Page 52 of To Ashes and Dust
“Zephyr’s going to tell her about what happened at the meeting, right?” she asked, and I could feel the anxiety spiraling within her. “I hope she’s not upset I brought her into this.”
I wished I could take that worry from her. She held far too little confidence in herself. I nodded. “He’ll fill her in so she isn’t blindsided, and we’ll discuss it with her more later tonight.”
“I hope she accepts.”
“Me too,mea luna.”
20
CASSIE
Istruggled to absorb the beauty of Selene’s temple as we emerged from The Council’s chamber: the intricate stone architecture, vines full of night blooming jasmine climbing the pillars and walls, and those beautiful pale, glowing trees—
They were mesmerizing.
“What are these called?” I asked, reaching out to touch the delicate, glowing bark. It was so smooth under my fingers, velvety and oddly warm.
“Dimós trees,” Damien answered. “There are some in this world believed to have existed before the first Elythian. They say the first dimós tree sprouted from a single tear—shed by Celestia when she cast out her mate for his betrayal.”
I tilted my head. “Celestia?”
“The deity the Elythian’s worship.”
Gods worshipping gods… “How long have the Elythians existed?”
“I honestly don’t know. This pantheon isn’t the first, nor is it the only still in existence. There are records of the first race who descended from the stars—the children of Celestia. When they first laid claim to the lands of the Godsrealm, there was a split, and that was when the different pantheons were born.”
“Pantheon?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“It’s what we call this”—Damien pondered his response—“Generation, I guess you could say. There are different continents within the Godsrealm, all ruled by different pantheons. The Elythians rule Elythia.”
The Godsrealm seemed to be more like the Mortalrealm than I’d originally thought. I couldn’t imagine it, different pantheons… different gods? Was it not only those worshipped by the greeks that resided in the Godsrealm? Were there other deities that had been worshipped?
“I know you said House Skiá had a history of nearly two thousand years, so have the Elythians been around for a similar length of time?” I ran my hand along the silky bark. My gaze followed the length of the tall trunk to the delicate bare branches stretching out above us, nearly bridging the gap to the dimós trees on the other side of the hallway.
“Longer. Eons, if we were to try to measure the span of time,” Damien answered casually.
“Eons?” I said, jerking my gaze to him. “Eons that’s—what?” I was horrible at math. How long was an eon?
He chuckled at me. “Hundreds of thousands of years, probably even longer.” He took my arm, tucking it into his as he guided me back down the hall.
My brain jumped in so many directions. I couldn’t even try to comprehend just what it would be like to live that long. “That’s...insane.”
“You have no idea the insanity of this realm.”
“I couldn’t imagine living that long.” My eyes fell to the marble floor as we continued down the hall, the veins of sparkling silver and gold stretching and branching out in different directions. I wasn’t sure if it would be amazing to live that long or terrible.
“It’s the reason they tend to lose touch with their... humanity?” His brows furrowed, as if he wasn’t sure that was the right word. “Life isn’t as significant to them because of their long lifespan. Everything is replaceable in their eyes. Don’t get me wrong, there are some gods and goddesses who are kinder, still appreciative of the beings around them, but there are many who would watch life flicker out before them without batting an eye.”
I tilted my head to him. “You told me Selene was once very kind.”
“She was.” His eyes grew distant. “When I was little, she used to play with me in the gardens of our kingdom. Before you were born—er, before Moira was born.”
“Kingdom?” I came to a stop. “Did the immortals not always live in the Mortalrealm?”
He realized I’d stopped and turned back to me. “We used to reside in the Godsrealm. Our home was the Kingdom of Lunoscia.”
The immortals didn’t always live in the human world? I shouldn’t be surprised by that, but... why? How had they ended up there? He smiled softly, but it was somber. A deep ache sank into my chest, and I couldn’t understand why.
