Who was the Masked man?

The flight and fight

The serpent was right, we couldn't ever escape. I thought a chunk of my head had been broken and fallen apart, I didn't dare touch my head if my arms were moving, because I feared my fingers would brush past my insides. My body wasn't able to lie back, or even shift an inch, I was on my shoulder, waiting for death to take me away. But how would it get to me? This was the suffering dead people go through, they don't die, they live long enough to endure the most horrific pain.
It felt like a lifetime had passed when I opened my eyes again. The pain was still scratching my body, and nothing had changed, except for a faint voice that reached my ears. It was someone or something, that was calling me. I couldn't answer. Couldn't move. Even taking short breaths sent a pain to my spine. I felt a strange warmth around my neck, and the undamaged part of my brain started to process things.
I focused my eyes upon the bluish-white light that was being emitted from the staff. It was several yards away from me. I gulped and closed my eyes again when I felt something crawling towards me. The light was coming closer with each second that passed. The staff rolled in my direction and climbed up my fingers. My fingers seemed to be working on their own, they hugged the staff and I could move my head again. The Sorrowbender around my chest caught my attention. The black chain was glowing as it had never before. I felt several soothing shots being injected into my veins, moments later, I could comfortably lie on my back. My spine seemed to have been partially healed. The shoulder bones seemed to crack while they joined themselves again, and my stomach felt a churn as my chest ribs began sewing themselves.
My hand started rising in the air, I turned my gaze instantly. The staff was pulling it upwards as if someone was giving me a helping hand. I balanced on my shaking feet for a while trying to stand firmly, when I noticed the staff was applying more force. It didn't just want me to get back up. I left the surface beneath me as if it pushed my feet upwards. I couldn't believe my eyes, the staff was making me hover in the air. Before I could make a tighter grip on the wood, it started taking me higher at a crazy speed. I cried with enthusiasm, my Sorrowbender flew madly behind me.
The air swept past my face and my eyes formed droplets under them. For an instant, I saw the astonished looks of Brandon, Yormen, Stank, and Nichole while I flew upwards. Maybe I was going to crash against the ceiling, but the staff seemed to be quite intelligent. It slowed down my speed near the end of the staircase and landed me gently on the last smooth stair. The light was still emitting from the staff, and I felt like a wizard, or maybe a Titan!
The pain in my body had almost vanished, the Sorrowbender was still glowing its brightest. I peeped down to have a look at my companions, but except a few circles beneath me, the entire place was dark.
" I AM SAFE" I yelled at them, I wasn't expecting a response, but one definitely came.
" We thought you broke your ass! " I chuckled at Nichole's joke and yelled back, " I almost did,  now climb up quickly! What we stood on, after crossing the neverending stairs was higher than the volcanic mountain. The tiny opening of the cave led us to a stony surface, from where we could look down to several miles stretched before us. The triangular top of the volcanic mountain was below which meant we were not on our original track, but the good news was that we weren't lost.
My gaze darted towards the cellars at the far left. The Burnthounds were not patrolling it at this hour. We peered down at the mountain to look for the prisoners who might be working at their shift, breaking the stones to extract the lava. But there were none of them. Completely isolated.

" We were going to get on the mountain! " Yormen urged, " where are we? "
" Seems like the cliff behind it, " said Stank, hesitantly.
" But the problem is, how do we get to the doorway? " asked Brandon, pacing around.
" Well, we have a bigger problem there, " said Nichole pointing towards the right side of the cliff, " they don't look in a good mood, do they? "
We turned our necks to where Nichole had been pointing. It was like a narrow path made of rocks that connected the cliff with another ground higher than the one we were standing on. It was estimatedly a couple hundred yards away, but I could still see the red eyes behind those silver masks staring angrily at me. No less than a dozen Burnthounds stood there heavily, staring at us when one of them roared angrily and slashed his whip on the ground in anger. My heart increased its beating speed, and the hair at the back of my neck went cold. The Burnthounds flew towards us at a steady pace, as if a pack of wolves was surrounding some lost puppies, saliva dripping from their mouths. An evil grin spread across their faces, which meant a never-ending pain and torture was approaching us.
" Jeez! " Stank muttered.
" Run inside! " Brandon yelled, starting towards the cave.
" No! Look, " I cried, pointing upwards. The Burnthounds craned their necks towards the orange sky too. It had been covered by dark clouds that were sparking blue thunders amongst themselves. A droplet fell on my cheek, and it sent a sensation of being alive again as if I was back on Earth.
" Brace yourselves! " a Burnthound yelled, and he wasn't warning us, rather his own kind. Maybe I knew what was coming. The wind took up speed and howled in our ears. We took a few steps back because going inside the cave was not an option now, but the Burnthounds didn't seem to care about us, as if something more important - or dangerous - was coming for them.