Book of The Dead

High above the capital, the Palace of Ascension floated. An impossible structure, kept aloft by the largest array in the history of the realm, and home to the highest of the Blood.

At the tallest point of this structure, within the most sanctified of its towers and surrounded by platinum ranked Imperial Knights lay the Emperor Elios al Selene, the forty-seventh of that name.

Named for the Goddess to whom his lineage belonged, he slept restlessly, his dreams invaded by thrashing colours and titanic voices roaring in the distance. Rats and Crows and Crones danced around a fire, raising the flames higher and higher while the Emperor fought to contain it, to hold back the flames.

Birds with blood red feathers swooped and pecked at him, their eyes like shining rubies, poking holes in his flesh and drinking deep on the bright blood that flowed from within.

Beneath it all, shadows crept at the edge of his vision, extending further every time he turned his head. Everything the darkness touched began to fade, losing substance until nothing but a ghostly image remained, a mockery of the substance it had held before.

Did they think he didn’t notice? That he couldn’t see?

Anger rising in his chest, the Emperor swept out his hand, calling on the Divine power that was his by birthright. In an instant, everything that troubled him was swept away. No more laughing gods, no more hovering birds, no more creeping shadows.

The only thing left was a black skull, burning with malice, empty sockets staring deep into his soul.

With a start, Elios came awake, sitting up, a trickle of sweat running down his face. For a moment, he was disoriented, not realising where he was, the darkness closing in ominously. After a few seconds, the feeling passed. He knew who he was, he knew where.

He was the Emperor in the seat of his power, the highest authority in the realm below the gods themselves.Calm returned as the details of the dreams that had plagued him began to tatter and fray. It had been like this often, lately. Restless sleep, tossing in his bed, waking feeling drained and fatigued. He no longer allowed any of his bed companions to remain by his side as he slept, lest there be further incidents.

For someone of his strength, even the slightest of movements could be enough to snap bones and crush skulls.

Moving with care, he raised a hand and flicked his wrist. Immediately, light bloomed throughout the room, conjured by the floating globes that hovered within the chamber.

“Good morning, your Imperial Majesty.”

Softly spoken, yet carrying a clear and enchanting music, the voice caressed his ear. Sitting up, he saw, as he did every time he awoke, a dozen of his attendants, faces pressed to the floor. At their head, his chief stewardess sat upright, the only one allowed to meet his gaze.

Shoulder length brown hair styled in rippling waves ran down her neck and over her bare shoulders, the gown showing off her golden skin. Despite this, it was her eyes that were most captivating. A piercing blue, clear and pure.

Not for the first time, he wondered if it was time he gave Aisha a child. They were related, distantly, but her blood was sufficiently pure to provide an imperial offspring.

“Good morning,” he said softly.

The mere sound of his voice thickened the air around him, causing it to press down on the kneeling girls, who endured as best they could. Divine Authority, as always, hung on him like a cloak. Every action he performed was reinforced by it, every word he spoke was a vessel for its pressure.

Only Aisha appeared unmoved by it.

“Would your Imperial Majesty like us to bring him breakfast now? Or is there some other service he desires from us?”

The Emperor contemplated.

“I will meditate,” he said, once again keeping his voice as soft as possible.

He did not need to specify that they should return in an hour. After two centuries of reign, Elios’ habits were well ingrained. Aisha bowed low, folding gracefully at the waist and pressing her face to the floor.

“We will withdraw,” she said.

As one, the attendants rose onto their heels and stood, keeping themselves folded at the waist and facing the floor. In this pose, they backed out of the room, unable to show him their backs, their hands visible to him and the Knights in the corners of the room at all times.

When they were gone, the Emperor rose from his bed, the silken rugs warm beneath his bare feet as he padded from his bedchamber to an adjoining room.

With its crystal walls and floor, this space gave an incomparable view of the Palace, and beyond that the vast expanse of the Central Province rolling out for thousands of kilometres in every direction.

As the Knights filed in behind him, Elios paid them no mind, folding his legs and sitting in the centre of the room, a precipitous drop beneath him with only a thin sheet of enchanted crystal to support his weight.

A few steadying breaths, then he focused his gaze on the symbols etched into the crystal wall before him. Five symbols, one for each of the gods, but highest among them, the Goddess Selene.

In life, she had been their leader, their captain, the one who had pushed and pushed the others until they had risen to the highest possible heights.

In return, she had demanded, and received, the right for her offspring to rule over the Empire. The Imperial line would spring from her loins, an everlasting dynasty that the others would support and never seek to overthrow.

Hamar, Lofis and Orthriss had agreed, and in the thousands of years since, they had nurtured their resentment.

The result of their discontent was the Imperial Court of today, not that it had changed much for the past twelve centuries. A quagmire of bureaucracy designed to frustrate and restrict the Imperial Seat at every turn, with every drop of power divided into tiny fractions and viciously fought over.

With the fall of Granin, the last of the Kingdoms was wiped from the map, so now only the Empire remained. No competitors, no fear. What did it matter if the Empire stagnated and weakened, was made more inefficient, more wasteful, more corrupt? The gods had nothing to fear except each other.

Stolen story; please report.

Mother of Mothers. Ancestor of Ancestors. Allow me to receive your light.

The Emperor tried to still his thoughts and cast away his frustration. It wasn’t always easy for the Divines to reach out and speak in this world. Oracles were raised specially, and received Classes that increased their sensitivity to the words of the gods. As the Emperor, there was none more attuned to the will of Selene than he, and so, he focused, hoping she would speak to him.

For long minutes, he sat, unmoving, unthinking and unfeeling, his eyes open but unseeing, letting time pass while he communed with the heavens above.

He had meditated more often as of late. This was not the first time an entire Province had been purged, but it was still not a common occurrence. The Empire would take centuries to recover, so long that he wouldn’t live to see it. In truth, he would be deposed before another eighty years had passed, the Imperial Seat handed to whichever of his offspring was favoured by the gods.

His successor would see the Empire made whole again, yet for Elios, his heart was troubled. There couldn’t be weakness at a time like this. The Realm was at the crossroads, and the gods would ensure the correct path was taken, yet strength and stability was required.

Once again, he stilled his thoughts, turning his attention inward, hoping to hear the whisper of the goddess.

More time passed, and Elios began to think that his hopes would once again not be answered. That was fine. It was rare to hear her voice, even for him. He would try again tomorrow.

Just as he began to relax his posture, a flicker of light caught his attention. Was it a reflection off the crystal? It shouldn’t be… it was designed to diffuse the light perfectly.

Yet the spot of light only grew brighter, larger, creeping outwards to encompass the entire wall before him.

Within his chest, the Emperor’s heart pumped harder. He could feel it, the presence of the Divine. His hope surged back to life and he smiled for what felt like the first time in months.

She was coming.

Slowly and deliberately, as the light grew stronger and stronger, until the entire crystal room was nothing but a solid wall of pure white, the Emperor leaned forward, bowing low, and held his pose.

Lift your head, my son.

The voice did not speak, but resounded in his mind and heart. It was like light itself, blowing away the darkness and doubt, filling him with a sense of purpose.

Swallowing, the Emperor raised his head and came face to face with the goddess.

Her eyes were as bright as suns, her hair like spun gold catching the first rays of the sunrise. She sat before him, hands folded in her lap, wearing a simple dress of unadorned white cloth, a slight smile on her perfect face.

“Goddess,” he choked, intimidated by the overwhelming sense of power and… holiness that radiated from his ancestor.

There were none in the realm that approached his power, yet she… she was not of this world, but of a higher existence.

“I am unworthy to witness your visage,” he said, bowing low once more.

A direct visitation like this was… it was the first of his reign. Elios’ father had never recorded experiencing such a thing.

Lift your head, child, she told him. We have little time.

He snapped his head back up, not wanting to offend.

“Please speak, Goddess. I am your servant.”

Of course you are. All exist to serve me.

“Yes, of course.”

Before him, the goddess smiled, the light bending around her in dizzying ways.

Listen to my decree, my son. Interfering in this world delays my final Ascension and robs me of strength, so I must be brief.

This much was known to the Emperors since the beginning. It was the reason the gods didn’t act themselves unless they felt they had to. The Empire itself existed to support the Five and remake the world so they didn’t need to exert themselves directly.

My brothers and sister have discerned our enemy and recognised a true threat to the Empire I have built. They have agreed to put aside their grievances to ensure that it is extinguished. Do you understand what this means?

Of course he did. Elios had ruled the Empire for two hundred years. More than any of the High Blood, or any of the bickering Nobles within the administration, he knew just how deeply the divisions ran. All of which traced back to the ancestors at some point. The divisions in the Imperial Court had been placed there deliberately in the very founding of the Empire itself.

If Orthriss, Hamar and Lofis consented to cease meddling, then the Empire might actually function for once in his life.

“I do, Goddess.”

It had been a long time since the Emperor had looked forward to governing. What dreams would the ministers and highest of the houses have this night? The Divines speaking directly to their descendants, telling them to clear the way and unblock the dams they had painstakingly built their entire lives.

Good.

The Goddess leaned forward, her blazing eyes of pure light stabbing deep into his soul, her expression hardening.

I am too close to allow those useless shits to ruin my Ascension now. You are to use this new authority to crush all of the insects that are trying to suck my blood. Burn the Old Gods. Destroy the undead. Banish the Abyss back into darkness and sweep the Imperial Court clean until it fucking sparkles.

Most of all. I want Tyron Steelarm’s soul in the palm of my fucking hand.

She held up one divine hand then crushed it into a fist.

Do this, and you will be rewarded with a place by my side in eternity. Fail, and I will cast your soul into darkness. Do you understand?

In that moment, the loving Mother of the Empire was gone, and a burning entity of power and spite sat before him, the waves of her anger hot enough to sear his flesh to ashes.

“I understand, Goddess,” the Emperor stated, his heart beating with renewed purpose. “All will fall before your radiance.”

He bowed once more before her, accepting his task gladly.

As they should.

With that, she was gone, the light faded in an instant, leaving him in the crystal chamber, his head pressed to the floor.

“Your Imperial Majesty?” One of the Knights asked him, stepping forward in shock. The Emperor did not bow. What had happened?

“A visitation,” the Emperor said softly and immediately the four Knights fell to their knees in supplication.

They hadn’t seen a thing, he realised, everything had happened in an instant.

Once more, the Emperor looked out of the Central Province, the spreading light of the morning sweeping across the plains and cities like the Goddess’ smile.

Resolve hardened within him.

“There will be long days ahead,” he said to himself.

Filled with purpose, Elios Al Selene rose to his feet once more.

He would first sweep clean the Court, replacing the polluted waters with the clean and the pure. For that, he would first need to select an agent to act on his behalf.

He already had someone in mind.