To describe Aliyah as scared would be an understatement.

She had no idea why exactly she was here, but she was pretty sure it has something to do with her father and the chains that bound him. She had yet to learn of the judicial process, but she had heard stories about the goddess of judgement and goodwill. Stories of how she judges people who do bad stuff with bad intentions. The worst of tyrants to small priests that abuse their power, are all brought to heel by pravda's paladins. In the stories at least. 

The fact that she now stood in front of one of pravdas court houses, could only mean that someone was about to be judged by divine law. And that someone would likely be her father.

As she took in the statues, she saw how her father was dragged into the courthouse. He seemed angry. His entire face was flushed red and she could see the veins bulging on his forehead, spittle running down his chin as the gag in his mouth stopped him from screaming as he was likely to do.

Behind her Father Aliyah's mother was being led in. She was equally bound by chains. Yet her demeanor seemed almost resigned. As her mother saw Aliyah, she let her gaze wander her child and ,upon seeing her free of bindings, seemed to smile at her with her eyes.

As the groups leading her parents entered the courthouse, she began to follow. Slowly fear started to overwhelm the fake calm that she had tried to project. Her breath became shallow and tears started to gather at the corner of her eyes, yet she strode after her parents unbidden.

The walk through the courthouse was shorter than expected, but Aliyah had no mind to appreciate the artfully crafted and painted murals of pravda. She just followed the way her parents were being led.

As they strode through a long undecorated corridor they came upon another giant double door. Where the one outside was massive, this one was barely 3 meters tall. On the right side was the same book the statue outside was carrying , the left held a bloodied warhammer.

As the armored men dragging her father were about to run face first into the door, it suddenly swung open, entirely without sound.

As soon as she walked through the door Aliyah noticed something odd. It felt as if the very air around her became stagnant. The room itself was massive. It was about 15 meters high and at least 100 wide. And yet the echo of footsteps that should accompany such a large room was entirely absent. As she looked upon the floor she noticed the problem. Nothing was making any kind of noise. From the footsteps, to the ruffling of her clothes or the raving of her father into his gag. It was entirely quiet. Slowly Aliyah started to cry, yet even her sobs were silenced.

Aliyah and her parents were lead into the middle of the room, and her discomfort rose as they came to a halt and the weight of countless gazes settled on her.

All around the room were wooden stands in which a multitude of spectators sat. On her right the stand was filled with a few well dressed individuals and important looking people. Whereas the left was overflowing with people in everyday clothing. The stands were overcooked yet the normal people didn't seem to care as they seemed to be angrily yelling at the people on trial. Namely her parents.

 "Silence in the temple of judgement please." 

 Aliyah was startled as a voice rang throughout the room. It seemed kind and warm, like the voice of her grandfather, yet it held the same edge her mother had when Aliyah wasn't behaving as she should.

Lifting her head, her gaze fell upon the far wall of the room, which had till then been empty. Now on a slightly elevated platform stood a priest. He was dressed in a long white robe and stood barefoot upon the platform. His back was hunched, and his long white beard almost touched the floor as he leaned on a wooden walking stick. He looked positively ancient yet his eyes were filled with kindness and undeniable vitality.

 "Today we have gathered here to let these people be judged. The temples of pravda have been built and maintained so that we may judge those, who through status or their position may choose to avoid the local law. When people may escape punishment through trickery and deceit, pravda frowns upon them and sends her paladins to judge them. When someone tramples on the weak to enrich themselves the goddess becomes angry and sends her paladins execute them. And when one commits the greatest of atrocities, the goddess punishes them herself for she is just."

 The old priest begins in a low tone, yet the longer his speech goes on, the more weight seems to fill his words. 

 "The goddess herself ascended to godhood so that is mortals shan't suffer like she had. Thousands of years ago pravda was an ordinary mortal like us, yet through unwavering justice and a strict moral code she ascended to judge the empire in which she grew up. On the night of her ascension she slew a million murderers rapists and slavers, and ushered in a new age. The age of the common man. Though the nobility still exists, they no longer hold the same uncontested power that they used to. Yet sometimes those nobles forget that the goddess watches! And she always watches! "

"And here we are today!" the old priest appears to be out of breath, yet the power throughout the room continues to swell. The commoners in the stands have long since grown still as they listen to him. The nobles look upon aliyah's family in disdain.

The old priest raises his walking stick and strikes its end into the floor. The power diffusing the room lifts abruptly and everything is silent.

"Let the goddess carry out her judgement!"

On the blank white ceiling a black line appears which causes everyone in the room to freeze. The gathered people, from the smallest of children to the priest himself, freeze on the spot, not even daring to breathe.

The line draws open, and from within a single eye can be seen. The sclera seems to be liquid gold and it's radiance bathes the entire court room. Everyone feels the weight of pravdas gaze upon them as the single white pupil scans the room. After circling the room once the gaze falls on Aliyah and her parents.

As the eye settles on her, primal terror overwhelms the dissociative numbness which she managed to hide behind. Yet before she could show any kind of reaction, the air around her began to move again. Slowly and almost imperceptible the air started to circle around her, growing faster and faster. As the surrounding moisture was sucked into the vortex, the air around Aliyah turned a stormy grey. The last thing she perceived was a tingly feeling that started in her chest and slowly traveled to her limbs. Then everything went black.

High priest Angevin was extatic. It wasn't the first time he had called upon the goddess' judgememt, yet it filled him with awe every time. The slow buildup of divine power as her attention slowly gathers in the courthouse, the sense of foreboding as he finishes his speech and then finally the [gaze of the goddess] .

It was always humbling, yet also strangely motivating. The church of judgement did not restrict its members in their lives. Any member of the clergy could level enough and ascend to godhood themselves. Pravda herself encouraged it, as she had helped 2 of her paladins ascend personally. He himself was too old to level anymore, but he had lived a long and righteous life. As a level 200 [Arch priest] he had lived for a respectable 400 years, and he bet he had at least 20 more in him.

This judgement wasn't supposed to be anything new. Some lower noble had supposedly colluded with local outlaws, to enrich himself on the illegal slave trade. Those were usually pretty clear cut cases, as the goddess abhorred slavery. Yet something unexpected had happened. 

As the eye of the goddess settled in the family standing on trial, the air changed. The entire courthouse was enchanted with the [Silence] spell. The only spot from which one could generate any kind of sound was the platform on which he stood.

And yet, from the spot where the accused family stood, sounds could suddenly be heard. At first just the slight rustling of clothes, but over the course of at most 5 seconds, everything changed. At first the air seemed to circle around the young girl, but it slowly became faster .

Slowly a circular gale formed around the child, that sucked in moisture until it turned grey. As the vortex intensified little tendrils of electricity snaked around inside. While the vortex intensified the pressure of a second divine gaze fell upon the courthouse.

High priest Angevin knew what this meant. A second deity was interfering in the trial.

As the new divine gaze reached its peak, a single blue strand of lightning formed a slitted pupil inside the circular storm cloud. The golden eye of the goddess and the draconic eye of Audra the God of storms held contact with each other.

Suddenly the pressure of the awareness of two gods grew tenfold. High priest Angevin was pressed to his knees. He was fortunate, as many of the common people in attendance were forced to prostrate themselves under the immense pressure.

The howling of the wind that Audra's eye produced slowly changed in tune. Now through the winds the crackle of electricity and the occasional thunderclap, words could be made out.

"NOMINO IR UI SINI! SPOL JACIONIV EKESS WER KORNARI DI WER KEPESK! TIR SVABOL WUX GEOU MRITH WER LYRIKI. " 

With a final loud thunderclap the voice faded, along with the awareness of the storm dragon. The vortex that made up the eye dissolved into the air, and the electric pupil grounded itself, leaving only the unconscious little girl, and charred floor behind.

Before high priest Angevin could get back on his feet, the voice of his goddess rang through his mind. "Angevin. Bring the girl into the stormlands. Send two of my strongest paladins, and bring her to the heart of the storm. There they will find a temple. They are to leave the girl there and return immediately" 

He was overjoyed. Not only had the goddess spoken to him directly, she had also given them a task. Even if they were to run an errand for another god, being personally given the task filled him with fervor.

" By your will, my goddess! "