by Debra Dunbar
I heard a giggle and a “sorry”, then the Lows fell silent as Tasma turned to them and waved his arms to gather them close. They scurried forward then sat in a semicircle facing him, their legs crossed, their gaze rapt. It kinda made me want to puke.
“Little Ones, you have heard the agreement I have made with the Iblis. What is your decision? Will you stay under my care and protection, obeying me and being good, or will you go forth into the wilds of Dis where other demons will prey upon you, where you may starve, freeze at night, suffer heat stroke during the day, have no one to fix your injuries for you when you cannot?”
I rolled my eyes. When he put it that way, I wasn’t sure any Low would refuse to stay. And as weirded out as they made me feel, these Lows did have it good comparatively. Hel was a hostile place for a powerless demon, and as creepy as Tasma was, he was caring for them in his own freakish way.
Every Low except Booty shouted that they wanted to stay. Tasma then called the others to him, and I saw more than three dozen Lows pack into the tiny room, squishing up against each other and me in an effort to give Tasma a respectful distance. I saw Sinew and Lash, and their eyes widened as they recognized me, but they said nothing, and made no move to come to my side. Tasma again made his speech and went to each Low in turn for him or her to state their intentions. When he came to Sinew and Lash, the two demons hesitated.
“Tasma has recognized me as the Iblis, and owes fealty to me,” I told them. “You are still members of my household, but you have the right to leave and affiliate yourself with another at any time.”
Sinew scratched his head and dandruff fell like a brief snow shower to the ground. “I don’t know, Mistress. He’s got some good food here and regular meals. I like the toys, especially the Play Doh. And I get to sleep in a bed shaped like a race car.”
“And we won’t die fighting angels or elves or other demons,” Lash chimed in.
More skin flakes fell from Sinew’s renewed scratching. “Yeah, but I kinda like fighting stuff with the Iblis. It makes me feel brave and smart and important.” He pursed his lips in thought. “And the parties are fun at the Iblis’s house. And there’s the chicken wands…”
“Ooo, I do like the chicken wands!” Lash said.
“I think I’m going to go with the Iblis,” Sinew proclaimed. Then he shot an anxious look at Tasma. “Does that make me bad? I don’t want to be bad.”
Ugh. I hoped Sinew wasn’t going to constantly be needing reassurance that he was a “good Low” or I was going to have a problem.
“No, you are not bad,” Tasma told him gently. “Although I am very sad that you are leaving. I will miss you, little one.”
Sinew’s eyes filled with tears. His lips trembled. Then he took a deep breath. “I will miss you too, Mister Tasma.”
This was turning into a Lifetime movie. “Okay, so Sinew comes with me. How about you, Lash? Hurry it up and decide. I don’t have all fucking day, you know.”
Lash frowned, his head swiveling back and forth between the pair of us. “I’m going to stay with Mister Tasma.”
The other Lows cheered. Tasma smiled warmly. Sinew looked like he was going to cry again. I pushed through the crowd to grab him before he changed his mind. “Come on, buddy. You can vacation on the other side of the gates for a day or two. I’ll even let you play with a chicken wand. Little Red likes to eat poultry, and it’s fun to watch him chase chickens around the back pasture.”
Chapter 18
There were more than Lows at my house when I returned with Sinew and Booty. A group of three warmongers and two greed demons were sitting around my dining room table, drinking coffee and helping themselves to a box of pumpkin spice donuts that Nyalla was passing around.
“Please tell me that Snip cleared all the other Lows out of the guest house,” I asked her. Six Lows were playing “Plants vs. Zombies” on my XBox, so I sent Booty and Sinew over to join them and grabbed a donut from the box.
“Nope. They’re refusing to go back to Hel,” Nyalla told me. “Snip tried, but they say they don’t want to be drafted into the Ancients’ army and they don’t trust that Tasma won’t still find a way to grab them and torture them, or whatever he’s doing to the Lows he kidnaps.”
“He’s feeding them wholesome, fiber-rich foods and providing them with stimulating enrichment activities and toys,” I told her. “I’ve lost one of my household to the guy already. Some of those Lows in my guest house might want to reconsider.”
Her lips twitched into a smile. “So I take it you’ve resolved that situation in your own imp-like way?”
I bit into the donut. It was still warm. The guy who ran the donut shop down the street must have a thing for Nyalla because she always got the hot, fresh donuts. When I went in, half the ones in my box were stale. I practically broke a tooth on a cruller last week.
“Tasma will no longer be kidnapping Lows off the streets or keeping them captive in his household. A whole bunch of brainwashed Lows are remaining with him, including Lash, who decided three square meals and Legos trumped the occasional roast beak and the rare opportunity to play with a chicken wand.”
Nyalla patted me on the shoulder. “Your Lows love you, Sam. Snip and Rutter…those two especially would do anything for you.”
My heart warmed to think of my little household. “What do you think about Gimlet?” I asked her. “The new guy who isn’t in my household but is hanging out here with Snip. Have you looked into his heart?”
A small frown creased a line between her dark blonde eyebrows. “I can tell he’s smart, and he’s got a naughty streak, but it’s hard to know what’s deep down inside him. There are all these layers of hurt and scars that take my breath away. Lows are complex and difficult to read. Honestly, the angels are far easier to see inside than your Lows.”
I could understand that. They had more to hide, and a brutal life focused on survival and filled with pain and betrayal. “Do you trust him, though?”
She laughed. “Do I trust any demon? I would be foolish if I did.”
“Do you trust me?” Somehow her answer was so very important.
“I trust you to be you, Sam.” She smiled to soften the words. “And I know that when it comes to me, you will do all in your power to help me, to please me. I know that your love for me is greater than just about anything. I know that if you had to choose between saving my life and saving your own, that you would struggle with that choice.”
“I’d choose your life.” There would be no hesitation there. Yes, I’d sacrifice myself without a second thought to save Nyalla, because she was a daughter to me, and no matter how short her human life would be, I wanted her to enjoy every moment of it, and have it last as long as possible. Nyalla needed me. She was mine, and it was my responsibility to make sure that she had a long and glorious future ahead of her.
“But back to Gimlet.” She shrugged. “No, I don’t trust him, but deep down I think there may be something there, a core of good, something that the right spark can ignite. Sometimes, I see this twinkle in his eye, and I know at one point in his life he was just as lovable and loyal as Snip.”
“But does his belly shake like a bowl full of jelly when he laughs?” I couldn’t help joking, since she’d mentioned the twinkle in the Low’s eye.
“Like Santa?” She laughed. “Hardly. But I don’t think he’s quite Krampus yet, either. Maybe Jack Frost. Now go talk to these demons at your table before they drink all of your coffee. They’ve been here for hours and they’re getting restless. The greed demons have already stolen several DVDs.”
I grabbed another donut and pulled up a chair at my table. These warmongers and the two greed demons I recognized as the ones who’d joined in when I’d assembled a small group to help Gregory fight the rebels in Aaru.
“Iblis,”. Hammer nodded to me. “We owe you a debt of gratitude for including us in the fighting with the angels. Our status was considerably enhanced by that battle, even if we did lose.”
“We didn’t lose,” I argued.
“We just…uh, fell out of heaven in the middle of things. It was a terrible accident. I’ll make it up to you all sometime, I promise.”
“I hope so,” Inferno growled. “I was right in the act of slicing one guy in two, when poof, I’m bouncing off rocks and breaking nearly every bone in my body.”
“Stop whining,” Hammer snarled. “You got to keep that awesome, magical, dwarven-made sword. And if you’d fixed your bones and gotten your ass off the ground, you could have scavenged all sorts of injured angels. I’ve got three sets of wings on the wall from that. There’s a tactical advantage to be had in every situation, if you’re smart and think fast.”
Inferno pushed his chair back and stood, leaning over the table. “I am smart. I just fell in an area with no injured angels laying around. You got lucky, Hammer. Doesn’t make you a better demon.”
I sensed that my dining room was about to see the next violent conflict. “Guys. Knock it off. You didn’t sit here for hours drinking coffee and eating donuts just to fight over who got the most wings out of that battle.”
Inferno sat back down. “No. We came to warn you.”
“About the Ancients?” I asked. “Harkel beat you to it.”
I enjoyed a moment of silence, all six of them impressed that I was on familiar enough terms with the revered warmonger that he’d warn me about anything.
“They want us to join them,” Hammer told me. “We’re the only demons besides you and the Lows who’ve been to Aaru in millions of years. They’re confident that they can get in and that they’ve got the strength to stay there, but they don’t know how things stand with the angels. It’s been too long since they were banished, and most of them have been asleep for a lot of that time. They don’t know much about the humans, and they had no idea there had been another rebellion.”
I did a quick mental recap of what ancient history I’d learned and realized that the humans were fairly low on the evolutionary scale at the time of the banishment. Part of the original disagreement that led to the war had been over whether to give the humans the angelic gifts of grace or not. Angels of Order were in favor. Angels of Chaos were most definitely not. It was the spark that ignited eons of philosophical differences and fractured the heavenly host right down the middle.
“The Ancient I spoke with was quite excited that the angels were fighting amongst themselves,” Glitter told me. “It weakens them. They’ll be unprepared to mount a cohesive defense. The Ancients feel they could basically walk right in and take Aaru without much of a fight at all.”
And how true that was. I imagined the shock on their faces as they stormed in, swords raised, and found no one at home, the empty halls echoing with their battle cries. It was funny, but not funny.
“Who is leading them? Last I heard they were still fighting over who should be in charge.” I remembered Gregory’s words and felt this horrible worry that they would get in. And once in, we’d never be able to get them out. I doubt I could command them not to do it—they’d just laugh at me. I might be gaining some respect and loyalty among the demons in Hel, but the Ancients would be another thing. They were powerful and old, and they’d remember Samael’s rule. They’d be the last beings ever to pledge fealty to a young imp, no matter how often I proved my worthiness for the title.
“There’s some disagreement about who is in charge,” Hammer said with considerable amusement. “Of course, they all think they’re the one who is leading the group. They’ll fight it out and someone will come on top eventually. They all know that needs to happen if they have any chance of taking Aaru back from the angels.”
“So, there’s no Samael? The former Iblis hasn’t shown up out of nowhere to lead them?” I imagined they’d all be fighting if their original leader, one of the archangels, was at the helm.
“Samael? Shit, he’s a legend. He nearly took the archangel Michael’s wings in battle,” Snake said.
“He nearly got sliced in two in battle,” I reminded him. “He lost. He got himself and the rest of the Angels of Chaos banished. Don’t go making him out to be some kind of god.”
Hammer held up his hands. “Okay, okay. Sheesh. Little touchy about that, Iblis? Maybe you’re feeling inadequate in comparison with your predecessor?”
I glared at each of them in turn. After a moment of defiance, they all dropped their eyes and made a show of slurping coffee and munching donuts.
“Right now there seem to be three or four angels vying for the top spot,” Snake told me, crumbs falling from his mouth. “Asmodiel, Irmasial, Bechar, and this Remiel dude.”
I wondered what had happened to Nebibos and Sugunth.
“Who is the frontrunner? I need to meet with him,” I demanded.
“Asmodiel,” Hammer said. “He’s the one who was trying to recruit us. I can set up a meeting.”
I nodded. “Yes. Tell him the Iblis wants to meet with him immediately.”
They all squirmed.
“No offense, Iblis, but it might be better if I told him that I was considering joining the army but needed to have some additional information. You can go in as a member of my household. He’d expect a warmonger to bring a squire along.”
Part of me rebelled at the thought of sneaking into a meeting as a squire, but I’d just snuck into Tasma’s house as a Low, so this was kind of a step up. It wouldn’t do any good to bash my head against his door and demand entrance. I needed to see this Ancient, and if being sneaky got me in, then I was going to do it.
Sneaky Iblis. That was me.
“When do you think we can meet?”
“Tomorrow morning? They’re eager to get this all settled and make plans for their attack. We’ve got experience in Aaru, we’ve shown that we won’t have any problems getting in if they transport us. And having us on his side will strengthen his claims as the leader of Hel.” He suddenly caught himself. “I mean leader of the Ancients. Because you’re the leader of Hel. At least you’ll eventually be leader of Hel once you manage to get everyone to acknowledge you.”
This was so fucking embarrassing.
I stood. “Nyalla, is there room in the guest house for these six demons?”
She poked her head out of the kitchen where I was sure she’d been listening. “No, but I kicked the Lows out of the rooms upstairs and had Nils bring in some extra beds. They can sleep there for the night.”
“Hammer, you go back to Hel and make the arrangements for us to meet Asmodiel tomorrow morning. I’ll meet you at my house in Dis at dawn. The rest of you are welcome to remain here as my guests. We’ll order pizza, and I’ll boot the Lows off the XBox so you can play ‘Call of Duty.”’ The warmongers would enjoy that.
“We accept, Iblis,” Glitter told me. Then he pulled something out of his pocket. “If we’re going to play ‘Call of Duty,’ I guess I should give this back to you.”
I snatched the game out of his hand and sighed. Greed demons. I’d have to take an inventory after they left and figure out what was missing.
After making sure my guests were all fed, and that Sinew was happily playing with Little Red and a chicken wand, I texted Gregory.
There was nothing I wanted more right now than to curl up with him and tell him all about the fight with Tasma—minus the almost devouring part, that is. He’d be so proud that I’d bested the Ancient and brought him to heel as well as retrieved two of my three Lows and set those free who didn’t want to be trapped in a demon version of Romper Room.
Instead I gave him the short version and let him know that I was meeting with another Ancient early in the morning. Before he could even reply, I headed back to Hel. It was insane how often I’d been back and forth in the last few days. This was more teleporting than I’d ever done before, and I was starting to get tired. Still, it was better than driving back and forth to the gate in Columbia, and having to walk all over Hel. Being a sort-of angel had its perks.
During the day, Dis was scorching hot and desolate. The only demons out and about were usually household members running
errands, demons doing business with Gareth and the other humans who did not encourage nocturnal visits, and the Lows who found the heat of midday preferable to the roving bands of partiers that tended to fill the nighttime hours.
Once the sun set and the moons came out, Dis cooled. Well, sometimes Dis cooled. There were nights that seemed just as hot as noon, nights where a cool breeze blew across the sands, and nights where frost glistened on the rocks and demons shivered with the abrupt swing in temperatures. Tonight was one of those nights. My breath clouded in front of my face. Windows in abandoned buildings were glowing orange with small fires Lows had built to stay warm. No doubt a few of these buildings would be burned to the ground come morning, the Lows charred to ash inside the rubble.
It was never too cold for a party. Bands of demons roamed the streets, shouting and laughing, every last one of them looking for trouble. Some would go hunt sand wyrms, some daring each other to swim naked, some looking to catch humans, or lower-level demons for some entertainment. Others would set out for the mountains, gone for weeks on troll hunting expeditions.
There was a time when all that seemed so much fun. Now the very idea bored me. Life as a demon in Hel felt purposeless, dull, one long aimless slide toward death—either at the end of some foolish risk, or through our own hands unable to bear the ennui any longer, to pretend that any of this was actually still fun. No wonder the Ancients had fallen into sleep. No wonder those who hadn’t had mostly gone mad or killed themselves. No wonder they were desperate to get back to Aaru.
Gregory hadn’t just banished them, he’d condemned them to a horrible, long-drawn-out death. It had to stop, their sentences commuted, but not by a battle for Aaru. That wasn’t the solution.
I made my way through the magical wards I’d had installed outside the huge dwelling that used to belong to Ahriman, and in through the doors. The building was empty, all my Lows having first fled to Patchine, then across the gates to my Earthly home. The vacant feel added to the surreal sense I’d been feeling every time I came back to Hel. I’d struggled to define it to Gregory, but once again that dusty moldering stagnation seeped in through the walls to press against me, to suck out my energy, my will to live. Had Hel gotten worse, or had I really changed that much in the last few years?