Ninth Circle: The Center of Hell

The souls that we walked over were now covered completely with ice. Their frozen expressions could only helplessly take in the image of the bottoms of my feet. Their positions altered. Some sinners were twisted, some upright, and some were curled up so that they couldn't look upward at all. 

My guide pointed toward the center of the ice and asked if I could now see the source of the wind. The wind was so strong at this point that even guarding myself behind my guide didn't make a difference. The image of a create came out of the darkness. It's wings flapping wildly and in all directions like a windmill. I hadn't seen such a gargantuan creature during my entire journey.

This was the Devil himself, this was Dis. This is the place that would threaten my soul most of all. I cannot begin to explain how my body seized up as I took in the sight. I felt that my heart stopped beating, my blood stopped flowing, and my eyes no longer blinked. All of my energy went into seeing this massive creature that had been simply an imagined visual before now.

I poised myself in case I had to flee, then realized that Satan was also stuck in the ice. From his waist down, his body was encased. I was in awe so see that this creature had three faces. One was a rusty color, the other a sickening white, and the final face was very dark. His wings were not made of feathers like the angels, his were bat-like instead. These wings created the storm. These wings freeze this entire area.

Satan wept, like many that I saw before in Hell. His tears mixed with blood and froth from his mouths. In each mouth was a sinner who was destined to be chewed forever. The one that suffered the most, explained Virgil, was Judas. His head is not visible. His head is forever in the Devil's mouth. In the other two mouths were Cassius and Brutus. Each sinner writhed and squirmed. Some were even incapable of screaming anymore.

Virgil halted with his descriptions.. The night was coming on and we had seen everything. I was pleased to hear this. I had seen the great beast of Hell himself as he tried to escape his icy tomb by beating his wings and I hadn't run away.

I began to wonder how we would exit Hell. It seemed impossible to go back out the way we came. The very thought of it caused me exhaustion. I followed Virgil's next instructions carefully and surprisingly without fear. I grasped Virgil's neck and held on tight as he mounted the monster. It seemed as though he was moving us closer to the ground which didn't make sense to me. He somehow climbed out an opening through the rock and set me down on the rim.

I looked upward, expecting to see Lucifer, but instead was welcomed by the night sky. Virgil explained to me that the Devil made the hole through to Hell when he was cast down from Heaven.We had traveled through the center of the Earth. I was amazed and astounded and best of all: alive.

Our journey through blackness was over, our journey through the beauty of the dark night sky was just beginning. We had made it. I felt my new found strength well up inside me once more. Cowardice might not be a problem in the future. This is where my story ends for now: beneath the stars.