The Space. Darkness spread to infinity. Ancientness given the lack of form. No light. Nothing to see if there were light. Not cold and not hot. Empty. Void. Still. And yet, the darkness has a sense of purpose. Some hidden purpose that is eons old. As if this place had been waiting since before man, before the Gods, before time itself. Then... a Voice.

"Enough Anwar!!" Said the Voice. Slightly high pitched for a man, with a subtle hiss, the effect was sinister in its sound.

"Its been 1,000 years! Enough waiting, enough of your endless watching! Let Us begin!"

"You are prepared then, Marduk?"Another Voice. Far different in its timbre. Calm, deep, and soothing with a hint of humor. As if the start of a smile is on his face as he talks.

"You know very well that I've been prepared for three centuries you doddering old do-gooder! Now stop delaying! Whether you like it or not 1,000 years was the limit! Your time is up and My vengeance is at hand! Let... Us... Begin..."

Marduk's last three words said in a gravelly tone signifying his rage.

Suddenly a sucking sound and then a loud crack burst forth in the darkness followed by the appearance of a man. He's tall and thin, but not overly so, with an obvious inborn strength emanating from his body. Long hair slightly past His shoulders, which is so dark grey it appears almost black, He stands in the darkness wearing a long dark grey hooded jacket. Pants black, light grey shirt, and a scowl on His pale face, which is handsome in an off beat way. He cuts a striking figure, but the most striking of His features are His eyes. The color can only be described as darkness. Not black. These two orbs are much darker than that, almost seeming to devour light and color and hope. Matching perfectly with the emptiness of The Space around Him, in this scenery if you were to look Him in the face it would seem as though instead of eyes He simply has two eye shaped holes with which you could see straight through His head into the void behind Him. Unsettling, powerful, and sinister.

"Hahahah... Good Marduk, surely You wouldn't begrudge Me My full reign as Victor would You?" Says Anwar, laughing good naturedly. With a repeat of the sucking, popping sound another man is standing in front of Marduk.

This new man, though seemingly identical in height and stature, had taken obvious efforts to be a polar opposite to Marduk. Dressed in identical clothes which had been bleached white from top to bottom, His hair was close cropped and such a light shade of grey it too appeared nearly platinum white. And of course His eyes. With no color or pupil they are completely white and a soft light subtlely emits from them. Seeing Marduk's scowl the slight grin on His faced widened into a full smile making his already handsome features blossom into a face that would make women swoon and blush at the sight of it. This action in turn made Marduk's cruel scowl become even more furious. In short by merely glancing at these two for half a second it would be obvious to anyone that they are enemies and rivals.

"Pah! Your reign ends today." Says Marduk in a calmer tone. Scowl slowly shifting into a sneer as disdain crosses his features. "A thousand years.... I do so hope You've enjoyed Yourself. The memory may help to sustain You in the future."

"Hahahah.... I see Your tongue has not lost its edge. Is that wit what has sustained You all these years?" speaks Anwar laughing and sporting a mischievous grin.

Sneer and eyebrow twitching, its plain to see Marduk is suppressing His rage. When quickly His face relaxes and with sudden abruptness a smile emerges on His face that reaches His eyes. Dark thoughts swirling in His mind He begins to focus on His task and remember His goal.

"As You say Anwar, its was My wit. Tell Me... did You bring It?" asks Marduk smile fading but no anger showing anymore.

"What? Did You think I would leave It at home?" retorts Anwar lifting his nose in mock indignation.

"No games Anwar!" shouts Marduk. "Show It to Me!"

Frowning Anwar reaches into the inner pocket of his white long coat and fishes out something which stays cupped in his fist as he retracts his hand.

"It's here." He says opening His hand with a frown. Immediately light, golden bright light, shines out from His palm bathing both men in a golden radiance. Before now there had been no obvious light source in The Space. The men themselves gave off a feint glow as if they were always cast in the light, but this glow only lit themselves and did not reflect on anything else. The golden light the object in Anwar's hand was different. The gold radiance reflected off the men and even lit up the surroundings making the absolute void of The Space seem slightly less dark, slightly less deep.

After only a second or two Anwar closes his hand with a snap and replaces the object into his coat pocket and an audible hitch in Marduk's breathing can be heard.

"And so.. You have seen It. Let Us not waste anymore time." speaks Anwar with no more humor in His voice. Instead there is a profound and respectful tone. In His mind he understands. The time has come, there can be no hesitation or mistake. The Contest is soon to begin and only one may bask in Eternal Victory.

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"Agreed." says Marduk quietly turning and taking several strides from Anwar. Turning back to face His adversary He raises both arms slowly into the sky and the darkness in His eyes spreads almost shining out from his eyes and obscuring his face. Opposite him several paces away Anwar too is slowly raising His arms as His eyes glow a brilliant white blotting out His face as well. Soon a muffled rumbling sound escapes into the darkness. Sonorous and grinding like an earthquake at the bottom of the deepest parts of the ocean. A thin plane slightly less dark than the surroundings emerges, quickly rising to be waist level with the two. 2 meters wide by 4 meters long the surface of the plane begins to undulate as varying landscapes rise up from the surface. Mountains, desserts, forests, great sweeping swathes of frozen tundra and soon rivers, lakes, oceans fill. Following that villages, towns, and cities rise until a perfect miniaturized landscape of some great continent takes shape. Soon the noise and movement ends and the two step forward to stand 2 meters apart facing each other with the long plane stretching out to either of Their sides.

"You have chosen?" asks a stone faced Anwar

"Of course." replies Marduk curtly

"Speak then trickster, whom do you chose?" asks a frowning Anwar.

"Elethan Mordred, second son of Kennethan Mordred, lord and descended ruler of The Eastern Moonrise Empire." answers Marduk with no hesitation.

"Second son?" asks Anwar frown growing deeper "He's not a king."

"Does it matter?" asks Marduk "Should I review The Rule for you? It has been a thousand yea.."

"Enough!" says Anwar sternly "I know The Rule, having written a good portion of it Myself, as You well know. It matters little to Me if You chose a youth who, as of yet, has no guarantee of even becoming king. It works quite well for Me, in fact. Should Your chosen die or lose the fight for king I win with ease!"

Smiling slyly Marduk chuckles and says "Heheh.... King or not my decision stands. And Your chosen?"

"Chand Hawking. Lord and descended ruler of The Hawking Kingdom." intones Anwar smiling pleasedly at His choice. Taking into account how young Chand had been he when had been crowned, 15, the king had done wonders. The Hawks, as their enemies called them, had for hundreds of years been nearly undefeatable in defending their homeland. Weathering countless attempts of conquer from neighboring kingdoms, the small land focused on securing their borders. Being small and surrounded by enemies the people of the hawk were known to be ferocious but they had little resources and even less trade. Using its centralized location Chand developed safe and protected trade routes through his lands. With not only shorter but safer tradeways available the neighboring lands quickly signed non aggression treaties and trade deals. During the 20 years of Chand's rule the kingdom had transformed into something almost unrecognizable to its former self. While wealth and prosperity have inspired intense loyalty from the citizenry, a large influx in taxes has pushed the kingdoms armed forces to be one of the best trained, most armed, and most well fed armies on the continent. Anwar nodded His head in satisfaction. Surrounded by allies, with a fortified interior, a booming economy, and fiercely loyal subordinates this kingdom would be the bastions of His Divine Will.

"Chand?... How... expected." says Marduk dryly.

Smiling widely Anwar laughs and says "Hahah... Expected or not, I will watch as you break Your teeth on THIS nut."

"Perhaps.." says Marduk with a sneer "Have you chosen a champion yet?"

"I have." replies Anwar smile widening "And you?"

"There is one I like.. but nothing is certain yet." says Marduk turning his head acting aloof.

Snapping his head back suddenly Marduk gives his patent sneer and says "You just keep It safe for me. I'll be taking It from you shortly."

Laughing once again and waving his hand Anwar says "Hahahah.... Of course, of course. But until then, shall we make contact?"

Eyebrows raising, eyes widening, corners of the mouth rising Marduk finally gives a full faced smile and excitedly says "Yes.. Let's."

A sucking POP! and both men are gone. Only the miniature model of the continent remains. Watching it for some time the light on the model begins to dim and the colors of night paint the landscape. Lights begin to spring up across the land. First single dots of light spring up signifying the flame from bonfires that villages in the outlands keep burning all night long. Next lightowers along the coast brighten with their slow strobing turns. And soon the thousands of little lights from the bigger towns and cities begin to shine as the lampmen light their lamps to illuminate the streets at night. In one such city, in the north central part of the continent a prince sleeps a dreamless sleep, wholly unaware of the great events that will soon swirl about him and even hinge upon his every decision.