The War Without Fate

Chapter 24- Violence in Rings.

"Now," Holly began as we stepped into the light. "This is where the violent are punished and this is where we will find Evangeline. She will most likely be in this outer ring here. There are three rings. We must travel through all of them. She will be in a very delicate state and I urge you to be gentle with her. And yet I am sure that Mr.Stark will take care of her."

Holly gave me an intense look and motioned to the harpies who hissed at him defiantly yet led us on through the ring. It was a large pool filled with boiling blood and fire that danced on top. Peering at the souls inside I spotted Hitler making his own salute defiantly as he boiled. I saw Stalin and Marx and as my eyes traveled further I saw Atilla the Hun raising himself out of the liquid. In response the centaurs that circled the outside of the pool standing tall and straight began to shoo arrows at him. Eventually he sunk back in to the boiling blood mixed with fire in terrible submission. 

I found myself sickened as we passed across the little bridge the cut through the muck to the man in the middle. At a second glance I saw that he was in fact, not an entire man but a man with the head of a bull. His eyes fixed on me as we approached and his hoof pawed at the ground menacingly.

"Minotaur!" Holly called his attention away. 

The harpies flew forward and all at once in commanding voices the spoke to the half bull half man. "Bring out the soul of Evangeline Scagilla. She has been set free."

The bull stood and walked over to his centaurs who reacted immediatly. They charged into the pools of blood searching for her. We waited several long tense minutes until two of them pulled her out. Though it didnt really look like her, the body the pulled from the pool of boiling blood looked limp at first. I began to run toward her with an intensity pulsing through me that I found foreign to myself. But before I got there the centaurs backed off with angry looks on their face and I saw as they parted she was standing in the middle of them swiping at them with a huge pair of scissors. Her face was livid and yet her eyes shown out with fear.

She was wearing a long toga that dripped with the blood she had been pulled from. Her curly black hair was dripping wet with blood and her face was drenched with the terrible red liquid. I bounded the rest of the way forward in my cumbersome suit that made it hard to run. She spotted me and her arms dropped to her sides the huge pair of shears fell from her hands. I pulled her into a hug and she stood there limp for a moment before her arms snaked up to wrap around me weakly. 

I leaned her against the wall gently and stepped out of my suit to kneel beside her and hold her. Her dark brown eyes looked up at me with a stange look. She was hopelessly trying to process what was going on. I glanced back to see Holly and the harpies convincing the Minotaur to fight with us. Claude was still standing beside Holly but he was looking back at us with an analytical expression. The rest had come to see her along with me. Jacqueline walked around to stand beside her and put an unsure hand on her shoulder. Max came up and stood off to the side and somewhat in front of Evangeline, whose eyes glanced at her with a small acknowledgement. Castor came and knelt beside me, picking up her hand and holding it in his. 

She leaned over past me suddenly and began to choke up blood in great heaves. I looked around wildly and hopelessly for help. The others staring at her with scared expressions.

"Whats wrong with her?!" I cried out 

A deep voice answered over my shoudler "Dont worry, its natural. She was stuck in pretty deep, I would expect no less. She is purging herself of the poison in the pool. It will not take long." 

I looked over to see a centuar with a sleek black horse body and black hair and eyes that looked down at me softly. Such a strange look to encounter in the belly of hell. I nodded my thanks and held her while she gagged. Soon she had rid herself of it all and sat back in my arms with exaustion. Her eyelids drooped and yet she still looked to me as if asking if it was ok to sleep. I nodded my head and put a small smile on my lips for her sake.