Dungeons and Demons

by Kayla Krantz

  “Can they see us?” Jack asked.

  Shawn shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”

  He crept up to the nearest table. Heart pounding, he forced himself to look right at the creature, posed to run at the slightest hint of danger though he had the feeling it wouldn’t be necessary. Even if this thing was dangerous, he doubted it could chase him. It reminded him of a slug, the body perched in the seat in the same way that Shawn himself would sit. It had no eyes, but two grotesque feelers stood out in their place. A tiny mouth made an appearance only when the fork lifted. That in itself was a feat. The tail end of the creature was wrapped around it, making every bite a strain.

  “Seems half of them don’t even have eyes,” Shawn said, at last turning back to Jack.

  “The less things trying to kill us, the better,” Jack said, easing around another table.”

  That was something Shawn could agree with. “What do you think Beelzebub’s like?”

  “It’s not him I’m worried about,” Jack said.

  The way he swiped his thumb across his lips told Shawn all he needed to know. He shared his worries. Both of them were waiting for an ambush they were sure was coming. Between the dragon in Mammon’s dungeon, the drudes in Belphegor’s, and the Nucklelavee in the Leviathan’s, Shawn was convinced there was something evil waiting to intercept their journey long before they made it to the boss.

  Shawn and Jack followed the curve of the restaurant to a shadowy outline of a door. In a normal restaurant, this would be the one that would lead either to a kitchen or a back-dining room, one perhaps fancier than the front room. Shawn had no idea if that would be the case or not. Heavy shadows cloaked the opening, and Shawn wondered if the other side contained nothing but darkness.

  To get to it, they had to pass one more table. Shawn couldn’t avoid looking at the creature. It was tall, its head sitting high up on its neck like a giraffe. Its body was deep green, consisting mostly of a giant stomach that pulsated like a mutant heart.

  Shawn’s lip curled in disgust. “It’s painful to watch.”

  Jack nodded in agreement. “I have a theory. What if these extra demons we see in the dungeons, the background monsters if you will, are the souls of all the teenagers who Rhys damned before us? What if these ones aren’t attacking us because they feel our pain? Because they were us at one time?”

  Shawn swallowed, considering. “I hate to think that, but it’s a good point. If we’re meeting the Kings of Hell, it would make sense we’d also meet their subjects.”

  “Which is what makes this even worse,” Jack said, studying another of the feasting monsters. His face puckered, a flash of sorrow flitting across his eyes.

  Shawn said the words that Jack had been unable to, “I wonder what Milo’s become.”

  Just as Shawn didn’t want to think about his friend’s demise, he also didn’t want to imagine him being reborn as one of these demons being tortured for eternity. Milo had hated the tunnel in Leviathan’s dungeon. An eternity there for him would be beyond cruel.

  “Well? Are we right?” Jack called up to Rhys, voice dripping with anger that Shawn knew was only there to hide his sorrow.

  “Would it really make you feel better for me to answer it one way or the other?” Rhys’ replied.

  Shawn and Jack exchanged a knowing glance. That was as close to a yes as they would get. They fell silent after that, but that didn’t stop Shawn from thinking about the topic. Of all the demons and hellish beings they had seen so far, what was Milo’s fate? Shivering, Shawn thought of the Nuckleavee again. It was the only other thing they’d seen besides the Leviathan, but the water outside of the clear tunnels had been an inky abyss. There was no telling what horrors they had passed and not been aware of.

  Shawn didn’t want to think that his friend would be trapped there forever. Or here for that matter. In his head, he tried to force himself to forget what Rhys had told them and thought of fluffy white clouds and rainbows. Milo was somewhere nice. Somewhere good. Shawn wouldn’t let himself believe anything else.

  During his musings, Jack took the lead. With one last glance to Shawn, he walked through the shadowy arch, Shawn a moment behind.

  21.

  SHAWN HELD HIS breath, not sure what to expect once they crossed the shadows. A kitchen? A way to another dungeon altogether? On the other side, the wallpaper was the same and so was the atmosphere. It was calmer though. Shawn couldn’t see any of the waiter monsters, and the light was dimmer. On closer inspection, it came from a candle perched on each table. They were set close to the wall, red seats that looked like booths surrounding them. Shawn waited for a monster to leap at them, but a quick scan showed the tables were empty.

  Jack and Shawn walked onward. Their shoulders were pressed together, and Shawn wasn’t sure if that was a conscious decision or if Jack was so invested in the scenery that he didn’t notice. Shawn found comfort in it though. As long as Jack was nearby, they could watch each other’s backs.

  Something they had very much failed to do with Milo.

  The lack of monsters bothered Shawn. Especially with the tingle of danger lingering down his spine. Shawn crept up to the nearest table, staring at the empty seat. He wondered if it was another siren call like the couch in Belphegor’s had been. If he were to sit down, would something spring from the shadows? Would he and Jack be trapped, forced to eat until they were gluttonous zombies like the creatures in the front room?

  Shawn shivered and backed away, not wanting to risk it either way.

  Jack watched warily. “Anything?”

  “Not from what I can tell. It just...looks like a normal restaurant.”

  Jack studied the wallpaper and gold sconces on the wall. “What are we going to find in here anyway? The Godfather?”

  Shawn copied his friend’s gesture, looking from the floorboards beneath their feet to the ceiling high above, the only escape was the door they’d entered from. There was a feeling in his gut, a stirring that warned him something was about to happen, and whatever it was, he wanted to be prepared.

  The room curved as if it were bent into a giant ‘U’ shape. As Jack and Shawn approached the height of the curve, the sound of utensils clinking on dishes could be heard. Through the shadows of the flickering candlelight, the boys exchanged another glance.

  Up ahead was: a giant creature, much larger than any of the previous demons had been. Its table was stacked high with dirty dishes, its stomach so distended that it sat on the floor. The creature looked beyond comfortable, but it didn’t seem to mind. It continued to eat, bite after bite disappearing into its large mouth. It reminded Shawn of a giant slug or some type of bug he’d find only by removing a rock or log from the mud. Its body was brown and lumpy, a series of spindly legs running down its sides.

  “Dude,” Jack said, and then he started to laugh.

  Shawn’s eyes stretched wide as his gaze darted from the monster to his friend. He had believed he’d never hear something as wonderful as Jack’s laughter again. Before he knew it, he was laughing too. After everything that they had survived, this demon was by far the most ridiculous thing Shawn had ever seen.

  “It’ll eat itself to death if we wait long enough,” Jack said. He cocked his head to the side and took a step forward. “You just can’t help it can you, buddy?”

  Shawn expected the demon to retain its solidarity like the others had. As soon as Jack’s words faded to silence, the creature dropped its fork, looking up at them through red eyes. It didn’t look so content, so soft, as it focused on them, and the tiny surge of happiness created by the random burst of laughter vanished. The creature rose, higher and higher, until its head nearly touched the ceiling. The soft brown skin hardened, turning almost black and the distended stomach vanished. Jack and Shawn both took a step back in unison.

  “We should run,” Shawn said.

  “I second that.”

  In step with each other, they dashed back out into the bustling front room. Shawn expected to get a sizable
distance away before the creature from the back room entered, but the entire tone of the dining room had shifted. The creatures weren’t interested in the food anymore. The eyes of every single demon was on them, waiters included.

  “Legion,” an ugly creature with a bulbous head and tiny eyes said from nearby. The chant rippled out, picked up by every creature. Even the waiters joined in. “Legion!”

  “Go!” Shawn yelled.

  They ran as fast as they could. As demons of all sizes and weights squeezed out of their booths, they blocked the path, making progress harder and harder. Shawn didn’t even know where it was they were going. On his initial survey of the dungeon, he hadn’t seen a way in or out of the restaurant. For all they knew, they were running toward a dead end, a trap.

  Jack didn’t seem to think any of that. He pushed ahead of Shawn, more and more demons surrounding them. Then as quickly as the sprint had begun, it was stopped when one of the creatures reached out a thick hand and grabbed the top of Jack’s arm, halting him in place. As soon as Shawn realized what had happened, he turned in time to see the demon shove a spoonful of a white goop that looked like mashed potatoes into Jack’s mouth. He gagged and coughed, trying to spit it up when the demon repeated its movement. Another demon shoved what looked to be corn into Jack’s mouth. Jack coughed again until his face went red, and Shawn rushed forward, desperate to stop them before they could suffocate him.

  “Legion!” the creatures chanted.

  Spindly arms wrapped around Shawn’s arms, holding him in place. With them both subdued, the others moved closer, closing the space they had offered only a moment before.

  “Legion!”

  “What does that mean?” Jack asked through his mouthful of food.

  Another spoonful of potatoes was shoved at him, and he turned his head. A white clump of creamy food smeared across his cheek.

  “I think they have some kind of hivemind,” Shawn said, knocking an incoming fork away from the demon nearest to him. “The thing in the back is control—” His sentence was cut off as a spoonful of food was shoved between his lips. His instant reaction was to spit it out, but when the taste hit him, he found he didn’t want to. It was rich and delicious, and he wondered how Jack had spit out any of the food he’d been given. Despite the voice screaming in his head, he swallowed it and wanted more. Wide-eyed, he loosened in the demon’s grip, looking around for where his next bite would come from.

  “Don’t eat it!” Jack yelled.

  Shawn snapped out of it, looking at his friend through a haze. Another spoonful of food entered his vision, and he focused on it. He turned his head, dodging it before the monster could get it in his mouth. The sound of silverware clattering to the floor gave him a burst of strength. As the creature struggled to bend down and pick it up, its grip on him loosened, and Shawn easily fought his way free with an elbow to its grotesque body.

  Shawn hurried to Jack’s side and looked his friend up and down, trying to remember where Jack had hidden his knife. On instinct, he went for his pocket, relieved to be right. The monsters were closing in. So he did the only thing he could think of—he reared his arm back and stabbed it into the bulging gut of Jack’s captor. The creature made an ugly sound, the type of noise that Shawn would expect to come from someone drowning. Its gnarled centipede-like arm released Jack as it tried to remove the knife, and Jack took the opportunity to stumble to Shawn’s side.

  “Come on!” Shawn cried, and they tried to run.

  The demons around them formed a thick circle. They were such massive beasts, both in height and stature that Shawn was sure they weren’t going to be able to push their way through. The creature Shawn had stabbed didn’t move, but the others did, approaching with spoons filled with various glops of food.

  Shawn and Jack continued to edge closer to one another until their backs were pressed together. “How are we going to get out of here?”

  Jack was rigid for only a moment before he started to rummage through the bag at his hip. “I’ve got this,” he said, and a second later, his fist emerged with a small ball clutched inside it. “A stink bomb oughta do the trick.”

  Shawn lifted his sleeve to cover his nose as Jack threw the thing to the floor. Brown steam leaked from the point of impact, an explosion of air hurling it up before it started to fall back down. The reek flooded Shawn’s nose, and he gagged. He put his second hand over the first, but the smell still came through. Desperate to get rid of it, he coughed, and Jack did the same.

  The line of monsters didn’t move at first. As the rancid air finished squeezing itself from the confines of the stink bomb, Shawn felt his heart drop. How could the creatures not be affected? Was it possible they couldn’t smell? As soon as Shawn had the thought, the beasts started to back away, crashing into one another in a scramble to escape the smell. Screeches and roars sounded, and a second later, one of them puked. Chunks of green and orange sprayed the floor, the sharp acidic smell adding to the already unpleasant odor in the air. Shawn’s stomach rolled at every sound—the sound of the monsters’ upheaving, the sound of the liquid hitting the floor, and the sound of Jack choking back his own gags.

  As more monsters added to the mess, it was impossible. Shawn doubted he’d ever not be nauseous again. He threw up everything in his stomach. Eyes streaming, Shawn surveyed the monsters, catching a break between two of them. One of them had fallen into the mess on the floor, and Shawn tried not to feel sympathy.

  He patted Jack’s arm, gesturing. “Now’s our chance.”

  Making their way through the dining room of sick creatures was easy. Before they knew it, they were looping around, heading toward the doorframe cloaked in shadows once again.

  “There’s no way out,” Shawn said, panting for breath. Between the smell and the run, he was starting to get dizzy.

  “We have to take out the leader,” Jack said, eyes streaming.

  Before Shawn could ask how he planned to do that, Jack lurched forward. On the other side of the shadows, the smell from the dining room was left behind. When they saw Beelzebub again, he was seated back in his booth, but he wasn’t eating. The beady red eyes stared at the food before it as if it didn’t really see it. If the creatures really shared a hivemind like Shawn suspected, then it made sense. Beelzebub most likely felt the sickness sweeping through his monsters. Shawn swallowed and looked around the room, desperate for the answer of how to take him out when he was down.

  Jack was uncharacteristically silent beside Shawn. His arms were wrapped around his stomach, and when Shawn glanced at him, he caught the greenish hue across his cheeks. He was ready to throw up too. Shawn glanced back to Beelzebub. The longer the creature sat there without eating, the quicker his stomach began to recede. There was no sign of the bulging gut it’d had when they’d first seen it. The monster was thin. In no time, they’d be able to see its skeleton underneath the grotesque skin.

  “Look at his stomach,” Shawn whispered.

  Jack swallowed roughly, face hardening into anger as he said, “Get the plates!”

  Shawn was the first to charge forward, Jack a second behind him. The creature looked up as they approached but did nothing as Shawn and Jack stretched an arm out, knocking every plate off the table. Slowly, the creature rose from its seat. Though it moved with the same fierceness it had when they’d originally fled, Shawn wasn’t afraid. Its stomach was proportional to its body now, and it looked between them and the mess of food on the floor before it lunged.

  Except, it wasn’t at them. It went for the food.

  Beelzebub was easily twice Shawn’s size, but his desperation was enormous. In a flash, he grabbed a knife off the table, one that had somehow escaped the destruction of the rest of the dinnerware, and shoved it into the monster’s eye. The beast squealed and reared up away from the mess on the floor. It tried to dislodge the knife with its tiny arms, but it couldn’t reach. Jack’s face twisted into a snarl, and he took the opportunity to grab a fork from the floor. He jumped up, jamming the silver
tool into its other eye.

  Beelzebub let out furious screams, trying more frantically to clear its vision, but it was failing. Blood leaked down either side of its face, and its stomach continued to shrink. The bulge reduced to nothing, and its ribs showed through the brown skin that had gone so pale it was almost translucent.

  Beelzebub threw its head sideways, finally able to pull the knife free. A bloody eye socket was left behind, and Shawn gagged at the sight, glad there wasn’t anything left in his stomach to throw up. Beelzebub blinked, and when he opened the eye again, it was there. The bloody mess a distant memory.

  “Uh-oh,” Jack said, taking a step forward as it repeated the process with its other eye.

  Beelzebub didn’t pay them any attention. He moved toward the mound of broken porcelain, collapsing to the floor beside it. His gigantic body was reduced to a skeleton. Clutching a fork in one of its arms, Beelzebub pitifully stabbed out once, grabbing for anything in his reach. When the fork came back empty, his head met the floor.

  Jack and Shawn held their breath as they watched him, waiting for any final sign of movement. There was none. Even the noise of sickness from the other room had faded away. Jack stumbled to the nearest booth and sat down, staring at the withering remains of the demon. Shawn stayed in place as a familiar click sounded overhead.

  “Good job, boys,” Rhys said.

  Jack and Shawn exchanged a nauseated look before the world around them swirled, taking them far from the nightmarish restaurant and Beelzebub’s remains.

  22.

  “THAT’S ANOTHER ONE down,” Jack said as soon as the familiar settings of the oasis settled around them.

  “Milo would’ve been proud,” Shawn said, collapsing to the ground beside the sparkling water.