Most people don't really fear death, though they claim to. What they fear MOST is any potential consequences they may face after they die. I'm a Judge. I just go by what their lives were and what they have the potential to become in the future. It's not the best job in the world, but someone has to do it. -- The New Guy
Of all the duties of the divine, the one feared by mortals the most is the judge. Not the one who takes the soul from the body. Not the psychopomp who guides them from the realm of the living. The judge.
The one who weighs their soul in the balance, and divides them between heaven or hell. Between boon or torment. Tyr, the deity of Law and Justice has seen many. He has even begged the Goddess of Death herself to hold off on some for as long as possible.
Given this mortal's life, the dread was understandable.
The Thrice-Sworn King of the frozen mountains, he who stopped short of paying blood for an empire. He who changed the way of the world. He could silence other kings with a glare. The knife in the dark, he who saw the unseen and lifted them up into the light. The reformer of many evils. Redeemer of the fallen. Known to his friends and allies as simply 'Kosh'.
He was such a frightening mortal that even the dreaded Mistress Dark didn't dare take him into the afterlife without his bride, Cordelia.
They arrived hand in hand, and that may be the only thing preventing Kosh from fulfilling a literal lifelong promise. Anger radiated off the fresh soul like the heat from an active volcano. Now that the weight of his years was lifted from him, he was even more terrifying than he had been under a crown.
Tyr knew why he was angry. All Hellkin who came to Him were justifiably upset. Especially the children. Tyr knew what He had both deserved and earned. But that didn't mean he couldn't put them to the test.
He first appeared to them in His gigantic godly form. The common features of thousands of idols towering larger than a mountain.
Kosh was predictable, and it was only a mild surprise that Cordelia joined the chorus.
"Get down here and take what you're owed!"
Tyr should have guessed that they wouldn't be cowed by that trick. The next test was appearing in one of the more popular Guises, that of a withered old man. He was already blind, and appearing old and frail often gave many some pause.
Kosh raised his fist. He had no lungs to breathe, any more, but that didn't stop the raging breaths from racing. That raised fist quivered above the memory of his horns. "Stop looking like a helpless old man, you fraud!"
The next test of character, He appeared to be a small and hungry child. The fist didn't shake, this time. Held in its place because Kosh would rather die than harm a child.
"Face your fate like a man," demanded Cordelia. "Coward!"
The final form, of Kosh himself. Though because certain aspects could not be altered, Tyr's version was of a blind Kosh with one hand.
POW!
It wasn't the blow itself. It was the fury and the belief combined that hurt, and knocked Tyr flat to the firmament.
"That wasn't for me," said Kosh. "That was for every babe left on a midden, for every child abandoned in the streets, for every child exiled from their homes, for everyone who cried out to you for justice while you remained silent. That was for all of your followers who use the law as an excuse to create more injustice in your name."
"Ah," said Tyr. "And for you?"
Kosh allowed Him to stand before driving a knee into his own gods' groin. "That's for me, arschlecken!"
"And you'll get another if you dare separate us," added Cordelia. She was already coiled and ready to spring forth and do it, too. "Heaven is no heaven without him by my side. I'd trade it for hell by his side in a heartbeat."
Not that either of them had hearts to beat, any more.
"As you will," said Tyr, and revealed that they were all in the bowl of His scales. Also held by His remaining hand.
Gods could pull a lot of neat tricks.
They were not found wanting.
"You who have changed the world for others, with little thought for reward to yourself, are worthy of reward. Move on, and take yourself hence in peace."
"Get punched a lot, do you?" wondered Cordelia.
"Every Hellkin who comes through," said Tyr. "Why do you think We let them live so long?"
[Photo by Ilya Chunin on Unsplash]
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