Lynn Austin's (fiction) account of a very real Biblical truth.

"Everything is prepared, my lord," a priest replied.

But before any of them had a chance to move, Hezekiah heard his mother shouting as she ran up the hall from the king's harem.  "No, wait! Stop! What are you doing?" she cried.  "Where are you taking my sons?"

"King Ahaz is holding a special sacrifice before the army marches, Uncle Maaseiah said.  "Our northern border is under attack."

Hezekiah's mother began to scream, and the sound filled Hezekiah with terror.  He could hear her fighting desperately to get past the wall of men to reach him and Eliab, but the soldiers held her back.

They finally reached the massive gate on the southern wall of Jerusalem and passed down the ramp, out of the City.  Hezekiah saw a craggy wall of cliffs, dark and foreboding, guarding the entrance to the Valley of Hinnom.  As the procession turned in the narrow valley, he glimpsed a column of smoke billowing high in to the air ahead of him, carried aloft by the wind.

The priests who marched beside Hezekiah began to chant, "MOLECH....MOLECH.....MOLECH!"

Suddenly the wall of soldiers parted and Hezekiah caught his first glimpse of Molech.  He knew he wasn't dreaming.  He knew the monster was real because he never could have imagined anything so horrible.  Mulch stared down at him from a throne of brass as the fire in the pit beneath the hollow statue blazed with a loud roar.  Tongues of flame licked around the edges of his open mouth.  His arms reached out as if waiting to be filled, forming a steep incline that ended in his open, waiting mouth.

"Which one is the king's firstborn?" the chief priest asked.

"Uncle Maaseiah's signet ring flashed in the firelight as he laid his hand on Eliab's head.  "This one."

The priest grabbed Eliab and lifted him high in the air.  Hezekiah watched in horror as the man tossed his brother into the monster's waiting arms.  Elias rolled down the incline toward the open mouth, clawing at the brazen arms to try to stop his fall, but he metal was hot and polished smooth.  He couldn't hold on.  Elian's pitiful screams wailed above the roar of the flames and the pounding drums, even after he had fallen over the rim and Molech had devoured him.  His cries, coming from the depths of the flames lasted only an instant though it felt like a lifetime.

Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna-Hell)

Deut 12:31 You must not worship YHVH your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things YHVH hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. 32 See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.