Chapter 2

Isaris appeared in Lustra’s bedroom with a crack and a puff of putrid smoke. The room was light and airy, a perfect sanctuary of silken sheets, marble pillars, and too many water features for her liking. Lustra watched her with slitted eyes, it was just like her sister to enter without knocking. This was the first time the gods had seen each other in almost two centuries.

Time slipped by with little consequence for immortal beings, and the sisters had never managed to get along anyway. But these were times of crises, and family was what mattered most. So, Isaris had accepted Lustra’s invitation to talk, albeit begrudgingly and not without suspicion for her sister’s motives.

“I’m surprised you came,” said Lustra.

“You practically begged me,” said Isaris. The two sisters sized each other up. Neither had changed much in their time apart.

“I trust you’ve been well?” said Lustra as she thumbed at the silk ribbon that fastened her robes. She would have to be delicate with Isaris, so as not to spook her. Isaris glowered. She had no time for useless formalities.

“Well then, we should get moving,” Lustra went on. “We have business to attend to in the crypt.”

“The crypt?” 

“I believe a solution to our current conflict may lie down there,” said Lustra, her voice a delicate blend of hope and lingering doubt. “But to harness the power requires two gods of death.”

Isaris’s curiosity was piqued despite herself. The crypt held the bodies of the first beings, those born at the dawn of this world. As the goddesses of death and the afterlife, the sisters had always been drawn there when they had played as little girls. To remember so far into her past was like peering into someone else's life; she often wished she could remember what it felt like to grow up. Perhaps that was the problem with these gods; too many eons had passed since they’d known what it was to be playmates.

Isaris knew what to do next. She faced her sister and held out her palms. Lustra pressed her hands against hers. They closed their eyes, and with a whoosh of hot air, a circle opened at their feet to reveal a winding staircase leading down. Isaris lowered herself onto the top step. No mortal being would have been able to see in such total darkness, but the goddesses had no such troubles in their descent.

The crypt was exactly as Isaris remembered it, dark and cool, with a lingering scent of ancient things. The passageway twined and narrowed as they approached the central circular chamber. “This power you speak of, will it be enough to defeat Sakassen?” Isaris asked. “I trust you’ve seen his perversions.”

“Yes, the perversions,” Lustra said. She paused, knowing she would have to be careful here. “But tell me, Isaris, how is it that Sakassen managed to produce such vile creatures? I did not think that he had such power.”

“Are you implying that he had help? Are you implying that I helped him?”

“Who else?”

“Well, what if I did,” Isaris spat, “I took care of them. I took care of his worshipers too. Those mortal imbeciles who run to him without knowing that he is the cause of their suffering.”

“That was illegal, Isaris.”

“Illegal?” Isaris fumed. This is why she loathed her sister; this is why they hadn’t spoken in two hundred years. “Will you ever overcome your fixation with the law? I eradicated his perversions; I saved mortal lives. I annihilated his worshipers, and the world is better for it.”

“We have an agreement, Isaris. No god may target the worshipers of another. We cannot be allowed to interfere with each other’s powers this way. Sakassen was perfectly within his rights to assert his influence indirectly.”

“The other gods support me! They know Sakassen’s power will lead to suffering in the mortal world.”

“Do not pretend you do this for the sake of the mortals or the other gods, Isaris; we both know the only reason for your crimes is that Sakassen betrayed you,” Lustra spat.

“How do you know about that?” Isaris asked. Suddenly, a chill overtook her. Something was not right about all of this. Lustra did not respond immediately, not until they had stepped into the chamber.

“You should have known better, Isaris,” Lustra said, “You must finally learn that there are consequences to breaking the law.” Isaris turned, but the door slammed shut behind her. There, hunkering in the shadow of a pillar, stood the hooded Sakassen. Isaris roared and barreled towards the god to claw at his throat. With her surge of power, ice shot through his veins. Lustra pulled her sister back with a gust of hot air, summoning heavy metal chains to bind her sister's arms. Sakassen, now freed, reached into the earth and summoned tendrils of flesh to bind her legs. Isaris roared. She was trapped.

“We should thank your sister, for giving me such a warm welcome,” said Sakassen to Isaris, massaging feeling back into his frozen limbs.

“You disgusting traitor,” Isaris spat, “I knew you were capable of stooping low, but working with Sakassen?”

“I am not stooping anywhere,” said Lustra. “I do not stoop to any level other than the level of the law. You will remain bound here, Isaris, until a council has met to decide your punishment. I hope you use this time to reflect.” Isaris struggled against her restraints to no avail.

“You’re both cowards. You couldn’t take me alone, could you?”

“Not cowards, Isaris, just not stupid,” Sakassen chided in a singsong tone. “Now be a dear and do as your sister tells you. Take some time to reflect on your crimes.” Lustra and Sakassen turned to leave the chamber. The door slammed shut, and Isaris’s screams were silenced.

In the following days, word spread quickly amongst the other gods about the alliance between Lustra and Sakassen. There were rumors—that Lustra’s hatred of her sister had finally made her crack, that Sakassen was finally being heeled by the powerful goddess—whatever the reason for the alliance, none of the other gods seemed able to agree. Among the fray, a group of lesser gods met to discuss the newfound developments.

Lenne, the goddess of beauty, looked as if she had been pulled straight out of a painting, her flawless features and ethereal grace captivating all who beheld her. Lyanna, stern yet kind, embodied true neutrality, though she could not hide her annoyance when the scales tipped too far in one direction. Terena, a scientist of the gods, was a true perfectionist; her hair was perfectly styled with not a single strand out of place, her attire impeccable, and her expressions reflecting the precision with which she approached every task.

The trio found common ground.. Isaris had had the right idea when she wiped out Sakassen’s worshipers, and Lustra’s allegiance to him was putting them all in danger. Whatever the reason for Lustra’s partnership with Sakassen, she was the one responsible for all of this chaos in the first place.

On a sunny afternoon near her temple, they met with Lustra to confront her about the dangers of the Elves. She must take some magic away from the creatures, they insisted, and put an end to this nonsense. Lustra refused. She was not about to have her creations neutered for the sake of weaker gods’ sense of comfort—there was nothing lawful or just about that.

“Bah! You allow your hatred to blind you,” Terena said, her words cutting with a calculated precision. “Why turn against Isaris? Sakassen is nothing but self-serving.”

“He may be as self-serving as he desires, so long as he acts within the bounds of the law,” said Lustra. Could they not see the advantage of this alliance? Sakassen was no match for her power. Lustra was not foolish enough to trust the god implicitly, but so long as he relied on her, he would not dare to act outside the bounds of the law. These lesser gods were blind to such truths. She said as much to the trio before her, but they left unconvinced.

“How arrogant is she?” Lyanna chided, “to think that Sakassen would ever allow himself to be reliant on anybody?”

Nothing any of the other gods said could sway Lustra. She and Sakassen were a strong team, it turned out, and with Isaris out of the way, they were able to put an end to the slaughter of his worshipers. In a matter of nights, his power was restored to a reasonable balance, and Lustra was able to cease the senseless lawbreaking. With their tenuous partnership established, the two gods prepared themselves to defend against Isaris’s retaliatory attack. Not even a magical, ancient prison would hold the goddess of the underworld for long.