Elurial.

***

Wrestling myself over the edge of the observation deck brought me slap into view of the only other half-orc here. He was standing out on the edge with his head slumped down to the ground, so far below.

“You’re not gonna jump, are you?” I weakly chuckled from afar to both announce my arrival and lessen the situation, whatever that situation may have been.

“Oh, hey, Elurial.” Hogaz turned not even a tenth my way. And said nothing more.

For whatever reason, I slowly approached to sit on the ledge by his feet. It wasn’t as if I was close to him. But we were both of the same blood. And in my eyes, that meant something. “Are... are you alright?” I looked up to him for once. “You’ve been… moody lately.”

“Oh, yeah?” He lazily shook his head and yawned hard enough to rock back on his heels. “It’s just been hard to sleep. You know?”

“I don’t.” I laughed. “I’ve been sleeping like the dead since I came here.”

“Funny.” He chuckled weakly as he began to sit, bringing me to notice the nearly glowing white rings on his hand.

“We’re getting tattoos now?” I pointed to it.

“Oh, yeah.” He blinked at them with the first sight of warmth that I’d seen in weeks. “I’ve been marked.”

“Like Bazzric?” I rhetorically asked, then thought back to the times I saw the chained infernal blades wielded by the dwarf. “Are you gonna make a weapon appear from thin air as well?” I teased.

“I don’t... think so?” His face wrinkled in abject confusion before he suddenly stretched his hand out before him. And from the silver ring on his hand came a crackling light of the same color that erupted from his palm as a beam.

“I can do that.” He nonchalantly retracted his arm. “And a couple more things.”

“Hogaz, that’s amazing!” I nearly jumped from the ledge. “Amun gave you this power?”

“We came to an agreement.” He shrugged. “But... I’m not exactly a Warlock. I mean, I am. But, this core for... Eldritch Lunacy means I also have... sorcery?”

‘But at what cost?’ I thought, too afraid to ask and too pained to see him like this. So I rose to my feet and gave him a brisk pat on the shoulder. “Can’t wait to see what you can do. And try to get some sleep. Yeah?”

"Yeah." He muttered his thanks as I walked off with his words to Amun replaying in my mind. He mentioned he wanted to cheat his way to strength without being corrupted. But, as I knew all too well, such things never existed. Even when the long path was taken, corruption was a great risk.

“Are you done stalling?”

I rolled my eyes at my Doppelganger as a response, taking emphasis so that she’d take the hint. I was stubborn after all. And so too was she. It’s been two months since we began our training at the tower and she's pestered me the entire time about receiving the Grace of Twilight. It was something I saw all around me, every day. The mass of darkness that surrounded the others before they were silhouetted against a golden light. A light that either healed them or transported them across vast distances. It was fascinating. Awe-inspiring, even. But so strange and so unknown that I couldn’t help but be wary. But like everyone else, I assumed, I eventually succumbed to my clone’s pestering and, after many distractions, found myself standing before the church in question.

The walls seemed to be perfectly spherical. As were the walls of the church facing it. Both with great doors of black or white-painted wood emblazoned with the symbols of their- or perhaps our God. Stepping inside the church of Twilight brought me into a spherical chamber filled with an almost gaseous fog of darkness that hugged the ground up to my waist. Many ribbed things peered from the top of those clouds, running the length of the room up to a round platform of black marble and brass or perhaps even gold.

Suspended from a chain so dark it was nearly invisible was a meter-and-a-half sphere of what I now understood to be onyx, set before the same brilliant light that I saw emanating from my classmates. Even with the brass or gold chimes, incense burners, and many tapestries, the chandelier dominated the headspace above the dais to an almost unsettling degree. But more unsettling was the hunched figure sitting just below the ringed abyss. Covered almost entirely in gilded black drapes that took up the entirety of the dais, it only sat, murmuring something incoherent to even my ears. And with the pungent incense burning everywhere, I had no hope of sniffing them out.

“You have come to receive Twilight’s Grace?”

I’ve been around Elijah enough to recognize the voice at once. That said, I’ve rarely if ever spoken to Opal. Much less stood a few meters away from her. So when she stood to her height and revealed her face, I could only accept my reaction for what it was. Lust.

She arose smiling from under her dark veil, revealing it to be a robe that seemed to shroud most of her body in darkness. Warmly, she smiled, yet her eyes burned with blood like the reflection of a beast in the night. Though not at me. At a pendant or something clasped in her hands.

“What is it?” I asked, throwing my chin to the occluded light above. “What does it do?”

“Twilight is light and darkness in equilibrium,” she cryptically explained. “And much more. But at its core, it is just that. Duality.”

“I’m not gonna become a Cleric, am I?” I halfheartedly chuckled. Then muttered. “Or a Warlock?”

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“Not unless you pray as I do. Not unless you make a pact.” She shook her head. “But for those who receive Grace, Twilight heals. Twilight teleports. Twilight sees. And more. All by God’s will.”

“You take this church stuff seriously, huh?” I leaned my elbow onto the dais and let out a snorting chuckle.

“Of course.” She huffed. “But this is not a church. It’s a temple for a cult. The church is across the way.”

“Right.” I turned away nodding. “And the difference is…?”

“Public approval.” She shrugged. “We’ve done some re-branding, us and God. If you’re curious?”

“Wehahaha!” I slapped the smoothed stone in earnest. “I am now!”

“Her church is still the same, Zakira's." Opal needlessly clarified. "The Moon is the first of many worlds Amun, or Mani will have orbit above the Realms of the Mortal Plane. It is special because it is his. Thus it is him. The Order of Worlds worships Amun and thus Mani as the World Weaver. The side of him that spreads knowledge of magic and science and advocates for the freedom of all. The side of him that creates and builds self-sufficient structures like this magnificent tower. The side of him that loves art and architecture and nature. And change.

“I worship Amun as the God of Devils. The Elven Devil. Amun.” She revealed her fangs in a warm smile. “This is the first Twilight Sanctuary. We follow the side of him that enjoys the fight. The side that excels at war and destruction. The side that explores. That reflects and parties as much as he works and learns. The side that curses and makes deals out of both malice and altruism. The selfish side.

“But again.” She chortled. “It’s much more than just that.”

“Wait.” I quickly shook my head. “So what about Twilight and Moonlight? You don’t worship that anymore?”

“We never have," she said gently. “We worship Amun. Twilight and Moonlight are but two of his many abilities- the only abilities we associate with. They represent two of his many aspects. As does this Sanctuary and Zakira’s Church. Two sides of the same being. Mani and Amun. Good and evil, some would say. But…”

“It’s much more than that.” I slowly nodded, then leaned away uncomfortably. “So, I just touch it?”

“You just touch it.” She nodded.

“Alright.” I stepped away and began climbing the stairs around the back.

A strange absent-minded feeling crept over me the moment my eyes fell on the occluded light. Without even trying, I started thinking of all that brought me here and what was to come. Of the fantastic events of the last several months and of the respite I was soon to face once this year came to an end. In hindsight, it was amazing that we were so lucky. More than that even. It was a blessing. Now, I didn’t care if he truly was divine or not. I cared not for gods. But Amun was intelligent and powerful enough to back up his claim of godhood regardless. Still, to think I would not only meet such a being but grab hold of his extended hand and learn and grow alongside him. It was unthinkable.

So much about the universe, I’ve learned. And I’ll continue to learn. I would continue to train. And when the day was done, I’d party like it was my last night of living. Just like I’ve done every day for the last two months.

That warm thought brought a gentle smile to my lips. Then a warmth to my arm as I reached out to the massive onyx orb and the point of light that still seemed to shine from behind it. A thin band of darkness responded to my touch. It reached out and slithered around my arm, disappearing down my sleeve to wrap my body in a warm, inviting embrace. And then, it was gone.

I turned and looked down towards Opal at once and noticed immediately that everything was... brighter. The smoke hugging the floor was clear, revealing the pews and more, a floor of beautiful mosaic tiles formed into the shape of a gargantuan leafless tree standing before a rising or setting sun.

“So, that’s it?” I flicked my eyes to her, trying to subdue my awe.

“That’s it.” She calmly smiled, then waited for me to step down from the dais. “Would you like to pray?” she then asked.

“Nah. I, uh… gotta get back to the mountain.”

I gave her the best smile I could and stepped out without delay. Scanning the deck brought no signs of Hogaz, though, giving me a thought to jog over to the ledge and peer over just in case. But my clone stopped me in my tracks.

“Congrats! You can see in magical darkness now.”

“Just like that?” I faced about, snorting incredulously.

“You saw it yourself.” She shrugged. And the sting of her truth forced me about once again.

“Twilight teleports.” I closed my eyes and muttered.

While holding on to the feeling I had within the Sanctuary, I turned my thoughts to my companions scattered throughout the wilds. Particularly, to the one who chose to prowl the same environment as I. After a few seconds or minutes of intense focus, I felt my senses swell to a level far beyond my comprehension. It almost felt as if I were jumping while simultaneously being pushed. I was forced down the dark alcoves on each floor until I skipped through the stone base like a runaway ghost. Then I was far away, darting from the shores and into the dark night until it suddenly stopped.

The sudden lack of input forced my mind to go blank. I was numb to any notions of thought or movement until the distinct snapping of a twig forced my instincts to move my body for me. I looked out from within a brush to see a pair of hide-covered legs stepping gingerly through the forest. Recognizing them at once, I let out a small rodent's call and watched them halt their step at once. An identical call came soon after, and I stood to look upon the faces of my fellow Barbarians.

Like the Rangers, I’ve been told, we were sent into the deep woods on a nomadic journey to learn a set of skills Amun called bushcraft. Aside from that, everything we ate or used was from the creatures we killed and butchered. All while hunting for the coveted Shroom of Fury and fighting the undead at random times of the day and night. The likes of us finding one of the shrooms out here were rare, we all knew. But three out of six of us already knew how to rage and thus didn’t even need it. With our chances of success that much higher, there was nothing to dissuade us from the cause. Besides, out here- so far from the Bodhi Tree, there were plenty of things to kill.

That wasn’t my intent for this night, though. My purpose lay with the one of us who not only knew how to Rage but was closest to our God as well.

“Mind if I ask what Amun was like when you were younger?”

“I didn’t know him when I was younger.” Roheisa’s steel eyes never wavered from the trail ahead as she spoke grimly. Almost as if the words were forced through her teeth. “I met him a month or so before we came here when we took the guild assessment.”

I knew from experience she wasn’t agitated. Not at me or anything else in particular. She was just on the brink of raging. Ready to blow at any moment. Something few Barbarians were capable of doing.

“I was always told he was a prodigy.” She continued. “I saw it was true when I met him. He taught us about our affinities just after we awakened them. But we led starkly different lives.”

“A Grand Princess and a Grand Duke living different lives?” I snorted in disbelief.

But her eyes, burning with a hint of red, turned to me. “Amun's family was considered royalty before the portals appeared. While I was born a Princess, my Father was not.” She coldly said, beguiling her indignantly furrowed brow. “He grew up as a Barbarian in Phaegrath, where he met the Necro King, who was training in the ways of the knight to become a paladin. They roamed the lands together, fighting and teaching each other the ways of their Classes. Ways that were passed on to me. And most likely onto Amun as well.

“I may have been born a princess atop a castle of iron, but I was raised as a barbarian in the heart of the Iron Volcano like my father.” She faced front with that. Leaving me to carry the weight of her words while I lagged behind her. A weight that was lifted when she spoke again. “Tell me, Elurial. Have you ever witnessed a volcano’s rage?”

“Once or twice.” I giggled. “But I look forward to the day I see a steel volcano erupt.”