Neigh! The horses slowed down, before the giant gates of Cascanin. The gates slowly unravel to the ‘Heavens’ or so the tales go…

Rich, Diverse and Happiness beyond heavens, where the Gods reside and love flourishes, once an unknown heap of bare and unfertile land now a picturesque kingdom of flowers and petals; ‘A miracle’ the witches proclaim, ‘Such happiness’ A man wonders. Welcome to Cascanin.

Sitting in a well cloth covered carriage, as horses pull it over, my hands tied with a rope all I did was gaze at this undying beauty; children laughing and playing, streets filled with shops selling fruits and clothes, rugs and mattresses spreading colorful feathers, a bustling crowd, undying and flourishing. Do I really deserve to witness this beauty? I ponder. The sounds disappear as we go further, a large golden palace appears, “Aluminis…” says the driver. Past the palace lies the largest prison in the
nation, criminals all around the nation are brought over here, burglars,
traitors, abductors and murderers all are brought over here for redemption, the burglars are imprisoned, the traitors and abductors are tortured and the murderers are executed. Today is my day, to pay for my sins with my
life. Why did I become a murderer? I ponder.

The prison doors slowly opened, the carriage stopped I got up from the cart and my bear feet touched the sandy ground, a prison guard came and holding my rope took me inside the prison, there was a big open ground upon entrance where many prisoners stood, talking among themselves or staring at me as I came in. The buildings looked strong layered and paved with rocks and just with them was a tall tower. I was taken in the building, directly heading towards the underground, walking down the
stairs everything had gone silent, just steady footsteps one at a time, slowly creating a rhythm that I got used to, the lamp held by the guard avoided the pitch darkness of this place, he was walking behind me I could feel the continuous stare and the hostility he showed towards me, the footsteps, the stares did not stop until altogether we reached the plane surface. There were lamps hanging everywhere and a long stretch of lockups were standing adjacent to each other, I walked down the hallway seeing many convicts sitting or sleeping in the cells. I was thrown into one of the compartments and locked.

The guard said…

“Your Execution is delayed, Dante”.

At that moment a sense of relief seemed precise but what was bottling up in mind wasn’t a sense of relief or satisfaction, the strange and yet familiar smell was triggering rage but also fear, it was creating hostility yet anxiety, I sat down on the ground, the smell was strong and unforgettable…

BLOOD