Eyna had a dream. She felt certain of this fact because vivid colors and moving shapes flashed before her eyes. For a blind person, it was a miracle impossible to come upon in the real world.
However, at the same time, the dream appeared to be too lifelike to just be dismissed as an ordinary fantasy during her good night's sleep. Naturally, there was the possibility that it was just like every normal dream, which looked genuine as long as you stayed in this world and would only appear surreal once you had woken up.
But throughout the years of being blind, Eyna's visualization of color slowly turned duller and duller until even her dreams had played mostly in a black and white fashion. Now, she was suddenly blindsided by the dazzling colors and countless different hues, unable to process this flood of information.
Only after a few minutes of getting accustomed to the unexpected retrieval of sight, Eyna could focus on her surroundings. She found herself located inside a long and rocky corridor which was twisted to a steep slope going upwards.
Red glowy veins followed along the walls and ceiling. They had dug themselves deep into the hard surface, spreading like a spiderweb in all directions. In periodic intervals, the luminosity dimmed and brightened up again reminding Eyna of a living organism. Each time, the intensity reached its peak the rock surrounding the burning veins blurred from the suffocating heat released into the air.
However, Eyna herself only felt the hotness of a summer breeze. She had long ascertained that this body didn't belong to her and was solely the product of her dream. Additionally, Eyna had no leverage of this person's movement but could in return perceive the world through his sensory organs.
Only because this imaginary character was not blind gave Eyna the ability to see again. Consequently, the pain through the scorching heat was missing due to her host's own unique sense of warmth. Eyna could only spectate without any means of intervention.
The body began moving. It climbed upwards. Unnaturally long and thin legs paced from time to time into Eyna's locked perspective of unmoving eyes. On the basis of the eye level, Eyna estimated the person's height to be around four to five meters, an impossible trait for a mortal human.
As her host already seemed to brush off this unliveable heat easily he nearly certainly belonged to the divine race. The infernal hell-like environment clearly indicated him to be associated with the demon forces.
Eyna knew very few things about the enemies of the angels. The great battlefront divided the world into two separate gigantic territories, preventing any mortal being from ever crossing over. The border separating them from the demons was in the form of a zone reaching fifty kilometers into both domains where war had never ceased ever since the beginning of this never-ending dispute.
Therefore, it would never be possible for a human to reach the other side. Eyna had heard that human civilization existed beyond the great battlefront too which would make the demon's attitude towards the mortals similar to the angels.
From the countless stories Eyna had listened to throughout her childhood, demons were the embodiment of absolute evil. Hence, they should have long committed a mass genocide instead of subordinating these petty beings. However, reality told something different and disproved the general knowledge.
Eyna never had and thought she never would see a genuine demon, the only encounters with them happened after she had already turned blind. Thus, the mental picture of the divine creatures was naturally distorted by the evil images painted in the children's books.
Now, she was sure to meet other demons as long as she stayed in this body. Wherever this person tried to move it would probably be connected to other infernal forces. Eyna turned her attention back to reality. Originating from the steep inclination of the corridor, the passage seemed to lead to the surface.
Her host reached a gigantic cavity, reaching far beyond a human's eyesight. Even with the senses of an eternal creature, the rest of the echoing hall still hid behind the curvature of the earth. Countless enormous pillars of stone towered up to the ceiling and prevented the whole cave complex from collapsing.
What gathered Eyna's attention the most, was the happenings transpiring on the ground. Rows upon rows of strange creatures filled up the space between the supporting columns. They stood disorderly on the uneven ground, a gigantic jumble of different races unknown to Eyna.
Colossal titans consisting of rock or iron stood out of the masses as their heads almost reached the top of the cavity in the far distance. Their eyes and mouths were just deep holes in their rocky heads, which emitted fiery red lights illuminating the else unlit ceiling. Huge birds with humanoid faces and arms flapped through the air. Even though their size was probably twice as large as a human, in the presence of the giants they looked more like a swarm of flies circling a street lamp.
In between the titan's sturdy legs which were planted like trees to the ground were numerous other creatures. Wolfs with long and matted fur, one-eyed cyclops, and hissing snakes were jumbled together.
Eyna saw many creatures similar to animals in the human realm. Most of the time, they just appeared bigger and more wicked. But like their mortal connatural matches they didn't seem to possess the ability to speak but conversely weren't overly aggressive.
Among the gathering of different species, Eyna even discovered figures similar to the ones painted in her children's picture book. Black skin, ruby red glowing eyes, and twisted horns on their heads. They literally resembled the embodiment of evil.
Even though countless different and malicious looking species filled the hall, the surrounding was eerie quiet. It seemed like they all were waiting for something or someone to come.
One individual neared her host's body. He looked like an old human whose long hair had already turned grey. Between the wrinkles on his face, many horrifying scars twined all around his head.
On his back, two shorts stumps protruded out. A few matted black feathers saged down from the mutilation, swaying weakly on every movement the man did. His overall appearance was what one could irrefutably call ugly.
Eyna never thought of seeing a divine creature in such a state. They had the ability to reconstruct their physical bodies at any point in time. If the circumstances demanded they could even ditch the whole lump of flesh and create a new one, albeit with a higher energy cost.
Therefore, angels and demons always appeared to be impeccably perfect beings achieved with the gift of divinity. The man arrived before Eyna's host, kneeled, and raised his voice.
"My lord, the 42 fractions have all gathered before you. We are ready to set off at any time," he said with a lowered head. Eyna could see a scrawly arm coming into her field of view, which indicated to the kneeling man to raise up.
If Eyna's knowledge about the forces from hell was accurate then the only character ever allowed to be called by the title 'Lord' had been the one Lucifer himself.
Coinciding with the fact that Eyna had touched one of his artifacts before she fell into this dream, she was most likely in Lucifer's body, experiencing a leftover of his fleeting memories from the distant past.
Lucifer disregarded the scarred-faced man and walked leisurely to a small ledge protruding out of the else generally flat ground. The surrounding now turned completely silent as everyone was watching the most powerful character of the underworld climb up the rock. Even the flapping of the airborne creatures had ceased.
Eyna held her breath from the overwhelming tension in the air until she noticed that did not have the ability to breathe in this body.
An uncomfortable silence lay upon the cavity. Lucifer finally arrived on the top and straightened himself up. He emitted an aura of absolute tranquility. Then, a calm but quiet voice resounded throughout the gigantic cavity, reaching wider than the eye could see.
"Today is the beginning of heaven's end."