by Quinn Loftis
The three demons smiled, and their teeth were no longer those of humans. They were pointy and layered in slime that began to drip from their mouths.
“You aren’t going anywhere,” the demon wearing Aston’s face purred. “We will gut you and watch you heal, only to then gut you again.”
Ra didn’t wait for the others to add their own taunting words. He rushed forward with a new fervor. The demon Elias met Ra’s oncoming blade with his own. The otherworldly strength of the block caused Ra to grit his teeth, but he gave no ground. With a loud battle cry, Ra whipped his right sword around and about his head while bringing his left sword around and low. His blade slid across the demon Elias’s throat, cleaving the creature’s head from his body.
“Finally,” the little demon clapped gleefully. “Maybe this won’t be so boring after all.”
The demon that had been Elias collapsed in a dead heap. Ra turned to the other two who were staring at him with a renewed hatred.
Ra let out a slow breath and said, “Next.”
Osiris tapped his fingers restlessly as he slumped on the throne made from the bones of demons he’d killed.
He hated waiting. He could have gone after the young Pharaoh himself, but what was the point of having servants if he did all the work himself? But it also meant that he had to attempt to be patient. Osiris looked into Crescious’s mind and saw the little peon watching the young king battle two mimicking demons. It was just as well that Osiris hadn’t gone after the mortal because he, too, couldn’t have removed the man from the level until he defeated the demons. Even the lord of the underworld had to follow some of the rules, though he loathed to admit it and wouldn’t admit it out loud to anyone.
Beast, the demi-lord in charge of level one, had yet to return from the upworld, and Osiris’s hate of waiting caused him to consider going topside himself just to drag the demon back to Hades.
He turned his attention back to the mortal female that still lay in a deep slumber covered in the elemental fire. He glanced through the eyes of one of the demi-lords he’d left watching over her. He looked at the human and then turned his attention back to the forest across from him. Glowing eyes stared back. The level-one demons were very curious about their visitor, but none of them wanted to die, so they kept their distance.
Osiris pulled out of the demon’s mind and sighed. He still hadn’t decided if he wanted a bride. Females could be such trouble. He didn’t even know if he’d have time for a lover considering he thought something was brewing in the upworld. He also suspected that whatever it was might require some of his attention. After all, it wasn’t every day a mortal ended up in his domain. And the fact that she was marked with the dark fire king elemental’s fire was all the more intriguing. But it could also mean she was special in some way, and Osiris liked the idea of having control over something that Viscious, the dark fire king, wanted.
He shifted in his throne and rested his head against his fisted hand. His elbow sat on the femur that made up the armrest. The wails of the tortured were especially loud, and usually, he enjoyed the music of their torment. But at the moment, they were just getting on his nerves.
“It’s hell, you imbeciles,” he yelled at the writhing bodies in the river of lava that ran along the edges of his throne room. “Did you expect it to be a party?” The wailing softened a little. Even the damned didn’t like to draw his attention. Osiris could make their pain worse if he so wished. But even that got boring. Perhaps a bride was exactly what he needed to break up the endless cycle of torture, burning, wailing, and cries of help. Or maybe he just needed a break. A vacation in the form of a honeymoon? He smiled a wicked smile and thought about taking the mortal female out into the world to show her all the pleasures that the upworld offered. He had to admit, corrupting her sounded like a very nice way to pass the time.
Unfortunately, he’d have to be patient a little longer until he could finalize any decisions.
“Crescious, how much longer?” he asked his minion through the bond that tied him to all his demon peons.
“He’s killed two, my lord. One left.”
Osiris sighed and sat back in his throne and strummed. He began to hum and chuckled when he realized he was humming the wedding march.
6
Beast stepped into the dark forest located deep in the mountains of Mongolia. It had been a long time since he’d been in this part of the upworld. The population was sparse. With so few souls to corrupt, it wasn’t a place demons hung out often.
Here, the dark fire elemental king reigned. The ash-colored ground and the trees were charred and mangled. Even the air tasted like smoke, as if a fire had recently been put out and the remnants still hung in the air. Beast could feel eyes upon him as he moved silently through the woods, but no one approached. All was quiet, still as a stone. There were no scuttling creatures or squawking birds. It was quite a difference from the painful moans of the inhabitants of the underworld.
Finally, the silence was broken. “Why has one of Osiris’s lackeys entered my domain?” a deep, gravelly voice rumbled.
Beast corrected his course and turned to the right. There was the fire king, Viscious, standing twenty yards away. His shoulder-length black hair was shiny and made the landscape around them look even duller. He wore black pants, a black fitted shirt, black boots, and black sunglasses which covered eyes that Beast knew burned with a red flame. The king’s skin was the color of the Sahara desert, and combined with the dark hair, it gave him a Middle Eastern appearance.
“I could ask the same question of the dark fire king,” Beast said. “Why is there a mortal in the underworld, covered in your fire?”
Viscious’s face gave no sign he had knowledge of the human female. “Why has Osiris sent you instead of coming himself?”
Beast’s head tilted ever so slightly to the left as he narrowed his eyes on the dark elemental. “Is that why you sent her there? You wanted an audience with the lord of the underworld?”
“I’m not claiming to have sent anyone to Osiris. I’m simply wondering if Osiris has grown so weak he can’t even leave his hell.”
Beast folded his arms in front of his chest and leaned his shoulder against the tree beside him. “We could sit here engaging in this pissing contest all day long, or you could just tell me why there is a human female laying in my level of the underworld.”
Viscious sighed. “You demons used to be more fun.”
Beast didn’t respond. He simply stared back at the dark elemental, waiting. He actually wouldn’t mind playing a game of verbal sparring, but Osiris was waiting on his return. Beast didn’t want to make the lord of the underworld wait any longer than necessary.
“Fine,” the fire king finally snapped. “I put her there, or one of my lackeys did. She’s leverage.”
“Leverage for what?”
“For the coming war.”
Beast shifted as he pushed away from the tree. “War? What war?”
“The dark elementals are done playing in the shadows. It’s our time to rule this world,” Viscious said with a smile worthy of his name.
“You really think you can take on the light elementals?”
“You speak as if they are invincible.” Viscious shook his head. “They have grown weak over the past century while we have only grown stronger.” The dark fire king pushed his sunglasses up onto his head, and the flames in his eyes glowed bright red. “I sent the mortal female to the underworld for another reason than just leverage. She is an offering to Osiris. If he joins us in this war, along with the covens, we can open the gates of the underworld. His access to the upworld would no longer be limited.”
Beast raised his eyebrows. The fire king had his full attention. Osiris was powerful as lord of all the underworld, but even he had limited access to the overworld. There were checks and balances. The gate that allowed demons access to the upworld also kept the demons at bay. If it was gone, hell on earth would well and truly reign. That was something Osiris would no doubt be
excited about.
“I’ll admit what you’ve proposed is intriguing.”
Vicious scoffed. “It’s more than intriguing. I can practically see you foaming at the mouth. Tell Osiris I will be visiting him very soon. And let him know to prepare himself. The light elementals know about the mortal’s presence in the underworld. I suspect things are about to get messy.”
“There is the matter of payment,” Beast said. “For said female. You know that no one comes to hell for free.”
“We can discuss it when I speak with Osiris.” The dark fire king turned on his heel without another word.
Beast wanted to snarl at the audacity of the elemental, dismissing him as if he were a simple demon and not a demi-lord of the underworld. But Osiris was waiting.
Aviur settled Dhara on a bed of rich soil. To a human, lying on what was essentially a pile of dirt might not be that appealing, but he knew to the queen of the earth elementals, it probably felt like the softest feather bed in the world.
“Have you summoned the woodland fairies?” he asked her.
Dhara nodded as she closed her eyes and rested her hands on her stomach. Her dark skin was ashen, and the usual lustrous shimmer in her hair was gone. Being in the elemental realm would help strengthen her, but her recovery was still going to take time, especially without her mate here to lend his power.
“Leelin will be here soon,” Dhara said, her voice wispy and soft.
“I am going to summon four of my warriors to stand guard. Your consort would gut me if I allowed any harm to come to you,” Aviur told her. “Nasima, Kairi, and I will go pay a visit to each of the three oldest and largest covens.”
The earth queen elemental nodded again, the pained expression on her face showing that simply speaking took too much effort. Aviur let her rest and waited for the warriors he’d summoned to arrive.
A few minutes later, four walls of fire appeared and out stepped four of the strongest fire elementals in Aviur’s kingdom.
“My lord,” Bayde said as he bowed his head. As captain of his army, he was the most formidable of Aviur’s warriors. The king knew he would be leaving Dhara in safe hands.
Tekren, Lenox, and Krinn also bowed and placed a fist over their heart.
Aviur looked at his captain. “I need you four to guard the earth queen.” He motioned to Dhara. Her breathing had slowed and deepened, and he was glad to see her resting peacefully. Fighting off the dark magic she’d taken from Master Alaric was going to require all her power, and she would need every bit of rest she could get. “Her consort is not here to aid her, and it falls on us to make sure she is safe.”
“Is she ill?” Bayde asked.
“In a sense. She removed dark magic from one of the professors at Terra Academy,” he explained. “She’s going to be weak and unable to defend herself.”
“Forgive me, my lord,” Bayde said, “I don’t mean to question your orders but—”
Aviur held up his hand. “I know we aren’t in the habit of guarding other elemental royals, but things are changing. If we had been united before, our mates might not be missing.” Aviur had not allowed himself to dwell on the fact that his mate, Agni, was in harm's way because of his own prejudice. He’d argued against her desire to work with the others when Dhara had contacted them. And now he was paying for his pride. He pushed his worry back because it would not help find her any faster, and he focused on the task at hand.
Bayde nodded. “Change is good.”
The light fire king elemental met his captain’s eyes and was surprised to see the approval in them. “You’re right, Bayde. Change is good and necessary. The light elementals have been stagnant for far too long.” He looked at Tekren, Lenox, and Krinn. “We all need to be ready because the change will be painful before we see the benefits of it.”
The four warriors bowed and then took up posts around the wooded area where the earth queen rested.
When Aviur turned back to Dhara, he saw that three woodland fairies had arrived while he’d been addressing his men.
“I am Leelin, my lord,” a small fairy, maybe half a foot tall with deep red hair, said. She wiped Dhara’s brow with a cloth while two other fairies covered the queen in a blanket made of leaves and vines.
“Kessa and Resha will help me tend to Queen Dhara,” Leelin continued. “She will be well.”
Aviur bowed his head slightly. “Thank you. My warriors will keep you all safe. I and the other royals will be in to check on her. Should you need us, let my men know.”
Leelin bowed low and then returned her attention to Dhara. Aviur gave the earth queen one last look before he opened a portal. “Where shall I come?” he asked the wind, knowing the question would be carried to the air queen.
Nasima’s answer was almost immediate. “We are in Massachusetts.”
“Salem?” he asked.
“Naturally,” she said, sounding amused.
Aviur stepped through the portal and focused on the air queen’s energy. When he appeared on the other side of the portal, he found himself standing on a sidewalk next to Nasima and Kairi.
“Seems a little cliché,” he murmured.
“You know the reason the covens like to stay here,” Kairi said. “It’s not because of nostalgia.”
“No, it is not,” he agreed. They all knew that the covens congregated in areas where power was concentrated and where the veil between realms was thin. Salem had been a place where witches and warlocks had gathered for centuries, and the dark power clung to everything. If there was a way to see between the realm of the underworld to the upworld, a person would see demons clawing at the veil separating the two worlds in this area. They were drawn to the evil and power in the town.
“The Blackhorn coven still uses the same manor house it has occupied for over four centuries,” Nasima said as she motioned toward a large mansion at the end of the street.
“That just takes cliché to a whole new level,” Aviur said as he stared at the black monstrosity. It was as if the witches had watched every scary movie ever made and modeled their house after the prevailing haunted-mansion trope. Black, huge, crooked shingles and metal-grated fencing across the pitched roof, and gargoyle statues to greet visitors.
“Witches are nothing if not traditional,” Kairi said.
“How was Dhara when you left her?” Nasima asked as they started walking down the sidewalk toward the manor.
“She was resting. I left the captain of my warriors along with three other men to guard her. And she was being attended to by three woodland fae when I left,” Aviur answered.
“She is strong,” Kairi added. “She will bounce back from this.”
The fire king agreed. He just hoped they would be able to keep the earth queen safe while she was vulnerable.
“I think we need to agree not to discuss the absence of our mates, especially where others might hear,” Nasima said. “Knowledge of what has happened to our mates must not go beyond us or the group we spoke with today. It will be perceived as a weakness. As far as the rest of the supernatural world knows, there is nothing amiss with the light royals. Our mates would want our focus to be on figuring out what demon has been consorting with the covens and just how badly the soul bonded have been affected by this curse.”
“Agreed,” Aviur and Kairi said at the same time.
When they reached the large double doors of the mansion, Aviur stepped forward and pressed his hand to the blackened wood. A pulse of magic flowed down his arm. “Warded,” he murmured.
“I’d be a little disappointed if it wasn’t,” said Kairi.
He could feel the demonic magic that had, over time, become as much a part of the wood as the individual grains that made up the boards.
“Should I burn it out?” he asked his two companions.
“It might be a good reminder to the Blackhorns that light does not mean weak,” Nasima agreed.
Aviur brought his fire up to the surface of his skin and pressed his palm more firmly against the door
. He let the ancient language flow off his tongue as his power flowed into the grain and burned up the demonic magic that warded the entry to Blackhorn Manor.
When he was done, not even the tiniest pulse of magic remained on the doors. He stepped back. Kairi reached up and grabbed the gargoyle-faced door knocker and pounded it three times. They didn’t have to wait long before the large double doors swung open.
A tall woman dressed in a sleek, black pantsuit stared at them with narrowed, black eyes. Her platinum hair was coiled in a tight bun on her head, and though the color might indicate an advanced age, her skin bore no lines or age spots. In fact, her complexion was as flawless as an infant’s.
“It’s been a long time Saphora Blackhorn,” Nasima said, her voice was cold as ice and as sharp as a finely honed blade.
The woman’s lips pursed as she looked at each of them and then back to Nasima. “What did you do to my wards?” Saphora asked.
“The air queen didn’t do anything to your wards, witch,” Aviur said. “I removed them. They were bringing down the property value. Evil tends to do that.”
Saphora glared at him with obvious disdain. She might have been attractive if it wasn’t for the stench of demon rolling off of her.
“Why are you here?” Saphora asked as she turned back to Nasima.
“We need to know what demons your coven has been keeping company with,” the air queen replied.
“Why should the elementals concern themselves with whom we associate?” the witch asked in a tone that made it clear she thought the three royals before her were akin to common house vermin. Aviur had to fight the urge to singe the haughty look right off of her face.
A sudden gust of strong wind slammed Saphora back until she was pinned against the wall of the manor entryway. The three royals walked in, and Nasima stepped up to where Saphora was pinned to the wall, stopping just a few inches from her face.
“You forget your place, witch,” Nasima said as her long hair blew around her shoulders, strands of it slapping Saphora in the face. “I am Nasima, the empress of air. This is Kairi, the queen of water. This is Aviur, the pharaoh of fire.”
