"Where are you taking me? Master, what did I do? Please, where are they taking me?" The young maiden cried as two hefty half-naked men snatched her from her master's pavilion.
"To the temple of Dilwara, to pay for your sins." The master spat on her angrily.
"Before the deities? But I did nothing wrong. Why am I facing the deities? Please mistress, I don't know what this is about." Although her cries fell on deaf ears, the young girl knew all she could do was cry and beg.
She was brought to this land as a slave, taken from her family ten years ago. She has since served the house of Abu-Waqar. For the last ten years, this young maiden has done her best to always serve and respect her master and mistress, even when they wronged her ever so often, she had not the heart to hate them for it. So why would they do this to her? Watch her get dragged to the temple, knowing no one faces the deities unless they've committed a grave sin. Yet she has committed none.
The war is still ongoing and a lot of lives have been lost already. The supernatural species have been tearing at each others throats and a lot of humans have died in this war. Some humans took sides with the species of their desire and it's been a blood bath across the earth. So what could she have done for the deities to take their focus from the war and pin it on her? The young maiden had no answer to these questions as the half-naked men dragged her through the doors of the temple and she was thrown in the middle of the prayer altar.
"Where is her owner?" A shrill voice echoed through the pillars of the temple, and her master and mistress hurried through the temple upon the invitation.
The young maiden bowed her head to the earth, her body folded in half as she closed her eyes. She knew it was against the laws of the land to raise your head high in the temple of the deities.
"Are you certain of your claims against this maiden?" A voice asked and her mistress stepped forward.
"Yes my lord, the slave is a sorceress, and she possesses dark magic." The mistress answered, her head bowed to the earth. The young maiden gasped at the accusation? Dark magic? How can her mistress accuse her of using dark magic when she doesn't even have a pint of sorcery in her blood?
"Did you invoke the wrath of Menhit on man-kind using dark magic?" One of the deities asked and the young maiden shook her head.
"No, my lord. I do not know magic nor do I possess the knowledge of sorcery, my lord. Please believe me. I do not know what this is about." The slave girl cried, in their native language. Hoping the deities would believe her.
"Psukhe, search her soul." The slave girl gasped as she heard the name of the goddess. She knew if the gods could also make themselves present for this, it had to be dire.
"Tainted with dark magic. She is guilty." The goddess declared and without doubt the slave girl knew that was the proclamation of her doom, yet she knew she was innocent.
"Please, My Lords, I am innocent. Please my lords, I do not possess dark magic, please believe me. I swear." She cried out, trembling as her body shook with fear.
"SILENCE!!" Marduk, one of the supreme gods present, commanded and the slave girl clamped her mouth shut.
An eerie silence took over the temple as the deities and the god's present discussed amongst themselves what to do with the slave girl.
"Your selfishness to invoke the wrath of Menhit has done great harm to every race; supernaturals, humans and the otherworldly. The number of lost souls tore the veil, giving demons the chance to access humans. This cannot be treated lightly because you almost brought about the extinction of life. You disrupted the order of nature, and you must bear the consequences of your actions," Marduk declared.
"Rise to your feet, for your judgement." The goddess Psukhe instructed, and the young maiden stood on her feet with shaky legs. Even as she looked around frantically, her mortal eyes couldn't see the deities nor the gods present in the temple. All she heard was their voices and the authority in their presence.
"From this moment henceforth, you will cease to remember your name, for it will be taken from you. Hades will come for your soul and heart because you do not deserve one anymore. You are cursed to live forever with a never ending thirst for blood, but you will surfer for centuries just to get the smallest drop of it. Your mind will forever yearn for a soul and each time you take a life, a part of your soul will further sink into damnation in the hands of Hades. Henceforth, you are cursed and shall forever be known as Erishkigal, the goddess of death. For many souls have fallen by your hands and more will fall. Once the sky shifts, you will cease to exist in this realm forever. You will only live with the memory of the evil you became, and your curse shall remain for eternity." Marduk declared, and as he said the last words, the sound of a trumpet filled the temple.
The slave girl crashed to the ground, wailing in agony as the decree of the supreme god slowly began to take effect. She screamed in agony, shutting her eyes as they opened and as she opened them, she found herself in the middle of a deserted land.
She wailed crying for help and mercy, but none came to her rescue. The young maiden watched in horror as her skin peeled off before her very own eyes and her tears slowly created a pond around her.
"Please... I am innocent. Please hear me out mother nature. I did nothing wrong. If there's any deity out here, any goddess, please help me." She wailed, and more screams tore out of her as she watched her hands become formless.
"It is late. There is nothing I can do, your name has already been erased from nature and history." A serene voice suddenly said, and the head of the young maiden snapped up.
"Who is that? Please do something, anything I'll take it. Just help me please, I didn't start the war, I didn't invoke wrath please."
A sudden pale light illuminated the forest around the young maiden and she squinted her eyes despite how much they hurt to see who had decided to hear her cries.
"Are you a deity or a god?" The young maiden asked, while agony tore at the remnant of her heart.
"It is me Ningal, the moon goddess. I heard your cries, there is not much I can do for you anymore. Your curse is eternal, and your soul is tainted, but I'll give you a loophole to break out of it." Ningal, the moon goddess said, emerging from the pale illumination.
"As long as it sets me free from this curse, please, mother."
"The day you find the one who calls you by your name, then shall you be free from this eternal curse." Ningal decrees and the young maiden frowned.
"My name? My name is...." She paused, suddenly feeling a weight on her lips.
"I am Erishkigal, that's my name." She declared and the moon goddess shook her head in pity.
"That is not your name, but someday you shall remember it, when you find him who will pronounce your name and seize your soul from the pits of hell. Then you shall be free."
__________
______________
SEE YOU LILIES WHEN UPDATES OFFICIALLY STARTS.