?


    Therger of the two stepped forward and crossed his arms, eyeing me suspiciously. "What brings you to the gates of the second level?" She asked gruffly.


    I took a deep breath, steeling myself for what I was about to say. "We are here to see the ck King," I replied confidently.


    The two guards exchanged nces before the smaller one stepped forward, the des of his sword gleaming menacingly in the dim light. "It is not easy to gain an audience with the ck King," she warned sternly.


    I nodded solemnly. "I think that he will, but that is none of your concern. We will not give up until we have seen him, and I am sure you are tired of the uneasy feeling that you are getting from him being irritated, right?"


    The two guards nced at each other again before nodding. "You may enter," they said in unison.


    We stepped through the gates, and I let out a sigh and then drew in the lovely fresh air of the Layer of Eternal Slumber. The ce was nothing like any of the other rings and a personal favorite of mine when I was here before. The only problem with the ce is that you couldn''t stay too long or you would start to get sleepy. Then you would sit down, but you wouldn''t go to sleep; you would just watch and feel the forest slowly consume you.


    "I have never really understood why this ce is so beautiful?" Lexi said as we started to walk over the lushndscape that was ever so inviting.


    "I suppose that you don''t actually know much about theyers, do you? You might know about the people, but the Layers themselves have nothing to do with the Demons; they were built to be ces of eternal torture for the Demons," I exined, and then gestured around us. "This ce is The Second Layer of Eternal Slumber. The one before is The First Layer Of Hellfire Sea, and it is more like a resort for the Demons. They all go up and hangout on the beaches with the heat from theva cools and hardens their sink so they can piss off their dominator and make them work harder."


    "... Really? They like that?" Lexi asked incredulously, and I smirked at her.


    "Don''tpare Demons to the creatures from our Mortal Realm. They are apletely different species, and they thrive on emotions, and some of the strongest are pain, but happiness is good as well. Mix them together, and that is a cocktail that any Demon would devour readily," I exined, and Lexi thumbed her chin as she slithered beside me, but I could see what looked like a vige up ahead.


    "I had been curious about that. It seemed like it was just a twisted and broken popce that got off only on torturing others, but that information does give them a new dimension," Lexi said, and I pointed ahead.


    "Have you been to this vige?" I asked since it had not been here thest time I was.


    "I have not, no. What do you know about it?" she asked curiously as we approached the gate of the vige.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Well, for starters, how is it here? Thisyer is designed to make you fall into a waking slumber, so having a vige here just doesn''t make any sense," I said as I saw Demons of all shapes and sizes inside the vige, but there were no guards at the gates that we walked through.


    "I don''t know much about this vige, but it seems like a sanctuary for all kinds of Demons. It''s a ce where they can escape the harshness of the otheryers and live in peace, at least while they are here," Lexi exined as we began to wander around the vige.


    The Demons seemed content with their lives, at least from what I could see. Some were ying games or taking leisurely strolls, and others were tending gardens or fishing in the river. They were kind and generous to one another and seemed to be living a good life overall.


    "It''s amazing how different things are here," I said, filled with admiration and awe.


    Lexi smiled and nodded. "Yes, this ce is like apletely different world from any we''ve seen before. I''m d that these poor creatures have somewhere peaceful to stay."


    Then one of the Demons finally came over to us, approaching me first. Then it swung an enormous wed hand at my face with a smirk, but I put up a single finger to stop it, narrowing my eyes on the Demon. It clearly knew that it had just fucked up.


    I raised my hand and was about to turn the scared Demon to ash, but Lexi pulled my hand down. "Let''s try words first. They are wonderful things, are they not?" She asked me, and I looked at her, letting my hand fall, but with a raised eyebrow.


    "Oh? It seems like this one had just that in mind; I was just returning the favor," I said inly, but Lexi shot her head.


    "If it wanted to kill you, don''t you think the others would have helped?" Lexi asked me, and I shrugged as I looked around. No one was even paying attention to us, but that didn''t mean anything.


    If Demons were one thing, it was that they were all crafty as fuck.


    "Fine," I said and then turned to the Demon, who had regained hisposure. "So, Mrs.... who?"


    "Dragees, and sorry about that. You clearly are not from thisyer, but you looked pretty peaceful. Our greetings are to p each other on each cheek, and it is how we can all stay up here. There are strange psychedelic drugs here that make you go into nightmarish trances, but they keep you moving. I just came out of one of those and saw you two, but now that I see you both more clearly, it seems I might have angered you," she exined, and I sighed.