“Very well,” Samuel said. “Close your eyes. Imagine you’re no longer confined by rock walls. You’re out in the open, air all around you.”
I did as he asked, closing my eyes and visualizing a field, open with the sun beating down on me overhead.
“Just breathe in that fresh air,” Samuel instructed, and I did, imagining the scent of soil. “Now, open your eyes.”
I lifted one eyelid tentatively, then opened both to stare around in wonder. Not only were we not in a crevice squeezing the oxygen from our lungs, but we were in the sky, miles from the ground. I froze, not daring to breathe as I stared down at the balance beam I was perched on. A gust of wind assailed me, threatening to topple me over into free fall.
“Samuel,” I said, trying to keep any hint of panic from my voice. “This isn’t much better.”
Samuel frowned. “Well, I don’t know what you expect, Callum. This is Hell. There aren’t going to be fields of posies for you to traipse through.”
“Fair enough.” The potion I’d ingested that had allowed me to sneak across the town square on silent feet would quite literally make my feet lighter, probably enough to keep me buoyed in the air should I misjudge and step off the balance beam. More confident with this in mind, I looked back and held out a hand to Freya.
She swayed uneasily, looking about ready to faint. When she beheld my hand, she grabbed onto it tightly, like a lifeline.
I offered her an encouraging smile before following Samuel along the balance beam. We passed through a cloud, condensation clinging to us as we pushed ahead. When the air cleared, Samuel was waiting expectantly at a door that seemed to lead nowhere.
“Come on then,” he said, nodding his head toward the door as he opened it and stepped within.
“Are you sure your friend is sane?” Freya grumbled.
“First of all, he’s hardly a friend.” I considered. “He’s more like a work acquaintance really. And secondly, I never claimed he was sane.”
Freya let out a breath. “Well, if I’m going to die here, best make it quick.”
We stepped through the door after him … and out onto a dark staircase. I blinked as I readjusted to my new surroundings. It was like a dungeon, torches burning in wall sconces, while the opposite wall was nonexistent. Not that one could escape that way. Far below, lava swirled lazily, bubbling and belching noxious fumes into the air, which smelled terribly of sulfur. This was more the sort of scenario I’d expected from Samuel.
“Up here,” Samuel waved us up to him. He nodded toward a door far up the staircase. My eyesight still under the effects of potion, I could see that it was made of skulls, just as the door to Lucifer’s chamber had appeared to me every other time I’d called on him, even before Samuel had taken over as escort. The bone gleamed beneath the torchlight, and I tried not to look too closely at the tortured shapes of the skulls, how their mouths grimaced in agony or opened in silent screams, still moving as if alive in their torment.
Freya clung to me as we ascended, not like the fierce warrior I’d come to know her to be. It was nice to see that she could be affected as well. Hell was a special sort of place that made one reflect on their lives and past actions, and whether they’d been good enough to avoid becoming a permanent resident. I’d certainly spent time pondering the weight of my soul.
“You’re out,” she said.
I glanced down at my chest, where she indicated my orb. “Ah, yes. I was in need.”
She put a hand over my orb and traced a rune there. It suddenly filled with a small amount of energy, although this energy was pink. I lifted an eyebrow.
“You can have some of mine,” she said. “I have a feeling you’ll need it.”
I clasped her hand. “Thank you, Freya.”
She nodded.
“Lucifer hasn’t been in a terribly good mood lately,” Samuel said conversationally as we walked. “Just fair warning, since I expect to win our bet.”
“The warning is appreciated, but unnecessary. I brighten everyone’s day.” I was about to say more, but something far below caught my eye. Heavy steam. I tilted my head to watch as lava cooled below, the orange lava rapidly becoming black, as if infected.
“She’s here,” I said.
Freya’s face sobered. “We’d best hurry then.”
We picked up our pace as we walked hundreds of steps up to the top of the staircase. I was huffing by the time we reached it, bending double to catch my breath.
“This truly …isHell,” Freya managed between gasps.
“Thank you,” Samuel said, not even winded. “Reputation is everything here.”
A crackling sound began to encroach on where we stood, and I peered past Freya to find frost racing up the steps. “She works fast,” I observed.
