Page 13 of Hell-Bound

She stared at the empty space, uncomprehending. She hadn’t beenthatscary. And again, she wasn’t armed. Theyknew that.

She leapt up, grabbed the exposed edge of the roof, and pulled herself to sit, dangling her legs. The ocean wind blew aside her silvery hair, and as it did, a black smoke swirled around her. Another unrecognizable sensation tingled her body as she surveyed her hands and arms. The mysterious vapor was so black that it seemed to absorb the little light that flickered from the lanterns.

“What the hells?”

She gasped, holding her hands out in front of her as if they would burn her if she let them touch her body. She had just bested three attackers, and now she was…smoking? Where would she even begin with processing all of this?

As the minutes ticked by, Renata kept her ears fixed, listening for any voices that could indicate the return of her assailants. But after half an hour of silence, she reluctantly decided the coast was clear. By that time, the smoke had dissipated, and the tingling had stopped.

Satisfied she was back to her new normal, she leapt down deftly from the roof and began retracing her steps to the tavern.

Once in her room, Renata sat on the bed with her knees tucked up to her chest, her piccolo set lovingly on the edge of the sheets, and a beer, untouched, waited on her nightstand.

She lowered her head to her knees breathing out a few shaky breaths, surprising herself as she shed a few tears. It hit her all at once.

It was too much—entirely too much. Everything was spinning out of control, and her mind couldn’t grasp any surety. She had woken up, lost and floundering, to an unknown life and a burden of expectations before her. Now, half a world away from those expectations, she was thrown in the middle of a conflict involving gods and Devils and couldn’t even explain what was happening to her body.

This body, this vessel that housed her, was entirely unfamiliar. The way it moved, the power it emitted, felt likeanother stranger making demands that she was unable to fulfill.

How sad it was to think about. That, at one time, she’d had everything—a family, a lover, friends, and favorite places, or so they all had told her. Yet now she had to live knowing that none of it was hers anymore.

As the sheets of the small tavern room dampened from her tears, she thought of Benji. He had no family. He was nothing more than a child, taking money from other crew members to survive. She felt selfish—feeling so lonely and sorry for herself. She wasn’t actually alone. There were people who loved her. She should be grateful. Still, she couldn’t shake the hurt and confusion. Everything was just…out of control. Her life was happening around her, and she was paralyzed to just watch.

With nothing else to do, she sat silently on her lumpy bed, staring at the sheets. Letting the tears fall until, eventually, she let herself drift into an exhausted slumber.

The next morning, Ren awoke to pain aching through her whole body—the consequences of her encounter the night before—purple bruises having appeared as she slept. Muscle memory or not, it had definitely been a while since she had used her body inthatway.

She dreaded her meeting with Leo—she wasn’t in form to do anything, let alone enter the most dangerous plane of existence.

It was still early in the tavern, and she forced her throbbing legs to carry her downstairs, following the smell of sizzling breakfast meats wafting in from the kitchens. Once downstairs, she saw Leo and two other people—an Elven female and a Half-Elf male—sitting together, whispering. Curious since, while there were a few more people eating around the open area, the tavern was mostly abandoned.

Leo met her eyes and waved her over with a grin.

“Ah yes, Renata! I am so glad to see you are an early riser like myself. Please sit—have some breakfast!”

His two colleagues avoided her eyes, staring at their hands, which were laced together in front of them.

All three were wearing white robes with delicate gold stitching on the ends. The front depicted a humanoid figure alight with stars and had flowing robes forming a triangular shape; the same depiction hung on solid gold pendants around their necks.

“I’d be careful with those,” Renata said, sitting and tilting her chin towards the pendants. “People in this city might think they’re worth something.”

She noticed the female narrowed her eyes at her menacingly.

“Areyouplanning to take them from us?” she asked.

“Obviously not!” Renata shot back, surprised atthe hostility. “I’ve just noticed some… activity in this neighborhood. Just trying to watch out for you.”

The female did not look convinced.

“This is Claudia and Brennan,” Leo said, breaking the tension. “Two of my most trusted friends and fellow devotees to Nainaur, The Almighty. We are all here to help you cross over into the planes of hell and aid you in finding our sacred relic.”

Claudia cleared her throat, and the Half-Elf, Brennan, shifted uncomfortably.

“This relic is of incredible importance to The Almighty,” Claudia said curtly. “The existence of which is closely guarded. Only the most faithful know of it, and only because it was stolen. This relicmustbe recovered!”

She punctuated each word by tapping her index finger on the table.

Renata just blinked at her.

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