I Hate Them

"It can't be. King Vinel has only one child, Prince Voreth," I said, refusing to believe Faye. But deep inside, I felt she was right. The young man bore a resemblance to his father.

"No, Rade. Haven't you heard the rumors? That Vinel has a bastard child with a prostitute from his journey to the Lonely Mountains? He's illegitimate, so perhaps he was forced to enter hell for some reason."

Silence hung between us. Yoseph's reaction made sense. If he were innocent, he wouldn't have fled deeper into hell. We had agreed to stick together.

He was right in front of me—the child of the man who ordered the death of my family. He was within my grasp, and yet I didn't kill him. I should have skewered him on my horns!

Rage took over, making the pain in my eye burn and the wings on my back curl up around me. I watched Faye slowly back away, perhaps scared.

No...calm down, Rade. There will be another chance. You just have to find him.

I relaxed my body, and my wings unfurled. I knew I needed to figure out how to use them properly soon.

"We go deeper then. The first night has passed, and we have earned our curses. Let's continue our journey and see where it takes us."

My words eased Faye's fear, and she edged back towards me.

"Lead the way," she said.

We made our way to the edge of the strange cliff and looked at the depths below. The fog was still as prominent as before, blocking our view of what lay beneath us.

It felt like jumping would lead to our deaths, but that wouldn't make sense. Hell clearly had some property that allowed safe descent to the lower levels. The true danger came from the demons that resided there.

Not wanting to waste time, I readied myself and stepped off the edge into the abyss. I didn't wait for Faye or urge her to follow. If she wished to join me, she could.

At first, I thought it was over. My descent was rapid, as though my body met no resistance. My wings didn't seem to help, as I had no way of controlling them yet.

But after a while, my descent slowed as I made my way through the fog, with no idea where I was heading.

I must have been falling for at least a minute before I finally emerged into a new sky. Below me, I saw islands floating, suspended in the air. There were ten of them, all circling a larger island in the middle, with a bridge from each leading to the center. A mis settled over the centre island, blocking me from seeing whatever was there.

What was strangest was that the outer islands held small civilizations. They were large enough to hold at least ten small buildings comfortably. My body seemed to be naturally gravitating toward one, and I slowly floated lower.

The island I was heading towards seemed to have people on it, which filled me with an uncomfortable feeling. I looked up and saw Faye descending as well, but she was gravitating towards the island next to mine.

I'm sure she will manage alone, and if not then so be it. But what is this place?

I landed in the center of the island, a small field the size of a large garden, surrounded by simple houses made from red stone.

Four people were waiting for me, all with a strange look on their faces. They were staring at me, at my wings and horns.

I must look like the devil. Especially with the dried blood around my wounded eye.

After a moment of hesitation, one of the men walked over. He was a short young man with ginger hair and seemed to be the only one brave enough to talk to me. I looked at his hand and saw a small symbol of a dagger.

"Well, you're a spectacle, aren't you? I assume those wings and horns are part of your curse?" he said, trying to be friendly.

The wings are. The horns have always been here.

I ignored him, glancing at the other three people watching me. There were two women and one other man.

"Hey, we don't have to be friends or anything, but let's at least work together. Otherwise, we'll have no chance at taking on the Forsaken Ritual."

That earned my attention, and I shot him a look with a raised eyebrow.

"The Forsaken Ritual?" I asked, and the ginger man flashed me a smirk.

"Ah, so you do talk! Follow me; I'll show you what's going on. Oh, and I'm sorry we haven't got anything to patch up that eye with" he said, heading towards one of the stone houses. The others followed, and I did too, after hesitating.

Why have they accepted him as some sort of ringleader? Oh well. I will not be led.

But for this one time, I followed him into the house.

An eerie presence surrounded us when we entered. The room was empty except for a wooden chair in the center.

The ginger man walked towards it while I stayed near the entrance. Something was wrong with the room; I could sense it.

Then, out of nowhere, a being began to materialize on the chair. I seemed to be the only one reacting, torn between attacking or running away.

But the others' calm reactions forced me to relax, and I watched as something impossibly formed itself out of thin air.

One of the women moved beside me, placing her hand on my wing, attempting to calm me down? But my wings acted on their own, gently batting her hand away.

"Sorry," she said. "I thought it would help."

She was a woman with short, straight brown hair that hung just past her face, covering one eye. She was only slightly taller than me and had an innocent look to her.

I looked at the symbol on her wrist. It seemed to be a flame.

"It doesn't," I responded, keeping my eye on the chair.

Once it was complete, I slowly edged closer to get a clearer look. It seemed to be a shrivelled old man. Ancient, certainly unable to move in his condition.

His skin was pale, even paler than mine, as though he had been long dead. Grey hairs clung to his head like a wet mop.

Then, it opened its mouth, revealing teethless gums and a tongue too large for its mouth, and it spoke. It's words louder than someone so weak looking should have been able to speak.

"Welcome, humans, to the first layer of hell. The Forsaken Ritual."