Page 24 of Hell-Bound (Pacts of the Infernal #1)

1,203 years ago

The air was sticky with moisture—soil soft underfoot, as two gods strolled.

“Peace, brother. You must control yourself lest he destroy you,”

Ziemia hummed, words making the plants around her twitch.

She was unquestioningly the most beautiful creature in existence.

Her caramel skin was glistening from the sun, her most favorite creation, and her hair curled and flowed wildly in the morning breeze—strands collecting stray twigs that nestled themselves there. Her eyes had a neon green glow, and sparkling green motes hovered over every inch of her skin.

Azur ground his jaw.

“I can’t do this anymore, Zem. I…no longer care what he does to me. I am irredeemable. Destroyed, already.”

The goddess stopped.

“We all have our part to play. This one is yours. If you want to protect them, you have to fulfill your role.”

His anger was rising, he wanted to scream at his sister, but he knew his anger was misplaced.

Her voice was soft, almost a whisper.

“Nature is cruel. I watch as it grows, thrives, and blossoms, but I must also watch as it destroys my people. The innumerable lives lost to the fierceness of nature weigh heavy on my heart each day, but without nature, there would be no beauty. And this is the cost.”

“It’s not the same,”

he snapped.

“you know it’s not the same.”

She gave him a slow nod of acknowledgement.

“I know,”

she said, placing a thin hand on his robed arm.

“But the planes cannot survive without you—wouldn’t survive the chaos he would unleash. Nature could not survive without your balance. This is your charge. They will never know what you do for them. But that isn’t why you do it.”