Red Sonja and the Ten Levels of Hell
Part Three - Shadow Hell
Once more Red Sonja experienced the flashing, spinning, vertigoes passage though the gates. The warrior woman took a deep breath and concentrated on the sensations and when she felt just the slightest change she orientated herself so she came through the gate on her feet with her sword drawn. No one was going to take her by surprise on her emergence from the gate this time. Still half blinded, Sonja felt dirt and gravel crunch under boots and she swung her sword in a wide arc, finding no resistance. When her senses cleared, she found herself alone in the ruins of a city with nary a soul in sight.
"Hmmmph," snorted Sonja as she sheathed her sword and took a more careful look around her. The ruins had the unmistakable look of a hundred cities Sonja had seen after a war. Whether the war was won or lost it was often hard to tell the difference, but this city had seen a war and now nature was slowly reclaiming it. As Sonja started to move around the ruins, she began to sense that something was wrong, but was unable to put a finger on it. Puzzled, Sonja stopped and gazed around in suspicion, but there was nothing to be seen except the ruins and the long shapely shadow her body cast along the rubble strewn ground. My shadow, thought Sonja with a start. It had been twilight when she had landed in this hell and it should now be full dark, but there was her shadow looking the same as when she had first arrived. Looking up into the sky, Sonja could see no sign of the sun and as she continued to explore, there was no change in her shadow. This hell was locked into some type of perpetual twilight. Never a sunset to bring the shiver of fear that everyone fears at the coming dark. Never a sunrise to bring hope back to men and women.
Not knowing why, Red Sonja drew her sword again as she continued to explore the ruined city. There was no sign of life until she reached the outskirts of the city when out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of furtive movement. Pretending she had not seen it, Sonja continued to move through the ruins, watching for signs of movement. All together she counted eight forms shadowing her among the tumbled wreck of the city. This stalking could go on for a long time so she decided to see if she could draw her stalkers into the open. Red Sonja stopped and sheathed her sword and stood in the middle of an open space with her arms crossed over her bountiful chest. "I know you are out there. I mean you no harm. Come out and talk to me."
There was silence for several seconds then Red Sonja thought she caught the sounds of voices whispering. The whispering went on for a minute or two before eight scruffy figures emerged from hiding. At the sight of them, Sonja relaxed slightly. None of them carried weapons other than what looked like hunting knives and snares and all looked to be in their late teens. They were boys on the verge of becoming men.
"Who are you?" asked one of the boys, the one who appeared to be the oldest and the leader of the group.
"My name is Red Sonja, I am a stranger in your city. Can you tell me what happened here? Where are your parents?"
"You don't know about THEM?" asked the boy, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Who are THEM?" asked Sonja, giving the pronoun the same emphasis the boy had accorded it.
The boy looked around at his companions and then seemed to come to a decision. "It is not safe here. Please come with us to a place where we can talk." Red Sonja nodded and gestured for him to lead the way. The boy turned and quickly led the way through the ruins until they came to a staircase leading down into the ground. The entrance had been cunningly covered with rubble and after the leader produced a torch, lit it and led Sonja down the stairs, the other boys could be heard behind her covering over the entrance.
At the bottom of the stairs, Sonja found herself in a large chamber that despite her expectations was quite clean and roomy. It was almost like the boys could still hear the echoes of the their mothers, telling them to keep their rooms tidy in the way that mothers everywhere seemed to do.
"My name is Aaron," said the leader as he turned to face Red Sonja and he introduced the other boys as they filed into the chamber one at a time. Breck, Dorval, Faruk, Horace, Jokal, Kain and Mirwald."
"Are? Are you a woman?" asked Mirwald as his eyes slid over Sonja's curvaceous body. "I have never seen a woman before, except maybe my mother and I barely remember her."
Sonja arched en eyebrow. It had been a long time since anyone had to ask her if she was a woman or not. The evidence was right there in front of her!
"Tell me what happened here." saidSonja. "A war?"
"I guess you could call it that," replied Aaron as he gestured Sonja to be seated on one of the neatly made piles of bedding. "I am the leader of us and so I must tell you what happened. This was a good city, a good world. It was not a paradise. People disagreed with each other, shouted, had arguments, but for the most part it was a peaceful place. Then one day THEY came. Something happened to the sun. It turned all black like a coal and then it seemed to open up and THEY poured out if it in great numbers. The adults were very frightened. They didn't know what was happening or what THEY were. Then they started to attack. The adults used every weapon they had, but nothing seemed to affect THEM and much of the city was destroyed in attempts to defeat our attackers.
"Their weapons had no effect on the creatures?" asked Sonja. "What manner of creature were these?"
Aaron shuddered. "Demons," he whispered finally. "Shadow demons. We call them that because that is what they appear like. They are shadows and no weapon could touch them, and the way they attacked...." Aaron broke off again and took a moment to regain his composure. "They do not attack you, they attack your shadow. Everything that they do to your shadow though you feel. They ripped my father's shadows into pieces and he died screaming as if it were being done to him...slowly. What they did to my mother, I can not bear to describe."
Red Sonja shuddered at the boy's obvious pain. "How long ago was this? HOw have you and your friends managed to survive?" asked Sonja trying to steer the conversation to less painful ground.
"It has been ten, maybe eleven years since THEY came. THEY can not attack the shadows of children," explained Aaron. "Only when your body completes 'the change', do the demons gain power over your shadow. A few months ago, I lost my best friend to the demons. One day they could not touch him, the next day they, they...." Aaron broke off and looked away.
"The change?"asked a puzzled Sonja.
"Yoi know," replied Aaron. "When the voice deepens and a man must shave every day."
