Reborn: Age of Heroes

Three - Infierno

As I grabbed the mysterious man’s hand, loud shrieking noises pierced the air.

I looked over my shoulder and saw that the blind gray-skinned demons were standing up, probably realizing their prey was no longer beneath their swarm. The monsters hissed, their snake-tongues prowling in the wind.

“They’re chasing us!” I yelled as the man dragged me through the vast expanse of barren land. Despite the man’s slight limp, he ran fast. I had to force my legs so that I could keep up. “I thought you said that they were blind! Why on earth are they still following us?”

“Of course they are,” said the white-robed man under his breath. His voice was so low that I hardly heard him. “If you continue with your loud and mindless screaming, we will not be able to lose them,” he explained, keeping his eyes forward. “They are blind, and their other senses are dull, but they are persistent.”

I shut my mouth and focused on running. Everywhere I turned my head, the landscape was the same: dry and infertile land littered with sharp-looking pebbles. The packed dirt that we stepped on had a reddish hue, matching the orange-stained skies overhead. There was still nothing to see across the horizon; no clouds, no stars, no sun. Despite the absence of a light source, the place wasn’t dark, but it wasn’t bright either. It was as though the plane was locked in eternal dusk.

I set my eyes forward and noticed that the mountains were receding from my view. Not helping my curiosity, I opened my mouth. “Where are we going?” I asked, my voice low. I glanced behind me and saw that the blind demons were still at our trail. “The mountain is that way!” I added, shaking the man’s arm. I looked over my shoulder for a second time. “Why are we running so fast anyway? Those demons are slow. Look at them. They are so far behind!”

“I’m not concerned with those lowly ghouls,” the man replied, still not looking at me. “I’m worried about the Tyranid!”

“Tyra - what?” I asked, confused.

As if on cue, the ground shook. An ugly noise erupted from my throat as we were sent flying into the air from the bursting of the hard-packed soil beneath our feet. I landed on my face, my teeth clicking together. I felt a sharp pain flare from my face down to my spine. With a grunt, I rolled to my side. The impact was so strong that I thought I saw stars spinning in my vision. I shook my head and looked at what caused the ground to explode.

A colossal worm-like creature emerged from the hole on the barren soil. Its tubular and segmented body was covered in what looked like hard scales. Countless pairs of bony legs ran along the inner length of the demon’s body. Two enormous claws that looked like scythes protruded from its upper thorax, and instead of a full head, the demon’s front end was a gaping mouth filled with rows of glass-like teeth. “That’s the Tyranid!” exclaimed the man. “They feed on lesser demons. Among their favorites are ghouls and humans,” he added. “We need to go, Samuel!”

I scrambled to my feet without removing my eyes from the slithering demon. A low, grinding noise came from its mouth. The worm demon raised its claws in the air and lunged toward the ghouls. I tried to run, but my muscles were frozen in terror. My eyes widened as I watched the Tyranid swallow the swarm of gray-skinned demons in one swift movement. One ghoul managed to escape, but the worm demon chased it.

The Tyranid’s body slithered across the barren soil with tremendous speed. Its scythes caught the ghoul and tossed it into the air. The gray ghoul was sent flying, shrieking as it did. The Tyranid lifted its segmented body and rose to the air. It looked at least thirty arm's lengths in height. The gigantic worm opened its cavernous mouth, glass teeth glinting, and waited for the ghoul to fall down. The shrieking of the gray-skinned demon ended as it fell into the deadly pit that was the worm demon’s mouth. I saw the Tyranid's tubular segments move as it swallowed the blind ghoul. Done with its meal, the massive demon let out a loud, shrilling noise. The monstrous worm looked at me. It did not have eyes, but I knew it was looking at me.

“Move, Samuel!” yelled the man.

I wanted to, but I couldn’t. My legs were locked as though I was paralyzed. My body was trembling, and I could feel the loud banging of my heart. My eyes nearly fell out of their sockets as the Tyranid rushed in my direction. I raised my hands in front of my face as a last resort to defend myself. I knew it was over for me. I wanted it to be over for me. I closed my eyes and fought the great urge to scream. My ears rang with the sound of the worm demon’s shrieking. Its ugly noises grew louder and louder as it slithered and crawled to where I stood at an alarming speed. I felt the ground shake, and I knew the demon’s mouth was about to devour me. I released a breath that I did not realize I was holding as I waited to be eaten by the giant demon. It’s finally over.

Except that it wasn’t.

I opened my eyes just as I felt something pull my right arm. I was dragged to the side, escaping certain death by a finger’s length. When I turned my head, I saw that the robed man had saved me again. “You fool!” he shouted at me. “Run!”

I did. By some miracle, my legs were able to move again. I looked over my shoulder and saw that the Tyranid demon was turning around, its front end heading in the opposite direction. “I-Is it going a-away?” I managed to yell in between breaths.

“No!” the man answered as he dragged me with him. “It’s not done eating! The Tyranid is just circling back to its hole. It moves faster underground!”

I was terrorized. “What are we going to do?” I asked, raising my voice over the crashing and slithering noises.

“We have to get back to my cave!” the man shouted. His walking cane was strapped over his shoulder, and I wondered for a second how he was able to run fast with his limped leg.

I dismissed my thoughts as it didn’t matter at the moment. I continued to trail after the robed man with all the speed I could muster. Heart still pounding, I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see the Tyranid dive to the hole in the packed earth. The ground shook, and I almost stumbled, but I kept my footing.

The reddish soil continued to vibrate as the Tyranid demon dug under our feet. The tremors intensified as the demon neared. I felt the shaking stop for a complete second and thought that perhaps the demon decided to leave us alone.

I was wrong.

The packed earth beneath my feet burst open, and we were sent flying for the second time. I let out a scream that I would not be proud of as I fell down, my arms and legs flailing uselessly in the air. A sharp pain flared across my spine as I landed on my back. I tasted blood in my mouth. I shook my head to clear the spinning stars in my vision. The Tyranid demon towered over me. It tilted its gaping mouth-head in an angle as though it was looking at me, curious. With a loud chittering noise, it dived toward me.

And missed.

I rolled to the sides as my survival instincts kicked in. I realized at that point that I really did not want to die. AGAIN. I will run like a scared little child, but I will not volunteer to be a demon's breakfast. I looked at the man and saw that he was making his way toward a massive boulder. “Faster, Samuel! Run!”

“What do you think I’m doing?” I shouted and made a quick glance at the worm demon. It shook its mouth-head as though it was stunned from its unsuccessful attack. After a few breaths, the demon hissed and prepared to lunge again. The muscles on my legs felt stiff, but I pushed on. The ground shook again as the demon crossed the barren soil. I forced myself to run faster toward the large boulder. The man had already perched himself beside the huge rock, his arm extended. The ugly shrieking of the demon grew louder as it neared me. I looked over my shoulder, and the huge mouth of the Tyranid was a few arm’s lengths away from me, snapping. With one loud shrill, the worm demon dived. I jumped, my hands reaching for the man's. Strong fingers wrapped around my wrist as the man caught my arm. With great effort, he pulled me just in time to evade. The worm demon crashed its mouth-head against the large boulder with a loud thump. The rest of the demon’s body fell to the ground in a spasm. I did not know if it was stunned or dead, but I did not stay to find out.

“Come on, Samuel,” the man declared as he pulled me to his side. “This way.”

My breathing was hard and shallow. I felt like my heart was going to explode, but I followed the man, leaving the spasming demon behind.

Beyond the large boulder, the ground looked different. Instead of a pebbled expanse of barren red soil, the land where we walked looked like it was made from wide stone plates joined together. The path that we were taking slowly rose to a hilly elevation. In the distance, I could see a rock formation that resembled the side of a mountain. I looked over my shoulder to make sure that there were no nightmarish creatures on our trail. When I was sure that nothing was following us, I stopped walking.

“What are you doing?” asked the man as he noticed that I was no longer following him. “The caves are still up there. We should continue with our walk.”

I did not answer his question. “Who are you?” I asked and stared at him.

The man’s shoulders rose and fell as he made an audible sigh. “I will answer you once we are inside the safety of the caves.”

”No,” I insisted. My thoughts were whirling inside my head. I wasn’t sure if I was confused, scared, or shaken. All I’m certain about was that I wanted to know what was happening. ”Tell me right now. Who are you? What is this place? Why are there…monstrous things like that? Why are demons chasing me? Why do you know my name?” I asked in a barrage and realized that I had a lot of questions.

The man sighed again. “You are in Hell, Samuel. This is the second realm of Infierno,” he said casually as though it was the most normal thing to say. “I am Amias. I was sent here by the Archangel Raphael,” he declared. “I am your guide, and I am here to help you escape.”