Chronicle of Hells

Chapter One - Lost

Avishkar woke up after what appeared to be several hours due to the freezing winds he felt blowing against him. He sat up in surprised, coughing from the dry air and shivering from the cold. The surrounding was unfamiliar, with white mist dancing around through the winds. Avishkar noticed after a few moments that he had been lying in the middle of an uneven dirt path, large enough to fit several cars next to each other. He had no idea of where he was and had no recollection of how he ended up in this place which frighten him. Fortunately, his phone was still with him, which he rapidly pulled out of his pocket to check his location. However, relief quickly turn to despair when he saw the display on his screen.

‘That impossible…,’he thought in disbelief.

It was a first for him when he saw the lack of network on his device rendering him unable to call anyone for help. Even GPS applications failed to work after rebooting the phone. He closed his eyes and tried his best to remember recent event in the hope of finding a clue as to how he ended in this place. Bits of memories came to the surface, a woman running, an anger filled shriek and a sudden flash. Luckily, he was not suffering from complete amnesia as he still knew who he was, Avishkar Anoshiruvan, twenty years old and still a student at the local University in his native country. The faces of his parents, relatives and friends appeared in his mind. Even the face of his ex-girlfriend flashed suddenly.

“I rather know what happen to me that remember her,” he thought to himself as he got up and started looking around. He shivered slightly from the coldness permeating his shirt, which was an unnatural climate for that time of the year. Fear and frustration gripped his heart even tighter when he failed to see through the dense fog no matter what direction he faced. He knew that worrying over a situation in panic would lead to nothing and thus forced himself to breathe deeply. The cold air invigorated his senses with each breath, calming his nerves and focusing his mind.

Avishkar started to notice little detail that he failed to see earlier. The fogs in the air was dancing in a haphazard pattern, even going against the gust of wind coming from ahead, as if it was sentient. Through the mist, voices could be heard in the distance. Though it was barely audible, it sounded like several persons were whispering at the same time. As the fog shifted slightly, two towering shadows came into view on each sides of the road, which appeared to be some kind of structure or building given their size. This prompted Avishkar to slowly approach the structure on the left side of the road in the hope of finding a door or even a clue as to where he was.

However, once in front of it, he quickly back away after what he saw. Different kind of bones and skulls were fused together, forming a wall that extended on both sides in the mist. He ran to other side of the road only to find a similar towering wall as the previous one, made out entirely of bones and a greenish tar like substance holding them together. The strangest part was that none of the bones visible were that of a human. Many of them were larger than a regular persons and some of the skulls had more than two eye sockets.

Avishkar was freaked out by what he was seeing and felt uneasy with the thousand eye sockets staring in his direction. Before he could process anything, he heard something crashed with a terrible shriek. Even though the sound appeared to be coming from quite a distance, his instinct told him to get as far away as possible. He started running along the wall, away from the source of the noise, as fast as he could against the wind. At that moment, the only thing that matter to him was finding a way home.

***

About half an hour later, Avishkar was panting heavily from exhaustion. It was strange for him to be winded so fast given that he trained regularly using very demanding exercise program. Nonetheless, he pursued the path in front of him, catching his breath as he walked at a brisk pace. The wind intensifying with each step he took, blowing his long black hair back and piercing through his shirt. His body heat dropped rapidly due to the cold even though he was sweating profusely. It did not take long for him to snapped from frustration again.

“Where the goddamn exit?” he yelled, punching a large skull on his right.

Breathing in deeply, he strode forward again while feeling desperate. As soon he took his next step, he noticed his surrounding changing. The fog started thinning, allowing him to see his surrounding clearly for the first time.

The walls of bones on both sides of the road opened up in front of him, curving outward to form a circular section as big a stadium. The structure of the wall was also different where the bones and skull fused with multi-colored rock. Four other exits could be seen as well, each one leading a different direction shrouded in darkness or mist. The path closest to Avishkar was inaccessible due to a river spilling from it and swerving through the center of the area until it reached a hole in the wall on the other sides. The remaining passageways were all situated on the other side of the river. The only way across was a small wooden bridge that span a dozens of feet in the air over the stream.

Avishkar knew he had to cross the bridge to find a way forward, but he hesitated once he was in front of it. The wooden supports were rotten and the whole structure swayed precariously in the wind. He was concerned about falling in the river flowing beneath the bridge, which seemed to have been contaminated by chemical. Bright purple liquid flew swiftly in the stream, mesmerizing Avishkar when he got closer. His mind grew quiet and peaceful for the first time since he woke up in this place. As if in a trance, he laid down on the hard ground, his body tired from wandering for so long. As soon as his head touched the ground, his eyelids closed. He could feel his consciousness drifting away and he was happy to give in until he heard the whispers around him. Except this time, they were more audible and he could make out some of the words being spoken in his daze state.

“My fault…please, let me…”

“Don’t go…dad…where are…”

“Murderer…rapist…murder…

“Why…me…always me…”

“Pay…settle debt…no more…”

  Hundreds of voices could be heard at once and with difficulty, Avishkar was able to understand some of them. One thing that he did hear clearly from each voice was an unbearable agony as they kept lamenting. He tried his best to focus on what he was hearing even though he was still drowsy. As he tried to hone his concentration, he felt a weak tremor from the ground shake his body. After a short while, another tremor followed through, slightly more intense. This kept on happening intermittently for several minutes, each time shaking the earth more violently. Avishkar kept lying on the ground through it, his body too lazy to move.

“WAKE UP!” he heard suddenly inside his mind. He nearly jumped from the ground as he got up in a hurry. Panic swelled up again as his breath quicken. He turned to look at the path he came through as he felt the earth shake once more. The source of those tremors were coming from the same direction. Shrouded in the mist, a huge shadow was moving closer, though it was hard to make out the distance between them. Avishkar tried to move, but his body was rooted on the spot from fear, his mind unresponsive at the sight unfolding before him.

“RUN!”  he heard, the voice coming from within his mind again. This trigger his body to move on instinct. He immediately turned and started running as fast as his leg could carried him. He crossed the swaying bridge without hesitation even though the wooden plank started cracking and falling toward the river underneath. He jumped the last few feet to land on the other side as the bridge completely collapsed, steaming violently as it dissolved within the purple liquid. He sprinted ahead without thinking and took the middle path in front of him.

The path he took had similar walls as the previous section on both sides. Hard rocks of different color were stacked neatly on top of each other and rose to the sky. Every hundred meters or so, the corridor would turn either left or right, effectively hiding Avishkar from his pursuer sight. He was clueless as to what was chasing him or where he was going. He hoped that the bridge breaking down would stopped that thing from following him. But whenever he slowed down to catch his breath, he would feel the earth shaking beneath him. Every seconds he wasted allowed his pursuer to catch up to him. His mind was still processing what he saw back at the river when he saw it. There was only one way to describe that thing. It was a monster.

He was still afraid from what he saw, which prompted him to keep running. After a while, he stumbled and stopped to catch his breath again. It took him a few seconds to realize that the tremors had stopped completely. With a sigh of relief, he started walking forward again, turning to the left as he followed the path ahead. But once again, his relief is short lived as he came face to face with a wall of stones. The path he had chosen was a dead end.

“Goddamn it!” he exclaimed in frustration. The tremor started again, as if his pursuer had heard him and knew he was cornered. “No, no, no,” he complained as the earth shook with each step the monster took. He knew that he had little time to find a way out. He even considered climbing the wall in front of him even though it was hundreds of meter tall.

He ran toward the wall, ready to climb in desperate attempt. As he got closer, he noticed a small vertical gap between the rock in front of him. It was hidden between two large rock and was nearly invisible from a distance. Without thinking, he slid in, moving sideways between the hard rocks. The passageway was barely large enough for him, with jagged edge on each sides. But that did not deter Avishkar from crawling through it even when he got cut every few steps. It took him nearly half an hour to reach the end of the passage.

He exited into another circular section curtained by similar high wall. Humongous trees stood in front of him forming a dense forest with gnarly roots crisscrossing over the ground. The trees were as tall as the wall around them and larger than anything he ever seen. Avishkar’s gaze shifted from the trees top to the sky. This area was devoid of mist and thus allowed him for the first time to actually see what lied beyond.

“What the hell…” he thought, baffled by the sight unfolding in the sky. Thick cloud could be seen moving around, surrounded by lightning that flashed continuously and silently. The reason for his surprise was the color of the lightning. He was unsure whether it was a trick of the light or if he was actually hallucinating. Each fork of lightning that appeared was stained in deep crimson red, tinging the sky itself blood red. He stood contemplating what he was seeing until he heard something pound on the other side of the wall he came through, shaking it.

“You got to be kidding me!” thought Avishkar when he heard a shout of anger and the wall shook again, sending small debris falling. He ran in toward the trees, jumping over roots that was as tall as him. The wall came crashing down behind him in a loud explosion, rocks flying everywhere. He barely avoided one of the flying projectile as he dove in between two large roots, hugging the moss covered ground.

As he laid there, he heard the footstep of his pursuer entering the area followed by an overpowering stench of rotten meat that nearly made him gag. He had to clench his hands over his mouth to avoid making any sudden noise. The monster heavy breathing could be heard from beyond his hiding spot. Avishkar knew instinctively that it was looking for him by the way it moved prudently around the tree line. And this was soon confirmed when he heard it talked.

“Found yourself a great hiding spot,” it said with a deep irritated growl, “Come out. This hunt bore me now.”

Carefully, Avishkar hoist himself up to tried to get a glimpse of his pursuer location in the hope of finding a way out of this predicament. His eyes grew wide as his mind tried to grasp the enormous and horrifying being in front of him. The monster was roughly ten meters tall with a humanoid face with disproportionate features. Beady eyes shifted left and right, surveying the area hungrily. Two holes were visible below its eyes instead of a normal nose and large mouth filled with decaying tooth. Its face was framed by a disheveled grey beard and long lock of black hair that fell to its shoulder.

Its upper body look similar to that of a gorilla with elongated, muscular arms and bared torso covered in green hair. Dried blood along with scrap of meat could be seen over it abdominal region while its torso displayed several scars. While the upper body was comparable to that of a primate, its lower body was like that of a reptile with four limbs supporting it and wrapped in dark green scales. A single scale was bigger that an average human being. A tail of approximately five meter was attached to its rear, sliding fluidly over the ground behind the monster.

“Thing like that can’t exist…” Avishkar tried to reason at the nightmarish beast moving in front of him. He was so shocked that he failed to duck in his hiding spot when the monster abruptly turned toward him. A creepy smile appeared on its face as it stared at the frighten face of Avishkar. Before he could move, the monster swung the pole in its hand, in a horizontal arc. Avishkar narrowly avoided the weapon as he ducked on instinct. The trees around him, all of which appeared to have stood strong for an eternity were all easily destroyed and blown away. In instant, small portion of the forest was gone.

“Now, human,” growled the monster while grabbing Avishkar with two fingers. It placed Avishkar upright just like a human would manipulate a small doll.

“Welcome,” it added with the same creepy smile, “Follow me quietly. The fire lady is waiting.”

“The what?” Avishkar thought, confused at how the encounter was progressing. He stood unsteadily while he tried to comprehend the situation. That monster turned away and beckoned him to follow with its hand.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Avishkar took a step backward and tried to run. But before he could take another step, something hit him. He ended flying through the air until he crashed into a tree and landing flat on the ground. He raised his head in time to see the tail of the monster twitching.

“Follow. Quietly,” it growled, “Last warning.”

Avishkar had a few bad experience with bullies and hated them. His fear was quickly replaced by anger as he got up. He calmed his mind and started walking slowly toward the monster. He could feel pain radiating just below his chest, most probably due to a broken rib, but he weathered the pain and kept advancing forward. If his rib was really broken, he knew that he had to receive medical care soon. He contemplated all his option as he stared at the monster. It was fast given its size and its eyes could catch even the slightest movement.

“Its size…” he pondered as his gaze shifted toward its head. A crazy and reckless idea took form inside his mind but he needed a weapon first. He looked down at the ground around him, searching for anything that could be used in the wreckage of the fallen trees. The monster hated being ignore. Its expression hardened as it swung it weapon in anger, except this time, Avishkar was ready. He saw the change from the corner of his eyes and rolled below the strike. His body react instinctively as he sprung back up and ran in a wide arc, jumping over the fallen trees, to avoid the monster tail.

  Suddenly, roots burst out of the ground and started entangling the monster legs just as it was about to strike with its tail. Something else also broke the ground. A long, curved sword in a black sheath with thin roots wrapped around it, rose in front of Avishkar. He felt a sense of déjà vu when he saw the weapon. Without any second thought, he grabbed the sheath, the roots giving way for him. He proceeded to attached the sheath to his belt as if he had done that a thousand time in the past. The weapon felt familiar when he held the handle as he started running toward the monster.

It was pulling at the roots with its mighty strength but every time it managed to free a leg, new roots pierced the ground, thicker and stronger to wrap around its limb. Avishkar seized that opportunity and started climbing on the monster by using the roots as handhold. It took only a few minutes to reach the top of the scaly body. Once he was directly behind the monster back, he started scaling toward its head by using its body hair. It was harder given that the monster was trashing wildly while trying to free itself. Fortunately, it failed to noticed Avishkar ascension even when he grabbed hold of its lock of hair and kept climbing toward the top of its head.

He grabbed on for dear life on the top of the monster head and crawl toward its forehead. Using its hair as a harness, Avishkar dropped down, swinging from the top toward the large eyes. The monster eyes grew wide as Avishkar pulled the blade out of its sheath and plunged it deep into its left eye. Still seething with anger, he pulled the weapon free, ready to strike once more. He felt a sudden burst of energy coursing through him and he pierced the monster eyes again. Just as the blade hit its mark, the eye ball exploded from within sending Avishkar swinging uncontrollably.

The monster roared from the pain, temporarily deafening and disorienting Avishkar who still clung to the makeshift harness. Before he could recover and attack the other eye, a large hand grabbed him and threw him to the ground. The impact was so violent that he felt several bones in his body break at the same time. Blood filled his mouth as he experienced pain throughout his whole body.

“Fire lady wanted you alive,” growled the monster angrily, still entangle in several roots. “But you die in Labyrinth. No one knows.” 

Even though it was still trapped, the monster could reach Avishkar with its weapon, which it rose high in the sky, poise to descend in a fatal strike. His body refused to move. He knew it was over for him, thus he closed his eyes, willingly accepting his fate. After several seconds, the giant pole hit the ground a few feet from where Avishkar was lying helplessly. He opened his eyes only to find the monster expression frozen in shock, its hand clutching its chest. A green substance was oozing from between its fingers and dripping on the ground. The silence was broken by several gunshots that torn the monster chest from behind. It slowly turned its head, its good eye still frozen in disbelief.

“You little de-”

Whatever it was about to say was cut short when half its face exploded from another gunshot. Suddenly, its whole body started burning while the roots around him retreated below the earth. Avishkar failed to comprehend what had happened until he heard hooves clattering toward him. He managed to turn his head toward the sound to find a man robed in a dark red cloak, with its hood hiding half his face, sitting atop a skeleton horse. He was unsurprised at the sight of the horse after fighting against a ten-meter-tall monster.

The rider got down from his mount and quickly approached Avishkar while removing his hood. He had the complexion of a European man, with blond hair swept to the side and piercing gray eyes. His expression was quite calm as he crouched down and raised Avishkar head with one head.

“Do not fear,” he said calmly as he uncorked a small vial in his left hand. “Drink.”

Avishkar doubt that anything worse could happen to him at that point and silently drank the bitter liquid when the strange man lowered the vial to his lips. He immediately regretted his choice when his body started burning up from the inside as if his organs were melting. However, the pain quickly subsided and found himself able to breath properly. With a little effort, he even managed to sit up. He could feel his wound closing, his broken bones mending with each passing seconds.

“What just happen?” Avishkar asked the stranger, stunned at the speed of his recovery.

“I am relieved by your restoration,” he said with a satisfied expression, “I was unsure if our concoction would work on a human being.”

“Oh…thank you,” Avishkar said gratefully before grasping what the stranger actually meant. “What do you mean a human? Aren’t you a human as well?”

“No, not anymore. We should go before anymore krovir come searching for you.”

“Wait…wait a minute,” said Avishkar even more confused than before. He was glad that he managed to survived so far but he was still frustrated with the whole situation he found himself in. Angrily, he fired question after question at his savior, “Who or rather what are you? What the hell is a krovir? And where the f**k am I?”

 “Krovir are subordinate of the monster who assailed you. I am name Vincent. As to what I am or where you are…” he answered calmly, even though he was looking at Avishkar with pity in his eyes. He took a brief pause before adding, “I am a demon and…you are in Hell.”