That wasn’t it. Sam knew there was no iron here. It was something else. And then he realized. Humans needed the sun to live but it also had the potential to kill them, just like the water in seas, oceans and lakes. The natural environment on Earth could be deadly to its indigenous inhabitants. For demons, their environment in Hell had the same effect. Sure, some of them had more immunity to fire than others, but the actual landscape seemed to be a different story entirely. It had the potential to kill him. Good to know. Sam was suddenly glad that he hadn’t followed his impulse to jump straight into the sea of fire. If the rock could harm him, then being immersed in that sea probably wouldn’t be good for his health.
What made it interesting, however, was the speed at which he was healing. He’d felt it before, of course, but never seen the process repeated again and again. During the climb down, he’d cut himself on rock numerous times. Each time, he’d bleed for a bit and then the wounds would rapidly seal over, and now the wounds were almost gone. He rubbed his hands together briskly in an effort to remove the last traces of blood. The healing process much faster than last time he was here, almost as if his body was becoming even more accustomed to his natural habitat. He wondered what other surprises his body had in store for him, here in this place.
His hands finally clean of blood, he looked around carefully. Like everything else in this place, the platform was made of rock. It was also rather narrow — about five feet wider than the actual column, creating a walkway around the base. Flames lapped continuously at the edges, threatening to spill over and engulf the platform completely. Sam stretched out one arm experimentally and immersed his hand in the flames, ready to pull back quickly if needed. He didn’t. Surprisingly, the flames tingled rather than burnt. He left his arm in there and started to count. After about two minutes, he felt an itch. After three, a vaguely painful sensation started to intrude. After four minutes, it became almost too painful to bear and he hastily withdrew his arm. Interesting. It seemed he could survive for a few minutes in the fiery sea if required. Of course, that was if he could survive the attentions of the fire serpents…
Almost as if the thought of them had served as a summons, a massive head slowly emerged from the sea of fire about fifty feet from the base of the rocky column. Waves of flame surged about it, disturbed by the passage of something as utterly massive as this creature. Sam froze as the head rose higher and higher into the air, revealing a huge snake-like body beneath. The head itself looked more humanoid than serpent, with pointed ears and even a hint of a chin. Instead of a nose, it possessed vertical slits. White fangs, larger than Sam’s entire body, protruded over the edges of its gaping, lip-less mouth. When it was about fifty feet in the air, the fire serpent stopped rising.
Sam realized he’d stopped breathing as the things huge yellow eyes slid this way and that, as if searching for something. Ponderously, it swung its head towards the rocky platform that Sam huddled on and stared directly at him. Sam took a breath and sprang into action, turning to face the rock. He was pretty confident about its intention and he didn’t want to be around to be on the receiving end. He looked around desperately. His first option was to climb up again. No chance. Too slow. Far too slow. He’d only get a few feet before the creature would be upon him.
At that very moment, Sam sensed movement behind him. Without conscious thought, he was suddenly moving, leaping behind the relative protection of the rock. He rolled, his body brushing against the boiling flames of the ocean just as a massive tail hurtled down from above, smashing into the rocky platform with bone-jarring force. The entire rock column shuddered under the impact. Fragments of rock rained down upon Sam and if he hadn’t already been on his knees, the force of the blow would’ve knocked him down anyway. Fire washed over him, burning smoking holes in his jeans and hiking boots. Quickly, he peered around the rock. The fire serpent was only about twenty feet away now, towering above him — its size almost a twin to the rock column itself, its sheer physical presence so intimidating it almost made Sam vomit. As it gathered itself for another strike with its tail, Sam knew he only had moments to make a decision. The rock — and himself for that matter — probably wouldn’t survive another direct hit like that. He was beginning to panic, but he couldn’t control himself. It was either into the sea where death was almost inevitable, or stay on the rock and die right now. He stared at the rock in front of him, wracked by indecision.
It was then that he saw it. A vertical line in the rock. He hadn’t seen it before because he hadn’t had time to venture around to this side. He traced the line and then he knew what it was.
A door.
Of course there was a door here. What other reason would you have for carving out a platform in the middle of nowhere? Like everything else, the door was made of rock but didn’t have an obvious handle. Sam hurled himself against it. It didn’t give an inch. Didn’t even budge. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the tail of the serpent rising into the air, dripping fire. Seconds of life remained to him; unbidden, the warning of the Watcher, Samyaza, came to him. If he died here, he would be trapped in Hell forever.
Desperation opened a window in his mind — a window which he hadn’t been able to pass through before, a power that hadn’t been accessible to him before he had moved the chalk. Suddenly he sensed what was on the other side. The door mechanism. He could picture it, he knew how it worked, how all it would take would be for a latch to be lifted. He imagined this happening and suddenly he knew for real that it was. His mind, tapping into the potential only revealed to him hours earlier, moved the latch telekinetically. The door flew open as if on a loaded spring and Sam darted into the welcoming darkness within, heedless of what could be waiting for him, desperate to escape the fire serpent.
As soon as he was through, the door slammed shut of its own accord as if programmed to remain open for only seconds in such a harsh location. A split second later, the tail of the serpent struck the rock once again. It was as if an earthquake had hit. Sam was thrown about like a rag doll. He tumbled through the darkness, aware that he was falling, conscious of a hideous roaring sound that could only have been the serpent screaming its frustration.
He must have blacked out. When he regained his senses, he was lying on cool rock. He sat up warily. Directly before him was a darkened stairwell, its steps carved from stone. Massive chunks of granite almost completely covered the upper steps. That must have been where he’d come from. The rage of the fire serpent had finally been too much for the tower. It must have collapsed, filling and blocking the stairs forever. No-one was going through there anytime soon. In fact, there was now no way back, which probably wasn’t a bad thing. He didn’t exactly relish the thought of another encounter with such a fearsome beast.
The shadows flickered. In the back of his mind, Sam had been aware of some light source. It was just that he had been slightly disorientated after his fall. Now, the thought that he was not alone suddenly washed over him, a bucket of cold water over his dulled senses. He sprang to his feet, his heart pounding, hands already reaching for his weapons.
His reaction was an over exaggeration. Thankfully, there was nothing behind him.
He was in a smallish chamber. Other than the staircase — which was now out of service — there was only one other exit: an opening in the rock indicated a passage. That was the source of the light. The flickering would indicate movement. A living creature was possibly moving within the passage, or maybe it was just a hellish breeze. Sam wasn’t prepared to take any chances.