by J D Franx
You have the power here. Someone has killed for you in the real world and sent you the soul. The energy… use it. Jasala’s voice echoed inside his head again, but quickly faded. Never give up.
Kael used the unfamiliar power coursing through him to battle the cloud of exhaustion covering his mind. Panic flared in his chest, and the immediate danger sparked a renewed desire to fight.
Remembering what Jasala had told him days earlier he grasped at his magic out of instinctive desperation, but there was nothing there. His renewed energy peaked as he struggled to tear his right arm free. The pulsating webs finally snapped. He grasped Reetha’s tail and ripped the stinger from his chest. A quick head-butt to the demon queen’s face allowed him the time he needed to claw his way free. The last of the webbing and veins tore and he fell forward, stumbling. Shoving the demon queen out of his way, he collapsed to his knees. He was exhausted and spent, but he could not stop.
Knowing he needed a weapon, he glanced around the cave but only saw broken bones and chewed scraps of dried flesh. A violent scream hit his ears for a full second before he recognized his own voice.
“If I had a weapon, I’d kill you both,” he roared, scouring the cave floor for something to help.
Reetha laughed as she lifted herself off the floor. “But you don’t,” she said, kneeling in front of him. “I don’t make mistakes like that. You can look all you want, but there are no weapons here. Demons don’t need weapons, fool.”
There has to be something to use as a weapon here! Kael screamed inside his head desperately.
There is. A voice answered back. They are always with you. As am I.
Kael stared at his hands as his reaper blades materialized from thin air. The blades were black, not silver as he was accustomed to. He was not quite sure they were even real. Reetha’s surprise gave him the answer he needed, and he swung while her tail whipped around and went for his chest. His blade sliced through her tail and opened her shoulder wide. Kael forced himself to stand and swung again, aiming for Reetha’s head. Black spurs appeared in front of him and hooked both his blades as the demon queen scrambled away. He broke off the attack and stepped back to catch his breath.
Thank you. he thought.
About time, Wizard. The voice shot back. Mischief danced in the tone of the voice, but he quickly refocused on the trouble at hand instead of dwelling on it. Energy coursed through him as if his weapons had revitalized his body and soul.
The demon commander planted himself between Kael and the demon queen. Kael squared his shoulders, ready to fight them both, when it dawned on him that he needed her charm.
The Arkangel’s words washed over him: Every underworld dimension has an overlord, nine demons, and three angels, all of whom must surrender control of his or her dimension to you… You must have all twelve tokens before the Tree of Life will open a doorway back to Talohna so you can return to the mortal world.
Kael laughed. “An awful elaborate scheme to keep me from getting your realm token, Reetha.” He pointed a reaper blade at her, but it was her commander who attacked. The spurs whistled passed his head while he ducked and slashed both of the demon’s knees with his blade.
“Stop!” Reetha shrieked. She threw herself in front of the massive demon protecting him as he crumbled to the dirt. “You can have the token.” Already swinging his blade, Kael pulled it short and came within an inch of the demon queen’s neck. “You can have it,” she repeated, her tone desperate. “Just take it and leave. I only have two alpha commanders left.”
Kael touched his blade to the big demon’s throat. “Why should I spare him?” he yelled. “After what you two did to me.”
“We didn’t hurt you, Kael!” Reetha pleaded. Pointing to where Jasala hung from the wall, she added, “I could have hung you on the wall and made you suffer! It would’ve given us just as much or more power, but I didn’t. I gave you your heaven.”
Kael growled and pressed his blade against the demon’s throat until dark blood trickled across the dark blade.
“Please!” Reetha wailed.
Easing the weapon back, Kael snarled, “Demon, toss me your token.”
Reetha reached inside her mouth and yanked out a long fang. “It is toxic to the dead,” she told him and tossed the fang at his feet. She spat blood and venom to the cave floor to clear her mouth before continuing. “Now, leave. You are out of the DreamScape. Garz’x will know you are here, and he will come with his armies. You must leave.”
“Gladly,” he snapped. “And she’s coming with me,” he added, pointing to Jasala.
“That is not part of our deal, you shit,” she hissed.
“Tough.”
“You cannot take her,” Reetha shrieked. “You idiot. Her soul was marked by the gods for the 8th Hell—my hell. You take her, and she will cease to exist the moment you leave my realm.”
“Goddammit.” He cursed.
“Perhaps a deal?” the demon queen offered.
“Demons and your goddamned deals. What do you want?”
Reetha smiled and slowly climbed to her feet. “You have a deal with Rajazeye. I can sense two of his tokens on you, not one. My offer is the same. You have my token for defeating me that you need to leave the afterlife. I will trade you the ownership of Jasala’s soul in return for you delivering this… a second token,” she pulled yet another tooth from her mouth as she spoke, “to Salo Redmaw should you ever return to the living. Deal?”
“Deal,” he growled while the demon queen threw the second tooth at his feet.
“This deal is different than your others, Kael. Pay attention. If you do get out of here and do not give my token to Salo within a reasonable amount of time—say, one year after returning to life—Jasala’s soul will return to me. Soul deals are very tricky, you little wizard. Should you die a second time, your soul will become mine, too. Do we have a deal?”
“Yes,” Kael barked, and magic leapt from the demon queen’s fingers and struck the front of his neck. Pain seared into his throat as soon as he answered her. He touched his neck and pulled back fingers covered in black ash and scorched flesh. “What the hell was that?”
Reetha shrugged and slowly put her hands in the air before turning to her commander. “The mark of the Kroa. It means your soul is destined to come here should you die, again. Jasala had one, given to her by the gods upon her death. It now belongs to you, and she is allowed to roam the afterlife freely, beholden to no Brethren Lord. Break our deal, and the mark will return her to me and she will find herself here.”
“You miserable bitch,” he muttered.
“Thank you, my dear, but compliments really are not necessary. Oh yes, you may also find the mark gives you some, uh… unique abilities, if you actually manage to return to the living.” She smiled and clapped her hands. Kael watched her closely as she removed a rope from around her commander’s neck. She opened the small leather sack tied to the rope and emptied the contents before tossing him the sack.
“Do not touch my teeth with your bare hands, and only carry them in that pouch. It is the tanned flesh of a KiPara demon. It will protect you from the toxin.”
Kael nodded and gathered the teeth without touching them. He placed the pouch inside the pocket of his Orotaq cloak for safe keeping. Keeping the demon queen and her commander in his line of sight, he circled his way around the cave to Jasala. Taking a quick look, his stomach dropped. The strong woman in the DreamScape was not the woman hanging on the wall. At one time perhaps, but all that remained was a haggard, drained woman. It was the price paid for five thousand years in Hell.
Fury lit up inside his chest. “I should kill you both,” he barked.
“We have a deal, you foolish...” Reetha hissed, and Kael smiled as she struggled to control her anger. She snapped, “Break it and both your souls will belong to me forever.”
“Fine,” he muttered. He swung his blade and shattered Jasala’s shackles. Her limp body fell, and he caught her in his arms. “We’re leaving. How?”
he asked, making it clear it wasn’t actually a question.
Reetha glanced at her commander and he nodded. “To the left of the cave’s exit,” he said. “There’s an open rift there. I know not where it will land you.”
Kael frowned while the demon howled with laughter.
“Go,” Reetha ordered.
He sheathed one blade, and he lifted Jasala onto his shoulder. With his eyes never leaving the pair of demons, he backed out of the cave. A purple ripple beside the cave hung in the air, waiting for him. Glancing back to make sure he was not being followed, Kael slid his second weapon into its sheath on his back when he knew it was safe.
Taking a deep breath, he held Jasala tight and stepped through the rift.
8TH HELL
“Are you all right, Mistress?” Sovik asked as he offered Reetha a claw.
She nodded, and he pulled her to her feet. “Taymahk was right, it seems,” he added.
“We knew he would break the DreamScape’s hold eventually,” she replied. “I had hoped it would hold him for several centuries, not a mere few decades. Especially with how hard he committed to the ’scape’s effect.”
“The wizard was betrayed several times in life. It made him unnaturally suspicious.”
“True.” Reetha agreed. “But I underestimated his strength of will and his ingenuity. You saw the weapon who came to his aid?”
“I did.” Sovik nodded, and he held his right claw palm out. The hairs around the edge of his palm shone white in the fire’s glow and his flesh bubbled with black necrosis. “When we crossed blows, the metal from his weapon brushed my palm.”
The demon queen frowned. “Somehow, while still alive, he managed to find the Vai’Karth—a weapon of the old gods. Our brothers and sisters in the other realms are in for a surprise.” She laughed. “Where will he land?”
“Rajazeye’s rift will take them to the Vorali, deep inside the 7th Hell.”
Reetha cackled louder. “Good. Hopefully, Kael will wipe out the feral mutts Garz’x uses for ground forces.”
“With luck, but you know Kael will have to face Inys and the Fails eventually.”
“Inys will never surrender control of his domain, which means Kael will have to kill him.” Sovik grinned as Reetha carried on. “And every high demon or angel he kills with that weapon will strengthen the effects of my toxin coursing through his blood. Kael’s reality is about to become very unstable, especially if he ever returns to the living world.”
“It matters little,” Sovik added.
“True. We had him long enough to fill three power stones for the Ri’Tek and also managed to collect the biggest prize—” A black rift tore open the air inside the cave, interrupting them. Rajazeye jumped out of the distortion with Taymahk at his side.
“It worked then?” the small demon asked as the rift closed behind him.
Reetha merely nodded and rubbed her slightly swollen belly while Sovik answered the demon gargoyle.
“It would seem so,” the demon commander replied. “We no longer need Kael or Jasala’s kind. Soon we will have our own Kai’Sar. One with the raging power of a born DemonKind.”
Chapter Six
“Living a life of depravity or sadism can only lead you to a very long fall into Perdition. But to live a selfless life dedicated to helping those with less, or those hurting and suffering because of the depraved will lift you up and lead you to the heavens of Paradise upon your death.”
Teachings of Mylla, the Goddess of Life
7TH HELL, DIMENSION OF THE VORALI
YEAR 33
Kael gasped as his feet hit solid ground after only a short fall. Heavy drifts of snow came to his waist and ice covered every inch of the terrain surrounding him.
“What the hell?” he mumbled. “Cold day in Hell?” Shifting Jasala’s weight, he stared out across the barren landscape. Towering cliffs curled over a shallow valley with caves like hollow eyes looking back at him. Readjusting Jasala’s weight again, he headed for the only shelter he could see.
It took him over an hour to cross the snow-filled valley to find sanctuary. Thankfully, the first cave he came to was deep and unexpectedly warm. He carried Jasala inside and laid her down against the farthest wall. He sank to the ground beside her and let himself relax for the first time in longer than he could remember. Closing his eyes, he exhaled heavily.
Mere seconds passed before a scuffle at the cave’s entrance caught his attention. He opened his eyes and saw Ember standing in the entryway just outside his reach.
“Kael?” she whispered while she looked around the cave. “Where are we?”
“I... I...” he stumbled over his words as he tried to determine if she was real or not. The demon queen must have followed them. He dragged himself to his feet and pulled a blade from his back.
He took several steps forward but stopped when she spoke again. “Kael?” Ember let out.
“Not this time,” he growled.
“Kael?” Ember’s mouth moved, but the voice came from behind him. He turned to see Jasala fighting her way back to consciousness. “Kael?” She repeated. He glanced back to the cave entrance and saw Ember was gone, an apparition of Jasala’s power. She was attempting to communicate with him so he sheathed his weapon and knelt beside her.
“You’re awake,” he whispered, but could not understand her response. It was a language he had never heard before. “Do you speak the common tongue?” he asked.
She managed the slightest of nods. “You heard me?”
“Took me a while, but yeah,” he said.
“I am sorry,” she let out. “I know what you gave up.”
“It wasn’t real.”
“No, and it would have ended eventually. Even your power would not last forever in Reetha’s presence.”
“What power?” Kael snorted. “Besides my weapons, I don’t have any.”
“Then, let’s fix that,” she said. Her lips curled upward in the corners. “Come closer.”
Kael settled down beside her and crossed his legs.
Careful! The voice screamed in his head a little too late.
With no warning, she snatched him by the throat. “If you can’t use your magic, you are useless to me. I’ll happily take it,” she growled.
“Shit,” he hissed through his teeth as his strength began to drain away. Waves of black energy fled his body and surged into hers. Jasala easily absorbed all of it. Pushing herself up on her knees, he watched helplessly as her physical strength returned at an impressive rate. The woman who had nearly destroyed Talohna once grinned down at him and drew more power from him. Waves of nausea swarmed his mind, blackness ebbed into his vision, and he knew his time was finally up. His consciousness wavered while the darkness dragged him closer to the edge.
Kael! The voice blasted through is head. Stop her or she will use your magic to return to life.
Everything he had ever heard about Jasala Vyshaan came rushing back on him suddenly. The Mistress of Death, the creator of the Cataclysm, and the destroyer of a hundred thousand innocent lives. He could not believe he could be so stupid. The vilest DeathWizard to ever live had him at her complete mercy.
“No.” He gasped. He clawed at her threadbare shirt and reached for his magic as it passed between them, but it slipped through his fingers fluidly. He desperately wracked his mind for a spell to save him.
I cannot help you. I am sorry. The voice faded, swallowed by the intense pounding in his ears as the last of his oxygen disappeared.
“No,” Kael let out a second time. He felt himself slipping away when two words entered his mind. “Foss hrinda.” The weak whisper sparked a concussive blast of black magic between them. It slammed Jasala’s chest and drove her into the wall behind her. Busted stone and powdered rock exploded around her. Frantic, Kael sucked in ragged breaths, and panic sparked a primal urge to destroy the woman. Rolling to his knees, he grabbed Jasala in his left hand and dragged her to him as a long blade of purple and black ice formed in his right.<
br />
She smiled at him.
“Finally,” she said. “Now, we can get you out of here.”
“You tried to kill me,” he screamed, his voice hoarse.
“Yes. I did,” she snapped. “You need your magic to survive here, let alone attempt escape.”
“Lies,” he snarled, and pushed the dagger of ice to her throat. The familiar power surged through him, and he forced himself to stop his blade before it punctured her throat.
“I willingly return what I took,” she said. “All of it.” As the energy created by his own magic flowed back into his body, Kael let the ice shard slowly dissipate. Jasala grew weaker with each passing second until she no longer had the strength to hold herself up. He caught her and eased her back against the wall. “I am sorry,” she said. “It was the only way to wake up your mind.”
“How did you do that?”
“You did not have a Guardian, did you?” she asked, though it seemed rhetorical.
“A what?”
“Gods, what has happened in the real world since my death?”
“I don’t really know,” Kael replied. “I’m not from Talohna. I was brought here from my world, Earth.”
Jasala gasped. “What else has happened?”
“Probably better if you don’t know,” he said. He was certain she would not react well to how Talohna felt and spoke about her.
“I need to know if we are going to get you out of here. I had a Guardian, Kael. I know exactly how to get you back to the living world. It has always been the goal of our kind. To walk from death and to gain the power of both life and death—immortality.”
Kael stared openly. “How?” he asked. “How do I get out?”
“Tell me what has happened first. A Guardian never showed up for you. My god, your power must be completely uncontrollable.”
“Unpredictable is a better word,” he answered. “It works off and on more than a light switch back home.”
“Light switch?” she repeated, but he just shook his head. “Oh, Kael. That is the easiest fix.”
“How?”