Another strike sears across his scarred back, eliciting a numbed, exhausted whimper from his dry, chapped lips as more blood drips down his back. The pain he’s mostly used to, but it still hurts, aiding his need for sleep. It’s been over a century since he has slept. 

As he falters, his black, clawed hands plunged into the bed of white-hot metal and coals, another demon watching strikes him with the frayed whip. He closes his burning eyes and moves his fie...