Chapter 2

“Hello Drakocarr, welcome to my realm”

I hear a voice say as I slowly open my eyes. What is this place? I’m laying down on the ground and it’s cold and hard. There are bright lights shining down on me, so bright I can barely see at first. I slowly regain my senses and as my eyes get used to the light I realize neither Antigor or Ifer are with me. Suddenly I sit up, oh maybe too fast my head really hurts. Why is the ground so cold? It’s usually so much hotter in hell. As my headache pulses I am still becoming increasingly aware of my surroundings. More realizations are coming in as I notice the clothes I’m wearing have changed. I’m in a full hockey uniform, skates and all, and the reason the ground is so cold and the lights are so bright is because I am laying at center ice on an ice rink. I look around some more but I don’t see the stick or the person I heard. All I see is at a table by the Zamboni door is a giant trophy gleaming under the bright lights.

“Hello, now that you’ve come to your senses, are you ready to accept your quest?”

As I hear the voice again I have this odd feeling it’s coming from the trophy, but that can’t be right, who ever heard of a talking trophy. “Show yourself!” I yell putting as much bass in my voice as I can muster and slowly getting to my feet.

“I am everywhere.”

Again I hear the voice and again I think it is coming from the trophy. I feel silly talking to a trophy, but at this point what choice do I have? I skate over to the trophy very carefully. It’s been well over 2,000 years since I was the top pairing defenseman for my local ice hockey team, in fact I haven’t played ice hockey since the start of the war.

“Who are you? What is this quest?” I ask the trophy, feeling more foolish now than ever. To my surprise, the trophy responds.

“I am Lord Stanley, the deity that presides over all things ice hockey related. You were always one of my favorite projects in trying to grow the game in a new world and you had so much potential before your people made a horrible deal with my terrible half brother Asmodeus. In the 2,000 years since the nobles of Bael Turath sold your people’s souls into slavery in the ninth layer of hell so much has changed. First of all, making a deal with a high level demon like Asmodeus is never a good idea and it backfired on your people. The demon army they were able to summon with the power they gained from him raged out of control and destroyed most of them and Bael Turath. The ones that survived were cursed to walk around as Tieflings like you but on the mortal plane. Their numbers continued to thin out over the years from people not wanting to reproduce with them and now most of the Tiefling looks and genetics have been bred out of the population. Those that do still possess Tiefling traits are usually unaware of their Tiefling ancestry although they will always pay the consequences until the curse that comes from making a deal with a demon is lifted. How do they lift the curse? That is where you come in, Drakocarr. The only way to break a curse with a force of evil like Asmodeus is to make a deal and complete your quest to further a force of good. That is where I come in. I am a force of pure good in all 32 realms and 47 worlds that have ice hockey. I bring people joy and hope and passion and an outlet for their lives. Unfortunately the game has taken a little bit of a hit in the world where ice hockey originated within Earth. In order to return the balance to normal for your people and realm as well as the people of Earth I am giving you a quest. Your quest is to travel to Earth and become a hall of fame player in the SHL. More than that, I want you to bring people excitement, joy, and wonder. Do you remember your first ice hockey goal, Drakocarr? That feeling of pure adrenaline coursing through your veins? That is the feeling I need you to mimic Drakocarr, remind the people of Earth why ice hockey is the greatest sport of all time!”

“I have so many questions, like how do I seek you out? Where are Ifer and Antigor? Can they come with me? What if I’m not good enough? How do I hide my Tiefling features? What if I don’t make the team? What if the coach doesn’t like me? Will I ever get to go back to my family in Bael Turath? How long will this-”

“ENOUGH!!!! I am an all knowing and all seeing being, I have thought of all of these things prior. If you ever need me all you have to do is ask for me. Ifer and Antigor are suspended in purgatory currently, but I will send them with you if you promise to keep them out of trouble. You will be good enough, you have to be. I will sprinkle a little puck magic on you to hide you and your friend’s Tiefling features. Also Drakocarr I don’t think you understand there is no Bael Turath left, your family is gone forever child, it’s been over 2,000 years . . .”

“They're dead? I mean I guess that makes sense I just thought maybe, I don’t know, the demon army worked and they gained immortality. So mom, dad, and my little brother? Are they all gone?”

“Unfortunately my child, yes. I’m sorry you never got to see them again.”

I have tears in my eyes and I swallow hard. I can’t let the god of ice hockey see me crying so I try to swallow again and regain my senses. I start massaging my temples with my fingers. I'm trying to make sense of all the new information swirling in my head. “Okay I have just one more question: if you’re an all-knowing all-seeing being, how come you can’t just make hockey more popular? Why do you want me?”

“First off, that is two questions. I can’t directly affect the joy of people as a deity but I can send servants to do it for me and for the last 30 years or so it’s been hard to find servants of Lord Stanley. So long story short, you were the best option I could get, and I needed someone desperate enough to leave their realm/world and fix another. But quite frankly,!you don’t got shit going for you in hell. But you can go back there if you want. I don’t judge and you always have the choice to go back and be executed. So what do you say Drakocarr, do you want to be brutally murdered for entertainment or move on and play some ice hockey?”

I sigh. It’s hard to realize my family is gone, but I guess I kind of always knew what had happened deep down, I just wanted to believe they made it out. Now that my worst fears have been confirmed I have no choice but to move forward. “I’m done with the whole gruesome murder for entertainment thing. I accept your quest, or whatever I need to say, uh what do I do now?”

“Watch and learn Drakocarr, watch and learn.”