JUST TO BE PERFECTLY CLEAR - NO ONE MAY COPY ANY PART OF THIS ORIGINAL WORK WITHOUT MY EXPRESS PERMISSION. IT IS IN ABSOLUTELY NO WAY PART OF ANY PUBLIC DOMAIN.

THIS NOVEL IS PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT LAWS

SIGNED, Richard Lafayette Cox, V; this 13th day of August, 2010

And without further ado, please enjoy the second part of Inferno's grand story.

THE RULE OF INFERNO

Chapter 1

A young man lay silent and still, partially drenched in a puddle of clear, cool water; partially strewn flat across the somewhat orange-tinted earth. He did not so much as move, and his eyes were shut, completing the picture of a handsome face in death's bitter embrace. Surrounding this child was a scene of similar ailments and inflections. Bodies were sprawled on the blood-and-rain spattered earth, most in a similar state of peace. But some, indeed, were not nearly as fortunate to have a peaceful ending. Piles of stone and mortar rubble littered the strangely colored mud, and some of the deceased were trapped under boulders of the material. These corpses stood as testament to the atrocity of the situation, their faces twisted in eternal gasps of pain.

But not every body was stiff and cold. On the very same reddish-orange mud, near a great round boulder, a teenage woman's heart beat strong, unknowingly proud in the face of such tragedy. Her face was an image of beauty: fair, soft skin that radiated a slight glow of pink. Slowly, consciousness stirred in her mind.

"Oh!" she yelped involuntarily, her upper body rising. Images and sounds flooded into her mind, memories that could possibly explain the apocalyptic painting before her. A moment of hesitation hit her as she absorbed her surroundings. Intelligent eyes scanned the area, and then realization dawned upon her like the morning sun.

Her name was Tera. A name that described a person with a rather extraordinary life. A runaway and desert rogue transformed to heroine on a grand quest to stop a great evil from enslaving the world and its inhabitants. Her companions consisted of her confident, good-natured boyfriend who happened to have many powers, the most iconic of which was the ability to wield flames and control fire. Naturally, his name was Inferno. And the other comrade was Inferno's uncle, a half-dead sorcerer named Jeff.

Of course, having a boyfriend meant certain things. For example, the thought of most importance to the teen was finding Inferno. She rose to her feet, heart pounding. She ran around the remains of the great arena, and sprinted to a red-cloaked figure face-down. As she bent down on one knee, her adrenaline began to kick in. The masculine body was draped in a dark-red fur cloak, similar to the one Inferno always adorned. Dark stains covered the robe and the exposed nicks and cuts were signs of battle, namely from one of the arena's fighters. Tera braced herself for the worst as she turned the head to reveal the face.

Her heart felt as if it would leap out through her throat. The expression of the mans face was of someone who endured a great suffering. And a great suffering he endured: blood lined the gruesome gash along his throat, and dotted the chin and chest. It was a terrible way to die, but it was not Inferno.

"Although it very well could be," Tera thought. A thousand good people had perished here, for reasons she did not yet fully understand. Before she had passed out, several hours ago, a powerful voice was heard. The voice boomed over the surface of the world, accompanied by multitudes of quakes and a torrential downpour. Inferno was near the center of the arena while it still stood, and the chances of finding him alive would be slim. "But of course," she realized. Perhaps her answer lie away from the arena's center. The quake had surely moved him. If she was to find her lover, Tera would need to use her own powers. The two shared an emotional bond, and if Inferno did happen to live, she should be able to find him after a thorough search.

Tera pressed her slender fingers to her forehead and closed her eyes. She felt strange, and suddenly found herself looking over her own shoulder from above. "I don't remember this," she thought. Perhaps the dire standing of the situated warranted the development of her own gifts. She floated above the arena, a spirit gazing upon the earth.

She found a downward view to be startling. The arena appeared to have been stricken by some sort of ancient god, so great was the catastrophe. The great circle of stone was torn and battered, and its remnants were scattered across the land. She rose further, and gazed upon the great Southern capital of Urital. Or, at least, what used to be the great capital. A great crack in the earth, a fissure; had several houses, huts, and various other buildings wedges in between the two opposing slabs of stone. Smoke rose from several fires that were too strong to be extinguished by the passing storms. Urital was destroyed, but did the destruction stop there? To answer this question, the curious young woman rose further and further, until she was as high as several clouds, and until Urital itself was unintelligible from the rest of the land. She gazed down, taking a deep breath as she processed the view.

It was quite the sight to take in. The world was very much so, different. Instead of the several continents that stretched across oceans of blue, the land had been completely altered. One great continent, elliptical in its shape, was now the only land that existed. Land, that had once been separated by mountain, river, or sea, had been smashed together. The old borders were null, and the survivors of the great catastrophe would awake to a completely new way of life. But most surreal and awe-inspiring of all, the greatest object in Tera's view, was the enormous volcano that had arisen in the center of the great continent.

It towered above all else, and was still very much visible from the thousands of feet that the teenager now hovered. The earth around it was black and charred, and the pit was active with boiling lava. It was a symbol of great power, but what power it represented, she did not know. One thing, however, was certain: if Tera had gazed upon the horizon when she first awoke, the teenager would be laying on the cold mud, unconscious again.

She did not have much more time to examine the surface of the world, as a series of tingling sensations began to pass through her body. Like strong wine, the feeling was strong, warm, and with a slight tinge. The feeling overcame her body, and a second later she opened her eyes.

Groans and other sounds of awakening made her realize that people had begun to wake up, at last. Tera cast away all other thoughts except helping the wounded.

The groans became louder, and Tera helped one man to his feet. "Are you all right?" she asked.

After a stretch and a yawn, the man nodded his help. "I will help. Tell me what to do," he replied, noting the teenager's look of authority.

"Walk around and awake any you can. Do what is possible for the injured."

The man nodded and began to gently shake other people lying unconscious. Tera went to the a young girl that was whimpering in pain.

"Help me," the girl pleaded. Tera took the girls hand and squeezed. "I will, but first I need to know what is hurt. Can you touch it?"

The girl nodded, and brought he left hand just under her breast. Tera rolled the brown dress down, revealing a deep gash under the girl's nipples. Much blood had already soaked out of the body, and it was obvious the wound was fatal. If she didn't receive the best of aid immediately, this little girl would perish, another body without a soul. "I have to try," Tera told herself.

Her hands reached over the wound, and Tera closed her eyes for the second time. "Heal," she willed her hands to obey. A slight warmth filled the tips of her fingers, but it was not enough. The girl gasped, probably in surprise. "Heal," she commanded again, silently.

A faint glow lit up the wounded area, and the girl gasped. The wound was closing, but not fast enough. "I can't do this alone!" the teenager worried to herself. A third attempt commenced, but the girl was beginning to be lost.

"Perhaps we could help each other," a deep voice spoke from behind. Tera turned slightly, surprise at the being that stood behind her. It was Greg, the man who owned the tavern she had slept in a few days before. Greg clasped her hand, and they put their combined will into healing the girl. A deeper, much more powerful feeling overcame the two. The light grew strong, and the girl gasped again – not of pain, but a breath of air that bespoke of life. The injury had altogether disappeared.

"Thank you," the girl exclaimed. She hugged both Tera and Greg.

"You welcome," said Greg. "But right now, we need to get you someone that will take care of you. Go, over there." Greg pointed to a small fire with several famished, but living, people surrounding it.

"How do you do that?!" A surprised Tera asked.

The buff bartender held up his hand. "I don't know. I just had a feeling it would work. But enough, we can't stand around here all day. We need to help the rest."

And help they did. A curious pair they made, scrambling about the ruined arena, holding hands every time they performed miracle after miracle on helpless strangers. Tera felt a slight twinge of guilt. She should have been searching for Inferno, or Jeff. "They'll be fine," she reassured herself. Inferno and his uncle had survived every danger that had presented itself thus far. Well, not exactly. There was the slight fact that the pyromancer had been slain and sent to the underworld. He had emerged from the darkness, alive and well, only a few hours later. The two's reunion was a joyous one, but it was also filled with realization that Inferno was not quite free from Death. A curse had been set upon the teenager, similar to his uncle's, but much more powerful. A piercing silver iris was his mark, an unmistakeable message from Death himself.

The clouds had begun to clear, and the sun now hung low in the horizon. Soon, it would be dark. Greg and Tera were forced to return to camp, and continue the search the next day. As they trudged toward the campfire surrounded by survivors, both companions couldn't help but feel bitter. Daisy, Inferno, and Jeff were all unaccounted for.

They eventually joined the circle around the fire, eager to warm their bones after the day had proved uncommonly chilly and wet. There was little talk around the fire, and uncertainty hung in everyone's minds like the dark clouds of before. Night came swift, and eventually the survivors drifted off to sleep, despite the hunger that gnawed at their stomachs and the pain of loss that stabbed at the soul.

The next morning was an eventful one. A figure of authority was about to come forward.

It began when all members of the group had awoken. A few folks had taken the liberty of rekindling the fire, and some had left the site to continue the search efforts.

One man, sitting on the earth around the fire, grumbled about food. A series of similar grumbles traveled through the survivors. That is, until a scrawny looking man with a dark beard spoke up.

"So, let's go and get it," he said. Several people nodded, and a sarcastic voice answered his call to action. "You go 'nd git it!"

"Would the man that said that please step forward?" the scrawny man taunted. "Or do you lack the courage to come forward and stand your ground?"

A shorter, broad shouldered man came forward. "Nobody calls me a coward," he warned.

"I just did," jested the scrawny man. "And the question is not whether you are a coward, but whether you can prove otherwise."

The broad man cracked his knuckles. "We'll see who's a coward."

He leapt at the scrawny man, swinging a powerful fist. The fist connected – but not with its intended target. The scrawny man held the broad man's fist at bay with his palm. The scrawny man grunted with effort, but his display of power was great. He hooked his foot under his stronger opponent's ankle, and sent the broad man sprawling. The scrawny man smiled, and the gathering crowd watched to see what the broad man would do next. He scrambled to his feet, embarrassed to have underestimated his opponent. He raised his fists, as if to begin another attack, but eventually he dropped them, in defeat.

The scrawny man bowed before the other survivors. "The name," he announced, "Is Carter. And now, ladies and gentlemen, who will come with me to search for food?"

Several men and women stood to their feet, and those already standing rose their hands. Carter, the scrawny man, smiled to his followers, and lead them away from the camp in search of nutrition.

"What was all that about," Greg finally asked Tera, who had watched the entire scene with interest. He had emerged from behind a nearby boulder, and she answered him. "Power struggle."

Greg shook his head, and his eyes shifted to the ground. "So sad. Not even a day after this nightmare began, we already have those that would divide us. Well, the best we can do is gather up those still at camp and search for the rest."

Tera nodded slightly. Today was the day they would find their loved ones.

"Inferno. Inferno, wake up."

It was a familiar voice, feminine, but one that could not be properly placed. The male pyromancer opened his eyes to a beautiful woman, complete with an angelic face surrounded by candy pink hair.

"I know you!" he exclaimed. "You're – Daisy, Greg's sister, right?"

The beautiful woman giggled, and nodded her head. "Yes, that's me."

Inferno rose to his feet, curious why Daisy was around him. And then it hit him: the earthquakes, the voice, the sudden darkness. "Where are we?"

Daisy turned her head to her side, and Inferno couldn't help but notice how cute she looked. "Tera would be jealous," he thought.

"I think," she began. "That we are lost."

Inferno examined the surroundings. Trees, bushes, random rocks. It was a meadow, all right, but in the middle of nowhere. How far away from the arena and Urital, the pyromancer had no clue.

"That certainly is one way of looking at it," he said. "How did we end up here, anyway?"

Daisy shrugged. "My best guess is that a strong gust of wind carried us away."

"No," he shook his head. "I feel magic. Powerful, no doubt. Very powerful."

"What does it mean?" the candy-haired waitress asked.

"It means we need to find the others as soon as possible. Are you able to walk?"

"Yes," she responded. "But we don't know where we're going."

"That's not necessarily true," the teenager said as he pointed to the looming spire, the volcano on the horizon. "I have a feeling we'll find answers the closer we get to that mountain, or whatever it is."

The two began to walk, their destination ultimately obscured. But one thing was certain: the world had changed, and it was time to make some sense of it.