“Anything you want to say before I head in?” Zeke asked, standing before the gate leading to the next circle – this one dedicated to the sin of wrath. “If it’s anything like the others, you won’t be able to communicate with me while I’m in there.”

  “I am well aware of the restrictions,” Eveline said, having recovered a little vigor. “And just so you know, I am not locked away while you fight through the circles of Hell. It is a self-imposed isolation. I could emerge if the need arises.”

  “Why don’t you?”

  “Because if I did, I would succumb to the circle’s influence, likely betraying you along the way,” she answered. “I am not as strong as you, Ezekiel. I do not deserve to be here – not based on my own merits, at least.”

  “I’m not sure I do, either.”

  “Perhaps not. You have followed few rules since you began your descent,” she acknowledged. “Each of these circles are meant to be overcome in very specific ways. Straying from that path is supposed to mean your doom. And yet, you simply plowed through them as if they were any other obstacle in your way. The only one you did even remotely properly was the Plains of the Forgotten, and even that wasn’t entirely –”

  “I know,” Zeke interrupted. “I don’t usually set out with that in mind, but you don’t know what it feels like in these circles. I can’t control myself, Eveline. Not really. I can stop myself from fully descending into sin, but when I’m in it, the only thing I can think about is moving forward. And if there’s something standing in my way…”

  “You go through it.”

  “Something like that,” Zeke acknowledged. It wasn’t what he wanted. If he had the brainpower to figure out complex puzzles, he probably would have done so. But that strategy was neither within his nature nor played to his strengths. If he’d clung to the idea of doing things the right way, he never would have made it out of the second circle, much less conquered the lower ones.”

  “So, what’s your plan here?” Eveline asked.

  “I don’t know what to expect,” he admitted.

  Eveline gave a mental sigh, then manifested beside him. Her image was even thinner – both in terms of her body and the projection itself – than ever before, and he easily see the wall through her. No details. Not yet, but it wouldn’t be long before he could see through her, clear as day.

  “Are you okay?”

  Eveline shook her head. “Just tired. Keeping myself bottled up is taxing,” she stated. “So long as you keep your mind on the task at hand, I will be fine. As to what you can expect in the Circle of Wrath – I’m not certain. Most legends don’t even touch on it, except to say that it is a realm of constant conflict. Every step comes with boiling rage. It is referred to as the Bloodlake.”

  “The Bloodlake,” Zeke sighed. “Sounds like a nice vacation spot.”

  “It’s Hell, Ezekiel. Even for demons, this is meant to be the worst place imaginable. Don’t underestimate them,” Eveline chided.

  He shook his head, then turned his attention to the gate. “You’re going to have to isolate yourself again, aren’t you?”

  “I am,” she answered.

  That was one of the most difficult parts of his descent. The intervals between circles, when Eveline could speak to him, were not enough. Like any other human being, he was a social animal. He needed interaction with other people, or he would go progressively insane. It had happened – at least to some degree – in the troll caves, and if he let himself dwell on his current mental state, Zeke knew that he would be horrified at what he found.

  He was broken.

  He knew that as well as he knew anything else in the world. And yet, he had no choice but to keep plunging into progressively more isolating and horrible environments. It made him long for that brief moment when he thought he’d returned to the Stepford version of his childhood home for a family Thanksgiving dinner.

  “That was all a lie, Ezekiel.”

  “I know,” he said, not looking up at Eveline’s physical manifestation. “But sometimes, lies feel more real than…well…reality. More preferable, at least. Easier to swallow.”

  “You would be dead now if you succumbed to that.”

  “I know that too,” he acknowledged. “Doesn’t mean I don’t miss it, though.”

  Since beginning his descent, his hardships had been constant. They never let up. Not even between circles, largely because he knew what awaited him on the other side of each gate. If he wanted to live, he had to keep going. And if he kept going, he would suffer more than his mind could easily parse. Eventually, it would snap him into a thousand pieces, too. The only hope was to reach the bottom before he was irrevocably broken.

  Yet, that hope was marred by what he would need to experience in order to see it through to the end.

  “You’re thinking in circles.”

  “I know.”

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  “And delaying the inevitable. Procrastination isn’t going to make it any easier.”

  “I’m aware.”

  “You need to move on, Ezekiel. If you stay here, you’re going to keep finding excuses to –”

  “I know!” he shouted, the power of his voice echoing down the hall. It was the voice of a god, and it shook the very foundations of Hell with its volume. In a more normal voice, he whispered, “I know, Eveline. Just give me a moment of peace before I throw myself back into the fray.”

  She didn’t say anything to that, and a moment later, she disappeared. Zeke’s heart dropped when she let her form dissipate. Suddenly, he felt more alone than he had in years.

  “I’m still with you. Even when you can’t see me. Even when I can’t speak to you. I’m always with you, Ezekiel.”

  “Sometimes it doesn’t feel like that,” he said aloud, as he sank to the ground. He leaned back against the wall, tilting his head toward the ceiling. It was no different from the rest of the hall – just a blank space that looked like it had been formed from concrete. When had it changed? He couldn’t remember. “Sometimes, it feels like I’m entirely alone.”

  Indeed, there were times when Zeke wondered if anything he saw or felt was even real. Maybe he’d never been reborn. Perhaps he’d never escaped the troll caves. Everything he’d been through might’ve been completely in his head. Especially Eveline. She’d been with him through so much, but was there a chance that she didn’t truly exist? Others had seen her. They’d interacted with her. But that could’ve been imagined as well, couldn’t it?

  “I’m here,” she said. “I’m real. Don’t go down that road.”

  Zeke knew that he was on the verge of breaking. He was barely halfway through his descent, and already, he could feel his mind unraveling. Even if he made it – which was more than possible, given the power he could bring to bear – would he remain the same person he’d been when he began?

  “No,” Eveline stated. “You’ll be someone else, and that’s okay. People evolve. They grow. They are the result of their experiences. You’re no different.”

  “I am different.”

  “Not in this instance,” she pointed out.

  Zeke couldn’t refute that claim. For all the power he could wield and the divine energy circulating through him, he was still a mostly human man. At least in his heart. In his mind. And that was what truly mattered.

  He couldn’t let Hell break him, though. He didn’t know what was going on back in the tower or in the Eternal Realm, but there were people depending on him to survive. What’s more, that never-ending war still beckoned, even if he didn’t know the terms of engagement.

  So, after sitting there and wallowing in indecision, self-pity, and exhaustion for a couple of hours, Zeke finally mustered the energy to push himself to his feet and approach the gate. “Last pieces of advice?” he asked.

  “No. Just survive. And remember that I’ll be with you through it all, even if you can’t hear my voice.”

  He took a deep breath, then pushed through the latest gate. He blinked in the harsh sunlight that immediately assaulted him, and he raised his hand to shield his eyes from the sudden change in brightness.

  The first thing he noticed after the spots cleared from his vision was the color. Everything was cast in a red hue, and the source was no secret. A huge lake of what looked like blood loomed in the distance, with the intervening space marked by small pools of the same red liquid. Each one bubbled angrily, as if someone had set it all to boil, but the lack of heat put that assumption to the lie.

  The ground itself was mostly barren and covered in thick, red mud, and the overly large sun cast everything in bright, white light. In the distance, Zeke saw black clouds churning in the sky. The juxtaposition of sunlight and the storm made everything feel that much more surreal. Across the terrain, there were ragged and battle-scarred people and animals roaming between the red pools.

  Even as Zeke stood there, taking in the landscape, he saw a thousand battles unfold in real time. A creature burst forth from a blood-filled pool, grabbed a wanderer, and tried to drag him beneath the surface. The fighter wasn’t having it, though, and he responded with immediate aggression, scratching and clawing at the monster until it retreated. Only when it was gone did Zeke register that it had looked a little like a crocodile, but slimmer, sleeker, and more eel-like.

  And it was pale white, like an overgrown maggot.

  The figure fell to his knees, blood dripping from a fresh wound on his chest. He looked around, briefly confused – at least until he caught sight of Zeke. Rage contorted his weathered features, and he launched himself to his bare feet. A second later, he was sprinting toward a surprised Zeke.

  When they clashed, Zeke did what he needed to do, though the man was far stronger than his ragged appearance suggested. Still, Zeke dealt with him appropriately, beating him into submission before tossing him into one of the pools. The water churned as the creatures within consumed the body.

  But even as he watched that, Zeke felt an unmitigated rage sweep through his mind. That such a wretch even considered attacking him was such an affront that Zeke had difficulty wrapping his thoughts around it. Only when he felt himself trembling with wrath did a pulse of divine energy banish those emotions.

  That’s when he realized that, just like all the other circles, this one would affect his mental state. Not surprising, given the nature of the sin it represented, but still a troubling development nonetheless. After all, if there was one sin which Zeke had embodied throughout his time since being reborn, it was wrath.

  He was there, though. He couldn’t escape through retreat, so as had been the case for longer than he cared to consider, the only way out was through. So, Zeke pulsed his divine energy, cycling it through his body while counteracting the effects with [Hand of Divinity] as he stepped forward and into the Circle of Wrath.

  Tension and the smell of blood filled the air as mud squished between his toes. He was still naked, stripped of all dignity and reduced to the same state as all the other wanderers. They attacked him the second he drew near enough for them to notice, and as they fought, Zeke recognized that there was no room for defense in their minds. They were relentless, driven, and strong, and Zeke was forced to adapt his own style to counter their rage-fueled, berserker-like tendencies.

  Unfortunately, in addition to a powerful well of strength, they also possessed the ability to regenerate from most wounds. If Zeke wanted to defeat them, he needed to either feed the monsters in the pools or literally rip them limb from limb. Sometimes, both were necessary.

  So, that was what he did, and with each kill, he lost a little bit of the control he’d so far managed to foster. He didn’t descend into the same state that characterized the other denizens of the Bloodlake, but he wasn’t nearly as far above them as he wanted to believe.

  The first time he fought one of the creatures, he very nearly succumbed to the rage within him. The monster was all muscle and fury, and to defeat it, he was forced to tap into every advantage he had at his disposal. And with every bit he surrendered to his wrath, the stronger he became until, at last, he managed to kill the monster by tearing it in two.

  That was distressing, but in his state, Zeke couldn’t truly understand why he was so worried. With the strength of wrath flowing through him, he continued his trek through the latest Circle of Hell, but in the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but realize one simple fact. It seemed like he’d come home, and in a way he’d never felt before.