Chapter 5: A Piece Of The Prophecy

Everyone in town kept on watching over the visitors they've been waiting since the lost soul of an elder gave them the news that the heir of the hell traveler is arriving.

Their eyes were glued on Shane but for some reason, the lady's scent seems to attract their attention.

As the group entered the building, their presence seemed to vanish into the thin air. It's as if they passed through a portal to a different dimension when in fact nothing is suspicious and supernatural happening at the moment.

SHANE'S HEAD throbbed as soon as he step a foot inside.

"Are you okay?" Mara asked when Shane placed his palm against his temple.

Damien supported Shane's weight when he started losing his balance.

The searing pain in his head is unbearably bearable... if it ever make sense.

His connection with the place is unbelievable strong that he can almost hear it calling his name in a melancholic tone. He can feel his blood rushing through his veins as if they were screaming that this is supposed to be his home.

Despite everything... the connection and his body's reaction, he can't bring himself to feel at home as he feel like vomiting and cutting that connection.

Cutting?

For a second, he stopped feeling anything. He glanced at Mara with wide eyes.

The lady nodded. "It is definitely here, Shane," Mara said with a weak smile.

Mara also fell onto Damien's arm. Both are pale and the other can't understand why are they so affected by this place.

"What's wrong with you two?" He asked in a whispering manner.

Someone lead them to a cozy room. The man didn't even tried to talk or touch them. He kept a meter away from them even if Damien tried to catch up with his pace in order to ask something. It's as if he's getting repelled. What's wrong with these people?

AS DAMIEN takes care of his two feverish comrades, Gideon can't help but grin from ear to ear as he enjoy the scent of the visitors under his roof.

A snake slithered on his arm.

"Are we not going to kill the other two and take the heir, my lord?" A voluptuous woman asked in a polite tone.

Gideon laughed and then shook his head. "They're just kids who loves to play. Why don't we play with them for a little while? They seem out for answers," His laughter then got louder. "Treat them or tour. Make them feel at home or whatever. Make them comfortable. And when the full moon arrives, we'll take our time to feast."

The demon's heart beats in excitement as he plot a little game for those three towards their demise.

Gideon's horns grew larger when he opened a small portal to hell. He was greeted by tons of demons feasting with the souls they harvested for the day.

He entered the chamber of warped enigma. He bowed his head to pay respect to the seven nobles of hell.

"Shall we dance?" A maiden asked him in an erotic manner. She licked Gideon's neck.

"Lilith!" A man called her off.

The maiden then went back to her seat and then played with the seemingly white smoke chained on the table.

"I was just teasing him," She said.

Gideon's cold sweat trailed down his cheeks.

"When are you going to give us this soul?"

"In the next full moon, my lord. The promised freedom shall come," Gideon said. "All demons will soon be free," He said.

His eyes then trailed down onto the left ankle of each of them. The golden chains are what's keeping the rulers from leaving this room.

DAMIEN HATES that he can't do anything to get these souls out of this place.

Tons of lost souls are scattered around this place. They're doing chores as if they are still humans. If he could guess, their age ranges from five to eighteen. They were probably used as sacrificial lambs in order to get their objectives.

A sudden knock on the door pulled him out of his deep thought. He lowered his guard for a moment when he shouldn't have.

"Yes?" He asked with a small smile.

The lady smiled back. "The master tasked us to tour you around."

"Oh, is that so? My friends are still asleep though. Do you mind touring us tomorrow?"

"No problem, Sir."

Damien's smile immediately faded as soon as he shut the door. He glanced at the other two on the bed.

"Wake up sooner," He mumbled into the thin air.

His body sent warning signals through summoning his scythe instinctively.

"Someone close has opened the portal!" Mara said. She's panting and looking a little paler than earlier.

She just woke up from her slumber and this is the first thing she's said.

"I saw it, Damien! A demon can now cross on both worlds! They're slowly rendering the holy chains ineffective," Her voice us trembling.

Damien went to hug her and caressed her back in order to calm her down.

"Shh, they won't break out from hell," He kept whispering some comforting words but Mara can't seem to hear them.

She jumped out of her bed and went tp Shane.

"Shane, wake up! Wake up!" She said in a hysterical manner.

Horror intensified in her eyes when Shane did not open his eyes.

"He's trapped," She mumbled.

"Hey, what's going on?" Damien asked as he went hysterical with Mara.

"Damien, I need you to slash him with your scythe three seconds after I touch the chain. Do you understand?" She said as she positions herself next to Shane's ankle.

"Okay," Damien said and then summoned his scythe.

"Here I go," Mara said.

She winced in pain as energy travels in her body. Damien count to three in his mind and then slashed his scythe to Shane.

It miraculously grazed Shane's skin, leaving the man with a shallow wound on his arm while the chain on his ankle rusted and 75% broken.

Shane gasped for air. He cried when he met Mara's eyes.

"Mara, they'll kill us."

SHANE WOKE up in the woods as a kid.

"You shouldn't be here," Someone said.

He looked up. He saw a girl around his age sitting on a thick branch of an old tree.

"And so are you," Shane said.

"I know," The girl said and jumped off. "But I need to be here."

The little girl then slapped Shane. It was damn hard to the point that the sound  echoed in the forest. Shane's eyes became teary.

"Wake up, Shane! They'll kill you!"

The girl's voice echoed inside his head as several scened flashed through his mind.

He nearly vomited with what he saw.

His friends' life forces are getting sucked by an unknown force. His mom's soul got burned by crimson flames. Dozens of bodies are torn into pieces and their organs are missing.

"I SAW it, Mara."

"Did you saw it because you were with us or was it because you were with them?" Damien asked in a sarcastic manner.

"Dam," Mara said in a warning tone and then shook her head.

Damien clicked his tongue while Shane just looked at the latter without any emotion.

"If you hate the idea of coming here with me so bad then you should have just went back to Eternal," Shane retorted.

"Shut up!" Mara shut her eyes in annoyance, fear and worry. "Just try to not get onto each others nerves for a while, please?"

Both men glared at each other but immediately followed Mara.

"What's the plan?" Damien asked.

"What else have you seen, Shane?"

"I saw you," He stared straight into Mara's eyes and then dropped his gaze. "I watched you leave and Damien and I got swallowed by a black hole."

Mara nodded. "But why would you leave?" Damien asked.

"I don't know," She bowed her head and then massaged her temple. "Shane, in your dream, was there some sort of rock arrangement? Thirteen rock formations or whatever?"

Shane immediately raise his guards. Damien took a step back and then stared at Mara in disbelief.

Demons are usually acquainted with the number 666 and 13. Shane is aware of it since he's born in this town. Damien knows about this since he's a senior grim reaper who's been around before modern technology evolved.

"Mara, how did you know about that?" Damien asked, starting to get suspicious with his junior grim reaper.

The lady just lowered her gaze and shake her head. She doesn't know. She doesn't know how she knew about the thirteen stones.

TRUST IS what the three need in order to get out of this town alive. Now that it is slowly falling apart, no one knows what's going to happen.

Damien can't trust Shane and now, he's starting to doubt whether Mara is someone to be trusted or not.

Mara trusts Damien... so is Shane. But she couldn't trust herself.

Shane doesn't trust anyone. He just want to be free.

"I saw it in my dream," She suddenly spoke up after a couple of minutes of silence. "The thirteen stones are filled with blood and Shane is lying down the altar, lifeless."

Their knees weakened.

"This is hopeless," Damien said.

AS THE land of the living fall into imbalances, the Eternal decided to stop the hunt for the souls, instead, they're out for demons.

Low ranked demons started causing chaos in the land of the living last week. The holy chains binding them in hell has been broken, endangering the lives of the humans as they hunt for their bloods to get their rulers out from their chains.

"You can't stop us anymore, Azrael," The demon then laughed. "Sooner or later, it will be our turn to rule the world," He added before he vanished into the thin air after having his head severed.

And just when he was about to take a flight, an angel came knocking on his door. A messenger.

"What is it?"

"The turmoil in the heavens has fallen in peace but the wings of fiend is almost released," She said.

The message sent shivers on Azrael's spine.

It certainly is obvious. Even the youngest grim reaper can see and guess what is about to happen.

The messenger's eyes then released a golden light.

"A prophecy," Azrael mumbled under his breath.

"At the end of the great bargain between a fiend and virtuous,

Shackles shall fall on the fiery land of preposterous.

The sin will spellbind her folks for liberating a helpless energy.

The entrance shall welcome the people of blasphemy."

After she uttered the unfinished prophecy, the angel turned into a golden dust as if mentioning even a single word from it is forbidden.

"MARA, I'M starting to get a connection from Eternal," Damien happily said while they were strolling in the town.

"Me too," Mara whispered, cautious that the people of this town  might hear them.

"It's gon... oh it's ba-"

"Shh!" Mara shushed him as she was trying to listen to something.

"Leased," A soothing voice said.

Mara's forehead creased in confusion. She heaved a deep breath and immediately ran back to their room. She focused on listening and connecting with her comrades, not knowing that it is Azrael she's connected to at the moment.

Mara's jaw fell on the floor as soon as the noise from Eternal stopped. She wasn't able to hear the whole prophecy!

"Shane!" She called as she runs towards her friend's direction. She leaned on her knees while panting.

"Here," Shane gave her a bottle of water which she emptied in less than a minute.

"What did your mom used to say again? The one that has something to do with a lullaby whatever?"

Damien chuckled. The way Mara asked the question kinda offended Shane which makes Damien enjoy the unusual expression on Shane's face.

Mara glared at Damien though. Shane then sighed and nodded as if he's just doing this because he has no choice. Which is kinda true.

"With the depths of heat, sing thy lullaby. Dark shall perish, ties will be severed," He said. "What now?"

Mara held her chin and started thinking about the prophecy. It doesn't make sense. What was the bargain? Who made the bargain?

She can't connect the two stanzas. Something is missing and something is certainly off.

But the bargain must have something to do with the demons and the people of this town, right? It is the only logical reason.

"You know where the thirteen stones are located, right?" Mara asked.

"Not this again," Shane mumbled.

"Shane, if you want to be free, just tell me where it is. It will be better if you guys come with me though."

"Mara, what do you need from the thirteen stones?" Damien asked in a serious manner.

"Some pieces of answers must be there, Damien," She answered. "And believe it or not but I managed to sneak into the temple's library and found out more about the thirteen stones," She let out an awkward laugh.

Damien and Shane looked at je in disbelief. Both wondered if she can actually lead them in this hopeless mission. Because in the end, she's still the youngest among the three.

While they were walking towards the dark woods, Shane stopped.

"What's the problem? Tired? Or you want to quit?" Damien asked in an annoying manner.

Shane clicked his tongue.

"Mara, where did you get that scar?" Shane asked while staring at the scar on Mara's nape.

Mara hissed. "It's a birthmark, dumbass. Now, go. Lead the way Shane. We don't have all the time in the world."

As they walk deeper into the woods, they could feel the faes staring at them... scared.

Just... what have they done to this forest that even the guardians fear them?

Damien stared at Mara's birthmark while the image of it stayed in Shane's mind. It looks like a bruise, actually. And its shape is almost identical to a skull.

As the two men think of Mara's birthmark, the lady can't get her mind off the prophecy.

Why would they speak of an unfinished prophecy? Fate must not be toying with our minds, it is forbidden.

She lifted her gaze and as they come closer to the place where the thirteen stones are built, familiarity began to kick in again.

Shane and Damien threw her a secretive glance.

Damien also heard the prophecy the fate has just weaved. And if Mara and him thinks the same thing, then it will be easier, but if they doesn't, he's afraid it will be chaotic to the point that he mighy just choose to go back to Eternal and turn his back to Mara and Shane.

The scent of the place is too strong to handle, however, they forgot how to even breathe the moment they saw the Thirteen stones in person.

Each is connected by a thorny vine and are tainted by blood. Each stones holds a word which may just help them figure out the prophecy and put an end to a soul's loud cries and pleas.