Devil in Shepherd's Robes

Ch 2: Rats in The Sewer

As the two of them walked through the city gates, Ephram looked back to where they had been. They had passed through the canyon sized crack in the dome, and what he saw from outside the Garden was almost indescribable, he just couldn't find the words.

The unfathomable gaping maw of darkness surrounded the roots of Yggdrasil, the only light came from the tree itself. There were other large dome-like structures built into the tree, each giving off their own light. Ephram realized these must have been the other levels of Hell, similar to the Garden. Each dome was surrounded by a large city, the one outside of the Garden, however, looked to be the largest from his perspective. Roots larger than whole planets tore through the sky as if to replace the stars themselves, shining brilliantly overhead through the darkness. Like permanent lightning bolts eched into the air, the brown roots seemed to go on forever.

"What... is this place?" Ephram asked, awe filling his voice as his eyes tried to soak up the wonders he saw.

May chuckled as they continued walking, outstretching her arms as if to embrace the surrounding void encircling the colossal roots.

"Welcome to Hell."

Ephram and May continued to walk throughout the city, the stench of sulfur filling the air. As beautiful as the place may seem, the closer you look the uglier it gets. There were countless humanoid demons with wildly unique yet grotesque features everywhere, most of which seemed to just wander about aimlessly through the streets. Water ran through the streets from a backed-up sewer system, and the surrounding homes looked to be mostly dark, abandoned, and hardly kept clean.

It was quite interesting to see the difference between the demons and their homes here by the gate of the dome, as opposed to those further into the city. Ephram noticed that the farther into the heart of the city they got, the livelier it became. The demons farther into the city seemed to be a bit happier, they had cleaner homes and the stench of sulfur was much less noticeable.

"May, I have something to ask you." He said, suddenly remembering a conversation he had earlier with her.

She stopped walking to turn and face him, curious as to what he could want. She looked at him without saying a word, waiting for him to continue.

"Earlier... the wind? I've been thinking about it and I'm not sure exactly how you did that? Can all demons do things like that? Can I?" He asked quizzically, afraid to broach the subject too much in case she decides to give him another demonstration of her power just for laughs.

May nodded in understanding, scolding herself for having forgotten to explain her abilities to him.

"Some demons have a unique ability, whether that be magic manipulation like myselr or a physical attribute. My own ability is to manipulate the wind in whatever way I see fit." She continued walking with him in tow, following closely to her side as she explained.

"Within a few days of being born a demon, some of us awaken a unique ability. Most named demons born in the Garden are bestowed with some form of magic manipulation while the lesser and unnamed demons receive a physical attribute of some kind. The most common of which are sharp bones protruding from somewhere on their body." She said with satisfaction, indicating that she was relieved there was nothing protruding from her own body.

"I see... do you think I'll get some kind of magic ability too?" He asked, and she shrugged as a response.

"Maybe, I guess we'll have to wait and see. I sense something odd about you, hence why I went to the Garden to fetch you. I was already close by and thought you could possibly have awakened as something quite powerful." She said with a hint of anticipation in her voice, the suspense of waiting to find out why she had taken this interest in Ephram must've been killing her.