... And she spoke to me of a place at the
ends of the Earth where the
storm never ceases, and the
sky is grey with the
evil therein. The people who live so close to the
Edge, they choke as they walk, as they labour over their
children, and teach them the ways of
God, of life and they point to the centre of the
Vortex, saying:
"Look, there is Shaitan, and all his power comes from there, it is the Gate of Hell, and if you are not deemed worthy of the Paradise meant for the faithful then that shall be your lot, and you will weep therein always."
And the children looked up, puzzled, and frightened, before returning to their holes in the ground, and their black paged books. It was there I found myself, wrapped in the torn khaki robes, looking into the Gate of Hell, I came upon myself, having been cast down from the very Paradise of which they spoke, and suddenly the dust around me came to life, swirled, and became my armour, and the fire in my chest ignited, and I roared! My voice bringing fear and hope to all those around me. Feeling the wind in my face - I leapt into the sky, and my wings, black and leathery, carried me all the way to the lands of men, to exact the justice denied me Above, and postponed for me Below ...
Book of Beginnings, Lenteril