Hell's Prisoner, part I

“They’re coming, drop your tools and take up weapons!” A sickish sounding horn blew over the work area. Beastly demons threw their tools down and took up ugly looking weapons. They rushed inside the fortress walls, leaving half finished barriers and siege devices behind.
A tall demon strode among his troops; he had a whip of fire that he lashed out at scurrying soldiers,
“Get on the walls or get sent back to hell!” he lashed at a new recruit with the whip. The demons stood shoulder to shoulder on the walls. The tall demon, named Kr’ot, mounted the wall.
“Ready your arrows!” there was a clanking of metal as shoulders rubbed against shoulders in an effort to get arrows from the quiver at their sides. There was a stretching sound as they pulled back their bows. The sky was dark with a reddish tint. There was a flash of red lighting every now and again.
“Left Haste!” The demon legion turned on their heels and faced the ominous light coming towards them.

The darkness on the horizon was being pushed back by a bright and clean light.
“No, not them!” a demon whined. The walls began to shake as thousands of feet hit the ground.

“Hey, I’m going to youth group, wanna come?” Tim asked Drew. Drew looked at Tim through bloodshot eyes, eyes that hadn’t had any sleep in days.
“Why?” he asked, his voice was hoarse from the many cigarettes that he’d smoked. Even then he played with a pack of them.
“You never know, there could be a new best friend there. Come on, it’ll be fun.” Tim persisted; he held an NIV bible in one hand and a soda can in another. His hair was gooped into a Caesar cut and he had a friendly smile.

The light was the glow of thousands of angels. They carried a white banner over their heads. The ground under them turned from dry and cracked land to green and lush territory. They marched in perfect formation towards the fortress. The angel walking ahead of the rest held his hand up. The rest of the angels stood still.
“Remember, not one arrow shot unless we are invited to do battle. Let’s set up camp out of their arrow reach.” The angel’s voice was soft, yet it carried authority that the demons on the wall knew and respected.

A demon on the wall shuttered,
“There’s too many of them, we’ll be butchered!” Kr’ot, the demon commander, knocked the speaker to the ground.
“They won’t attack. They’ll only come to free his soul if he asks for freedom. That is why we can’t let him go do anything with that scum of a Christian.” Just then the entire fortress shook. The jailer, who was second in command, ran up to Kr’ot.
“He’s going to church, we’re doomed!”
“Not if I can help it.” Kr’ot’s voice was deep and gruff, he had many open sores on his rough hide and the left side of his face was smashed in.

Drew followed Tim down the streets of San Antonio. As they passed a building a group of other teenage boys ran in their path.
“Where are you going?” the leader asked. He wore a hat tilted to one side; he idly played with a switchblade as he talked. Drew swallowed hard.
“I….I….I was just going to church, er, I mean a meeting.”
“Would that meeting happen to be the one that you’re late for, the one concerning the fate of another son of a….”
“Please stop, just let us go.” Tim intervened.
“Get lost, holy boy, or we’ll kill you. This is business that concerns the Bones only.”
“Come with me, Drew.” Tim whispered as he walked off. Drew took a step after him.
The demons cowered on the wall in terror, was their end coming?

“Fine, Drew, go to church. Come on guys let’s go get something to drink.” The leader walked off. Drew stopped. He knew what the drink was. If he didn’t go with them then they’d probably beat him up later. In his head he heard a voice screaming at him to go with his gang.
“Hey Tim, you go on, I’ll catch up later.” He started after his gang.
“You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a bit.” With that Drew went with his gang.

Cheers erupted from the wall tops. The defenders danced to and fro, they would hold out the Lamb and his armies yet another day.
“Ha, come and get us, if you dare!” Kr’ot roared at the angels encamped below the walls.
“Oh please don’t make them mad!” a young recruit cried. Kr’ot kicked him from the wall top down the stairs into the courtyard below.
“It is not the way of the Lamb. He won’t just break His way through the gates and free the soul. He waits to be asked, and Satan willing, He won’t be invited in!”
The entire night was spent in celebration. The demons sang horrible and evil songs as they pranced around a large fire in the courtyard.
“Are you still loyal to your Lamb now?” a demon jeered at the angels.

Michael, the head angel, called the angels to line up in formation.
“Prepare to say the oath of allegiance to the Lamb,” he called. When all of the angels had their position they shouted back to the walls.

“We pledge allegiance to the Lamb, Savior of the world,
For which He stands, one God over the all nations
Indivisible and indestructible with mercy and
Forgiveness for all.”

The demons backed away from the walls in fright.

Drew lay on a pile of garbage bags in an alley. He was ripped from the lands of sleep as a car went by. He sat up and held his throbbing head.
“I knew I shouldn't have had that last bit.” He staggered to his feet and shuffled out of the alley. The sun was bright over the city of San Antonio; Drew shaded his eyes as he emerged from the shadows. He slouched down the street until he reached the apartment that he stayed in. He fumbled at the door, trying to ignore the landlord.
“This month’s payment is dew. Make sure you have the money by tomorrow afternoon.”
“I doon’t haave any monkey.” Drew muttered.
“You’re drunk again? Boy,” the African American stood to his full height, “straighten up and get a job or I won’t have you here. Oh and take some sort of breath mint or something.” The landlord walked off shaking his head. Drew fell on the bed and slipped off into a deep sleep.