Four figures walk into a dark cave, filling it with the dim light of their torch.

The cave has only two things within it: a mirror the size of large double doors; standing in the center held up by a small brass stand of some sort, and a large pile of decomposing skin in one corner of the room.

All noses twitch to the pungent stench of rotting flesh.

Two of the figures, the ones in front, walk unhesitatingly towards the mirror, causing the other two to follow through the tautening of their chains.

Stopping next to the mirror, the figure in the black robe looks towards Ankorr, who is trembling with slight fear.

Pulling him closer with the chain, the figure grabs onto the neck ring and cracks it open with bare hands.

“Strip” The words are a forceful command

With a little hesitation Ankorr obeys.

The black robed figure strips as well, revealing a pale man with an underfed body; shown by the prominent ribs and sunken cheeks.

“Do not stop moving” He says in a serious tone

With a nod, the man walks into the mirror and through it, causing small ripples to form around the outskirts of his body as he slowly passes through.

Ankorr, eyes wide with surprise follows suit.

Stepping into the mirror, he immediately feels the gloopy substance surround him noiselessly. Taking another step, he notices the difficulty in simply moving; the substance seems to thicken as he pushes it with his leg becoming akin to custard.

Also akin to custard, it seems to harden on his steps and loosen in a short time after.

Fearfully, he pushes his body slowly inch by inch, letting the strange substance surround him and layer onto him until it sticks to him just like his own skin would.

Once his body is fully covered, it starts to burn as if acid has been poured and lathered onto him.

Unable to withstand the sudden pain, he screams and the substance invades his mouth gagging the noise and coursing painfully through his mouth.

Startled, Ankorr tries to spit it out; however it has already melded with his mouth, burning away at it.

The substance doesn’t stop at his mouth though; it continues down his throat and into his stomach, melding and burning away till he feels like nothing is left, just a void where his insides used to be. But the pain sitll resides.

Continuing moving, he wades slowly through the substance, letting it wash over him with increasing ease to the point where it is as if it weren’t there to block him at all.

And then it wasn’t. With a ripping noise the pain stops and his view changes.

…

Renold watched the two strip and walk through the portal.

Curious as to how it looks, he walks around it and sees the two figures; covered in the portal, jutting out, making their way in slow motion.

The silvery figures slowly turn skin coloured and with a ripping sound, the men disappear and their skin drops unceremoniously on the floor.

He picks up the skins and tosses them on the pile before turning back to the other man, who is looking wondrously at the portal.

However the man soon notices Renold’s gaze and backs off slightly.

“So…is it our turn yet?” He asks with a calm voice, betrayed by his shaking legs.

“No, you and I are to stay here a little while” Renold says with a hint of a grin as he opens his coat, revealing a mass of small torture equipment

The gulp of the man echoes throughout the cave as Renold walks towards him with a pleasured grin on his face.

…

“Where are we?” Ankorr with a voice he does not recognize as his own. It is like the moaning of wind.

“Welcome to Hellderworld” Another voice, ghost-like and eerie comes from his right.

He turns away from the mass of monsters, all milling about the rural street covered in blood, and looks towards the voice to see the usual black robed figure, albeit the robe is more tattered.

However the man is hovering slightly off the ground and in the hood of his robe, only red eyes are visible. The man Ankorr is looking at does not give any warmth of life in the slightest.

“Wha-”

“I am a wraith” He interrupts sensing the question

“Ho-” Eyes wide in confusion he tries to ask another question

“The portal; when we went through it, it shed us of our humanoid disguise and gave us back our true form”

“True form?” He asks to nobody in particular

“Yes, and you are formless as the tales tell” The wraith sounds almost impressed

Ankorr, wide eyed with fear and confusion looks down at himself, only to see a shadow.

Terrified, he runs, only to feel no feet touching the ground, but still he moves, as if he is flying.

Stopping in front of a house, he looks at the window and sees in its reflection a shadow; a black formless thing that one could say is a floating shadow with crimson eyes that hovered in the air.

“Wha-” the words come from the mouthless being reflected in the window

“Ah right, this is the first time you have been in your formless form hasn’t it?” The wraith says curiously from behind

Whipping round, Ankorr looks at the wraith, pleading with his eyes for explanation but unsure the feeling comes across

“Just think of a body” the wraith says somehow catching his drift

He closes his eyes and instinctively tries to remember his own, but the memories of his own body are minimal, flooded with bloody thoughts and memories of him murdering and killing without will.

Instead, his mind begins to wander towards a sweeter memory, about Lucille; a girl, the girl he had once loved.

He remembers her face easily; chocolate brown eyes, short brown hair bobbing just above her shoulders, along with a small nose and a dimple on the left side of her mouth.

The face was round, young, cute and innocent. The face of a child as she was the girl he met in his tweens.

Somehow, he remembers her petite body, even her slightly puffed stomach and knobbly knees and within seconds, sees her in full; clothed in a long checked green and white skirt reaching just past her knees along with a grey pullover hiding most of her hands.

He feels butterflies fly around him once more as he turns her image around, peering at every inch, making sure he remembers her as fully as possible.

Losing himself in her cute smile, he tries to hear her voice, to remember the soft noise that tickled his ears and gave his heart the energy to pound upon his chest.

After a short while, he finally remembers how it sounded like, and the few words that she ever spoke to him swirled around his mind making him shiver delightfully.

Feeling happy with his recollection of her, he opens his eyes almost shouting in shock at remembering the situation at hand.

“What an interesting form” The wraith says with an amused tone.

Ankorr does not understand him but for a second. His large chocolate coloured eyes look at the petite body of a young girl with a round face and short brown hair that bobbed just above the shoulder. Even the checked skirt and pullover are there.

The shock registers in his mind and that is all that registers while his mind explodes with thoughts of guilt, dread and regret. He feels both horrified and disgusted at himself, but at the same time he feels his heart pounding at his chest upon seeing her in the flesh once more and in the recess of his mind something is grateful for this.

“Hey, don’t lose yourself in the window there. A cute girl indeed, a little sister perhaps?”

Ankorr forces a smile on his face as he turns towards the wraith

“Of course she is” He is surprised by the voice; light and cheery like he remembers, and it rings so painfully in his ears.

“Oh, a shame. I thought I had found another fellow lover of the innocent” the wraith sounds almost dejected

“Another?” His small eyebrows raised in confusion

“Why yes, it’s quite a common thing in Hellderworld and there are even markets for it here. Such a paradise and let me tell you why”

Any small thought of strange comfort at finding others like him quickly disappears as the wraith gives a small explanation on the child swaps that are as common as greetings.

“-nd so really it’s one of the most common things within Hellderworld as it is a surefire way for young monsters to survive the harvests” The wraith concludes almost analytically, as if he had researched upon such a thing.

Meanwhile, Ankorr had turned away from the window and now curled up into a ball feeling elated and disgusted by the soft feeling of her skin.

“Are you alright there?” The wraith seems to have finally noticed Ankorr and asks with a rather caring tone

Ankorr just shakes his head and focuses on not letting tears run down his cute round face

“Well I guess I should have warned you about forming your body, but alas I was interested to see what form you would desire to take. Not taking your own was something rather quite strange I must say but then again, I don’t remember what my body looks like and I’ve lived for hundreds of years, Ha!” He chuckles melancholically

“C-can I change?” Ankorr asks with a desperate plea

“Of course! You are a formless demon after all” He says as if it is obvious but then makes a thinking pose with a sleeve “Right, you don’t know what a formless demon is do you?”

Ankorr shakes his head

“A formless demon is one that was artificially created without a specific form in mind. All forms they take are but containers of their true selves. However they are most vulnerable in those forms and killing their forms puts them into a temporary slumber. Formless demons can take any form they desire as long as they can picture it, however most will end up sticking to a single form, usually the original form of its host” The wraith speaks in an intellectual manner, almost as if he were reciting from a book.

Immediately he tries to change form, but whatever person he thinks of, the memory is not that strong and in his mind they seem to melt and disappear replaced by Lucille, perfectly remembered to the dimple to the left of her lips.

Sighing, his mind is then filled with questions at the brief yet oddly detailed explantation but one filled his mind urgently.

“Host?”

The wraith’s robes tremble slightly and unbeknownst to Ankorr, the wraith is coddling himself for saying such information.

“Formless demons are technically immortal, due to it being impossible to truly kill them. When they are put into slumber, they lose the form they are in and take over someone; their host so that they may begin the rebirth process” the wraith explains

“So…I am a host?” Ankorr says in dread at hearing that he may be the host to an immortal demon

“Yes”

Ankorr takes in the information with pinch of doubt, because the wraith hadn’t told him much all in all and he suspects there is a larger story behind this and many odd questions form in his mind.

The wraith does not let Ankorr get answers as he pushes him to his feet and starts to float down the bloody street.

Ankorr follows and quickly notices how he isn’t reacting to the blood, and is fearful as to why/

The wraith notices the distress in Ankorr’s chocolaty eyes.

“Since this is the Original realm for Blood Drinkers, they feed off its power and thus have no desires when in here” the answer just causes more questions to barrage Ankorr’s already tired mind.

He follows the wraith, seeing the common child swapping happen in broad daylight and is sickened by it yet oddly allured to it, for he is only human and such desires always creep at the recess of his mind.

Distracting himself with bloody thoughts, he continues to follow the wraith, ignoring everything but the cries of a horned beast which flies along the crimson rocky ceiling way above.

Looking around to the skies more, he notices that the entire place is within a giant, reddish cave, which is oddly lit even though he doesn't see any source of light.

Though he does not get far in his search as he is distracted by looks, by gazes that pierce his warm clothes and almost lick his body with desire.

Shivering tenderly, he quickens his pace dramatically.

Almost bumping into the wraith, he stops watching the flying beast and follows the wraith into a house.

It turns out to be a tavern and like all taverns it is filled with beings. Although all beings here are monsters.

Walking past the tables, he finds it quite odd to just be able to see the top of the tables but is thankful for that as he does not get to see the slightly lustful faces of those around as they watch his female form bob as he walks.

However, none let the feeling persist as they notice the child following the wraith.

“Master Windshaw, been an age since I last saw you” The gruff orc barkeep lets out a meaty grin towards the wraith

“Yes, exactly two hundred and forty years since I last was in here”

The orc hands the wraith a key, which floats in the air before sliding through his sleeve.

Turning, the wraith floats upstairs and Ankorr follows; both in fear from the others and in mild intrigue at what seems like a very old being in front.

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Author's Corner: Sooo, yeah that's happening.

I honestly have little more to say about this chapter then Hellderworld is going to be one f'd up place. I can already feel it.

Also, is it confusing still calling him a he? should I be using she? (its a bit confusing)

Also Also, for some bizarre reason, like 600 people viewed my first arc and now like 1000 are viewing the second (what, 400 people don't want to read the first arc or what? truly like what's going on?)

Anyways, hope you enjoyed? the chapter (thou tbh not much happened in this one did it?)

-TRUE NORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD