“When this is over, will you teach me yourlanguage?”
“If you wish to learn it, I will.”
“I should probably learn the language of mysubjects.” I tried to keep my tone teasing, but I was strugglingnot to pay attention to our surroundings.
“They would like that very much.”
“Weren’t there more hounds here?” Baleasked.
“Yes,” Kobal replied.
Something cracked beneath his foot and mystomach rolled again. Caving into the urge, I pressed my nose andmouth against his neck and inhaled deeply. His enticing fiery scentsomewhat drowned out the stench surrounding us. He rested his handbriefly on my knee and squeezed it.
“Almost there, Mah Kush-la,” he assuredme.
I lifted my head from his neck. If theothers had to walk through this disaster, I could at least sufferthe stench. Arriving at the remains of the first seal, Kobalstarted to put me down. He stopped when he spotted the bloodshedbeyond. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the main cavern, but carcassesand blood covered the floor through here too.
“Skelleins, stay here and keep watch foranything trying to come at us from behind,” Kobal ordered.
They turned as one and formed a line acrossthe entrance of the first seal. They brought their swords beforethem, holding the tips of the blades in front of their noseholes.
I stared at the silver walls of the firstseal surrounding us when Kobal continued onward. The walls bore noindication that the revenirs had been trapped within here forthousands upon thousands of years. There were no scratches on them,and other than the blood splattering it, the silver surfaceremained pristine.
Gazing up, my mouth parted in awe as Irealized the ceiling had to be a good ten stories above us. Theonly reason I could see it through the gloom above was because itwas the same silver color as the broken walls surrounding us and itgleamed in the fiery light. The light came from beyond the windowat the bottom of the seal on the left wall.
I lifted myself up on Kobal’s back andcraned my head to try and see out the thick window. My breathwhistled in when I spotted endless fires rolling over the top ofeach other. Though this fire was the exact opposite of water, itlooked like waves crashing onto the shore. Only these waves of firecrashed onto what looked like a large roadway beyond.
“Why is there a window?” I asked.
Kobal glanced dismissively at it. “Not awindow as you know them. There’s no glass in it. It is simply asee-through barrier as solid and strong as the walls surroundingus. It was created by the varcolac who forged the first seal.”
“Why?”
“So the varcolac could check on thoseimprisoned within, and so that other demons and Hell creaturescould see the fate awaiting them if they didn’t obey the laws orturned on their own.”
“How awful it must have been for thoseimprisoned here to be watched like that,” I murmured.
“There was a very good reason each of theseseals were put into place,” Kobal replied.
“Why weren’t they just killed outrightinstead of trapping them like this and putting them ondisplay?”
“Why not destroy every human you put intoprison?”
“That’s different. Were you trying torehabilitate those imprisoned here? Was there ever a chance theywould be set free again? We don’t put our inmates on display likezoo animals.”
“There is no rehabilitating what is here,and few demons ever ventured down here to see what these creaturescould do. I am probably the only one who has seen whateveryone of the demons and creatures behind the seals is capableof.”
“Why would you do that?” I asked.
“My ancestors imprisoned them here. I had toknow what I was keeping locked away, and what they would be capableof if they ever broke free.”
Kobal was not one to mess with, he’d killwithout blinking an eye, but I knew he wouldn’t have enjoyedwatching the things imprisoned here.
“At one time, each creature here had areason for existing. Even behind these walls, they had a use asthey still punished souls. Their crimes were turning on otherdemons or Hell creatures, trying to expand into areas where theydidn’t belong, starting battles they couldn’t win, or siding withLucifer,” Kobal said. “Things have drastically changed since thehumans disrupted the balance.”
“Souls can enter the seals?” Hawk asked.
“Yes,” Kobal replied. “Many wraiths who arelost, disoriented, or drained find their way to these deepestdepths. Some come here thinking they can hide from us and findsomething much worse. If we choose for it to happen, demons andmany of the creatures behind the seals can make a wraith take ontheir human form and experience their torments as a human with allthe agony a human would endure.”
