After an eternity in the mind-dissolving darkness of Andhatamisra, the Yamduts dragged my soul, now a frayed and whimpering thing, into the next Naraka. This was Raurava, the Hell of the Fierce Beasts.

There was no darkness here. The sky was the color of dried blood, and the ground was a barren, cracked earth. But I was not alone. The Naraka was filled with other souls, all screaming and running in every direction, their faces masks of pure terror.

And I soon saw why.

They were being hunted.

The hunters were creatures called Rurus. They were like no animal on Earth. They were large and reptilian, with thick, scaly hides, but they ran on four powerful, wolf-like legs. Their heads were cruel and serpentine, with jaws filled with rows of needle-sharp teeth. They were the physical embodiment of predatory hunger.

It pounced. The weight of it crushed me, and its teeth, each one a sharp dagger, began to tear at my soul-body. It didn’t just bite. It savored. It ripped off pieces of my spiritual flesh and devoured them with a sickening relish. And as it ate me, I felt the terror of every animal that had ever been killed for the pleasure of humans. I felt the fear of the chicken in the slaughterhouse, the pig on the factory farm, the fish gasping for air in a net.

I felt their pain. I felt their terror. And I knew it was just.

The Ruru finished its meal, leaving my tattered soul to be remade by the will of this place, only to be hunted again. But as I was being tormented, I felt the echo of another’s pain. It was Rohan. He was here, too.

I saw a vision of his sin. Not just his lust, but his selfishness. I saw him at a work dinner, laughing as he ate a rare steak, a meal that cost more than our weekly groceries, while at home, I was struggling to make ends meet, putting his desires before the needs of our family. He was a hunter of pleasure, a consumer of life, and now, he was being consumed in turn.

I could feel his terror as a Ruru chased him across the barren plains of Raurava.

And I saw myself, Dimple. I may have been a vegetarian, but I was still a hunter. I hunted for promotions. I hunted for status. I hunted for the approval of others. And in my hunt, I had trampled on the feelings of my colleagues, my friends, and my own family. I had devoured their time, their energy, their peace of mind, all to satisfy my own ego.

Here, in Raurava, all the hunters of the world were finally getting what they deserved. They were finally learning what it felt like to be the prey. And the hunt, I knew, would never, ever end.

Index of: Journey Of Hell: The Unforgotten Promise

• A Warning to the Reader
• A Mother’s Testimony
• Chapter 1 The God of Small Betrayals
• Chapter 2 The Sins of a Mother
• Chapter 3 The Soul and The Body
• Chapter 4 the Road of a Thousand Regrets
• Chapter 5 A Desert of Burning Rage
• Chapter 6 The Prison Before Birth
• Chapter 7 A River of Self
• Chapter 8 The Twelve-Day Ghost
• Chapter 9 The Refusal
• Chapter 10 The Universal Law
• Chapter 11 The City of Hounds
• Chapter 12 A Forest of Lies
• Chapter 13 The Weight of the World
• Chapter 14 The Price of Meat
• Chapter 15 The Question of Hope
• Chapter 16 The City of Strange Torments
• Chapter 17 The Road to the Court
• Chapter 18 An Interrogation Before Judgment
• Chapter 19 The Hall of Judgment
• Chapter 20 The Book of Deeds
• Chapter 21 The Currency of Hell
• Chapter 22 Tamisra, The Hell of Darkness
• Chapter 23 The Anatomy of a Jailer
• Chapter 24 Andhatamisra, The Betrayer’s Hell