Elric felt like the earth beneath him had split and he was falling once again. Aireaz was crying. He watched the tears well up in her dark eyes and trickle down her beautifully angled cheeks to play at the corners of her lips. This was not how the mage remembered Aireaz nor was it a fear of his. It was unexpected which could mean only one thing. She was real. Elric shook his head and tried to clear it. That didn't make any sense. She was supposed to live. He tried to push back the veil of hopelessness and remember what she had said. She came there for him. He almost asked why and then decided not to. He knew why. It was the same reason he had stayed to fight the phoenix in the Skyfell. He felt old thinking about how long ago that must have happened. 

His depression was replaced with determination as he resolved to get his former student back to the mortal world. He couldn't afford to sit around pitying himself anymore. He moved towards her and as he got closer he could feel his own eyes begin to burn with happiness. His voice broke as he whispered his friend's name, "Aireaz." He fell forward to embrace her.

As she caught Elric in an awkward embrace Aireaz felt the weight of the last year flood through her heart and the emotions were too much to hold in. She collapsed onto her knees and started to sob uncontrollably. The pain and heartache of the last year made her feel like her chest might explode. She knew, somewhere deep down, that she was being affected by this place but she could not make her conscious mind behave itself.
After some time had passed she raised her head. "we have to get out of here. I don't know how much longer I can remain in this place." She turned back the way she had come. "I have an idea, but it is only that, an idea. If you have information about how to get back then now would be a good time to share it." She reached for Elric's hand as she smeared tears and dirt around her face in an attempt to clear her eyes.
She tried to recall any landmarks she may have passed on the way and keep the sound of the water on the right. She didn't know if the landscape stayed the same here but she moved forward quickly and quietly. Frequently she would look back to make sure Elric was behind her, she hadn't told him what he would need to do. She feared that he might not let her take the chance if he knew how dangerous her plan was.

 Azazel had ascended to the top of the hill, peering over the landscape of hell. As he reached the top he looked to the left and right for the escapee, spotting him from afar further down the hill. He was with a woman who he could only guess was another recent arrival. Quickly and quietly, the demon began darting down the hill towards the two with a guttural growling in his throat. Azazel would punish Elric good for wandering off, and his little friend too. As he continued to run down the hill his barbed chain danced around him with a seeming hunger for blood. 

 He was still a ways off, it was a large hill and he was slowed by the loose ashen sediment. His avian feet sank hard into the sand, making the sprint rather  difficult. Nonetheless, Azazel was determined to punish them. As he continued forward he yelled out to them.

 "Elric! We still have things to discuss! Don't you know it is rude to leave without saying goodbye?" the demon called out. His voice was very dry and sarcastic, but he was obviously upset. As he drew even neared he began spinning his spiked whip above his head.

Elric took Aireaz's outstretched hand and began limping after her. She was right of course. They did need to get out of here but the dead mage couldn't imagine where they would go. He began to wonder how she had gotten into hell without dying. It was almost too much to hope they could get out the same way she got in. He was about to ask her when he heard a familiar voice yelling his name behind them. Elric groaned at Azazel's insinuation that he was somehow being rude by running away. Elric imagined the demon acting similarly towards a party guest who had tried to slip out early rather than a tortured soul. 

He quickly turned to Aireaz, "I cannot use magic here and this guy is trouble. Should we run?" It was embarrassing to admit that he had no real way to fight the oncoming demon but he needed her to understand the odds were not exactly in her favor. He would let her decide and follow her lead either way. If she decided to stand and fight he would try to back her up or at least provide a distraction. If she decided to run he was determined to keep up despite his sprained knee.

Aireaz turned to see the "trouble" that was following Elric.  They had faced terrible odds together in the past, but if Elric could not use magic here then it could spell a whole new kind of trouble.  She turned completely around, searching for some kind of advantage against this demon.  "Elric, I don't think we can outrun him, and at the end of this part of our journey is a long climb.  He will definately see us there and with that whip thing he grab us for sure. We have to find some place that we can make a stand.  I keep hearing running water, if we can find the shore then I would feel much more comfortable about our odds."

She reached for Elric and began to pull him in the direction of the sounds.  She had no idea what they would find or how far they would have to go.  She also didn't know anything about the demon that was chasing them except that he wanted Elric.  "Can you tell me anything about the demon? What does he want and more importantly, what can he do?"  

She tried to run and plan at the same time, but Elric had always been the thinker.  She needed to find a way to remind him of that now.

Azazel continued forward with a demonic intention as he swung the chain over his head. He was drawing near, and he could see them clearly now. All that was separating the demon from the two magi was about one hundred feet, and he would soon close that distance. He too grew nearer to them revealing to Aireaz his dusky skin with subtle reptillian features on the hands and feet. His hair at this distance could clearly be seen to actually be a lingering black smoke, yet his gritted teeth seemed human in nature.

They had failed to respond to his call, how rude. He thought about all of the nasty things he was going to do to them. Perhaps if this woman held some sort of importance to Elric he could make him watch as he took her apart limb by limb. Yet part of him was curious as to who the woman was, at this distance she didn't seem like she had been in hell very long judging by the lack of soot that should be staining her clothing.

Azazel drew nearer, it would likely be too late for the two magi to run away, but perhaps enough time to forumlate a strategy yet.

Elric was surprised to hear they would be climbing up. He supposed that must have been how she got down here in the first place. If that was the case she was right. They would never make it with the demon on their tail. He struggled to think clearly as they ran and spoke between sharp breaths, "If he catches us he'll probably torture us for information. He may even kill us. He's strong. That chain has a mind of its own. He uses illusion or some kind of hallucinogenic mist." 

The mage spotted a fallen branch off one of the dead white trees. It was shorter than a staff but longer than a club. He stopped and grabbed it. "The river holds a different kind of danger." He said thinking of how the dismal voices had nearly caused him to give up earlier. "We should make our stand here. We'll do him like Odin." He didn't have time to explain what he meant but he hoped she would remember the fight he was talking about. It was back when they first met. He had been too exhausted from a previous fight to use magic but he had distracted the death knight by hollering like an idiot and hitting the horse with his staff. It had provided Aireaz an opportunity to impale the fiend with an ice spike to the chest. It didn't matter now that they had left their friend behind to finish that battle. Aireaz was stronger now.

As the demon approached Elric ran forward brandishing the branch wildly over his head, "Aaaarrgh!" He braced himself for whatever pain Azazel was going to inflict on him. It wasn't the best plan but it was a ll he had right now. He needed to draw the demon's attention from Aireaz.

Aireaz grinned at the memory that Elric brought up.  They had faced impossible odds together in the past, and if he thought that this was the best option, then it probably was.  Not that he had given her much chance to object, he rushed toward the demon waving his "staff" and yelling like an idiot.  If she had not been in fear for her life, she would probably have laughed out loud.  

Aireaz jumped to the side, clearing Elric out of her line of fire.  She finally got a good look at the demon that was hunting them, he was fearsome to be sure.  His head seemed to be on fire, or smoking, she couldn't be sure.  Loosening the stopper on her water bottle she summoned her will.  On one knee she gripped her staff and took control of the water she had brought with her.  She formed it into two sharp, icy spikes.  It wasn't enough, she thought, but it was a decent first volley.  

She sent the spikes sailing through the air with all the speed she could work up.  Without waiting to see if her aim was true she took off toward a large boulder and began searching the surrounding area for naturally occurring water.  Elric had warned her of the river, but if came to using possibly cursed water or certain death then she knew what she would choose.

Azazel raised his steely chain as he came upon the two mortals, his teeth grimacing. He set his sights on Elric first, who had grabbed a branch of fallen felwood. He lashed his chain towards the mage but he had raised up the branch in the nick of time. Azazel's chain wrapped around the branch tightly, preventing Elric from being hit. With the chain attached to Azazel's body he was forced to stop his assault. He groaned as he used his magic to begin retracting the chain followed by two icy spikes that impaled him in the shoulder, it wasn't a pleasant feeling for the demon who let out a screech. He raised his hand up and swatted the ice spikes out of his shoulder, and black smoke poured out of his wounds. With a river of blood nearby, Azazel wondered if they had plans to escape him. He knew that it was mostly harmless to swim in it, just a bit on the disgusting side.

"Not planning to take a dip are you?" the demon asked as he managed to break his chain free of the branch, it retracted into his arm. "You'll find yourself in a new world of pain if you jump in their, best that you take your punishments now!" the demon lied. He wouldn't be able to follow them across the river, his body was not at all buoyant. The metal within him would cause him to sink to the bottom.

The demon's chain wrapped itself around the branch, ripping it out of Elric's grip. He smirked as two ice spikes soared past him and impaled Azazel's shoulder. He had to admit it felt good to see his tormentor in pain for once and it confirmed that He and Aireaz were just as synchronized as ever. He fell back a little closer to where Aireaz stood.

The demon spoke and he seemed intent on dissuading them from crossing the river of blood. It seemed odd to Elric who had no plans to swim in it. Aireaz had suggested they head for the river before but he had dismissed it as a bad idea. Something about that place unnerved him but now the black mage was beginning to think the risk might be worth the reward. It almost seemed like Azazel was worried they would try. Maybe he couldn't follow them if they left the domain of greed. 

Elric let out a hearty laugh. He couldn't stop it and soon he was lost in a brief fit of hysterical giggles. How had his life come to this? Catching his breath he hobbled towards the river which was less than five yards away but difficult to see because of the steep bank which would drop down suddenly from the grey volcanic wasteland. Beyond the small canyon was a land covered in a dense fog. He knew his friend would follow and he hoped they would reach their destination before Azazel was able to recover.