Page 325 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

“Please follow me to the Office of Complaints.”

She starts walking. I follow after her, glancing around and studying my surroundings.

The entire background is a light blue. There is no earth or sky, nor a beginning or an end. There isn’t anything but a big void, and we are walking on a marbled bridge that materializes in front of us as we step forward. The entire area is like a board of chess, waiting for us to make the next move before it makes its own.

I lean over to the edge as I try to see what’s underneath this bridge, but Fina suddenly stops me. She pulls me back and shakes her head.

“You would do well not to look down.”

“Huh? Why?”

She gives me a smile that does not reach her eyes.

“Anything below this bridge is the domain of Ishaktar and she does not like to be gazed upon without permission. Anyone who dares to look at her without permission is pulled down into the deepest pit in Psyche.”

Ishaktar… The books mentioned her. She is the former Psyche Supreme. No one knows why she retired from the position when normally, a deity has to die to relinquish the Supreme position. Some rumors say she’s gone mad because she’s lived far too long, seen too much. She’s so ancient, the books referred to her as an entity rather than a being; ever-present, ever-knowing. No one knows her age, or what she looks like. She just…exists.

But the books never mentioned that she still controls areas of Psyche.

“The deepest pit? By that you mean…” I feign a shudder and paint an expression of terror on my face.

“You may know it as Katras.”

My destination.

“That horrible place?”

She smiles again, as fake as my attempts at bodily tremors.

“It is only horrible for those who have something to fear,” she replies cryptically.

Turning, she continues to walk, beckoning me to follow. The bridge extends in front of us with every step, almost as if the entire construction was sentient.

“You are from the House of Psyche, Fina?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Where do your people live if this is what Psyche looks like?”

She stops and glances at me from the corner of her eyes.

“Your questions are intrusive.”

So it’s a secret. All right.

What surprises me the most—besides the self-building bridge—is the fact that we’re the only ones here. Shouldn’t Psyche be bustling around with beings? At the very least, there should be other people around.

That’s when it slowly dawns on me that the realm itself is alive and showing us only what we need to know or see.

Ishaktar.Sheisthe realm, isn’t she? Directing the ongoing traffic in a way that keeps most of the workings of Psyche hidden.

And if she is so anger-prone she sends anyone who glances down to Katras, perhaps that is my ticket there.

What if Mine isn’t there?

If he’s not there, I’ll claw my way out to the next level and then the next. I’ve vowed not to rest until I find him unless I die and that’s what I’m going to do.

Squashing aside all my doubts, I take a deep breath and channel my energy. When Fina realizes I’m not following her, she stops and comes to my side.

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