~~~Their Excellency The Eclipse Tsuki~~~

Water rippled, a small splash echoing in the rectangular pools to each side of me, shallow and usually undisturbed.

Key word, usually.

Because who else but me would be insane enough to have a practice duel inside a temple?

The Sanctum of Odyssey and Ripple stretched around me, the pools of water lining the path that led up to the deities' shrines and the pillars along the wall decorated with delicate strings of lights. It was pristine, white and black-red blending in the two colors of the gods that we worshiped here in the Dynasty.

Odyssey and Ripple were said to be lovers, mortals who had stood against the storms and frigid wilderness of the Dynasty Mountains and refused to back down, together being buried by the ice and snow into the heart of the mountains and being reborn as its guardians.

They had sheltered the elves and humans who had wanted to settle here, moving the land itself to create a great slab of shelter from the storms above the settlement that had grown to become the Shaded Citadel, capital of the Pearlescent Dynasty empire.

My Empire, my home.

I wasn't too worried about directing the anger of the gods at myself. Ripple was said to be a peaceful and benevolent god, and they held back the rage and violence of Odyssey. Plus, I had an ace up my sleeve.

My head advisor, Orlo Syaorean, champion of the gods of the Dynasty and my best friend.

Orlo has started out life as a commoner child from a village in the outskirts of the empire, a normal enough life for the majority of citizens. I, of course, was the heir to the empire. We hadn't met until I was ten to eleven or so, and it was eight.

The old champion of the gods had died of old age, and the gods hadn't wasted any time in choosing a new one, which happened to be Orlo. Every champion was also the head advisor to the Eclipse, so Orlo being chosen meant that they were then destined to occupy the second most powerful seat in the empire.

Needless to say, the conservatives were not happy at the prospect of a peasant being more powerful than them. Not that they had a choice in the matter, but they were angry anyways.

I had been living in a noble's institution then, a tradition in the Dynasty. Noble and royal children were taken at birth and raised in an enclosed town-city staffed by teachers, caregivers, and guards, and the children were raised and taught how to fight, etiquette, diplomacy, and in my case, how to run an empire.

Orlo had been dumped in with us after being chosen, since they needed a noble's upbringing to know how to help me rule.

We had become best friends immediately, the feral lowlands child without a drop of manners in it and the equally feral royal child who avoided the prim and proper noble kids trying to make friends to gain status for the parents they had never even met.

My best friend, who was currently doing their very best to chop my head off, per the rules of our duel.

I dodged a slash from one of its dual daggers and lunged in with an attempted hit to their shoulder with my scythe-axe, a combination of a wide scythe blade set onto a short axe handle, perfect for dealing wide damage at close range.

They rolled under my lunge, jabbing at my chest. I arched backwards, the damaged muscles in my lower back protesting the severe bend as I limboed under the stab, popping back up and shoving them out of arm's reach, retaliating with a wide slash.

Orlo cackled, violence bright in their eyes as their tightly-curled black hair, having popped loose from its tie, fell wildly around its ears and brushed the top of its shoulders.

Battling in a temple was maybe a dumb idea when there were arenas and gladiatorial rooms specifically for training within the Pearlescent castle, but me and Orlo wanted to see if being in a place of worship strengthened them ambiently without them having to call on their magic for extra strength.

The fight increased in tempo, both of us beginning to reach our limit after several hours of battling, but too stubborn to call an end before there was a clear winner.

"I'm gonna win, you should just give up now," Orlo panted, their voice slightly raspy from exertion but still retaining its soft androgynous tenor.

I snorted. "Never. You're going down, shorty."

Orlo snarled at my insult, lunging forward again with a wide slash from one dagger and the other one tucked close for a jab at my ribs.

I parried the slash and grabbed their wrist with one hand, pushing the stab aside and shoving them back physically. They stumbled back, but weaved forward around me, smaller and more agile.

Spinning, I slashed wildly around me, forcing them to back off a bit, but they settled into circling me, eyes alert for any opening they could use to hop in for an attack.

A knock interrupted our standoff, both of us turning to look at the doors to the temple, closed and barred so that no one would enter by accident and see me or Orlo without our masks on.

Sheathing (or just straight up dropping them on the floor like Orlo) our weapons, I strode over to where my mask was sitting on a small bench, Orlo's next to it.

We both slipped them on simultaneously, Orlo's wolf mask staring at me as I fixed the strings to my mask under my hair.

Orlo's mask, showing their status as both head advisor and champion of the gods, was made of black bone, the jagged curves shaped to form a judgmental snarling wolf, a pure white crescent moon on the forehead and swirling geometric red lines dancing around the edges and eyes in a blood-like display.

A thin golden border marked the edges of the mask, two simple holes drilled into the sides to hold the golden ribbon that secured the mask on their face, tied behind their hair.

My own mask was more than just symbolic. Made of white bone and originally a scavelture skull, it had purple Pearlescent roses growing through the cracks in the bone and gold filling lining the numerous cracks in the skull from centuries of wear.

The mask of the Eclipse had been passed down from ruler to ruler for generations, ever since the very beginning of the Dynasty. Only a true heir of the Eclipses could wear it without dying, and it was imbued with godly magic that gave the wearer extra strength and speed healing, pushing them to near invincibility with it on.

Along with my natural strength, the mask made me the strongest person on the entire continent, able to punch a person several yards at my full strength. Hell, I could pick up the high king of Ethiria like a sack of flour, the small guy was only like, a hundred pounds or something.

No one was permitted to see the Eclipse or the Champion without their masks on, it was blasphemy of the highest order.

Once I had placed my mask on my face, the magic syncing it with my skin without any need for strings or ribbons, I checked to make sure Orlo was also ready before briskly clapping twice, signaling that whoever had knocked was allowed to enter.

A messenger walked in. A new trainee, from the looks of it. Their mask hung haphazardly on their face, either a loose fit or tied incorrectly. At least they knew proper etiquette somewhat, because five feet away from me and Orlo they stopped, dropping into a deep bow.

They kept their hands loose at their side instead of crossing them over their chest in the gesture of respect. Still had a ways to go in training, then. Why send a trainee messenger to two most important people in the empire? Are they understaffed?

Once I gestured for them to rise, they stammered out, "Apologies for my inexperience, Your Excellencies, the message is of great urgence and I'm the fastest runner." They offered a wrapped scroll to me before remembering their training belatedly and bowing, one hand out with the scroll held loosely.

"No insult taken," I replied absently, offering the scroll to Orlo so they could slice through the ribbon holding it closed with a neat claw.

I opened it, scanning the words written in a looping scribe's script speedily.

Why is all the news from Arcefracti always bad??

I tossed the scroll at Orlo so it could read the message too, turning back to the messenger only to find out they had already left, which was yet another breach of etiquette, but I didn't particularly care.

Orlo swore behind me, an old curse that would have gotten their mouth washed with soap back at the institution we had both grown up in.

"The Arcefractals can't stay out of trouble for a single day now?" They dropped the scroll on the ground, heading over to where we had been battling to pick up its weapons and slide them back into their sheaths properly.

Sylver had apparently woken up from their coma with red eyes and murder, and now Arcefracti was being overrun with corruption. Everyone was doing their best to get all the citizens out of the empire, and the others were distraught at the loss of their friend and ally.

I huffed out a half-laugh, shoving my worries deep into a box. I would deal with those later, right now I had to get to the others and help with the evacuation. "We can't really blame Sylver for getting possessed by a demon."

"You can't, maybe," Orlo said haughtily. "I can. Idiot."

Rolling my eyes, I turned around so Orlo could see me stick my tongue out at them, or at least, guess what I was doing behind the mask.

They flipped me off, letting me scoop up the scroll as we walked out of the temple. As an afterthought, I burned the scroll at one of the small sacrificial shrines by the door, sending up a quick prayer for luck to the gods. Never hurt to ask, after all.

"You'll take care of things while I'm out?" I asked Orlo, stopping at the intersection of hallways outside the temple. One way led deeper into the castle, where Orlo had to go to wrangle the nobles and make sure everything ran smoothly while I was away. The other led to the outside, where I had to go to fly to Ethiria, since the scroll said everyone was meeting there.

It nodded. "I'll make sure to send a few squads to help fight the corruption and give everyone time to get out."

We nodded at each other, not bothering with handshakes or hugs since we were both touch-averse.

Orlo spun on its heel and walked away, the echo of a sinister cackle the last I heard of them. I hoped they had fun terrorizing the nobles into doing what they needed done.

I took the other hall, the guards standing by opening the doors for me as I stepped out into the frigid summer air. Icy mountains were icy mountains, even in the hottest time of the year.

Spreading my wings, I relished the stretch of the muscles, not a single ache or twinge to be felt. Normally I could barely fly, thanks to an accident in my youth where I had gotten caught out in a highlands storm.

Debris had shattered the bones and torn the muscles in my wings, leaving me with permanent thick scars on my back and an inability to fly ever again except for short hops and glides, but with the Eclipse mask's extra strength and healing, it was like the damage had never existed.

With a quick running start and a leap, I was in the air and soaring, easily catching a downwards draft heading down the side of the mountain towards the plains and forests of Arcefracti and neighboring Ethiria.

This was a disaster, through and through. The demon had taken one of our own and wrecked an entire empire, all in the span of a week.

If we hadn't been at war before, we certainly were now.

The demon was going to feel the wrath of the entire Pearlescent Dynasty, and he would pay.