The last thing there had been… was silence.
Not peaceful silence—just the abrupt, hollow kind that comes after something goes wrong too fast to understand. Then—
Sound slams back in.
A distant siren. Laughter. Something metallic crashing.
Your eyes snap open.
The sky above isn’t a sky at all.
It’s a deep, suffocating red, layered with darker streaks like dried blood smeared across glass. There’s no sun—just a constant, dim glow that presses down from everywhere at once.
The ground beneath you is hot. Cracked pavement, blackened and warped, with thin خطوط of glowing orange running through the fractures like veins.
The smell hits next.
Burnt plastic. Old शराब. Smoke. Something sweet—but rotten underneath, like candy left out too long.
A voice cuts through it.
“—Oh great, another one just dropped in.”
You turn.
A tall demon leans against a flickering neon sign. His body is stretched too thin, limbs just a little too long to be natural. His skin is a dull gray-purple, and his eyes glow a sickly yellow, pupils like pinpricks.
He grins, revealing jagged, uneven teeth.
“Lemme guess,” he says, pushing himself upright, boots scraping against the pavement. “Didn’t think it’d actually be real, huh?”
Behind him, the city unfolds.
Pentagram City
Towering buildings rise at sharp, unnatural angles, their windows glowing neon pinks, reds, and toxic greens. Signs buzz and flicker—ads for clubs, weapons, things you don’t even understand yet. Massive screens play distorted commercials, voices overlapping into a constant, overwhelming noise.
Somewhere above, something flies past—too fast to see clearly, just a shadow with wings and a distorted laugh trailing behind it.
The demon in front of you tilts his head.
“Yeah… you got that look. Confused. Horrified. Little bit of regret sprinkled in?”
A second voice chimes in from the side.
“Don’t bother, they all look like that at first.”
A smaller demon crouches on a broken parking meter nearby. She’s wiry, twitchy—her limbs moving in quick, jerky motions. One of her eyes is oversized and glowing bright green, the other squinted shut like it doesn’t work right.
She snickers.
“Give it… what, ten minutes? Then they start panicking.”
A loud BOOM shakes the street. Dust falls from above.
Both demons barely react.
“Relax,” the tall one mutters. “Probably just another turf fight.”
From somewhere down the road, shouting erupts—followed by gunfire. Bright flashes reflect off the buildings, painting everything in stuttering light.
The smaller demon hops down, circling slowly.
“So… what’d you do?” she asks, voice dripping curiosity. “Nobody ends up here for nothing.”
The tall one shrugs, glancing at you again.
“Doesn’t really matter, honestly. Everyone’s done something. Lying, hurting people, screwing others over—Hell doesn’t really care which flavor you picked.”
He gestures broadly to the city.
“Welcome to the Pride Ring. Only place you’re gonna be.”
A distant scream echoes—and then cuts off abruptly.
The neon sign above you flickers harder, buzzing like it’s about to die.
The smaller demon grins wider.
“Oh, and quick tip?”
She leans in slightly, her single eye widening.
“Try not to stand still too long.”
The tall demon chuckles.
“Yeah… things notice that.”
Somewhere behind you, footsteps—slow, dragging, getting closer.
The air feels heavier.
Hotter.
The city doesn’t stop moving. It never does.
And whatever’s coming… doesn’t sound like it plans to either.