Riley and Ascaron stopped at the exact same moment.
"Raailey…"
The voice was clear.
Not a scream, not a whisper, but a calm call… far closer than it should have been.
Riley froze in place.
His hair stood on end, and his heart began to pound violently.
He slowly turned toward the source of the voice,
but before he could speak, Ascaron's hand shot out and firmly covered his mouth.
Ascaron whispered in a low, sharp voice, with no hesitation at all:
"Don't answer."
Riley tried to pull free,
but Ascaron's gaze was different…
the gaze of a man who knew that answering meant death.
The voice came again, closer:
"Riley… why did you stop?"
Riley's body trembled.
The voice…
it sounded like his own.
He swallowed hard
and looked at Ascaron with eyes filled with terror.
Ascaron slowly shook his head:
"This is neither a human… nor a demon."
He pulled Riley back with him slowly,
step by step,
without making a single sound.
But suddenly—
The ground split open in front of them.
From it emerged a tall, slender creature, its skin dark gray,
its face without features…
except for a long mouth stretched into a sick smile.
The creature spoke in a layered voice, as if dozens of voices were speaking at once:
"Why did you ignore me… Riley?"
Riley stepped back,
but the rock on his back made him stagger.
Ascaron stepped half a step forward,
his eyes cold as ice.
"A Calling Entity…"
he muttered.
"One of Hell's hounds."
The creature laughed,
a laugh that made the air itself tremble.
"A hound? No… I merely open doors."
It raised its hand,
and suddenly the ground began to shake.
Around them,
the shadows of the other slaves stopped working,
their heads slowly turning…
their eyes completely black.
Ascaron whispered quickly:
"Listen carefully, Riley…
These beings do not attack immediately.
They observe…
They wait for orders."
Riley swallowed.
The creature took another step forward:
"You, elven slave…
you know your presence here is a mistake.
And you…"
It looked at Riley.
"You are a far greater mistake."
At that moment—
The sound of a massive horn echoed throughout the mine.
An alarm.
The creature stiffened,
then slowly retreated back into the ground,
as if it had never existed.
The eyes returned to normal.
The slaves went back to work.
But Riley did not move.
He suddenly dropped to his knees,
his breathing ragged,
his hand clutching his chest.
"Wh… what was that?"
Ascaron said calmly:
"A warning.
Hell has begun to notice you."
Riley looked at him in shock:
"Because of me?"
Ascaron shook his head:
"Because of your element."
He fell silent for a moment,
then continued:
"Riley… listen carefully.
Everyone here is born with known elements.
Fire. Water. Ice. Lightning.
Even demons—their elements are clear."
Riley's breathing quickened:
"So… I'm dangerous?"
Ascaron gave a short, joyless laugh:
"It means… you're a door."
A heavy silence fell between them.
After hours of work,
they returned to the temporary resting area.
They sat facing each other,
darkness surrounding them.
Ascaron suddenly spoke:
"If… if you could escape Hell,
would you do it?"
Riley slowly raised his head.
"Escape? How?"
Ascaron sighed:
"You could have.
But you had no one to tell you."
Silence followed.
Then Ascaron said in a low voice:
"But not everything is lost."
Riley looked up.
"What do you mean?"
He hesitated,
then said it:
"Hell…
is not your end."
Riley swallowed.
"Can… can you leave?"
Ascaron did not answer immediately.
He looked around…
making sure no one was listening.
Then he said:
"Not now.
And not easily.
But there is a path."
Riley's eyes widened.
"What path?"
Ascaron smiled faintly, mysteriously:
"A path…
that only opens for those who do not belong."
At that moment—
Heavy footsteps were heard,
and a guard shouted:
"You!
You stopped working!"
A sword flashed.
A head fell.
Blood spread across the ground.
The guard looked at Riley and Ascaron with red eyes:
"You're next if you dare to stop."
Both of them immediately lowered their heads.
.
And the chapter ended with the line:
"From that night on… Riley was no longer just a slave in Hell… but something Hell itself was watching."