An Eldritch Legacy: Sin & Sacrilege

Flesh and fragments of brain matter painted the walls in grotesque patterns, staining the room they once shared with ichor and gore.

The emperor bellowed in rage, his veins bulging with barely restrained wrath. Tears streaked down his face as he took in the vacant, shattered expression of the woman he had once cherished beyond all else.

Then, unwilling to look at her any longer, his face turned cold, hardening into a mask of indifference as he barked an order to the guards behind him.

"Take him away."

His voice was deathly quiet.

"Leave his body to me—I will deal with him personally."

The guards obeyed, dragging away the corpse. But even as the body was removed, a wet, gurgling laugh echoed from its broken, healing jaw. A sound so wretched that the Emperor could not believe that the man was once his own brother by blood.

Maids rushed in, draping silken cloth over the empress's lifeless form, shielding her from prying eyes.

With the last of her strength, she turned her gaze toward the man she had once loved, the one who had come just a moment too late.

And then she heard his decree—cold, final, unfeeling.

"Take care of the former empress. She is never to set foot outside these chambers again. Not until her death."

His words shattered what little remained of her heart.

Yet she understood. This was mercy. She deserved worse.

She wanted to die, yet he would never allow it. The love he had once held for her was simply too great.

Anguish filled her as she watched his retreating form, knowing it might be the last time she would ever lay eyes on him.

The Emperor of Light and Flame.

And just like that, Reina Light, Empress of Light and Flame, ceased to exist.

To the world, she had died attempting to become a Pathwalker at her age, striving to make herself worthy of her husband and his eternal might.

Many could hardly believe it—the empress, newly wed, gone so suddenly. Grief spread across the empire, for they had watched her grow up, and none doubted that she alone deserved to sit beside the emperor. A pity.

An empire-wide mourning was held in her honor. Though the emperor never shed a single tear, the anguish in his eyes was unmistakable as they consigned her body to the eternal flame.

Days passed, and gradually the late empress was forgotten in the tides of time. And yet one could not forget her, try as he might.

-----

The grand chambers were draped in gold and emerald, a testament to the empire's wealth and splendor. Lanterns lined the walls, their flickering glow steady despite the daylight streaming in through the towering windows. Yet, despite the magnificence, an unbearable sorrow filled the room.

Reina knelt on the cold marble floor, her delicate hands trembling as they clutched at the empty air. Sobs wracked her frame, her voice breaking as she choked on words left unsaid. Tears spilled freely down her pale cheeks, falling like shattered glass upon the polished stone. Her sorrow was a storm, relentless and unforgiving, filling every corner of the grand hall.

Outside, the empire stood in eerie silence. The bustling streets were hushed, the world holding its breath in the wake of what had transpired. The sky, once brilliant and blue, had darkened—clouds thick and swollen with grief. And then, as if mourning alongside her, the heavens opened, and the rain fell crimson.

The emperor stood near the towering window, his back turned to the woman who had once been his heart. He watched as the red-streaked rain poured over the city, washing down the towering spires and soaking the banners that bore his sigil. His hands clenched at his sides, the tension in his shoulders betraying the storm raging within him.

He had told himself he hated her.

He had whispered it in the dead of night when sleep eluded him, when the weight of his choices pressed heavily upon his chest. He had sworn it in the throne room, his voice echoing with a conviction he did not feel. He had believed it when, in his head, he raised his hand against her, when his fingers had been stained with something far worse than blood.

He had come here to end it all once and for all; maybe his mind would know peace.

Yet, as her sobs filled the chambers, something deep inside him cracked.

The weight of his crown was nothing compared to the weight of his regret. He had won—had he not? The throne was his, the empire secure. Yet, victory had never felt so hollow. His kingdom, his rule, his power—they were everything he had ever desired. And yet, at that moment, none of it mattered.

She had been his light once. His sun, his warmth, his reason. And now, she was nothing but a ghost, haunting the halls they had once walked together.

Trapped within her chambers as though she were a prisoner, her life hung in the balance. He sought to free her, but he could not. He could not let her go.

He just could not let her go…

Finally, Reina's voice, fragile yet filled with quiet fury, hoarse with age and yet still the one he would rather listen to in his sleep, shattered the stillness. "Was it worth it?"

The emperor did not answer. He could not.

The crimson rain fell harder.

-------

Six Years Later...

Reina screamed in agony.

Pain wracked her fragile body as she struggled to bring new life into the world. Perspiration clung to her like a second skin, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She was utterly alone.

No gentle hands soothed her; no warm presence comforted her through the storm of childbirth.

Yet she fought on.

Though she despised what had led to this pregnancy, she would not forsake the innocent life growing within her. The child was not to blame for the horrors of the past.

Pain and despair threatened to drown her, but she did not stop pushing.

Terror gripped her heart as exhaustion threatened to claim her, but some unseen force refused to let her fail. And then, at last—

The cries of children echoed through the chambers.

Fierce, like a storm. Powerful, like a war cry.

That day, the skies of the empire rained red.

Far away, on a distant battlefield soaked in blood, the Emperor of Light and Flame fought.

He stood upon an eternal killing ground, surrounded by endless corpses that refused to stay dead.

He slaughtered them, over and over, but they always rose again.

This had been his existence ever since the day his empress was defiled by his own brother.

Hatred burned in his soul like an unquenchable inferno. He had never despised his own blood more.

And yet, he hated her even more.

And yet, he loved her even more.

It was agony. A torment beyond words.

But soon, it would all end.

For the sake of his empire, he had taken another wife, a woman he did not love. Today, she was to give birth to his heir.

Betrayal! The word screeched within his soul, but he dismissed it by swinging his blade faster.

And somewhere—far from the battlefield, far from his reach—Reina, too, was giving birth.

He knew it. He felt it in his bones.

Yet he did not dare go to her.

If he laid eyes on that child, he knew he would kill it—for the disgrace it represented.

And if he did, she would hate him for eternity.

So instead, he waged war.

He drowned himself in bloodshed.

He lost himself in carnage, hoping to silence the memories of golden tears and crimson betrayal.

It broke his heart.

He longed to comfort her.

But he could not.

He was an emperor.

The Emperor of Light and Flame.

Her life now was already mercy enough.

She would never stand by his side again.

He had betrayed her, too... that was punishment enough.

Their god was not known for kindness.

And so he fought.

For eternity.

And as if the universe itself felt his grief, on that day, the empire of Light and Flame was drowned in rains of blood and fire.

Ahhh...a tale of love so fierce that the heavens wept on their behalf... a man cuckolded by his one brother and a wife too weak to save herself... the betrayal on both ends is the reason we live to watch their story.