Path of the Berserker

Princess Lunalah gazed at the glowing green orb that was the planet Altus, homeworld of the Hexean Empire. From her vantage atop the sky port of the Imperial City, it was a lush and prosperous world, one blessed by riches earned from the star-flung toils of its King, no doubt.

The King she now sought audience with today.

“Has he responded yet?”

Wui Lang, her finance minister, answered in his frail and grating voice. “It has been only a few hours, your majesty. I am certain he will extend an invitation when ready.”

Lunalah scowled.

She was not used to such things.

To be made to wait.

Like she was some common caller.

“He does know it is me, correct? You have made clear that I am waiting in orbit?”

“Third Princess, the entire planet must be well aware that you are waiting in orbit by now,” he said in his tired old voice. “I can only fathom that the king is now scrambling to assemble a welcome worthy of your station.”

That thought hadn’t occurred to her, but she liked it.

It made far more sense.

“Yes, you are likely right. I would not think it often that those of the ruling royal house would venture to this far-flung corner of the galaxy.”

“Yes. And certainly not in this fashion.”

Lunalah squinted at him. “What do you mean by that, Wui Lang?”

His eyes widened. “Oh, nothing, your majesty. I mean only that other princesses would not dare to arrive as ostentatiously as you have, with your entire entourage in tow. It is no doubt why the King is preparing a suitably equal welcome for you.”

She scoffed.

His words were as hollow and placating as ever.

In the past they would have soothed her perhaps.

But no longer.

She had tasted the bitterness of true loss and betrayal. All spoke with but honey coated words to her before, words that hid their deceit and disdain.

“You mean to say I’ve arrived unannounced with my sole belongings upon my back?” she said with a sneer.

Wui Long’s mouth hung open, fear in his eyes.

She scoffed out a mirthless laugh. “Yes, I know how I have arrived, Wui Lang. The entire Empire knows. But I will change that destiny today.”

She fought back the memories that flooded her mind. The humiliation of loss. The regret of trusting in something as fleeting as love. The sting of betrayal. Even now, months later, the satisfaction of destroying the Iron Bull’s precious homeworld did little to quell the anguish within her soul. Her foolish naivety of the past stared her in the face, mocking her. It was a part of her that she now wished to rub out.

Wouldrub out, she decided.

In time.

Another hour passed before her skiff finally returned from the surface.

The pilot gave her a bow. “King Theos is ready to receive you, your majesty.”

Lunalah contained her displeasure at being made to wait on the ride down, practicing instead the art of the painted smile. It was something her mother had driven into her long ago. To maintain a visage of humility and subservience before one’s betters. She had not had to wear a painted smile for decades, but now circumstances had seen her thrust into doing so again.

It was enough to churn her insides with disgust and hate.

To be driven so low at her age and station.

She withdrew within herself, forcing the painted smile.

She would wear the mask for now.

Until she had regained enough power to lay low those who had wronged her.

Starting with regaining a planet.

The doors of the skiff opened into a twilight sky.

As Lunalah exited with Wui Lang by her side, she breathed in deeply the thick air of the planet. It was rich and earthy, filled with the tangibles of life that were all too vacant in the bubbles of existence provided by the Aetherite crystals as she voyaged through the darkness of space. This was a real world, filled with both life and Qi-essence. She cultivated passively with a close of her eyes, sampling the Qi as well as the air.

Then something drew into her.

Sharp and foreign.

A thought.

~Thou seekest vengeance. Seeketh thou me~

She faltered and stumbled, grabbing onto Wui Lang.

“Are you alright, your majesty?”

She blushed embarrassed. “Yes. I’m fine.”

What was that? she thought.

Straightening herself, Lunalah focused on the stone citadel before her. They had landed in a well-manicured courtyard, complete with hedges and flowering trees. The gray-stoned walls of the castle towered into the twilight sky, illuminated by the pale light of twin moons rising in the distance.

As she looked toward them that same disturbing presence gripped her again.

~Seeketh me~

She shook her head leaning further on Wui Lang for support.

“Are you quite alright, your majesty?”

No words came to explain what she had just experienced.

A presence unknown.

Was she going mad?

“I’m perhaps not used to the gravity of this world,” she said. “We have been adrift for a while.”

“Yes, indeed.”

Regaining her focus, Lunalah stared ahead to where a line of guards in what she could only assume was traditional Hexean garb, stood at attention to greet her. Their robes were slung about only one shoulder, like those that monks wore, and upon their feet were armor plated boots made of bronze which matched the helms on their head.

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Their attire mirrored that of King Theos himself, who stood before the great doors of the castle with arms opened wide to welcome her. “My dearest Little Aunt Lunalah, how splendid of you to grace my shores.”

Her painted smile was exchanged for a true one as he spoke the moniker.

Little Aunt.

A term of endearment he called all princesses, but a most welcome one to hear from him now.

~Seek~

She battered the invasive thought away. “Lord Nephew! Forgive This One for arriving unannounced.” She then paused to give him a deep bow, one befitting of both his rank above her own and the favor she now wished to curry. “I pray you have a few moments to spare to hear my plea.”

“In time,” he said, beckoning her forward. “Come, let me welcome you properly. You must be weary from your long, star-strewn journey. Let us repass and celebrate your arrival with a small feast in your honor.”

She bowed again. “You are most kind, Lord Nephew.”

* * *

Hours later, Lunalah reclined beside the King amidst a deluge of food and wine. Most were local dishes she had never sampled before, which gave even more novelty to being pampered in such a manner. Despite herself, she welcomed it. The Imperial Cities were well provisioned but months of voyage was a strain in and of itself, much less with nothing to eat but the same staple foods, week after week.

King Theos entertained her with native music and dancers as well, for which she wore her painted smile. Such things were never her interest, but she doted on the dancers with complements, especially as the night wore on and the inevitable time for her to explain the reason for coming to Hexean drew near.

Amidst the clang of brass cymbals and whining pipes, the muted voice she faintly heard before, seemed to recess into the back of her mind. Whatever it was. If she focused on it, it was almost as if she could hear it again though.

Too much time drifting in space perhaps.

There were tales of cultivators growing mad from being too far removed from the natural Qi of planets. Their souls unable to reconnect with the wheel of life and fate.

Perhaps that was it, she thought.

“So,” King Theos said as the latest dance ended. “I’m sure you did not travel all this way for our modest entertainment alone, dear princess.”

Theos smiled warmly, but the intention of his statement was made clear.

‘Why are you here?’

“I perhaps would have come sooner, had I known such splendid entertainment existed,” she said with another painted smile. “But I will speak plainly with you, Lord Nephew. You no doubt know of my current predicament, yes?”

He cleared his throat politely. “I do.”

He left it at that, perhaps wishing to remain neutral to the circumstances. A significant rift had formed within the society of royals now, thanks to the Iron Bull’s betrayal. Those who now sought favor with her former beloved and those who saw the truth for what it was: a desecration of all that was just, granted legitimacy by the High Council itself.

“Lord Nephew, I cannot return to the Core Worlds in such a state. I am adrift with what is left of my people and we desperately need a home.”

She paused letting her pleading eyes speak the rest.

Theos chuckled and took another swig from his bronze goblet. “And you have come to me for such a thing?”

“You and your liberators freed my world before. I need you only do so again.”

He laughed openly, as if it were a jest. “My Little Aunt, I have no authority for such a thing.”

“Surely one such as you would need no authority to liberate some savage far flung world?”

“I act on behalf of the High Council.”

“The High Council?” she scoffed. “Do you not serve the emperor? My father?”

Theos slowly rested his goblet upon the table, clearly contemplating his next words with care. “I liberate in the service of the Emperor. Yes, your father, little one. Whose will is defined through the council.”

“When it suits them,” Lunalah snapped. “Now they have granted a native upstart my birth right. Can you believe such? The Iron Bull would be nothing without me!”

King Theos shifted in his recliner. “Ah, yes… I did hear of his exploits upon Luxor.”

“I am sure you did. He violated and betrayed me in the most public and humiliating way possible.” She gripped King Theos’ hand firmly. “You must aide me is seeking his destruction as well, Lord Nephew. The man stripped me of everything I have. My birthright. My dignity. My chastity.”

He blinked withdrawing his hand. “Little Aunt, I… I was speaking of his rapid growth and ascension.”

“Yes, but you are still much stronger than he. He is but a fledgling Lesser Deity Realm Cultivator. Even I am but a half step from achieving the same, if I so wished. But you King Theos are a true god in waiting. You could smite him with a single technique, I am sure.”

He rumbled with pride as he chuckled. “Perhaps.”

“Then you will aide me?” she asked. “Restore my honor and my planet?”

King Theos let out a sigh.

“You will help, wont you?”

“Although I am named a liberator, the things I am free to do are limited, little one.” He paused for a moment. “Have you perhaps not thought to beseech your mother or even your great father to intercede?”

Lunalah scowled crossing her arms. “My mother wishes to appeal to the High Council before groveling before my father. I’d rather grovel before neither of them.”

“Shall I consider it an honor then that you chose to grovel before me?”

Lunalah blinked, slightly offended, but King Theos laughed it away as another jest.

“I wish only my own power,” she said. “One not granted by privilege, but by might.”

“Borrowed might?” He chuckled again.

“I would not ask such a thing as a favor, Lord Nephew. You have only to ask what you wish in return as payment.”

“My dear Little Aunt, there is nothing you possess that I would wish.”

“Not even one of my cities?”

“Not even all of them.”

She fumed inwardly. Those were the most prized valuables she possessed. But what could she truly offer a man like him? A man who possessed nearly everything. Lands, titles, riches, power. Women no doubt. Still he was a man, after all, wasn’t he? Perhaps there was one thing she could offer him, even though it turned her stomach to even contemplate it.

But what else could she do?

Lunalah touched his forearm lightly despite herself. “Perhaps something…a bit more forbidden?”

Her stomach dropped as she wore the painted smile.

He stared back at her confused for a moment, until the realization hit him.

In that second her heart froze.

She did not know what she feared the most, the shameful humiliation of rejection or the horror and disgust of an acceptance. Either way, she had already made her desperate cast of the dice and was too late to withdraw it now.

Her heart thundered in her chest as time stood still.

King Theos cleared his throat and slowly removed her hand. “To be clear, I have not agreed to do anything, dear princess, and as such, any talk of payment is moot.”

Regret and humiliation mixed with a measure of relief.

But the shock of embarrassment and rejection was far worse than she could have imagined. Her face burned. How could she have proposed such a thing? Had she fallen so low? She could barely focus on what was going on now.

She fell like running out of the banquet hall to hide.

“What you speak of may be considered a violation of my treaty with the empire,” he was saying. “I liberate worlds in the name of the throne. Even worlds outside the Empire’s domain I would claim in the Emperor’s name.”

Lunalah forced herself to focus. She could not fall apart now. “But who would even know if you had liberated some world no one even knew of?”

King Theos chuckled again, leaning back in his recliner. “You speak of dangerous things my dear, little Aunt. To do such would be tantamount to treason. Which I am certain you are not suggesting.”

“Of course not, I speak only of charity.”

“Then let me offer you some,” he said. “Stay within my domain. You may take purchase upon the fourth planet in this system. It is not as developed as Altus but its rustic charm may give you a sense of peace.”

Lunalah was about to frown, with both disappointment in herself and the circumstances, but raised the painted smile again. “You are most generous King Theos.”

He nodded smiling. “Replenish your cities and yourself. My worlds are rich with Qi-essence. Cultivate for a time. Perhaps you will gain some further clarity on what it is you seek.”

* * *

Lunalah left the banquet hall dejected and humiliated, if not totally distraught.

She maintained her composure as her mind reeled, stepping through the courtyard with Wui Lang following closely behind her. She’d spent months travelling here and now a flat rejection? And not only that. The price she had now paid for it as well. To have stooped so low before him. She did not know which was worse. The rejection of her offer, or of she herself.

Had her loss truly made her so desperate now?

To reduce her value to that of a common whore?

She hated herself for what she’d done.

Hated the Iron Bull for devaluing her so.

To bring her low like this.

“Have you an answer, your majesty?” Wui Lang asked.

The question infuriated her, fueling her wounded pride.

“He has not agreed,” she said curtly, not wanting to explain.

“No?”

Still, despite her ill-conceived offer, he at least hadn’t shut the door completely. “King Theos has offered to lodge us here, on the fourth planet of his domain.”

“Well… that does not sound so bad?”

“It’s not a solution!” Lunalah snapped. “I need my own world. My own planet. I need back what was stolen from me! My honor! My dignity!”

Heated anger pulsed within her temples.

Hatred and indignation.

~Seek~

She instinctively looked to the twin moons at the sound of the voice, which grew only stronger in her mind.

~Seeketh me~

“Your majesty?”

Lunalah realized then that she had come to an abrupt stop, with Wui Lang almost running into the back of her. She looked over her shoulder at him disdainfully. “Go on ahead of me. I’ll be to the skiff shortly.”

As he left, Lunalah closed her eyes and extended her senses, cultivating to find the voice again.

~Thou seeketh vengeance~

The voice was ancient.

Powerful.

~Seeketh thou me~

Lunalah opened her eyes and took in the light of the Twin moons, now blurred by her tears. She didn’t know what this was, but it was more hope than what King Theos or even her mother had offered. And far more than she could ever hope to offer for herself. The pain of humiliation was too much to bear. Too much to overcome. And no one would come to her aide.

No one.

Except this voice.

Whatever it was.

~Seeketh me~

“Who?” Lunalah said, finally answering the call. “And how?”