Who was the Masked man?

The trial & Judgement

The two guards threw me before a crowd of unearthly people. I landed hard on my shoulder that hurt like real. Tall, black figures stared at me from behind silvery masks. They had long swords sheathed at their sides in black cases. I groaned and turned around to see a wide table where an oversized figure sat, staring into a thick file.
The yellow pages seemed to be thousands of years old.
" Chris Loreins, eh? " He spoke in a slightly shrill voice.
" Y- yes, " I stammered.
" You have been brought to the Judgement Court of the Afterlife, " he said carelessly, staring into the file kept on his desk, " and you have been convicted of the murder of no less than thirty-seven innocent civilians on planet Zark389 - "
" What? Thirty-seven? " I asked, bewildered.
" Do you deny it? " He looked at me cautiously from behind the silver mask.
" Certainly, " I said, holding my ground, " and I'm not from the Zark planet, I'm from planet Earth! " 
Everyone laughed hideously at me. The figure at the table scribbled something in his file with a feathered quill that was supposed to be a wing of an oversized eagle. He looked up, still giggling devilishly.
" You were previously going to be imprisoned for three thousand years for your hideous crimes at Zark389, " he pointed the feathered end of the quill at me, " but now, because you lied to us and tried to mislead the Judgement Court of the Afterlife, I'm sentencing you to imprisonment of seven thousand years at the Afterlife prison. "

His words fell on my ears like a sharp blow. As if someone had punched me hard in the stomach and all the breath had vanished from my lungs. The two guards who brought me there, tugged at my arms again, while I stared blankly at the figure on the table, lost at his statement when an angry voice filled the place.
" You MUST pay attention to this, Tranqlord, " a similar unearthly guard yelled and stepped before me. The figure at the table scowled at him.
" What is it? " he asked irritably.
" This is the seventh time this year that someone said they're not from Zark389. They might not be lying!" he growled.
" Oh shut up, you! " Tranqlord shouted back, " I make decisions here, not you, Homenof, "
" This man here says he's from Earth, not from Zark389. Why don't you investigate it? Why not send it to the higher judgment of our world? " Homenof demanded.
All the guards started talking in hushed voices, and Tranqlord stood up slowly, removing the silvery mask on his face.
" How dare you doubt my judgment! " he growled in a low tone. I watched his face under the mask, two red eyes dug deep in his skull, no nose, just a pitch-black skin that seemed to be burnt and torn, maybe melted. His grey lips turned down in anger.
Homenof didn't dare to reply.
" Take him away! " Tranqlord ordered the two guards, they immediately grasped my arms and flew up.
" I will advise you to have a further look into such matters, Tranqlord " Homenof's fading voice reached my ears as the guards took me to the prison. A shiny black chain was tied around my neck. One of the guards grabbed my shirt's collars and pushed me into a brick cellar forcefully. My assault rifle was in his other hand.
" Get me out of here, I didn't kill those people! " I yelled as they turned to leave. I couldn't read their expressions behind the silvery masks, but their red eyes weren't merciful, I was sure of that.
" Just stay in there until your shift begins, " one of them growled at me.
" Listen, please " I reached for the bars of the cellar and touched my face against it. A burning sensation ran through my cheeks and my fingers. I instantly fell back, as if someone had touched my face with two hot iron rods. For the very first time, I saw the guards shiver slightly, their body language changed a bit. Maybe they were worried about something. The one that had growled at me, rushed to the cellar gate and unlocked it with a bronze key, he picked me up by my throat and I could peer into his red eyes, burning like an angry fire in hell. He kicked me hard in the gut, and I flew back ten yards, crashing hard into the brick wall. 
" Just stay in there until your shift begins. " He repeated. I shifted uncomfortably in my place as they locked the cellar with the bronze key and left.

An hour went by, maybe a few hours or an entire day. I don't know how long I lay there, groaning in pain, it felt as if a huge hammer had been brought down with full force against my gut.
I thought this was just a bad dream, like all the others. Maybe I'll just close my eyes and wake up in another dream. I would love to be in the pit of vipers now, or battle the mermen,  anywhere was better than here. This was a cruel dream. But when I thought of it, the pain seemed so real. My whole body was stiff with the sensation. I tried, but I couldn't shift to another dream, I couldn't escape the fact that this was just another reality.
An unforgiving reality.

The black chain around my neck started to sparkle, a cool wave spread across my stomach.
" What's happening?" I asked myself, frustrated.
" It's healing you, " answered a voice from my own cellar.
" Who - who's there? " I stammered, turning my neck towards the direction of the voice. A manly figure arose from the dark side of the cellar and came to light.
" This is the Sorrowbender, " his eyes motioned towards the black chain that was wrapped around his neck too, " It heals you when your body can't heal itself. "
I sighed and lay on my back again, this man seemed to be another prisoner. His built was that of a young man.
" Don't expect any mercy from the Burnthounds, they've grown ruthless, that's what I've heard, " he said, kneeling before me.
" The guards? They're called Burnt-hounds? " I asked, gazing at the brick roof.
" They hunt spirits that land in here and bring them to the Judgement court of the Afterlife,"  he said, looking closely at the deep red bloodstains on my khaki uniform. I'd almost forgotten who I was, he reminded me that I wasn't a criminal. I was an army man.
" And the judgment court is keen to send us to prison without any actual trial, right? " I tried to sit up.
" That's right. The Burnthounds do whatever they wish, there's no one who stops them or keeps a check on them. " His eyes hadn't moved away from my uniform.
" I have not committed any such crime that they convicted me of. " I shook my head.
" Certainly, " he said, now looking at my face, " I know that. I know you're innocent. "
" How do YOU know that? "