A Second Life chapter 1

 >You bolted upright, drawing in a gasp of the pristine air.
>The light around you was intense, blinding in fact.
>A cold wind nipped at the exposed skin all around your body.
>Only moments ago you had been in an intense firefight with insurgents near Kandahar airfield.
>The hot sun was nearly baking you alive with all that gear on, it couldn’t be less than 100 degrees,
>But now, you were actually a bit cold.
>And that breeze…
>your eyes finally adjusted to the light, revealing your naked body.
“What the shit?”
>You turned your head franticly, searching for a clue as to where you were.
>You were sitting on a cloud.
>Well, it seemed the floor was made of clouds.
>The sky above you was clear and a beautiful shade of blue.
>You drew in another breath, taking in the freshness.
>After 6 months of smelling sand, explosives, and oil burning, it was a refreshing scent.
>In the distance was a long golden fence, and a tall pearly gate.
>A good place as any to start, it was the only thing in view.
>As you approached, a figure behind a pedestal came into focus.
>He was an older man, bald with a grey beard, wearing soft looking ropes.
“Where am I? What happened to my gear? And my squad?”
>The old man smiled gently. “You mean you don’t recognize the place from the texts?”
>You simply awaited an explanation, not in the mood for riddles.
>“Anonymous, you need not worry. Your squad is fine. As for your possessions, they remain on Earth.”
“So I’m not on Earth… Am I… Dead?”
>”Quite. Before you stands the gates of Heaven.”
>You paused a moment, thinking over the situation in your head.
“I never believed in a god though…”
>The clouds beneath you suddenly gave way to your feet, plunging you into darkness.
>When you woke up, the familiar sensation of heat washed over you.
>But this heat was different.
>It was radiating from everywhere, and you could feel the skin on you back being singed.
>You leapt to your feet quickly, taking in your suroundings.
>Lava flowed all around the obsidian rock island you were on.
>Jagged pieces of rock stuck up out of the ground all around you.
>You kept a steady walk going, keeping the hot ground beneath your feet from burning your soles to badly.
>The air felt like you had been placed in an oven, left to bake overnight. Dry and unbearably hot.
>”Greetings Anonymous. Welcome to your home for the rest of your eternal existence.”
“Ah, the disembodied voice must be Satan.”
>Darkness shrouded in front of you, then dissipated revealing a cleanly dressed man, his hair slicked back.
>”Lucky guess Anonymous. Welcome to my domain of hell.”
“Your domain? So there’s others?”
>”Quite astute Anonymous! Yes, this is where your dimension comes when they can’t get into heaven.”
>you crossed your arms, waiting for Satan to continue.
>”You see, I offer everyone I think capable a challenge. A chance for a new life.”
“Really? Color me interested. What’s the catch? I have to beat you in a violin duel?”
>Satan chuckled at the comment. “It’s quite simple, all you need to do, is find one of the exits in the other domains of Hell.”
“I have a feeling it won’t be so simple. What’s the catch?”
>”There’s a chance you will emerge in an alien dimension, where you can’t survive. You can either live a somewhat normal life in Hell if you choose to decline, but if you accept, and you fail, you’ll be sent to the next level of hell, where your soul will be tormented endlessly.”
>This was an interesting offer, you had to think it over in your head.”
>”Decide now Anonymous. Do you accept?”
>You paused another moment, then extended your right hand.
“If I fail, I suppose I’ll see you in hell.”
>You shook hands with the devil, and began walking along the obsidian path.
>Where in Hell you were going, you didn’t know, but you left your fucks on Earth, leaving you fresh out for the journey.
>You’d been walking for what you guessed to be a day, coming to a bridge at the far side of the island that was Satan’s domain.
>Bones and rotting flesh littered the ground before you.
>Your stomach pained you, but you had to remind yourself that you were already dead.
>then again, so were these poor souls at your feet.
>Were they killed by hunger? Or was it something else?
>An arrow fell at your feet, nicking your skin and drawing blood.
>There was your answer.
>you looked in the distance, at 4 or 5 human looking beings, drawing up another volley of arrows.
>If someone’s shooting at you, you must be doing something  right.
>You took off in a dead sprint across the bridge, with arrows whizzing by you.
>5 more figures appeared at the middle of the bridge, long swords in hand.
>You got a good look at their features with every step closer
>They had no skin, only seared meaty flesh.
>Eyes as black as evil itself, and armor to match.
>The first went for an overhead slash, giving you plenty of time to spin around him like a pro football player.
>You almost ran right into the next blade, but you rolled along the ground, dodging it by inches.
>Springing to your feet, you landed a punch on the face of the third, stunning it.
>you snatched the blade from the stunned demon, blocking the fourth and shunning him away.
>the fifth and final demon came down and at an angle, but you dodged it as well, slicing off its unprotected head.
>Without another moment, you resumed your dead sprint, throwing your body into the portal at the end of the bridge.
>There was a sign in front of you when you emerged, which blood was painted on a rock.
>If you had food in your stomach, you probably would have lost it by now.
>“Welcome to Tartarus, Humans. What you seek is here.”
“Well that was easy.”
>”You think so? It’s been a while since a human came through here.”
>You turned to see another bipedal creature, but moved more like a gorilla, and had the face of a dog.
>Like the guards in Hell, his skin and hair had been stripped away, leaving only muscle and bone structure.
“How long has it been since you’ve seen a human?”
>”About 100 years. He didn’t make it past Cerberus though.”
“I don’t suppose you’ll tell me where this gate to the new world happens to be?”
>The creature only pointed at the top of the mountain, where a single tower stood.
>”Don’t expect anything beyond this bridge to be friendly. I’ve only developed your language after a millennia of guarding this wretched portal.”
“Has any human made it past Cerberus?”
>The creature only shook his head.
“Well, I suppose I’ll make Tartarus history.”
>Without another word you set off in a jog across the bridge, keeping your head on a swivel, and your blade arm ready.
>After the bridge you came to a cliff edge, with about a 20 foot drop to the path below.
>A lone guard was making a patrol along said path, keeping his eyes forward.
>You had to admit, one month of patrols could get mind numbing.
>However long this thing had been doing it, he must be on auto pilot.
>You had to time this perfectly, if you were off a by even a second, you would break a leg, and end up being killed. Again.
>Just as the guard came underneath you, you leapt from your perch, coming down on top of the guard, sinking your blade into it as you landed
>Just as you expected, the creatures body slowed your fall enough that you didn’t get hurt in the slightest.
>You pulled the blade from the carcass at your feet, blood squirting up along your body.
>Wasting no time, you took off down the path, sticking to the side where you could attempt to hide if you met another guard.
>With no armor, and the chances of finding a set that actually fit slim to none, you needed to avoid any fights you could.
>Well fuck, ahead of you were 3 more creatures in a clearing, resembling horses, but much smaller.
>They didn’t have weapons, nor did they have armor.
>Against your better judgment, you stepped into the clearing, and almost immediately drew the attention of the three creatures.
>As expected, they didn’t put up much of a fight, your blade cut through them pretty easily.
>you attempted to wipe your blood and soot covered body, only to smear it over the few clean areas of your skin.
>You gave up trying to clean yourself up, and took a look at your options.
>The clearing was fairly small, but there were 4 different paths that led to it, not counting the one you just took.
>The tower appeared to your left, but none of the paths seemed to head in that direction.
>You pondered a for a few moments on your next move, thinking on a 5th option.
“Fuck it, let’s try this”
>You took off directly at the tower, scaling the obsidian boulders.
>Moving across the rocky terrain was murder on your feet, and slowed your progress immensely.
>The hunger pains in your stomach had worsened, and your thirst seemed unquenchable.
>You’d give anything for a MRE and a pair of combat boots.
>If you had to guess, you had been on the move for 3 days now.
>the rocky terrain had scraped you up pretty badly, but alas, you had made it to the tower, covered in blood and soot and soot and blood.
>there were two guards guarding the entrance of the tower, both of the gorilla/ dog type, and both were armed and armored.
>Every part of your body complained in protest of the hell it was going through.
>You couldn’t help but giggle at the joke you subconsciously made.
>Maybe you could rest a while… No every moment you delayed your body lost the nutrients it needed.
>You slowly stood up on top of the obsidian boulder, sword in hand, drawing the attention of the guards.
>They mindlessly charged, their eternal boredom finally had something they could entertain themselves with, if only temporarily.
>With what strength you could muster, you leapt off the boulder, bringing your blade down on the helmet of the first guard, stunning him.
>The second lunged in with a spear, grazing your side.
>You grabbed the shaft of the spear and drove your blade into the exposed face of the guard.
>you snatched the spear out of the fallen guard’s hands, spinning around to deflect another incoming blow
>with a final thrust, you drove the spear in its throat, planted your foot squarely on its chest, and kicked it off.
>you turned toward the tower,  and took a deep breath, the sooty air nearly making you cough.
>This wouldn’t be easy, nor pleasant.
>But at the top of this tower was a portal to a new world, and you’d be damned if a few walking meatbags would keep you from that.
>You pried open the obsidian door and stepped inside the tower.
>You stepped back in shock as your feet struck the cold, smooth floors.
>After a moment, you stepped back inside, the cold floor offering some relief to your blistered, burned, and cut feet.
>Despite the relief, you couldn’t help but wince at every step you took, the damage had been done.
>One of the small horse guards strolled past on patrol, not spying you in the darkness.
>In the center of the tower was an orange beam of light, which climbed up to the top of the tower, illuminating everything with a soft orange glow.
>You stuck to the shadows as best you could, sneaking by several guards.
>Along the walls of the stairs were several cells, whose residents kept the guards preoccupied.
>A few still appeared to have their eyes, hair, and skin, but you couldn’t make any other details in the dim light.
>The tower was filled with the sound of various grunts, shrieks and cries from the animals around you.
>You began to wonder if exiting through this gate was such a good idea,  especially if there wasn’t going to be another human once you got up there.
>It was too late though, if you went back and searched for another portal, you were sure you would end up collapsing out of exhaustion.
>Your stomach complained again as you  crept across the final cell block.
>Only this time it was loud enough to draw the attention of the guard you were sneaking behind.
>As he turned around, you delivered a quick jab to the face, and took off up the final set of stairs as fast as you could.
>Another guard, hearing the commotion, began coming down the stairs, weapon in hand.
>He drew back his sword, ready to slice you in two.
>You couldn’t fight an uphill sword fight, you didn’t have to be a samurai to know this.
>Instead, in a last ditch effort you hurled your blade through the air, catching the creature off guard.
>It dodged the sword toss, but ultimately tripped, and tumbled down the stairs, passing just inches away.
>You gathered your blade, and continues to run up the stairs.
>You muscles complained with every step you took, but you managed to reach the top of the stairs.
>Down below, guards from the lower levels noticed the racket of sword play from above, and were rushing to investigate.
>You didn’t have long, and you still had the Cerberus to deal with.
>Silently as you could, you crept through the open door, and into a chamber filled with bones of creatures that had tried to escape Tartarus before you.
>In the center of the room, lay a three headed dog almost three times your size, snoozing lazily.
>You couldn’t ask for a more opportune moment to escape,
>you continued to creep further toward the orange portal at the far edge of the room.
>The only clear path was directly beside the Cerberus, close enough that you could stab it with your blade.
>Whether or not such an action would do you any good if it woke up, you highly doubted it.
>Almost there, maybe two thirds of the way.
>You froze at the sound of a yell, and you turned to see a guard with a bow and arrow aimed directly at you.
>You stole a quick glance at the portal then back to the guard.
>Too close to stop now, you had to go for it.
>You sprinted with what energy you could muster toward the glowing portal.
>The guard released his arrow, soaring a few inches away and hitting a pile of bones.
>The rattle of bones awoke the Cerberus, and with a flash of fire, incinerated the first thing it laid eyes on.
>Lucky for you, it was the guard that caught its attention first, who was already drawing a second arrow to take you down.
>The Cerberus turned to face you, blasting a gout of fire along the ground behind you.
>The skin along your backside seemed to catch fire from the radiating heat behind you.
>No doubt you would have blisters a plenty if you lived through this.
>The heat intensified with every step you took closer to the portal, the gout inching closer.
>You leaped into the air for the last few feet, passing through the portal an into the other side.