- Chapter One -

Hell

There was total silence, blackness and the foul stench of death and evil. Sam couldn't see anything, he was drenched in sweat and blood, and he was in pure agony. When he finally found the strength to open his eyes he saw something, something he could not believe. It was a massive cavern, filled with ancient pathways and statues of grotesque figures of what looked like monsters holding the heads of men and women. He saw that there was fire everywhere and as he inhaled his lungs started to burn. He only knew one place that could be this horrific, Hell.

He noticed he was being dragged over the ground, held by tall cloaked figures, their faces completely hidden but as he peered into the hood he felt a sudden coldness sweep through him and the urge to vomit. He felt his strength drain away and he fainted.

***

The blackness swept in, he could see himself and he was with another girl, he couldn't remember her name, but he seemed to know her from somewhere. It was nighttime, they were running from something, they ran through a dark forest, through an overgrown field, into a graveyard where they were finally cornered by monstrous things. They were like men but twice as tall, covered in rusty ancient armor inscribed with runes and they had rotting flesh, had no eyes and a gaping hole for a mouth and held in their hands were large ancient swords that were at least as long as Sam's height. Sam and the girl backed away, then one of them stepped forward, his face hidden in shadow but he knew he was their leader. He drew his sword back and stabbed the girl in the stomach, Sam screamed then the familiar darkness swept over him.

***

He opened his eyes and found that he was in a small cell, empty apart from a hole and two large mounds of dirt and on one of them was a blond woman who looked as if she was in her twenties, she was very pretty save from the cuts and bruises that were all over her and her cloths looked like they haven't been washed for at least a year. He saw the door at one wall, it was old and wooden with steel plates across it and on the other side of the wall was a small opening from which he saw mountains of fire and lakes of molten rock. The heat was nearly unbearable. He walked carefully over to the woman, she look like she was asleep.

"Uhh… hello…" Sam muttered to the woman.

She woke up, jumped up and crouched in the corner of the cell, she looked scared out of her mind and he couldn't blame her.

"I… I won't hurt you… it's OK…" said Sam in a mellow voice.

The girl just looked around the room, put her hands over her eyes and started rocking up and down, tears streaming over her hands.

"What's your name?" Sam asked, but it was no use, the woman looked like she had gone crazy, he was pretty close to a mental break down too.

His memory had large gaps in it, he'd remember odd bits of his childhood and a few flashes of the situation that was likely to have brought him to Hell but that was about it. He concentrated, focused with all his might to remember something and then he had a flashback.

***

He saw himself again but he was young, about thirteen or fourteen but he was with a tall man who looked over sixty years old and he was wearing long black robes.

"You're crazy," he heard himself say to the man.

"I assure you I am quite the opposite, you have to listen to me and accept your destiny," said the old man.

"I don't care alright, just leave me alone."

"They killed you're mother and father Sam…"

"What?"

"You saw them remember? The demons, you saw them kill your parents."

"I didn't see that, they were…"

"Muggers? Yes I've heard you say that before, it is not true, you know it, I know it. You are the One and they tried to kill you and all you hold dear. They will not stop until they find you."

"Stay… Stay away from me, leave me alone!"

He ran, he ran as fast as he can, past old women who grunted what sounded like 'kids' but he didn't care, he kept running through the alleyways and dark streets when he finally stopped and leaned against a wall to catch his breath. He slowly closed his eyes to picture his parents, then suddenly the old man appeared in front of him.

"You can keep running Sam but I will always find you. I will not stop until you've heard what I have to say."

"I call the police!" Sam shouted.

"Go ahead, they won't find me."

"What do you want!"

"To teach you, to train you, I want you to accept what you are. You are the One whether you like it or not."

Sam bowed his head trying to sort out the buzzing thoughts in his head. He had saw demons the night his parents were murdered a year ago but he tried to convince himself that they were just muggers wearing realistic Halloween masks. But deep down he always knew what they were. He looked at the old man, who to his surprised, smiled as if he knew what he was thinking.

"Who are you?" asked Sam.

"The name's David."

Sam's mind flashed forward again, this time it was several months later, and he and David were inside an old church which was in ruins and looked hundreds of years old. He saw himself and the man from a distance, they were fighting, armed with wooden staffs they fought furiously, their movements blurred by the sheer speed at which they were moving. Sam lunged at David who dodged the staff at remarkable speed. He was surprisingly agile for a man of his age. Sam swung the staff again and struck him in the arm and the chest. David staggered on to the floor, rose again and smiled.

"Excellent, you are a fast learner, Sam," said David who despite the physical trauma he must have had, looked as if he mealy walked across a road.

***

Sam suddenly felt a feeling rush through him, then a sudden wave of knowledge made it's way into Sam's mind, he remembered, he remembered everything that David had taught him, hand to hand combat, how to use melee weapons and –magic. He remembered most of the spells that David had taught him, but the majority of the magicks that had been taught to him involved fire, he didn't exactly know why but he seemed to be better at fire magic than any other type. Though he had been rather good at telekinesis, which David said, was one of the hardest branches of magic to most people. The only thing he couldn't remember was why he was learning all these things from David, he remembered him saying something about his destiny and that Sam was 'the One' but nothing else.

Sam slowly slipped into consciousness and found himself in the fetal position over a mound of dirt, the woman staring at him fearfully. Then a thought occurred to him, he could try and escape, he was in hell, but he, Sam could control fire, he had the advantage but he did not know how many unspeakably horrific monsters existed there. But he didn't care, they can't exactly kill him if he is already dead can't they?

Sam sat in the cell for days, still plotting his escape, estimating what situations he would be up against should he try to escape, thinking of useful spells that would help him. The woman still hadn't shown signs of sanity, she mumbled odd things but didn't acknowledge that Sam was even there. He looked in her eyes from time to time, wondering what on earth she could have done to be brought here but Sam suddenly realised something, why was he here? What could he have done to deserve being sent to hell, he had never done anything seriously bad like murder but he had large gaps in his memory, maybe he had done something to deserve this, maybe he shouldn't escape.

Sam pulled himself together and focused on the door. "Break" he thought, "just shatter".

As he thought that, the door shattered into a million pieces, for a moment he was dazed but he ran to gaping hole where the door used to be. He stopped for a moment and looked at the girl who was whimpering, crouched in the corner of the cell again.

"Come with me," said Sam.

The girl looked into his eyes and for the first time Sam noticed that the woman could understand him.

"Don't you want to get out of here? Don't you want to be free?"

She smiled widely, a tear trickled down her cheek. "Willow…" she whispered.

Sam didn't have any idea what she was talking about but before he could ask her, she was on her feet, walked towards him and nodded.

Together, they ran down the dungeon corridors, past countless cells and Sam was surprised that they had not encountered any guards of any kind. Soon enough, at the end of the corridor they encountered a tall cloaked figure armed with a long sword, it saw them and wailed a high pitched roar. It raised it's sword but Sam focused and summoned the sword, which flew towards him, and he grasped it from air. The guard lunged towards the girl but Sam slashed the sword and the guard turned dust. They broke through the door and they found themselves in the huge cavern which was full of monsters in cloaks and many people bound by heavy iron chains being whipped by what looked like giant trolls with a whip in one hand and a large hammer in the other hand.

They both looked at each other as they saw that every single monster in the cavern stared at them, Sam and the girl sprinted to the far end to the cavern as fast as they could to the large bronze door which opened as they were in its shadow. To Sam's surprise none of the demons had followed them but carried on with whatever they were doing. The door fully opened and they saw another large cavern but there was no floor, instead a massive lake of molten rock, and on the other side was a large gateway with a door which looked like it was made out of black water. This had to be the way out, but how were they going to get across the lake of magma? Sam sighed hopelessly, this is why the demons didn't follow them, there was no way out, it was just out of reach. Sam looked into the lake, there was some thing moving beneath it, the magma was slowly rising and from it emerged a giant, it was looked like it was made of the molten rock and it towered to the top of the huge cavern which was at least twice as big as a large football stadium. The girl started to walk back towards the now closed bronze door, they were trapped, but Sam would rather face the giant than live for an eternity in that cell.

He looked straight into glowing eyes of the lava giant and grinned. Again he focused his thoughts and a ball of flames appeared on his right hand, he threw the fireball straight into the eye of the giant, rock and red lava gushed out of the hole that was formed in its head. Out of pure rage the lava giant punched one of the walls of the cavern and pulled out a large boulder and threw it at them, Sam couldn't do anything, it was moving to fast and he didn't have enough time to recover from the last spell he did. The girl beside him suddenly shouted something in a language that he couldn't understand and the boulder was transfigured into a flock of doves which fluttered away and faded. Sam was slightly taken back, the girl seemed to have a lot of power, when she looked at him, she seemed to have recovered from the insanity.

They looked back at the giant who was ready to throw another boulder but they were ready this time, the girl muttered something and Sam mustered his power and threw a beam of fire straight to the giant's chest and the girl fired hails of ice at the same area. The giant suddenly turned black and crumbled to the lake of magma, which after the remains of the giant sank from view turned into solid rock.

The girl and Sam looked into each other's eyes, smiled and ran towards the door at the other end. They stopped as they reached the liquid black door.

"Do you think it's safe?" Sam asked

The woman didn't say anything but nodded. Feeling slightly reassured, Sam stepped through it and the blonde girl followed. Sam felt a familiar coldness rush through him as he span through the black nothingness until he and the girl emerged in the middle of a familiar graveyard, it was nighttime and the full moon was shining brightly upon them. The both got up from the ground, slightly shaken and looked at each other again.

"So are you gonna tell me your name?" he asked the girl. She smiled again.