Unconquered Pt. 01

"I mean, I do," Jerin Kah said, then smiled. "Please. Lower your shield."

"Mmm, no," June said.

"Oh, but think of the pleasure we can share..." Jerin Kah murmured. His voice was a soft croon. "I want to apologize for my rudeness earlier. And you know...nothing quite inspires my creativity in the tent more than crossing blades on the field."

And as Ember watched...he could see June considering it.

He...

He couldn't blame her, exactly.

Jerin Kah...well...

There was something magnetic about him. As if he had too much life, too much raw eagerness bubbling through his veins. It made Ember want to rub against his lanky, green body. And he could hear a ring of truth in Jerin Kah's voice. He would shower June in affection -- hard won, well earned affection. And what was that compared to everything else in June's life? A village that had spat on her since they'd found her? Sneering men and scoffing women? And her only friend being the only person too lazy to find real friends.

Ember realized he could just...

Go.

June would be fine.

Hell, June would be more than fine. He could go back to Rataka and hope no one noticed him leaving. And June could go off and be a thaumaturge with Jerin Kah. Or under Jerin Kah, as seemed more likely.

That'd be fine.

He'd be fine.

Safe.

He wouldn't need to die, spitted on spears and cut down by those deadly swords. He would not face the wrath of a man who fought and fucked dragons at the same time. All he had to do was let June surrender.

Let June be taken.

Let June be turned against everything she ever cared about in her life -- something she was willing to risk this much for.

"I-" June whispered.

Ember rolled his shoulders.

"Would rather..." June said, her voice growing harder.

Ember clenched his fists.

"Set myself on fire."

The sun, which had been close above them, flared to life.

But not in the heavens.

It flared from behind Jerin Kah. His soldiers spun, their eyes wide, their spears wavering. Jerin Kah turned, his mouth hanging open in shock. His sword dragged on the ground as Ember opened his fingers and stepped forward -- the light blazing with him. Golden flames roiled along his skin, but they did not burn. They fell from his fingertips like sparks, and the ground behind him crackled with flaming footprints. He breathed in -- and for once in his life, he felt as if he was getting enough air. His heart sang with joy and he grinned, slowly, as he cracked his knuckles.

"I've got a better alternative, June," he said.

"W-What is he?" One of the soldiers whispered.

"He's..." June breathed out. "He's...the-"

"That's impossible!" Jerin Kah snarled. He lifted his sword. "He's an Akuma!" He charged forward and swung. The movement of his blade was lightning fast -- and yet, he seemed to move in slow motion. Ember stepped aside and the tip of his sword ripped along the ground, sending up a spray of vines and rose petals. Ember twisted and brought a palm whistling down into Jerin Kah's chest plate. The flat of his hand struck and rung like a gong. The emerald armor shattered and Jerin Kah flew backwards, flipping and coming to a rest almost ten yards away -- stopping himself only by slamming his sword into the ground.

Every soldier let out cries of alarm as Ember looked at his fist.

"Well," he said. "That's new."

"Kill him!" Jerin Kah screamed. And his voice had the crack of magic behind it. The soldiers charged towards Ember -- a dozen, two dozen. Their swords flashed and Ember's eyes widened -- but then the first rank dogpiled him. Bodies smashed him to the ground and blades plunged towards his skin. A blade-tip punched into his red skin -- and then snapped. It snapped against him, as if he was made of steel. All he had to do was tighten his body against them, harden his muscles, and their blades cut as well as a knife against an ancient oak. Ember tensed, then stood -- flinging his arms aside. He stood and the entire mob of women that had tackled him went flying through the air in graceful arcs. They crashed to the ground -- some skidding, some sprawling.

Ember shook himself -- and saw Jerin Kah running for him. "Jade Dragon!"

His sword roared. When he swung it, a dragon snaked off of it, snapping its jaws around Ember's right arm. The teeth bit in and Ember gritted his teeth as blood flowed around the puncture sites. He staggered backwards, then swung his arm into the ground, smashing the glowing green dragon into the ground as Jerin Kah sprang onto his back, angling his incredibly long sword -- clearly planning to pin Ember to the ground with the whole length.

Ember twisted.

His elbow struck the sword and he felt a flare of energy traveling from his lungs to the elbow. He breathed out a slow, vicious exhale -- a hiss that rang in the sudden silence that filled the air as the sword remained poised before him.

Crunch.

Black lines forked out from where his elbow struck.

Crack.

The sword dimpled inwards.

Boom.

The entire length of emerald sword shattered apart with an ear rending explosion. Jerin Kah flipped through the air and landed on his back, his arm roiling with flickering green flames. He clutched at it, gasping heavily as he scrambled to his feet. "W...What are you?!" His voice had lost all of its suaveness. It was the shriek of a terrified animal. "You're not a human! What are you!?"

Ember rolled his shoulders.

But it was June that spoke.

"He is Sleeping Ember," She said. "Of the Village Rataka. He is the Chosen, he is the Breaker of Chains, the One Who Casts Down Thrones. He is the End and the Beginning. He is the Unconquered! And you!" She pointed with her finger at Jerin Kah. "Are absolutely fucked!"

Ember spun back to look at her. "I'm what?"

"Ember!" June shouted, then pointed.

Ember snapped his head back around.

Jerin Kah was gone -- his soldiers sprinting after him.

The light surrounding Ember faded. Dimmed.

And he fell to his knees, panting heavily.

"Hah. Wow," he said. "Great plan, June!" He looked up at her, grinning weakly. "Which potion did you use to give me, uh, whoa! Pawww!" He punched at the air. "And all the glowing? And the bit about me being the Unconquered? Great story. They totally bought it. Hah."

June pursed her lips, her hands on her hips as she looked at him.

"Ember, touch your forehead," she said.

"My fore-" Ember touched his forehead and felt the curved, round bead of solid stone set into his forehead -- the stone that had not been there a few seconds before. He screamed and fainted.

In the sudden stillness of the forest clearing, June shook her head.

"We're all absolutely going to die," she muttered.

***

Ember slept. In his dreams, he was running -- running through a vast castle. He was holding a sword. Fear burned in his stomach. A name was on his lips, and he ran, and he knew that he needed to remember that name. He needed to plunge the sword into...

Into...

Something wet pressed to his forehead. Ember opened his eyes, groggily. A pale hand was holding a small rag, and it was damp with fresh water. It pressed to his forehead, and filled him with a blessed coolness. Ember opened his mouth to thank June for this uncharacteristic gentleness...until his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the small tent that he was in. For it was not June that was kneeling beside him.

He wasn't sure who it was. They wore a dark robe -- long and black. But the hood had two small slits in the side, and from those slits emerged a pair of pale, elongated, narrow tipped ears. A pair of glowing red eyes gleamed from under the hood, and the hand that held the rag was shockingly pale, more pale than any hand that Ember had ever seen in his life. Those eyes were looking not into his eyes, but rather, at his face in general. Or...lower. Or...no, much lower. Ember flicked his own gaze down and saw that someone had stripped him. His cock was resting against his thighs -- half hard and growing harder by the moment.

It...

Had not been that large.

His eyes widened as it grew even larger still and the girl rubbing his forehead slowed in her movements. Very softly, she whispered. "Gods damn..."

"Uh..." Ember said. "Hi?"

The girl's eyes flicked up to his eyes. They widened. Then she screamed and exploded. Smoke roiled everywhere and he heard a fierce squeaking sound -- and then the tent collapsed around him. Ember flailed, gasped, and eventually got his head out from under the leather to find that the tent had been set up under the ankle of the massive statue -- the Temple of the Third Unconquered. A small fire pit had been dug and a rabbit was crisping above the cracking flames while June leaned against the curving stone ankle, a book in her lap. She glanced over, frowning.

"Finally," she said.

"Lady!" Ember gasped.

"There was no lady here," June said. "Just me." She frowned. "I didn't expect you to knock the tent down, but..."

"No, there was this...I was...face!" Ember spluttered.

"You were likely having a past life memory," June said. "From a previous Cycle. Because you're the Unconquered."

Funny how three words that were so normal and ordinary by themselves could become so utterly surreal from a fourth. Because you're the one to clean things up or the one to be punished for misbehaving was more common for Ember. Not because you're the Unconquered. He looked down at the tent -- it covered his crotch at least. He sighed, slowly, and shifted himself so that he was sitting more upright, while still keeping his modesty.

"Yeah, the cock being bigger is normal," June said.

Ember turned red.

Well.

Redder.

"What?" June asked. "I had to examine you for any changes. Don't worry, beyond some muscle groups being there, the soul gem, and your cock, nothing else has changed." She flipped a page on her book. "You have abs now, by the way. Enjoy them."

Ember put his hand on his belly -- which had once been flat and relatively shapeless. His eyes widened as his fingers slowly caressed along the gleaming, rock hard abdominal muscles that now spread across him like he'd been in the Regent's levy his whole life. He whistled, slowly. "I think I can crack a walnut with my bellybutton."

"You can do lots of things," June said, her voice prim. "Okay, Ember. Don't take this the wrong way...but what does the Unconquered do?"

"Um..." Ember wracked his brain. "Well, King Bahul was the first Unconquered."

"Okay, you're already so incorrect it literally causes me physical pain," June said, her tail flicking behind her. "King Bahul was the tenth Unconquered."

"Oh," Ember blinked at her, then shifted under the tent. "Okay. Just pretend that I slept through most of history and give me the summery?"

"It will be an astoundingly difficult feat of my mental faculties to imagine such a thing," June said, her lip curling. "I'm sure." She closed the book. "When the Gods were defeated by Man and made subordinate, Man did unto Man as God did unto God: They created petty tyrants and dictators. Seeing this, the Sun and the Moon realized that such things occur, as naturally as the world has cycles. It is, in fact, The Cycle: First, creation, then splendor, then corruption, then bloodshed." She rotated her finger in a slow circle. "And so, the Sun and the Moon decided that if there was to be a Cycle, it would end on their schedule, not the painful, glacial slowness of our chaotic lives."

Ember nodded.

"The Sun chose a human that would not bow and tested him three times. Each time, when offered the easy choice, the human chose instead heroism. On the third time, the Sun declared him to be the Unconquered. The Unconquered was granted the power of the Sun -- peerless strength, incredible intelligence..." She frowned. "This is normally where you fall asleep."

Ember shook his head. He didn't know if it was because of his conversation with his father or if it was because of the power of the Unconquered. He wasn't even a tiny bit sleepy. He was rapt. He was focused.

June smiled, ever so slightly. She looked into the fire. "The First Unconquered failed. He sought to shatter the Cycle he was in -- to cast down tyrant kings, to free slaves, to castigate wicked gods. But he was betrayed by his husband, a mortal who had been turned to an Akuma..." She shook her head. "The Sun wept for a thousand years and the Cycle broke after that mighty flood. But the second Cycle came and the Moons came to their husband. All five of them said that the Unconquered could not stand alone, just as the Sun could not. For the Sun, too, needs rest...and while he sleeps, they watch our world." She smiled. "The Second Cycle and the Second Unconquered came with five Lunar Wives -- one of ruby, one of pearl, one of agate, one of lapis, and one of amethyst. And she shattered the Cycle and created peace, prosperity, and glory that lasted longer than any cycle before it."

Ember nodded. "So, then there was a third one, then a fourth..." He bit his lip. "Up to King Bahul, the tenth?"

"Yup," June said. "But not every Cycle works, Ember. King Bahul ruled for only ten years before the Regent killed him in his sleep, took the throne, and has begun to twist the world into his mad vision and has been for a hundred years." She ducked her chin forward. "I...I've been...trying to find a way to...stop him."

"Wait, if the Cycle has been going wrong for a hundred years, why hasn't there been a new Unconquered?" Ember asked.

"I don't know," June said, her voice growing anxious. "T-The longest gap between Unconquered has been the length of peace and prosperity -- when a Cycle fails and falls to ruin, a new Unconquered comes as quickly as they can! But a century? A hundred years of horror?"

"I-It hasn't been that bad, has it?" Ember asked. "Like, I mean, we haven't seen too many bad things around here?"

"Ember!" June said. "How old do you think I am?"

"Um...six...eight...twent...teen?" Ember said, adjusting his guess every time he saw her wry smirk.

"I'm a hundred and twenty two," June said.

"Gods!" Ember jerked back, his mouth opening in shock.

June sighed. "Being one tenth devil has its upsides," she said. "Did you really think a twenty year old girl could learn thaumaturge?" She sighed. "I've been traveling the Land, seeking some reason why the Unconquered hasn't come back."

Ember nodded. Then, slowly, he reached out and took her hand. He squeezed her, his eyes meeting hers. "The Unconquered is back. And we can do it. Together."

June shook her head, slowly. "The Unconquered...they're not unstoppable, Ember. All the Sun's spark does is it makes you more of what you are. It takes what you're good at, then expands that, and grows it. It takes what you're bad at and improves that. But at the end of the day, it can never reach beyond your imagination..." She bit her lower lip. "Can you see yourself, in your wildest dreams, toppling the thrones of Heaven and shattering the chains of the enslaved?"

Ember looked down.

"I...yeah!" He said, lifting his chin. "I mean, come on. How hard can it be?"

June chuckled. Her tail twitched. "All right..." She stood, slowly, her arms stretching behind her. "Tomorrow, at first light, we're going to enter that Temple."

"Uh, cool!" Ember said. "Why?"

June smirked at him. She turned, her hands on her hips. Her tail lashed from side to side as she looked down her nose at him. "That is the Temple to the Third Unconquered -- the Artificer. She constructed most of the magitech that we rely on every now, airships, farstep portals, beamswords, implosion bows, nightmares..." She paused. "You have no idea what any of those things are, right?"

"Um..." Ember bit his lip.

"Hayseed," June said, rolling her eyes. "Her temple has the Starshrike. And if we can't train you as fast as I want, we can at least arm you with that."

"Yes!" Ember sprang to his feet, excitement surging through him.

Then he realized that he was showing off everything.

Everything.

He clapped his hands over his junk, covering, or trying to cover himself up. He blushed so red that he nearly turned black. "Uh, d-do you know where my pants are?" he asked. June shook her head.

"I'm a hundred and twenty two, Ember," she said, turning around and starting to kick at the tent and the campsite. "I've seen it before. Hell, I've seen bigger -- minotaurs, you know?" She shrugged slightly. "Besides, I'm not even slightly interested."

"I...not even a little?"

"Nope," June said, sounding amused. "I'm more of a fan of bowing before the vast sea and lapping up my fill, if you know what I mean."

"N...o?"

June did not deign to explain -- and the two hunted around the camp the whole night, searching for Ember's loincloth. But they did not find it. They did not know that, a hundred feet up, laying on their back on one of the shoulders of the immense statue, a pale figure held the loincloth to their nose and breathed in. Deeply. They shivered, then blushed, and whispered. "Y-You're a bad person, Chirp...a very bad person."

They still didn't return it.

And Ember never ever found it.

TO BE CONTINUED...