WARFIRE

Chapter 5

"You're a fallen angel," the girl enunciated, speaking slowly. "I'm a demon. We're on the same team. Team Hell, you know?" 

Amira blinked. That's right, she was a fallen angel now. A fact that she kept forgetting. 

"How do I know I can trust you?" 

"If I wanted to hurt or kill you, I could have done it earlier," the girl pointed out. "And I wouldn't have saved your ass if I wanted to." 

"Saved me? From what?" 

The girl peered at her like she was dumb. "From the imps. Duh." 

Amira was getting more and more confused as the conversation went on. "Imps?" 

"We found you passed out in a trash pile not too far from the border. You know, it's a good thing that we found you before they did. Otherwise, you'd be in shreds by now. Imps are vicious creatures."

"Who's we?" 

The girl stiffened, her eyes darting. "My friends and I." 

It was obvious that she was lying. Maybe she was trying to protect someone. Whatever the case, Amira didn't really care. 

Amira thought of the demons she had killed before her body decided to give out. So they were called imps. She thought of telling the girl that they had been taken care of but Amira didn't want to reveal any more information than was necessary. She did have many questions though. Like why this demon looked so human. Or why it had chosen to save her. Or why she was still standing here talking to said demon. 

"Where are we right now?" she asked instead. 

The girl narrowed her eyes. "What are you going to do once you know?" 

"I'm going to leave," Amira told her truthfully. "I'm going to find my way out of Hell." 

She stared at Amira for a few moments before bursting out in laughter. "Oh, that's good," she said, wiping away a stray tear. "And just how are you going to do that?" 

"I just need to find a portal. I'm on my way to the outer rings where there is one." 

The girl looked at her. "There's no way you can make it to the outer rings. You'd have to get past the Polluted Lands, survive the imps, cross over the Sea of Fire, and make it over the Meadow of Swords. You'll be dead before you know it." 

"Just tell me where I am now." 

"Why should I tell you?" the girl snarked. 

"Tell me or I'll rip you apart while your friends watch," Amira hissed, her patience gone. 

Instead of hissing back, the girl shrank, eyes wide. Amira felt a stab of guilt for scaring her when she had saved Amira but then she reminded herself that this was a demon.  

"Tell me." 

"Okay, okay. You're in the Seventh Ring." 

"Is that still in Hell?" 

"Yes, this is still Hell. We're in the seventh ring from the center. If you want to make it to the outer rings, you need to travel four rings from here." 

"Great." Amira brushed past her, opening the door. It opened to a foyer which led to the main door. 

"A thank you would have been nice!" she heard the girl yell as the door closed. 

Amira ignored her. She wasn't sure what she expected when she opened the main door--maybe pits of lava and torture chambers--but a bustling town was not it.