“Next time, he dies for that. Agreed?”
“That’s exactly what I told him. I’m tired of everyone throwing misplaced animosity at you and Leech. I’m the innovator who came up with this idea.”
“Aw... is Shady feeling left out of the animosity? Maybe we can drop by Vixen’s palace again and find one of my sisters to hate on you. Will that make Shady feel better?”
Lilith patted Shadow on the back and he laughed.
“Fuck you, Lilith.”
“That’s Lady Lilith to you, peasant, and you have to buy me dinner first.”
“Oh so we’re going by our Muan ‘titles’ now? Fine. You will call me Master Shadow from now on. I won’t tolerate anything else.”
“Alright then, Master Shadow, do you have any idea where we’re going?”
“Well these are the deserts of lust in the second circle of Hell. I figured I would just...”
“Your ring. You’re going to see through the whirlwinds and the clouds of the storm over there?”
“Yup.”
Shadow and Lilith braced themselves as they walked into the storm and whirlwinds of the second circle of Hell. Shadow focused his eyes on the clouds and sat down. Within seconds, he was able to search the ground from the clouds of the storm. He saw countless souls moving back and forth in the torrents below. They were in very large groups. As he moved further in, he saw that the humans were further and further apart. As he continued, he started to only run into a human every thirty seconds or so. Then it hit him. Abigor and his army were feeding on the souls in the second circle of Hell. They were in the eye of the storm, moving out on occasion to draw in a meal. A little further and he was able to see the massive horde that was Abigor’s army. In the center was a large demon sitting on top of a skeletal horse and wielding a large spear. The demon turned to look in his general direction. He grinned, and then threw his spear into the clouds. As it pierced the exact spot that Shadow was spying from, he was flung out of his vision. He gasped. Lilith helped him get back on his feet.
“Did you see him?”
“Yes. I did. He saw me too and he kicked me out of the clouds. I don’t really know how we’re going to kill that guy, Lilith. I have a feeling that he’s going to be immune to just about everything we try.”
Lilith hugged Shadow and then moved in close to whisper in his ear.
“Everything except for our snot-stained daggers.”
Shadow grinned.
“You got me there, Lilith. Everything except for our snot-stained daggers. Come on, let’s get going.”
The journey through the desert took a lot of time and effort. The winds blew all over the place, constantly changing direction and speed. Human souls bumped into them every few seconds but as Shadow saw in the clouds, it became less of a problem as they approached the center. On several occasions, Lilith had to wrap her whip around a boulder and both of them held on until the wind changed into a favorable direction that pushed their backs briefly as they ran.
When the winds finally dulled to the point where they no longer had to strain themselves to walk, Shadow saw two large sentries standing guard over the camp. Shadow turned to Lilith.
“They’re too tall. I’ll need a boost. On my signal.”
Lilith nodded and ran ahead. The sentry demons crossed their weapons to bar her path.
“Halt! Who goes there?”
Lilith removed her cloak and smiled at them.
“I’m just a little demoness lost out here in the wilderness. Maybe I could entertain the two of you for a bit and then you could show me the way out?”
The two sentries looked at each other and smiled as they slowly approached her. From behind, Shadow whistled loudly and then sprinted at the demons. Lilith cupped her hands. By the time the sentries realized what was happening, Shadow had already stepped into Lilith’s hands and been launched in to the air. When he reached the level of their necks, he spun his swords like the blades of a helicopter. When he landed, he resheathed his blades. His victims’ heads fell on either side of him, one on his left and one on his right. Lilith walked up to his right side and examined one of the decapitated heads.
“Very clean. You’re a goddamn artist, Shady.”
“Thanks. I try.”
Within seconds, Shadow and Lilith were surrounded with hundreds of minor demons and demons-in-training pointing their weapons at them. Abigor walked into the middle of the circle, smiling.
“So Cain sent his brother’s runt instead of dealing with me himself. Well at least we’ll have some fun torturing these two. Especially the bitch. I haven’t had one of Vixen’s daughters in a while.”
Abigor licked his lips and winked. Then he cracked his knuckles and started walking in a circle around Shadow and Lilith.
“I hope you realize that the weapons of minor demons don’t even work on middle demons that are as powerful as I am. This is going to be a very short fight, if you can even call it a fight. I’ll send your head to your uncle and your bitch’s head to her mother.”
Shadow removed the swords from his belt and pointed them at Abigor and lifted them slightly as he named the original owner.
“Abaddon. Cain. These swords are middle demon weapons.”
“Of course. It makes sense that the blood swords of murder were passed down to the runt. Cain has a scythe, at least for the present, and Abaddon has no further need of a weapon, does he?”
“When I get done with you, you won’t have any use for a weapon either.”
Abigor laughed and his army joined in.
“You may have some talent as a fighter, Shadow, but you don’t have thousands of years of experience. I do.”
“So it’s settled then? You and me? One on one?”
“No. I don’t want there to be any doubt when this is over. Cain sent both of you, so I’m happy to kill both of you.”
Abigor dismounted from his horse, held out his spear, and then used his other hand to motion “bring it” at the two minor demons. His army lowered their weapons but maintained a circle around the fighters, cheering, yelling, and making all sorts of other noise.
Lilith looked at Shadow, clearly confused.
“You’re the only one with weapons that can do anything to him. Why does he want to fight both of us?”
“Ego. He’d love to say that he defeated both of us without adding any real risk to himself. The dagger from the Medic will work though; it came from a middle demon.”
“You’re sure?”
“As long as the Medic isn’t a liar. So... maybe?”
“How about you just take a shot at him and I’ll see if I can figure out a way to make the dagger useful. Don’t count on me doing much in this fight though. This is pretty much all on you, Shadow.”
Shadow spun his swords and slowly walked up to Abigor and took a swing with both of his swords. Abigor blocked it with his spear and then delivered a kick to Shadow’s midsection that sent him flying through the air. He landed in the dirt outside of the circle that Abigor’s army had formed around them. He tasted blood in his mouth and it took almost a full minute before he was able to get up. While the demons parted to allow him back inside the circle, he was mocked and laughed at. Abigor was waiting for him inside the circle, smiling.
“I would say that was an impressive strike, but I’m not in the department of lying. I’m in the department of murder. With that in mind, I guess it’s my turn.”
Abigor delivered three quick shots at Shadow. Shadow blocked the first but was struck across the face twice by the butt of Abigor’s spear. Abigor followed up the attack by stepping behind Shadow and delivering an elbow to the back of his head. Shadow fell over in the sand and coughed up blood, turning the sand black.
Abigor walked the inside of the circle, his hands held up in triumph. When he made it back to Shadow, who was still lying on the ground, he raised his spear in the air and was about to finish him off until he felt a slight sting on the back of his neck. He turned around to see that Lilith had tie
d the end of her whip around a dagger coated in some green substance. He removed the dagger from the back of his neck and then used Lilith’s whip to pull her through the air towards his fist. She collapsed on the ground and didn’t get up.
Shadow knew that the poison had entered Abigor’s system through the strike Lilith had delivered to his neck. As long as the Medic was right about its lethality, Shadow would just need to stall until it circulated through Abigor and took him down from the inside. Shadow stabbed his swords into the sand and used them to prop himself back up to a standing position. He knew he needed to let Abigor think that he had won; otherwise he would start using his middle demon powers. Shadow had no way to counter those. The rest of the fight needed to be about slowing him down and evasion. He also needed to keep Abigor away from the now unconscious Lilith.
After a few seconds, Shadow’s world had stopped spinning. His mouth was no longer filled with blood. He still raised his swords and stumbled like a drunk towards Abigor, who easily deflected his attack. Shadow fell over on the ground again and Abigor laughed. Shadow got to his feet once again and lunged in Abigor’s direction. This time, however, instead of attacking with his swords he pulled the poison-coated dagger from inside his cloak and stabbed Abigor in the arm with the dagger. For the first time in the fight, Abigor cried out in pain and dropped his spear. The laughter coming from his army subsided. Shadow had actually angered the middle demon. Abigor was done playing around with him.
Abigor was there one second and completely gone the next. The small poisoned dagger floated in mid-air where his arm used to be. It rose in the air a few inches, as if Abigor had removed it from his arm, and then it was tossed at Shadow’s feet. One of Abigor’s powers was obviously invisibility. Shadow saw Abigor’s spear raise into the air and it was violently attacking him within seconds. It took all of Shadow’s strength to deflect the blows. Finally, Shadow fell to his knees, his strength nearly spent. The spear came down and then stopped inches from his throat. Shadow looked over at Lilith and waited for his demise. It didn’t come.
“Maybe it would be better to start with your whore.”
The spear changed its direction and then sailed directly at Lilith, piercing her hip.
CHAPTER 33
Ambriel’s smile grew wider as Leech pulled his battleaxe from the strap on his back and Muan readied his blowgun. Ambriel spun his broadsword above his head and prepared for what he knew would be an incredibly short battle.
Leech approached the angel and threw his battleaxe down at his feet. He removed the daggers from his belt and did the same. The angel looked confused. Muan shot a dart at Ambriel’s neck but the dart was turned to ash when it approached within a few inches of its intended target.
“There’s no point in doing that, Muan. Minor demons can’t harm middle angels. We don’t have weapons that will work on him.”
Ambriel looked at the larger of the two small demons with pity.
“You intend to meet your destruction without a fight?”
“It wouldn’t be much of a fight. Unless you intend to remove the ring of power that gives you your shield of light, we can’t really fight you.”
“Then what will you do, young demon?”
“I will meet my death with honor.”
Leech kneeled and bowed, presenting his exposed neck.
“I will make it quick, young demon. I am surprised that you do not wish to fight me, but I will allow you to swiftly meet your end.”
Ambriel raised his broadsword high above his head and brought it crashing down towards Leech’s head. Right before it connected, Leech removed the angel’s short blade from under his cloak and brought it up to deflect Ambriel’s sword. He then quickly stabbed it into Ambriel’s abdomen. An ear-piercing cry escaped Ambriel’s lips and then he exploded in white flames. Leech savored the moment; he had just tricked, and then killed, a middle angel.
Within seconds of the kill, Leech felt a stinging sensation pierce his back several times. He dropped the angel blade and fell to the ground, unable to move. Muan stood over him, grinning.
“I guess you’ll have a much shorter career than you expected, Leech. I’m taking you back to Hell and turning you in as a traitor.”
“A traitor? I just killed a middle angel. How the hell am I a traitor?”
Muan picked up the short blade and then suddenly dropped it. It was too full of light for him to handle. He wrapped it in Leech’s cloak and then tied Leech’s hands behind his back. He also retrieved Leech’s weapons and attempted to secure them to his own belt. The daggers weren’t a problem, but the battleaxe proved too large for him to secure on his back as Leech normally did. He attached it to Leech’s back instead. As he double checked Leech’s bands, feeling started to return to Leech’s limbs. Muan must have used a mild paralytic on the darts.
“You used a relic of the heavens and then ask how you’re a traitor? I knew you would eventually betray Shadow. I’m just glad I was here to stop it. How long have you been in league with the angels?”
Leech almost told him where the angel blade had come from just so the little demon would realize how wrong he was, but he realized that doing so would betray Shadow. He just laughed instead.
“You have this all wrong; I’m not in league with the angels. I won’t tell you where I got the angel blade from though, so you may as well just march me down to Hell. By all means, abandon the mission that Shadow gave us.”
“This betrayal overrides any orders given to me by Shadow. Get up and start walking.”
Leech got to his feet and started shifting his arms from side to side. Muan frowned.
“What?”
“I have an itch.”
“So deal with it.”
Leech tried to scratch at his arm.
“I can’t. You have me tied up in these bands.”
“Then shut the Hell up and let’s go.”
“No. You need to scratch it for me. Either that or untie me.”
Muan drew one of Leech’s daggers from his belt and held it up to Leech’s neck.
“Or I could just kill you the next time you talk about it.”
“That wouldn’t be smart. You would have to explain to Shadow why you killed me. When you fail to convince him that I used an angel’s blade, he’ll kill you. Remember his warning before he left? I die, you die.”
“I’ll show him the fucking angel’s blade.”
“That’s still a 50/50 chance that he’s going to kill you. It would be a lot easier to just scratch the itch on my arm and then I’ll go peacefully.”
“Are you always this annoying?”
“On my bad days, yes. I tend to get a little annoying when I get tied up and called a traitor by a little pygmy demon after killing a middle angel.”
Muan let out a huff of air in frustration. As Muan moved in to scratch Leech’s arm, Leech clamped both of his hands down on Muan’s face. Muan screamed out in torment, finally realizing why Leech had drawn him in. Leech’s parasitic touch was just about to drain the life out of Muan when a hoarse voice interrupted him.
“That’s enough, Leech.”
Leech’s surprise at hearing his name from a voice he didn’t recognize caused him to drop Muan before he could finish him off. He looked at the owner of the voice that had saved Muan. A dark demon with impressive looking grey armor stepped from the shadows. A yellow crow was painted on his breastplate.
“Who the hell are you?”
The demon smiled. Leech couldn’t tell if his face more closely resembled a pale, sick human’s face or if it was just a skull.
“The name’s Malphas. I’m a middle demon serving under Asmodeus. You don’t really need to know what I’m in charge of. We’ve been watching Diego from a distance, but we received orders to drop in on Shadow. He’s apparently overseeing the torment of this man.”
Malphas glanced in the direction of Carlos, who was still softly sobbing into his hands. Malphas’ eyes then rested on Ambriel’s broadsword lying on the floor.
“Not really. I don’t work for Asmodeus. I work for Shadow and Baal.”
Muan coughed on the floor and was able to choke out a single word before he passed out.
“Traitor.”
Malphas raised both eyebrows.
“So the little knocked out guy thinks you’re a traitor. Care to tell me what happened now?”
“I killed Ambriel, a middle angel in the army of the Archangel Uriel.”
Malphas didn’t laugh, but a smile spread across his lips.
“You claim that you were able to kill a middle angel? With what? Your minor demon weapons?”
Leech didn’t see a way he could talk himself out of this, but he could at least keep Shadow’s name out of it.
“I was gifted an angel’s short blade by someone who I refuse to name. I accept whatever punishment that brings with it.”
“Someone you refuse to name, huh? No matter what I say... you won’t tell me who gave you the angel’s blade?”
“No.”
“Then I guess I won’t ask you.”
Malphas’ eyes rolled back into his head and he touched Leech on the forehead. Leech felt a searing pain and then a terrible ringing sensation. Malphas stepped back two paces and then allowed the smile to crawl back on his face.
“You have a stronger mind than most minor demons, Leech. That didn’t stop me though. I know who the angel’s blade belongs to.”
“Bullshit. How could you know something that I won’t tell you?”
“I took it from your mind. You must have read about demons that can steal secrets. I am one of them.”
Leech had read about demons that could steal information from angels and other demons, straight from the mind. Fear struck him and he began to panic.
“It’s just mine. Turn me in and I’ll take the punishment.”
“Oh I don’t think so. You see, my boss has a personal hatred for Shadow and Cain. I think he’ll enjoy seeing Shadow sent to the lowest circle of Hell for wielding the Archangel Michael’s shortblade.”
Minor Demons Page 20