Sins of Empire (Nerokius)

Tenebris was within his private study at the Apex of the Citadel of Shadow's Refuge on the Ebonwing Isles. The moon would be at its zenith, and Nightwings being the nocturnal species they were would be bustling with activity. Yet within the Onyx stone within the private Chambers, Tenebris would be alone, writing with ink stained talons upon parchment what scattered throughout an obsidian stone table before him. His musings were that of the past, his writings were of events already unfolded, histories and documents of times gone. Such was almost therapeutic for the Archon as he reflected upon the intricacies what had lead him up to this moment. It was a brief respite to the harshness and brutality of the reality of the world since the Monster Scourge, it seemed to Tenebris that it would be so much simpler and he contemplated what his life would of briefly been like had he never rose to power, never put the reasons of state above his own desires, should he have lived his life simply as a scholar forever losing himself in the passions of history and academic pursuits.

The Archon couldn't help but have a soft smile across his features, while Mephala wasn't with him at this moment, being under one of her tutors, he also wondered what her life to would of been, should she not have been born to an Archon and instead a Scholar. It was in this moment that Tenebris awaited however, as forever such repose in his work would be brought back to matters of state, to the matters of his Tribe, of the Potentate. Tenebris had sent a missive to summon his Grand Inqusitor, Nerokius, the current overseer of the Island of Saeclum to the Archon's Citadel. Throughout his life Tenebris was renowned for keeping his own council, for being distant to having friends among his courtiers, yet Nerokius was the one exception. The Grand Inquisitor was Tenebris's staunchest ally, most competent servant and most importantly perhaps his own true friend. The Archon continued his scribbles upon the parchment while he awaited the Grand Inquisitor, he needed him not only for council, but for the support to do what must be done for the Tribe as a whole, and perhaps all Dragonkind in turn.

Night had taken the land and it was at this late hour that the Grand-Inquisitor himself had awoken from his slumber, only to be met with pressing matters that had taken hold of nearly every day.. Consuming his time and his free-roaming spirit, however, this time was different as the Archon himself had called for an audience and who was he to deny his leader such?..

Wings stretching and back arching, he got ready for the flight to the Onyx Citadel where the Archon resided but not without his escort as per usual.. The black wyvern Grimmaw and the smaller black dragon Rubyfang had been asked to escort their Grand-Inquisitor and Lord-Commander to the Onyx Citadel and they both accepted without hesitation, as is the life of a soldier of the Nightwing Empire.. To live and die for their tribe, no fear, no hesitation.. Only the field of battle, scarred in shadow, rot and the sweet scent of iron..

"Make haste, we must" Hissed Grimmaw, the Wyvern.. This lower jaw was protruding, giving him a weird appearance.. An underbite which had him drooling most of the time..

To this, Rubyfang only nodded in agreement, her posture was ever so regal and elegant, her slim body was quite the attention-taker around the Citadel, being one of the more attractive female dragons on the Isle of Saeclum.. However her duty remained unchanged, beautiful or not, she wanted to rise up in the ranks.. For her people and empire alike.

It wasen't long before Nerokius, in his large form slowly made his way to the take-off plantform along his entourage and with one massive beat of his wings, he took off, followed by Grimmaw and Rubyfang.. Slowly but surely making their way to the Shadows Refuge and to their Archon for whatever it was that he needed..

The sound of wingbeats struck the Onyx-Guards by the walls as their Lord-Commander flew over, trailed by his entourage and moments later, they found themselves landing in the courtyard, wings folded.. Grimmaw too, to the best of his ability being a wyvern and thus began the journey inside the Onyx Citadel, stairway after stairway, hall after hall, until they finally made it to the Archon's chambers which was guarded by a pair of Onyx-Guard who, confusedly asked:

"My Lord-.. Are you seeking the Archon?.. We were informed of your arrival, but we did not expect it so quickly.. Eh.. The Archon is in his chambers-.." The Onyx-Guard paused for but a moment "He informed us that if you should arrive beforehand, to extend his invitation to enter, but do so alone.. He wishes to not be disturbed unless absolutely necessary in these dark times of late.." He stopped and looked to his Lord-Commander with a stern expression.

But for a moment, Nerokius pondered the words spoken to him and a low snicker could be heard from Grimmaw, finding this funny for whatever reason and in almost the blink of an eye, the Onyx-Guard who had spoken, now had his snout grabbed by the much larger Nerokius who leaned down, his head dwarfing the smaller Guard:

"Do you take me for a fool?.. You do not lecture me, boy.. Remember where you were trained and by whom.. Before you start blabbering about what I can and cannot do.." Nerokius paused for but a moment "Do you think that the Archon did not mention to whom he wished to speak?.. Bah.. You better keep that mouth shut in the future, if you want to keep it.." he snarled arrogantly before releasing the young guards maw and craned his neck around to look at his entourage "Grimmaw, to rafters with you, keep your eagle sight on the hallway we came through, make sure we are not trailed, nor that any of these.. 'Mongrel Tribes' parade through this hallway.." His attention snapped to Rubyfang "Rubyfang, stand guard and be ready should any of the previous mentioned occur.. And make sure to inform me.." he stopped and looked back to the Onyx-Guard who quickly got out of the way to let Nerokius in.. Rubyfang shortly after hissed at both the Guards before she positioned herself infront of the door where they had previously been standing guard and they just positioned themselves on either side of the door.

Moment passed before Nerokius found himself stopping, looking across the floor where piles of scattered pieces of documents were laying about, scribblings and drawings.. Little of it made sense.. Even more so as Nerokius had no actual way of actually see the details of the documents and his attention soon found his Archon before his head bowed deeply:

"My Archon, you summoned me and I have answered.. What do you wish of your humble soldier?" his head remained bowed for a brief moment before it craned back up to properly look at Tenebris, reading his heat signature, feeling his movements in the air to better understand his disposition.

The Archon solemnly looked up from his mass of scattered notes as he regarded Nerokius, his eerie shrewd sapphire glare fixated upon the Grand Inquisitor, focusing upon his piercing Yellow eyes, to which Tenebris couldn’t help but give a soft smile towards, it was always fascinating looking into those eyes for the Archon as Tenebris knew the unique disposition of the Inquisitors perception of the world, in truth it was one of the particular assets what first attracted his attention of the Archon when he was but a Scholar. While Tenebris could never truly understand what it was like to look through the world with another's sight, it was always a captivating concept. Lowering his head in a form of mutual acknowledgement, the Archon would pick up a Black velvet cloth from the far end of the Obsidian table as he wiped the Ink from the Talons, however it did little effect as the years of writing with such Ink had long stained the once bonewhite claws of the Archon to now an oily black raven ebony, satisfied he’d then pick up the manuscript he happened to read and briefly turned his attention once more to the parchment in his grasp.

“Of worms, of graves and epitaphs, sorrows of the bosom of the earth. The sad stories of the death of Kings, some deposed, some slain in war and some haunted by the ghosts of the Kings they have deposed. All lost, murdered in some black symphony,” Tenebris spoke allowed, the comment radiating of his inner thoughts of conflict before he returned his focused to Nerokius, “Forgive me, Nerokius, I would be remiss if I didn’t take I expected you later. I commend you on your punctuality as always”. Tenebris rose from his seated position as he maneuvered himself around the obsidian table, his movements reserved and serpentine apart from the limp what caused him to falter only briefly, but with grace and regality as he reclaimed his composure. “I have summoned you, Nerokius, for as always, matters of state”.

The Archon, gave waving gesture with his right forepaw, his talons extending as he regarded the scattered papers about the Chamber. “In my musings, there is little but confirmation of the universal truths both myself and you already understand. Justice and dominion are but fragile constructs from the feeble terrified creatures that inhabit the endless churning abyss which is our world. I need no amount of scripture to show you, for you like me embrace this truth for we have seen with our own eyes the consequences of convictions unchecked and rampant, we have seen great chaos and those what oppose such. The reality is that this world is but a weaving mess of pointless conflict to no over arching goal”, Tenebris released a long sigh under his breath as he seemed to collect himself before inhaling several times, before craning his neck forward towards the Grand Inquisitor. “Power is the only thing attainable for us what can bring an end to such suffering, a new era of peace and prosperity, and it is we who are willing to suffer the consequence and moral depravity what would be needed to attain this power to bring about a new age for all. You have always been my most formidable weapon, Nerokius, and should you be willing, I plan to wield you once more”

Nerokius stood silent for a moment, pondering on the Archon's words before he bowed his head once more, doing so only cemented his loyalty to the Archon before his deep and rumbling voice echoed through the private chambers:

"For many years now I have served loyally.. Defeated enemies of old-.. and new.. Trained our new soldiers into loyal subjects.. All for the sake of our nation and her people.." he paused as his head raised up once more to meet Tenebris' gaze, his piercing yellow eyes sought to solidify his next words in certainty for the Archon:
"Never have I questioned your leadership or authority and never will I.." he paused for but a moment before he spoke once more "Wield me against your enemies and I will crush them and parade their broken bodies through every street of our great nation.. You need only command me." his expression was stern, unphased.. Ringing truth to his words and that he did was he was supposed to; Make the Archon's rule absolute, no matter the cost..

The guards outside the private chambers were silent, as if statues, only an occasional exhale broke the silence.
Grimmaw sat silently atop one of the support beams and watched like a vulture waiting for it's meal to die.. Some even called him one, but he shrugged it off normally.. Sometimes even embracing the nickname while Rubyfang would have none of it.. She never liked any nickname given to her, she was not that kind of woman.. Even when she was called beautiful she hissed at the men or sometimes even smacked them once or twice for even daring.. She didn't want to be an object of affection, but a soldier.. A soldier worthy of respect and awe.. If just all the men would stop their constant search for a mate and leave her to her own..

Tenebris took a deep inhale to collect himself before giving a solemn nod in acknowledgement to the words spoken by Nerokius, his serpentine tail trailing back and forth as a show of a touch anxiety or perhaps excitement on the part of the Archon, he thought for a moment in how best to refrain himself to speak the words needed to Nerokius. Tenebris was all to aware that there could be those watching him, not only was there means of scrying which even Tenebris's wards could not fully protect from, there were powers in the world far more primordial and unfathomable than even Tenebris could ever hope to comprehend. "We stand at a precipice, Nerokius. One that could finally see our dreams come to fruition or see us into a crisis of chaos far greater than even that of our recent torments".

Tenebris stalked his way across the room until he came across a small Altar of sorts in the far off wall in a small alcove recess into the Onyx stone walls of his Chamber before he reached his right talons forth, grasping an Idol of the God Astral, he'd press it close to his chest, despite everything what must be done, and will be done in the coming days, Astral was his adopted Daughter and despite his better judgement even Tenebris could not deny there was a still a deep love he had for the being he considered his child. "I cannot state exactly what my intentions are, Neokius, but as always, I expect you to trust me and be prepared for when the time comes. I need you to prepare your Inqusitor's for my orders, I want you to have Five establishments created and manned, holding cells. Use the old mine shafts and spread them out throughout the Ebonwing Isles on the various Islands, avoid magic. But be prepared for housing beings far beyond that of my own strength".

Nerokius's gaze narrowed at the almost encrypted words of Tenebris but nodded as he always did, understanding that not everything is to be spoken out loud as enemies could be anywhere and he did not trust anyone but Tenebris.. He was the only one who had ever regarded him as an equal and not thought of him as a mere animal but made use of him and his abilities and skills.. This would not be forgotten.. Never..

He glances to the object collected by Tenebris and inhaled through his nostrils.. The way he saw he world around him as normal sight was never intended for him and he glanced up for but a brief moment, as if he was checking the ceiling for any signs of living beings before his gaze fell upon Tenebris once more and regarded him with a soft rumble of his larynx before he spoke up in his deep and rumbling voice:

"I shall have the men begin on transforming the old mines into new holding cells.. To what extend they can, of course.." he glanced over his shoulder and gave a stomp of his front left paw for Rubyfang to hear and within mere moments she ushered the guards to take positions on either end of the hallway by order of the Grand-Inquisitor..

Moments passed as Nerokius awaited his command to be executed before he spoke once more "Where will you have my Inquisitors meet you?" he asked with hushed tone, but far from a whisper while his head tilted ever so slightly, making out the glow coming from Tenebris' warm body..

He did not give Tenebris long to answer before he spoke again "But, The Sky Arena is built out of a solid piece of volcanic rock.. The old lava tunnels stretches further than anyone has dared to venture.. They will work perfectly for what you ask.." he said once more with the hushed tone before a wolfish grin crept across his maw, now awaiting the Archon's answer as this information was not well known to anyone outside of Nerokius' most trusted on the Isle Saeclum which was an island, built from a single volcano which was still active by all means..

Tenebris placed the golden gelded Icon of Astral onto the Obsidian rock table as he once more lowered himself to a seated position behind the table, his injured leg causing only a little discomfort as he released a small guttural snarl under his breath. "Perfect, have your Inquisitors directly under your own command for the time being, leave only a small token force here at Shadow's Refuge for me to utilise for any additional purposes, the rest have them stationed within your own Spire at Saecalum". Tenebris wanted the majority of the Inquisitors to be kept from sight but not enough that suspicious activity would be noted by a lack of Tenebris's most utilised tools, hence keeping several at Shadow's Refuge would satisfy those with a pierced sight, and in addition, before Tenebris's ultimate plan can be realised he'd still need many of his Inquisitors close at hand to see to lingering issues and additional schemes within the coming days.

"Have it so there is a failsafe should my missives not reach you in particular fashion that the Lava engulfs these pathways to the holding cells. In a moments notice, I'd want this matter seen to that no evidence remains, nor any who may be in the near future be detained there". Tenebris was satisfied with the results of there initial conversation for now, even to the Archon he couldn't over extend his plans until each step was methodically taken and thought out thoroughly. Should Tenebris and in turn those such as Nerokius push to much in their affairs they would be bound to be noticed by one party or another and their machinations would fall apart before they truly begin.

"Now, in terms of current matters, I am intending to expand the influence of the Nightwings beyond our Tribe and that of the Imperium. We will rally all Dragons to understand our ideology. For first and foremost, we must remember and ensure others also know that in the coming days of the future, what we do is not out of malice, for glory or power, but as a means to an end. A sacrifice we are willing to take upon our own souls for the betterment of all Dragon kind as a whole. To that end, I have called for a festival of all Tribes and rogues alike to Shadow's Refuge. I will remind them that even in the chaos of the world we find ourselves in the apparatus's of control and power remain. I would desire your presence there for such a task". Tenebris couldn't escape from the anxiety and delight of finally seeing his view come to fruition, should their plans come to fruition, Tenebris would be able to harness the power of the Gods themselves, and wield them to bring about a new era. Even when Tenebris was separate from Governance and was but a mere Scholar he found it hard to ever seen his ideal enlightened world to come in an age where he still lived, but it seemed now that it was within his grasp. He couldn't contain the smile as such thoughts radiated throughout his mind, as a callous snide grin spread over his features as he continued to regard Nerokius.

Fail safes.. Wicked and sinister.. He loved the idea of drowning whomever was down there in molten rock and have their husks remain inside solid volcanic rock.. Devious.. Yes.. He had to figure out what he would do for these fail safes and what would happen while also making sure that the cells themselves was strong enough to withstand even the strongest of dragons.. Even magic.. But this was a concern for another time in another place..

Nerokius nodded sternly, already noting down in his mind, who he wanted to remain by the Archon in the capitol city and whom would go with him and see to the matters getting done, down in the ancient tunnels beneath the great sky arena.. Right under everyone's noses.. Sinister, yes.. But glorious..

He would allow a soft sigh to escape his maw at the mention of a festival.. He really despised festivities of any kind as he saw no real use for them, other than an excuse to drink, eat and give in the desires of the flesh.. Which was all too alien to him and had never really had his interest, nor had he ever had the desire to converse with random individuals without purpose, just for the sake of conversing.. What was the point?.. Half of the ones who attended would be civilians with little to no intellectual capacity to even comprehend that they were at an esteemed event.. And they would no doubt come as they were, with no regard to elegance and proper attire for such festivities.. The mere thought of this was him snarl to himself before he regained his composure and yet again, seemed domineering and vicious.. As always..

"Your will be done, my lord." he bowed his head deeply with a closed paw beating towards his large chest with a thump before he looked back up at Tenebris "Is there anything else you require my lord?.. Or should I begin preparations beneath the sky arena?" he asked with a soft, yet stern voice.. He was already eager to begin construction of these new holding cells and what that entailed.. Which was all evident on his face as he had drawn a wicked wolfish grin across it..

Tenebris noted the sigh from Nerokius, and couldn't help but grow a snide smile across his features, defined even more so by the mutated scars upon his visage what contorted and twisted the smirk into a sadistic wolfish sneer across his maw. The Archon was all to aware of the Grand Inquisitors discomfort with public affairs, after all for someone who dedicated themselves to their work in the shadows it was to be expected, yet Tenebris would need the Grand Inquisitor presence, after all, he had the unique ability to look past the flare and illusion of the festivities to scrutinise any potential threats due to his unique disposition regarding sight. "No, not at this time, you may begin thee preparations. I shall summon you to the festival within the coming days, but I will see to the security of the Citadel myself with the Inquisitors Garrisoned here and my own wards".

Allowing himself a deep sigh of satisfaction the Archon then hung his head into the air, his right forepaw extending upwards as he ran his ink stained claws over one his horns, trailing his talons over the adorned silver ring upon it. "While I still cannot tell you the exact means to my end, know that our day of reckoning for all is close at hand, this is but the first steps, but our dreams will become a reality and this world will be remade in our image my friend". Tenebris even then gave an uncharacteristic snicker out of mirth and glee at his own words, a wild fanatic smile still spread across his features as he once more regarded the Grand Inquisitor "Go now, and see to the preparations".