Inferno

P R Ę F A C Ę

P R Ę F A C Ę

Metal screeched against a chrome walkway. Through a dark labyrinth a woman staggered, draped in her arms was the body of a deceased child.

Every step she took assaulted her nerves with blinding torment. War had ravaged the woman thoroughly, the steel armour she wore had blown apart. It clung to her body in precarious pieces, flesh displayed for the world to see, much of it burnt from the kiss of fire. From head to toe her skin was flayed open, pink and red burns swirled in shiny patterns. The woman's eyes were a dull devoid green. Silver locks protruded from her patchy scalp, which shrouded her gaunt face. Tendrils that hadn't burnt away were covered in ash, a few locks plastered to her jaw, which was bloodstained. A trail of red trickled down the corner of her mouth, pebbled to a drop at her chin, then fell onto the child's forehead.

A small delicate girl nestled close to the disfigured woman's breastplate. Soot layered over the young child's raven hair, as her skin was smeared with dirt. The edges of her blue nightgown had fallen apart, undoing the thread. Her eyes looked like two crescent moons, almost as if she were asleep, but this was far from true. Death lingered around the child and seeped into her silhouette.

The labyrinth opened to reveal an expansive ice cavern, in the midst of the cavern awaited an empty glass coffin. Emerald spears jutted from the high ceiling. Smooth walls of white limestone layered heavy with frost. The woman's exhale came out in a foggy smoke of white. Her bloody footsteps imprinted onto the chrome floor.

Once she had reached the center of the cave she painstakingly forced herself to her knees. Cradling the child with one hand, the other hand went to the young one's temple. The woman's lips moved as a hex began to take form.

A ray of light shone in the child's forehead then came out into the open in the shape of an orb. The woman parted her lips and inhaled the child's memories, her insides warmed as if she had swallowed a star.

The woman gently laid the child into the coffin. Her hands hovered over the body a smoky haze enveloped the child, it ate away the dirt and grime completely rendering her clean. A royal gown of snow white replaced the atrocious blue dress. A jeweled crown of white gleamed in her lustrous mane of black. A broken pendant curved around her throat, the tail of a serpent curved around a sword.

The woman rose, she tore a piece of her armour off and slashed her palm open. Black tar gushed forward with ease, and she circled around the body three times, staining the path with her essence.

The glass flashed a a bright red, nearly blinding the woman.

"How do you extinguish light? You sever the cord at the root. My flame is gone, so I will conquer the light from the world and command it into the dark, keep it as my own."

Her calloused hands lifted the casing over the coffin. She took a few steps back and raised both of her hands.

"Let Purgatory rise."

A marble fountain surrounded the coffin, then held it in its hold. The sound of rushing water flooded the quiet, as desolate grey liquid brimmed to the top of the fountain. The coffin sunk below, swallowed by Purgatory.

The woman vanished into the shadows.