruded upon their discussion, asking.

"Even if it stands against the stated rules of the Banquet's third event and the possible fact that one who doesn't fear his imperial majesty's name and power, such as crown prince Aurelius or Nicholas, finds it? And what if indeed a madman or a fool, as you have said, decides to offer her the crown despite it all? What then?" It was Darius who pointed the slight flaw in his logic, not because Nizam was necessarily wrong, since his argument was indeed correct, but he spoke up for the slightest of worry that it would breed unwanted arrogance within him, as well as a want to test his quasi-disciple's wit in handling such a situation, should something of similar nature happen in the future.

The two froze before the ancient Vizier's words, as we all turned to hear what he would reply, and as expected of my ever mature and clever brother, he didn't disappoint, as he confidently stood his ground before the piercing eyes of the ancient puppeteer without a hint of agitation to him "Be it madmen or fools, even if the two princesses explicitly have a stroke of luck, by finding it before me and then decide to use it for the explicit purpose of humiliating me and my house, I wouldn't bat an eye.

"Why?" Darius again asked, his face an endless fissure of detached observation, yet the calculating strings hidden in the light of his eyes was more than enough for me to realize that whatever Nizam said next would greatly determine his evaluation in the man's experienced eyes.

Meanwhile Nizam remained silent, as if paused in time, before smile once again grew across his lips, but this time drawn with more warm happiness than healthy sibling rivalry, as he said "She would never accept it from someone other than me."

We all stood in momentary silence for a moment after his bold declaration, one that I don't think even he himself had realized the implications of, but either way the light hearted laugh that erupted from me then, was all the answer required as I looked at the equally surprised and baffled Darius, saying "Seems even you can still be surprised Grand Vizier!"

"I must confess that it has been quite a while since I've been struck by such a thing. Maybe not since meeting you for the first time, at the late emperor's funeral in the palace." Darius replied with a half smile of amusement and resignation.

I did not comment further on his words, saying as I re-entered my room to don my hunting gear for the day "Then I suppose we should make hurry, if we want to live up to the expectations the women who's affection for us is so precious, right?"

"Yes, brother." Nizam quickly answered, as he too rushed into his quarters to make ready, leaving behind Cyrus, who was already dressed for the occasion.

Yet while they were waiting for us, his ears caught on to a loud commotion nearby, prompting him to make his way out of the main tent, and ask no one in particular as he subtly gesture towards the nearby clamour "What's all the racket there for?"

"That appears to be the tent of the Omorfia Isles my young prince." Abraham, who had made it a priority to near perfectly patrol and memorize the entirety of the expansive terrain of the encampment, calmly answered him.

Yet unknown to him, the name of whom he just uttered, brought my brother back the memory of the fallen token he had picked up a few days ago, when he was departing the Kleossa Kingdom's exhibition, yet before he could think of anything further, Leonid's dismissive voice sounded out next to him, as he mockingly said "A pack of lustful dogs, slobbering over a few beautiful women."

His words stung with a particularly heinous bite to them, even as they were actively softened with his melodic voice, as they were inevitably blended in with his own painful lived experience and particular revulsion of salacious nobility.

"I wouldn't be so contemptuous of their actions young man." Isaac's cautioning voice then sounded out, appearing like a silent spectre beside them, as his eyes glinted in a dangerous light as he stared off into the horde of shoving men and women alike.

"What do you mean lord?" Leonid respectfully asked, since despite being of the same martial rank as the master of the Shade Corps, and his apparent continuing distaste for them despite Isaac's sagacious words, he always made sure to show proper respect to the ancient assassin, as his seniority was far beyond his.

"Though a rarity in recent times, but history tells us the story of many a great king and rulers who've lost themselves to a single glance from a member of the house of beauty, love and sex. Stumbling from their lofty thrones on drunken steps and willingly tying their enslaver's shackles over their own throats." Isaac grimly explained, causing a shiver to run across all their skin.

"So despite your hatred for such men and women," He continued. "understand that many of those there, degrading themselves before their feet to catch a glimpse of the queens of the Omorfia Isles, are nothing more than victimized addicts, who either unintentionally or deliberately partook in their beautiful poison, and are now helpless to escape it's alluring hold."

"Their abilities are so extreme?!" Cyrus asked with a sense of bone chilling dread, thanking all the Gods whose name he could think of, for letting him not bother with returning the fallen token he'd found that day.

"Yes." It was my voice then that answered him, as I emerged from my room with Eve in hand, dressed in dark brown leather armour, with a few light pieces of Etherus Steal armour across my vital organs, painted black to better help me blend in to the terrain of the mountain.

"And the higher the gate they've opened, the potent their powers. In fact, a single, meaningful glance from them is a dangerous dosage for most." I further explained, as we came to stand beside them.

"You would become a slave from a single glance? How?!" Cyrus asked in complete horror.

"They shackle you with love." I straightforwardly answered, before turning to him, and the just arrived Nizam as well, telling them with a grave sense of wariness. "Be very, very mindful to never come into contact with those from the Omorfia Isles; but if circumstance forces it then never, ever deign it wise to look upon them for longer than necessary, understand?"

They all nodded in response, before Nizam then asked "But brother, if their divine abilities are so powerful, then how come they aren't at least one of the great powers of the world, if not the sole masters of it?"

"Because their abilities have a limit." I said. "Yes, they can bind the hearts of men with a mere glance, but that is mostly restricted to the higher gates, until then they must slowly strive to implant their influence upon others, something you can easily detect if you are aware of the risk, unless of course you are already weak of mind and body, then you remain a pitiful prey before them. And it has been proven that possessing far greater strength than the child of the Goddess of Beauty, would render you mostly immune to their influence."

"And their banishment to the Omorfia Isles a millennia ago also served to hinder their power." Darius then added, retelling the story of what occurred after the death of queen Calista, the wife of the founding king of the Luminous nation, which ultimately culminated in even the house of the Sun God abandoning their kin to the furthest western islands, after they attempted to enslave the world under their enchanting wiles, and the founding of the greatest alliance in written history to be rid of their horrid bloodline.

Leonid, Cyrus and Nizam remained silent after, processing all they had come to know, but once they eventually got a grasp on their bearings once again, we decided to each set forth upon our individual excursions.

The start of which being a peaceful time, as I and my guard traversed the mountain's impeding paths, keeping both our eyes and ears vigilant for either of our intended aims, but it was then that we caught on to a second party of almost thirty quickly approaching us from the front, and hailed by the voice of nonother than Marius Nerva, proclaiming "Hail to his imperial majesty, the Bloody Emperor, the Mad Monarch, the Ruinous Dragon and the master of the Eclipse Empire."