Loyalty was not something he ever gave to others. As soon as he consumed the light and his body was invigorated by its pure vitality, he began to creep towards the dark peaks in the distance, with little regard for the ones that had lurked through hell with him.

Once at the top of the highest crag, he took a deep breath, sensing how three shadows crept closer. They did so cautiously, edging like water past the ridges. He kept giving them his back, staring up at the void, even while they stood behind him.

“How the hell did you escape his grasp?”

Jasna’s snarled question was justified, her bafflement shared by the other two. Although Aodh was not the most terrible devil in the realm, crossing paths with him was a death sentence for ones like them. The strong fed on the weak with little concern or struggle, always.

“I did not escape. The idiot let me down, mistaking my threat for a bluff.” Samuel smirked, hiding his infuriated shame below his unbreakable ego. “That disgusting face of his… I will tear it into pieces; as soon as I come back.”

Wan’s eyes opened with incredulity, seeing Sam turn slightly with a claw up. Its skin was twisting and bending, a red and white light tearing through the dust that composed it. The energy of a pure soul was flowing inside his flesh, for him to wield.

“He let you consume it.” The fact wounded Wanjala greatly, his fangs showing as he became more aware of his insatiable hunger. “You bastard, I should have been the one! I will not let you-!”

Raivo was smart enough to sidestep, knowing what would happen. He watched blankly as Wan tried to stride closer to Sam, only to be stopped by a lash of blazing fire. Jasna leaned her head and ground her rows of teeth in thought, not having much pity for the pained snarl that echoed.

Samuel clicked his tongue and extinguished the blaze that he summoned from his claw, seeing Wanjala back off and hold his burned arm. To make a point, he twirled his nails, to imply he could reduce him to ashes if he so wanted.

“I think your chance is long gone, pal. You can’t stop me.” That was a fact. His green eyes were aflame, glowing ominously in the shadows of the crag. Leaving them behind would cause him no sorrow, but he would certainly lament having to tear them apart to do so. Still, he would do it if pushed. “Now, we all know I will be back. So, I have a proposition for you.”

Raivo could not help but let out a sharp chuckle, eyeing how Sam’s spiked tail waved nervously. He was afraid, and he could smell it, no matter how much he tried to hide it.

“Ah, right, that smugness of yours won’t help you against that beast. Snaring twenty souls or the purest one won’t make a difference either; no strength will help you much if you fight alone.”

Samuel hated to admit it, but he had to.

“Correct.” He sighed and lowered his smoking hand, glaring at the three when he offered. “You are starving, craving the long-lost taste of fresh souls. Meanwhile, I need some sort of insurance, backup. As you see, we both want something. Promise to aid me once I return and I shall bring back enough for all of you to feast. We can grow strong enough to rip him apart.”

Wanjala did not stop sneering, but he did cease hinting how much he wanted to tear Sam’s limbs off. Imagining gobbling Aodh’s flesh made him salivate, for it would keep him from feeling hunger for a long while. Much more than eating smaller devils, for sure.

“Fine.” He pointed with a sharp nail, threatening. “Remember, however, that I won’t be satisfied with a simple small morsel. Bring me back a delectable soul, or you’ll regret it.”

Another one interjected, as interested, if not more.

“Not only one, many!” Jasna opened her huge wide maws, preferring quantity over quality. “Humans are fragile. Start a fire in a school, make a building collapse… that will surely cause multiple souls to be chained to hell! In a panic, one will do anything to survive! For example, trampling others in a rush!”

Raivo was much more neutral, having ascended once before. He knew that corrupting a soul was no easy task, so he simply eyed Samuel and was blunt.

“What you must do is use your time wisely.” Samuel frowned, seeing Raivo point above, at the endless flowing darkness that trapped them in this realm. It was the closest thing there was to a night sky in hell, and he finally had a chance to breach it. “Go, roam. Find a worthy target, the purest one you can find. Plan how to taint it wisely, and do not let it escape your grasp. Failure is not an option.”

Those last words were not only a reminder but a threat. If he came back without prey, they would make him regret it before he could be devoured by Aodh.

Samuel looked away from them, knowing well that every moment of delay was dangerous. It was not only because the soul’s energy would eventually fade in him, but because it made him a target at the moment.

Horrible beings lurked in hell, slumbering in the dark fires of the depths; not easy to stir awake, but all ever-present. Each second was a gamble, for they could sense him. After consuming that soul, he became a more enticing prey; not much for such voracious monsters, but something they could still decide to hunt.

Again, he took a deep breath. What he was about to do would hurt, in a manner that could not be described. A soul could suffer terrible sensations, worse than any physical creature would ever feel.

He knew that the price to pay was costly, yet it was still better than remaining in hell. With one last huff, he glared intently at the void over him. That flowing darkness was so severe and grand that it shadowed everything below it. Only their sharp demonic eyes allowed them to see, and barely.

The barrier was alive, sentient. It seemed to hunger, not one second passing without it trying to extend downwards, perhaps to brush the inhabitants of hell. It never managed, always a prisoner of its unnatural boundaries… unless beckoned.

Samuel raised his claws up towards the endless void. It always was so distant, yet as he reached for it, it twisted as if it had always been close to the touch. Threads ripped from its dark mass, to lower towards him in slow yet strong yanks.

It took a few seconds for those shadows to brush him, and all the while, part of him wished to run. It flowed desperately towards the light that pierced through his fingers, which he summoned as a lure.

More voracious than the biggest of demons, the void latched swiftly around Samuel’s claws, to then creep around his arms. Like chains made of dark flesh, it coiled around him with strangling intent, one that made the other three back off in fearful apprehension.

Samuel wheezed in pain, yet he stood his ground, his flaming green eyes piercing the shadows hatefully. Grinding his teeth, he yanked too, battling the will of the barrier with his own. It tried to consume the light he wielded, and when he hid it back, him.

He did not allow it to take and erase him. His nails sunk into the void, clutching it with the same ferocity. Like a wounded beast, its threads tried to retreat, yet he pulled them down every time.

Like water, his pull began to cause ripples on its twisting surface. He swung his tail and stabbed upwards, three of his limbs tearing through the barrier. Once he managed to break it faintly, he summoned the light once more.

The other three devils hid as fire tangled on the top of the black crag. A great will and power were needed to beckon the void down, much more to breach and survive it. They watched as their kin roared, ripping into the huge flow of shadows.

His figure sunk into the dusky stream, his claws tearing it apart and bending it around him. Red, white, and black lights tangled into one, his body seemingly consumed by its omnipresence. The top of the crag began to crumble, rumbling as the clash of energy brushed it.

He was no longer touching the dust that composed hell, his being pulled into the barrier. Even his inhuman green eyes had trouble piercing the living shadows, which flowed all around and onto him.

Once he pushed through, not even his mind could comprehend what he saw. Only his spirit was keeping him from succumbing to the ravenous will of the void. There was malicious sentience in it, not from one, but many. Its unending dark threads sometimes twisted into what resembled dissolved faces, souls that had tried to escape, only to be erased.

He managed to sink into the void, only to confront the remnants of the ones who were not able to make it all the way to the other side. Countless devils had tried to leave hell, to then perish in the barrier that god set to keep them trapped.

He could no longer see, but he still felt. This monstrosity was reaching deep, tearing him in a way no mortal would comprehend. Between earth and hell, there was nothingness, and that was what it was trying to turn him into. There were worse things than roaming a scorched wasteland full of predators, and now he faced that risk.

There was no up or down, no weight or gravity. There was nothing but the sense of something distant, an unseen path. And before it, endless clawed shadows that pulled at him, in a way that was not physical.

Going back was not an option anymore. His strength was leaving him. If he tried to fall back and reach the others, the void would not let him. He had managed to force his way through, and now he was being dragged deep… but far away from his objective.

An eternity seemed to pass, in which he tried to breathe but couldn’t. If his mind was clear, he would have said that the feeling was similar to drowning, just all the more ominous and dreadful. Unlike it, there was no sense of calm or serenity, even if he did not move or speak; he couldn’t voice his pain.

For a moment, he surrendered. Millions of maws sunk into him, without fangs or teeth. Piece by piece, his own light was torn away. His soul was negligible in the void, yet now it was even more insignificant. It almost erased him… until his light gleamed again, strong-willed.

No.

If he had a voice, he would have growled. Instead, his being burst aflame, vibrant red and green threads piercing through the blackness. Without a gaze, he saw that faint path, one that was surrounded by sharp immaterial thorns and twisting shrieking figures.

He pushed, pulled, yanked. He cut past every dark thread that tried to tie him down and dissolve him into the void. His flames rose, latching onto unfortunate beings that had stabbed him in desperate lament.

There was no sense of time, yet he could tell that every spark of flame took him closer. He heard the screams of the ones who failed before him, angered and jealous. The struggle was unrelenting, not only his.

It was torturous, yet he ignored all the cries and flashes of pain. He reached forward, close at last. As he did so, his body emerged once more past the darkness, a flaming opening torn in the void. He could touch and grasp it.

I’ll be free, no matter what.

He opened his eyes and growled, clawing fiercely past the fire and receding darkness. The last thing he saw was a white glimmer. It was familiar… something he saw when he was alive. All was black afterward.

——-

Sometimes, a lack of sensation could be worse than the most agonizing of pains. In hell, one felt a constant abrasive heat on their skin, but one that was not due to a real fire. It was a cold burn, a terrible one.

Coldness was what he felt now… yet it was comforting. It was nothing like what he felt roaming through those dusty wastelands.

It took him a while, but his mind did awake. As flames dissipated around him, his eyes opened faintly, his body no longer tormented by the ravenous void or the winds of hell. He sat up, staring blankly as he realized that his claws were brushing soft green grass.

His tail curled on itself, what he was seeing stealing his breath. There was no threat, however. He was cold, but it was due to the soft wind of the night. A lush forest surrounded him, the trees unable to hide the bright starry sky above.

He stared with an unreadable gaze at the moon, which painted the landscape with beautiful white light. He could smell living beings, not a trace of decayed dust. There were no distant screams, only the faint echo of wildlife.

He trembled, his claws moving slowly to hold his body. Anyone roaming the woods would have sworn he was crying. However, that was not what he was doing. His head soon whipped up sharply, his prideful and satisfied smirk revealed as he laughed more loudly.

Samuel stood tall, opening his arms at his sides while he glared at the moon contemptuously, taking in the air that the living took for granted. He cheered there, already imagining the sound of the heartbeats he could prey on.