The Purgatory Saga #1: People of the Fire

by Michelle Dalson

  The white-dressed man looked at me with raised eyebrows. “Ah, yes. Zach. We’ve all heard of you. The whole kingdom continuously receives complaints from St. Gretchen.” The man winked at me with an amused gaze.

  “Zach, this is Enoch,” Lucien gave a nod to the white-dressed man at his right. “He is my assistant. As a matter of fact, he used to be Higher One of Bhad before he decided to let me take his place.”

  I tried not to frown. The Mediums of my academy have always told me that Lucien “took over” as the Higher One.

  “Anytime you have anything to share with me, speak to Enoch first,” Lucien was eying me. “Judging by what’s been going on lately, it looks as if I will be busy most of the time.”

  Enoch was nodding at me. “Well, it’s nice to meet the outlaw of St. Gretchen’s,” he said.

  I scowled at the spirit and looked away.

  Lucien gave Enoch a raised look. “Take good care of the boy for me, for I will be escorting the flame warriors to the upper fields. Feel free to give Zach a tour of the kingdom. Zach? Please cooperate with this spirit. Since he would have been Higher One, he has connection with the Father.” Lucien’s eyes flashed. “He is the one who translates the Father’s messages to me and the rest of the kingdom.”

  I blinked at Enoch, who was fixing me with a calm smile. So Enoch must be very valuable to Lucien. I wondered if Lucien trusted that Enoch would discuss the happenings in Heaven truthfully.

  Lucien dismissed us and disappeared into the crowds. Enoch walked me toward a quieter road that led to the palace.

  “I see that you’re wearing a rosary,” Enoch narrowed his eyes and looked at me with a studying gaze. “Zach, you aren’t supposed to have such things around here, especially when you’re in the kingdom of Zellux.”

  I winced. “Lucien didn’t seem to be bothered by it.”

  “It’s not just Lucien,” said Enoch carefully. “If you’re not careful, you may attract some unfriendly spirits. If I were you, I’d take that rosary off and keep it hidden.”

  I rolled my eyes. “My SoulBird made me wear this, so if I get into trouble, it will be his responsibility to get his butt out of Heaven and save me.”

  The kingdom of Zellux was a wondrous city full of high buildings. Bridges connected the tops. Devilish SoulBirds were moving in and out of the buildings with the spirits, and kept the city in its busy looking state. The entire place was like another version of those cities in Star Wars.

  As Enoch toured me around the rest of the great kingdom, I longed to ask him about his identity. He must know some very valuable information about Lucien. I was confused whether Lucien was a horrendous monster from Hell who had unjustly taken over the land of Bhad, or if he was what he claimed he was. At the core of the Earth, Lucien had admitted he was a spirit from Hell. He claimed he was here to “protect” the lands of Bhad from the hell creatures of the underworld, since our land was so close to Hell. That was different from what the rumors said about him.

  The bridges that we walked over from building to building were amazing. Everywhere I went, though, I was met by blank stares from the spirits that lived here. Apparently, they did recognize me as the outlaw of St. Gretchen’s Academy.

  As we made our way across a street, I looked up at the sky. It seemed so far away with all these tall buildings. I saw that it was starting to darken. From the thickness of the clouds, it looked like it was going to rain.

  “Alright, we don’t have much time, Zach,” Enoch sounded urgent. “Over here is the temple of Harg.”

  In the distance, I could see a tall dark building behind the gates surrounding the kingdom. The building was triangular with a sharp roof at the top. The doors in front were old and plastered with red.

  “That’s a temple?”

  “Well, that’s what Lucien calls it,” Enoch muttered. “That ‘temple’ is more of a place to worship the devil. But only Lucien knows that.”

  I was itching more and more to ask Enoch a bunch of questions that I had about Lucien. But Enoch was anxiously turning his gaze around. He looked as if he were expecting someone to jump out and attack us. I had the feeling that Enoch wasn’t supposed to show this place to me.

  “Come on,” he spoke in a quiet voice. “Let’s get back to the palace.”

  Enoch and I hurried through a dark alley. We found an enclosed area where a low bridge arched over our heads and two buildings at both our sides.

  “Okay, so who are you exactly?” I looked at Enoch with a narrowed gaze. “Tell me a little more about the temple. Does Lucien talk to Satan there or something?”

  “Worse. He worships Satan there.”

  I winced. “Isn’t that supposed to be bad? Lucien admitted he was from Hell, but he also said that he’s here to protect us from Hell. Is that true?”

  “It’s quite complicated,” muttered Enoch. “I don’t have much time to explain too much, but you can ask your Uncle E about it.”

  “So you know my uncle too!” I cursed with frustration. I didn’t know who to listen to. If Enoch was a spirit from Heaven, he must know the truth about me as well. He might provide some useful background information about my mortal life on Earth, if only he chose to.

  “Zach, listen. All I can say is that Lucien is a terrible leader. You may not know it, but he’s plotting something, not only for Bhad, but for the entire world of Purgatory.”

  “What?” My voice grew very quiet. “How?”

  “He’s a soul from Hell. Obviously, he’s up to no good. What can you expect from a soul from Hell? Take a look around you. Lucien is rebuilding cities for the hell creatures.

  “And Lucien has told you about saving the stage of Bhad from the confines of Hell, especially now that they are easily rising up and breaking through. Did he tell you that?”

  I nodded.

  “Well, that’s just what he wants you to think. What Lucien really wants is to pull the land of Bhad into Hell, since this stage of Purgatory is located very close to Hell. Then slowly, he will prey on the other stages one by one, and do the same thing for each stage of Purgatory. He wants have Purgatory under his control, just like he has Earth under his control right now. You can Earth in its ruins for yourself! This world has sinned, it has been destroyed, and now the leftovers of the planet are being overrun by Satan’s hellish fiends until the entire apocalypse makes the whole world disappear. But as for Purgatory, Heaven, and Hell, they are immortal worlds of the spirit dimension, and they can never disappear like Earth has. Therefore, Lucien is targeting the worlds with a stronger hellish army, and he is starting with Purgatory. Lucien plans to take over that world, before he reaches Heaven.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” I winced, feeling suspicious to hear another spirit talk bad about Lucien in his own city. It was even stranger that Enoch was discussing this with a spirit like me.

  “Don’t you have a father in Hell?” Enoch gazed at me carefully.

  “Yeah, but I don’t even remember who he is.”

  “Oh…” Enoch looked a little distracted. But then he said, “You’ve met the one of the golden holy SoulBirds, have you not?” Enoch eyed me closely. “Those SoulBirds can control the worlds of the afterlife. That’s why Lucien wants them under his power, and that’s why he’s sent your uncle to retrieve them while he deals with the rest of this land.”

  I looked down, shaking my head slowly with disbelief. “I bet all this is happening because of Earth’s apocalypse. More spirits are dying, and therefore, more are coming to the afterlife. Satan must want to drag as many of them into his world. Many spirits have already gone to Hell, so Satan must be pretty powerful now. He’ll use the new spirits to rise against the other immortal worlds as well…”

  “You got that right,” Enoch was nodding. “I’m glad I got a good chance to speak with you. Your own father is in Hell, and that’s a big reason why I am discussing this with you.”

  I suddenly looked up with a frown. “Why? You think I’m going to go to Hell soon?”

&
nbsp; Enoch suddenly blinked and looked troubled. “Well…there’s a lot to explain. Your father is…how can I put this?”

  “And how can I trust you? Prove to me that you’re an angel, and then I’ll believe you!”

  “I cannot prove it—I am in disguise right now.”

  “Then I doubt if I’m even safe around here.” I turned away, feeling frustrated. “You tell me that Lucien is a liar. But you aren’t any more trustworthy if you’ve got no proof. I bet you’re just jealous of him because he’s the Higher One and you’re not.”

  Suddenly, Enoch grabbed my shoulder. I flinched and angrily yanked forward.

  “Run! Snakes!” Enoch hissed. But after he gave me a rough shove, he was pulled down to the ground and his body was tackled by a horde of small slithery snakes.

  Chapter Twelve-

  “Enoch!” I aimed my cross toward the snakes, hoping it would shine a burning light toward the snakes just like it did back on Earth.

  But suddenly, someone crashed into me from my right side and knocked me to the ground. I grunted at the weight of the spirit that landed on me.

  “Haha! It is Zachariah Ezekreth!” A deep voice yowled. “And he’s wearing a rosary too?!”

  My vision was spinning, and all I could see were just dark figures looming around me. But I recognized the voices and the ugly laughter. These guys were Damien’s friends. What were they doing down here?!

  I kicked back and hit someone in the crotch.

  “Get him!”

  “Wait! We gotta get outta here! These snakes are deadly!”

  Instantly, my rosary was yanked off my neck. Then the surrounding spirits ditched me, and I was left lying on my back, panting.

  I lifted my head up and gazed forwards at Enoch. The snakes were screaming and slithering away from his body. Enoch was glowing with his eyes halfway shut. He started to hover from the ground, and long feathery gray wings unraveled from behind his back. A halo appeared above his head.

  Light started to shine around him, which blinded the snakes and blazed upon them until they burned to ashes. Pretty soon, all the slithery snakes were gone, and nothing was left in their place but piles of ashes.

  I looked at Enoch with awe. I guess I could believe that he was an angel now. The jewels that were at the underneath his gown were gone and broken on the floor, as well as the headdress over his head. It was gone and his whitish gray hair unraveled and ruffled with the breeze.

  “Enoch….” I didn’t know what to say.

  Suddenly the city started to shake. People were screaming everywhere.

  “Zach, run!” Enoch dashed over my head and shot a harpoon at an imp that crashed through a trash can behind me.

  I ran out of the narrow path between the buildings and escaped into the open city. The entire city of Zellux was filled with spirits running around with horror. A huge fire had shot over the bridges and caught the buildings on fire.

  “What’s going on?!” I yelled. I made my way up the bridge, escaping a swarm of giant mosquitoes.

  Enoch flew to my shoulder and shot a ball of light at another large snake that blocked my path. “The Most High is scaring the hell creatures. Obviously, He’s angry about Lucien’s plan!”

  Suddenly, a ball of fire appeared out of nowhere and hit Enoch’s back. The angel fell to the ground.

  “Enoch!” I hurried up to his side and knelt down. His eyes were closed and his light was fading.

  “Ugh….” He slowly got up. “I mustn’t be seen or recognized by anyone.”

  I looked around with panic. I caught a glimpse of Damien’s three friends running from a three-headed serpent. Nicholas was holding my rosary in his hands, and was clumsily trying to shake it at the serpent behind him. But the rosary was broken. He held it in pieces of strands in his hand, so it did not give off any light. The idiot had broken my rosary.

  I looked at Enoch with horror. “What are you going to do?”

  “Zach,” Enoch handed me something from the pocket of his robe. “Take this. This is all you need.”

  He handed me a wooden cross. I blinked and stared at him. “When will you—”

  “I’ll be back in no time, I promise. I just have to get back to Heaven and restore my strength. I cannot fight these hell creatures like this.”

  And in the split of a second, Enoch had faded in the thin air. I instantly felt hopeless without the angel on my side.

  I gasped and hurried down the bridge, clasping the cross against my chest. This one was wooden. It gave no glow like my rosary did.

  “Hiya! Take that!” To me right, I heard a familiar young voice. I turned and saw a tiny earth type SoulBird kicking at a pair of newborn snakes that were slithering out of a hole in a building wall. It was Dewey! He was pecking and kicking at the small snakes like they were worms.

  “Take this! Yah! Call yourselves hell creatures?! I could eat you up for breakfast!” He pecked at the snakes.

  I huffed and shook my head. Raising my cross, I aimed it toward the snakes and they immediately caught on fire.

  “Wah!” Dewey jumped back with surprise. The snakes immediately turned to ashes and blew away in the heated breeze.

  Dewey whipped around and glared at me with his little eyes. “No! What do you think you’re doing?! I had it all under control!”

  I snickered and walked up to the little bird. “I saved your feathers, smart one.”

  “Yech! I was having fun killing those devils by myself!” Dewey hopped up to my side, muttering under his breath.

  I looked down at him, giving a sideways look. He was happy to see me. I could feel it.

  “So what brought you down here?” I asked. We ventured through a quiet alley where there seemed to be no sign of chaos.

  “Huh!” Dewey focused his angry gaze ahead of him and didn’t look up at me. “Well, while you were lazing around this place and enjoying a time in Hell’s future land, I was in Heaven!”

  “Oh yeah? Was Heaven as heavenly as you thought it would be?”

  “Darn right it was!” Snapped Dewey. “The place was like a city on clouds! It was huge—way more exotic than ten times this city was! The atmosphere was soooo nice and cool…oh! It was so much better than the heat down here!”

  I winced. “Why’d you come down here then?”

  “Because it’s a SoulBird’s job to stick with their soul-mate, no matter how foolish and useless they may be to them! I was actually watching you from Heaven. I also saw your favorite hero Lucien.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah! And I’m not gonna tell you what he was up to!” Said Dewey. He held his head high.

  I chuckled. “Like I would bother to ask.” But deep down, I was itching to know what the Higher One was doing right now. Now that Enoch had shared me one of his biggest secrets, I was finding it hard to keep the flames on my head flickering with distress.

  Suddenly a crash sounded from behind and I turned to see that an entire water tower was falling down. The building crashed and flames burst over the ruins. I heard loud cries, and the sound of rushing water.

  “Ahh!” Dewey gave a jump. “Get to high ground! There’s gonna be water flowing through!”

  Dewey and I rushed through the alleyway, but the place was too narrow, and we seemed to be going downhill.

  “Hey! There’s no way up!” Cried Dewey. “We’re doomed!”

  “No we aren’t,” I muttered, narrowing my eyes around. I felt something move from behind us.

  Dewey and I whipped around to see that there was nothing down the path where we came from.

  Suddenly, a shadow loomed over us but there was nothing in the sky. I felt like we were being watched.

  “Well, of course it’s obvious that something would be watching us!” Yelled Dewey, rolling his eyes. “Perhaps I should have stayed in Heaven so I can watch over you and tell you what’s creeping up behind you!” He whipped around to face me with a serious gaze. “I could see Lucien from up there. He went inside that weird temple place in the
empty part of the city. I tried to peek in and see what he was doing inside, but something was blocking my vision. It was as if something was keeping us from seeing into it.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Well, of course you wouldn’t be able to peek in there. That temple’s built for the devil.”

  Dewey ruffled his feathers. “That’s what Enoch told you, didn’t he?”

  I said nothing and grumbled.

  As we went deeper into the alley, I heard the sound of voices following us.

  “Um…I think we’re being followed,” said Dewey.

  Behind me, I saw the tall, dark figures of Damien’s friends approaching me. But there were more than just three of them now. Behind them were spirits with incredibly spiky hair that I’ve seen from Damien’s friends.

  “Oh great where did they come from?” I muttered. I squatted down to hide behind a trash can.

  “Who knows? They look like they’d often come to this kind of place.” Said Dewey. He hopped to my side. He peeked over a trash can. “My light better not give off our hiding spot...”

  “Did you hear something?” One of the guys looked around.

  “I think it came from over there,” a guy in the spiky hair pointed to my direction.

  I stiffened as the crowd of dark spirits stomped toward us. We were still hidden in the shadows.

  Suddenly, my right side darkened and I turned to see another shadow of a tall dark spirit at my right. It must have climbed over the wall behind me, but I hadn’t heard a single noise.

  But the tall dark shadow stepped forward to Damien’s friends and the street crowd. The nearest man flinched and stared up at the dark shadow. I saw that it was the shadow of a man, and to my surprise, it looked like the same shadowy figure I had seen back in Jerusalem. The shadow was tall, lean, and very difficult to observe. His shadow was jet black and darker than all the other shadowy spirits. I couldn’t even get a glimpse of a face on the shadow.

  The crowd of spirits stared at the shadow with fear in their eyes. Then they all turned and dashed away without looking back.