Decadence

by Matthew Ashworth

  - “Where are you going, Malakai?” she asked herself quietly whilst continuing to follow him.

  Malakai wasn’t feeling too worried about heading to the Pandemonium. Ever since Lord Beelzebub got suspicious, Malakai used that to his advantage. He convinced Beelzebub that he would head to every sector and secretly investigate the situation, with the aim to catch the one responsible for controlling their creatures. As a result of that, Beelzebub was expecting him to visit other sectors, Pandemonium included. In reality, Malakai was going to Pandemonium for an entirely different reason.

  After crossing the river Lethe, he entered the Pandemonium territory. He needed to make sure that the demonic guards of Pandemonium won’t spot him. Pandemonium was the most highly defended sector in the Underworld. However, its defences had a lot of faults. Because it was an enormous sector, not every area was guarded well. The outer parts of it were barely guarded at all. Majority of its defensive strength lay in the central parts, where Lucifer himself was. The location Malakai was heading to required him to bypass some guards, but not to have to get past the impossible garrisons.

  Upon approaching the first gate, Malakai swerved from the normal path and flew in a slightly different direction. The gate was nested in between two tall cliffs and had several demonic soldiers standing by it. Those cliffs weren’t just ordinary pieces of rock. They had numerous caves going through them. Malakai, making sure to approach as far from the side as possible, reached the Western side of the cliffs. None of the demonic guards by the gate spotted him, as he was too far away for them to see him.

  Flying up a little higher, Malakai finally found the cave he was told to take. The cave entrance was wide and the tunnel was spacious, but it was incredibly dark and really high up in the cliffs, meaning not everybody could spot it or knew about it. After taking one last glance around to make sure nobody was watching him, Malakai entered the dark cavern and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, before proceeding further.

  Lazarus was following Malakai all along. He was flying really high up in the air and was camouflaged among dark clouds. That meant he could not spy on Malakai whilst Malakai was inside the main cave complex in the Infernal Pit, but as soon as Malakai took into the air, Lazarus could see him fairly well. He spotted Aurora following Malakai as well and found it rather interesting. He could tell easily that she was trying not to be seen by him, what meant that she was following him in secret. Malakai entering the Pandemonium region piqued his interest, and he began observing the turn of events very attentively. Once Malakai disappeared into the cave in the cliff, he knew that he had to go inside it as well. He waited first for Aurora to do that. If he headed for the entrance now, Aurora would see him. Although she was just as curious about what was happening as him, he preferred not to be seen by anyone.

  Eventually Aurora went in as well. Lazarus silently descended from the obscurity of the clouds and got nearer to the cave mouth. He saw Aurora standing at the entrance and trying to adjust to the darkness. Once she headed inside, he landed at the cave opening and stepped inside too. His eyes needed adjusting to the lightless cave as well. Angels were good at seeing in the dark, much better than humans and most species of Underworld creatures. Only the creatures that were adapted to living in the dark had better eyesight.

  The tunnel was pretty wide and uneven, what meant there were a lot of places where one could hide. This was beneficial for Lazarus, as he didn’t want to be seen. After following Aurora through the tunnel for a long while, Lazarus finally saw the tunnel opening up into a large chamber with a high ceiling. The chamber had many ways in and out of it. There were also several demon guards inside it. Aurora, at the sight of the guards, got intimidated and backed away slightly. Lazarus wasn’t fond of the idea that she refused to proceed further. It meant he had to get past her secretly, or else Malakai would give him a slip. He could still sense Malakai, but with increasing distance between them he could lose the track of him.

  Noticing that Aurora wasn’t moving any further, Lazarus stuck himself to the ceiling of the cave and used that to continue further. Now he was only hoping that Aurora would not look up. Creeping slowly and watching her carefully, Lazarus began advancing further. Just as he was hoping, she continued staring ahead into the room from her hiding place and did not notice him.

  The room itself was big. Majority of the guards were on the ground, but there was one flying creature circling the top half of the room too. To Lazarus that was problematic but not impossible. Since there were plenty of stalactites hanging off the cave ceiling, he could use those as cover. Once the flying monster made a turnaround and flew in the other direction, Lazarus climbed into the room, whilst still on the ceiling, and began promptly but carefully making his way to the other end. When the creature turned back around at the other end, Lazarus hid behind one of the larger stalactites and waited for it to pass. The noise of the creature’s wings flapping was getting louder. Lazarus braced himself as the creature passed him and waited a little longer for it to head in the other direction before proceeding.

  Once it was safe, Lazarus came out of cover and headed to the other end. There were now four exits in front of him, and he had no idea which one Malakai took. He quickly concentrated and began trying to sense Malakai’s exact location. Within moments he detected Malakai and managed to choose the right tunnel out of the chamber.

  That tunnel descended sharply and didn’t go for long. Very soon it led to an exit out of the cave. The area it led to was surrounded by numerous other cliffs and was located slightly below the cave exit. It was just outside of one of the fortress walls in Pandemonium. There was a gate there too, although smaller than the one they saw just before entering the cave. The gate was defended by two bulky demons, but they were not the ones Lazarus’ attention was on. Who did catch his attention was a big burly, masked demon, holding a big spiky hammer with a long handle, and standing a fair distance in front of the gate. It was Alastor, one of the highest ranked demons in Lucifer’s army. He was so fond of killing that he was named as Lucifer’s chief executioner. When Malakai exited the tunnel, he descended through the air and landed right in front of Alastor. It appeared that they were about to discuss something. Lazarus knew he would not hear anything from where he was standing, but what he could do was to tune into the location where they were conversing and try to sense the sounds of their voices. Since it wasn’t so far away, Lazarus could do it, so long as he remained concentrated throughout the entire conversation.

  Chapter 9

  The Arrangement

  Alastor was on his way to a small, enclosed, secret area, to meet up with one of leading dark angels of Infernal Pit. The area used to be one of the entrances into the sector many centuries ago, but then was blocked off. Alastor couldn’t understand why Lucifer sent him to do the meeting, since he wasn’t fond of talking. Alastor was all about action. He liked to fight and to kill. He figured that probably most other high-up demons were preoccupied, and Lucifer most likely didn’t want any of the lesser demons to conduct the meeting.

  He finally reached the gates leading to the location where he was to meet up with Malakai. The two guards on his side of the gates recognized Alastor and quickly rushed to open the gates for him.

  - “Hurry up!” he roared at them.

  As soon as the gates swung open, Alastor walked through the gateway. One of the gate guards greeted him, but Alastor just growled in response.

  Once he was on the other side, the two guards on either side of the gate closed it, so that no-one would get in. It was their job to make sure that the gates were closed at all times and opened only when necessary.

  Alastor walked over to the centre of the area and began waiting. He was ordered to wait for Malakai, as Malakai was sneaking his way in. If Malakai failed to make it there, then he was not worthy. Alastor hated waiting, because waiting didn’t involve any action. He kept pounding the bottom of his huge spiked metal hammer against the ground from time to time out of impatience. Hi
s hammer had a long handle, making his swings in battles as wide as they were deadly. Each spike on the hammer’s head was long and sharp, capable of piercing deep into the victim’s body.

  Finally he saw a dark angel emerge from the darkness of the cave exit up in the cliffs. The dark angel quickly analysed the area, and then slowly descended down. Alastor wasn’t very trustful of dark angels. He wasn’t trustful of fallen angels either, because they used to serve the Creator at some stage. Demons for the most part were born corrupted. Some, like him, used to be humans before becoming demonic, but humans were not necessarily Creator’s servants on the first place. Malakai looked a bit rougher than most dark angels, but even that was not good enough to convince Alastor. Despite that, he had to do what his master told him to do.

  Malakai finally walked up to Alastor with confidence and spoke:

  - “You’re Alastor I take it.”

  Malakai tried to project confidence, but deep inside he was extremely cautious. He never was this close to a demon without that demon trying to kill him. He knew demons were backstabbing, savage beings, and weren’t to be trusted. However, on this occasion he knew this demon in front of him had a job to do and so was unlikely to pounce on him. He couldn’t quite understand why Alastor was wearing a metal mask, but that was unimportant.

  As soon as Malakai greeted him, Alastor gave a loud growl of annoyance and then spoke in his extremely low, snarling voice.

  - “Alastor I am. And you? Malakai, right?” he said.

  - “That is correct.” Malakai confirmed, “The creature attacks happened as you wanted.”

  - “It was not I who wanted it, but my master.” Alastor responded in a barking manner, “But good job. What’s the situation now?”

  - “Everybody is confused. I had two Erebus angels visit me, but I told them I didn’t know anything. My master, Lord Beelzebub, isn’t suspecting me either.”

  Alastor growled once again. This time it was acute, and for a second there Malakai thought Alastor was going to strike him. His hand almost darted to his blade handle, but he managed to stop it just in time not to give off a bad impression.

  - “I am pleased to hear it.” Alastor said finally, “Now let me update you on what’s happening over here and also to tell you what you need to do from now on.”

  Malakai just continued listening without saying anything. Alastor took a few seconds to gather his words.

  - “There is an agent of ours in the External World. He is currently harvesting wicked souls for us to use as demon commanders. My master is building an army. Those souls, however, won’t be enough, and so we’ve also taken over Abode of the Corrupted sector. Every soul locked away in it, as of this moment, belongs to us, and we aim to utilise them all too.”

  - “That is a lot of souls.” Malakai commented, wondering how exactly the Pandemonium managed to take over the Abode without a fight. Abode of the Corrupted was a giant prison of souls. It was well guarded, and one couldn’t take control over it without a nasty battle.

  - “Yes. That too is not all. My master still has other means of creating an army.” Alastor spoke mysteriously, “I know this time we will win the war against the Creator and His lowly Utopia!”

  - “You sound confident.”

  Alastor struck the bottom of his spiked hammer against the ground as hard as he could here, releasing some of the vigour. Malakai almost jumped again, but this time it was less surprising to him, as he began getting used to being in Alastor’s vicinity.

  - “You’re damn right I am confident. It’s about time we decimated the Utopia with our sheer power.”

  - “So what do you want me to do?” Malakai started getting tired of Alastor’s boasting and went straight to the point.

  - “You…” Alastor quickly snapped out of his wishful trance and tried recalling what he was supposed to tell Malakai, “You must influence the sectors belonging to the Creator to attack your master. As a result, he will be forced to join us. His army of creatures would be a worthy addition to ours. If he doesn’t, however, then we will have to eradicate him.”

  - “Understood.” Malakai said with a nod, “If that is all, then I’ll be on my way.”

  - “Yes, get out!” Alastor growled and smashed the bottom of his hammer against the ground once again.

  Malakai didn’t respond to that. He just calmly turned around and flew back up towards the cave entrance. Alastor’s manners disgusted him, but he expected nothing more from a demon. There were a lot of things Malakai despised. Arrogance was one of them. He knew that involving himself with demons was a risky choice, but at least it was going to lead him somewhere. Serving in the Underworld wasn’t going to be easy. He realised that a long time ago. However, any risk was justifiable so long as it had a meaningful purpose, a goal.

  - “Filthy excuse for a creature.” He muttered quietly the moment he flew into the cave.

  Chapter 10

  Swift Retreat

  Lazarus heard every word that was exchanged between Malakai and Alastor. There was a lot to take in, and by the end of their conversation he was feeling immensely appalled. It turned out Hades was right to suspect Malakai. Malakai was scheming with the demons of Pandemonium all along and was responsible for sending a troop of infantry beasts to attack Erebus and Helheim.

  When he saw Malakai turning around and taking off into the air, he quickly rushed back, so that Malakai wouldn’t see him. Hurriedly he flew back up through the tunnel, and very soon reached the chamber with lots of guards. Once again, he jumped onto the ceiling and hid behind the stalactites to make sure that the winged creature flying in the top half of the room wouldn’t see him. He had to be quick this time, because Malakai was not far behind him. He could always hide, but he wasn’t so sure if he’d find a good place in time, and that Malakai wouldn’t sense that someone was nearby.

  Promptly but with great care, Lazarus made his way along the cave ceiling whilst constantly watching the airborne creature. He remembered that Aurora was on the other side, so he had to make sure he was out of her sight too. The winged creature, all of a sudden, changed its course, so Lazarus was forced to back away a bit and to hide again until the creature passed. He could now sense Malakai getting closer, almost at the entrance into the chamber.

  Time was short, and so Lazarus finally risked it. He made his way around the hanging stalactites and rushed to the opening he initially came from. On his way there, he accidentally hit one of the stalactites, causing it to crack and a piece of it to break off. Lazarus saw what happened the instant the piece began falling, and so whizzed in the direction of the tunnel with great speed before the stalactite piece landed, alerting some of the guards. He hid himself in a small gap just before the tunnel entrance and waited. Since the cave wall was irregular, there were plenty of gaps in it, and that particular one served to be a good hiding place. Lazarus quickly glanced out and saw two of the guards heading in his direction, coming to check out the noise.

  The two demonic guards came close into the area he was in and began looking around. They were speaking to each other in an unfamiliar language whilst doing so. One of them finally lit a torch and began getting closer. Lazarus knew it was no use to keep hoping for them not to see him, and so he protracted his pike and swiftly came out of his hiding spot in order to attack them. He took the first one down with a single stab, before they even spotted him. The second one put up a small fight, but Lazarus evaded all of his attacks and then produced a horizontal semi-circular swing with his weapon, striking the demon guard on the side of the head. The creature fell to the ground, which then gave Lazarus plenty of time to finish it off with a stab. Spending no time on revelling on his close encounter, Lazarus put out the torch they were carrying and dragged both of the carcasses out of view. He sensed Malakai was already inside the chamber, slowly making his way around the stalactites on the ceiling too. It was time to get out of that place.

  Lazarus quickly entered the tunnel he needed to take and scanned it, as he remembered Auror
a hiding there before, but she was no longer there. It appeared that she left the area, most likely gave up on trying to sneak past the demonic guards. Feeling satisfied, he instantly rushed along the tunnel without looking back. When he saw the exit eventually, he felt relieved and prepared to spring his wings for the flight back to his home sector. However, the instant he came out of the cave, someone got on his way. The two collided with each other and got stunned for a second. Lazarus recovered quickly and saw it was Aurora. Aurora thought she was in trouble and instantly took out her retractable weapon, which happened to be a pike too.

  - “Hey. It’s fine. I am not going to hurt you.” Lazarus reassured her.

  - “Who are you?” Aurora asked out of fear.

  - “I am from Erebus sector. Calm down. I saw you following Malakai, but don’t worry, because I was following him too.” Lazarus explained to her briefly.

  - “I see.” Aurora understood everything and put her weapon away, “Please don’t tell anyone I was here.”

  - “I won’t. Would you please keep it a secret as well?”

  - “I will.” Aurora gave him her word.

  - “Well we better get out of here then. Malakai is coming.”

  At that instant the two of them flew off and headed back the way they came. They split upon reaching the river Lethe. Aurora headed for Infernal Pit, her home sector, whilst Lazarus headed for the Southern docks on Abode of the Corrupted, where he left his boat.