by Diem, J. C.
He wore black sleeveless metal armor that gaped at the front to expose his chest. It was also covered in markings. His feet clomped on the black flagstones. Instead of wearing boots, he had cloven hooves. Black leathery wings were curled tightly against his back and poked up over his shoulders. A single long talon on the highest tip of his wings looked almost sharp enough to tear through dense rock.
Holding up the puzzle piece, it looked tiny in his gigantic, clawed hand. “Looking for this, are you?”
“Yes, actually,” I replied. “If you’ll just hand it over, we’ll be on our way.”
He gaped at my audacity, then his head went back and he bellowed in laughter. His sycophantic lackeys giggled and guffawed along with him. Movement high up in one of the glassless windows above the throne caught my eye. I peered up to see the one eyed raven watching the proceedings.
What are we going to do? My panicked question was directed at my demon posse.
Morax’s reply came back instantly. Run! It went against his instincts, but he knew that staying would end in my death.
Sam had the same idea. Taking my hand, he sprinted towards a doorway to our left. Shouts rang out and a stampede ensued as hundreds of demons tried to follow us. Terror gave us extra speed and we managed to get a good lead on the pack.
Sam ran blindly, entering doorways and taking corners at random. He dropped his sword in his panic, but we didn’t have time to go back for it. We entered a wide hallway that had doorways branching off on both sides. More torches lit the halls, spaced out every fifty feet or so. Racing past a deep alcove, his head whipped around to see if anyone was behind us. The way was clear, so he leaped inside the next alcove that we came to and pulled me in with him. We pressed our backs up against the wall and he camouflaged us both so that we became virtually invisible.
Heaving for breath, I realized my dagger was still blazing with color and stuffed it into the sheath to hide the glow. I froze when footsteps pounded towards us. A flood of demons both large and small poured past. A few glanced into the alcove, but no one stopped to investigate it properly.
Several minutes passed before a bellow of rage rang out. “I want the interlopers found and brought before me!” Upset that we hadn’t been caught yet, the Demon Prince went into a full tantrum. We could hear him throwing things around and smashing furniture.
Sam shook as he was hit with a fit of giggles. I bit down on the wild laughter that was desperate to escape. I couldn’t see the ruler of this realm, but I could vividly picture him stomping around and sulking like a gigantic toddler.
A couple of hours passed before the search finally began to wind down. A pair of lesser demons unknowingly paused only yards away from us to gossip. Dressed in black sackcloth, they were the lowest of the low. Only imps were beneath them in their hierarchy.
“Where do you think they went?” one of them whispered.
“They are long gone by now,” the other replied just as quietly. “The great and mighty Hellscourge ran like a scared rabbit.” Her tone was mocking.
Sam’s hand tightened on mine when I tensed in anger. Do not let an insignificant minion such as this rile your wrath, Morax advised me.
What is it with everyone thinking I’m going to bring forth the wrath? I barely even knew what wrath was. I was pretty sure it was extreme anger.
It has been foreseen, he said in an ominous tone. Several thousand years ago, a human of exceptional beauty was brought to hell to become a sexual slave to one of the Princes. After suffering beneath his torment, she did not die as most human women do. Instead, she went into a coma that lasted for nine days. When she woke, she spoke of Hellscourge and of the reign of terror that you would bring with you. ‘Gold of hair, green of eye and bearing two opposing natures, she shall purge the nine realms of its leaders, leaving devastation in her wake. Hellscourge shall bring death to anyone who incurs her wrath.’ These were the words that she used to describe you.
Gold of hair and green of eye were easy enough to understand, but I had no idea what ‘bearing two opposing natures’ meant. What happened to her? Somehow, I doubted the Demon Prince would have taken the news of her prophecy kindly. I’d jokingly told the gnomes that I was going to kill all of the princes, but it now seemed that I’d unwittingly confirmed the prophecy. Now I knew why they’d backed off to regroup.
He ordered his minions to cut her to pieces and for her remains to be scattered across the nine realms. It is rumored that she somehow managed to escape from them, but she was never seen again and this tale cannot be confirmed.
I was intrigued by the story and wished I knew more about the girl who had prophesized my coming. I hoped she had escaped from the demons and hell and had managed to live a normal life. Somehow, I doubted it. Being abused by a Demon Prince would have scarred her forever.
Finished with their gossiping session, the lesser demons moved on. They checked each room as they continued down the hallway. Every room had been searched dozens of times, but their master still wasn’t satisfied that we were gone. He knew I needed his piece of the object and that I wasn’t going to leave without it.
₪₪₪
Chapter Thirty-Two
Growing weary of standing, we slid down the wall until we were sitting. We kept our knees to our chests so no one could trip over our feet. Sam’s camouflage was so good that we blended in seamlessly with both the wall and the floor. The downside was that we had to remain as still as possible.
Another hour passed and I was just beginning to nod off when heavy footsteps clomped towards us. We scrambled to our feet and pressed ourselves against the wall when the Demon Prince appeared. The hellscribe followed in his wake. She barely came up to his waist. “I expect the search to continue in my absence,” he said without looking back at her. “Hellscourge is near. I can almost feel her eyes on me.” His scarlet eyes passed over us and my breath caught in my throat in fear that we would be discovered.
As always, Sam’s camouflage hid us from view. The prince swept past us and headed for a staircase at the far end of the hall. Dull silver flashed in his hand. He was still clutching the piece of metal. He paused to give the scribe a final order that I couldn’t hear then he disappeared through the wide opening. Looking harried, she pulled her hood forward to hide her face then hurried back down the hallway.
Without their master lurking nearby, the search became far less frantic. No one followed the prince upstairs and he hadn’t set any guards in place. Being the most powerful demon in this realm, he arrogantly assumed that he didn’t need anyone to watch his back.
Waiting until the hallway was empty, I leaned over to speak to Sam. “We need to get up that staircase.”
Shock made him drop our cover long enough for me to see his horrified expression. Then he brought it back, disguising us both again. “You want to enter the Prince’s bedchamber? Are you insane?”
“No. I’m desperate. I can’t afford to stay here too long, plus, I have a date with Zach on Monday. I don’t want to miss that.”
I couldn’t see his face, but I could sense him staring in my direction incredulously. “You’re willing to infiltrate a Demon Prince’s private chambers just so you won’t miss out on your date ?”
“That’s not the only reason!” I hissed back. “I need to get that puzzle piece and I want to leave hell before I turn into an…” My voice trailed off when I realized what I’d been about to say.
“An imp,” he finished sadly.
“I’m sorry, Sam,” I said softly and felt around until I located his shoulder. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“No. You are right. You do not want to end up like me.” I heard determination as well as hurt in his tone as he pushed himself to his feet. “I promised Nathanael that I would protect you while we are in hell. This includes making sure that you remain human.”
He stepped into the hall, pulling me along behind him. We moved slowly and carefully, freezing whenever a demon entered the area. Sam maintained our cover so that we
were indistinguishable from the wall and remained unseen. It was going to be a lot trickier to remain hidden when we were on the staircase. It would be much harder to blend in with the curving wall and stairs as we made our way upwards.
When we finally reached the archway to the stairs, we waited for a small pack of underlings to scurry past. No one had entered the staircase so far. When it was clear, Sam darted upwards, pulling me along with him. Winding around and around, we climbed for what felt like ten minutes before we reached the walkway that would take us to the prince’s chamber.
Feeling slightly dizzy from the spiral staircase, I paused for breath and studied the hallway ahead. Short and wide, there was only one door at the far end. No guards had been posted to keep watch. Moans and grunts were coming from inside and I could guess what the demon was up to. He wasn’t alone in there.
“I so do not want to sneak into that room,” I whispered to Sam. He’d dropped our camouflage and I could see that he was as reluctant as I was to interrupt the pair.
“At least he will be distracted,” he said hopefully. “We might be able to get in and out without him even noticing that we are there.” I mentally crossed my fingers that he would be right about that.
Sneaking down the hallway, I paused to glance out through a glassless opening. The entire city was spread out beneath us. Once again, the palace was on the top of a hill. It was larger than the palace in the ninth realm. The city was bigger as well. Squat, ugly buildings made of slick black stone radiated outwards in a circle. There didn’t seem to be any order to the city. All of the streets and pathways were cobbled. Few ran in a straight line for long.
Continuing on, we came to the gigantic black door that was made of petrified wood. There was no keyhole for me to peek through, but there was a large gap beneath the door. Dropping to my knees, I bent down and pressed my cheek against the cold stone floor. I saw a massive stone bed against the far wall. It was low enough to the ground for me to see the broad, symbol covered back and leathery wings of the Demon Prince. I quickly averted my eyes so I didn’t have to see what he was doing to his poor bed partner. The sounds that I’d thought were passion sounded more like pain up this close.
Standing, I reached up for the door handle. It turned easily and the door swung inwards silently. Sam followed closely enough that he was almost treading on my heels as we crept into the room. Stark and black, the room was circular and held only a few items of furniture.
Sam pointed to the right and I saw the metal object lying on the top of a chest of drawers. He took my hand and we snuck over to the wall so he could make us nearly invisible. As slowly and noiselessly as possible, we edged our way towards the prize. I reached the dresser and had to stretch out to grab the piece of metal. My hand was sweaty and Sam lost his grip. I fell against the dresser with a clatter and the Demon Prince whipped his head towards us.
He heaved himself off the bed, revealing his bed partner. Instead of a hideous demon, she was a delicately beautiful girl who was roughly my age. Her hair was blond and her eyes were green. Her face and body were black and blue with bruises. Her stare had gone vacant and she was bleeding badly.
My attention was drawn back to the master of the eighth realm. Stretching one wing out, he used it to slam the door shut. A wide grin stretched across his face and he glanced down at himself. The girl’s blood was dripping from him onto the stone floor. “The girl made a pleasant diversion, but now I have the actual Hellscourge standing right before me. You shall sate my every desire and then I will take your broken body before my master. I will show him that you are just a weak, pathetic, mewling mortal and that you are nothing to be feared.”
Anger unlike anything I’d ever known before began to build inside me as he took a step forward. His entire body was covered in the strange markings, even the bloodied appendage he’d used to rape the girl with. I studied him coldly as he walked to within a yard of me. The patterns on his skin were similar to the ones on my dagger and bracelet, but they still made no sense to me.
He reached out to put a hand on my shoulder and my crimson dagger flashed out. I hadn’t reached inside my jacket for it. It had simply appeared. Yelping in surprised pain, he snatched his hand back. My blade had sliced him open, but the wound closed in seconds. “You will pay for that impertinence,” he growled in a low, dangerous tone.
Instead of cowering in terror, I showed him my teeth in a grin that held no mirth at all. “One of the Demon Lords that is trapped inside me gave me a very interesting piece of information,” I said . It was a struggle to keep my voice conversational. Rage was trying to spill out and I wasn’t sure how much longer I would be able to keep it in.
“Ah, yes. I have heard that you can absorb our essence.” He frowned down at me. “It should not be possible for you to resist being possessed by our kind.”
I circled around him, driving him away from the bed. Responding to my rage, my dagger changed and became a double headed axe. “Anything is possible for me,” I said mockingly. “I am Hellscourge, you know.” He watched me warily, shifting to keep me in sight. “Morax told me about the prophecy and I know what I’m supposed to do now.”
He flicked a glance at the door as if debating about his chances of escaping. “Do tell,” he invited, circling around so he was closer to the door.
“I’m supposed to kill all of the Princes of hell as well as your leader. I didn’t get to kill the Prince of the ninth realm, so I guess that means I’ll have to start with you.”
“Demons are immortal,” he scoffed, but he couldn’t hide his concern. “The prophecy was just the ravings of a woman who was driven mad.”
“You’re the one who caused her to go mad, aren’t you?” I said and looked pointedly at the girl who was currently bleeding to death in his bed. “You raped her just like you did that poor girl.” I had no doubt that he’d defiled many girls during his existence. My anger grew until I was pulsing with the need to kill him. I understood exactly what the prophecy meant now. “You have incurred my wrath, Prince of the eighth realm. It is time for you to die.”
₪₪₪
Chapter Thirty-Three
Instead of laughing at me as I expected, his face turned ashen. “I should never have taken that pale haired witch to my bed,” he said in a harsh whisper. A gigantic sword appeared in his hand and black armor appeared on his body. I was relieved when his nakedness was covered.
I was half his size and his weapon was as long as I was tall. He swung the sword at me and I ducked rather than attempting to deflect it. It whooshed over my head, missing me by only a fraction. He put so much effort into the swing that he left himself open. My axe bit through his armor like it wasn’t even there and lodged in his side. He cursed as I carved out a chunk of his flesh.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Sam press himself against the wall. Then he became invisible as he blended in with the stone. A fist came towards me and I was sent flying when it connected with my jaw. Hitting the door, I saw stars, but I didn’t go down.
“Duck!” Sam shouted and I dropped to my knees. Metal screeched against petrified wood as the prince’s massive sword drove into the door where my head had just been. He cursed when his blade became stuck. Diving forward, I rolled between his legs and popped up to my feet. He heaved on his weapon, but couldn’t dislodge it. Taking a few steps backwards, I ran towards him and launched myself into the air. With perfect timing, I swung my axe just as he pulled his sword free and turned around. The blade sank into his neck, pinning him to the door.
Crimson eyes stared down at me incredulously as I dropped to the ground. My axe was lodged in the petrified wood just like his sword had been a moment ago. “Before she fell into her coma, the witch told me that I would die at the hands of a mortal female,” he said hoarsely. “But I will not die alone.” His sword came towards me with blinding speed, but a hand closed around my ankle and pulled me to the ground. The blade had missed me by millimeters.
Sam held onto my ankle tightly, ready to d
rag me to safety again, but it wasn’t necessary. Pulled off balance by his own thrust, the prince lurched forward, which sealed his doom. My axe sheared the rest of the way through his flesh. His head fell backwards then toppled to the floor. Not quite understanding that he was dead yet, his body took another step then froze with one foot still in the air.
Realizing I was in his path, I tried to roll out of the way as the Demon Prince’s corpse teetered and fell towards me. The sharp talon on the tip of his wing tore a twelve-inch long gash in my back before I could clear its path. Even after death, he was trying to kill me.
“Ow,” I complained. “That hurt.” My jacket, hoodie and shirt had been torn wide open, as had the flesh of my back.
Sam crawled over, took a look and blanched. “It is not that bad,” he lied.
“Then why can I feel blood squirting out of me?”
“I would not say it is squirting . It is sluggishly oozing.”
“Eww. Oozing is such a horrible word.” He helped me to my feet and I pulled him into a hug. “You saved my life again.” If he hadn’t tripped me, I’d have a gigantic hole in my chest rather than just a gash on my back.
“That is the only good thing about being an imp,” he said. “We are so insignificant that it is easy to forget that we exist.”
“I’ll never forget that you exist,” I promised then let him go. I walked over to the door and held my hand out. I wasn’t sure if it was Morax or me who made my weapon transform back into a dagger. It dropped onto my palm and I tucked it into its sheath inside my jacket.