A Guide to Kingdom Building

[Somewhere near the Great Dune Border]

Tarsuria, Year of Severus, 15, I.R., the 85th day of Fall, The Bastion

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Two knights stood on top of the great Bastion overlooking the other side of the border.

"Hey, Retrion!" The older knight shouted to his younger companion. "Don't you think there are two moons tonight?"

The younger knight squinted at his partner and looked up in the sky. There he saw a small round ball peeping behind the bigger moon. He looked at it for a moment and thought that he might've been dreaming or something, but it was there.

"Whoa! The dunes!" The older knight exclaimed and pointed his finger at the sandy ground below. "It's glowing! Retrion, it's glowing!"

Retrion looked below and got mesmerized by the swirling patterns of light dancing on the sands. It swirled and collided with each other and then turned into another different pattern once again. He couldn't believe what he was seeing!

The younger knight's skin prickled at the bewildering sight. He looked up to his partner once and was surprised to see the older knight slumped against the wall. There was an arrow sticking out of his neck and was gasping for air.

"Old man!" The knight tried to help the older knight, but before he could approach, another arrow pierced the old knight's eye dropping him instantly on the floor.

Retrion ducked and hid himself behind the wall. His heart raced as he feared for his fate. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down as he peeked to look for the attacker. He stealthily moved on the other side of the wall and held the hammer to sound the alarm.

The young knight still tried to look for his partner's murderer and saw a solitary figure in the far distance of the dune. The individual stood alone on top of the sandy hill. Retrion's heart beat wildly as his anger slowly climbed into the surface.

The young knight immediately rung the gong with the hammer with all of his might. But the assailant never flinched. Just as the sound of the gong echoed throughout the bastion, and the other knights prepared into battle, the assailant, raised his hands.

Suddenly, a wave of horseback riders descended from the hill and covered the vastness of the dunes like locusts. Retrion saw the men clad in black armor charging towards them at a terrifying speed. He rang the bell some more out of fear and panic.

But the men were already near the bastion's gates, like lightning, they appeared out of nowhere and began banging on the bastion's gate.

***

[ Somewhere across the sky]

"How long has it been since I last saw the world below my feet?" Oyue asked herself as she walked around her newly emerged moon.

In front of her was that of her sister's. She sat in a chair she formed from the surface of her celestial body and stared endlessly at the sky, all the while taking glimpses at Chandara's huge, and overwhelming moon.

"It wasn't this big as I remembered." She muttered as her mind continued to wander into her memories. She recalled her glorious era as one of the proud moons that shed light upon the world. She remembered how the first occupants of the world would praise them and dance to their name.

"Oyue the Birghtest! Chandara the Timid!" The Yldars gave their praises and offerings to them.

Both the sister moons were considered the guardians of the night keeping the Yldars safe from creatures that lurked in the darkness—the same creatures that Chandara almost succumbed into. 

Oyue began to notice Chandara's moon closing into hers. Oyue stood up and tried to control her moon, steering it away from catastrophic collision. But just as she was about to maneuver it away, Chandara's moon stopped moving with barely a few reaches away from impact.

She stared at her sister's moon, gazing at the beautiful indiscernible color of its glow. She missed her, but she knew pretty darn well, that Chandara wasn't thrilled to see her.

"Why have you returned?" A familiar voice echoed from behind her.

Oyue couldn't help but smile. "I came back for you, sister." She placed her right hand over her chest and slightly bowed at her. "I came back to rule the skies with—"

"Have you forgotten what you've done?" Chandara angrily asked. "Have you forgotten it was you—"

"You know what you're saying is far from the truth!" Oyue turned around and saw her sister, Chandara clad in her celestial armor; in her hand was her spear.

Chandara's eyes met hers. It was the first time since the Age of Wonder when she saw her little sister. Chandara was little no more, for the past two thousand years since the last time they saw each other. Her sister's golden eyes shone brighter than ever. Her sweet and gentle look was no more. She was still as beautiful as she was, but her face showed a battle-hardened warrior, a far contrast from what she remembered of her.

"Your armor suits you well, sister." Oyue smiled calmly at Chandara. "The golden glow matches your beautiful dark hair and golden eyes—"

"Enough of your flatteries, Oyue!" Chandara pointed the spear at her. "I order you to return from the place whence you came!"

"But I am home." Oyue sighed. "This is my home."

"Was…your home!" Chandara assumed her battle pose, ready to strike her sister with one false move. "You were never welcomed in the heavens any longer, Oyue, Mother of Monsters!"

The last comment struck a nerve with her. "W-what did you just say to me?" Her patience was slowly deteriorating from Chandara's harsh words. "Remember this Chandara, I was trying to save you!"

"You should've just left me to die!" Chandara spat. "Leave the heavens now, Oyue. Or I will drag you out of here along with that tiny moon of yours!"

Oyue had enough. "I hope you fight well as how you claimed to be." She said out of spite. "I would want to see your sobbing face once again!"

"Why you?!" Chandara rushed on to her. Her spear thrusting towards her neck. "Prepare yourself, dear sister."

Oyue took a step back while shedding her dress for her own battle armor. She immediately parried the attack with a spear of her own. The impact their weapons hitting each other caused the entire moon to tremble.

Their eyes met once again and tried to stab each other with their own deadly weapons, when all of the sudden a blast of golden light came out of nowhere. In between their powerful blades was a shinning man made of gold and fire.

He held their spears together making them unable to move their weapons.

"ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU!" He roared and shook the entire sky.

"Apholak? Brother, stay out of my—" Chandara tried to order him around.

"No one is hurting anyone tonight!" The fiery god declared. "Lay down your weapons, I don't want any of the remaining deities dead by tonight!"

"But—" Chandara tried to explain.

"Either the both of you hide your weapons, or I burn them to ash! Both of you chose!

Oyue calmly let go of her spear and retracted it. "I mean no ill-will big brother, Apholak--"

"That remains something I must discern for myself." Apholak answered. "Let us go to my abode and talk there, now."

With no hesitation both deities nodded and followed the sun god into his realm. Although hesitant and hurt with the entire situation, Oyue had no qualms speaking to her siblings. She just hope they weren't as chaotic as they were a thousand years before.