Duel of the Blessed

The castle was busy with all the Lords and Ladies once again gathered together. They were curious about what could have made the young Lord summon them after such a brief departure. Even the few still on the castle's grounds when the lockdown was put into place knew very little of what was going on.

Both Lord and Lady of Wrath appeared in front of the crowd, instantly causing the chatter in the room to die down. Their masks set over their faces making the glowing magic within their eyes all the more prominent.

"My loyal vassals," The Lord began, voice tense with anger. "It appears as though we have snakes in our ranks." He spoke with an underlying rage in his voice.

"Lord Love, the leader of the branch family produced from the clan of Lust, has betrayed us."

"He had absconded with much haste to make dealings with who is now, from this day forth, our most hated enemy." He looked out towards the nine hundred and ninety-eight clenched fists of the Lords and Ladies before him, some leaning back in surprise. "Worse still was the fact that he planned to take my youngest kin to be brutalised and enslaved by another traitor, the Red King of Orvivia!"

There were audible cries of outrage at this, the Kingdom of Orvivia only existed today because of the timely intervention of the masks some few millennia ago. The audacity of such a betrayal was not to be taken lightly and the clans in the western continent of Shevara would be chomping at the bit for the order to begin culling.

"Be calm my vassals," Lady Wrath spoke above the bubbling fury resting a hand on her husband's forearm. "We have no intention of allowing these transgressions to pass unpunished."

"However, it would appear that the serpents in our midst have made burrows in many places." Lord Wrath nodded at his Lady wife's touch, fist opening from their tightened grip.

"Not only have they sunk their fangs into Lord Love but they have also made their way to Creonix." He nodded to Gabriella, standing above on the ramparts. "In an attempt to undermine my sister by reviving the demon escorts of Renmaz." There were some shaky exhalations by the older leaders who had seen battle against the forces of the abyss, even as many of their younger counterparts buzzed with interest.

The uprising of these rebellious forces in his sister's lands could become an issue for the whole of Xendrada. After all, not many of the mortal races blessed by the Gods or otherwise could stand against a demonic incursion single-handedly and not falter under its tremendous force. With their resistance to most low-levelled magics and the ability to fly and cast spells of their own the servants of the cursed were not to be taken lightly by any race upon the fabric of mortals.

Should the former Kingdom of Renmaz be allowed to regain a foothold within the Ember region, it could be disastrous for more than just his sibling and her lands. The other Blessed races may even need to be rallied should the situation become truly dire. That thought felt like ash on his tongue, to have to ask the other Blessed for assistance…the shame of it. No, they would handle the situation themselves if need be.

"Go back to your clans, prepare them for what is to come," The Lord of the Thousand spoke gravely, looking over every ruler before him. "There is a war coming to Xendrada and it would appear that the lesser races once again need us to intervene on their behalf, lest they destroy themselves in their ignorance."

"Yes, my Lord!" The remaining rulers of the Thousand spoke as one, a symphony of teleportation spells cracking through the air like hundreds of shattered stained-glass windows being divided at once.

"Now that that's out of the way, I must adhere to my commitment." Wrath summoned a maid. "Bring Lady Ashlin to the arena at once."

The Amazon arrived within a few minutes, a swiftness within her steps that had not been present the day before. To find a master was of great importance to an Amazon, they trained their whole lives for that very moment. For them being without a master is like being without air but they did not bow down to just anyone. Only the strong have the privilege of calling an Amazon their right hand. For one to become their master they must best them in battle and though many have tried Ashlin has yet to be defeated.

The woman stood proudly before the leader of Wrath, the slightly taller man looked down upon her from his position and her eyes locked onto his. The Lord rose from his place slowly beginning his descent down the approach of the throne, he passed the Amazonian sword maiden without speaking and the telltale crack of a teleportation spell caused her eyes to widen in surprise slightly. She now found herself in one of the many training grounds within the territory that he controlled. He looked around the area, to the blunted bastard swords hanging off the weapon racks. Then to the target posts that had yet to be replaced after Lady Wisdom had brought her youngest students here just a quarter-hour before. His head tilted, and then he took in the scorched look of one of the posts. From the look of it, one of the younger generations had been training with his lightning magic. He let out a fond chuckle at this, memories long dormant of his time here under the tutelage of Lady Lust.

The young man turned to his Amazon guest as his young brother and the aforementioned lady herself appeared with the use of her own spell. The Lord gave a nod of acknowledgement to both his current heir and his former master receiving one from each in kind. Turning to the woman of the hour, he took her measure and if he found something in his viewing he did not speak of it.

"So, Amazon, as it is you who yearned for this bout, I think it is only right for you to lay out the conditions for your defeat." He spoke calmly, seemingly unfazed by the woman before him.

"Arrogance has been the fall of many an unwise man," She cautioned him, drawing her blade from its place on her hip before it burst into flames, "You would do well to be wary of an Amazon warrior."

The man paused for a moment before laughing at her statement. It was a loud and long thing and when he was done he coughed into a fist to recompose himself. He tilted his head at the shorter woman, naked amusement evident at her words.

"I do not believe it was myself who wrote off the Lord of Wrath as a mere assassin." She was quickly learning that the head tilt of his was a way to convey his amusement.

"I have faced three of your kind and found them wanting." The laughter of Lady Syrin caught her off guard, though she did not show as such on her face.

"You bested a subpar warrior in the Lord of Love, specialising in espionage, as well as two unblooded initiates." She tittered at the Amazonian, a hand coming up to hide the smile. "It would be best, I think, if you took this a bit more seriously my dear." Her glowing white eyes settled on her husband's foe for the evening. Ashlin found the glow of the women's white orbs quite unnerving and found herself shifting her gaze away.

"You Masks are a damn sneaky lot," She glanced at the new Lady of Wrath flanked by ten sentinels, five per side and wielding hooked polearms. "We shall fight until one of us can do so no longer."

The Lord tilted his head one way, then the other, before nodding in acceptance of her suggestion. The two stared at each other for a long moment, one with a flaming blade in hand and the other with no visible weapon on his person.

The air around the Amazon shimmered with heat as her magic came to life around her, the short grass beneath her feet burst into flame and her command over the element of fire was solidified in the fabric of the mortal world. What little sweat moistened her flesh from her earlier practices turned to steam lifting from her in clear wisps of white.

Still, the Lord drew no blade from his person nor did he use his previously displayed skill in teleportation to make one appear within his hand. Her brows knit together, the fact that she could not see his face made him difficult to read. He did not shift in excitement, nor did his muscles tense in anticipation, the fingers on either of his hands were not clenched into a fist and they did not twitch as many warriors' digits would have when preparing to handle a hidden blade.

"We are both Blessed children, I do not doubt that the divine ones are watching us now." He leaned out of the way of the fireball he got in response, almost lazily shifting to one side as if about to brace himself against a wall.

He smiled at her, or at least that's what she assumed the man was doing when he tilted his head like that. The Lord of Wrath was faster than the other Lord she had fought, that much was certain to her now. She dashed forward, flames beneath her flaring as if to propel her towards the man she faced. He ducked under her first blow, snorting in amusement as the flaming blade came down to cleave him in two. He was in her guard the next moment and she was forced to turn away from the fist seeking her rightmost ribs. The Amazon brought up her weapon a split second before a black blade slammed into hers raising her guard before the Lord of Wrath punished her ribs with his other hand despite her efforts. Even though her protection dampened the blow she felt the shock of it rattle her as something fractured.

The Lord gazed upon her pointedly as he stepped back from the pommel of her weapon coming up towards his chin. The warrior woman took a deep breath as she retreated a few steps giving him a critical eye. A wide grin split her face as her ribs mended themselves.

"Point received, assassin lord." She yielded to his previous statement.

In the next instance, her sword's flames went from its normal orange to a bright blue colour. He hummed at the sight, the blade in his hand glowed with the magical power of its owner and runes shining with pale green energy formed on the blade. Smoke rose from it then, dark and holding a malice that made all those watching shudder. At that moment that followed bursts of wind and flame slammed into each other from opposite directions causing a wave of heat to strike the spectators. The two warriors ignored whatever statement Lady Lust was making about how the heat would affect her hair in favour of closing in once more.

Not for the first time, Lord Wrath silently thanked the spellsmiths of his clan for the dragon-scale armour he often wore in and out of battle, the runes that gave his other items of clothing the same resistance to heat were just as appreciated, as he'd rather not fight an amazon in the nude after all. It would have been a joy to give such things to all members of the one thousand clans. But the rarity of the items needed to craft them meant that only those that established themselves worthy to both the spellsmiths who forged them and the dragons that supplied the materials made them somewhat rare even amongst the nobility.

The blades of the two clashed, becoming locked on their crossguards for a moment before he drove both the blades to the side with strong gale force winds. The flames of her blade arced out in a swath of azure before he pushed its source upwards.

Seizing the momentary opening in her guard he snapped his sabaton up to smash into her left knee, causing the woman to buckle briefly as the limb snapped at the joint. Bringing her blade down to drive him back she sought to repay the damage by taking his arm. Yet before the blow could land her opponent was halfway across the field before she could even dent his pauldron with the large blade. He watched her for a moment, the woman stared back confused as he allowed the healing abilities that all blessed possessed to repair the shattered bones in her leg.

"You could have ended it there." She spoke, voice calmer than she truly felt.

"Yes, indeed, I could have." He replied, tilting his head.

The Amazon narrowed her eyes at her opponent. It was obvious to her that she was being toyed with by the Lord of Wrath, with his speed and strength alone this match should have been ended a dozen times over. Not to mention whatever hidden magics he wielded, on top of those he had already displayed.

The young Lord said nothing else, simply allowing his blade to disappear back to wherever it had appeared from. The new weapon that had appeared in his hands was not a sword at all but rather a decently sized battle axe.

The amazon's eyes went wide when he threw the weapon at her, the action unexpected, though she supposed it made sense when one could pull blades out of nowhere. Ashlin was forced to bring her blade up to deflect the sharpened edge upward when the lord's axe screamed towards her skull. The woman would have questioned the directness of his method of attack, had the young man not appeared in time to catch the weapon in midair before hacking it into her back.

She stumbled, as she felt her protections give way, hand wrapped around her throat he struck again and then a third time. Blood soaked her gambison as he made his weapon bit deeper and deeper. Her blade fell from her hands, the heavy blade clattering to the arena floor, unable to hold onto the magical weapon while her spine was being savaged by the steel.

The Lord of Wrath tilted the Amazon sword maiden back so she wouldn't land on her face, gazing at her as her body worked to heal the damage to her spine.

"You," She slurred, stopping to cough up the blood in her throat. "Fucker, you held back on me."

She twitched, then sat up abruptly, groaning and stretching her back.

"That was no magic weapon, my Lord, it would have taken me far longer to heal if it had been." She cracked her neck as she forced herself to stand on shaky legs.

"I plan on making use of you." He scoffed in mock offence. "How exactly am I to do that if you are bedridden from a magically shattered spine?"

"A good point my Lord," She paused momentarily, thinking. "Am I to assume that is also why you did not use some of your more destructive magical arts?"

The Lord of Wrath was more than proficient in magic, more so than herself, which was made painfully obvious to her just moments ago. Her new Lord tilted his head to one side, then the other, before nodding.

"My teleportation and wind magics are far less destructive than some spells in my arsenal, yes." He chuckled to himself as if he had told a particularly funny joke.

The Lord had the air forced out of him when his younger sibling slammed into him a moment later. The Prince of Wrath shook his older kin slightly bouncing on the balls of his feet. His eyes glittered, his magic unchained in his excitement.

"You won, Lord brother, does this mean she will stay with us?" The teen half pleaded with and half questioned.

"I could still execute her and take her weapon, it is rather nice, to stand up to a black blade." His brother mused and the younger sibling groaned at his sibling's dark humour.

"You did just say you would make use of her my love," His Lady wife teased, as he wrapped his free hand in her own. "Would be rather counterproductive of you to do so now." The Lady of Wrath chided playfully.

"So it would seem," He sighed with mock sorrow. "It would seem that you are now in my service, child of the Amazons."

"It's been nearly a decade since I began my search for a Lord, I am glad that it was someone as powerful as you." She bent her head in respect and was surprised when he replicated the gesture himself.

"You did well, the last Blessed I battled endured half as long as yourself." He hummed, remembering some far-gone battle. "He was also rather rude if I do say so, a fair fighter, however."

The Amazon blinked at this, wondering who exactly the Lord had faced. Though since her Lord did not see fit to inform her of this Blessed, she could only assume this person was no longer within the mortal realms.