I had no idea what was going on as volcanoes erupted all around me. It seemed that Hell was about to be destroyed but my mind wouldn't accept it.
The last time I had seen Hell, it was the epitome of peace. It was my home.
I didn't know who to ask as demons rushed all around me, trying to escape the chaos unharmed.
I was trying to get inside the castle but there were too many people to get past. Suddenly, someone grabbed my wrist and pulled me along with them.
I looked up to see Kieran's determined expression. His grip on my wrist was like steel as he pulled me with him, away from the castle.
'What's going on?!' I had to almost scream amidst the rush of people.
Kieran didn't throw me a glance but screamed back, 'I'll explain later.'
We emerged from the crowd a while later, running through the dark forest that surrounded Hell from all four sides.
Most of the demons preferred staying out of this forest because it was home to some of the most dangerous creatures of Hell. I wasn't included since Azrael used to bring me here every weekend on a hunting trip.
His excuse was that it was all for practice, but I believed it was in the hopes that one of the creatures would kill me.
Unfortunately, I did emerge strong whether he wanted it to happen or not.
There were rushing sounds all around us. My eyes caught a glimpse of red, hiding within the cover of black trees.
I conjured a ball of fire and let it fly towards the creature that was following us at an incredible speed. I could only make out its shape, resembling the creature humans called a tiger on earth.
The first attack was missed by mere inches. It was going too fast so I let fireballs fly after one another.
The animal screeched and fell into a bush as the fire hit the mark. I thought that got rid of it for sure, but then three more showed up in its place.
I cursed and Kieran looked over. He hissed at me in anger, 'Náli!'
I threw him an annoyed glance, not a fan of his tone. I spit, 'What?'
He glared at me but focused on running again. We were pushing our bodies to run faster, trying to escape the tigers that were catching up to us.
I did contemplate using my fire again but decided against it. It was never a good idea to use my fire when I was angry unless I wanted to burn down the entire forest to ashes.
We were a blur of shadows as we ran down the sloping edge of the forest. In the distance, you could clearly see the entrance to Limbo.
I looked at Kieran, saying, 'Are we..?' I trailed off, glancing at the grey, colourless plains.
The sight looked straight out of a nineties movie, showcasing an empty ghost town.
'Yes,' Kieran said, 'We've to stay undercover for a while.'
'We?' I almost laughed, 'The children of the crowned council of Hell?' My voice was the epitome of disbelief as I looked at Kieran with raised brows.
He only glared at me in return, 'Yes, we, the children of the most powerful demons in Hell.'
That made me frown as I turned over his statement in my mind. Then, it hit me like a wrecking ball that Leviathan was not here right now.
In a situation like this, it was unbelievable that Leviathan would leave his son to fend for himself.
I casually asked, 'Where's Leviathan?'
Kieran winced, and I knew immediately that something major was going on.
We had just reached the edge of Hell. One more step and our souls would enter Limbo. I brought the two of us to a screeching halt, turning to face Leviathan.
It didn't sit right with me that he was ready to plunge headfirst into Limbo. Everyone knew that bodies couldn't enter inside that place, only our souls.
Once you entered, there was almost no way back. It took aeons for even the strongest demons to find their way out of that maze.
For Kieran to be ready to do something like this, only meant one thing.
I raised a hand in a move to stop Kieran from going any further, even moving in front of him to stop him from plunging into Limbo. I knew the tigers were nearby, but right now, I didn't care.
'Who killed Leviathan?'
Kieran's open mouth slammed shut at my question. He looked at me in surprise, and I rolled my eyes.
'The sooner you tell me what's going on, the quicker we can come up with a solution other than getting trapped in Limbo.' I gestured behind me as if to make a point.
That snapped him out of his surprised reverie and he looked away from me in embarrassment, 'Sorry, I shouldn't have dragged you into this.'
'What's going on, Kieran?' Without taking my eyes off of him, I let a few of my shadow creatures fly toward the tigers that were surrounding us now.
Kieran was too busy contemplating the purpose of his life so he didn't notice.
'The demon master..' My head snapped to him as my eyes narrowed.
'The demon master killed Leviathan?!' I voiced out in disbelief, while also trying to manage to attack the tigers.
'Yes.. No.. I don't know..' He turned away from me, tugging his hair as a desperate expression crossed his face.
I had no idea how, but he somehow managed to escape one of the tigers that rushed for him. For a second I blinked in surprise, trying to gauge what had just happened.
But Kieran looked so troubled by his own thoughts, I didn't what to make of the situation.
I let the shadows take over the tiger who had just attacked. This ought to keep them engaged for a while.
The shadow creatures couldn't really kill the tigers unless they sucked the life out of them. These were too small to be of any use other than to annoy and distract the enemies for a while.
Possession and soul-sucking required much larger bouts of shadows.
Unfortunately, I had been so busy trying to take off the tigers and Kieran at once, that I failed to notice the threat that was right behind me.
Slimy, wet hands grabbed my ankles from behind and pulled me. I screamed and tried to attack the soul but it was too late.
Kieran's shocked face was the last thing I saw as my body broke through the glass surface of Limbo. There was a loud shatter and the wind was knocked out of my body.
Slowly, I drifted lower as my body floated near the surface. I tried to reach out to grab my body, but I was sinking deeper into the depths of Limbo.
The lights were blinding me until all I could see was white. I blinked and found myself standing on the precipice of a sparkling lake.
But I didn't falter. My eyes narrowed as I took in my surroundings. There was something so artificial about the place that made me want to escape as soon as possible.
But the sky stretched on for miles. It was like a neverending blanket of a projection of the night sky.
I reached down towards the sparkling water, dipping my hand past the cool surface.
The water turned a musty green as soon as my hand touched it. I jerked my hand out of the water just in time as a large monster fish emerged.
The sparkling scenery changed. I was standing in a forest that was covered entirely in fog. The tree beside me had a strange appearance, with draping branches and leaves all over.
It seemed like a monster but I wasn't certain. I conjured a fireball and threw it at one of the trees behind me. It howled and vanished on spot.
Unfortunately, that awakened the other monsters that were disguised as trees. They all came for me, and I smirked as fireballs emerged from my hands.
Limbo was getting boring anyway. I was a machine throwing rows of fireballs at anything that moved. The only problem was that I was standing too close to the lake.
This time I wasn't going to take any chances. Instead of throwing a fireball, I lit one of the trees nearest me until it burned alive.
Using my fire powers, I lifted the burning tree and threw it across the lake.
Luckily, it wasn't too wide so the large tree fit perfectly. I jumped and ran across the tree log, crossing the lake in a hurry.
Ugly fish creatures with huge, sharp teeth and skeletons for bodies flew for me from every direction.
But my fire never stopped. It flew in every which direction. I almost considered if setting the lake on fire was an option.
But my fire went up in smoke as soon as the burning zombie fishes jumped back into the water.
The tree trunk rattled, and I slipped. One of my hands managed to grab a branch just in time, and I swung around it. I used it to jump the rest of the way.
It wasn't that long of a distance so I landed on the muddy grass in a squat. I rolled to break the fall so I wouldn't end up injuring myself.
But as soon as I turned around to face the trees, the fog increased until I couldn't even see my hands. I was hesitant to reach out in case there was a monster lurking nearby.
I covered myself in a thin layer of fire as protection. It worked when something collided with me from behind and screamed as they were burned alive.
The fog cleared, and I found myself face to face with a gigantic rock. But, it seemed like the rock was moving.
I called forth my fire as the ground beneath me started shaking. A majestic head rose from the large rock. It reminded me of Ziliá, and I let loose a burst of power.
The monster screamed in a screeching voice. It was so loud, I hissed. This would've been a lot easier if I would've been able to use my shadows, but I wasn't sure if it even worked in Limbo considering I was only present in the soul.
A huge tail swished from behind the monster's large, rock-like body. It was spiky and sharp. I immediately rolled out of the way to avoid becoming swiss cheese.
My power shot towards different parts of the monster. The tail kept swishing me back and forth, so I had to keep jumping out of the way while also aiming for the monster.
I wasn't sure if the attacks were working, but I was getting tired. I had to get rid of the monster quickly before I passed out.
A quick glance at my surroundings showed multiple rocks- both large and small. I blasted multiple rocks at once, letting balls of fire loose continuously.
The jagged rocks flew in every which way, hitting the monster from multiple angles. One of the rocks hit the monster's tail and the wail resonated throughout the valley.
Heavy fog filled up the entire room once again, and I waited anxiously for the next monster.
I had already covered myself in the fire but the monster never appeared. Still, I was on high alert.
I didn't know what was going on, and I wouldn't relax until I found out the answer.