The girl was walking through the shadow, with only the feel of the wall on her fingertips to guide her. The wall, cool at first, grew warm, and then began to burn. Soon, rivulets began to appear on the wall, not water, but lava, for the rivulets glowed red-hot; the passage was now stiflingly warm. The girl believed that the tunnel must run parallel to the river, and hoped that the tunnel wall could not be breached. By the ruddy light, she once again came to a cavern whose edges ended only in darkness.
No, that was no longer true; here the girl could see the river, of lava, as the goblin had said, a thick, hulking, luminous beast that crept through the cavern and away again into eternity, as far as the girl could see. What the girl saw on its banks, however, was nearly as intimidating; an extravagant throne that must be composed of the bones of the damned, the white of the bone flushed red in the bloody light. Upon this throne sat the Devil himself.
The throne was flanked by a host of demons, and before it was a small assembly of souls. Beside the diverse congregation was a motley arrangement of items. From here the girl could see a little boat, much like the one that had nearly carried her into the flames. There was also what looked to be the massive black skull of some great beast, as well as a stack of iron shields, a coil of chains, even a set of what looked to be featherless wings…
One of the souls approached, surveyed the boat, but ended up taking the massive skull instead, which was nearly as large as the boat, anyway, and placed it on the lava, its crown faced down. Perhaps it had been a dragon’s skull, for the bone did not burn. The soul scrambled into the skull, obviously hoping the momentum alone would help him cross, as there were no oars, but this was in vain, and he slowly began to drift away. He flailed desperately in his eagerness, and the skull capsized. A second soul chose the leathery wings. The wings nearly seemed to nearly meld to the soul’s arms, but nevertheless looked awkward as the soul flapped them, running at the river of liquid fire. Miraculously, the soul became airborne at the last moment… but too late, too low… The wings were revealed to be flammable.
The girl approached with her head high. The intended test was evident. One by one, souls approached the collection of objects, and chose one. This they would use to traverse the river, which hissed malignantly with each attempt. Invariably, the souls failed, burned, and sank beneath the surface amidst angry fire.
When it was the girl’s turn, she did not falter as she made her way to stand before the Devil’s horrific throne. The Devil regarded her, an eyebrow raised. The girl requested that her object be one of the Devil’s own guards. This must be within the parameters of the challenge, as the host of demons stood beside the Devil’s throne as much as the other objects. Despite her apparent confidence, the girl feared she would be refused. However, the Devil, intrigued, agreed, and motioned for a demon to step forward.
The demon was bare-chested, exposing a muscled physique. His exposed skin was black as sin, and covered a web of marks like scars, but the scars glowed as rivulets of lava, as if you could open his veins and find them flowing with magma instead of blood. Despite all this, the demon might have seemed nearly… human- but for those eyes. Framed by stray hairs, dark as a raven’s feather, that had escaped the cord that held the rest back from the demon’s face, his eyes were glowing, smoldering embers, but it was the expression that made it inhuman. There was nothing living in those eyes; they were eyes that were soulless, eyes that had surely never known humanity, but had rather been born here in the darkness of some unspeakable evil.
At his master’s call, the demon came forward to stand before the throne, awaiting further instruction. The Devil, with an easy smile, commanded his servant to assist the girl.
The girl refused to flinch as the demon touched her, easily lifting her into his arms. The dark skin was warm, but did not burn, as the girl had nearly expected.
When the demon began to approach the river, the girl was alarmed, fearing the demon would simply toss her in to be consumed. The demon’s eyes betrayed nothing. When they reached point where the stone gave way to lava, the demon did not pause, but instead continued on as if stone were yet beneath his feet, unhampered by the lava whose surface so many souls had sunk beneath.
Once the demon had crossed, he set the girl down on her feet. The Devil called out, a hint of glee in his voice. The girl was the first to pass this particular challenge. The Devil told the girl she may make one request as a reward. The girl requested only that she might keep the demon to assist her on future endeavors. The Devil was still smiling as he granted her request.
