Noctem

"Damn it Aiden, goddamn it!!! It's been three bloody months, three months, and we still haven't found the Monarch's missing grandchild, Not to mention he could be dead for all we know, I mean it's the cursed forest, what child would be able to survive so long in such a dreadful place ?." A voice that sounded so melodious yet carried a subtle tone of thuggishness, yelled in annoyance.

Aiden merely stared at the mesmerizing female vampire, who donned a loose white tunic of a long sleeved design but didn't cover her abdominal section To go along with it, she wore loose baggy pants and heavy boots. The top section of her tunic was revealing, the first three buttons were unbuttoned, boldly revealing parts of her ample bosom.

His gaze turned somber and a heavy pressure became present in the room.

"You forget yourself Cassie, you are not to question the lord's order."

Aiden's voice was grim and his eyes narrowed as he stared at Cassie. He looked nothing like his previous self who couldn't help but shudder in the presence of an annoyed monarch.

A bulging vein appeared on the side of Cassie's head while a huge grin split her lips.

"Oh, you wanna go Aiden? That's great, you see I've been itching to pummel your annoying face for a while now."

"Cassie.." Aiden called out with a calm tone, but said no more.

The mesmerizing red haired vampire gave an annoyed huff as she replied.

"Fine..."

She lingered for a few seconds before speaking again, this time her voice was a tad bit softer.

"Is the lord still... Mourning, I'm worried, he hasn't been outside his chambers in months."

Her expression was downcast and Aiden's mirrored hers as well.

"Naturally he's bound to mourn, he loved Aurelia particularly more than his other children, with the only exception being Amelia, But I don't think he's mourning.."

Cassie perked a brow at his comment.

"What do you mean? If he isn't mourning then why hasn't he made an appearance in months?."

Aiden chuckled mildly then averted his gaze towards a huge door at the far end of the corridor.

"You clearly don't know our lord, now do you Cassie? There's a reason why he's the most feared monarch in the mystic realm, he's cunning and he has an absurd strength to match his wits, while only a handful of the Monarch's can hope to match him in a battle  it doesn't guarantee their win as they've never won against him."

He lingered for a bit and a wry smile graced his face whilst he began speaking.

" He's scheming, I think he knows who's behind the death of his daughter, rather than taking action against the perpetrator alone, he plans to drown the realm in blood again."

Cassie's crimson eyes widened, but her surprise only lasted for a few seconds then a slow, vile grin spread across her face.

"Don't tell me..."

Aiden nodded as if confirming her unspoken words.

"Yes, he plans on going against the peace treaty and soon, he will start a war."

****

Somewhere within atlas, two figures stood in the midst of a raging waterfall during a heavy rain storm.

One had an onyx coloured hair with eyes which had twin obsidian like orbs within them, he donned a dark robe with some shadowy snake designs of ash, within his right hand, he held a long katana firmly holding on to the blade in an expert like manner, his robes were drenched by the rain, and his onyx hair was soaking wet slowly dripping down while his hair had covered his face making it seem like it obscured his vision.

The other had long silver hair with black edges which went just a little bit past his shoulders, his usual ponytail was undone and his long hair covered his face leaving only a little opening on the side, beneath the curtain of hair, his neon green eyes shown with malicious intent.

Firmly clenched within his fists was a nodachi with a dark hilt. He took a strange stance, raising the nodachi within his right hand, above his head, pointing the tip towards his opponent, at the same time his left hand was raised forward, his fingers were shut, all except his index and middle finger which one could have easily mistaken as a gesture to taunt the opponent to get closer.

He brought his left leg forward and his eyes locked on his target, nothing else mattered at this moment, to him, the only thing he could think of was killing the opponent in front of him.

His leg was shaking from the pressure and the current of the flowing water on top the water fall, currently he and the fragment of aries were fighting a battle to the death, like they'd always done for the past three hundred years after training and it was the shadow entity idea to use the worst terrain possible whenever they were fighting, it was disadvantageous for him as it was for Nox.

The water current could throw each of them down the waterfall, even if it was merely an imagination unique to the lesser plane, atlas, they would still feel the pain as though it was real.

Everytime they fought, Nox would eventually end up dead over and over again despite having perfected the basics of most of the battle arts contained in the shadow god's battle art, he had never once beaten aries in a battle, the reasons? It was his subtle utilization of the shadow nether, he could not use the shadows proficiently as aries and as such he could not advance to the next stage of the gods battle art that required aspects.

" Nice! Tenebrous child, you've mastered the free form battle stance perfectly, and the look in your eyes, your murderous intent is overwhelming, remember, the blade is a tool for destruction, it's an object of chaos, when welding it, you must have the will to kill, the overwhelming hatred and desire for revenge, channel that force into your blade and let the weapon become an extension of you, just like the rest of your body parts." The fragment of Aries complemented then followed suit with some instructions.

Nox glared coldly at him, without blinking, he watched the shadow entity closely making sure to notice every action the shadow made, each subtle movements taking in every second of it.

The robes Nox wore were similar to the one the fragment of Aries wore, although his was smaller that the shadow's. It fluttered slightly, swaying backwards in the chilling strong winds that howled due to the altitude of the location they were currently at, yet his eyes never left the shadow.

A second, just a second was enough to change the outcome of a battle, this words had been drilled into Nox's head since he began his training.

Nox's grip tightened around the nodachi as the air around him shifted, he lunged forward, his muscles coiling as though he were moving against the rain storm. One second ago the shadow had been standing a few meters away from Nox and the next, he had disappeared from his spot.

A clanging sound was heard as the katana of the shadow was met with Nox's nodachi, there was no change in the facial expression of the effeminate boy, it was impassive as always even when crossing swords with the fragment of the spawn of shadows.

The same could be said for the shadow, he was deathly calm, with his gaze directed only at the child.

Their attacks fell into rhythm and their blades created a cacophony of clanking metals, only the movements of their attacks could be seen as the two figures wielding the weapons seemed to disappear within the torrent of attacks.