When he woke for the second time it was inside the Temple of The Goddess—immolated on the floor before her effigy. It was not a slow awakening but a quick one, a snap of fingers, a rush of consciousness, and he was awake. He felt...new. That feeling when freshly bathed. Scraped clean and raw. His skin tight over his bones and awareness pulled taught as a bowstring.

His hearing was sharp — for outside the small grove, beyond the patter of the rain, he could hear the twins of Aphelion discuss who would enter to fetch him. The sun is about to rise, they say. They must leave soon if they are to make it to the Court of the Moon by the settle of the dawn. He could hear something else too, more troubling; the steady beat of their hearts and the rush of their blood, can almost taste it on his tongue. He pushed out that awareness and felt even more: Their anticipation, their exhaustion, hunger and thirst, and there too in the recesses of their minds, fear. When he opened his eyes the overwhelming awareness calmed, his mind snapping closed like the lid of a chest. Then he could control it.

He brought his hand up to his face first and noticed his claws were pushed out from their beds. His teeth were too he realised when he scraped his tongue over them. Battle ready. He felt it in his veins too but duller than he was used to. Like a pot that had been removed from the fire to simmer not boil.

He only needed to think about standing and then he was, as though thought equalled the action preceding it. He tried it again, thought about the flattened grass outside the temple and then he was there, standing under the cool rain. He tilted his head up to the sky and unleashed a roar. Thunder crackled across the sky.

Behind him, the two Aphelion warriors raced into the grove. When he turned to face them he saw their bodies shudder from it, from the power. Fear and awe shone in their eyes before they both dropped to their knees in the soaked grass, heads bowing.

"High One, they said in unison."

____________________________

Nux trembled beneath him, fear quivering through her flank and spine, but she did not throw him nor did she try to. She rode stronger and faster than she ever had, her wings beating louder and more powerfully than the two Varveh behind him. Yet he could hear the shrieking of fear in her mind, a chaos of terror at the now stranger who'd compelled her obedience. He leaned in low and whispered;

"It is I, it is still I. Do not be afraid." And though she relaxed at the sound of his voice, the glimmer of fear still remained inside her.

They took off into the sky as the roar of thunder and slashes of lightning rattled around them. He sensed the twins' uncertainty, for they would never normally ride through the skies when they were so volatile, but the moment they took to the air the sounds shifted, dulling, as though they parted for them. They could not keep up with Theodan and Nux's speed, but the Twins of Aphelion rode in their wake, pulled in the forward suction they created as they cut through the air.

The Court of The Moon awaited. Paeris's reign as Iliphar had come to an end.

____________________________

He sent the Twins of Aphelion to the meeting point where Draden would be waiting and rode to the Court of the Moon alone. This time the twins did not hesitate to follow his command. For they knew as he did that there would be nothing Paeris could do to stop him now. Nothing the Menodice that guarded the court would be able or willing to do.

The sun was beginning to carve its way through the dark sky as he brought Nux in to land on the circular forecourt outside the great stone gates. He slipped down from her saddle and sent her away with a word, watching her leap back into the sky a moment before turning to face the row of Menodice. Sixteen in total. Their black armour shone in the breaking dawn, their blackswords held to their chests with both hands — a punishing exercise he knew — their feet apart and their stance prepared.

As he took a step towards them he saw it move through them, a ripple from the centre outward. He heard it too, the quickening of their hearts and blood. They shifted, their arms fighting to stay aloft as though some invisible force attempted to lower their swords. They could harm neither The Twelve nor the High One, no soul on Leoth could, and whether they wanted to strike him dead or not, they knew now that they would be unable to.

He came to a stop a length in front of them and drew his gaze down the line of warriors.

"I understand that your duty has been to the ruler of this court, but Paeris of Mennir is no ruler," he said. "You guard this place for a false Iliphar. A traitor." He felt some sympathy for these soldiers, for they were loyal to the court, to the twelve and the one named ruler within it. Perhaps they thought they had no choice but to follow whoever that made be — even a false ruler. Even Paeris of Mennir. They had fought against him and his men in the grove because they believed him guilty of the High One's slaughter. "Make your choice now."

There was no hesitation. They fell to their knees just as the Twins of Aphelion had done in the grove, their swords driving onto the stone with a thunderous clang.

"High One," they roared. Then, from the soldier in the centre, "Open the gates!! The High One has returned."

_______________________________

The silent and dark hallways of the court were not silent or dark. As he entered, a formation of Menodice behind him, protecting their successor now, he'd found revelry spilling out from inside. Food, music and laughter. Paeris had made himself king and turned this sacred place that held the soul of their God his court. Rage pulsated through him. Fury at the audacity. They would all be punished for their insolence. For their support of this false Illiphar. They did not have the excuse of the Menodice. They had chosen this rodent who had made himself king.

As he moved through the hallowed halls, a silence fell over the Leoth inside. Music thrumming to a halt, the sound of dropped cups and quiet gasps reverberating around him. Alskaar lay naked on beds of cushions and bent over solid surfaces for use by females and males alike, their wrists tied and their tongueless mouths stuffed, eyes wide with misery and desperation. He felt their hopelessness and pain, their humiliation. He let out a low growl and flexed his claws. Females from the House of Asalla lay draped over cushions and divans, their bodies painted the gold and silver of their vocation.

"Bar and guard the doors," he commanded the Menodice. "Ensure no soul leaves. Only open them for Draden of Caihaen, Vala of Esterus, or The Primed." They moved off to obey, and he moved deeper through the court, drinking in the sights of his kind as though they were a race beneath him. Who were they to call themselves Leoth now? These were the base acts of other realms, not Leoth. Paeris had turned this place into a den of iniquity in a mere handful of moons. His blood pulsed with the urge to destroy.

All around him people slumped to their knees, sobbing and pleading, whispering prayers to the dark one. He tasted their fear on his tongue and it was sweet. They were right to fear him, for they would find no mercy from him now.

He found Paeris where he expected he would, in the great council chamber—now a throne room it seemed. He sat in the Visier's seat in his white robe but rose to stand as Theodan entered. It was the same door Paeris had once led him through decrying his acts of treason before a gathered council. Now it was filled with drunkards and fools. Drunkards who were not so impaired that they could not feel the change in the air. They froze, sitting up straight their attention drawn to him.

Paeris glared but Theodan saw the dawning realisation move through his body the closer he got, saw the fight in him as he struggled to stay on his feet.

"It...it is not...no...it cannot be," the rodent gasped, stunned. Theodan stared back, before moving his gaze slowly around the chamber. He supposed he should not have been surprised to see Sapphira and Calantha there, sitting close together, a naked male between them. This one did not bear the mark of the Alskaar.

They straightened, gazes sobering with alarm. No other council members appeared to be in attendance. Next to Paeris however sat a figure he did recognise; Iaria of Asalla. She wore her Asallan collar about her neck, a chain fixed to it and looped around Paris's wrist. Tears streamed down her cheeks at the sight of him, wonderment and relief in the blue of her eyes. As Paeris looked on, the Menodice swarmed the upper level, barring the doors inside the chamber, she was jerked forward painfully.

"Menodice, seize this traitor!" Paeris commanded, but his voice sounded uncertain.

Behind Theodan, the other Menodice did move, but it was to spread out into a V configuration with him at its centre. A protective shield around him even though he did not require it. He moved forward slowly, towards the Visier's seat.

"I heard tale that the Leoth council desired my head..." Theodan said, making a show of looking around the chamber. "Though it appears there no longer exists a council to speak of. Tell me, Paeris, did you kill all of those who opposed this insanely predictable revolt of yours?" He threw a glare at Sapphira and Calantha. They stood now, stock still and with a war on their faces. Defiance or deference, they could not seem to decide.

"I am not the executor of Ethisians that you are, traitor."

"No, you and I are not alike at all, on one thing we agree at last," Theodan said. "Where are the Twelve?" 

"Eleven," Paeris stated. "You eloped with one if I am not mistaken. The Successor."

"The Successor you attempted to draw into this sedition with you? Yes, the Primed is safe and well and will be here shortly."

"Gods you are a fool. For if you were smart you would have killed her already. The Primed has long coveted the power of this realm for herself. To trust her is to turn your back on a Grysa snake."

Theodan frowned at this. "Power which would have been hers had she simply waited until it was given? Tell me, tell us all here how you killed the High One and I may yet show you some mercy," he lied. "What sorcery did you employ to have her slain here in the sanctum of our God? Are you in league with the Foresworn?" He heard the gasps around the room at the mention of the dark priestesses. 

Paeris' expression revealed nothing but a sliver of insult.

"You killed our High One," he seethed. "To steal her power for your own ends, this much is evident now."

Theodan growled quietly, flexing his claws. "And yet you are the one who named himself Illiphar, dispelled the chosen council, and banished the true Isdar to the Rock. The power of the Dark One cannot be stolen, you know this as well as I.

"Then you and The Primed planned it together!" Desperation swam in his eyes.

"By the Gods, I am weary of you, Paeris," Theodan sighed. "Whether you choose to believe it or not is of very little import - the rule of this court has been bequeathed unto me and as such my word is law within it. You will die for what you have done here."

The rodent swallowed, paling, yet his defiance remained. "You...cannot shed blood inside this court, it is against the covenant."

Theodan smiled. "The same covenant you were banished from this court for breaking?" His claws throbbed with the memory of him striking Fara so hard he'd drawn blood. "Yet here you stand, in the stolen cloak of the Isdar overseeing as this place becomes a playground for misdeed. It seems to me that you have very little concern for the covenants of this court. You are the Grysa snake, Paeris of Mennir."

"And you are a traitor of this realm!" He spat, desperate now. "You killed the High One, you act for the cause of our enemies, and you will lead this realm to its ruin!"

"You will address your High One with respect, traitor!" Said a booming voice from behind him. Draden's. Theodan turned to see Draden and a group of Leothine soldiers standing in the open doorway of the chamber. This was all who had followed him? Theodan counted perhaps twenty warriors. He could not send an army to Azura with only twenty loyal soldiers. If he could not convince the army he was the successor, how could he convince the realm?

But then, Draden gave him a small imperceptible smile and nodded once. The army had been convinced.

At Theodan's returning nod Draden and his soldiers began to file into the chamber, coming to stand before the trembling figures of Paeris' fraudulent court. Sapphira gave Draden an imperious look as he settled his hand over his blade in warning. Calantha looked resigned, head dropping submissively in the face of a Palius of Aphelion.

Theodan turned his attention back to Paeris' who stood stiff with panic. Then, with only a thought, he dispersed and reappeared behind him. He managed to draw his sword and bring it to the column of Paeris' neck before the other male was even aware of his presence. He heard his yelp of fright.

"Paeris of Mennir, on this the eighteenth moon of the ninth aeon, on charges of High malefaction and sedition, you have been found guilty. Have you any final words to say to this court you have so sullied?"

Paeris opened his mouth to speak, Theodan swung his sword, and Leothine blood spilled across the great chamber of the Court of the Moon for the first time in nine eons.