Battle in Hell

No one knew how the war between Eric and Riggs began and no one dared to ask. All they knew was that both men hated each other with every drop of their blood and they would stop at nothing to see each other dead.

The battle between both men as everyone knew it had lasted for a decade. Both men were both powerful people in the worlds of thief’s and murderers otherwise known as the underworld, a place where the young and innocent wouldn’t last a day and everyone had always stayed clear of their paths until the elders decided that enough was enough.

The seven elders are men who were in charge of the businesses in the underworld. Their jobs as elders were to make sure that things didn’t get out of hand in such a way that it would bring more violence than they can handle. They had stood in the shadows all this years and watched the war between Eric and Riggs and they had said or done nothing because it was none of their business but when things started getting out of hand for both men, the elders felt it was time they intervened and put an end to this nonsense brawl.

Unlike everyone else, the elders knew the reason for the hate among both men, they knew it was because of a woman, a woman who had died as a result of their foolish hate for each other. It was their job to know everything and they knew for a fact that it was time to bring both men to a dialogue, so the elders had called for a meeting between both men.

If both men had their way, they wouldn’t have honored such call but this was the elders, they knew that with one word from the elders, the whole of the underworld could be after them, so they had answered to their call. The elders had instructed that both men returned to their home to make peace with whatever demons they had left disturbing them and that by dawn the next day, they the elders would be present to witness both men phone shake hands and call a truce.

Eric had not been cool with the elders decision, he wanted to object but he knew that would be him signing his death warrant, leaving Riggs to roam free and not pay for the death of Lisa, the love of his life. So just like Riggs, Eric had said nothing and returned to his home like the elders instructed.

And for the first time in ten years, both men slept with both of their eyes closed. They both knew that getting attacked after the elders had called for a truce was a death sentence to whoever it was that would attack them and they had been right, such acts were never tolerated by the elders.

The next arrived and Riggs had gotten up early, too early. He had made peace with his demon and wanted to go tell meet Eric at his place to let him know that before they both proceeded to meet the elders. So Riggs had left his home and headed straight to Eric’s but what he saw on his arrival was unexpected. Eric was on his kneels, with a dagger stuck in his stomach.

“Perfect” Eric muttered when he saw Riggs. “I will be waiting for you in hell” he said as he coughed out blood before falling to the floor.

Riggs didn’t need a soothsayer to tell him what just happened, he knew for a fact that the elders wouldn’t need one too. They would simply assume that he had attacked and killed Eric.

There was only two things to do, to run or (Riggs looks at the dagger in Eric’s stomach) “or follow him to hell” he mutters.

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_Source