Tyrant of the Ruined Sun

The ship, who captain Sinan told me had no official name, but was affectionately called the Old Mule by the crew, due to it’s apparently stubborn tenacity to remain in the open sea, lugging loads from one port to the other despite being in service for the last fifty years.

A fact that generated quite the entertaining scene no more than two days after we first raised anchor, when Nizam came to know this interesting titbit as well, and confusedly asked the sailors that they knew that the ship wasn’t making actual, conscious decisions by itself, and was instead still in service despite it’s advanced age due to the decisions of men.

They did not appreciate that from him, losing him quite a bit favour he had built up with them beforehand. Something he found utterly perplexing in the beginning, not understanding the tactless words he had said, until we had to spell out for him later, of just how superstitious a breed of men sailors generally were.

But being a prince of the empire, and more importantly my brother, came with a sizable list of privileges, amongst them being the fact that even those who were cross with you would not so easily dare to even show their displeasure.

Not that it mattered much, as Nizam quickly won back their goodwill and more within the next couple of days. Mostly due to his genuine interest in their trade, most prominently of which being their ability to charter paths through the wide open seas, where every direction looked the same, using nothing more than the stars and the ocean currents. And being a water mage on the open sea did not hurt either.

Yet while he was busying himself from more grievous thoughts, made worse by the long hours of waiting with nothing to do, with the company of the crew; Eve and I were embroidered in two fierce competitions in the sanctity of our room.

We were either in a haze of entwined passion, or in a state of unflinching concentration, tempering our divine powers to pass the next trial of our fore-parents, unlocking our fourth gate. My Eve was infinitely closer to her goal than I, and by her own admission a mere stone’s throw away from deciphering the last epiphany she required to breach that realm which had illuded in our past lives. I, on the other hand, was still far from even glimpsing that domain of strength. My physical body still too feeble to house anymore hellfire within it.

Yet even this time of pain and passion could not remain uninterrupted, as on the fifth day, the Old Mule dropped anchor off the coast of an unremarkable beach near sundown, forcing us to remain there on the sea for several hours. But when the last vestiges of the sun’s golden light had gone beyond the horizon, my guards and I wasted no time quickly taking one of the ship’s tenders and speeding to that desolate shore.

Once there, we hauled the ship up the secluded beach and then hiked up the tall hills that pushed against the waterfront’s edge, which aided to keep it mostly hidden from foreign eyes.

Cresting the hill a few minutes later, we beheld in the far distance a great cluster of lights, and we knew we had reached intended destination.

There in the distance was the converging armies that were heading to the border we shared with the empire of the Moon Goddess’ children. A full three armies. Three hundred thousand men.

Nodding to Isaac, he vanished from my side, while the rest of us waited for his return upon those hills.

And within mere minutes he had indeed returned, with three others hot on heals.

The greatest of whom in terms of stature and power, was undoubtedly Valdour, who was carrying his ancestor’s divine gift on one shoulder, and dressed in loose fitting green robes. The next was Sodarus, dressed in his customary blazing crimson armour. And the last was a spectre of grey and carrying around a giant war scythe.

I was surprised by Leonid’s presence here, as he was not the acting general of the Seventh Army. But then I supposed that Darius might’ve thought it wiser to send him this way as well.

Better safe than sorry, as he always repeated.

Especially now, as we didn’t yet know just how gruesome this war would need to be, before we managed to aid the royal family and be done with this mess.

"My emperor!" The four men stopped before me and saluted.

"We weren’t expecting you." Added Valdour.

"I would hope not, considering I’ve told very few what I’m doing here in the first place." I said amusedly, before turning my voice to the epitome of grave. "Listen well, because I’ll only say it once. Isaac, Eve, my guards, my brother and I are going to infiltrate the Yue Dynasty for the purpose of saving their royal family."

They all looked at me with an expected look of surprise and bewilderment, as they were not more than a few moments ago preparing to attack said nation, and here I was saying I was to put myself in great danger to save said nation’s rulers.

"I understand your thoughts." I instantly said, stopping them before they spoke with a raised hand. "But the fact of the matter is that the eastern empire is in an unpleasant state, one that could prove disastrous for us in the long run."

"But sire," Sodarus spoke up. "we were meant to secure the lacking funds of this campaign from the Yue Dynasty. If they are..."

I interrupted him. "I know general. That is why I’m here to change your orders."

"We aren’t attacking the eastern empire anymore?" Leonid asked.

"No you still very much are Leonid." I coldly declared. "But now you will do so differently from how I initially commanded you. No longer will you simply advance into their territory and make a mess of it all. Creating so much chaos you force all their attention to you, and thus hopefully draining most of their focus from their ongoing silent war in the halls of the eastern palace. Providing a window of opportunity for both us and the sons of the Moon Goddess, while trying to do as little harm as possible to the nation. Now you will make sure that any forces they dispatch your way are utterly annihilated. Unable to bare their fangs at you again, understand?"

"I see." Leonid murmured with a thoughtful expression.

"We understand sire. We will see to it’s completion." Valdour nodded.

"Good." I said. "And Valdour, one more thing."

"Yes, sire?" He responded.

"I will have the Shade Corps networks in the east keep sending you letters from me. Most will be meaningless gibberish, without any encryptions and any real information held within them, for fear of the risk of them being intercepted. But the important thing is that they will be sent, and thus you will know all is well so far. But should a period of more than a single week pass without a missive reaching you from me, then you are to stop the diversionary tactics and plough your way north as fast as possible. Crush all in your path. I sanction all your actions, no matter how brutal they are. Just get to the north." I grimly commanded.

"...I understand." He said, rising from his kneeling stance to his full, gargantuan height. "You have my word Alexander. I will tear the east apart if I miss your letters by a day."

I felt an inexpressible sense of relief. For he swore, not as my subordinate. I did not get the word of the Forge Lord of Qayan; but the word of the son of the Forge God. The demi-god Valdour, and his monstrous fifth gated strength.

"Then let us pray those easterners are wise enough to not disrupt them." I chuckled, before turning back around towards the beach.

Our voyage returned to it’s previous rhythm after, as we made our way ever northward.

We stopped twice more. The first was for a brief resupply stop in Jian Mucai. A small island in the south eastern side of the Yue Dynasty; which also happened to serve as one of the many bases for Khairrudin’s pirate cohorts. And the second stop we did was for the sake of information gathering. A common custom of the pirates in the east as of late, to make sure the northern waters are still relatively safe on account of the new war in the north with the Boreas Empire, or so it was explained by Captain Sinan.

Our day long stop in the city of Zhongtu was very interesting according to Nizam, who disembarked during our stay with the company of Horus and Isaac. The vast city that stood on the literal half way point of the nation, and sandwiched between the sea and the vast mountain range by the name of the Juren de Shoubi; a tall and long mountain range that runs perpendicular with a slight northward curve to the Juren de Yachi mountains in the west, splitting the massive eastern nation in half.

Yet regardless of the city’s apparent richness and diversification of culture and style, again according to Nizam, since it is such a trade hub in the region, we still set sail the following day until we reached our ultimate destination.

And true to his words, we began to see the famed verdant coasts that marked the northern shores of the Yue Dynasty within a day or two, reaching the port of Hei Sha in exactly half a month and a day since we first departed Thalab.

Yet contrary to the rest of the shores we beheld, the waters around Hei Sha were not a vibrant green, but the colour of tar. Not due to any form of pollution, or human error, but because the sand in this cove of criminality was naturally black, and the water, much like a blameless mirror, mimicked it’s dreary complexion.

Eve and I were standing on the bow of the ship, gazing quietly upon the encroaching harbour, our minds filled with many thoughts about our dangerous time ahead, when she suddenly asked.

"What was your fourth condition? You never did say it in the end."

I looked at her for a moment, and then without hesitation replied. "That you swear to me, by everything you hold dear, that if danger ever arises and I ask you to abandon me, you will do so without complaint."