Dark Requiem [malexmale]

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Gehenna was as menacing as it sounded.

It was a massive dark land bordered by jagged mountains filled to the brim with the deadliest of creatures that lurked in its shadows. At the center was a trio of volcanos burbled and hissed with lava, lava that spilled out into rivers that intersected the valley like fiery veins in the land's black rocky surface. Not too far from the entrance was a series of pointed towers that disappeared into the smoky sky blanketed with reddish black clouds. The towers belonged to Bali and Wednesday, safely tucked away from the inmates that were trapped inside the realm.

It was truly a horrifying sight. The stench in the air was thick with sulfur, smoke, and death. The sounds of the volcano were chilling, deadly explosions and roaring from its pits, the brilliant power of the lava bursting into the air, then fading away, then regurgitating once more. Overhead, lightning hissed and cracked across the sky, streaking like even the electricity was frightened of the land down below. Thunder was a mere soft growl in comparison to the bursts from the volcanoes. And faintly, beneath all the natural horrors, came the screams of the damned.

A chill stole up my spine.

"What the fuck," Hades muttered dryly, making me blink and turn my head to look at him, where he stood completely unphased, but rather amused and turned to look at Lucifer, who rolled his eyes, "Did you just fucking watch the Lord of the Rings movies and decide it was a good idea to plagiarize that shit?" Lucifer wiped a hand down his face and Joxeia sighed, drifting over to my side to touch my arm.

"This is going to happen often," he warned me. I shook my head as Lucifer listed off all the ways this place was nothing like whatever movies Hades was talking about. I looked out over the valley again, swallowing at the misery and torture that was simply on the surface. What horrors lay below the rocky territory?

"Where are the prisoners held?" I asked after a moment.

"Everywhere," Joxeia answered me, making me look at him, alarmed, "All of Gehenna is prisoner's land. There are no cells. And no souls truly die here. They roam free, wallowing in their sins and their own misery. They can't escape it. The mountain range that surrounds this place, the Bars as they're aptly called by the locals, keep them in and keep trespassers out. They're filled with all sorts of demonic creatures and tricks and traps that lead them back into the valley. They're also reinforced with a barrier. No one has ever escaped."

A wave of anxiety blasted me as I looked over the valley from our perch in the mountains. The land was deadly, dangerous, filled with evil and darkness. It was no place for Michael. He didn't deserve to be here. Even worse, he was trapped here, somewhere, with all sorts of monstrosities lurking around.

"How are we going to find him?" I managed. The crack in my voice ceased the arguing between Hades and Lucifer so they fell silent and looked at each other grimly.

"Normally, I'd suggest we find Bali and Wednesday and ask them to track him," Lucifer explained, "But Michael isn't a formal inmate. He wouldn't have received a brand on his soul so they could watch him. We can't find him like we would any other inmates. But I think the video feeds are still activated, so let's see if we can find something there." I nodded, and we left the mountains, teleporting clear across the realm to the towers where Bali and Wednesday made their home.

We appeared in a massive sterile foyer with pointed ceilings, black marble beams crisscrossing the ceiling that matched the floors and walls. Long fiery drapes fell along the walls, leading the foyer into a long narrow hallway. Lucifer led the way through the hall, which opened up into a large spacious room with wall entirely made of glass that looked out over the Gehenna landscape.