~~~Rei Rain of Viidakko~~~

The rain dripped through the leaves, evaporating in the humid, near boiling jungle heat into a fine mist that drifted through the boughs and branches, wreathing the port city in an aura of quiet and silence, everything muffled by the rain and everyone staying inside to avoid the wet.

I stopped at the trunk of a tree, peering down at the ground a ways down from me. The upper part of town, up in the trees with winding paths and bridges between the houses and the trees they were perched on, and the lower part of the town, at the base of the same trees, nestled by the river and along the scant open ground where the trees had been cleared to make space for the town, Havaseki. My town. My home, the city from where I ruled my empire.

We didn't seem to be in any danger of flooding from the rain; the river was still its normal size and not swollen with rainwater and spilling over its banks like it did sometimes when especially long rainstorms came through.

The bridges swayed, a sudden gust of wind blowing through, rattling the bridges and send solid drops of rain flying through the air, the cool water pebbling against my face and rolling down into my dark fur, making me shiver slightly at the cold it spread in contrast to the wet heat surrounding me.

Best to get inside. Even with my fur to protect me from any true cold, I didn't want to catch a cold or a fever from the cold rain and wind.

I carefully made my way to the closest bridge leading to the ground, pausing to check for wind gusts before walking down. I definitely did not want to be on the wood-and-rope bridge if a strong gust came and flipped it over, as it occasionally did when the winds were strong enough.

If the bridge was empty, it'd just roll back around to its normal shape once the wind died down, but if someone was on the bridge? The fall to the ground wasn't far enough to be completely fatal, it was rare that someone died from a fall, most just broke a bone or got a concussion from the drop. Still, I couldn't afford to get injured, not with everything I had to do and especially not with this new demon threat around.

When I reached the ground, I had to take shelter from the suddenly too powerful gust of wind and torrent of rain, much stronger than what was normal. That sort of weather was like a violent winter storm, not a summer rain shower. The base of the tree had a small door built into the massive trunk, and I ducked into the hollowed base of the tree, designed for extra storage but also making a great shelter from the rain. It was also a good hiding spot for children playing hiding games, I remembered with faint fondness for that long-ago time.

I hadn't been the one meant to take the throne, just one of many half children of the Rai, or king as the empires outside the jungle called it. I had a claim to the throne, but my older half-brother was the crown prince, raised for the role. However, when the time came for him to take the throne, he revealed his contempt for me and his other half-siblings and tried to do away with us. To protect both myself and my younger siblings Helmi, Eveliina, and Mika, I challenged him for the crown, as was my right as a royal and an heir to the throne.

He didn't like that, predictably. But he couldn't refuse the challenge, and I won the fight, making me the Rei of Viidakkokissan Valtakunta, or just Viidakko, as most outsiders shortened it to. After he lost, he had left Havaseki in disgrace, and no one had seen or heard of him since. I had won the crown fair and square against him, so I wasn't worried about him coming back to challenge me again, but I did keep an eye out in case he tried to get revenge for losing the throne to me.

Once the wind quieted, I slid out of the hollow and hurried to my home, opting to head to my personal home closer by instead of the official royal manor where the royal family lived and worked. Sometimes I just needed some peace and quiet, some time away from the bustle and politics of the throne and the court, and this was my 'home away from home' as they say.

Unlocking the door with the key I kept around my neck with my other keys, I stepped inside and shook myself, trying to get all the water off of me. The spray soaked into the soft carpet in front of the door, and a little bit splashed the door and walls, but that was fine, it was just a bit. Almost everything was waterproof here, since it rained so much.

Brushing the last few drops off my arms and wringing my soaked tunic out, I walked further into the house, stopping to light the lamps scattered around the room, leaving the hearth unlit. It was much too hot to add a fire's heat to it as well.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something flicker, something dark. I twisted around, frowning, but there was nothing there. The lamps in that corner weren't even lit yet, I hadn't gotten to that half of the room yet.

About to dismiss it as nothing, I paused, suspicion coloring my thoughts when I remembered the annual meeting I had just returned from, and how several rulers had described the demon to have first appeared as a shadowy blur, barely visible.

Tamping down the growl that rose in my throat, I carefully put out the match I had been using to light the lamps (no need to have an open fire danger in case I had to suddenly defend myself), and backed up against a wall, right next to a table with multiple talismans of protection from scattered religions and origins.

I only passed them a quick glance, but one of them, a simple statue meant to represent the Great Light that Ethiria worshiped, their god Luxen, seemed to shimmer slightly in my vision, and my nose itched the way it did when magic was present. So one of my collectibles was magical, then. The demon was a creature of darkness, and Luxen was said to be of light. Perhaps it was reacting to the presence of the demon. Perhaps it could even provide a bit of protection, even if it was just a warning of when the demon approached. Just in case, I stuck near it, pressing myself against the wall by the table to keep the demon from teleporting behind me.

"Hello?" I said warily, scanning the empty room in front of me for any sign of an intruder. Everything looked exactly as I had left it the last time I had been here; books opened facedown on the low couches in my living room, kitchen cleaned but still with a few empty plates and one of my notebooks that I had forgotten here, my bed in the corner undisturbed and made, the pillows fluffed, the rug neat except for the footprints I had just made in it, the prints wandering from the door to the various lamps and into the kitchen.

I hadn't gone into the kitchen yet.

The lights there were still unlit, and I was on the other side of the house, by the bookshelves. There was definitely someone here, whether just a thief or the demon making an appearance. My claws silently extended, sliding out from my hands as I held them loose and open, ready to attack at a moment's notice. Thank the gods I hadn't removed my armor yet from the peace meeting. I could need it in a moment.

No response came to my earlier call. I tried again. "I know there's someone there. Show yourself!"

My words returned to me unanswered, the sounds bouncing against the walls and receiving no reply. I frowned, annoyed. Both my instincts and my common sense were warning me now; someone was definitely in my home. And they weren't welcome.

A laugh echoed, faint but very much present. It sounded sinister, darkly amused. My head whipped around, searching for the source of the voice as my ears pricked up, flattened back against my head.

This time, the growl did come out, the sound reverberating through the room in clear warning. My tail swished against the back of my legs, betraying my slight sense of apprehension. This demon was powerful enough to reduce entire soldiers to less than ash. I did not want to face it alone.

But if I went for help, then I'd be leaving the defensive position I was in and leaving myself vulnerable. Not to mention putting my citizens in danger by exposing them to a malicious force of darkness. Running wasn't an option.

Stalling, then. Someone would eventually realize I had never returned from the annual meeting and send out parties to search the jungle and beyond for me. My empire was three days' travel from Nocturne, and today was the fourth day. They were probably searching for me already.

I heard another sound, a hiss inhuman and unnatural enough to make my fur stand on end. I instinctively tried to back up more, tail now fully lashing and ears flat to my head. I responded with my own hiss, glaring at every dark edge and corner of the house where a demonic being could possibly be hiding.

"Aw, are you scared, furball?"

The voice echoed, seeming coming from everywhere and nowhere at all. I resisted the urge to spin around, instead steadily picking apart every inch of the area I could see with my eyes, searching for any hint of darkness that wasn't natural shadow.

"Am I the one hiding, or you?" I responded evenly, keeping my frustration out of my voice and making it perfectly level.

The demon didn't respond, but the room seemed to grow ever so slightly darker, the shadows twisting longer and the lamps dimming. I hid my reaction, instead continuing to repeatedly scan the room for any signs of a physical form instead of just the magic crawling all over the floor and making my nose tingle irritably.

"If you're so brave and unaffected, why don't you step away from the little toy you have there?" The dark voice replied, whispers and screams imbued in the sound and concealing its tenor.

So the statue did hold some protective magic in it. I was right after all. Of course, I wouldn't be dumb enough to accept the challenge and leave the one object I now knew was keeping the demon from attacking.

"Very funny. Bravery does not equal foolishness, and running into a fight without knowing my chances is quite foolish." At that, the shadows curled back, seemingly thinking, or just moving at the whims of its master. Could the demon become darkness itself? They had to have a physical form, right?

Eventually, the voice returned, an air of menace added to the unnatural tone. "It won't protect you forever, ruler of the jungle. Eventually it will weaken, and die. Even now, you can see it faltering. The light is simply no match for the superiority of darkness."

I looked over at the statue, hissing in annoyance when I saw that the demon was right. The light coming off of it had brightened as the demon's presence strengthened, but now it was waning, dimming as shadows curled around the edges of the light it cast off, waiting to pounce. The demon may not have been right about darkness being superior to light, but the talisman was clearly not meant to protect against a being as powerful as this one.

"That may be true," I responded slowly, and the shadows seemed to perk up, their edges becoming sharper and more refined. "But that doesn't make me defenseless."

"Oh? And what would those defenses be?" The shadows had returned to being indistinct, simply shadows on the floor instead of moving and rippling against the wooden flooring and rugs. Was the demon trying to hide their effect of the shadows? Well, they were failing. I could still see a few smaller shapes wiggling and moving in the corners, seemingly excited.

I snorted. "As if I would tell my enemy that. You can't trick me so easily, demon."

The shadows spiked up suddenly, and I shoved down a surprised snarl as they rose, not becoming tridimensional but still writhing against the ground. So much for trying to hide their powers.

"You don't have any real defenses!" The voice said, the unnatural evil rasp of their voice not hiding the petulant tone. "Prove it!"

At that, I resisted the urge to chuckle. This conversation was becoming less intimidating and more entertaining. "What are you, a child? That won't work on me."

The shadows completely went flat, everything returning to normal, and for a long moment I thought the demon had left. I blinked. Was it really as easy as just refuting their attempts? It wasn't going to try to attack?

Then, a sullen reply. "Dammit, why'd I pick a reasonable emperor to haunt?"

I choked, barely shoving my laugh down. Laughing at a force of chaos and darkness that had me cornered in my own home was not a good idea, no matter how silly and adorable they sounded—

While we had been talking, I had relaxed every so slightly; my brain knew very well that the demon was a threat, but after being on alert and tense for such a long period of time without action, my instincts were settling now, making it harder to stay alert for sudden moves. My tail swished slowly, the tip just brushing the floor, while my ears were no longer flat, instead swiveled to catch the words the demon said from whoever direction they would speak from next.

Suddenly, something loomed mere inches from my face. Snarling, I lashed out, immediately diving into a fighting mindset and slashing at it, feeling my claws, razor sharp and freshly sharpened while I was traveling, cut cleanly through the layers of shadow wreathing the attacker to hit flesh and bone, cleaving through with a brutal sound.

The demon staggered back, shadows falling limply off their form as they howled and clutched at their bleeding face. I had cut straight through it, a deep gash from the top of their forehead through an eye and down their cheek to their chin, barely missing the corner of their mouth.

Claws dripping blood, I crouched into a fighting stance, ready to defend or leap into an attack at a moment's notice. I had dropped my guard and almost gotten injured because of it. I couldn't let the demon's teasing nature trick me again.

As I watched warily, the injury began to stitch itself up, the demon still bent over with their hands pressed to their face, but now their fingertips were beginning to darken, black bleeding from the point where the pads of their fingers met the skin of their face and swiftly spreading across their hands and arms, stopping a little before their elbow with the skin fully black and looking bottomless.

Whispers and hisses of pain escaped them as the wound healed, and once the gash had fully closed without so much as a trace of scar left behind, they looked up, revealing their appearance to me.

The demon was a man, only a bit taller than me, with pale skin that was cut up with tendrils of darkness and corruption cutting through. His eyes were bloodred, sclera nonexistent except for an evil, unnatural black, and his hair was as red as his eyes, but a few shades darker and reminiscent of dried blood instead of freshly spilled blood. There was purple and black entwined within the red, either further corruption of the last hints of his natural hair color, if that demonic red wasn't already his birth color. He wore simple clothing, seemingly relying on the shadows alone to hide his identity, without any hoods or cloaks to hide his face and obvious dark magic usage.

He couldn't have been much older than me, perhaps even younger. At the moment, he was staring at me, eyes a little wide with shock and the pain still fading from his expression. Even with all the darkness and corruption surrounding and covering him, I had to admit he was quite good-looking. He must have been exceptionally handsome before being corrupted, if there ever was a time 'before'.

The moment only lasted a hesitation more, after his wound fully faded and he recovered his thoughts, black completely consuming his eyes and covering the bloodred; the shadows leaped to cover him, swirling around furiously before bursting out to cover the entire room in darkness and then blinking out as if it had never been, dispersing to show a completely empty room and house, with no trace that anyone or anything beyond me had ever been there asides from every single lamp I had lit now being doused by the burst of darkness, as well as the Luxen talisman clattering down from the table, completely blackened and charred.

I stayed in my defensive position for several minutes more, before it became clear that he, whoever the face of the demon had once belonged to, was not returning. I surveyed the room critically, mind ticking over the events that had transpired.

I could not tell anyone about this. Every single other encounter with the demon had resulted in death, save mine. I would be suspected of colluding with the demon, if not outright accused of being the demon, and no one could afford political turmoil- that is, more political turmoil- with this threat running amok.

I resolved to tell only my most trusted advisor, and shore up Viidakkokissan's defenses even more.

I slowly picked up the destroyed talisman from the floor, inspecting the statue's burnt features. Remembering the alliance I had made just a few days prior with Ethiria and its king, I felt a burst of gratefulness towards my past self for accepting. I now had proof that there were things that could repel the demon, and that the Ethirian god of light stood a chance against the darkness.

Another thought arrived, even better than the last. There had been rumors, several years back, of a divine phenomena at the coronation of High King Indigo. Some had said the king was blessed by the gods, the first champion in millennia. If it were true, he could be the key to defeating the demon.

Or the god that had blessed Indigo could be the one granting the demon all his power, and the king of Ethiria was the demon. The facial structure and stance of the demon had seemed eerily familiar... and transfiguration spells were rare, but with the power of a god, one could do almost anything.

I grabbed the notebook I had forgotten here months ago (might as well grab it since I was here) and hurried out the door, being careful to appear calm. Even though most everyone was still hiding from the rainstorm, which had calmed down from violent to simply pouring, it wouldn't help if someone spotted the Rei looking anxious and incite a panic amongst the people.

I would have to be extremely careful. If Ethiria's ruler was compromised, it not only made the danger of the demon more prevalent, it also uncovered a whole new set of problems. King Indigo had no heir. The collapse of one of, while not one of the most powerful, easily one of the largest empires would wreak havoc on inter-empire politics and trade. Many empires relied on Ethiria and its neighbor Arcefracti to supply food and imported goods from their massive crop fields and farms. If they dissolved into civil war, thousands, even millions could starve. This would have to be handled with the delicacy of threading a needle.

I shook my head, pushing all my thoughts to the side. Those problems were better handled dry, safe, and in the manor, where I had all my maps, notes, and everything I needed to search for the best way to proceed. For now, I had to get there through this storm.

War was coming to Empiria. I intended to be very well prepared. For the good of my empire, and all the lives that depended on my making the right choices.