Bound by Hellfire

Chapter 11

The three of us gaped into the sky in shock. We were speechless, knowing now that we were worlds--- maybe even galaxies--- away from home. My brain crammed even more unanswerable questions into my throat, but my mouth couldn't form them. Instead, it hung open, as I stared back at the planets above.

Both were a shade of blue, the smaller of the two being a little darker than its brother. I realized now that the sun had completely vanished. The light we had been chasing was coming from these worlds, which shone a faint blue tint across the clearing.

"What the hell is this place?" Ethan mustered, still gaping at the spheres above.

"Teleportation magic--- from that Demon back there, no doubt," Uriel mumbled.

Our heads slowly turned toward Uriel as she finished her sentence. I thought that seeing two unknown planets hanging in the sky would have captivated me for longer, but Uriel's words silenced every other question as Ethan and I spoke in unison.

"Magic---?!" Ethan exclaimed.

"Demon---?!" I shuddered.

Uriel turned to look at us. Her face twisted with curiosity as Ethan and I looked back, dumbfounded at her words.

"Where did you guys say you were from again?" Uriel questioned.

"---Earth," we responded hesitantly.

"Anddd you guys have never studied demonology?"

Both of us shook our heads.

"--- or magic?"

"Well I did a magic act at my little cousin's birthday party, but teleportation--- it's just a little bit above my paygrade," Ethan chuckled nervously.

Uriel stared at us for a long while, scratching her head as she thought of an explanation for us, but how could she? Ethan and I were obviously out of our element; it was clear that Uriel was holding a lifetime of information that would easily break our minds with another volley of questions.

So we stood in silence, waiting for Uriel to pinpoint an answer that would make any sense to us. But I was curious. I watched as her otherworldly eyes shifted from side to side as she pondered her words and all the while I thought of the world she was looking through. A world unknown to us, ready to be opened like the page of a new book.

"Where did you come from?" I asked eagerly.

Her pupils froze in place; looking up from the ground and into mine as her train of thought ceased at my question.

"Aldera--- the capital planet of my people; home to the Prime Scholars of the 33rd sector," Uriel announced proudly.

"Wow--- kind of a mouthful huh?" I shivered as another gust of wind whistled past us. "You know that just flew miles above our heads right?"

"R---right, yea sorry" She chuckled.

"So--- Mrs. Prime Scholar," My eyebrows raised. "How did you end up here?"

Uriel's faint smile vanished. Her eyes lowered back to the ground and her mouth clamped shut. Sadness painted her face as she stared deeply into the grass at our feet. Tears welled in her eyes, sparkling under the light of the planets like diamonds hanging from a chandelier.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry or anything." I said concerningly.

Uriel wiped the tears from her face, taking a deep breath as she looked back up to us. There was still sorrow on her face, but the tears were gone and replaced with composure.

"It's fine," she mumbled. "You guys don't know anything about what we are dealing with or anything about me. So I guess I can kill two birds with one stone."