Princess Lunalah scowled at the wretched lineup before her.
By her count there were perhaps twenty or so, most of them n, all of them repugnant in the way that commoners were. Unremarkable in both form and talent. Of course, these had the added distinction of being disobedient to the throne as well.
“Is this all of them?” she asked.
The High Magistrate bowed her head. “As requested, your majesty. These are the prisoners awaiting trial for various infractions warranting capital punishnt.”
Lunalah stood upon the makeshift dais she had ordered erected in a forest clearing, a few miles from the Imperial City now floating in the sky behind her. The sun had long since set and the first glimpses of the planet’s moon was on the rise.
She sensed the soft whisper of its call.
The ‘Voice’ reaching out to her.
~Sacrifice~
~Ascend~
The two words had been repeated to her for weeks now. Each night Lunalah would venture into the forest clearing to cultivate and commune with the voice of the moon. It was not a conversation exactly, but it gave her answers.
Instructions.
Visions.
In her mind’s eye, she could see her Sacred Soul staring back at her, mouthing the sa words now echoing through her being.
~Sacrifice~
~Ascend~
It was the second word that gave her the most discomfort.
She’d been on the cusp of the Lesser Deity Realm for decades now, but the horrors of what that transition might an for her, still sent fear racing through her heart. The recent failed ascension of Rhe Su Long was a stark reminder of the worse that could happen, to be transford into a monstrous Fallen God. Still, she was not at such a stage as yet. But even ascending to the Lesser Deity Realm was sothing she had never craved before.
She had never needed to.
Not with her station.
As a true born princess, even a lowly Third Princess she had wielded power and status unimaginable to many. But she had experienced how fickle such power was now. It was not her own power, she realized. It was never her own. It was a strength borrowed from the na of her father and the council had seen fit to strip her of it.
But no longer.
Lunalah would seek her own power now.
Power that would instill fear born of her own strength.
“Prisoners!”
As she yelled the word, the motley crew of mortals imdiately snapped to attention.
“I have seen fit to show you rcy this day. You are hereby given the opportunity for freedom.” She paused with a smile, allowing their faces to fill with hope. “You shall be allowed this day to take part in a challenge. Guards, release them!”
The guards acquiesced to her command, undoing the bonds of each prisoner. The prisoners looked at one another perplexed, a mixture of apprehension and hope on their faces.
They would make the perfect sacrifices, she thought. Sinners with no value to the throne.
She then looked to the moon.
Oh, unknown god of promise…I offer these to you, she whispered internally and her inner self smiled back at her in return. It startled her for a mont. This was her own Sacred Soul, and yet it seed to respond to her now, as if a different person. To respond to her as if she were the Voice instead. Even the six jade crystals that orbited behind her had sowhat changed, becoming darker and tainted with a faint red hue. She looked back to the moon and wondered if she could indeed induce a Bloodmoon this way.
And what would happen if she actually did.
If she could wreak the sa catastrophe as she did on Terra on any planet she would choose.
Such would be true power.
True fear.
Her Sacred Soul mouthed the words as the Voice answered her again.
~Sacrifice~
~Ascend~
Lunalah finally looked back to the prisoners.
“These are the conditions of the challenge,” she said. “You have only to survive until daybreak to earn your freedom. If you survive, all charges shall be dropped against you, and you will be returned to the Imperial City. That is all.”
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They looked to one another again, the mixture of fear and apprehension on their faces increasing.
The High Magistrate then leaned over to her. “Are you…certain of this, your majesty?”
“The prisons are growing too cramped,” she said matter-of-factly. “And I do not wish to waste money on expensive trials.”
The High Magistrate bowed her head in obedience. “Understood.” She then addressed the prisoners. “The Third Princess has issued an imperial edict deciding your fate. Survive till morning and you will have earned your freedom.”
“Just survive a night?” one of them asked. “What beasts roam here?”
“You need not fear the beasts,” Lunalah said with a smirk. “You need fear one another. Guards, arm them.”
Even the guards looked perplexed this ti.
“Do it!” she shouted.
Imdiately the guards threw spears, swords and knives before the group.
“Go!” she shouted. “Arm yourselves! Fight!”
Tense seconds of silence passed.
Everyone stood unsure.
Everyone stood in fear.
A heavyset man lunged for the pile of weapons and imdiately another dove in to stop him. A wicked pandemonium then ensued as they clawed at one another for both the weapons and their lives. Yells and cries rang out as soone was stabbed, another scread as her arm was set alight by soone’s Qi technique.
Lunalah looked to the moon for confirmation.
Was it pleased?
Did she fulfil the sacrifice?
Could she ascend?
There was only silence and her Sacred Soul looked back at her mouthing the sa words again.
~Sacrifice~
~Ascend~
As the lee ensued, several of the prisoners banded together and began running for the forest. Others ruthlessly preyed on the weaker, slaughtering them with abandon, but it didn’t matter. It was not working.
It was not fulfilling what she needed.
Lunalah eyed the group fleeing, a half dozen or so.
She raised her arm and summoned the power of her Qi. “[First Law, Hamr of Divine Justice]!”
Piercing purple light flashed as a celestial hamr appeared above the fleeing prisoners and then descended with a deafening thoom! A sickening crunch of bone cut their death-cries short, and sothing flared within her.
An insight of inspiration.
Qi poured from sowhere unknown, filling her Dantian with a power she had never felt before. From the moon she sensed its pull grow stronger and her Sacred Soul smiled with approval.
~Sacrifice~
~Ascend~
The High Magistrate glanced up at her in shock. The prisoners that were left, froze in place, staring at her as well. Lunalah reveled in it, the pure fear within their eyes.
True power, she thought.
My power.
She had ordered the deaths of many before. Seen whole regions decimated. Even leaving the Iron Bull’s worthless civilization to fall under the terror of the Bloodmoon had seen millions slain. Yet even that paled compared to the satisfaction of taking those prisoners’ lives by her own hand.
Once again, her Sacred Soul smiled in agreent with her.
Lunalah rose into the air with a burst of Qi, preparing her technique yet again. The prisoners ran without thinking, dropping their weapons as they sensed what was coming next.
“That’s it,” Lunalah whispered. “Run you worthless cattle… run.”
She dropped her arm as her celestial Hamr appeared and it crashed into the ground in an area half the size of the clearing itself. Debris flew as their death cries resonated with the essence of her Sacred Soul. Her Dantian swelled again and she felt sothing take hold. A surety not her own.
A confidence born of sothing primal
A power beyond the stars.
~Ascend~
~Ascend~
Lunalah allowed the power to flow through her and her ridians flared as her body began to transform. Fear took her imdiately.
No, she thought. I can’t beco a monster.
I won’t!
I won’t!
She cried out and the pitch of her voice shifted, lowering as she grew in size. The dais shrank as did the forms of the guards and magistrate around it. A shockwave of pure energy radiated from her body, blasting them back as her Sacred Soul took on true flesh.
She sensed the change imdiately.
The world took on new hues of vibrance and aning. Her Qi density had more than doubled and now, the six red-hued crystals that hovered behind her, exuded their own celestial power. Her breath caught as she looked down at her massive body, clad in celestial robes.
It was sothing she was well accustod to with her Sacred Soul projection.
But now, she was this form in the true world.
She threw her head back with a deafening laugh.
She’d done it.
She had ascended where so many of her sisters had failed.
Where so many, far more capable, had failed to venture due to fear.
A fear she had now overco.
Lunalah looked down to see a different type of fear upon the faces of the magistrate and guards as they gazed up at her. Her Dantian swelled in recognition of it. It was the sa she would instill across the entire empire.
She looked to the moon once more and with her newly honed senses she could see it was distinctly a shade darker. A pale Bloodmoon. She extended herself towards it, beckoning its guidance once again.
What now?
The sa instruction ca.
~Sacrifice~
~Ascend~
What? she thought. Ascend further?
As if for confirmation, the Voice again sounded within her soul.
~Sacrifice~
~Ascend~
Lunalah grimaced at what that would an, but the voice had proven itself true thus far. Sacrifice was needed to achieve her aims. To be strong enough to bring the Iron Bull low, to destroy everything he held dear and to make all those within the empire who had shad her pay.
Every last one of them.
The Voice resonated again.
~We offer thee an Accord~
An accord?
~Power~
~Justice~
~Revenge~
They were not so much words now, as concepts.
Feelings.
Truths.
There was only one response.
Yes. I accept.
Imdiately the world shifted again and her Inner Being grinned, her skin darkening with ominous power. She could hear the voices of thousands calling from the moon. Millions. Her vision multiplied with eyes she could not see.
Her mind shattered with the presence of sothing greater.
Lunalah faintly realized that soone was screaming.
It was herself.
When she looked down she saw the guard and the High Magistrate cowering in terror, hiding behind the dais. The sight both enthralled and repulsed her. She did not know what they had witnessed and she didn’t care.
Such mortal concerns were beyond her now.
“High Magistrate!” she barked and the woman crawled from behind the dais and imdiately fell into a kowtow.
“Y-yes your majesty,” she said, head to the ground. “This one exalts you on your ascension.”
Lunalah smirked. “Such groveling does not beco you, High Magistrate. Fetch more prisoners. In fact, bring them all.”
“Your majesty?”
“My ascension has left feeling most generous. From this day forth I shall offer all prisoners the opportunity to face the nightly challenge for freedom.” She looked down at the magistrate and smiled. “But ensure you do not share with them the details. I would be most disappointed if you were to spoil the surprise.”
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