“A rock slide,” Talia said in a flat tone, her eyes staring at the soul before her, unimpressed.

This was the… she didn’t even remember how many times she had heard this tale. She leaned on her fist, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Am I right?” she asked.

He nodded. If he wasn’t a soul, she would have worried his head would have fallen off.

“Yes.”

Talia turned to Aseel. “Tell me, how many souls have ended up here for the same reason this month?”

“Many.” Aseel nodded. “It’s not as unusual as it seems, especially among mountaineers.”

“Right,” Talia sighed drily. She turned to Ilya. “Tell me, how is this interesting?”

“They were huge rocks.” He held his hands wide.

Ilya, the one annoying soul for whom Talia made the new five-year rule, looked pleadingly at her.

“You know what will happen next, don’t you?” she asked. “I guess I’ll be seeing you in five years.”

His eyes widened in alarm. “Wait! Wait! I remembered something!”

She paused, the refusal stamp inches from his document. She waited for him to speak, daring him to lie to her. What could he have forgotten that only now, after more than fifty years, did he remember?

“It was the demon lord! We were attacked by the demon lord! He was the one who destroyed the mountain pass and rained rocks on us!”

Nothing she hadn’t heard before. If the one before her was this demon lord he was speaking about, she might have granted him a chance. That was if he passed the scales’ judgment—sending someone evil back to his world was not only against the rules but against the ethics of her job.

Still, she couldn’t deny that being sent here by a demon lord was leagues better than many of the reasons she had heard these past hundreds of years. Better than tripping on one’s feet.

She leaned forward, and Ilya flinched under the intensity of her gaze. “Tell me about this demon lord, and who knows, maybe I’ll have a change of heart.”

She paused, yesterday’s words echoing in her mind. Right. Weylin had said the same thing. It was frustrating how the infuriating man had gotten under her skin in such a short time.

Ilya wrung his hands together. He hesitated, glancing at his shuffling feet.

Talia patiently waited. It wasn’t like the next soul would have anything better to share with her. This was as entertaining as her day would get.

“He, eh, he was an enemy of the high temple, the temple dedicated to our god Nuneyar. He had dared to challenge the might of our god and refused to submit to him.”

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Talia narrowed her eyes at Ilya’s words. It wasn’t the first time she would hear about worlds worshipping false gods. She knew many worshipped any being or thing stronger than them. But that name… she couldn’t shake the feeling that she heard it before.

Maybe it was another candidate from the same world.

She tilted her head to the side, motioning for him to continue his tale.

“That, eh, that’s all I know about him.” He scratched the side of his neck, sheepish.

She frowned. “That’s all you know? Weren’t you enemies?”

“I was but a member of the high temple—one of its knights. I wasn’t privy to any confidential information.”

Talia raised an eyebrow at him. “How is this considered confidential? Did you raise your sword anywhere the temple pointed without any explanation?”

“We were but the temple’s sworn shield. It’s unbecoming for any lowborn to question the high priest’s decision.”

She huffed. “Well, look where his decision landed you.”

He flinched as if she had dealt him a physical hit.

She sighed, massaging the area between her brows. She could already feel a headache settle in, and the day had merely started.

“Anything you can tell me about this… god of yours then?”

Ilya straightened, a bit of excitement on his face. Good. Maybe he would have something interesting for her.

“He’s the lightbearer. The savior of Solaris and the great teacher of mankind. He taught us the way of stars and bestowed upon us his gift of mercy.”

Talia nodded. Nothing she hadn’t heard before. “What else do you know of him?”

He gave her a puzzled look.

“Did he claim the gift of creation?”

He shook his head slowly. “He was in the realm of gods. He alone amongst his brethren took mercy upon us and decided to guide us himself.”

Talia blinked. Realm of the gods? That was new.

“Did he say anything about where he came from?”

She was having a bad feeling about this. A really bad feeling.

Usually the god worshipped was a being from the same world, the same realm. But this Nuneyar—a name she couldn’t shake the feeling she had heard before—had claimed he came from another realm. To her knowledge, no beings were allowed access to other worlds other than Idirians. Which only meant one thing. If there was a bit of truth in what this god had claimed, then he was from Idir.

No. It couldn’t be. Everyone knew that while traveling to other worlds was allowed, coming into contact with other beings enough to impact their existence was forbidden. Punishable by law.

This Nuneyar must have lied to support the legitimacy of his claims. No one was foolish enough to break the rules. Not even her.

“Did he say anything else about himself?” she asked.

Ilya must have sensed her alarm. He fidgeted, cold sweat beading down his forehead. It was a bit fascinating how these souls still acted as if they had physical bodies. She would have spared it another thought if alarms weren’t sounding in her head.

“Did he ever reveal himself to his followers?”

Ilya hesitated. He glanced at Aseel, who was standing sill beside her—Talia could almost hear the gears turning in his head—then turned back to her.

“I don’t know,” he hesitated. “Maybe?” He swallowed heavily at her narrowed eyes. “I might remember something. It’s just… nothing comes to my mind right now.”

Talia leaned back in her chair, contemplating. “Tell you what,” she said. “I’ll give you a couple of days to remember. I’ll even hold judgment till then.”

Ilya bowed deeply, repeating words of gratitude like a broken record. Talia shooed him away, snorting when he half-ran out the hall, his shoulder smacking against the wooden door.

If someone was out there breaching the law right under everyone’s noses, it was her job as master of scales to put a stop to him. There was no say what other crimes he might have committed.