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Emperor Ferremortis Thanatos was a name very few living souls knew, but his dominion was known to many on the worlds of Midia and Reyaldume. He ruled the Sixth Realm, the plane between Earth of the Fifth Realm and Hell of the Seventh. His was said to be a domain of pure darkness, the shadow of the physical planes. The non-corporeal realm was the destination for tormented and sinister souls not polluted enough to progress straight to Hell. It was called the Realm of Shadows and was often referred to with the same fear and context as Hell itself. Dark and twisted souls too demented to return to the mortal plains festered in the Sixth Realm until they'd redeemed themselves and earned another chance at life, or they fell below any chance of salvation and sank to the depths of the Satan's Domain.
Nine centuries past, Emperor Thanatos became enamored with Dayonera Oaklanda. When she coldly scorned his attentions, he slaughtered her and stole her soul away to the Sixth Realm to visit horror and torment upon her until the end of time. Jessica had been trying to recover her sister ever since.
One century into her quest, the Oracle of Faiden came to Jessica with an offer. For a good many years, Jessica would do whatever the Oracle asked. In exchange, the Oracle would reveal the emperor's greatest secret. From the first simple command to take what was given to her by a daughter of her Bay and protect it, to the final placement and shielding of two children, Jessica had obeyed. Eight centuries later, the Oracle had finally delivered on her promise and given Jessica the piece of information that would lead to the conquest of the greatest adversary in the middle realms. Only when he had sired an heir who survived to precisely nineteen years would the shrouds of the Emperor of the Sixth Realm pass from father to son, making the Emperor mortal, or at least killable.
Velan had told Jessica the date, and she had spared no moment to concentrate on anything but the swift and effective slaughter of Emperor Thanatos. She had an eternity for revenge, but she only had a tiny window for victory. Her thirst for the screams of torment from the creature that had stolen her sister were less important than recovering Dayonera's soul from nine hundred years of darkness. Preparation for the summoning, capture, and ultimate death of the emperor had filled the ruler of Sorcery Bay's time for nine centuries, and she would not fail.
Jessica had chosen a small room deep in the bowels of her fortress in Sorcery Bay. Every inch of the floor, walls, and ceiling had been encased with higher spiritual energy. When the room was sealed, no energy could pass into or out of the prison, and Jessica would be alone with the emperor. She hoped to cut him off from the fathomless powers of the Sixth Realm as well as prevent his escape. Once summoned to the white chamber, he would have only himself with which to fight. Even alone and captive, he was a skilled and powerful opponent.
Jessica knew the emperor to be a ruthless and talented shadow master, capable of doing any number of seemingly impossible manipulations of the darkness he carried within him. His body was an entity made of the darkest shadows of the Sixth Realm, imbued with amazing defensive powers. Jessica had been burned by their cold many times in the past, but Thanatos had been careless. He hadn't noticed Jessica collecting samples of both his energy and his shrouds the last time she'd challenged him. It was the study of those energies that would provide the sorceress the edge she needed to control the battle. She had created garments that would protect her from his shrouds and emanate a pure, white light to weaken his shadow weapons.
Jessica was humming quietly to herself as she pulled on the glistening white leggings, chemise, gown, and bodice. It had been eons since she had looked so forward to a battle. The thrill of the upcoming conflict sang inside her, and she actually found herself smiling with excitement. She laced her radiant, knee-high boots and pulled her hair lock-by-lock into an elaborate but sturdy series of interlocking braids and knots. Over this she drew on her only true pieces of armor, a discrete helm and coif to protect her precious mane.
A glance at the great clock in her dressing chamber revealed the time to avenge and recover her sister was finally there. How ironic that it would fall on the night of the full moon, the evening of the most light. Thanatos had taken Dayonera away from her, and now he would pay for stealing her soul. "Soon, dear sister . . . soon." she whispered. As the second hand inched ever closer to the moment when nine centuries of meticulous preparation would come to a climax, Jessica double checked the strength of her garments, and the chamber she had prepared.
Jessica summoned Aldia, the legendary soul-devourer, into her white-gloved fingers and drew a slow breath, watching the glistening blade reflect her cold eyes back at her. In an instant, she was deep in the bowels of her fortress, surrounded by nothing but white tile walls bare of any visible markings. She nudged one unsecured tile into position with the toe of her boot and summoned the great emperor of the Sixth Realm.
"Ferremortis Thanatos! Ferremortis Thanatos! Ferremortis Thanatos!" The summoning ritual was laughably easy, a curse placed on his bloodline countless millennia ago. Three incantations of his full name, issued with power and will, and he was forced to come. Shrouds gathered quickly in the chamber, and Jessica secured a mask over her features to allow the shrouds to pass ineffectually over her. The moment she felt his presence, she slid the tile into place and sealed the room.
Thanatos roared, furious from the summons and from being severed from his realm. It wouldn't take long for him to break free of the simple prison of light, but Jessica did not intend to give him the opportunity. She dove forward into the overwhelming darkness of his shrouds, eager to take advantage of his momentary disorientation.
The first of his two shadow blades met her single dagger and deflected it easily, the second striking at her undefended shoulder. She had anticipated this maneuver, having spied upon his battle techniques thousands of times. She let the blade strike and sink deep to the bone. In the instant of impact, with the mere second it took him to pull his blade free, she sank Aldia between the bones of his forearm and danced back, withdrawing from the skirmish.
The shadow blades clattered to the floor and Thanatos screamed. His cries were such a sweet sound to the ancient sorceress. She would never tire of hearing his soul shrieking, trapped forever in Aldia's terrible and agonizing grip. The thrill died quickly when the sorceress realized Thanatos was successfully resisting the hunger of the soul-devourer.
Jessica's arm healed in seconds, her body quickly cycling out the shrouds that had entered the wounds while the dress repaired and cleaned itself. Jessica's shining appearance was pristine in the ocean of churning black shrouds, and her vengeance felt righteous and pure.
Thanatos fell to his knees, so intent on fighting the potent will of Aldia that his attacker was momentarily forgotten. His powerful shadow blades were made of the same essence that fueled the emperor's shrouds, and when leaving his fingers always returned home to the Sixth Realm. They, like Thanatos, were prisoners in Jessica's merciless cage. She plucked up the nearest blade, suspended for the moment in her realm, and buried it to the hilt in his back, severing his spine between the shoulder blades and massive, bat-like wings. "Give your soul to Aldia, Monster!" Jessica shrieked. "Feel her torment, torment you've inflicted upon others. Let her hunger devour you, forever!" Her normally stoic demeanor was shattered by her desperate need to see him die.
Thanatos collapsed as his almost-black blood covered the ground, pouring out and wafting around him, becoming shrouds so powerful and cold that the heavily protected tiles beneath him shattered. The instant the magic shield was cracked, he was gone, as fickle and wild as the magic that had created it. Aldia clattered to the floor, glistening clean in the pure white light of Jessica's gown. The sorceress didn't allow herself time to grieve the loss of the tyrant's soul that she had so longed to own. She had only seconds after his death to retrieve Dayonera's soul before the Sixth Realm claimed its heir and sealed itself away. Jessica held her hands out and closed her eyes. "The way is clear, my precious sister," she whispered, a single tear escaping the corner of her eye. "I am so sorry it took me this long." The power of the retrieval spell coursed through her, burning but welcomed, the wonderful pain of tearing a soul free of the Sixth Realm. "Come to me at long last."
A collection globe formed in Jessica's fingers, and it filled with the spiritual energy of Dayonera Oaklanda. "Come back home. I will never let you suffer again. I swear this to you."
The light within the globe danced with energy, Dayonera's energy. It had changed, darkened from her centuries of torment, but it was home. Jessica held the globe to her heart. "I will return you, sister. Your body will feel no pain, no discomfort. Only pleasure and relief will be yours to endure. Perhaps in time, with my love and devotion, you will feel happiness again."