THIRST IN HELL

CHAPTER 2

I hit the ground with a thud. Something cracked and broke under my body. I had fallen on a huge heap of skulls and other human bones. All of my  body was in unbearable pain. I missed a healthy body with no pain, but wishes do not go beyond wishing. Perseverance is what I needed. With that spirit, I managed to stand up.

"I am now in the netherworld.....in hell," I assured to myself.

The world there was slightly dim than the world I came from. The light was a diffused one, with the source very far away  to a point of being nearly invisible. I spun my body slowly, scanning the landscape and expecting to see a huge furnace being blown towards my direction. I saw none. Possibility at that time were either; eye tricks, inaccurate previous theories or I wait and discover. 

My pondering was interrupted by voices nearby. Beings talking in a familia language. I listened.

" I swear I heard the bones crack Glutton."  the first voice said.

"Search out so we can do what we need to do before the others know it." Glutton replied.

I did not even attempt to hide myself, the reason being I questioned whether it was the wise thing to do. I also doubted that my hurting body would even move.

Two beings stood before me. Glutton, a seemingly wealthy being and his worker. Glutton did not waste his words. He just said to the worker, "Take it!"

He grabbed it violently from my hand; the hard object that the dumb woman had given  to me. I had glared at it earlier and it had made no sense to me. It was just a hard stone cube with four letters engraved on one of its side. W.H.A.M. Below them was another huge engraved letter which I had not seen anywhere before.

Glutton looked at the stone carefully and nodded. He then placed it delicately in a leather porch. The two took off quickly and left me.

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The King of the territory learnt about my presence soon after. He sent two brutal officers to take me to his high-cave. I'm calling them brutal because by the time we reached the high-cave, I had received several club brows for not keeping up to their quick pace. My left eye was also badly swollen.

No sooner had we entered the cave, than the king demanded in a cruel voice.

"Let me see the rune stone!"

"What rune sir?" I asked in awe.

"You must give it to me right now!" His words reached my ears and their power was enforced by a sudden sharp slap on my face. I tasted blood at the corners of my mouth.

Rune stone! ... Understanding hit me suddenly like a sea wave. The stone that Glutton grabbed from me. The stone contained some magical rune.

"Sir, do you mean the stone that Glutton took from me? What is this all about?" I decided to push, relieved to have overheard and remembered the name Glutton.

The King's eyes widened, but he deliberately ignored both of my questions.

" Glutton again!" He shouted furiously to no one. Then, he faced me and spoke  in an extremely soft voice that was full of malice.

" Listen to me well you filthy puppy. You have to sue Glutton and regain that rune stone and then bring it to me...otherwise......" He did not complete his warning but I saw a tiny teardrop fall from his right eye betraying the depth of his anger.

                       **************

With that prompt, the officers menacingly thrust me out and rushed me into another big old cave that was situated closeby. Some other four officers were sent to go and fetch Glutton.

The cave that I was taken to had metallic plate insignia hunging loosely on its entrance. The word JUSTICE was inscribed on the plate but the plate had gotten split into two such that it read JUST ...... ICE.

Inside the cave were several books of law. I noted that some had been deliberately torn while others had some missing portions.

There was an elderly long bearded being inside with a huge berry wearing a long striped robe. He was the jury.

Glutton was brought a few minutes by the four officers. The case was opened, it was very brief and who knows what else?

I considered it to be a waste of time when the judge started to defend Glutton. This was after Glutton persistently told him to remember something they had probably done together. They kept exchanging expressions and gestures that were unfamiliar to me.

But at one instance, they whispered into each others ears, agreed on something, then exchanged something in the pretence of shaking hands and from that moment, they started referring to each other as comrade. Whether the officers saw it or not I can not tell, because they just continued standing there like fastened flag posts.

Soon after that, it was unanimously concluded that I never had any rune stone. The judge affirmed this by forcing me to sign an affidavit accompanied by a duly signed and concealed report to take to the king. I was rushed back to the king.

Along the way, I started to wonder how it feels like to experience justice and truth.