by Mandy Lee
The city was laid out with the main Portal at its center, everything else radiated outward like a spiderweb until you hit the Roman-style wall that encircled the area. A thick, black smoke spiraled upwards beyond the reaches of the wall into the sky. Directly outside the wall was a fiery lake that went on as far as the eye could see. A small, thin stone bridge led outside the city across the fiery expanse and disappeared into the distance, providing the only way in or out of the city by land.
Luc headed down the lamp-lit street. He needed to reach the quadrant where the Jinn lived. They were a notoriously secretive species, coming and going without detection. They often worked in the human world and were quite successful, given their ability read thoughts and spy on others without being seen. They could render themselves invisible to the naked eye by cloaking themselves in the spirit world, straddling two dimensions. If only the humans knew that some of their top corporate CEOs were Jinn conducting their own specialized form of corporate espionage.
Today he was looking for one of the Jinn in particular. Luc had helped Amir out of a sticky situation a few centuries ago and was owed a favor…a big one. Luc walked up to the imposing gate of the Jinn complex in the most posh area of the city. An Iustus demon stepped out of the adjoining gatehouse at his approach. He was dressed in military-style fatigues, his bald head gleaming in the lamplight which illuminated the scales of justice marked on his forehead. Two small green horns stood out on each side of the marking. Stepping directly in front of the Iustus, Luc stopped and looked directly into his eyes. As the Iustus nodded in greeting, his irises turned black and expanded engulfing the whites of his eyes. A moment later, the Iustus broke eye contact, glancing down then back up. His eyes had returned to their natural red hue. He nodded again and motioned Luc forward as the gate began to open.
There was nobody in the courtyard or entryway of Amir’s building. Luc took the elevator up to the twenty-third floor, headed right, and took the hallway to Amir’s suite. The door swung open — just as Luc was about to knock, leaving him with his fist hanging in the air — to reveal a handsome man with closely cropped midnight hair, and startling honey-colored eyes.
“Long time no see. What brings you to this neck of the woods?”
“Amir, how the hell did you know I was at the door? I didn’t even get a chance to knock.”
Amir gave Luc an amused look and shook his head. “When are you going to learn, man? I could hear you coming as soon as you got off the elevator.”
“Seriously? From that far away? I'm going to have to start reciting song lyrics in my head to keep you out!”
Amir gave him an apologetic half-smile. "So, are you going to just stand there or are you going to come in and ask me what you came here to ask me? Or should I just keep pulling it right out of your head?”
Luc shrugged and stepped over the threshold. “I like you too much to leave this to chance. I know how the Jinn work — if I ask you formally for the favor, it will release you from owing me anything else. So let’s do this right.”
Amir smiled at him and shook his head. “I wasn’t sure if I could trust you with that tidbit back in the day. Not many people would willingly free a Jinn from a favor. You're one of the good ones. Why don’t we have a seat?” Luc headed across the living room and had a seat on the L-shaped couch. Amir made his way to the mini bar on the other side of the room. “Want a drink?”
“No, thanks. I need to take care of this little issue as soon as possible and I can’t afford to be half in the bag when I’m at it.”
“All right then, I’ll be having a nip, though, if you don’t mind. I have a funny feeling I'm going to need it.” Amir poured himself a shot of gin and dumped in a healthy dose of powdered Salvia from a small sparkling crystal bottle to enhance the effect of the alcohol. Drink in hand, he headed over to the couch and took a seat.
Luc surveyed the apartment slowly and turned back to Amir with a quizzical look. “Before we get started, what happened to Amina? There used to be photos of you two everywhere around here. Now they’re all gone.”
Amir sighed, took a swig of his drink, and set it down on the coffee table. “It was only a matter of time before she found out about ‘the incident.’ Once she did, she was out of here at lightning speed. You know, it’s the most humiliating thing that can happen to a Jinn; she couldn’t risk the embarrassment of staying with me and having someone from the high council find out. I can't really blame her, she would never have lived it down. She knew the only way I’d have been imprisoned was by giving away a Jinn weakness…and to a human, no less. It’s embarrassing for my family. I should have read Jasmine and known, but I didn’t want to invade her mind. I thought we wanted the same thing, a real relationship, and I wanted to be more human for her.” He shook his head again and looked pointedly at Luc. “Stupid, I know. If it weren’t for you, I’d still be bound to her. I owe you my freedom.”
“I’m just glad I was able to get you out of there.”
Luc had been on his way back to The Advocate when he’d noticed a pretty, young woman ducking into a side alley. A bit unusual, but it had been the furtive glances, and the faint glow of magic around her that had caught and held Luc’s attention. He decided to follow her, keeping to the shadows.
Luc had watched as she had taken a small, antique, compact mirror out of her purse. She had rubbed the surface of the mirror muttering a quiet incantation under her breath. A thin thread of smoke curled out of the surface of the mirror, growing larger and larger until it coalesced into the form of a man. Color and substance took hold and there stood Amir, summoned from the mirror to do Jasmine’s bidding. The Jinn could be bound to any object, and much like the fairy tale of Aladdin and the lamp, they were required to grant “wishes” of sorts. There was no limit to the amount of magic they were required to bestow upon their masters.
The Jinn were known for keeping their abilities and weaknesses close to the vest, Luc had never seen one held captive and had put the whole notion down to lore. Rumor had it that there was only one way to free a captive Jinn — destroy the object that held him. Luc had managed to wrest the mirror from Jasmine and had smashed the glass. Amir had been freed from servitude, but had now been indebted to Luc per Jinn custom. A favour at the rescuer’s discretion.
Luc was calling in his favor.
“Ok, here’s the deal. I’m officially asking you to do me the favor of Shadow-Walking me to Halja Castle. After that, I need you to pull your 007 act and get any info you can on the search for a Chimera. If you can also give me a lift back to Outer-Sheol when we’re done, that would rock my Netherworld.”
Amir laughed. “No problem, my friend. I’ll get you in and out. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, what the hell is this about a Chimera? They don’t exist.”
“They’re not supposed to, but we think that something’s going down. You know the legends — bind yourself to a Chimera and you can travel to any plane. Not good if my boss gets his hands on one. I may be stuck serving him, but I have no interest in seeing him ruling the earthly plane as well as Sheol, never mind starting a war with Heofon.”
“Wow, okay. Guess it would be useless to point out that, if we get caught, we’ll wind up in a world of hurt.”
“Been there; got the bloody T-shirt.”
Amir sighed, “Okey dokey then. When do you want to do this? Are we working on a timeline here? Do I have time to update my will or anything? I made a killing on some of my investments and I don't want it all going to my crappy Ex.”
With a rueful look, Luc shook his head. “No time to spare. I got a summons to be at Halja in six hours. That was about an hour ago, so we need to head out soon. If I'm late I’ll be spending more quality time with that shithead of a demon, Voss, and his bone knife.”
“All right then, time to go. Sheol help us both.”
Chapter Four
The swirling, smoky mist twisted around them as Amir and Luc stepped through the curtain he’d opened between Sheol and the shadow
world. The mist closed in behind them, and Luc began to feel as though he was in a waking dream. They were in a long, smoky hallway that appeared to stretch infinitely in both directions. Doorways were visible at varying intervals with a soft light glowing in the spaces between the door and the frame. Every doorway was an exit into the living dimension. They began walking down the hallway, passing multiple doors. The mist grew thicker and thinner with no rhyme or reason as they walked.
Time and space operated differently in this realm. Five minutes in this hallway could translate into hours in regular time or mere seconds.
Luc had done this walk a few times in the past with Amir, but was still baffled. How he knew which doorway to take was a mystery to Luc, but he never seemed to open the wrong one. He had once explained that he got a “feeling” when he was at the door corresponding to the location in which he wanted to emerge, as though every door had some kind of aura. If that was the case, Luc certainly couldn’t tell the difference.
They walked on in silence for what seemed like an hour before Amir suddenly stopped in front of one of the doors. He placed his palm flat on the surface and closed his eyes. Moments later he opened them and turned to Luc with a tight expression. “This is the one.”
Luc nodded and put his hand on Amir’s shoulder. They had to remain in contact in order for Luc to pass through the doorway to the destination, otherwise he would become trapped and lost in the twisting fog of the shadow world. “Okay, let’s do this.” Reaching forward, Amir grabbed the knob, turned it, and opened the door.
What came into view was always a daunting scene. Snow fell softly in large pink-tinged crystalline flakes, landing softly on a lake of blood-red ice. The sky looked like it was on fire, though there was no visible light source. Halja, the castle, appeared to be growing directly out of the centre of the lake. Gnarled root-like vines as thick as men twisted around each other and appeared to be holding the castle suspended above the ice. The walls of the castle were coated with a black, oily substance that oozed from the vines as though they were bleeding. Gargoyles kept watch over the barren landscape, their eyes glowing with an otherworldly light. If anyone approached, they would let out an unholy screech.
Amir looked over at Luc, “Where do you want me to take you? Main courtyard?”
“Yeah, that works.”
Amir closed the door, placed his palm back on the surface, and then re-opened it. A different scene greeted them. They were directly inside Halja’s courtyard. Luc took a deep breath and stepped out of the doorway behind Amir. Taking his hand off Amir’s shoulder, he moved around in front of his friend and faced him. “Thanks for the lift. I’ll meet up with you right here when I’m done.” Amir smiled and gave a conspiratorial wink. “Sure thing, man. See you in a bit.” He turned and stepped back through the doorway, closing it as though it had never been. Luc turned to get a better look at the courtyard.
As he took in the scene, Luc felt bile rise in his throat. The cobbled courtyard was running with blood. It pooled around the soles of his boots. The gargoyles shrieked, theirs screams echoing off the high stone walls of the inner courtyard. Luc swallowed hard and started to make his way toward the large, wooden double doors that marked the entrance to the castle proper. He kept his eyes focused straight ahead to avoid seeing the scenes of torture playing out around him. He heard cries for mercy and for death.
To his left, two Devourers stood beside a man sitting on the ground disembowelling himself with a large serrated knife. The gouges on his face were proof positive that he had tried to claw out his own eyes. He screamed, but no sound emerged, his vocal chords having shredded long ago. At the rate this man was going, he wouldn’t live much longer…a blessing. Satan often used the Devourers as his go-to demons for torture; their ability to sneak into the minds of their victims, feeding them horrifying images and suggestions, made them ideal for the job. They fed off of the emotional and physical pain of their victims. These Devourers were well-fed.
As Luc passed, they turned to face him, bearing twin sickening smiles. They blended well in the human world, easily hiding their small, black, leathery wings under sweaters and jackets. These two looked like accountants preparing for an audit. Whenever a human claimed to hear voices one of these guys was usually lurking in the shadows. The human was unable to resist committing whatever atrocity their mind was fed.
A cry drew his attention to a man chained to the side wall. Three Tiyank demons took turns using the man as target practice with their crossbows. It appeared as though they had pinned him with their arrows, avoiding all his major organs in a bid for him to live longer so they could enjoy his pain. The Tiyank were deceptively innocent, looking as though they had just stepped off the school bus. It was what made them so effective in capturing their victims. They played the part of a lost child, luring unwitting humans to their death. No good deed went unpunished when the Tiyank were around.
Luc tore his eyes away and fixed them back on the heavy doors as they suddenly swung open. The Keres strode through. They were dressed to the nines in designer outfits, looking like they’d just stepped off the runways of Paris. All eyes were on them, and they clearly enjoyed it that way, The Real Housewives of Halja...well...The Real Sisters. As one, all three women locked their baby-blue eyes on Luc. Long blond hair, sun-kissed California tans, perpetual youth, and bodies that most women would give their eye-teeth for, Satan’s sisters were knockouts. Heofon help any man that got caught in the triplets’ trap. No matter how beautiful they appeared, the reality that lived underneath the perfect exterior was scary to say the least. Nyx, Moros, and Ker, The Keres, as they were known, were demons of violent death. All three women approached Luc, running their hands up his chest and down his arms, looking seductively up at him through their lashes.
“So pretty…”
“I want him…”
“He’s mine…”
“Not fair…”
“We can share him…”
The Keres argued amongst themselves. Luc froze in place, allowing them to run their hands over him without complaint. He had no interest, but didn’t want to draw their anger. Satan would kill anyone who dared to touch them and would be equally violent with anyone who dared to anger or insult them. So, at this point, Luc was stuck between a rock and a painful place. Luck was on his side today; he began to see flashes of red breaking through the soft blue of their eyes.
“I’m hungry…”
“Time to eat…”
“B negative…rare…”
“Yummy…”
In a blur all three women sped off in the direction of a young man hanging upside down at the far end of the courtyard. A translucent form swept past, and the banshee’s wail cut through the air. The young man was dead. The Keres fell on his body as a unit. Their claws had emerged, and they were frantically ripping at his flesh, licking at the blood as it ran in rivulets down his body. Luc shuddered, wondering how many had fallen for the outer beauty of these women when it was only a mask for the evil within that revelled in the spilling of blood and tearing of flesh, becoming their unwitting meals.
Luc turned back toward the entrance to the castle. As he stepped into the main hallway he was stopped by the sound of a throat clearing. Looking toward the noise, Luc saw a tuxedoed Satyr standing off to the side of the hallway. Satan always had a butler on staff. With an exasperated sigh, he motioned toward the floor at Luc’s feet. Only Satan would lay out a welcome mat so visitors could wipe the blood off their shoes. Bloodstained foyers were so last season after all. Luc wiped his feet, looked back at the Satyr, and raised his eyebrow in question.
“Your presence is expected. Follow me.” The Satyr turned and headed down the long hall, his hoofed feet clicking on the stone flags, leading Luc toward the grand staircase and Satan’s presence chamber. Luc followed, taking in the opulence of his surroundings. Evil certainly had expensive taste. All around him were examples of the finest tapestries and artwork from countless historical periods. Odds were that some of
these paintings were originals thought to have been lost in the human world. The furniture likely originated from the palaces and manors of some of the most powerful leaders in human history. Swords from around the world were hung on the walls; suits of armour from the ages were on display along the hallways. It wasn’t the first time Luc had mused that Satan could make a fortune charging admission and giving tours, just like Buckingham Palace...minus the shitshow in the courtyard. The contents of Halja rivaled the Louvre.
The butler stopped in front of Satan’s inner sanctum. The door and walls surrounding this private sanctuary had been crafted millennia ago of charmed Wolframite, making it diamond hard and impossible to breach. The light from the hallway refracted off the facets of the gunmetal-grey material, making the door sparkle. The butler pulled on a gold silken cord hanging beside the door, nodded at Luc, and turned to walk back the way they had come. A moment later, the door swung open to reveal an adolescent with an innocent face, light brown hair, and soft brown eyes, wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans with red Converse sneakers. The upbeat sound of Hanson’s MMMBop came from inside the room. He gave Luc a friendly smile — all straight white teeth and dimples. He looked about seventeen or eighteen. At odds with his relaxed innocence was the blood streaked across his shirt and smudged on his face. He motioned for Luc to enter with a bloody hand.
“Got here just under the wire this time. I was starting to make plans for you to join Voss in the dungeons for another round of “regenerate the skin,” but it looks like I’ll have to shelve that for another day.” He grabbed a hand towel off a morgue slab and wiped the blood off his hands.
Dropping a quick bow, Luc addressed Satan, hating every moment of being in his presence, and dreading the request that he knew was coming. “My Lord, my apologies for my timing. I Shadow-Walked here in an attempt to make better time.” Luc continued to look at the floor in deference.