Life is short. Death is Eternal.

Life is short

"Damen! Get me my scepter. I'm going to check on those escaped souls."

"Yes, My Lady," the monotonous voice of Damen filling the silence of the room. He walked over to a glass case and brought the rod of black iron to the throne. He knelt and presented the staff to her, looking up with milky white eyes.

"Thank you, Damen. Presentable as always." Damen bowed. "Thank you, My Lady."

Damen was her mortal attendant, along with his friend, Adrastos. She strode out of the throne room, to the chamber where they kept escaped souls. She began thinking about how her life got easier after two mortals made a deal with the Devil.

**********

"Your Majesty," her jailer bowed. "Two mortals are here to see you."

She nodded. "Bring them in."

Two humans entered the throne room, their footsteps echoing in the wide chamber. The one on the left looked about thirty, with a muscular build. He had blonde hair and golden eyes. He walked confidently across the room, but she could see the fear in his eyes. The one on the right looked about twenty-five, skinny yet strong. He had black hair and sapphire blue eyes. He had a bow in his hand, a quiver of arrows slung across his back. His fingers twitched on his bow, as if anxious to draw his bow and fire.

She spread her arms. "Welcome to the throne room of Aosoth, also known as the Devil."

The men bowed, trembling. "Hello, Aosoth," the one on the right said, his voice wavering slightly. "I am Damen, and this is my friend, Adrastos. We come, seeking a cure to the Black Death."

Aosoth waved her hand. "Yes, I know about that. More and more damned souls are arriving in my realm."

Damen bowed his head. "Yes, we figured you would know about the sickness. You see, our families are sick, and soon will we will be too. As I said before, Your Majesty, we seek to find the cure to the Black Death. We only require just enough for our families."

"I understand. I have such a thing, but I need something in return. You see, all the souls that come to my realm are damned, and are unreliable. I have only my jailer to properly serve me, without fear of betrayal. There is only one thing that you can trade for the antidote. And that is your souls."

At the mention of this exchange, both men turned pale. Adrastos bowed, his entire bulky frame shaking. "May- may we be able to discuss this with our families, My Lady?"

"Yes, yes," she waved her hand dismissively. "You have three days to decide. You are dismissed."

The two mortals bowed deeply and quickly walked out of her room, the jailer escorting them out.

__________

When they got back to the mundane world, they start to panic. "What should we tell our family?" Adrastos cried. "We can't just give our souls over to the Devil!"

"But we can't just let our family die!" Damen yelled. He was pulling at his hair in distress.

"What choice do we have?" Adrastos said. "We made a deal with the Devil!"

Damen sighed, accepting his fate. "I will go and give my soul to the Devil. I will not see my family die."

Adrastos closed his eyes and sighed in defeat. "You are right, my friend. We will go tell our families, then go down to hell and trade our souls for the cure."

So Damen went to his family and told them about his trip to hell. His wife was in tears, his children were crying. He watched his children with tearful eyes. Then he looked and a plan started forming in his head. He went to meet Adrastos outside.

"We will have one more night with our families, and the next day we will go and give our souls for the cure. Or so she will think."

Damen started whispering to Adrastos, afraid that Aosoth might hear. Adrastos turned pale. "Are you mad? We can't trick the ruler of Hell!"

"Maybe not. But we have to try."

Adrastos sighed. "Alright. Enjoy your time with your family, and good night."

________

The next morning, they met outside Adrastos' house.

"Ready, old friend?" Damen asked

"Ready," Adrastos sighed.

So together, side by side, they went back to the realm of fiery damnation.

__________

"So," her voice filling the empty silence of the room. "You're back. I assume that means you will give your souls for the cure?"

Damen bowed. "Yes, My Lady. But first, we require the cure."

"Yes, the cure." she snapped her fingers and two glass vials the colour of ice appeared in her palm. "Here." She extended her hand, and the vials levitated off her palm and into Adrastos' hand. He held them gingerly as if they might break.

"And now, I require your souls."

"Yes, My Lady, but first, could we give our families the cure, before we die?"

Aosoth was suspicious, but she nodded. "Yes. I will give you three hours to give the cure to your families. Then you will return here."

They bowed. "Yes, your Majesty." Then they retreated into the gloom.

__________

They reappeared a few moments later, in the mundane world. "I knew you were brave, Damen, but I didn't know you were foolhardy!" Adrastos yelled at him. "Why would you risk angering the Devil? Are you aware of what she can do? And what do you hope to accomplish? Curing our families and killing ourselves? Torturing us? Avoiding the Plague by giving our souls to the Devil?"

Damen sighed. "Look, Adrastos, you can either try to fight or just give up. I choose not to just accept defeat. I would rather fight for what I love."

Adrastos closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, then exhaled. "Fine. I will try and follow with the plan, but we are probably going to die. But fine."

So they both went to their families and gave them the cure. Damen went to his family and told them. "Here's the cure. If you take it, you will be healed."

"What about you?" His wife asked. "What about your deal with the Devil?"

"It's okay. I dealt with it."

"Are you sure?" She asked suspiciously.

"Yes. Now drink the antidote."

So his wife and children drank the vials, and they were cured. That night, Damen did not sleep peacefully.

__________

Damen was in his townhouse. His wife and children were sleeping peacefully. He walked outside. The night was silent. The stars twinkled; little luminescent points of light in the dark sky.

All of a sudden, his house was engulfed in flames. He could hear his children screaming and his wife frantically yelling at them to get out. He tried to say something, to run to his children. But he couldn't move, couldn't speak. He could only watch helplessly as the fire spread and the whole town was burned to the ground. The orange and yellow flames dancing in the night sky.

"This is what will happen if you don't return to me. Your wife and children, dead. Your entire city, reduced to ashes. Do you really want that? All because you didn't yield. And if you still don't come, the entire world. The world will burn because of your foolish choices. Adrastos will die too. His family will burn along with him. I will only spare you, to let you see and suffer the consequences. Then you too will slowly burn, until the upper world is no more."

Then the flames enveloped him, and the world turned black.