I am the flame, and the sun, and the stars. I am the heat of the burning torch and the cleansing fire of dragon’s breath. All burning contains my essence, and I will never be parted from the miracle of flame.
– Kalomere the Red, Master of the Primordial Fire

The smoking, misty fields of the Dimlight encroached with the predatory hunger of a carnivorous vine. Jadis stepped carefully among the fallen corpses that littered the field, their armor rusting and overcome with the moss that coated everything in this place. “Stinking, rotting, and decayed. This battle happened a while ago,” she thought. Many of them bore the painted paper banners of their lords, but the infernal scripts angrily splashed over the banners did not clue her into who these soldiers had served. As she walked, the small red gem hanging around her neck beneath her tunic hummed at the approach of unseen creatures at the periphery of her sight. The buzz would itch at her skin for a moment before fading as whatever lie beyond passed by. “Easy now, Dua Pria. I know you are thirsty for blood.”

“Do not mock my vow to protect you,” came the whisper-quite reply in her mind. The annoyance in the tone made Jadis smile.

It was easy enough for the Huntress to navigate this place. Yet, even in this early introduction to this layer of Hell, the inevitability of getting lost in this place was obvious. There was an alluring pull within the mist, a curious ache that tempted her to sheathe her blade and wander into the trees. She wondered about how many of the twisted souls were the remnants of the humans who had been trapped here before the Veil had been put into place. Now that it was lifted…

Her eyes tracked across the treeline, seeing small flits of movement barely perceptible in the mist. She forced herself into stillness, an intentional relaxation that allowed her mind to focus on her senses. The scent of damp earth and the smoke from the firepits off in the distance filled her nostrils. All around her were the muffled sounds of living things cocooned in a thousand silences of a frightened forest. The air was moist and cold, unpleasant and draining.

It was this focus that allowed her to sense the weapon slicing through the air towards her flank.

Jadis twisted around, her blade catching the spear and deflecting it to the side. The force jarred her shoulder, but she easily ignored the discomfort as she stepped away to observe her attacker.

Of course it was one of the decaying, elongated soldiers she had seen wandering the misty woods; she had expected to run into them sooner or later. They were tall and lanky, arms and legs disproportionately long compared to a human. Each of them had been clothed in layers of woven panels like armor, iron sheets sticking out from the decaying, woven fabrics. This one was no different. Painted brightly with abstract red and blue splotches and a black and white dyed checked pattern woven into the edges of the armor, the soldier was one of the most brightly decorated things around despite the rough wear and tear it displayed. Its face was covered in a mask of a demon, red cheeked and bloated, bushy black eyebrows furrowed and two tusks protruding from the generous purple lips. The eyes were two black pits with a small red dot painted at the center.

“Hello, lost soul,” Jadis said confidently, though loud enough for only the creature to hear her.

“To the pyre,” it intoned darkly, voice lacking any sense of vitality or purpose, almost dreamily calling for death.

She shook her head. “You will go into the pyre before I do.”

The soldier lunged forward clumsily and Jadis easily deflected the strike again, this time coming in closer and kicking the soldier back, grabbing onto the spear. She struck hard and was not surprised when she easily tore the weapon from the soldier’s grip.

It fell onto its back and looked up at her, head cocked to the side. “I cannot be burned, I must not-“

Jadis sighed and cut him off. “Yes, I understand your conundrum. Maybe we can bargain.” Even in her world, soldiers were eager to make a deal even if it went against the ethos of their duties.

The soldier thought about this for a long moment. “Naraka do not bargain with humans. Humans come to our land and are offered to the pyres.”

Jadis examined the rough, heavily worn spear in her hands, then pointedly looked at the demon. “You are Naraka… hmmm…” She considered this for a moment and a new, easier course of action came to her mind. “Then let me rephrase. I am one of the Itor and you are my servant. Show me to the one known as Kaveris.”

The demon creature stilled, not looking away from her. “The Itor… they command the flames…” it said after a long silence.

She nodded, lifting her sword up and tracing the tip in an arc above her head. As if slitting open the very air, a line of cinders and fire bloomed from the line she had drawn, leaving a burning, sizzling curve suspended above her head. After a moment, it faded away and she said solemnly, “I command the flames.”

Slowly the Naraka stood, staring for another long moment before turning away from her. “To the pyre.”

Jadis blanched, but noted a much different sense of warmth in its tone. The way the Naraka had spoken the words felt somehow religious. Even despite her doubts, she was not one to turn away from a challenge. Since the day she had been chosen for this task, she had never backed down, absorbing all she might learn to aid her success. As she followed the Naraka into the dark mists, a sense of hope came to her that she might put lived experience to the mythical knowledge she had spent so long learning about.

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When Jadis had initially read about the Dimlight in her lessons with Dua Pria, she had not expected the descriptions to be quite so literal. Surely the Naraka did not burn their fellows who had withered into husks. It had to be exaggeration that the mists were a living thing. Such fantastical ideas had been laid on those pages and yet there really had been a reality that contained them. She had never dreamed that things could be so wondrous and terrifying as her lessons had made the Hells appear.

Yet here Jadis was, sitting among a collection of nearly thirty Naraka as they burned what they called the newest Tuliar, Mephazea, and Lucuro. It was bizarre to watch the Naraka de-armor their fellows, flatten their withered bodies with large pieces of wood and heavy stones, before being rolled up and fed to the flames. It was a surprisingly sterile affair, no blood or viscera to be seen. Despite this, watching the process had filled the Huntress with a sick feeling, a dread that forced heaviness into her belly. She could have sworn that Mephazea was still blinking and looking around when her rolled up corpse had been fed to the massive steel brazier embedded in the soil.

A chill ran through Jadis as she was forced to bask in the eerie silence of the group. They did not speak at all, the entire process known beyond the need for words. She could not stop imagining them all as puppets on strings, forced into action by a demonic energy more powerful than they could ever comprehend.

Dua Pria’s voice emanated from the gem, vocalizing inside Jadis’ mind. “Or they communicate as you and I do, mind to mind.”

Jadis tried not to show her displeasure at having been corrected, forcing a steady, nonchalant breath. “Perhaps. I do not think so.”

After a moment of silence, “No, you are likely correct. These demons appear to operate by rote.”

The idea that these creatures didn’t even understand what they were doing only intensified the sick feeling that these demons inspired in her.

They spoke no further as the burning was completed. The brazier had been filled with nothing but embers when she arrived, a spattering of glowing coals that would soon turn to ash. But now the flames roared high and the group sat in silence around the brazier. The heat of it was intense after walking so long through the cold dimness beyond, and as Jadis looked up to the trees and the shadows being cast into the night behind them, her eyebrows furrowed. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but the trees appeared to be leaning down towards the flames just slightly to drink in the light. A shimmer ran over the surface of the trees, so pale and dim that for a moment it looked as if the bark was crawling with energy.

One of the largest of the Naraka stood from their place, taking a step forward towards the brazier. After a moment the woven strands of their armor began to smoke and they cried out in response with a dry and airy voice, “The Pyre is Fed. This eve we lie safely in the protection of The Master of Darkness.” After the armor on its front was singed and darkened, the soldier stepped away and sat back down to continue admiring the fire.

“The Master of Darkness…” Dua Pria’s voice intoned venomously. “This bodes ill.”

Jadis did not respond at first, choosing instead to refer to her lessons. She thought over the things she had been taught for a long moment before saying, “The Master of Darkness, a primordial demon like our Master. Yet unlike The Lord of the Black Trident, this demon wishes to consume the gemstone.”

Dua Pria’s voice hummed a familiar, gruff affirmation that gave Jadis a thrill of satisfaction. “Yes. It is safe to say that those besides our Master all wish to consume the gemstone. The Master of Darkness, though, is an ally of Korzu.”

Jadis frowned, the first aspect of her emotions that had broken through her placid mask since arriving in the Dimlight. The visage of The Spider Demon filled her mind and she had to repress the cold, terrifying shiver that filled her stomach and threatened to overtake her limbs. “Is it careless to sit with the Naraka?” Already she was preparing herself to stand and leave, to fight if she must in order to avoid drawing such calamity upon herself.

“No, they are only the most low level supplicants. I doubt that the Master of Darkness spies upon you here. I would wager that it has been a decade since he has looked upon these sorry souls.”

Despite the release of tension in her muscles, this made Jadis’ stomach turn. Of course the demons were cruel and malevolent, was that not their nature? Yet the idea of being forgotten so thoroughly that the worship was all that remained… a well of pity opened up in her heart for the sad reality the Naraka must face. She had not expected to feel anything for these creatures, the texts she had studied did not paint them in a light worthy of even the most basic recognition. Yet facing them made it clear that the reality was not so simply rendered into truth.

Dua Pria’s sound of admonishment, a sneering growl, rumbled through her head. “Do not pity these demons. Their lot in life is one of their own making.”

Jadis did not argue with that, and decided to remain silent. It was easier to accept the harsh reprimand rather than argue with the witch. She was old, set in her ways, and would not likely be swayed with Jadis’ admittedly shallow understanding of the world. Even still, there remained a glimmer of hope that there was something, anything inside these demons which could be called kindred to her own spirit. She had never been spiritual, nor had she cared too greatly about the ‘meaning’ of everything. To Jadis, a question kept coming to her mind as she watched these demons, “Surely nothing can be made entirely evil?“

After a long silence, Jadis leaned over to the Naraka that had brought her. “Tell me of your people.”

“Jadis, do not waste your time with them,” Dua Pria admonished her.

But she ignored her, waiting patiently for the demon’s reply. It took a long while to formulate a response, but eventually they said, “I am the newest Litos. We keep the flame alive. We find fuel and prepare them for the darkness. We are the guardians of the flames.”

Jadis nodded, learning very little from the words other than Litos’ name. “And why do the Naraka guard the flames?”

Litos pondered this silently, though a handful of the others had turned to watch, their masks both comical and unsettling in their eyeless staring. There appeared to be no rush in Litnos to speak. Finally, the Naraka said, “We were chosen for this purpose.”

For a moment, Jadis thought on these words. “I know the feeling,” she said quietly in her mind. Then, she offered the creature a nod and turned away. “Dutiful to the last.”

“Dutiful,” Litos agreed.

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When at last the brazier had begun to burn low and hunger had reared its ugly head on Jadis, this was when she was led away from the group by Litos and another she had learned was named Pit. As she walked, chewing on some walnuts she had brought with her, Jadis thought this an unimaginative name compared to the few other Naraka names she had learned. But for a people whose only function was to hunt down humans and demons to use as fuel for their fires, burning themselves to death if others cannot be found, it seemed apt to her.

Dua Pria spoke up as she watched the dark ebb and flow of Jadis’ thoughts. “They do not die.”

Jadis would have audibly sighed in response if she were alone. “They lose the majority of their memories and are reborn as whatever they were at their original creation, I know. That is still as close to death as one can get.”

“Except for the returning to life part, yes. Very similar to being dead.” The dryness in her tone translated annoying well through their mental link.

“They are-” Jadis began, but Dua Pria continued speaking, ignoring the woman’s words.

“The Naraka have no memories of note worth mourning. Their lives are dedicated to feeding the braziers. Once they served the Mistress of Ash, but now they serve the Master of Darkness, and they do not even realize that something has changed, only their words. A Naraka could die a thousand times and there would be no loss to this world, child.”

“Unlike you, Witch of the Flame, I have compassion in my heart,” Jadis replied. “I will slay these creatures if I must, but I will never thirst for the blood of demons like you do. You speak so confidently about their reality, but how can you know? Aren’t you human?” Their old arguments, despite the well worn familiarity, could certainly flare to life when they had time to talk like this.

Dua Pria replied with a disgusted sound, emphasized to drive the point home exactly what the Witch thought of Jadis’ assessment. “Demons deserve no sympathy for their plight,” she said icily. “Neither do Angels for that matter, as you will come to see. Save your pity and heartache for mortals who can appreciate it. And I may have once been human, but that truth has long since been dissolved. So you will find no appreciation for your sentiments with me either.”

There were times that Jadis wished to pull the gemstone from her neck and toss it into an abyss, and not even because it would free her of the task. Simply being free from the ever-present, dominating personality of the Witch would be reason enough.

Litos lifted a spear and pointed at the mist in front of them. “The Mountain is there. Kaveris is there.” The words broke Jadis’ attention on Dua Pria and she gladly focused on the demon instead, her gaze following the line of the spear. There wasn’t anything visible, just a slight darkening to the mist that rose like blob from the ground.

Jadis nodded. “You have served the Itor well. The Flames shall protect you and mend you.” The Naraka said nothing and turned to disappear into the mists. In only a few moments, Jadis was once again alone.

She and Dua Pria did not speak as she walked on, choosing to put the argument away where it belonged. The dark blob in the mist resolved into a craggy, surprisingly tall rock formation that poked out of the misty forest and into whatever lay above. Jadis would bet that it was mist all the way until the sky ended.

The gemstone possessed a low level hum inside of it now. Whatever defensive magic that the Witch had woven into it, or perhaps their Master, was now activated and warning her of demonic presence. She kept calm, relying on the enhanced edge of her senses to warn her of an approaching attack. She could hear the scuff of claws on stones in the near distance, a chortling sound that was barely audible over the growing howl of wind in her ears as she ascended. To her surprise, the mist began to clear and beyond, pure darkness filled the sky. The mists hung as a dark grey veil over the trees, no hint of anything below except for a scattering of slightly brightened spots which seeped thin black smoke. It took Jadis a moment to realize that these were likely the braziers. She couldn’t help counting them, making it to nearly fifty before the spots faded into the distance.

“To your right,” Dua Pria whispered in her mind.

Jadis turned to her right, hand reflexively going to her sword and drawing it. For a moment she scanned the darkness looking for the coming assailant, but saw nothing. Then, a flash of six eyes blinking in the darkness, two line of three that were catching the invisible moonlight that made it possible to see.

“Hello, little demon,” Jadis said pleasantly, aiming her blade towards the unseen creature.

Stepping out of the shade of the rocky alcove it had been hiding in, a panther-esque creature came into view. It’s body was lithe and sleek, covered in a black, scaled hide. It had four legs, powerful and ending in hooked, clawed feet, and had two small arms tucked between the forelegs. The head was wide and flat with the six eyes clustered in two lines of three, curving up the armored face plate. It’s mouth opened like a wolf’s, a fanged jaw protruding from beneath the face plate and dripping with saliva. A deep, wet growl filled the air as it confidently approached. Though the beast was of a similar size to a human, she had no doubt that it was many times deadlier. Without her weapons and training, she would have been at its mercy and made an easy meal.

Luckily for her, Jadis was not defenseless.

As the demon leapt forward, claws out and mouth open, Jadis tore the loose pouch that hung from her belt and tossed its contents into a wide arc in front of her. As the powder filled the air, and electric charge made her hair stand on end and in an instant the powder burst into flames as a dance of sparks shimmered through the dust. The explosive power would have thrown her back, but the heat and flames wrapped around the bubble of that shielded her, the incantation she spoke propelling it into existence. When the flames were gone, the stone around her was singed black and the demon lay against the stones it had crawled out of, panting loudly. She ended the incantation and the bubble disappeared, heat bathing her for a heartbeat before the winds stole it away.

For a moment, her surprise was not at the outcome of the exchange but at the ease with which the flames and shield had answered her call. Dua Pria chimed in. “This is the result of the fields of magic inherent to the Heavens and Hells. The Mortal World relies purely on Anima for its magic.”

The demon roused, turning to look at Jadis with bared fangs. But its heavy breaths and the singed, mottled flesh of its burns told her that it would not be rising soon. “Tell your fellows what happened here. Should they wish to avoid the same fate, they will clear from my path.” She could not tell if there was comprehension in those six, gleaming eyes. Demons did not always have the capacity for thought and language. But the deferential bow of its head as it looked away from her unrelenting stare made her hopeful that this would spare her from having to fight her way all the way to the top of the mountain.

Not waiting any longer to see if the demon might recover, she continued the grueling climb.