The strange light seemed to sworl as I began to pull at the gate. The light struck out blasting me back, flinging ash from the ground up into the super heated air. Serpintine flew through the air, catching me as he landed, letting me down. I looked to the demon who guided me here. Fear ran across his face as he caught sight of my gaze. Serpintine didn't even need to read my mind to know exactly what I was thinking. Serpintine launched forward, wrapping quickly arround the demon. The demon began calling out to the tortured soul, though the soul had no will left, it just stood there pointing at the now revieled gate. I walked toward the demon and began to read its mind. I don't perticularly like reading demon minds, they are messy and hard to understand most times. Their minds usualy just flash images of memories, though those memories are sometimes painfull to emerge into. It is like the memory begins to break down when something that doesn't belong in it gets inside. As it breaks down it tries to break down everything to include the foreign object. This causes a rather intence burning sensation. I try to avoid reading demon minds to forcefully as it can be extreemly painful. Not just for me, but them too. After the pain begins, they find it quite difficult to focus and I never get as much information. This time though I dive in and out of as many memories as I can forcing the demon to experience as much pain as I can while still leaving his body in tact. The demon screams in pain as his mind is being shreaded. I grab him by his throat lifting him from Serpeitine's coil. Serpintine loosens his grip so that I can take the demon. The demon writhes in my grasp as I begin to question him, "What was that?!" The demon continued to scream in pain before stuttering in a low gutteral voice, "The, the light is the power of Azazel. Only a demon or a fallen angel can open the gate. This helps to keep souls that stumble upon the gate from opening it." "Then open the door!" I order the demon. "I cannot." He stutters, " I am not one of the orriginal demons. I was born outside of this relm and banished to it after the war between the angels and demons." I began squeezing his throat to the point that he couldn't even speak. He began kicking and franticly hitting my arm, though making no progress in releasing himself. I peak into his mind to hear his thoughts saying that he knew someone that could open it. I loosen my grip slightly so that he can speak. " My father, my father can open the door. He is the only origonal demon left outside of the rings. He hates dealing with the upity demons and angels within them." The demon says. "And why would I believe that he would open it?" I ask. "He has always wanted to see the Kingdom of Hell crumble. He was a powerfull demon who ruled many kingdoms of men on earth before Lucifer fell and Hell was created. All demons and fallen angels were sucked into Hell when it was formed." With that, I slammed the demon on the floor. He screamed in pain as several cracks sound from his body. "And why didn't you mention it before?" I ask. The demon groaned through his gritted teeth, "I just wanted to make sure that you had some use for me and wouldn't just kill me." "Lead on then." I said sarcastically as I stepped to the side and waved my arm out. The demon got up slowly and stretched before walking in a seemingly random direction, presumably towards his father. I look at the demon and decide that there really isn't a reason to kill him rightnow, "If you get me through, I will allow you to live. Though if you cross me, I will kill you in the slowest and most painful way I possibly can before I absorb whatever pitiful ability you possess." "I don't have one. Like I said, I was born on earth. And banished to Hell after the war. Demons born before the formation of Hell were some of the most powerful, those born in Hell had some abilities, but after Hell was formed any demon conceived on earth was born without gifts as we were nolonger of that world. This is part of what brought the demons to war with the hosts of heaven. Hell was originally completely engulfed in the flames surrounding it now, they were so intense that it was believed that nothing could bear it enough to even move. And this was the case for a long period of time, but eventually some of the demons and even some of the fallen angels had grown used to the pain. They stood and walked right out of Hell. To avoid punishment, they took up relatively normal lives, until my generation came about. When they found that their offspring could not bear gifts in the same way they could, they were distraught and began acting out. Later they realized that the only way to regain their bloodline's abilities was to take earth as their own and drive out the hosts of heaven. And they would have won, but the Angels had help. Elves took a stand with the angels and helped them to drive out the demons and fallen angels, banishing them and their kind back to hell. The flames were reduced to a wall that is far thinner, yet far more concentrated. This created a barrier that even the fallen angels could not cross. There are very few that have actually been able to make it through the wall, though they are usually quite weak. The wall resists you harder the more powerful you are. You must have a powerful ability, yet be weak in power all together, and have an incredibly powerful mind to make it through. Though becoming more and more powerful can be counter intuitive." "And what if you become powerful enough to overpower the flames?" I ask. "It has never been done." The demon says with a low, broken tone. We continue our walk until the demon stops and begins to draw in the ash covering the ground. I watch carefuly as he scribles his jiberish on the ground. He looks to me and asks, "Do you have a blade?" I create a small blade out of the flames for the demon. He takes it slowly showing that he has no ill intent. He pulls the blade gently across the tip of his finger, dripping blood in every corner of each scribbled letter. I watch as the letters begin to glow slightly red as the blood begins to boil away, leaving nothing but the glowing letters in the ashen ground. Slowly A figure takes shape, one that is tall and powerful, with wings that wrap arround his body and a tail like that of a dragon, his presence seems to suck the light out of the area. Tenebris, I recognize him from the images on the palace walls that depict the elves assisting the angels in their battle. His gaze falls on me as his eyes move looking me up and down. I can feel the power of his gaze, He truely is a powerful demon. He once controled all of the dark lands where the goblins and other dark dwelling creatures are from. His pressence actualy sucks the light out of an area and stores it inside of his body, and he can release it from his eyes in powerful bursts that rival even the flames of hell. "An angel, fallen before he even gets his wings," Tenebris says laughing as his powerful voice echoes maniacally across the plain. I almost start laughing with him, "I am an elf, not an angel." "Angels start as Elves before they die and are blessed by god, given their wings. Though you aren't whole, it seams your soul has been split. which means the other half of you is probably flitting about the clouds of heaven. Such a predicament." Realization dawned on me as Tenebris spoke. I thought back to when I first died, I remember the internal conflict tearing me apart, what if it was more that a symple feeling, or emotion? what if it was actualy pulling my soul in two and the other half of me remained in heaven while I was cast into hell? "Will you open the door to the rings of Hell? I need to get in so that I can find a way to destroy it and escape." "I will guid you through the dark light of our enemy. After my last encounter with the inhabitance of the rings, Azazel set his light against me as well, though he did not take into account my abilities, that or he simply underestimated them."