The trees whispered in the light breeze, the sounds of birds rummaging in the undergrowth and singing in the trees broke the stillness of the forest clearing. A small stream trickled through, running over some rocks into a small pond where fat orange fish swam lazily and frog croaked from the bank. Darius smiled serenely, watching his paradise which was now in front of him.

"Oh, it's so beautiful!" he cried, clasping his hands together and turning to his companion. Lucius smiled back at him and nodded, moving towards the centre and flopping down on the soft grass. Darius laughed and skipped over to him, falling over and lying on top of him. Lucius grinned and ran a finger through Darius' red hair, tucking a loose strand behind his ear.

"You are more beautiful," the demon whispered, lifting his head slightly and kissing Darius deeply, causing him to become limp and warm in Lucius' arms. The human blushed as he let the demon roll him over and lie on top of him, breaking their kiss as the day slowly slid into night. The stars twinkled in the velvet black sky and the full moon poured its silver light on the scene. Darius had never felt so happy and in love for long time. He allowed Lucius to have his way with him, enjoying every moment of it. It felt so nice to be with the one he loved so dearly...

Lucius stepped up to the burning gates of the city’s outer walls. His black claws grasped the red-hot iron bars and flung them upward, sending the gate upward and almost breaking the mechanisms that raised it. Here Lucius and Darius were safe from the furies and harpies, and Lucius turned back only to use several of his arms to reach up and slam the gates shut. He was watched carefully, but avoided mostly by those lost souls and demonic beings that ran about, flustered, talking a mile a minute.

Papers flew in an endless whirlwind of activity, forms that led nowhere and dead-end bureaucratic mish-mashes that turned into a buzz of eternal, useless activity that kept escaping souls in an annoyed merry-go-round of spirit-crushing matters. In the middle of a thousand information windows and waiting areas and stout buildings full of heat and frustration a massive fire blossomed from a pit in the center of it all. Paper often drifted toward it and immediately burned to tiny clouds of ash. When humans came through this place, they were often stopped and questioned or forced to go through the same things the lost souls and demons were dealing with.

Lucius rearranged his wings, making sure Darius was still safe and hidden well. He was, and the devil was allowed to walk around the massive fire pit. No underlings dared intercept him. At the exit to the area, Lucius came to confrontation with a coal-black lost soul that stepped back from what appeared to be a toll booth. “Please.” It spoke quietly, bowing as it raised the gate on its own. Lucius nodded to it, stepping through and into the fields filled with burning graves and fiery tombs. To the far right, an extensive white slab stretched far. He angled toward it, lowering his head at the screams and calls and clawing charred humans trying to climb out of their eternal punishment. It would be quiet and peaceful in the mausoleum.

The heat made Darius sweat and moan in his sleep. His dreams had turned to nightmares about roasting alive in a large oven, ready to be eaten by many demonic faces, their mouths full of teeth. He rolled over, his eyes opening suddenly. He wondered where he was before realising that the dark fabric he had mistaken for a tent was his friend's wings. He reached out and touched it lightly, amazed at how cool and soft they were.

The heat was unbearable, nothing like Darius had ever suffered through before. He peeled off his shirt, wrapping the damp cloth around his head.

Lucius twitched a bit as he felt something move under his wings. It had to be Darius. The sudden stillness that followed was certainly worrying, and he scaled the walls, searching for the entrance to the mausoleum. It would be covered by a large iron gate, and when he found it, Lucius reared up and smashed through. The bone-chilling cool---more soul-piercing than physically cold---enveloped him immediately, and he crouched down.

“Darius.” His words were in his head once more. “Wake up, if you can. The heat is over, perhaps only for now.” The mausoleum was much like the palace of Minos, a huge labyrinth, but full of the dead. Vaguely, very vaguely, one could hear the shouts and curses within the small doors that hid the souls trapped here forever.