- 5 Years Ago - 

Gate of Tears, Road's End, Tower of Ref, the volcano had many names and none of them particularly good, yet, it was the home of a long standing tradition. For generations since Ref's fall into the sea this was the place where suicidal people went. Not just because it's fame as a plot of suicide, but because of its warden.  As long as the tradition went, there was someone living at the top of the volcano to watch over the dead, to bury them, give honors, and to be their final witness to offer some comforts.  This person was known as the warden.

Slavian found himself as the son of the warden.

The eight year old boy sat on the edge of the volcano's hole kicking his feet back and forth lazily. On the other side a woman talked and engaged with a group of young people. As usual, she asked them to at least stay with dinner. As usual, she managed to talk a couple of them through their emotions to heal and walk away. Also, as usual, a group of them lined themselves up at the hole, and leaped.

Slavian watched them fall into the darkness. There was no impact to be heard at the bottom. It was just darkness and silence. Though his mother and he acted as a witness, there were no tears. He was past that.

"Well, that's that." He whispered, sighing.

He got up and ran around the volcano to the hut they lived in, waving his arms in the wind. 

Slavian smacked the door open in his haste and ran into the single-room building. "No one clung to the side," He reported. He climbed up onto his bedding, near the roof, and sat on the edge kicking his feet.

His mother put dishes into a large warm pot and poured oil into it to scrub clean. She stopped when she heard his words. 

"Damn." His mother sighed. "I was sure they were at least hesitating."

"Nope!" He denied. "No one even reached out."

"Shame," His mother whispered. She took a towel and set to her work.

Slavian frowned. Usually she had more words than that. "You saved some at least, right?"

"I did." She nodded.

Slavian watched her closely. Her movements were slow and weak. He dropped down, his leather shoes barely making any noise as he landed. He stepped up to her. "Are you okay, Mum?"

"I'm fine." She said, more forcefully than she probably meant. 

Unconvinced, Slavian stared at her. She sighed, admitting, "It's hard. That's all. It'll pass." She gave him a warm smile and put wet hands on his face to kiss him, but he recoiled, screaming, and ran.

At this time, their friend Soran-Blood kicked the door open, his arms full of items. The items included clothing and whatever he could get off the dead, which, in this case, included a small curved sword. Night-Blood clung to him, but not harming him. So he placed down the items in a corner, stepped up to the fire, and removed the Night-Blood. He lifted his arms and legs and spun about, exposing the annoyance to the fire closely, and killing it off. The Soran-Blood then took the items and exposed them to the fire in the same way, killing off the Night-Blood that caked itself to them.

"Thank you, Nel'Andra," The woman said.

"Oooh!" Slavian gasped. He hurried up to the loot and pulled the sword out. It was half his size, but Nel'Andra took the sword from him and put it up high. Not to be deterred, Slavian climbed on the chest and the window to reach it, only for Nel'Andra to move it elsewhere. Slavian gave chase, giggling. Again and again, Nel'Andra put it somewhere difficult, and each time Slavian was able to reach it.

Eventually Nel'Andra lifted Slavian by his shirt and put him on the ground, not allowing him to make further attempts. "Aww!" Slavian pouted. "But its so shiny!"

Nel'Andra waved a metal claw.

"He's right, Slavian. Its not a toy." His mother reprimanded him. "Who would you even use it on anyway?"

"The enemy!" Slavian said, proudly.

At this, his mother paused, her tone flat and heavy. "And who is your enemy?"

Sensing he may have gone too far, Slavian stopped and kicked his feet. "Nobody."

"That's right." She returned to her work. "Besides, your father wouldn't want you picking fights or getting hurt when he returns."

Slavian said nothing to this, but looked down. She would say stuff like that, keeping his father as a regular part of their lives, but his absence was still a gaping hole. Sensing his mood, she said, "Nel'Andra, why don't you take Slavian out?"

The Soran-Blood nodded and motioned his promise to keep the boy safe, while Slavian ran out behind him. As they left, she released a cough. Nel'Andra stopped briefly and looked at her in time to see her hand catch blood from her mouth. The metal man shut the door quietly and followed after the young boy. 

- 4 years ago -

Slavian stood solemnly on the edge watching another two prepare to leap. They were travelers from across the channel, and spoke of a civil war in Ne. There had been the local warlords against a new warlord naming himself Aeterna, and that Aeterna had won to unite the Ne in recent times. The name stirred up his mother, and from bits and pieces realized it was his father.

The Aeterna Emperor was his father.

To know his father was great and powerful, and on a campaign to accomplish great things, he felt pride. Pride that could, for the first time, match his desire to meet the man and replace the pain. Though it certainly increased the desire with it; it answered the question of where the man was.

Why did they want no place in the country he had made? Why did they feel so abandoned as to come here? Slavian asked, but received no answer. Their minds were set and seemingly construed his curiosity for conflict.

They did not cling to the side as they fell.

Slavian sighed and returned to the hut, his purpose fulfilled. Nel'Andra climbed down to scavenge and bury.

Slavian attended to his chores. A basket was filled to bursting with donations of flour and oil from a fortress to the east as well as various pirate lords, a religious offering of sorts as if the woman was special. Knowing the man who had lived here was now an Emperor, the reverence made sense.

He cleaned the table and started his work making dinner. His mother laid in bed. Nel'Andra and he insisted she rest when her cough grew worse.

"The Numerenai brought honey," Slavian announced. "Said it was specially for you, and hoped you would get better with it."

"That's sweet. Did you thank your brothers and sisters?"

"I did."

Slavian finished preparing the cakes about the same time Nel'Andra finished his work. The Soran-Blood touched the flame to remove the Night-Blood. As they ate, his mother coughed more. Her only piece of jewelry, a necklace with a red orb on it, swung as she threw herself into her hands.

"Everything will be better when he is done. He will return." He insisted quietly.

- 3 years ago -

Her coughing could be heard from outside as he stood in position to watch. They leaped. Slavian almost turned quickly to leave, not waiting to see them disappear down, as he needed to return quickly, but something stopped him.

One of them clung to the side, having changed his mind on the way down and managed to catch something.

"Hold on!" Slavian called down.

With practiced ease, Slavian climbed down the side into the dormant volcano. His hands knew exactly where to hold, his fingers knew the grooves well. As he went down, Nel'Andra rushed over and stood over the edge, observing with his emotionless lit eyes.

Eventually Slavian reached the jumper, but the jumper panicked and grabbed his foot. Slavian yelled for him to stop freaking out, but it was too late. The jumper climbed up him, and Slavian was not prepared for the extra weight.

The last thing he saw as he fell was Nel'Andra diving down after them.

When he woke, he was at home and he was in bed. Mother was fast sleep. The jumper was nowhere to be seen. Nel'Andra held a fire-lit ward up to Slavian and used it as a brush to get rid of the Night-Blood. Slavian almost panicked, but instead held still, letting his friend get rid of it.

"Thank you." Slavian murmured. When Nel'Andra moved back, Slavian brushed droplets of liquid enemy out of his hair and flicked it to the floor. Nel'Andra crawled across the floor to the fire and set the stick back in the fireplace.

Slavian stopped. Nel'Andra was crawling. His lower half was limp.

"Are you well?" Slavian asked, fearful of the answer. "Why do you crawl?"

Nel'Andra looked up at him, but motioned nothing.

"Did you hurt yourself saving me?"

Still, the metal-man said nothing. He turned his attention to the sword hanging above the door, and crawled on his hands up to it. He grabbed the sword, leaped onto the table, and placed it down.

Tears welled up in Slavian's eyes. "What?"

Nel'Andra laid himself flat across the table. The injured lower half was visibly broken at the spine. Finally Nel'Andra motioned in sign language.

"I can't!" Slavian argued. "I can't do it."

Nel'Andra slammed his hands on the table, startling Slavian. The boy gulped and looked down. "Alright."

He crawled down from his bed, careful not to wake his mother, and stepped up to the table. The metal-man spread himself out and went still. Slavian grabbed the sword, brushed the tears out of his eyes with his sleeve, and whispered, "I am so sorry."

He held the sword over the Soran-Blood's spine. He brought it down, but it clanged and bounced off the metal. Nel'Andra made a growling sound, seemingly annoyed, and stretched his spine. The metal stretched and popped, revealing softer cords between and within. Again, Slavian held the blade over him, and this time brought it down between the metal plates.

Immediately Nel'Andra fell over the table both ways, startling the boy. "Nel'Andra!"

The metal-man, now only with its upper half, stood on its hands and took a moment to figure out how to walk again slowly. It quickly learned and climbed up onto the table, easily assisted by its long arms. He sat back directly on his torso, supported by his hands, and gave a thumb's up. Slavian laughed despite the tears. 

"Its okay. He'll know how to fix you up. He's an Emperor. He must have somebody who is a good Soran doctor." Slavian promised.

- 2 years ago -

The coughing grew worse and could be easily heard outside.

Slavian sat on the roof tinkering. A few odd end jobs with the pirates and special requests from the regular Numerenai donations provided him scraps of leather, nails, and a hammer to do what he had in mind. His first couple attempts had failed because of poor material or not enough, but this time he was hopeful it would be sufficient.

Slavian finished bending the nail around and raised his system of straps up for inspection. The leather blowed and brushed in the elevated winds.

Nodding to himself, he soft-landed from the roof to the ground, and eased the door open. The darkness deepened from the light of the doorway like a solid wall, and barely makable on the bed was a large quivering lump.

"Mum, do you need anything?" Slavian whispered, approaching.

There was silence. He turned his attention to the a hammock at his head level tied from his own bed to the roof. The literal half-man Nel'Andra sat in it watching them.

"Anything?" He whispered to his friend. The Soran-Blood shook his head. There were no improvements from before even with constant bed rest.

Slavian sighed, but quickly redirected his attention forward. "I made another! This will one work. I'm sure of it." Emphasizing his point, the older boy raised the straps for the Soran-Blood's inspection. To anyone unused to the Soran-Blood race, his reaction might be described as stoic, numb, apathetic, stone-faced, even downright unresponsive. Slavian, though, had grown up with one.

Slavian insisted, "Don't look at me like that! It'll work, I promise! Come on, lets get it set up."

Nel'Andra perched himself up on the hammock, reached out with its long limbs and grabbed Slavian's bed post, and from there climbed to the floor. Slavian, meanwhile, tied the straps to himself and shifted it around to be proper. Slavian then lowered himself to one knee. Nel'Andra grabbed the boy from his shoulders and, using the boy as leverage, picked himself up and lowered his torso into the net of leather. The boy fell over.

"Oh! Whoa. Hold up." Slavian grumbled, faceplanted into the floor. "Okay, get yourself situated."

Nel'Andra, despite the awkward position, managed to squirm himself into the straps and secure himself. He placed his arms on the floor and pushed up, removing his weight enough for the boy to pick himself up.

With a heavy "hup!" Slavian awkwardly jumped to his feet. Nel'Andra put his arms out to help balance him until they were stable. Then the Soran-Blood put his hands forward to rest on his shoulders, his weight forward to align with the boy's.

Slavian gave it a moment, feeling the weight of it and his new center of balance carrying Nel'Andra on his back. Another few moments and the network of leather straps held. Soran-Blood are much heavier than normal people, but this was only half of one.

"I think it works!" Slavian whispered. Nel'Andra patted him on the shoulder. "Lets go for a run! I'm gonna need to be a lot stronger to carry you around."

- 1.5 years ago - 

Slavian stood in position by the deep hole. His mother, the warden of the volcano, was thankfully also present, but barely able to stand. Her color kept his eyes glancing to her in concern and it took Nel'Andra sitting on the porch with his hands out to keep her from falling.

A group jumped.

Slavian watched them go, waiting to see with each second if they would descend into the deep darkness. Most did, but two managed to change their minds and also grab hold of the side before it was too late.

Immediately Slavian yelled to hold on while he climbed down. With years of practice he moved swiftly on the rock surface, his strong fingers and hands took firm hold, and his well-used muscles allowing him to keep at a steady pace towards them.

The one that was closer looked like he had a better hold, so Slavian informed them to hold on while he goes for the one further down. He quickly came side to side with the second, who panicked as usual, but Slavian put a firm hand on the man's own hand to keep him from losing grip, very nearly crushing his fingers in the process.

"Don't. You'll kill yourself, and possibly me, doing that. Move slowly. I got you. I have a saddle on my back. We are going to get you into it together, okay?" The man nodded, shoving himself fearfully into the straight side, but with Slavian's help was able to climb in. It took many minutes, but the man was in Slavian's saddle. "Hold on."

Slavian climbed to the top. Immediately the saved man leaped to the ground and wept. Slavian left him to his mother while he climbed back down to the one he passed before.

"Still here with me?" Slavian teased. The first man nodded, having a slighty easier time holding on, and with more faith in him having just seen what the older boy can do, but no less terrified if his eyes were any clue. "Just like with him, we are going to work together and get you into my saddle, and we are going up, alright?"

"Yes."

"Okay, with me." Slavian started the work, but then something happened.

The world shook, a bright light above illuminated the sky as a beacon, and something comparible to metal scraping along metal screamed into his ears. The ground shoved them both off, and Slavian barely managed to grab on to the man's clothing as he fell. Slavian kept hold of the side and the man both, and lights flashed in his eyes. Slavian shoved his face into the side of the cliff-side and waited.

Eventually everything calmed down, and his senses returned, only to return again a few seconds later and overwhelm his senses and shake the world. The man he was trying to help screamed and panicked. 

"Okay, this isn't helping. Nel'Andra!" Slavian yelled.

Immediately the Soran-Blood slid down the side on metal claws until they were level. Slavian ordered, "Climb in, turn around, and grab him. I need both hand for this. No, I can do it, just hurry while my strength lasts." Nel'Andra swiftly climbed into the saddle and took the fallen man on his long, stable arms. Slavian grabbed hold of the side with both hands, breathed, and climbed up.

A third time the world shook and the lights and sounds attacked his senses. Almost blind, he focused on ascending only until his fingers took hold of the top and he pulled all three of them up.

When he made it up, he gasped at what he saw.

The sun was reaching out with a massive hand and smashing into the ground of Ire; and his mother was cursing, crying, throwing dirt at it, and yelling how wrong this was. It took a moment, but Slavian realized it as he listened to her words. This was the power of his father. The Aeterna Emperor was invading Ire.

- 1 year ago -

Slavian stood ontop of his family hut, Nel'Andra on his back, and watched the people mill about. They tried to keep a small distance from the volcanic edge, and had managed to put together a fence around it to keep from falling in by accident.

Irregular day and night patterns had become a new normal, as well as a surge of new volcanic victims. With the rising power of the Aeterna Empire, its rivals had the choose between resist, surrender, or run; and when the Empire lays claim to the entire world, a world that is a circular cavern where its inhabits live on the walls, then to where shall they flee? The world had become their cage and there was one hole, one escape from it.

The number of volcanic jumpers had grown, and the frequency had become regular.

Then the longest night of Slavian's life started seven "days" ago.

 In the distance boats with lanterns could be seen floating on the sea, but the sea had risen. The Night-Blood had become an ocean of its own. Looking out into the darkness, the black waters were fierce and had swallowed up the night into a deeper void.

Faint whispers in his ears rattled him, words that were not knowable, emotions that were not recognizable. Slavian turned away. Something had looked back. 

Shouts arose from the people, and Slavian looked to see the people pressing into each other to go up the mountain further. The people pressed up against the fence.

"Stop!" Slavian shouted. "There is no more room!"

The shouting morphed into screams, and Slavian gasped. The Night-Blood was still rising and was now visible by torchlight from the peak. In turn, the people crawled and climbed on their hands and knees, half of them already pulled down by the waves or with dark tendrils holding their waists.

Helplessly, Slavian could only watch as the people broke the fence under their sheer mass and fell in as a waterfall of bodies. With the resistance lessening, those closest to the Night-Blood pressed up harder and harder, ignorant of the danger faced by those on the volcanic edge.

"I'm telling you there is no more room! You're pushing people off the edge!" Slavian yelled.

But the people did not listen, only focused on the faintest hope of escape, while those closest to the escape found themselves going too far.

Whether it was due to the mass of bodies or the rising ocean, the volcano also filled with Night-Blood. The Night-Blood inside rose until it was at the peak.

Slavian turned his attention skyward toward where the sun should be, and next to it, where his mother said the Aeterna was watching over them.

He didn't fully understand his father, nor his power, but he understood on some level that this was because of him. His father had power over the sun and it was out.

The ocean rose until it was almost at the peak, and survivors had fallen to half what it was a few minutes ago. Still, Slavian kept his attention skyward. Perhaps hoping, perhaps blaming, he didn't know. He heard his mother's hoarse coughing grow worse than he recalled it ever being, and the screams of all the people filled the air as the Night-Blood started to barely rise over the peak up to their ankles, and with it he felt as much as heard whispers in his head. Something was calling to him.

He pressed his hands to his ears to shut it all out but even in the brief repose there was no escape. The people pushed against the hut, shaking it and trying to climb on.

The death, the Night-Blood, the people, the noise, the sun, his father, his mother, just all of it was too much. The world was crashing down around him while he was trapped in darkness.

Slavian roared against it all, "Enough! Cease!"

And in that moment, there was peace.

The darkness stopped whispering, the Night-Blood waves stilled, no longer rose, and instead lowering down some until just out of sight; the people stared at him and the ocean around them in muted shock, his mother stopped her horsing fit and fell silent, and for a moment there was stillness and calm.

Slavian fell to his knees, feeling weak all of a sudden. He felt his heavy heart beat in his ears and looked down at his shaky hands. His vision blurred in the torch light, and he closed his eyes to keep from vomiting.

Thankfully all of it ceased just as he wished, and he had a moment to collect himself.

The moment ended as someone rushed out of the house calling his name. The someone is question was the same man Slavian had saved a half-year prior. He had chosen to stay on as a slave by debt. Not that anyone requested it, nor called him such, the man felt it proper.

The slave called, "Master Slavian! Hurry! Its your mother!"

Slavian's eyes shot open and he leaped down from the roof, landing hard in front of him. The people scattered to give them respectful room. Slavian only needed to look into the slave's sorrowful eyes, and listen to the silence, to know the answer. Still, he nudged the door open and looked at the bed.

- Present -

The older boy breathed in and out, briefly gave an annoyed glance at the sun, and gave the men before him a strong look. The one on the ground he recognized as Val'Spear, the kindly man who had been amusing at the bar. The one above, Slavian did not recognize, but he did not need to. The mark of the Aeterna was the crowned gauntlet around his arm, which he did wear.

That and the bastard actually called him 'son'.

Slavian loosened the strap from his shoulders and let down Nel'Andra. Free of the weight, Slavian pulled his sword from the sheathe. His arms shook from exhaustion after climbing so high, and the air felt heavier in his heated breath. Still, he held the blade firm and pointed it at his enemy.

"The name is Slavian. And I am not your son."