Made in Hell

by Logan Jacobs

  Smoke billowed from my nostrils and mouth as I offered the man my own murderous laugh, and he choked and gawked at me as I forced him onto his knees and kept on tightening my grip.

  I made sure to hold his golden gaze until the very last, and then I sent a full surge of my Infernal Tempest into him all at once. The effect combusted his entire neck and sent his head flying into the water of the viaduct, and I wiped his blood and tissue from my hands as I turned to survey the rest of the scene.

  Ashe was toying with her last victim, but this final Blessed had witnessed me slaughtering his leader.

  He ducked away from my demon lover’s next slash and lunged over the pile of bodies at me instead, and his roar of fury echoed around the viaducts. He snatched the fallen holy sword along the way, and I grabbed my own onyx blade just in time.

  His weapon connected with mine with enough force to cut down a tree, but I met him with every swing while I hoped the holy blade wouldn’t take my hand. I managed to swipe across his stomach with my infused blade, but the wound didn’t appear to slow him down. Even the venom boiling on the side of his face didn’t distract him. He was too furious and desperate to kill my ass, but my leg had recovered pretty well by now.

  It still felt stiff and cold from my one slice of a holy blade, but I could move as quickly as I needed to, and I knew Ashe was standing by.

  The beautiful fiend snickered and paced through golden pools of blood, and she proudly watched me take on the last of the Blessed.

  “By the way, have you prayed yet?” I taunted the man with a wicked grin. “You may want to if your plan is to join your Holy King when this is all over.”

  “Fuck you, cretin!” he snarled.

  “Hey, I’m only thinking of you, here,” I chuckled and dodged his next swipe. “You smell like a lecherous bastard, is all. You sure you’re worthy of the Heavenly Glade?”

  The Blessed asshole twisted his ugly, half-boiled face into a delirious snarl, and his golden eyes narrowed with pure rage.

  I had pissed him off beyond comprehension now, and that was exactly the reaction I wanted. It was always best to kill a deserving bastard when he was good and worked up, especially if I got to make a mockery of their holy bullshit in the process.

  The final Blessed jumped at me in a blind rage, and I lunged aside and brought the onyx blade down onto his wrist. His entire hand disconnected from his arm, and his sword clattered to the ground along with his severed appendage. The man howled in pain as his wound both gushed with blood and burned at the same time.

  I took the opportunity to grip onto his neck in one hand and his upper arm with the other, and I shoved him back against the wall of the viaduct. The stone worked to my advantage as I repeatedly rammed his body into it, and a grin curled on my face as his bones started shattering one by one.

  He wheezed and gulped for air against my grip, but the same electric surge buzzed at the tips of my fingers, and his face slowly turned blue from the lack of oxygen.

  “Dead yet?” I asked with a smoky growl.

  His glowing eyes grew wide, and he coughed and choked on the blood that pooled in his mouth, and then, with a final demonic roar, I forced more energy to surge through my fingertips.

  His head exploded from the combination of my hell power and his next collision with the wall, and it popped like the giant bubbles of lava in the death pools in the Hellscape. Pieces of flesh and blood covered my hands, and his now dull eyes dangled from their shattered sockets. He joined his deceased brothers on the ground when I finally released him, and I stepped in the remains of his head as I turned away.

  “Should’ve prayed when you had the chance,” I chuckled and spat on the ground.

  I looked over at Ashe to find her blowing me a kiss, and her new dress was splattered with holy blood around the hem. The demon woman still pulled up her skirts to step over her last victim, and then she crouched down and wiped her onyx blade clean by using one of their jackets. Once it was up to her standards again, she slipped it back into her belt.

  “That was fun,” Ashe sighed lightly.

  “Have you gotten your fill?” I asked.

  “I got my fill as I killed the first one,” she snickered. “The others were an added bonus, but I think your final attack was my favorite part.”

  “Mine, too,” I chuckled. “As much as I love the sight of them on the ground right now, we should probably dispose of the bodies quickly. The last thing we need is for the Church to catch on to our killing rampage.”

  The canals were just over a small, grassy mound to our right, and while I knew the water wouldn’t fully submerge the bodies, it didn’t matter if they were retrieved later.

  Just as long as we could leave the area before they were found.

  I took two men by their ankles and dragged them along the ground that led up the grass. Then, one by one, I lifted them up in the air and chucked them into the canal beneath the dwelling of the Church. We repeated the process until the six men and all their severed pieces were floating in the water, and then we prepared to leave. We both took handfuls of water from the next viaduct over and washed off as much holy blood as we could from our clothing. It didn’t bother me that my shirt and pants were coated in thick, gold blood, but the last thing we needed was for the Holy King’s worshippers to spot it as we casually sauntered past them.

  Trails of gold blood could also be seen all over the ground, but I decided to leave that there as a message for the Church. As soon as they saw the blood and noticed that they were short a few of their Blessed, they’d be able to work out what had happened here.

  They’d have no idea it was a pair of runaway demons who brought their deaths about, though. That satisfaction would have to be mine and Ashe’s little secret, and I was more than pleased with the notion.

  Murderous hunger and pride billowed through my sinews as my concerns about the Blessed eased from my mind. My anger was finally satisfied, and my mission was complete, but I replayed my prey’s final moments a few times in my head just to bask in my victory a little longer.

  It felt pretty damn good to be my own master up here.

  The kills were twice as rewarding.

  Once we were mostly cleaned up, I offered Ashe my arm, and my demon lover curled her arm through mine and then placed one hand over the other. She had an exhilarated flush on her silver cheeks as we headed back to the hill, and we stuck to the shadows so we could sneak into the alleyways as soon as possible.

  More drunkards wandered the streets up ahead, but most of the banquet attendees had headed inside by now. The ghosts continued to drift in and out of the grounds, and the sound of cheerful music and laughter came from inside the church. I caught the savory smell of meat that drifted from the open doors of the stained-glass structure, and it made me ravenous for a leg of meat, especially after all our exertions this evening.

  I was about to mention that we should stop for a bite to eat on our way back to the Shadow Quarters, but then something even more distracting caught my attention.

  A familiar scent wafted over toward us, and it seemed as though it was coming from a very elaborate and polished carriage that had just arrived at the gates of the stained-glass dwelling.

  Then the being inside of the ritzy carriage stepped out, and it was his eyes that caught my attention first.

  They were as brown as the mud in the streets of Rengfri, with a not-so-subtle glimmer of pure evil in them.

  “No fucking way,” I breathed, and I dragged Ashe under the nearest portico as I studied the man up ahead.

  “Is that--”

  “Yes,” I growled. “It’s the same man the dark elves are paying off.”

  Ashe let out a bewildered scoff. “But he’s a--”

  “Uh-huh.” I nodded.

  But I didn’t take my eyes off the brown-eyed man’s clothes, because they were vastly different from the ones he’d worn to pick up his payment the other day at the tavern from the elusive middle-man we’d been following.

&nb
sp; Now, the slick, rich man wore long, white robes with ruby-red satin draped over the shoulders. The symbol of the Church was embroidered on each sash of satin, and another hung in the form of a long necklace down his front.

  He was a fucking priest.

  Chapter 14

  I came to as the morning sun cast its light across the bed. The previous evening’s killing spree had certainly been eventful, but what occurred when we returned to our flat was the highlight of the evening.

  The clothes that Madame Nyra gave us were now in shreds on the floor, and there were pieces of green satin over every surface from the dress that Ashe had worn. The only thing that stayed in one piece was the actual bed itself, but just barely. There was a crack that trickled down one of the posts, and I couldn’t remember seeing that before.

  Now, Ashe lazily toyed with a patch of my choppy black hair, and she drew spirals over my bare chest with her other hand. She paused for a moment as her pink eyes looked up at me, and then she gave me a coy smile before returning to the small movements. The morning light made her pale skin shine, and I was very tempted to have a repeat session of our encounter from last night, but as stunningly beautiful as Ashe was, I had far too much on my mind to give her my full attention this morning.

  Because the crime syndicate we intended to take over was paying off a priest of the Church.

  Last night, I’d watched that evil bastard put his palms together and bow his head to those he passed, and every damn one of them bowed even lower and offered reverent smiles in return.

  None of them could possibly know he was involved in the illegal workings of the Shadow Quarters, but he was, and that introduced several complications for us.

  Or maybe, only one or two.

  We’d wanted a position that could ensure our protection from the Church, and the dark elves’ organization certainly had that in spades.

  If we played our hand carefully, we could still be in the perfect position by taking over their operation, but the more I thought it over, the more I was certain we had one very important hole to fill in our grand scheme.

  The elusive man we’d been tracking and conducting the transactions with the priest needed to absolutely remain employed, and he’d need to absolutely remain silent about the change in command. That was what our plan was relying on now, but unfortunately, he’d vanished into thin air.

  “Are you okay?” Ashe asked from beside me. “You seem distracted.”

  “Yeah,” I sighed. “I was thinking about the human who the dark elf hired to make the rounds. We need to find him if we’re going to keep this priest from suspecting something’s off with the business, but how do we find a man who has vanished into thin air?”

  “And what do we do if he uses that orb to vanish on us?” Ashe replied.

  “Exactly,” I sighed.

  “Are these dark elves too difficult for us to take over?” Ashe asked with a concerned frown.

  “No,” I snorted. “We’re fucking demons. They’re just mortals, Ashe.”

  “Yes, but who knows what else they’re capable of?” she countered. “If they have a large supply of orbs, they could have the ability to do anything, and we have no idea what.”

  “Which is another reason why we need to find this human,” I explained. “There are far too many unanswered questions, but once we have those answers, we can still conduct a smooth takeover. All we need is one person on the inside to give us what we need.”

  “And for that person to remain loyal,” Ashe groaned, and she flopped onto my chest.

  I chuckled as I stroked her back, but I wasn’t as concerned about this point as she seemed to be. The dark elves just had a decently airtight operation going, which meant we’d be fucking untouchable if we succeeded. This was the opportunity we needed, and if we could solve all our issues by finding one man alone, then it wasn’t nearly so difficult as it could be.

  Once that man was found, the job of convincing him to remain loyal would be almost easy if my experience in the Hellscape counted for anything.

  “I’ll handle the problem with the human man,” I murmured to my demon lover. “Trust me on that.”

  “Well, I think it’s just as important that we find out some more about this double-dealing priest,” Ashe mumbled against my chest.

  “Yeah, everything we can,” I agreed. “If we’re going to be paying him off, we need to know what we gain in return. Or, more specifically, what these elves were gaining in return.”

  “Do you think the Church knows anything about their operations?” Ashe asked.

  “I doubt it,” I snorted. “Which means this priest could be more dangerous than we expect.”

  “Exactly,” Ashe sighed and sat up again.

  A thought suddenly came into mind, a memory from my first day on the surface world.

  “The Church rounded up a bunch of dark elves…” I mumbled.

  “Before I came here, right?” Ashe frowned.

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “But I doubt that’s connected, and I’m going to assume it was a completely different group.”

  “Why’s that?” she asked.

  “Well, those elves didn’t appear nearly as rich as these dark fuckers are supposed to be,” I explained. “And these dark elves like to show that they have money, and a lot of it.”

  I thought back to the day I’d witnessed the elves being carted off by the guards, and I tried to focus on exactly what they looked like. They definitely weren’t the same group, so it must have been a crazy coincidence that the guards had chosen that specific breed.

  Once I’d finished pondering over the previous days, I peered at Ashe and noticed that her expression was suddenly much more vulnerable than usual, and I shifted so I could look her in the face more easily. I found a hint of protectiveness in her pink eyes, and I could sense something strange coming from her that I couldn’t quite name.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked and brushed her silver-blue hair from her cheek. “Something’s bothering you about this priest.”

  “I don’t want you caught in another asshole’s clutches,” Ashe replied softly. “I want you to be your own master, and mine, without having to deal with bastards like that. What if this priest is just as shitty as the Dark King? What if--”

  “Don’t worry,” I soothed. “I’ll always be your master, and someone like this holy fucking priest won’t take that away from us. Not ever. I’d sooner murder the man than allow him to gain any kind of upper hand on me.”

  Ashe sighed and bit her lip with worry, so I sent her a grin. As I inched closer to her lips, I let a tiny bit of smoke seep from behind my teeth, and by the time I let out a low growl, she couldn’t help smirking.

  “Trust me?” I growled.

  “Always,” she murmured, and then I devoured her mouth.

  When I finally laid back on the bed, Ashe looked much less vulnerable again, and she sent me a scheming glance.

  “But we are finding out about this priest,” she informed me. “If only to ensure he could never even try to gain the upper hand over you.”

  “Deal,” I agreed. “I’ve already begun thinking of a solution, but we have other issues to address in the meantime. Namely, as you mentioned, I don’t think a glaive, flail, or even an onyx blade are sufficient to take on whatever these dark elves will be carrying. When the time does come to attack, we need the proper tools to see the job’s done well.”

  “What do you suggest we do about that?” Ashe asked with a greedy smile.

  “I think we should talk to the half-elf and see if he can tell us anything about killing dark elves,” I suggested. “He’d probably know more than we do about their species, and he happens to sell decent weaponry.”

  “I’m up for a bit of research,” Ashe agreed.

  “Then let’s go,” I announced.

  We quickly changed into our clothes, and Ashe combed through her silky, silver-blue hair with her fingers as I threw some pieces into one of the sacks I’d taken from the trolls. I had a plan i
n mind to solve a couple of our issues, and it would definitely require a coin or two.

  I didn’t know if the half-elf would be at the weapons shop already, but I knocked on the main door of his house with the hope that he’d still be inside. I heard a female voice faintly from inside the house, but then a familiar male voice broke in, and the door opened to reveal the half-elf we were looking for.

  “Good morning,” I said politely.

  “Good morning,” he nodded solemnly. “Is everything alright with the flat?”

  “Yes, it’s perfect,” I assured him. “We only wondered if you might be able to be of assistance with something. We, uh… we’re curious about… dark elves.”

  The half-elf looked over his shoulder briefly, and then he silently closed the door behind him.

  “What do you need to know about dark elves?” he whispered.

  “We’re wondering about their powers specifically,” I replied.

  “Why?” the half-elf asked outright.

  “Well… we have some trouble with a group of dark elves,” I carefully replied. “Trouble that we’d like to handle delicately, and the more we know about them, the better. We don’t have a lot of experience dealing with their kind.”

  The elf thought for a moment, and I watched as his eyebrows gradually furrowed.

  “Dark elves are incredibly powerful,” he replied in a low tone. “The majority of dark elves increase their powers over the course of their lifetime, and most of them also use other objects to help amplify their abilities.”

  “Objects like magic orbs?” Ashe suggested.

  “Orbs can be one of them, yes.” He nodded. “Therefore, if someone were to take on a dark elf, they’d need some means of matching their powers, at the very least.”

  “Magical weapons,” I assumed.

  “Exactly.” He nodded once again.

  “And say someone needed to buy those magical weapons in a very discreet way,” I led. “Would they be able to purchase them at your shop?”