Trialled by Reapers
Page 5
“Grandmother?” He uttered the word in a dry voice.
Harkness nodded. “We both reside in this one vessel. It has taken us so long to remember, but we finally have. Our grandchildren, please listen to us.”
The reaper stood and lifted both of its arms. “A very long time ago, we fought a war against an army of demons who wanted nothing more than to make all of humanity suffer. We succeeded, and we locked away one of the most powerful demon princes in existence into a vessel it cannot escape from.”
Harkness gazed around the room at the deceased and paralysed reapers that lay strewn on the ground around them. “Hudson, where have you been sending all of these lesser demon princes?”
Hudson gave the reaper a confused look. He had no idea where the demons went after he read the passage out loud. Harkness seemed to pick up on this uncertainty and let out a small sigh.
“Hudson, if you do not properly seal a demon prince away, they become locked into a holding gem.”
“A…a holding gem?”
The reaper nodded, its skull face blank of all emotion. “Large crystals of immense power that our ancestors planted in the Infernal Region. They prevent demons from escaping back to the mortal realm, but a powerful enough group of mortals can break through it, whether they are demon hunters or not.”
“The demon worshippers.” Poppy muttered through her tears.
Harkness gave another small nod. “From what we have heard, the worshippers are gaining more power now. The three of you need to work together to find the final lesser demon prince and ensure that he and the others are permanently locked away. The afterlives of every human are at stake.”
“How are we supposed to do that?” Hudson asked.
A loud clatter came from behind them. Turning around, they saw a group of reapers floating towards them, scythes held high.
“Stop all of you! You are in violation of the court of high reapers!”
With a wave of its scythe, Harkness created a portal.
“You need to leave, now. We have broken too many rules. Go, and we will find you. Do not come back here or they will never let you leave.”
“I’m not going to leave you again!” Poppy sobbed.
Hudson and Emma-Lee nodded in agreement. They all went towards Harkness who hugged them in its arms.
“You are all so loyal and you will all make excellent demon hunters. We bid you farewell.”
With that, Harkness used all its powers to shove the three of them into the portal. Hudson could only look on as the reaper was grabbed from all sides by its brethren. He screamed for the being that contained the soul of his grandmother, but it soon faded away into nothingness.
Chapter Twelve
Poppy was once again within her grandmother’s body. Directly beside her was Amelie. She was holding the Demotome and screaming at a being that towered a dozen feet over them. The creature was shrouded in darkness, but it covered its face and shrieked as the glowing tome shot light directly towards it. It began to twist around as if it was caught in a tornado before disappearing completely into thin air.
Amelie shielded her eyes with a hand and smiled as she watched the demon get sucked into a large and flat book.
“It worked Nan! It’s trapped in there!”
The brown-haired woman smiled at Poppy, blood dripping down her face. “Let’s go get it and hide it somewhere good.”
Poppy’s eyes snapped open. She was laying on a cold stone slab. The psychic sat up and winced at how stiff her body felt. She twisted her neck around and let out a small groan. She rubbed her shoulder, feeling the bandage that covered the wound on her shoulder.
The psychic noticed Hudson and Emma-Lee chatting excitedly at one side of the circular room. Hud noticed she was awake and made his way over to her. He helped her off the slab and tilted his head to the side.
“How are you feeling?” He asked.
Poppy rubbed her head. “Kind of weird. Did all of that just happen?”
Hudson gave a small uncertain nod. “I think so.”
“So what are we going to do now?” Poppy muttered.
Hudson glanced over at Emma-Lee, who was reading through a dusty book. Sugrat was waddling over to her, bringing a few more tomes and scrolls over to her.
“Emma-Lee is going through a few things to find out more about the demons. We’re learning as much as we can about the demon princes we haven’t gotten yet.”
“I think I know where the final lesser demon prince is!” She said, not looking up from her book. “Just give me a few more moments to go through this. My Latin is pretty rusty.”
Poppy smiled weakly. “It’s nice to have another set of hands around here, how is she doing?”
Hudson gave a small shrug.
“Okay, I think. She misses mother and father.”
Poppy and Hudson glanced into each other’s eyes.
“How are you?” She asked.
“Doing as well as I can.” He replied, an apologetic wince forming on his face. “How’s the shoulder?”
She grumbled and rolled it around, flinching at the pain. “Surprisingly not the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. I can still feel my arm at least.”
“Oh, that’s good. Uh, how are we?”
Poppy came up to Hudson and gave him a small smile.
“We’re pretty good I think, as long as you don’t attack me again.”
“I can’t guarantee that.” He replied, chuckling softly.
Poppy leant in close and gave Hud a small kiss on the lips. Hudson wrapped his arms around her waist and returned the kiss. Not too far away from them, Emma-Lee looked on and suppressed a giggle. Sugrat seemed just as amused, swishing his tail back and forth.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen affection like that in here.” The key keeper murmured.
“Hopefully it won’t get too sickening.” Emma-Lee added, rolling her eyes playfully before returning to her book.
Ignoring the interjections from their friends, Poppy and Hudson continued to embrace each other, enjoying the calm before the storm they knew was soon approaching them.