1 Chapter 1
The smothering, fiery furnace of Hell…
He struggled as he climbed up the ragged rocks of his prison, his hands bleeding, his large, glossy wings frayed and torn. The dark shadows surrounded him, the soot and flames smothering him, but he kept climbing until he saw only a pinpoint of light. His breath sounded loud in the confined area, but he was encouraged, so he kept climbing.
And finally, he was there.
Out of the misery of his confinement.
From there he entered realm after realm of Hell’s kingdom until he reached Sheol. He battled the flames of perdition, confronted the ugly creatures that dwelt there, and cut them down with his sword until he finally reached the murky darkness where Hecate, the old witch, lived.
Bursting into her hut, he was wild with fear. When he saw the old woman hovering over a fire, he ran over to her and yelled, “I need your help, old woman!”
“Who are you?” she shot back.
“I am Adamas, better known as The Black Knight” he said, his breathing heavy and labored. “I am in rebellion against Satan.”
“In rebellion? Why?”
“When I learned that he had lied to me and the other angels on the day of his revolt against God, I amassed an army against him. We stormed his bunker, demanding that he release us, but he took many of us captive and imprisoned us, trying to force us to bow down and worship him.” Adamas gritted his teeth in anger. “I will die before I give that monster my reverence!”
“If you were imprisoned how did you escape?”
“I defeated the guard, and now I need your help in escaping the underworld, or I will die.”
“But what can I do to help you? And why would I? If Satan found out it would mean death for me as well.”
“There is no one alive who knows my whereabouts. I have traveled through the shadows, and killed those who have come up against me, so if you keep your mouth shut, old woman, he’ll never know. All I need from you is to show me where the vortex is.”
“You seek to pass into another dimension? How do you know you won’t encounter even worse there?”
“Worse than Hell? Are you mad?”
“All right, but how do you know it will be a world in which you can live?”
“You’ll make sure with your magic. I don’t care where it is. A desert. In any time. Any place. But it must be as far away from Hell as I can get.”
“That’s a big order. I’m not sure—”
“Listen, you old soothsayer,” he said, grabbing the front of her garment and jerking her forward. “If you don’t die at Satan’s hands, you will surely die at my own!”
His forceful actions put a look of fear on her face. “All right,” she growled. “I will do as you say, but only because I have no choice.”
“We are wasting time.”
“Listen closely,” she said, her voice low and secretive. “I know where you can get lost, to disappear among a people. It’s Earth’s third dimension. There are all kinds there. The poorest of the poor, or the richest of the rich—and many of them live in the New City.”
“I know Earth, but I know nothing of a New City.”
“Earth is different today. There are cities, towns. People everywhere. Blinking lights, machines with brains. It is one of the largest and the wickedest cities on the planet. There is night and day, the weather is cold or hot, and sometimes water falls from the sky. There are holy people there as well as sinners. Some will seek to cheat you out of what you have while others will be kind. They differ in looks only slightly, so you must be wise enough to tell the good from the bad. There is much to learn. Everything from the language to the exchange of money, and so much more. It won’t be easy, but if you want this badly enough, you will learn.”
“Get on with it, old woman!”
“Be still and listen to me!” She hissed. “I have to warn you. When you go through the vortex everything about you will change. When you get on the other side, you will become vulnerable to the things around you. Your feelings will rise and lower as does the tide. You will feel irritation sometimes, happiness at other times. You’ll face hunger, and your body will become tired, so it won’t be easy. You’ll begin to age. Your bones will ache—”
“Why are you telling me this, old woman?”
“To prepare you. You will be living in that world as a human being. It’ll be different than anything you’ve ever faced. And one very important thing—Satan is there as well as his demons. He wanders to and fro over the earth causing calamity. He will not appear physically, but his influence on those that live there can be deadly, and he can use them to hurt you.”
“Is there no escape?”
“Only through redemption.”
“Redemption…I…”
“You’ll learn. Now, come to the map on the table.”
Adamas walked over and looked down at it. “I can’t read this. It’s nothing but squiggly lines.”
“It is simple. We are here,” she said, putting her clawed finger down on a large red X. She began moving it along a dark black line until she reached a large red V and said, “This is where the vortex is.”
“But I would have to travel through the Pit. You know what that means. There will be fearful howling and gnashing of teeth. Screams, burning flesh, weeping, and wailing. This is what I’m trying to avoid. Isn’t there another path?”
“There is no other path,” she hissed. “Do you want this or not?”
“All right, but you’d better not be leading me into a trap, old woman.”
“The only trap is your stupidity.”
He grabbed the old woman’s hair, jerked her head backward, and gazed hard into her eyes, his voice soft and threatening. “The only reason I let you speak to me in such a way is because I need you. You’d better pray hard if I find that this is one of your tricks.”
“Your enemy is Satan, not me. Just do as I say and you’ll be free of this place.”
“Then stop all your insane jabbering and get busy with your spells,” he growled and watched her as she made a small fire in her fireplace and set a bowl of cold water beside it. She then took a piece of Venus metal, sprinkled it with powdered musk, and lay it carefully in a deep, round ladle. As she held it up over the fire, the magical flames leaped up and embraced the ladle as she hissed out an incantation.
