Chapter ??: 𑀕𑁅𑀟 𑀟𑀲𑁆𑁊 𑀦𑁅𑀝 𑀦𑀻𑀟 𑀈𑀤𑀭 𑀫𑁃𑀦𑁆𑀲𑀂 𑀒𑀭𑁆𑀓 𑀒𑀭 𑀳𑀺𑀲𑁆𑁊 𑀒𑀦 𑀕𑀺𑀨𑁆𑀝𑁆𑀲𑁆𑀂

⟨⟨God does not need either man’s work or his own gifts⟩⟩

The gates of hell are open night and day;
Smooth the descent, and easy is the way

Once you walk through the great gates of the Corrosia Palace, up the Stairs of Revival you must go. The stairwell winds upwards as it forks into two — each way leading to either wing of the labyrinth. The Hells of Fire await the one who turns right. The Hells of Ice await the one who turns left, instead.

Through the seven hells you must walk, with each room that’s progressively more hostile than the previous. The Fire Hells — Black Threads, Crushing Jaws, Screaming Terrors, Great Furnace, Heating Desert, Flesh Forge, The Kitchen; and the Ice Hells — Blistering Winds, Raining Icicles, Frigid Paralysis, Howling Lament, Cluttering Bones, Snow Sledgehammers, Blue Lotus Blossoms — and then; Mahapadma.

The Great Garden. The final resting ground for the purified soul before it’s worthy of transcendence. A truly beautiful grove, lush green and bright with light. The weather was always pleasant here, neither too warm, nor too cold. Beautiful flowers blossomed everywhere, birds chirped in the trees, and colourful insects flew about.

Sitting at the tea table conjured with his sorcery was our leader Amitaava, the Bringer of Light. His very presence was ethereal, and his placid face was the epitome of calmness. He sipped on his tea, smiling at the small butterfly that was fluttering around him. His eyes fell on me, as he set the teacup aside on the table and beckoned me.

I bowed before him, as I said, “Lord Amitaava, you called?”

“I did,” he replied, with a tranquility in his voice that could lull a crying infant to peaceful slumber.

“Where are the others?”

“They’ll be here soon. I needed to have a word with you first, in private.”

“Yes, sir?”

He looked around for a second, checking no one else was present, before he whispered to me “Did you get me what I asked you to…?”

I smiled, as I summoned a small Vitalis infused bag into my hand. I placed it on the table in front of me.

“Thank you, Snake,” Amitaava said. He quickly picked it up, as he tore open the paper bag and tossed it away. He grinned giddily like an excited child as he flipped through the pages of the manga volume I’d bought for him.

“Is the manga any good sir?” I asked.

“Mm, oh it is. I find the villain especially intriguing…” he said, already engrossed as his eyes scanned through the book. “Woah, the art is so good!”

He quickly put the manga neatly inside the bag and set it aside, once others began to arrive. The first arrivals were ‘The God of Battle’ Aneela, and ‘The Enlightened’ Vajra. Aneela, the Sheep, was a punctual woman. She had made sure to arrive exactly five minutes earlier than the decided time. Vajra, the Dog, had probably been waiting outside the door for at least a half hour. He must’ve waited for another person to get there, and then followed Aneela behind as she entered.

Vajra took his seat right next to Amitaava once he’d touched his feet in reverence. It was a gesture he had retained from his human life. We all worshipped our leader, but it’s safe to say that the loyal dog is no stranger to overdoing.

Aneela stood beside me, as she attempted to make small talk. She shut up once she noticed my disinterest.

At exactly the scheduled time for arrival, we had a party of four making their way. Two had taken the warm route, the other two had chosen the cold one. ‘The Glorious One’ Haira, and ‘The Lightning Bolt‘ Caundhula trembled a little, as they walked into the Mahapadma sanctum, shaking off the frozen hells.

Haira, the Dragon, was a truly beautiful woman. Easy to go in her attitude, and laidback in her style. But those with a brain inside their head knew to be wary of her. Caundhula, the Ox, was Amitaava’s pageboy. I don’t believe he’s very skilled at fighting, but I could be mistaken. I’m sure the Lord had his reasons for bestowing such a badass nickname to him.

The other duo that emerged from the inferno comprised ‘The Righteous Valliant’ Shindara, and ‘The Lady Love’ Kubira. They were great friends, despite their vastly different ideologies.

“Aughh I’m so sweaty eughhhhh. Fuck it I’m taking a dip here!” Shindara, the Tiger, said as he dived straight into the lotus pond in front of him. Kubira, the Boar, let out a laugh as she followed him into the water.

Amitaava shook his head with a sigh, as he chuckled. “What am I to do with generals like these… That’s seven of you here. Five more to go.”

Within moments of him saying that, there was a huge explosion. Everybody turned to look at the corner of the room that collapsed, as a chunk of the wall broke down. Through the gap, a burly muscular man waltzed right in. This was ‘The Lord of the World’ Aantila.

The Monkey, Aantila, stopped in his tracks as he leant over the body of a small rabbit that had got crushed under a brick he’d broken off the wall. He held its dying body, and began to sob loudly.

“Oh… oh… oh… I’m a murderer!! Oh, Great Mother, forgive me!!”

With that, he ran right over to the small golden statuette of the Mother goddess situated near the lake, as he fell at its feet, and banged his head against the ground in apology.

“Quite the specimen, all of them… Lord Amitaava certainly knows how to choose,” Haira remarked.

“Certainly he does!” a voice spoke out, as a figure emerged through a wormhole that formed momentarily, interlocking dimensions, a man popped out of it, and the portal closed behind him.

‘The Void’ Santhila. Horse.

“So that leaves…” Amitaava began.

“Three more,” I replied.

“Pardon me! Pardon me, I’m late! Apologies, my lord! I was running an experiment and…” the mad rabbit rambled off, as they knelt before Amitaava.

“No worries, Mahaala,” he nodded, “We’re in no hurry.”

This was Mahaala, ‘The Destroyer of Death’ — our resident scientist, and one of the oldest members of this group, alongside myself. A close friend and collaborator of mine. Their androgynous appearance made it difficult to say if they were male or female. And, honestly… I was too terrified to ask, at this point.

Caundhula walked up to Amitaava as he whispered, “Vikala is MIA, my lord. We haven’t been able to contact him.”

“That’s fine,” our leader answered him, “I wasn’t counting on him showing up either. The Wandering Monk is off wandering again, if I had to guess.”

The mouse was squeaking off again.

“That means we’re waiting on Mekira now,” I said.

“What is he up to, Ox?” he asked Caundhula.

“He’s probably fucking around in the human world again!” Shindara said, as he got out of the pond, his clothes and hair, all wet now.

Amitaava shot a glare at him, which caused even the insubordinate tiger to bow his head down in apology for speaking out of turn. The Lord then turned to Santhila, as he said, “Horse, can you find where he is, and drag him here ASAP?”

“On it, my lord!” he opened a portal and jumped into it.

Within a matter of seconds, another portal opened back up, as ‘The Boundless Thirst’ Mekira fell flat on his face against the floor. Santhila walked out of the portal, bowing once again before Amitaava as he closed the portal back up.

“You’re late, Rooster.”

“I’m sorry, Amitaava. But I was–”

“Spare me the excuses. Go take a seat. All of you.” He commanded, and with a flick of his finger, the atmosphere of the room changed. We were all now in a grand dining room, with ornate, furnished walls. We followed his words, as we took a seat around the massive round table. “Welcome, my Divine Generals. It’s so lovely to see you.”

He was about to say something else, when a knock was heard on the door.

“You may come in,” Amitaava said.

‘The Wandering Monk’ Vikala walked in. He took his seat at the table, as he lightly bowed his head before the leader.

“Mouse. What a pleasant surprise. I was sure you wouldn’t come, I almost didn’t conjure a seat for you at this table,” Amitaava spoke again.

“Apologies for my absence, Lord. But I wouldn’t miss this meeting for anything in the world.”

“I appreciate that,” Amitaava smiled. “It’s a very special occasion for us. We ought to celebrate. I would’ve invited the yakshas as well, but I’m afraid they’re all busy on a mission of their own right now. All right. Settle down, you people. We have a lot to go over.”

> To be continued

Author's Note:
Only two more chapters after this... Wow. I've been working on this series for soon-to-be three years now. It feels unreal. 

I thank every single person who's taken their time to read even a single chapter. I truly means a lot to me. Once again, I have to thank both my editor and my proofreader. I'd be lost without them.