The Purgatory Saga #1: People of the Fire

by Michelle Dalson

  We rushed out of the room and climbed up to the first floor of the house. I crept around the stairway and saw all Egbala nomads panicking and screaming as the hellfire burned through the floorboards from the basement.

  The Shadow Man was standing there, in front of the fireplace. He was the only spirit in the room that didn’t seem to be going crazy.

  I slipped out my rosary and got to my feet. Some of the spirits gasped as they saw the necklace in my hand.

  “What?! A devil child with the rosary? Not possible!”

  Keith snatched the rosary from me, but I yanked it back, giving him a fierce, devilish look. I swung the rosary in the air like it was a lasso. The rosary whacked the spirits that surrounded me, and set them on fire.

  “Stop!” The Shadow Man raised his voice and stepped forwards. Surprisingly, the nomads froze and faced him. The Shadow Man rested a hand on Jenna’s shoulder and faced me with his blank shadowed face. “Leave the boy alone.”

  The nomads murmured uneasily.

  “Come, Zach,” said the Shadow Man. His blank, dark figure was facing me.

  I stepped forward and tightly clutched the rosary in my left hand.

  The Shadow Man took my other hand and suddenly, all my four saints—Saint Grenada, Annabelle, Bernardo, and Hoshinda—appeared together above the Shadow Man. Then we all started to rise with the Shadow Man holding my hand at his left side and Jenna at his left. We were all rising higher and higher to the ceiling. I looked down with wonder as the nomads grew smaller below us as we all escaped through the opening in the ceiling.

  Before we disappeared from their sight, the Shadow Man spoke to the Tribe of Egbala one last time.

  “Remember what I’ve told you,” his voice was serious. “Mark my words and think about what you have done to yourselves. The Lord is always watching every living spirit, even those in the faraway confines of Hell.”

  We landed on the roof of the house. Dewey, Pete, and Cain were waiting at the edge with Gabriel.

  I slipped the rosary in my pocket and looked up at the Shadow Man. “What was that all about? Why…why did they listen to you so easily?” I was itching to know how the Shadow Man had gotten those spirits so enticed whenever they were around him.

  The Shadow Man didn’t reply. He wasn’t even facing me. He stepped forward and turned his blank, shadow-covered head to face the sky.

  From the thick gray clouds, a beam of light was shining upon the edge of the roof, right beside Cain and Gabriel.

  And from the beam of light, a white horse was riding form the heavens. Its rider appeared to be a glorious and valiant looking angel from the distance, but when he came closer, we all realized with awe that the rider was Enoch.

  “Whoa!” Gasped Cain. “That’s really Enoch?”

  The white horse landed beside Gabriel. It was facing us. Looking into the horse’s eyes, I could somehow recognize its spirit as the same spirit that had been within Ace.

  “See, Zach?” Hoshinda’s whisper was loud as she gave me a nudge. “Ace is known as the white warrior horse in Heaven, but when he comes to Purgatory, he takes the form of an air-type SoulBird. The only reason for this heavenly form is because of the heavenly beam of light.”

  Enoch looked much more valiant and kingly. He gestured us to come forward.

  Jenna, Cain, and I climbed upon the shining white horse. Gabriel and the four guardians were hovering above Enoch.

  The Shadow Man was the last one to climb on. He stood there, watching us as we climbed, and then climbed to the very back, just behind me.

  And Ace galloped through the gray sky. The heavenly beam of light surrounded the horse and lit the way ahead of us.

  Chapter Twenty-

  It felt refreshing to be traveling this high in the sky. I felt like I could soar to Heaven.

  Jenna was in sitting front of me. She looked to her left and widened her eyes with awe.

  “Look! Those are some of the angelic SoulBirds we freed!” She pointed.

  I turned to see that a mix of the angelic types of SoulBirds, mostly air and fire, were flying in the sky just a distance across from behind. They were coming from the direction of the Egbala house.

  I narrowed my eyes as I saw one strange looking SoulBird flapping toward us.

  “Hey, it’s that water-type again,” I recognized the dim-witted look in the water type’s eyes as he caught up to our side. He started quacking loudly at Dewey, who was upon my shoulder.

  “What?!” Dewey whipped around to glare at the water-type. “Great! Not that SoulBird again!”

  The water-type quacked noisily. Dewey yelled and jumped around, hovering off to peck at the water type. “Sheesh what do you want from me?!”

  “Agh!” I swatted my hands as the two of them flapped in my face. “Move it, Dewey! Geez, I hate SoulBirds…”

  Pete huffed and turned to give an indignant look at the two fighting SoulBirds. “Dang, not on the warrior’s back, please.”

  Jenna turned to glare at the noisy SoulBirds. “Someone make the water-type shut up!”

  Enoch turned and chuckled. “It’s alright. He looks like he wants to come with us. Let the little guy tag along. He’s no harm.”

  Cain turned and snickered. “We’ll have to give him a name. I’ve always wanted a water-type SoulBird.”

  Gabriel chuckled as he gazed down at the bird. The guardians were smiling at him.

  “Anyone recognize the spirit in this one?” Gabriel flashed a look at the guardians. “Dewey and Pete? You two ought to know this spirit very well!”

  Dewey paused in midair and stared at the quacking SoulBird. “Truman?”

  Pete whirled around and widened his eyes. “Eh? Truman? Is that really you?”

  There was an awkward silence as all the spirits on the horse turned to gaze at the water type SoulBird that was following us in the sky. The water type SoulBird blinked its blissful eyes, and looked dumbfounded as it continued to quack and flap its wings at Dewey.

  “Ugh! It is you!” Dewey flinched back with disgust.

  “Darn it!” Pete rolled his eyes. “Why ya have to follow us?”

  “What exactly is going on?” I swatted my hands at Dewey and the water type as they hit the back of my head. I was getting extremely annoyed. “Who’s the spirit is in this SoulBird?! Whoever it is, I wish I could’ve left him in that house so that he could rot in Hell!”

  “Now, Zach!” Gasped Annabelle.

  The Shadow Man lifted a hand and spoke behind me. “Truman? Calm down.”

  Surprisingly, the dumbfounded water type obeyed and stopped quacking. He turned and flapped over to the Shadow Man and landed on his right shoulder.

  Jenna rolled her eyes. “Finally! Thank you!”

  Cain frowned and turned to look at the Shadow Man. “How’d you do that?”

  The Shadow Man turned to face me. “Zach, has your SoulBird ever told you about the Four Beasts of God’s Throne?”

  I scoffed and gave an angry scowl. “No,” I mumbled.

  “They are the Lord’s faithful pets,” said the Shadow Man. He turned to Dewey and Pete, who were up in the air behind the guardians. As soon as he faced them, Dewey and Pete made their way forward to land on the Shadow Man’s left shoulder, on the other side of where Truman had landed.

  The Shadow Man faced forward and spoke to us. “There are Four Beasts in Heaven. There is the Beast of Nobility, the Beast of Wisdom, the Beast of Strength, and the Beast of Swiftness. They guard His throne in Heaven. As soon as the apocalypse started, the dead were raised into the afterlife and three of the Four Beasts came down to Purgatory, where they would become soul-mates for the spirits in greatest need.”

  Jenna, Cain, and I were listening carefully.

  “Only three of the Four Beasts came to Purgatory?” I asked.

  Cain answered my question. “Yes,” he spoke in a simple tone. “You’re looking at them right now.”

  I winced. I turned to Dewey, Pete, and Truman, perched on the Shadow Man’s shoulde
rs. “What?!” I was disbelieved. “They are God’s pets?!” I flashed a shocked glance at Dewey. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?!”

  “Yeah!” Even Jenna was shocked. “Why didn’t you tell Grace?!”

  “Oh…I already knew…” Grace hovered off of Jenna’s shoulder and smiled shyly.

  Jenna whipped around and glared at her SoulBird. “And you didn’t tell me?!”

  “These are the three Beasts from Heaven,” said the Shadow Man. “This is Dewelance,” he addressed Dewey on his left. “He is the Beast of Nobility. And this is Petriox, the Beast of Strength,” he addressed Pete, the fire type SoulBird. “And lastly, our newest visitor is Truman, the Beast of Swiftness. They initially came to Purgatory to become soul-mates of three spirits who are in the greatest need for spiritual help.”

  I narrowed my eyes. I didn’t know what to say.

  Cain was nodding with a bland look on his face. “I know this, I know this,” he was muttering. “Pete told me the same thing. I’ve known who my SoulBird was, from the moment I met him.”

  Pete nodded. He turned to Dewey. “Haha! So you’ve never told Zach? Why?”

  Dewey wasn’t meeting my gaze. He was looking down. “He wouldn’t have taken it seriously. He knows nothing about how important the Four Beasts are, so there was no point in addressing myself.”

  “Well, Cain knew nothing either!” Said Pete. “Hehe, I’m sure your soul-mate’s mad at you for keeping this a secret up till now.”

  “Whatever,” I muttered. I didn’t think I was going to make a difference whether my SoulBird had the highest position in Heaven or not. All that mattered was that I needed all the help I could get, before I faced my father again.

  From that point on, I felt as if I had met my SoulBird for the very first time. I didn’t know whether to feel distressed or thankful. I was annoyed with the fact that I was partnered with one of the Four Beasts of God, without even knowing it. But at the same time, it felt like an honor to be partnered with a SoulBird whose spirit was in one of the highest positions in Heaven.

  Even Jenna was interested to listen to the SoulBirds after that. Dewey and Pete told us the stories of their past battles with Satan, who also had his own four beasts. I learned so much more about their activity in Heaven that day.

  We learned about each of the SoulBirds’ reasons to come down to Purgatory. My situation was obvious. As the son of Satan, it was obvious that I would have the greatest struggle to excel in Purgatory and make it to Heaven. Therefore, Dewey—or Dewelance—was sent for me.

  Cain’s reason was a little more complex. Apparently, he was the son of Adam and Eve, who were the first humans that the Lord created. I remembered the story that Jenna told me about Adam, Eve, and their encounter with Satan. Pete told me more about the story. He explained Cain’s connection to the story, and that he was their firstborn son who had committed the first crime of murder. I was very surprised, but I kept my mouth shut. Cain didn’t seem to want to discuss his story with the rest of us, and he remained quiet the whole time. So we didn’t discuss anymore about his story.

  Apparently, Truman didn’t have a soul-mate yet. His spirit just recently entered Purgatory, and he was still looking for his designated spirit. Jenna, Cain, and I were itching to know who Truman’s soul-mate would be.

  That night, I drifted off to a deep sleep as the winds caressed against my face. We were almost to the next stage. In about another day and a half from now, we would be over the border cliffs and into the land of Pryde. I was thankful that Enoch and Ace had volunteered to fly us over the border cliffs. But unfortunately, Ace was not strong enough to fly over the next border cliffs after we had entered Pryde. We would have to climb the Evergrown Tree, in order to reach Primal.

  I felt my spirit fade away as I closed my eyes into a dream.

  At first, everything was dark. I felt like the only spirit alive in this force of darkness.

  Then I felt my spirit enter a strange realm where the darkness started to fade. Pretty soon, my soul started to chill and I felt like I was ready to freeze up. I knew where I was going now. I was entering the world of Primeval.

  “Zach…” I heard Prima Dona’s sharp voice murmuring through the chilling atmosphere. “Come forwards,” her voice was getting clearer.

  My vision blurred into focus and I was looking at the thin, white face of the ice sorceress. We were surrounded by everlasting falling snow. I looked down and saw no ground where the snow landed.

  “Hello, dear,” Prima Dona’s voice was edgy, but she seemed happy to see me. Her beautiful long dark hair hung behind her and flowed gently in the wind. I was hovering in front of her while the falling snow showered around us. “I’ve missed you, Zach,” she slowly brushed off a small pile of snowflakes that had landed on my head. “How has your journey been? Are you getting along well?”

  “Oh, Prima Dona…” I spoke with a distant tone. “So much has happened already.” I told her everything that had happened since I last met her. I told her about my escape from the Assembly Building, and about meeting two more of my guardians. I even told her about the strange Shadow Man that had tagged along with us.

  Then I explained our escape from the Tribe of Egbala. This had caught her interest, for her eyes were unblinking and intent.

  Her purple gaze grew even darker. “Hmm, you did not listen to these nomads, did you?”

  “Absolutely not,” I muttered, frowning as I looked away. “In the end, they even taunted me and tried to sacrifice me for being the ‘devil’s child.’”

  A low growl sounded in Prima Dona’s throat and she looked deeply offended. “No one calls you the devil’s child but your devil parents themselves.”

  I winced. That statement didn’t make me feel any better.

  Prima Dona batted her long, dark eyelashes at me. “Whatever did you do to escape those wretched fools?”

  I explained how the Shadow Man had calmed the spirits down, and then saved us.

  “Something about that Shadow Man is just….calculating,” I said. “He won’t tell us who he is. And whenever I ask him, he gives me some stupid, confusing answer.”

  Prima Dona narrowed her eyes and gave a nod. “Hmm. Interesting.”

  I looked up and remembered what he had told me when I first questioned him. “Well, he did seem to know a lot about God, faith, and the angels in Heaven. It was because of him that I learned that my own SoulBird was the Beast of Nobility.”

  “Ah, yes,” Prima Dona gave a sly chuckle. “That must be important. Tell me everything you’ve learned, dear boy.”

  So I told her about the stories I learned from Jenna and from the SoulBirds. I explained what I had learned about my father and how he was kicked out of Heaven before he came to be the spirit that he was now.

  But Prima Dona kept asking me questions about the Shadow Man. She seemed very concerned about the strange spirit. When I could find no useful explanation to most of her questions, she started asking if I felt prepared to fight against my own father.

  Prima Dona sighed. “When I first met you, you just seemed anxious to stay away from your father. You were only following the angels to keep out of his way, but are you sure you would be happy with those angels? Do you think you would make it to Heaven, and escape your father forever?”

  “Well…from what the SoulBirds and the angels have been telling me, I’m starting to get curious about the Lord. I would like to know a little bit more about Him, since He may be my only hope. So yes, I’m actually excited to get to Primal. I hope to meet up with Michael and the angels and fight off that terrible Beast so that I can perhaps earn another reward to advance to the higher lands.” I chuckled and gave her a naughty expression. “I only have a thousand years to get to Heaven, so I should start learning all that I can.” According to the stories that I had recently learned from the Shadow Man, we had a thousand years after the beginning of the apocalypse before the Lord would exterminate all traces of evil forever. That meant we had thousand years in Purgatory to
make it safely to Heaven, or perish with the other spirits of evil.

  Prima Dona looked a little wry. “Hmm,” she said with a nod. “I see that you’ve become happier about your world. That’s a good start, I guess.”

  “Oh yeah,” I said with a chuckle. “I mean….I’ve learned so much more from Dewey, now that he’s finally revealed who he is. And with the angels, Gabriel and Enoch, I am learning more about what it would be like to live in the kingdom of Heaven.” And I explained to her about the significance of the Second Coming of the Messiah. I told her about what it took for a spirit to get to Heaven, and how merciful the Lord was to have provided Purgatory for spirits who need a second chance.

  “You sure seem to know your stuff much better now,” said Prima Dona in a cold tone.

  I faced her carefully. “Aren’t you proud of me? I mean…I still haven’t told anyone about you, and no one has heard anything about who you are. Not even Dewey.”

  “Ah, of course I am proud of you, dear,” cooed Prima Dona. “Just…why is it that you would want to defeat the Beast, who is a special partner of your own father? Hmm? The Satan Beast may be a danger, but why defeat it and throw it down if you aren’t going with it yourself?” She looked at me carefully. “Satan is your father, Zach. He’s part of you. He came to Earth in the form of Lucien, and ruled as the last king of Jerusalem. Now he’s ruling the Earth, and he’s summoning the Beast from Hell so that Purgatory may also become subjected to his power. Wouldn’t it be unfaithful for you to defeat your father’s own creation?”

  I raised my eyebrows and felt a tightening in my chest. “What do you mean?”

  “Think about it,” said Prima Dona carefully. “You are only in the world of Purgatory because your dear little saints from Heaven have blessed you and prevented pure evil from entering your soul. But you still have that evilness in your heart, since you do share blood with Satan. You may be blessed by five guardians, but that isn’t enough to eliminate the entire evilness that rushes through your blood. You cannot change your heredity. You are still part of Satan, no matter how many guardians bless your soul. This is why you are in Purgatory—because you have two sides within you. And pretty soon, one side is going to have to win over the other. You have to choose which side to live with.”