Pit of Black Flames

In every religion, there is the concept of the "Good" place where your soul ends up, and then there is the "Bad" place where your soul will end up. It was a universal concept of morals, values, virtues, and sins. That despite the many different names and rules, everyone was, in a nutshell, talking about the same thing.

Draco Beings were not different when it came to their faith. We've already had the privilege of seeing their "Heaven" and the Holy Family. Now it was time to descend into a world of immoral sins where hate and vengeance rules and darkness were the way of the demons who called this land home.

The Pit of Black Flames was no more charming or beautiful then Hell or Helheim were for humans or those of the Nine Realms. While some may consider you could maybe find a lot worse places to spend your afterlife, it was clear no Draco Being who was pure of heart would want to spend eternity here.

To even enter the Pit of Black Flames first, you had to cross the Bridge of Helplessness, which is the opposite of the Bridge of Serenity, which souls cross to get into the Realm of the Eternal Sun.

The Bridge of Helplessness couldn't exist anywhere else. There were no ropes or poles to support it, and there seems to be no end in sight. It was also impossible to see what was below it. You could hear the sound of a raging river but not see it. The river was The River of Hopelessness, and any unfortunate soul who fell in came out a demon.

When you finally reached the end of the Bridge, there was still a long way to go. The Pit of Black Flames wasn't as much a pit as it was a crazy labyrinth that took up many levels. A hundred levels to be exact.

Each level had its own danger, along with some elements of torture. For example level, twenty-one was the level for those who had committed murder. The agony for them was they had to climb every day the Mountain of Knives. It was an impossibly tall mountain made out of every blade that ever shed blood.

The dammed souls had to climb it every day with bare hands and feet. So every day became a bloody mess, and then when night fell, their wounds would magically heal. But then they have to do it all over again the next day.

Another level closer to the top level was called the Cauldron. It was a pool of living lava, and you spent your day there with a fire demon who you spent all day trying not to let kill you. And then whoop-d-doo you did that again the next morning after having already been burn to cinders the day before.

Finally, there was the Village of the Damn on the ninety-ninth level. Everything here was giant-sized and in the colors of red, yellow, and orange. If you were dumb enough to touch the plants, you get burned. Also if you thought it was a good idea to go out in the rain think again. All the rain in the Pit of Black Flames was acid.

Even in the cruelty of the world on level ninety-nine, it was considered an honor because only the King and Queen of the Pit of Black Flames let those they favored lived there. Ones they deemed of worth or lucky got to live there so as much as it was hell, there were a lot worse places to call home in this Pit.

But where the Unholy Royal Family called home was nearly impossible to get to without their permission. For one thing, their palace which was carved out of blood-red stones. And it sat in the middle of the most deadly desert that had ever existed. Though the Unholy Royal Family was very different from the Holy Royal Family. While the Bewilderbeast in the Realm of the Eternal Sun the kingship was passed firstborn to firstborn, that wasn't the case with the Unholy Family.

To determine who would-be leaders of their realm, they held a contest every ten millennia. A week-long competition that was worse then even what happened in that famous movie/book series The Hunger Games.

Sure there were some elements similar to The Hunger Games. But in addition to that, you had to survive countless tortures. Several deadly races. Then navigate your way through the Shroud of Shadows where all nightmares were conceived. If you got through that, you had to not lose yourself in the Eternal Fogs Valley, where you could quickly lose yourself forever.

This week-long challenge also was not just about scoring points or surviving. You had to be able to ascend from level one to level hundred every day before the moon vanished, and the sun rose. And because time passed differently here, that was no easy task.

But the final test which would genuinely determine who was fit to lead was the Chamber of Mirrors. The Mirrors held the magic of truth and lies. The chamber itself could make one commit suicide if you couldn't find the mirror that held your 'true reflection."

Only those who found their accurate reflections were allowed to ascend to the throne. If there was more the one of each sex that made it this far, then to determine who finally get the throne, they have a 'surprise challenge'. One no-one had foreknowledge of. And it was this unforeseen test that would determine which were worthy of being the King and Queen.

So when Prince Haman was sent here, he, of course, was at the bottom of the food chain. But with his cunning mind and charisma, he quickly ascended through the Pits ranks. During his time here became friendly with another banished soul. Her name was Delilah. Delilah was everything her Biblical counterpart had been. She even had an evil beauty to her-long flowing blood-red hair and her four dark purple eyes that somehow worked with her ash-colored skin.

They made a pact early on that come hell or high water. The two of them would become the rulers of the Pit of Black Flames. So they trained hard every day, and when the Contest was held, it was a piece of cake for them to win.

When it came time for their coronation, they were ready to face the last challenge before becoming the king and queen. They had to truly forsake both their past and whatever bit of humanity they had left. A special tea was brewed from the Flower of Death. Once you drank it, you would lose all the good memories of your previous life. Only memories you could hold onto where those of pure evil. Once the good memories were purged, then whatever was consider 'good' would be purged as well. Then you completed your metamorphosis into the Rulers of the Dark Kingdom. The Pit of Black Flames.

It wasn't even given a second thought to Haman and Delilah to drink the brew and be transformed. The result has them looking like the possessed Fiore from Promise of the Rose for Haman while Delilah took on the appearance of Xenia Flower from the same movie, with legs, of course. Their new royal names were Dark King and Queen Red Death. But that was only the beginning of their terrible reign and plans.