Tribulation Read Online Free PDF

shadow and disorder, where even the light is
like darkness." Job 14:22
     
    S am took stock slowly, carefully evaluating the
situation like Hikari had taught him. Sure, he was in Hell, but
that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. For one thing, he felt great,
and that was certainly a positive. And it wasn’t like he was
trapped. He could just craft another pentacle, visualize the church
he’d just come from – for that matter, any church he remembered –
and will himself back to Earth. Couldn’t he? But then a niggling
thought intruded, sowing the seeds of doubt in his mind. What
happened if it didn’t work properly, as it clearly hadn’t this
time? What happened if he found himself back on Earth surrounded by
demons and demon-worshippers? Or worse – what would he do if he
found his ability to transport himself no longer worked. He’d be
trapped in Hell for ever.
    He sighed,
silently berating himself for his self-doubt. The last thing he
needed to do right now was start speculating on things that hadn’t
even happened yet, and may never transpire. What he needed to do
was find practical solutions.
    He looked up.
Miles above was the broken rocky ceiling that served as the upper
limit of Hell. Lit by the burning fires below, it was bathed in a
warm, flickering glow. Tiny, insect-like shapes fluttered near it
but Sam knew that it was deceptive. They must be hulking Astaroth,
lesser Princes of Hell, soaring on the hot currents of air. There
seemed to be other shapes up there as well. Sam wasn’t so naïve as
to think he knew every type of demon. The ancient tome of
demonology given to him by Hikari long ago contained details of
many different types but it was hardly comprehensive. Sam had
encountered the more common ones but he was certain that Hell had
other surprises in store for him.
    Still, the fact
that these flying demons soaring above him appeared to be several
miles away was another positive. It would be an absolute disaster
if he had to fight wave after wave of Astaroth, trapped on this
island of rock. Even he couldn’t fight them off forever; eventually
they would wear him down. But so far, his appearance had gone
unnoticed. Sam wanted to make sure he kept it that way, so couldn’t
stay here. It was only a matter of time before a passing demon
spotted him and raised the alarm.
    In recent
years, he’d learnt to shroud his mind and presence from other
demons using a kind of glamor ability. It had come in handy on
Earth of course but now it was about to get a proper workout. He
wasn’t sure whether it would actually work in Hell, but he was
about to find out. He concentrated, putting the glamor in place,
leaving it to operate on automatic without conscious thought. If it
worked, great. If not, then he’d deal with the consequences when
they occurred.
    That done, he
checked out his immediate surroundings. The rocky finger was only
about ten feet in diameter – not much larger than the now invisible
pentacle that had brought him here. He took a few careful steps
over to the edge. His first impression had been largely correct.
The outcrop was at least two hundred feet tall, surrounded by a sea
of fire. What he thought of as the nearest rocky shoreline was, if
he had to guess, probably five miles distant. It wasn’t really a
shoreline though – more like a towering wall of rock. And that was
the nearest one. When he looked around, the other shorelines seemed
to be ten or even twenty miles away.
    He focused on
the wall closest to him. Even with his enhanced vision, it was hard
to make out any detail. He thought he could see ant-like figures
moving up and down the wall, but he couldn’t be sure. Last time
he’d been in Hell, the scenery had been similar but different in
one crucial way: the precipice he’d looked over last time had had
islands of rock floating amidst the fires of Hell. On these
islands, the cursed human inhabitants of Hell had been subjected to
continuous torture. Where he was now, apart from