Chapter 22: Dusk Manor

“So basically, you want me to attend that ceremony?”

Nerez and Cerys were now making their way through the streets of Empyrean Peaks behind the High Arbiter, Cassian, and his assistant Dililei.

“That is correct, Your Exaltedness. The Ceremony of Beginnings marks Eryndea’s emergence as its own world and will allow the mortal souls of the first peoples to enter,” Cassian replied, adjusting his glasses.

“Your Exaltedness? Is that actually a thing? Nerez is fine… But more importantly, what do you mean by the first peoples?”

“Allow me to answer that! Nere… Lord Nereziel!” Dili corrected herself immediately after a single glance from the High Arbiter. “By the first peoples, we mean, in essence, the souls who will give rise to Eryndea’s future races: humans, elves, goblins, and so on…”

“Currently, this world is inhabited only by animals, monsters, and immortal beings such as spirits,” Cassian added. “The ceremony will open the gates to mortal souls capable of reason.”

“And where do I come into all of this?”

“While Her Holiness, Lady Lirien, will be the one to open the gates of the Silver Sea, Lord Nereziel, you must create the path back to it,” Cassian explained.

“In other words, Lord Nereziel, you must sense the river of death with your mind and connect it to the Silver Sea,” Dili added.

“Exactly. As things stand, souls that fall into this world are destined to remain here forever,” Cassian continued, adjusting his glasses. “Generally, that is not a problem, but it also means there is no true death.”

I want to ask what happens when not even the Silver Sea can grant you a true death, but I doubt they’d know. They’d just start peppering me with questions…

“So you want me to magically find this river of death with my mind and then connect it (who knows how) to the Silver Sea?”

“That is correct,” Cassian answered without so much as blinking. “Only you, as the one who governs the laws of the hereafter in this world, can do that.”

“And what happens if I don’t go…?”

“We cannot compel you to do anything,” Cassian stated, adjusting his glasses. “But the goddess of life would likely take it as a personal affront, since it would mean standing her up.”

“Oh! I like that idea!” Cerys suddenly exclaimed. “I’ve wanted to fight Lirien ever since I first laid eyes on her!”

“…”

“What?”

“I suppose I don’t have much choice but to go. I don’t need more problems,” Nerez sighed, pointedly ignoring the redhead.

“Hey!”

“Lord Nereziel, the river of death is a sacred place and a great source of power for whoever controls it,” Cassian explained. “It is what we gods call faith, though other beings can use it as a form of energy as well.”

“The river itself gives you faith? I didn’t know rivers could be believers…”

“Faith is basically spiritual energy, only less pure,” Dili explained. “Just as humans can share their spiritual energy with the gods through it, sacred places and objects have their own as well.”

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“I explained that too,” Cerys grumbled.

“I see… so the river’s spiritual energy, or rather its faith, comes from the souls it carries.”

“Exactly,” Dili confirmed with a smile.

“What I find strange is that the river of death wouldn’t already be under the god of death’s control…” Nerez commented, one hand on his chin.

“The river is part of the world itself, though you’re right that only the god of death can truly draw out its full potential,” Cassian replied. “Lord Nereziel, if you manage to sense where it lies, I would advise securing it as soon as possible.”

“Mmm, well, the river is going to be in the underworld… which is basically a cave… and it’ll give me faith, so I wouldn’t be poor anymore. With that faith, I could also fortify the cave so no one would bother me… But the river itself could also attract a huge number of problems… Mmm… The road to the perfect cave is a steep one…”

“Cave?” Dili asked, turning toward Cerys.

“Don’t mind him. It’s just something he likes to say,” she replied with a shrug.

Cassian came to a sudden stop, which in turn caused Dili to walk straight into his back.

“Very well, Lord Nereziel, we’ve arrived.”

While Dili rubbed at her aching nose, Cassian gestured for all of them to look at an opulent manor.

“Like all properties in Empyrean Peaks, it is exempt from taxes for the first few centuries. That gives the gods time to settle into the world.”