I Hate Them

I left the shrivelled old man sitting in the chair alone, as all five of us left the house, returning to the crimson sky.

I wondered what the other houses were for. Perhaps just decoration, or for those who wished to wait and sleep before tackling the ritual. There was no reason for us to delay, especially not me. The longer I waited, the further ahead the other divers would get.

It was known that demons weren't the only threat in hell. You had to watch your back for your own kind.

We weren't the first to tackle hell; there were others who had come before us. Some had managed to escape and become exalted, those who lived with a curse on the surface of Vorth, like the Ten Pillars.

There were also other smaller openings to hell outside of the capital city Vienna, home of King Vinel, but they were hardly used as no one had ever successfully returned from them.

Even the number of those who have returned from the abyss that we had entered through was incredibly few, and it was a secret as to how they did it. Most had either died in the depths of hell or become trapped, forced to reside with demons. They were the true threat that we all needed to be careful of.

As we made our way over to the wooden bridge that led to the mist-filled central island, my thoughts turned to Faye.

I wasn't sure why, considering I had hardly spent any time with the woman, but a part of me wondered what sort of group she had been stuck with and how they would fare during the ritual.

There's no time or reason to think of her right now... I have enough on my own plate.

We arrived at the wooden bridge and stopped before crossing. Beneath the bridge was an endless depth that looked identical to the blood-red sky above us.

"As we said before, no plans, right?" Forsane checked with me, and I nodded.

"There's no way of telling what we will face in there. The mist blocks our sight of everything. All I can say is that we should stay close together." I looked at them all as I spoke, and I was pleased with the confidence I saw on their faces.

The one who seemed most nervous was Anabelle, the younger of the two sisters.

"Before we cross, could you tell me what you know of the curses you've been given? It will help us during combat, even if it's only minor details."

The group hesitated for a moment, as if they were skeptical about revealing their powers to me, keeping their cards clutched close to their chests, a luxury that I did not have. My curse was evident on my body.

Finally, Dominil stepped forward, pulling up his robe to show me his arms.

"After I was cursed, my body began to grow more hair than I had ever seen before. Then came claws and sharper teeth. Not only that, but my body feels stronger, and my mind more ferocious. I believe I've taken on the properties of a wolf, but since retracting my claws, I haven't been able to make them emerge again."

His curse sounded slightly similar to mine, and I could resonate with the stresses of having an uncontrollable ability. My body yearned to flap its wings.

I thanked the man for sharing his ability with me and waited for the next to come forward.

It was Lanelle, the older of the two sisters. Rather than telling me about her ability, she showed me, holding her finger up and producing from it a small flame that sparked like a lighter.

"It feels as though I am using the heat from my body to produce flames. However, the larger I make the flame, the more drained I end up feeling afterward. Manipulating the flames is even harder, but I feel like eventually, I will be able to do much more with it. I just need to get stronger, somehow."

Her ability was what I had expected it to be, based on the tattoo of the flame on her wrist, and it seemed to have great potential. I asked if her younger sister's ability was the same, and they confirmed that it was.

Lastly was Forsane. He stepped forward, showing me the tattoo of the small dagger, although I had already seen it on him earlier.

"I seem to be able to produce some sort of magical dagger, using a new finite power that resides inside of me. It uses incredible energy, so I won't show you yet... But it looks real cool, trust me."

I nodded to the man in thanks. I assumed that eventually, he would be able to summon more than one dagger, perhaps sending them flying towards his enemies by using the finite energy he had spoken of.

As I was thinking, I noticed the group staring at me as though they were waiting for something.

"You want me to tell you about my curse?" I asked, confused. It should have been easy enough to guess what my abilities were.

The group nodded in unison.

They think there's more to it. Are my wings and horns not enough? Will they think I am weak and look down on me?

I thought fast and pushed aside my anger, saying the first thing that came to my head.

"I am Demonborn." I said, but the title did not seem right. I felt like there was something more fitting to describe what I was, and I felt like I had heard the word before. A word whispered in the darkness of the abyss...

"No... I am a hybrid. Like Dominil. Except I am half human, and half demon."

It was a vague description, telling them what it seemed like I had become, without having to speak of the powers it had given me, as I myself was still unsure of what they were.

The group, satisfied, nodded their heads and remained silent. We were now all somewhat more familiar with what we were capable of.

There was still the big question of how we were meant to strengthen our curses, but I decided that we should focus on that after passing the ritual.

"Now then," I said, breaking the silence. "Let's cross the bridge."

We decided to go one at a time, not trusting the bridge to hold all of our weight together. I had no clue who the architects of hell were, but I did not want to put too much faith in them.

I crossed first, not daring to look at the depths below and hurrying to the other side, into the mist that shrouded the island.

However, as soon as I crossed, the mist began to fade from my vision, granting me a clear sight of what lay before me.

The island was small, much smaller than I had thought, and it was surrounded by an ancient stone wall, barely the height of two humans.

It felt like being in the ruins of a broken castle, and at its center was the altar. It was a square stone slab, and above it hovered a crimson gem that radiated with an inner light.

Just a few steps in front of me was a line, etched into the stone flooring, and the line travelled around in a circle. I spotted strange symbols dotted around the circle, unfamiliar to me.

"Woah," I heard Forsane's voice come from behind me as I held out my arm, stopping them from going forward.

"That's the circle that initiates the ritual. We need to make sure we're all ready first before entering. And once we do, we head straight to the altar and protect the heartstone. We don't know whether the demons can destroy it or not."

I looked back at the others to make sure that they understood the plan, and I saw them all in readied positions.

I needed them to be confident and on guard at all times. The man on the chair said that all five of us needed to be stood inside the circle for the heartstone to construct itself. We could not afford to lose any lives.

"Then follow my lead," I said, edging closer. "I'm heading in!"