Melancholy Wings: Decadence Read Free Page A

got onto a boat, the boatman released the boat from where it was held and began steering it away from the dock. The current in the rivers was fairly good, meaning the boatman did not need to apply a lot of effort to get the boat going. His main job was to take the appropriate turns. They began their journey at the river Styx, which soon flowed into the river Phlegethon. Phlegethon’s waters were of a very peculiar dark red colour. A few centuries ago Belphegor, the leader of the Netherworld sector, joined Lucifer’s cause against the Creator.Usually when any sector went against the Creator, the other sectors took the cleansing souls away from it. However, Belphegor really refused to give them away, attempting his best to corrupt them. This was a cause of a massive battle, and although majority of the souls were rescued, the amount of profane energy discharged in that fight caused the Phlegethon’s waters to go dark red forever. Azrael was in that battle when it occurred, and he remembered it very well every time he traversed through Phlegethon. It was a rather painful memory, one that was difficult to get used to. Adelais, although wasn’t alive back when that fight took place, knew about it as well, and so both dark angels tried not to look at the waters so much. They just kept looking ahead as the boat took another turn.
     Soon enough their boat entered the river Lethe. That river took them all the way to one of the docks of Infernal Pit. The dock was filled with small boats, so it took a while to properly manoeuvre the boat into a good spot. Azrael wasn’t in a hurry and so remained calm as their boatman tried to find place where to stop the boat. Adelais, however, was getting impatient. Azrael could see it clearly.
-           “I haven’t seen Malakai in a while. I wonder how he’s been lately.” Adelais suddenly spoke about a dark angel in the Infernal Pit he was good friends with.
-           “I think it would be him to take us to Lord Beelzebub.” Azrael responded, “You probably haven’t heard, but he was turned into one of dark angel troop commanders in this sector.”
-           “He was?”
-           “Yes. The previous leader, his commander, dark angel Tarasios, was defeated in the last term. As a result, Malakai was put on his place.” Azrael explained; the word ‘term’ was extensively used in the Internal World to describe a period of time equivalent to a month in the External World.
-           “I’ve heard of dark angel Tarasios mysteriously being defeated by someone from Pandemonium. I didn’t know Malakai actually took his place.” Adelais commented with surprise.
-           “Malakai might be too young for this job, but I assume Lord Beelzebub didn’t have anyone else. Besides, I always could tell that Malakai had strong leadership qualities.” Azrael expressed his opinion.
    At that stage their boat successfully docked, allowing them both to get off it along with their machai assistants. Once they cleared the docks and ascended onto the main plateau, they were greeted by several guardians. Those were somewhat humanoid in appearance, with the exception that they had dark, scaly skin and their fangs were showing.Azrael told them that Lord Beelzebub would expect them. The guards seemed to have remembered being told so and hence allowed the dark angels to proceed. Azrael and Adelais left their machai troops at the docks and then flew off into the air.
     They flew at a relatively low altitude and the journey didn’t take too long. They knew where to be going, soon finding themselves within the battered walls of the core section of the Infernal Pit, and eventually at the entrance of a huge cave complex, which winded deep underground. Adelais and Azrael landed by the entrance and were met by a few more guardians. Once those let them through, they headed inside and made their way down. The cave tunnel was wide but also