Kingdom Of The Damned

They told of a story where an infant girls would be burned by the flames. Athena was an unusual child from the moment she was born. She had bright red hair, like a beacon of flame that no one could miss, and the people around her seemed to have difficulty believing their eyes. But this was just the beginning. Unusual events and occurrences started to happen in her presence that nobody else seemed to be able to explain. Athena had always felt as though someone or something was watching over her; something lurking in the shadows that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Little did Athena know, that presence belonged to none other than the Devil himself, watching over his Queen waiting to bring her to where she belonged—in Hell with him. ***** An infant girl only few hours old was to be sacrificed to the roaring flames of a fire that the towns folk had built. Towns Folk claiming her to be a servant of evil. The evil in this world is to be believed to be burned by crackling flames of a fire, the very fire they believe that evil is born from. The infant girl never had a chance. A bonfire was being built to rid the world of such evil. Still the only evil in the world are those who slaughter innocent infants by fire, but they believe they are doing what's right in the eyes of their god. Mothers weep and scream and brothers and sisters cry. Very few newborns actually get live to grow, many believe the evil only  in the children with red hair, they believe they possess the most evil. Her life did not begin well, yet she is the only one who lived through the flaming heat of the fire. A infant girl born on October the Eighth was given the name Athena like her late grandmother who sadly passed away. Her mother's life was taken away from childbirth. The father isn't in her life for he's unknown and could be anyone. The mother was a traveler and notorious for her drunken state, she slept with many men. The one only ones who fought for the girl's life were her older brothers Jackson and Jasper. Since her birth Athena has always been protected by them, the town folks did not agree to not burning her. But one thing no one cared to admit, they loved to watch children burn, yet fight to the death when it comes to their own children whose turn it is to be welcomed to the flames. The town folk were sick and twisted people, but what no one realized was that their time was coming and soon they would burn by the very flames that they've killed so many innocent children with. It was the night of October the eighth a big bonfire had been created, in honor of the infant girls the death, who the townsfolk had already deemed one of the most evil infants ever to live. Without her mother, the poor child was starving the entire day, her brothers fought hard to feed her yet no one knew how since the only food to give to an infant is its mother's milk. The urge of having her throat slit was what went through many minds as she cried and cried all day for food. But her brothers held her and made sure she was safe from those who meant her harm, but surely even they could not stop what was to come as it had already been written by Fate. At sunset the bonfire was lit and soon the townsfolk had made it to the little home of the screaming child and had it surrounded. Many folks had every and anything they could use as weapon to us against the brothers, as they knew the brothers would not go down without a fight. And so the brothers took their swords and fought with everything they had until they got outnumbered by the town folks. Jackson lost three fingers and his brother stabbed was in the stomach, both of them left to bleed out. Unfortunately with the younger brother Jasper injured, the older brother Jackson could not save his baby sister and screamed and screamed for her as they took her away. The screaming child almost seemed to be begging to not be with those people and it seemed as though she knew what was coming without actually knowing, she screamed and cried louder than she ever had. Not one town folk cared that the baby girl cried her lungs out, some just laughed as they knew she was going back to hell where she belongs, and figured she would be reborn once again freed of all darkness and evil that has cursed her. Drums and clapping is what the folks did as the priest brings the screaming and kicking child to the bonfire. "This girl has been touched by the devil himself, to kill the darkness, she must burn and be reborn once again. We will see her once more and when that time comes, she will be welcomed with open arms. As by then she will no longer be possessed by the evil that has captured her soul and our lord will have mercy on her and give her another chance at life" He says with his old shaky voice full of anger and disgust for the newborn he holds. But what no one notices is there is one person with a old black and gold hooded cloak over their head and he seems to be watching the bonfire with such an angry stare. He watches the baby girl in the arms of the old priest with such intensity that the priest should be dead but as the priest speaks his words about the sins the infant did not commit and must die for he can feel the anger coursing through his veins like hellfire itself. He watches the girl and feels the anger rise even further within his body as all he wants to do is rip everyone to pieces until he has the girl in his arms. Without a second thought the priest throws her into the crackling flames where only her screams are heard, yet the townsfolk are happy for it is now that the world has been rid of what they think is evil. Then there is silence, nothing can be heard from the girl and they assume she is dead and they laugh knowing that they have done what they believe their lord wants them to do. But the man standing in the back with the cloaked hood has had enough of this, he knows something they do not. The girl hasn't been burned to death by the flames, she is alive, yet everyone is oblivious to that little fact. She is quiet, for she feels at home, the flames do not burn her, they make her feel safe, warm her and protect her. The flames Feed and give her the energy she needs to survive and as folks laugh and drink believing she is dead, she has been lulled to sleep by the fire. With the wave of his hands the fire of the bonfire starts to quiet down, until it becomes nothing but smoke, the villagers notice the girl unharmed and moving yet not screaming or crying anymore. But They've angered him and with one snap of his fingers one man after another lights up and burns all except for the brothers. He watches the people burn like they attempted to watch her burn, and he rather enjoys bringing pain and suffering to them as they have done to her. A smirk appears on his face when he hears them scream out in pure pain. The man now standing in the field where ashes of human flesh covers the ground and is flying with the wind. He walks over to the bonfire where the sleeping infant is unaware of what has just taken place. He picks her up in his arms and even sleeping, she reaches her hand up to his face. A smile creeps up his face as her tiny little hand reaches and touches his nose. "Athena, I will protect and watch over you from harm today on until end of time, I will return for you when you've come of age to be my rightful Queen of Hell" Authors note: This is my first book that I've ever written and wanted to share it with the world and hop to find readers who would love it as much as I do All rights reserved All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission. Fiction This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental Moral rights celeste Roese asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work ©️Celeste Roese,2013