Muan still hadn’t looked up since his earlier outburst. Persephone got down on one knee and latched the necklace around Muan’s neck. Shadow looked amused.
“Well let’s see you try it out.”
Muan looked slightly uncomfortable again.
“Lord Shadow, I don’t exactly… know how to…”
“You’re an expert on this Iktomi guy, right? That’s why you cut her off when…”
Shadow stopped in the middle of his sentence. Muan had disappeared and in his place was a Muan-sized spider. Shadow turned to Persephone.
“Is he stuck like that? I really don’t want to march to the lowest circle of Hell accompanied by a large spider.”
Persephone turned to the spider.
“Think about your demon form. How you looked, what you were wearing, and your weapons.”
A few seconds later, the large spider turned back into a wide-eyed Muan.
“This is literally the coolest thing anyone has ever given me. Ever.”
“Alright then. It’s time for us to go. Thank you for your wisdom, grandmother, and for the gifts.”
Queen Persephone caught Shadow off guard when she hugged him. Part of him was confused as he didn’t really know her, but he also understood that this was probably a common gesture for her as a former angel.
“Send my son to visit me if you’re able to free him. I long to see his face free from torment. Should you ever desire to return, simply call out to the sirens. They will bring you to me.”
Shadow nodded. The sirens entered the room and surrounded Shadow and Muan. They placed their hands on the demons’ heads and harmonized. They sang a single word. “Exit.”
The sirens had gone and Shadow looked around. He was cold. Looking deeper in, he could see the frozen river, Cocytus. They had arrived at the ninth and lowest circle of Hell. When he looked to his side, he saw Muan shivering and turning a light shade of blue. A few seconds later, Muan had turned into a white wolf.
“I was wondering if the two of you were ever going to make it down here.”
Shadow turned in the direction of the unknown speaker. A grinning Azazel gazed back at him.
CHAPTER 22
Murmur, Aim, and Jess approached their ultimate destination at a slower pace, pausing for target practice and sorcery lessons on a regular basis. Murmur wasn’t much help to Jess, but he at least helped her get the movements for different spells down. Aim had actually improved under Murmur’s guidance to the point where he could pick off a target with consistency at about 100 yards. When they finally arrived at the corporate headquarters, Murmur quickly scouted the building and returned.
“I’m impressed with the improvements that both of you have made, but don’t get overconfident. Overconfidence is what cost me early on in. I never should have turned my back to Nightmare in the death pit. Don’t make the same mistake. I need the two of you focused. We celebrate victories after we win wars, not battles.”
Aim and Jess straightened their posture and gave Murmur a mock salute. Murmur was not amused.
“Alright fine you assholes. I’m just trying to help.”
Aim continued to smirk but Jess put her hand on Murmur’s arm.
“It’s ok, Murmur. The next time you face off with Nightmare, we’ll be there with you.”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?”
“Ouch.”
Despite his annoyance with Aim and Jess, he did feel a little better having them around now that they were mildly skilled. At least he had their attention now. Murmur unfolded the map he retrieved from his pocket and set it down on the ground.
“Based on my scouting of the building, we’re going to run into guards at each major entrance. It’s pretty bad all over and the estimates we received of their strength were pretty conservative. The weakest entrance is at the rear of the building by the dumpsters. I counted three poorly equipped demons-in-training and two minor demons with considerable armor and weapons. If Jess wasn’t ugly as hell, I would recommend we send here in as a distraction but we’re unfortunately going to have to go with a full out frontal assault.”
Jess punched Murmur in the arm and he chuckled at his own joke. He caught Aim grinning as well.
“Aim, you’re going to perch in the wooded area over there. On my signal, take the shot. I think you should try to take out one of the demons-in-training as the minor demons present a much smaller kill zone because of their armor. We’ll be behind those dumpsters until we hear your kill and then we’ll move in and take on the remaining four. Don’t shoot again unless you’re sure you won’t hit me or Jess. Got it?”
“Sounds like a plan, boss man.”
Aim ran off to the spot Murmur had pointed to earlier. Murmur turned to Jess.
“I know an invisibility spell would be too much to expect of you at this point, but do you have a spell that can at least camouflage your brother?”
Jess thought on this for several seconds and then consulted her book.
“I think I have something. Let’s see…”
Jess placed her open book on the ground and kept her eyes on the pages as she mimicked the movements and muttered the incantation. Murmur checked Aim’s location again and could only clearly make out the rifle. Aim seemed to blend better with his surroundings.
“Not bad. Alright, let’s get in position.”
Murmur and Jess made their way to the dumpsters. Murmur took a look at the five demons. They were clearly bored and not paying attention to their surroundings. Murmur gave Aim the signal.
Moments later, one of the minor demon’s heads split open and splattered dark liquid everywhere. Aim had hit his mark slightly above the ear. Murmur had to admit that the shot was impressive.
As the minor demon hit the ground, Murmur stepped out from behind the dumpster. He did his best to look intimidating, but the remaining minor demon was close to his size and if he had any strength advantage, it wouldn’t be by much.
The demons-in-training rushed at Murmur. When they made it within ten feet, three large green hands reached out from the ground and grabbed them. Jess stepped out from behind the dumpster and waved her staff again. The three hands crushed the demons-in-training and then disappeared. The remains of their corpses fell to the ground.
Aim took a shot at the final remaining minor demon, but he had moved his shield to his other arm after he realized Aim’s location from his first shot. The bullet ricocheted off of the demon’s shield.
“Call off your dogs, Murmur. I’m willing to fight you one on one.”
The demon removed his helmet and Murmur recognized one of his former classmates from the training school he attended with Shadow long before the trials. The younger generation of demons born into families with money had been sent by their parents to train under some of the fiercest fighters and sorcerers in Hell. Many of their instructors were middle demons. While Murmur wanted to believe he was superior to all of them, he knew the demon in front of him was as skilled a warrior as he was. Murmur held up both of his hands.
“I don’t want to kill you, Reno. Just hand over the soul horde you have in that building and we’ll leave.”
“It’s good that you don’t want to kill me, because I’m positive that you can’t.”
Reno removed his armor and grew into one of the grotesque monsters only found in the department of inaction and laziness. He was now easily twice Murmur’s size.
“Well… damn. I’m going to get him away from the door and keep him distracted. You need to get inside the building and get out with the stash of souls. Understood?”
Jess nodded and cast the camouflage spell on herself. As she made her way towards the building, Murmur took aim and threw one of his mallets at Reno. Reno caught it and crushed it to powder in his hand, but it was enough to distract him from Jess making her way inside the entrance he was supposed to be guarding.
“You’re ok with turning into a wendigo, Reno? You approve of eating other demons? I knew you weren’t that great of a fighter, but I n
ever thought you would resort to this.”
When Reno spoke, his voice was several registers lower.
“Wendigo, rage monster, abomination… it doesn’t really matter what you call it. I’m more powerful than most middle demons with this power and this power is only given to demons in the department of inaction and laziness. I’ve heard rumors that even Shadow has grown increasingly more powerful turning into a demon eater. How many demons has he consumed?”
“At least when Shadow transforms, he doesn’t look like a morbidly obese pig fucker. It’s too bad you can’t become a rage monster like him.”
“Enough talk. Your sniper can’t help you anymore and I’m going to kill you.”
Murmur spun his remaining mallet, ran at Reno, and hit him with all of his strength in his belly. The mallet bounced off, leaving Murmur’s hand, and flew backwards into the air. Reno countered by backhanding Murmur, connecting with his chin. Murmur followed his mallet backwards into the air, his ears ringing and his vision blurry.
Reno started a slow run towards the spot where Murmur had landed but paused briefly as a bullet hit the ground right in front of him. He stumbled back a few steps and then tripped over his feet, falling to the ground and causing it to shake. Murmur got up and limped his way over to the fallen Reno. He pulled Reno’s head up by his hair and punched his face over and over. Reno just laughed. While Murmur had drawn blood, Reno barely felt it. He attempted to roll over so he could get back up. That’s when Murmur saw his minor power ring. As Reno completed his roll, Murmur stepped on his wrist and then pulled his hand back. His fingers were too fat to remove the ring.
Reno could feel that Murmur was trying to remove his power ring and laughed at the attempt. He was finally able to get to his feet and he lifted Murmur into the air and threw him. Murmur landed near the dumpsters. He twisted his ankle awkwardly as he landed. As he clutched his ankle, he felt Tannin’s knife on his belt. As Reno charged towards him again, Murmur pulled the knife from his belt and took careful aim. When Reno tried to tackle him, he sidestepped the attack, grabbed at Reno’s hand, and cut the finger with the power ring clean off.
Reno howled as he shrunk down to his regular size, now missing a finger. Murmur didn’t waste any time. He grabbed Reno’s head by his hair and put his other hand on his shoulder. He pulled with all of his strength and Reno’s head tore off after a few strained seconds. Murmur looked at the head of his former friend with pity. There had always been a childish rivalry between all of the young demons that were fortunate enough to afford training before the trials, but Murmur realized that as they joined warring departments, he may have to kill the demons he once trained with. Reno’s headless soul fell to the ground and Murmur tossed his head into the woods. He wondered for a brief second if he would have the strength to kill Shadow if the circumstances demanded it and then found himself hoping that it never came to that.
Murmur signaled to Aim and Aim jogged to join him. As they entered the building, both demons were surprised by the scene that met their eyes. Jess had a glowing green snake wrapped tightly around her body, immobilizing her. Her staff lay useless on the floor. Jess saw Murmur and Aim enter the room.
“Get the fuck out of here! Astaroth was here a second ago!”
Before either of them had a chance to react, a burst of dark green flame appeared in the center of the room and they were looking into the eyes of Astaroth, the major demon of inaction.
“Hello boys.”
CHAPTER 23
Leech closed his eyes and waited for death. Seconds passed and no sting of pain came. As he opened his eyes and looked up, he saw Gangrene wielding his spear. The demons that were closing in on him had fallen to the ground with seared and melting faces. He continued to swing his spear in a wide arc, causing Naamah’s army to keep their distance.
“Mind getting up and giving me a hand, boss?”
Leech reached into the sand and found his guns. He returned them to their holsters and pulled his axe from his back. After he got back on his feet, he was able to stumble a couple of steps before he fell again and dropped his weapon.
“I have strength enough for the both of us. Take what you need to reach them.”
Leech held up his arm in Gangrene’s direction and drew from his strength. Gangrene winced as some of his strength left him.
“Go get the rest of it from them, you greedy asshole!”
“That’s Lord greedy asshole to you!”
Leech was able to return to his feet and lift his axe from the sand. He ran towards the closest demons of Naamah’s army and sucked in their strength. He drank it in deeply and then brought down his axe in sweeping arcs, killing his enemies off in small waves. As he continued to draw in strength with his parasitic touch, he became like an unstoppable, steroid-infused monster.
Lilith and Raven joined in attacking with their whips, but they stayed behind Leech and Gangrene, whose weapons were able to keep the army back. When the strength of the four demons began to fail, Leech’s army joined the fray and killed the remnants of Naamah’s army as they fled before Leech’s parasitic touch and Gangrene’s spear.
As the few remaining stragglers of Naamah’s army were hunted down and destroyed, Leech called his army to gather around him.
“Naamah is no more! Her army has been slain!”
Cheers erupted from what remained of Leech’s army.
“We have demolished two armies of Vixen’s troops and killed the two middle demons in command. If we’re to march to Vixen’s palace and take down the middle demon tasked with guarding Vixen’s realm, we need to stand united.
“Lord Shadow has not yet returned. We need to consider the possibility that he never will. We can’t take on army after army when we are divided. So here’s what we’re going to do. I will assume command of both Gangrene’s demons and my own cavalry. Gangrene will become my lieutenant and will command this army should I fall in battle or if I’m captured. Anyone who has a problem with that will be put to death. We can’t fight on without a chain of command and with different agendas.”
After some brief murmuring, one of Leech’s cavalry spoke up.
“General Baal gave you an army to command. While I didn’t necessarily respect you or think you an able commander, I followed General Baal’s orders. This is where I draw the line, Lord Leech. I will not be given commands by a lowly minor demon like Gangrene who comes from the dregs of Hell.”
Leech nodded in the demon’s direction and two demons started in his direction to kill him.
“Don’t bother. I’ll take my own life.”
The horsemen pulled a dagger from his belt and slit his own throat. Blood rushed down his chest armor and he fell off his horse to dye the sands black. Many other demons in Leech’s cavalry nodded in agreement with what their fallen comrade had expressed and removed their own weapons to deal death in the face of what Leech had proposed as the new chain of command. Once the mass suicide of Leech’s cavalry had finished, a demon from Gangrene’s army spoke up.
“We serve under Gangrene, the rightly appointed commander of nearly half of Lord Shadow’s forces. The same Lord Shadow who took first in the trials and who wields the scythes of both Cain and Asmodeus. He cannot be killed and he may be the most powerful demon in Hell. I have no intention of transferring to the department of idolatry to serve under a middle demon that I have seen broken, beaten, and defeated by Nightmare and others. If the choice is serving under you or death, I choose death.”
Leech and Gangrene looked on as hundreds more removed their weapons and killed themselves. Gangrene looked judgmentally over at Leech.
“Why did you do that? Our deal had conditions, Leech…”
“The fighting in our ranks was going to get one of us killed. We can’t take on another army with demons who don’t trust their commanders.”
“And you didn’t see the need to discuss it with me? I just rushed in here and saved your ass. I’m seriously wondering if I should just take what remains of my army and lea
ve. Maybe it was wrong to agree to help you. I should be looking for Lord Shadow…”
“Gangrene, Shadow would want you to stay here and help me. If he’s alive, he’s going to appreciate the overthrow of Vixen’s armies when he returns. He can’t take on Vixen, Lucian, and Astaroth on his own.”
“Well it’s going to be pretty difficult to take down any more of Vixen’s armies now that half of what was left of our army has committed suicide.”
“Calm down drama queen. It wasn’t half.”
“Want me to have them counted? It was damn near close to half.”
“So maybe we lost half of an army but we kept the half that we can trust. Doesn’t it alarm you that half of the demons under our command would rather die than answer to one of us?”
“I’ve had enough of this, Leech. I’m going back to my tent to think about whether I’ll be staying or going after Lord Shadow. You’ll have my answer within a day.”
Gangrene turned and walked off. Lilith walked up to Leech and rested her head on his shoulder. Raven slowly led Lilith’s horse up to her and handed her the reins.
“I made sure she stayed alive. I’ll go try to convince Gangrene to stay. It’s the least I can do after my… nature… got me in trouble with the two of you.”
Lilith took the reins from her half-sister and nodded. Raven turned and walked towards Gangrene’s tent. Lilith removed a brush from her bag and began brushing Keshi’s hair.
“So you’re ok with her now?”
“No. I’m not. Look at the condition my horse is in. She needs a bath like right now and I’m going to have a hell of a time getting the knots out of her hair.”
“Not what I meant, babe. I mean for what she tried to do earlier. What she tried to do to me…”
“I understand her instincts. She realizes that she made a mistake so I’m not going to hold it over her forever. I’ll definitely mess with her for a while though because that sounds like it could be fun. I don’t get to take advantage of guilt very often.”
“Oh gotcha. So you’re ok with your sister trying to jump me.”
Middle Demons (Angels and Demons Book 2) Page 11
