Transferring player’s current characteristics… SUCCESSFUL.
The messages disappeared, replaced by a countdown to my revival.
Remaining time to respawn 3… 2… 1…
Attention! No revival point set!
Setting formal links: selected Dominion of Belial, location: Tiefling Nest.
Transferring to respawn point.
Welcome to the Inferno, Herald Scyth!
I revived, raised my head and beheld a scarlet sky as if powdered with ash. The sky of the Inferno.
Interlude 1. Hakkar
WHEN HE WAS VERY YOUNG, Hakkar the tiefling dreamed of fighting for the glory of the Dominion, gaining chao, strolling through the streets of the capital – the Ruby City, – and in the end, seeing Great Prince Belial.
Hakkar shared his fantasies with his six brothers, but they laughed at him. The eldest, Anfidar, pinched his thin, just-forming horns and said:
“Hakk, little one, it’s real rare for them to recruit tieflings! Forget about it! Our fate is to live here, in the Nest, and get food in the Void.”
Their primogenitors had founded this settlement in times long since forgotten. They might have been the ancestors of Hakkar himself. They called the place Tiefling Nest. However, it wasn’t long before the town filled with settlers and outcasts, mostly demons, devils and imps, and then it was called simply the Nest. After learning that he would have to spend centuries there, Hakkar complained:
“I don’t like that fate!” he said, stamping his foot. “I want to see the Ruby City! And serve the Dominion!”
“Not likely to happen, little Hakk,” Anfidar sighed.
“But why not?”
“Because we aren’t pure-blooded demons. We have too much from the mortals in us. It’s tough for us to save up chao, and even tougher to use it in battle. And we’re physically weaker than other demons, too.”
Hakkar had seen mortals in the pages of his storybooks – the similarity was offensive. All that separated tieflings from humans was a set of twisted horns, red skin, eyes gleaming with demonic light, and a tail. Even devils had less of the mortals in them.
But even that recognition didn’t chase him away from his dreams.
“Still though, what do I need to do to get recruited?”
“Save up enough chao for at least one white star to show up on your horns.”
“White? What others are there?”
Anfidar smiled condescendingly, baring sharp fangs. He was already nearly an adult. A little longer and his horns would curve and change color from light brown to dark red.
“When you save up thirteen white stars, they turn into one yellow one. Thirteen yellows turn into one orange. Thirteen oranges – into a red.”
“And thirteen red stars?”
“Black. No higher demon has ever achieved that, Hakk. Only the princes of the Inferno have black ones. Come on, see if you can name them all.”
“Belial, the prince of our Dominion. And there’s Diablo, and Azmodan.”
“There’s a fourth too, little one. He became a prince not so long ago. His name is Lucius. His Dominion consists of scraps of land scattered around the Inferno.”
“Well, even if they don’t recruit me, I’ll get to the Ruby City myself!” little Hakkar declared.
The brothers laughed, then explained that even if he wasn’t killed or eaten by wild beasts, it would take Hakkar at least thirty years to get there on foot.
“The Inferno is enormous, little Hakk,” Anfidar explained. “The princes have been creating new lands and expanding their domains ever since the Great Exodus and the Demonic Pact. It’s part of their Great Game – the Dominion that takes over half the world will be named Dominion Over All, and its prince – the Overlord of All Inferno. And we live right on the outskirts.”
“Is that why Belial is always fighting with the other princes?”
“That’s right, little brother. And why the princes are always taking on new recruits. They need fresh meat.”
“Wait…” Hakkar said thoughtfully. “If the Dominions are so big, then how do the army recruiters get to us every year?”
“They have at least one orange star, little one. With that much chao, they can open passageways through the Void to any point in the Inferno…”
Many years had passed since that conversation. Last year, Chaos had swallowed up Hakkar’s mother. His six elder brothers had died with her. Hakkar was left with his father, one-legged Teland.
His father had lost his leg foolishly. He and a group of hunters ran into a herd of atlings and successfully drove them into a hole. They could have just filled it with lava, but the eldest in the group decided that would cost too much chao, which lost strength in fire. Teland, the only tiefling among the hunter demons, volunteered to climb in. He was smaller than the rest, but more agile and flexible. Teland had hoped to succeed and pocket a little chao for himself and his sons, but he overestimated his strength. Upon hearing the screams of pain, Teland’s comrades pulled on the rope and hauled him out of the hole. There was an atling stuck to his leg, already fat and red with blood. Only a half-dissolved bone remained of the limb.
After that, Teland took on the housework, and Hakkar’s brothers had to grow up early and become providers and breadwinners. So did their mother, who was accepted out of pity into the herb gatherers’ group, which was protected by Elder Shverk’s warriors. Herbs by themselves interested no one, but even thorny weeds contained a crumb of chao. The poor demons dried it out and ground it up, then used it as a spice or ate it as gruel.
In the Inferno, only chao gave demons energy and strength. Particles of chao infused all life, and there was only one reliable way to collect it – eat something that was once alive. The trouble was that in the endless and infertile lands of the Void, one could easily become prey oneself.
The brothers began to venture carefully into the Void on their own, without a specific goal in mind, just picking up everything they could find and hoping to meet the wandering spirit of a mortal – the tastiest treat for any demon, as a devoured soul gave much pure and unadulterated chao. On that fateful day, the brothers joined the herb gatherers’ group and ran into a strong and mature Hungry Spirit. Oh, how much chao they could have gotten! But the mortal soul, made flesh in the Inferno, must have been wandering the Void for a long time and devouring its inhabitants – it was full of chao. Too full. It had gained such power that it easily swallowed up both the herb gatherers’ group and all Hakkar’s elder brothers. Only one demon woman managed to escape and tell the others what had happened.
In that year, Hakkar reached the age of ninety. He was still young by the standards of demons, who reached adulthood at one hundred. He usually toiled around the high town walls of black lavastone, picking up everything he could: from lava ants to the stone worms that sometimes crawled to the surface. Some things he ate then and there, some he brought to his father. The miserly scrapings of chao from the insects allowed them to at least live out the day. It was foolish to even dream of a surplus. To save up enough chao for even one white star, he would have to eat roughly three billion stone worms.
He wandered through the town, trying to stay out of sight, keeping an eye out. When he saw any demons around his age, he hid. All the adults had gone into the Void, and only children and mothers remained in the town.
The army recruiter was due to show up tomorrow to take on new blood for Prince Belial. No matter how Hakkar might have wanted to serve the glory of the Dominion and see the world, he had no chance. Only those who gain at least one white star are worthy.
In their town, Kerass, son of Elder Shverk, had a white star. Once, the elder himself had served his hundred years for the Dominion, and his battle trophies had given him so much chao that he got two stars, and not white ones even, but yellow. When he returned to his home town, Shverk challenged the elder of the day to a duel and easily defeated him, taking his place.
Now Kerass, Shverk’s son, planned to tread the same path, earni
ng chao in battles in the name of the Dominion. The demon, powerful beyond his years, bullied the other adolescents into each giving him at least ten particles of chao every day, which was why Hakkar crept through the town, fearing to encounter the extortioner. On the worst days he got even less than ten chao, and then he and his father had to go out scrounging, and so did greedy Kerass, who was striving to get a second white star before the recruiter arrived.
Hakkar couldn’t wait for the recruiter to arrive, hoping he would take Kerass away. There was no point in complaining about him; nobody would do anything to the elder’s son. Shverk was king and god there, with the right to deprive anyone in the town of life. The elder never did so, however; it was far easier for him to simply banish anyone who displeased him to the Void. The starless ones had nothing to take anyway, apart from meager particles of chao, and there was no sense in upsetting the other townsfolk over such slim pickings.
The nearest neighboring settlement was months away, so banishment always meant death. Certain beasts of the Void around the Nest had orange stars. Even Shverk couldn’t take those on. It wasn’t even close; a beast with an orange star could put down a thousand warriors equal in strength to the elder.
Neither the beasts nor the demons grew old; they could live forever, but only as long as they had enough chao. Without that source of life and prosperity, they faded and disincarnated. That said, even the inhabitants of the Inferno with a large amount of chao could die from wounds, and then the killer took the victim’s chao for himself…
As he thought about life, Hakkar didn’t notice himself walking out of the safety of the gloom between someone’s fence and a poisonous bush onto an empty street.
“Hey, tiefling, what’s your name again?!” came a cry from above.
Hakkar jumped and raised his head. Around twenty ells up, Kerass sat on the branch of a mighty tree, his legs crossed. Next to him sat Daeliza, a young and very attractive succubus, the edge of her dress shamelessly hitched up.
“It’s the son of that cripple Teland,” she noted. “Little Hakk?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” Hakkar said, bowing his head. “How’s your mom doing, Daeliza?”
The succubus was about to answer, but Kerass roared first:
“Hakk, you disgusting little tiefling, where’s my chao? You’ve made only one contribution since the start of the year!”
“Sorry, Master Kerass, it’s just that it’s hard enough already to get enough chao for myself and my one-legged father!” Hakkar said, then gritted his teeth and continued, unable to resist: “If you need more chao so bad, you could collect it yourself, instead of hanging out with Daeliza!”
“What!?”
Boom! The demon’s huge body crashed to the ground, his hooves smashing through the glassy ground. Hakkar swallowed; Kerass was twice his size and ten times his weight. The demon grabbed the tiefling by the collar, lifted him up so he wouldn’t have to lean down. Hakkar braced himself for a roar, but Kerass spoke calmly:
“Listen here, worm. Tomorrow I will leave to serve the glory of the Dominion. I will be risking my immortality every day to ensure that those like you get to live in peace. Do you know what happens to inhabitants of captured lands? Imagine that tomorrow, our prince loses a battle in the Great Game to Prince Azmodan, and then, according to the conditions of the Game, he gains a strip of a hundred thousand ells neighboring on his Dominion. And then another, and then another, until the Nest’s turn finally comes. What then?”
“We’ll become subjects of Prince Azmodan?”
“No, little fool,” the succubus laughed. She had descended too, it turned out, and now she stroked the fur on Hakkar’s neck with her tail. “We’ll be sent off to be reprocessed. All captured demons add to the prince’s chao.”
“Sorry, but I’m not sure that Master Kerass can change the outcome of the Great Game one way or another,” Hakkar wheezed. “And even if he can, I doubt the little crumbs of chao that I collect for my barely alive father will make any difference.”
“If the whole world gives a crumb, Kerass gets a second star,” Daeliza answered.
“Exactly!” The demon dropped Hakkar, who lost his balance and collapsed into his opponent, reflexively grabbing at his knee. Kerass pushed the tiefling away in disgust. “Get out of here, you stinking runt! You have until morning! If you don’t bring me at least twenty particles of chao – for today and for all the previous days… I’ll forgive you the other days. See how benevolent I am?”
“Finish your thought, Kerass,” the succubus all but sang. “What will happen if little Hakk doesn’t bring you your particles?”
“I’ll shake the chao out of him and his father both,” Kerass laughed. He leaned down over Hakkar. “Go to Dvaryga the imp’s hut. Tell him I sent you. He can give you a simple weapon, at least.”
“Why a weapon?” the tiefling asked, eyes widening.
“Because I won’t eat cockroaches and worms. Get me something bigger, and bloody!”
* * *
Dvaryga the imp scraped a living through buying and selling. Traveling merchants occasionally looked in on the Nest and sold almost all their goods to him, because the other residents of the town had neither items for barter nor chao nor even gold, the least valuable currency in the Inferno.
“You say Kerass sent you?” Dvaryga asked, frowning. “What’re you gonna pay me with?”
“Nothing,” Hakkar shook his head. “I profit the least in this three-sided deal, Master Dvaryga. Kerass will surely take any chao I get. You’ll get his favor, or something else. I’ll end up with nothing.”
“Ah, so you’ll be givin’ the weapon back, then?” the imp said, brightening up and jumping from foot to clawed foot. With his ears, he came up to Hakkar’s chest. Without them, his stomach.
“Um…” the tiefling thought for a moment. It would be great to keep hold of the weapon. “no.”
Dvaryga stopped jumping around and gave a piercing whine – the way imps usually expressed displeasure.
“I won’t be bringing it back,” Hakkar said. “Payment for the risk. I’m no warrior. I have almost no chance to defeat a beast in the Void, so at least let me have the hope that I’ll have something left if I survive.”
“A human with ya,” Dvaryga cursed, waving a hand. “But don’t be expectin’ chaos iron, tiefling!”
The imp disappeared into his storeroom and came back a couple of minutes later with a short wooden spear, a little crooked, with no metal spearhead, just a crudely sharpened tip. Four ells long.
“No good for a voidcrab,” the imp muttered. “But enough for atlings. Maybe, anyway.” He handed me the stick. “If you pin ‘em to the ground, you got time to finish ‘em off. Now get gone, tiefling. Glory to the Dominion!”
“Glory to the Dominion,” Hakkar echoed. “Thanks.”
“May the Void have mercy on ya.”
At home, Hakkar explained to his father where he was going and why. Nodding his understanding, Teland dug through the tiny storeroom and pulled out a flask of brandy.
“You’re almost grown-up now, son,” he said. “Liquor can’t replace chao, but it’ll make it last longer, and give you strength too. This isn’t that muck they cook up out of weeds in the tavern, it’s real city liquor. They serve it in the cheapest watering holes in the Ruby City, but here you can lose an arm for it. Hide it. Use it only in a time of great need.”
“You’ve been to the Ruby City?” Hakkar asked in amazement.
“Once, when I was very young. Like you, I dreamed of seeing the capital of the Dominion. I couldn’t get recruited, so I joined a caravan that came to town. We wandered the Void for forty years before we got there. I learned a lot on that journey.”
“And you reached the Ruby City?”
“Yes… They didn’t let me in. Only demons with yellow stars can spend more than a day there, and you need an orange star to move there.”
“Why have you never told me this before?” Hakk asked sadly, sitting down on a chair. Befo
re this adventure, which seemed unlikely to end well, he wanted to see and hear the city of his dreams, if only through his father’s eyes and ears.
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to give you and your brothers empty hopes. Our fate is to live here, Hakk.”
True, now there was no need to hide it. Hakkar was setting off on his last adventure anyway.
“What did you see there?” Hakk asked, leaning forward and pricking up his ears. “What’s it like, the Ruby City?”
“Huge!” his father said, spreading his arms. “It would take months just to walk all the way around it, son. With buildings taller than mountains! I saw it from afar, but could make out the District of Torment and the mortal souls there… There were more than you could count!”
Enemy of the Inferno (Disgardium Book #8): LitRPG Series Page 23