by Rae Magdon
Lilith sighed as she looked down at her dirty black boots. “Not to mention that the smell alone is enough to make you sick.”
“The deeper Circles are worse,” Lady Godiva said. The dirty water lapping at her bare feet did not seem to bother her, and Eva was slightly jealous of the fact that the rest of her body had managed to remain surprisingly clean despite her nakedness. “At least this one isn’t cold.”
Lady Godiva’s demeanor was much more cheerful than it had been when she entered the Fourth Circle, and Eva couldn’t resist asking, “Do you think it helped? Confronting your... I guess he isn’t your husband anymore.”
“And I thank the Lord for that every day. Leofric is lost in his own greed. I want nothing more to do with him.” Lady Godiva gave her a narrow-eyed look over one shoulder. “But I am only human, and I was weak enough to take some pleasure in his justly earned punishment. I will have to ask God for the strength to forget my vindictiveness. The last thing I want is to end up in a worse Circle than the one we left him in to rot.”
“From the scraps of conversation I heard, he seemed like a real gem,” Lilith drawled. “Prime husband material.”
“He was certainly not my choice. Marrying a man never appealed to me in the first place, but he was a particularly poor specimen.”
Eva gave Lady Godiva a look of surprise, but before she could comment on that revelation, the three of them noticed huddled shapes moving along the bank of the marsh. Instantly, Lilith was on her guard, claws extended and glowing eyes narrowed. “The Wrathful,” she said in a low growl. “Be careful.”
“The what?” Eva asked. She lifted her staff and tightened her fingers around the grips. Whatever was out there in the marshes, she would not let Lilith face it alone this time.
“I told you, the damned souls that haunt the Stygian marshes,” Lady Godiva whispered. “Usually, they only take out their anger on each other. But they don’t normally have guests invading their territory, either...”
A few yards away, slimy, foul-smelling human figures began emerging from the depths of the marshes. Mud sloughed off them like rain, splattering sickeningly against the water below. Some of them opened their mouths, leering with sharp, crooked teeth. Their eyes were black pits. Eva hated to look at them, but she could not tear her eyes away. “Run!” Lilith shouted, giving her a push to get her started.
The Wrathful were deadly fast. They hurtled forward on powerful, knotted legs, snarling and howling like dogs hunting their quarry. Although Eva tried to run alongside Lilith and Lady Godiva, they were quickly overtaken by the pack and forced to fight their way past the mud-slicked bodies.
Eva swung with her staff and brought it crashing down on the nearest figure’s skull. A muddy hand gripped her calf from somewhere in the marsh, and she kicked out, trying to free herself. The slippery fingers loosened their hold, and she stumbled free. She jabbed the end of her staff into another creature’s gut, forcing it away from her.
Although she did not have a weapon, Eva caught a glimpse of Lady Godiva clawing and shoving her way through the horde. She avoided their slimy grasp as best she could, throwing them off of her with the strength of desperation. Eva tried to stay close to her, battering any of the Wrathful that lunged too close.
Lilith cut mercilessly through the approaching ranks, using her claws to hack apart a damned soul that came too close. Tar-colored blood sprayed from the open wound, and the figure hunched forward, its black organs spilling through its gnarled hands and into the marsh below.
The Wrathful were not difficult to kill, but their numbers were staggering. The first small group soon doubled, and more kept pulling themselves out of the marshes, leering and gnashing their teeth until they freed their slimy bodies and tore towards them at a quick lope. Soon, the three of them were surrounded.
“We have to break through and get to the tower,” Lilith shouted above the snarls and yelps of the pack. She kicked out at one of the Wrathful when it came too close. The others lingered at the edge of the circle, waiting for an opening, but they were impatient, and bursts of rage drove them forward one at a time. “There’s fire at the top. If we can’t fight them, we’ll have to burn them!”
“Which way?” Eva asked, keeping her back pressed against Lilith’s. She had no idea what tower she was talking about, and her chest rose and fell with the effort of breathing.
“There, on the riverbank!” Lady Godiva pointed, and Eva risked a quick glance. She thought she could make out a tall silhouette, but did not dare look for more than a second. The Wrathful began to close in, pressing forward with the sheer strength of their numbers.
“Go!” Lilith barked, unfurling her wings. Eva charged one side of the circle, tearing past grasping hands and forcing her way through the writhing crush of bodies. She finally broke through the border, running through the foul marsh as fast as her legs would carry her. She sloshed through the mud, following Lady Godiva as best she could. Their guide veered in wild directions instead of following a straight path, and the screams echoing behind her told her it was for good reason. Several of their pursuers found themselves sucked into the mire, flailing as they tried to escape the sinkholes.
“Look ahead!” Lady Godiva belted out. Eva found a new burst of strength when she saw a tall, sleek black tower spiraling up out of the marshes. A bright flame shone out from the top, casting the fen in an unsteady red haze. Normally, the sight would have been intimidating, but now it was a relief. The burn in her chest eased.
Lilith crouched, the muscles in her thighs bunching as she pushed off from the ground and launched herself into the air. Her wings unfurled, and she shot off towards the top of the tower like an arrow, streaking through the bruise-colored sky. Eva faltered a little as she watched her fly away, and Lady Godiva reached back to grab for her. “Keep running!”
The two of them pushed on through the mud, eyes fixed on the flame pulsing at the top of the tower. The marsh grew shallower, sloping upward into a steep, uneven bank. They pulled themselves toward the top, scrabbling at the mud with their hands, but climbing forced them to slow down. The Wrathful quickly closed the gap, leaping on them like wolves and screaming out their rage.
Eva flipped onto her back and kicked out with her feet, catching one of the damned souls directly in its mud-spattered face. She tried to pull herself upright with her staff, but it sank into the mud, and her desperate attempts to pull it free only made squelching sounds. She screamed as one of the creatures descended on her with bared teeth. Its twisted, angry features were hardly human anymore, and Eva threw up her hands, trying to shield her face.
Suddenly, the creature fell back with a violent scream, collapsing back into the marsh and disappearing beneath the water. Eva looked up, but quickly shielded her face again. The acrid smell of smoke and flame burned her nose and eyes. Through her hands, she saw a blur of red streaking above her. Lilith descended from the sky, carrying a blazing torch in her claws.
Eva tried to cry out to her in relief, but the foul, choking smell of seared flesh made her gag as Lilith burned her way through the horde. The Wrathful’s screams of rage became howls of pain, and several of them fell back into the marsh, ducking beneath the water for protection. The ones closer to Lilith were not so lucky. She struck out mercilessly, scorching their faces, swinging the torch and burning as many of them as she could reach. They flailed on the bank as they tried to claw off their own black, flaking skin, shrieking their agony to the sky. The flame at the top of the tower seemed to flare even brighter, lighting Eva’s way as she finally pulled her staff free and retreated up the steep slope. She hauled herself over the edge of the bank, stopping at the edge of a sluggishly flowing river.
“Quickly,” Lilith said beside her, still clutching the torch in her hand as she ushered them into the shallows. As Eva gazed across the river, she noticed another identical tower on the opposite bank. Its flames cast an eerie red reflection over the water’s surface, the
image constantly breaking and reforming in the slow current.
“Those things won’t follow us here?” she asked.
“No,” Lady Godiva said. “They wouldn’t dare.”
“Good.” Cold water rushed around Eva’s legs, and they tingled at the sudden temperature shift. She saw trails of mud floating away from her, and she ducked down further, hoping the water would wash away the filth of the marsh. “Don’t swallow any of the water,” Lilith said as she waded deeper into the river. “This is the River Styx, and drinking from it will put you into a permanent sleep.”
Eva turned back to reply, but a sudden movement beneath the water distracted her. “What was that?” she gasped, pulling closer to Lilith and nearly dropping her staff in surprise. She adjusted the pack on her shoulders, not wanting to lose her grip on their supplies as well. Something brushed against her leg, and she jumped, preparing to strike out. Although the water wasn’t exactly clear, she thought she could make out limbs and part of a torso to her left. “Oh Christ, not again. This is like the third group of creepy underwater people we’ve met!”
“No one ever said that all of Sheol’s punishments were original,” Lilith said. “The Sullen lie beneath the water, trapped in their own misery. Be careful where you move.”
“Yeah, yeah. Been there, done that. I’ll try not to step on anyone’s face.” Although Eva’s skin crawled at the thought of people lying beneath the surface of the river, she followed Lilith and Lady Godiva towards the opposite shore. She copied their steps exactly so that she would not risk touching any more of the shifting bodies. Just the thought of sharing the water with them made her uneasy, and she was afraid that frozen, clammy hands would reach out and grab for her.
As the river grew deeper, she had to swing her pack off of her back and carry it over her head with her staff. The water rose swiftly, rushing around her knees, her waist, then her arms. The river was cold, and her soaked clothes were almost no protection against the freezing current.
Once they were submerged up to their chins, Lilith dropped her torch, letting the river sweep it away and extinguish the flame. “I never thought I would look to the summoning towers for protection,” she said as Eva watched it disappear.
“Summoning towers?” Eva asked. She stared at the light across the way, wondering where it came from.
“Phlegyas is the ferryman here. The flickering of the light summons him when new souls need to cross.”
Eva frowned. Her shoulders ached from holding her arms above her head. “You mean we could have ridden across in a boat?” she asked. The weight of the pack became even heavier at the thought, and her teeth chattered from the cold.
Lady Godiva shook her head. Her hair flowed behind her like a pale golden banner, and Eva sighed when she noticed that, miraculously, most of the mud caking it had washed free. When they weren’t busy running for their lives, she really needed to ask Lady Godiva how she managed to look so perfect all the time. “Phlegyas is just as angry as the Wrathful. He could have easily turned on us. Better to ford the river ourselves.”
The opposite shore was rocky instead of muddy, and Eva found her footing more easily than the last time as she pulled herself onto land, dripping and shivering. She pulled her damp clothes away from her skin, but it was no use. The cold still seeped down to her bones.
She brushed aside wet strands of hair to clear her face, gasping as the light of the second tower illuminated their surroundings. A path wound away from the river, leading to a high wall of stone that stretched endlessly to either side. Even when she squinted, she could not see where it began to turn. Torches lined its battlements and flared high above the great black gate, highlighted against the darkness of the sky. The twisting spires and the sheer vastness of the walls made her breath catch.
Lilith moved to stand next to her, speaking beside her ear. “Welcome to the City of Dis.”
Canto XI:
And the good Master said: “Even now, my Son,
The city draweth near whose name is Dis,
With the grave citizens, with the great throng.”
Lilith stared up at the City of Dis with a mixture of fear and awe. She had seen it many times before, but the sight still froze her blood. The walls were made of unyielding iron, and two towers stood on either side of a high black gate. They formed an intimidating silhouette, each of them wreathed with a crown of spikes. An enormous bar sliced through the gate’s middle, and as they continued walking along the path, spurts of fire flared atop the wall. Their eerie light cast strange, moving shadows onto the ground and warped the color of the sky.
Beside her, Eva craned her neck to try and get a better view of the towering city walls. “Do people actually live here?”
“Uncountable numbers,” she said. “Sinners have been tormented here since the beginning of time. An entire army lives within the walls of Dis as well. They were the arrogant ones who made the mistake of siding with Shaitan during the Great Battle for Heaven, back when he was called Lucifer. Now, they are trapped here with no hope of escape or redemption.”
“Did you ever live here, Lilith?” Lady Godiva asked her.
Lilith shook her head. “No. I only visited Sheol when Shaitan commanded it. I was cursed to roam the mortal world instead. Truthfully, I should have been locked away in the Ninth Circle for my treachery. I’m still not sure why my punishment was different.” She looked over at Eva. “I’m grateful, though. Because I was allowed to stay on Earth, I met you and repented.”
The smile she received thawed some of the chill around her heart, and she reached out, gently catching Eva’s soft fingers with her claws. She turned, using her other hand to brush aside a lock of Eva’s soft golden hair. “I wish I had not needed to bring you here,” she whispered, “but without you…”
“I know.” Eva took her other hand as well, squeezing both of them tight. “You need me. And I want to help you.”
Lilith sighed and dropped Eva’s hands. She looked back up at the large black gate. “We need to get inside quickly, before anyone sees us. It isn’t safe out here.”
She was right. They did not remain unnoticed for long. Pale grey faces peered down from the battlements, staring from between the flames. Bent, feathered wings arched above their heads, but their colors were washed out. They were tall and slender, but twisted in strange ways, a corruption of something that had once been beautiful. She studied them with narrowed eyes, and Eva touched the side of her arm. “Are those...?”
“Fallen angels. Yes. They are some of the only creatures in existence older than I am. They are what’s left of Lucifer’s dark army. They do not want you to enter the City, but they will not try to harm you, either.” The fallen angels continued staring at them, watching as they finally came to a stop in front of the large iron gate. Although they were far away, their voices were loud enough for Lilith to distinguish as they drifted down.
“Who is the living soul that dares to enter the kingdom of the dead?”
“Intruders! It is the First One!”
“Turn away.”
“Go back by your mad road, if you can.”
The words whispered beside the shell of Lilith’s ear despite the distance. Her pulse pounded faster. She did not know whether the fallen angels had recognized her immediately, or whether Shaitan had warned them that she was coming. She stepped forward, standing before the gate. “I am the First One, and I am here to reclaim my soul. Let us pass.”
“Come alone,” the voices hissed, overlapping with each other. “Send the living one back. She cannot pass through the gate.”
This time, it was Lady Godiva who raised her voice. “Our journey is ordained. You guard the Fallen City now, but your former Master still holds power even here.”
That angered the angels, and they shouted their displeasure from the battlements, wings unfurling in the strange light of the fire above the gates. “Let the Erin
yes strip their bones! Let them be turned to stone!”
Eva gave her a nervous look. “Do I want to know what the Erinyes are?”
“No, you don’t,” she said. “Some call them the Furies, or even the Sisters. I have never met them, but I know of them.” She extended her claws, turning her horned head as she scanned the area around them. There was no sign of the Erinyes yet, but if they were nearby, she would have a difficult time fighting them all off at once. “They know only anger and hatred.”
Eva clutched her staff close to her chest. “I thought you said they weren’t going to harm us.”
“I said the fallen angels wouldn’t harm us. I never said anything about the Furies.”
A cloying, sickly-sweet scent forced itself into Lilith’s mouth and nose. She gagged, nearly choking on the smell. It was familiar, but she could not quite place it. Her palms began to sweat, and her heart tripped along faster. For once, she felt like prey instead of a predator. “We need to get out of here,” she whispered, stepping closer to Eva. On her other side, Lady Godiva did not seem alarmed. Her head was bowed, her eyes were closed, and her hands were clasped together.
Before Lilith could ask their guide what she was doing, a grating, high-pitched screech descended on them from above. She squinted up, trying to see past the dim glow of smoke above the battlements. Three giant shadows circled above them like vultures, drawing closer with each turn. As they dipped lower, she saw that they were not birds at all, but women with enormous wings.
“Keep your back to me,” she warned Eva, unfurling her own wings. “We don’t want them to get behind us.”
The three bird-women landed before the gate, raking the dust with their talons. Lilith gagged as she got her first close look at them. They were somewhat humanoid in shape, but that was where the resemblance ended. Instead of skin, they were covered in thick scales, and they leered with mouths full of sharp, pointed teeth. It was clear where the rotting, sweet smell came from. Each of the three Erinyes had a belt of living snakes attached to their waists, growing from the flesh of their bodies. More serpents were coiled above their heads, sprouting from their scalps and writhing about their faces like living hair. Blood dripped from their dead eyes.