Heaven, Hell, and Everything in Between

Chapter 12: The Hell Games

Ch. 12 The Hell Games

I woke up from my trip to Heaven on the floor of the living room. I realized that the hold Agrolift had used to pin me to the wall must have worn off while I slept. I looked down at my clothes to make sure the armor came with me, and saw it all in a neat pile on the nearby chair. I hurried through putting the armor on, but left the helm off. I wanted all my senses in tune while I tracked Agrolift back to his house. I walked out the front door of my house and immediately picked up his trail. He hadn't even made an attempt in hiding his trail. Even a kid with no experience could have tracked him. I was actually offended that he didn't even try. "Some people are so arrogant," I thought, "that it doesn't matter what you do, they still don't take you seriously."

And Agrolift was just such a person, because as I tracked him, I noticed that sometimes he would actually leave a sign in the dirt with an arrow pointing in the direction he went. It was rather insulting at the time, and by the time I had reached his water-front mansion, I was as tight as a bow with built-up rage. Once I saw how big his house was though, I simmered down and got a grip on my temper, because I knew that one mistake in there would mean death.

I walked in the front gate, waltzed up to the front door, and all the while seeing not a single guard. That actually scared me more than if the courtyard was full of demons. Because if they weren't in the yard, where were they? I opened the front door, and walked into a main hall with all the trappings, but still not a sound of demon activity. I was starting to get suspicious, and I checked every room on the main floor, but all of them were empty. I was about to check again when I heard a small noise in the room next to the one I was in. I sneaked over to the next room, and saw a hidden door just finish closing with a quiet snick. I tip-toed over to the door, and opened it with a smooth motion. On the other side was a dark stairway going, you guessed it, down.

I thought, "Why can't it be, just once, that the baddies' lair is in the penthouse and not in a dark, forgotten hole?"

Whether I wanted to or not, I was forced down that staircase by one thing. That thing happened to be the scream of a girl, and the only girl I knew was....GRACE! I sprinted down the stairs, and ran right into the middle of a coliseum! I took one look around me, and I didn't like what I saw one bit. My friends were up in the stands, the private box no less, tied up and bound to poles. Sitting next to them was none other than Agrolift himself, now in his true form. I don't even want to describe his body, because he was so horrible to look at, that I had to look away before I lost what was left of my lunch. Surrounding him in the stands was his entire force, howling and cackling with delight to see me stumble into their midst. Agrolift stood, and the entire group went silent, as if a switch had been thrown. "I see that young Samuel was foolish enough to come looking for his friends after all." He looked at my friends and family, then back to me and said, "Would you care to play a little game? If you do then I can guarantee you will have a fighting chance of freeing your friends, if not then you can fight my entire force at once if you prefer."

"What kind of game?" I yelled up at him.

"Exactly as I said, you will have a fighting chance." he said with a sneer. "You will fight my force, one-on-one, and for every one you defeat, one of your friends will be set free."

"And if I lose?" I asked, predicting the answer.

"You die." was the correct response, "However, if you do not free all of your friends and lose, those you have freed will be returned to my custody, and to be used as I see fit."

"Not much of a choice is there?" I said.

"There is no choice," he retorted, "do you except or not?"