Bayzog stood before the gigantic metal doors and waited patiently. Time had no relative meaning in this place so he could wait two hours or two days or two years and would not notice the difference. It did not matter to him—he had been summoned and would therefore wait until he was called upon. His long tail twitched occasionally but otherwise Bayzog remained still and waited ever so patiently.

Eventually there was a loud screech as metal rubbed against metal and the huge doors began to slowly open, which allowed a wave of intense heat to escape the interior chamber and wash over Bayzog. The sudden blast of heat did not affect him any more than did his wait and as soon as the doors were open wide enough to allow him through, he moved past them and entered the glowing cavern which lay beyond.

His cloven hooves clicked sharply against stone as he made his way out onto a strand of rock that jutted out over a deep abyss. If Bayzog had cared to look down into the chasm before him he would have seen a molten river flowing past which was packed with tormented souls. As each soul sank beneath the flames of the red hot torrent which carried them along they were hideously burned, but if they managed to pull themselves back to the surface those burns were immediately healed. It was only a matter of time, however, before some suffering soul pulled one of their healed fellows screaming back under, so they themselves might experience a brief moment of relief from the intense pain. It was a vicious circle of pain, suffering and momentary relief, followed by more intense pain and suffering.

Bayzog had seen it all before—many times—and his gaze was now fixed on a raised stone platform that stood by itself on the other side of the gulf. A huge throne had been craved into that platform from the very stone itself and upon that throne sat the great horned god. Chained to the throne at the god’s feet were a number of ‘special’ souls who whimpered and moaned as huge boils appeared repeatedly on their skin and then painfully burst to cover their naked bodies with steaming pus.

The horned god looked up from watching his suffering souls and saw Bayzog. When he spoke his voice was like the sound of huge boulders being crushed together and the souls around him began to scream even louder at the ear-shattering noise.

“Bayzog,” the god rumbled.

“Lord,” the demon replied and gave a slight bow.

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