I frown. Confusion clouds my mind.
“Who are you?” I demand sharply.
She smiles slyly.
“I am surprised you do not recognize me,” she mentions.
I stare at her, racking my brain for that elusive memory. There is familiarity there, but I cannot recall who she is.
“I have met you before,” I say.
“You have.” She nods, coming closer.
She is much shorter than me, but her imposing aura makes up for it. There is pure power emanating from her—the type of which I have never before encountered.
“You have met me before. Many times. But we have never before been officially introduced like this.”
My brows knit together in confusion.
“My name is Lispera.”
My eyes widen.
“How?” I whisper, shock taking hold of me. “How are you in the lake? How…”
“I have been waiting for you, as I knew you would come,” she continues in a sweet voice. “This is your welcome to hell, Nykander. And I shall be your guide.”
A dark smile curves at her lips as she raises her hand. With the snap of a finger, she teleports us elsewhere.
I struggle to accommodate to the change in lighting at first. But as I take in our new surroundings, I gulp down hard.
Thisishell.
And nothing less than what I deserve.
2
Year 9,801 of the House of Silla Reign
Palace Kyr, North of Sattoriya, Tartareia.
The wind knocks into the closed windows, shattering the glass and breaking the wooden frame in half. The turbulent storm is gaining strength. A loud, howling sound erupts in the air as the wind’s tendrils slither into the well-lit chamber.
The sky is a deep red as the two moons of Tartareia inch slowly towards each other, anxious to meet for the first time in eons. It is a frightening phenomenon, just as it is a curious one, and people outside are clamoring to get a good view of it.
There has not been a moon eclipse in two hundred fifteen thousand years. The last time it happened, the war between Tartareia and Aperion took a dark turn, resulting in the loss of many Tartareian lives, including some of the most eminent Sons of Tenebreis.
The tenth of Elid—the fifth month in the Tartareian calendar. It signifies the loss of the battle of P’nisa; a loss that haunts Tartareia to this day. Ten leaders of the Sons of Tenebreis lost their lives to Aperite swords. It was a day of mourning forTartareians everywhere, but it was also a day that marked a change in the realm’s leadership.
Aperion held most of the power, controlling hell, heaven and purgatory. Tartareia had once been the realm where all evil souls went to receive their eternal punishment, but that changed once they lost the battle of P’nisa. The Tartareian territory that hosted the eternal torment of corrupt souls turned into Katras, and it was incorporated into the Aperite House of Psyche. A new, much lower realm was also created to house the souls of the fallen Sons of Tenebreis—a prison that they might never escape to gain reincarnation.
On that faithful day of Elid, Tartareia lost all its advantages.
But with great disappointment also came great resolve.
The House of Noiya became the ruling house of Tartareia, and Urteos, the Supreme Lord, implemented a new rule. Tartareia would regain its powers—by any means possible. Even if it meant going against the very fabric of its existence. Every immortal Tartareian was given a mission—get the corrupt souls before the Aperite messengers got to them. Convert them. Use them.
A soul is the purest source of energy in the universe, after all, no matter how corrupt.
