by Diem, J. C.
One by one, the lords that dwelt inside me took their turn to cut down my foes. They were as invested in this battle as I was. If I died, so would they. Their sense of self-preservation was too strong to allow me to be defeated.
The demons who were taken down by my hellbeasts were the lucky ones. They would live. Bodies that had been hacked apart by my lords covered the floor. The stones were slick with their blood.
When the last minion fell, Valac was left on his own. The giant bug skittered forward to block his retreat while my hounds closed in on him from the sides. “Now it’s just you and me,” I said with heavy satisfaction.
“Not quite,” he replied. The air behind him shimmered and his Wraith Warrior appeared. “I believe you two are already acquainted,” he added with a smirk.
“Your warrior already marked me,” I reminded him. “I’ve already been poisoned. What else can he possibly do to me?”
“No human has ever survived a wound from a Wraith Warrior’s blade before,” he said in a musing tone. “But you are a Nephilim, which means you were never really human at all. I am wondering what effect my warrior’s blade will have on you now that you are in this realm and in this form.” His eyes went from my head to my toes and back up again. “Perhaps his shadowy sword will be the only thing that can penetrate your armor and kill you.”
My own Wraith Warrior shifted inside me, flexing her limbs at his threat. A grim smile formed on my fanged mouth. “There’s something you didn’t count on when you sent your assassin after me,” I said as his Wraith Warrior stalked towards me.
“What is that?” Valac asked in a bored tone that sounded affected to me. He was terrified and he was hiding it badly.
“The taint had an added bonus.” Calling on the evil that dwelled inside me, I drew my Wraith Warrior out. Black essence oozed out from beneath my armor and coalesced into the female assassin. The prince’s warrior came to a halt as he eyed the female. Their faces were made of shadow, but he seemed startled.
“That is impossible,” Valac said in shock. “Only the rulers of the nine realms have the power to use our essence in this manner.”
“Anything is possible when it comes to me,” I said snidely. There was one thing I wanted to know before I killed him. “Where is Zach? Is he in your chambers, hiding under your bed?”
“I sent him home. He will be back in New York now, safely out of your reach.”
He must have been sent away after the imps rescued me from my cell. Valac must have cared about Zach on some level if he wanted to preserve his son’s life. It didn’t gel with what I knew about demonkind. They cared about no one but themselves. “I guess I’ll just have to pay him a visit when I return to Manhattan,” I said. Bob must have gone with him as a guard.
“From what I have heard from Lord Vepar, the toxin will kill you once you leave the shadowlands. Your friends have been captured and there is no one left to purge you with holy fire.”
I mentally cursed Hag and Orifice for making a deal with Vepar. They’d told her everything they knew about me, including my deadly illness and how to treat it. She’d passed all this on to Valac. “Fate will find a way to keep me going,” I said as confidently as possible.
He sneered and motioned at his shadowy minion. “I grow weary of this conversation. Finish her.”
My own warrior moved to intercept him and the pair circled each other. It wasn’t easy to tell them apart. They wore their own version of leather armor that was made of the same essence as their bodies and weapons. Both favored swords. The male swung first and their blades met with a soundless shower of black sparks.
My warrior was slightly smaller, but she was no less skilled than her rival. They moved so fast they were nearly a blur as they did their best to kill each other. Made of the same evil essence, it appeared they were at an impasse.
“Enough,” Valac ordered at last and his warrior stepped back. His minion couldn’t get past my dark guardian to attack me directly. “I will deal with Hellscourge myself,” the prince added in a surly tone.
My wrath had been lurking beneath the surface, ready for when it was needed. I called on it now and strength and power surged through me. The few wounds that I’d received during the battle healed, leaving me without any weaknesses to slow me down. Using my wrath came at a cost, but it was worth the exhaustion that I would suffer.
“I was absent during your first visit to my realm,” Valac said as he swung his sword to limber up his wrist. “You stole my piece of the object of power that the Hellmaster tasked me with guarding. I underestimated your resourcefulness then, but I will not make that mistake again.”
Sam had been instrumental in sneaking us through the palace to the room where the silver piece of metal had been stored. Sy had shown me a rune to create the magical doorway that had allowed me to enter the room. I wasn’t the only one who Valac had underestimated. Sam, Sy, imps and other creatures had helped me every step of the way so far.
With each realm that I’d visited, the rulers had grown in strength and prowess. As the prince of the ninth and smallest realm, I’d assumed Valac would be the weakest of my foes. It quickly became clear that this wasn’t the case at all. His speed was shocking when he suddenly leapt at me. I managed to raise my axe in time to deflect his blade, but I wasn’t ready for the punch to my chest that sent me flying backwards.
Valac was there almost before I hit the ground. His sword swung down and severed my left hand. He kicked it away before I could grab it. “This is going to be almost too easy,” he gloated. “To think that I feared an insignificant Nephilim such as you. I do not know how you bested my brothers, but you will not have the same luck with me.”
Lifting his sword over his head, I was already on the move as it descended. Diving to the side, I swung my axe at the same time. My blade didn’t bounce off his armor like his did with mine. The edge bit into his thigh and he bellowed in anger and pain.
My alpha hound bounded over to my hand and carried it back to me. I took it from him and touched the severed stumps together. The wound healed and I clenched my fist to make sure my hand was working properly. Turning to my opponent, he flinched back from the look on my face. “You have incurred my wrath, Prince of the ninth realm,” I said with malice. “Prepare to forfeit your life.”
He leaped at me with a roar of defiance. One of his wings swept around to knock me off balance. His sword came at my face and I managed to turn so the blade sliced into my cheek rather than impaling me. With my wrath in full swing, I healed almost before my blood had a chance to begin flowing.
His wings flared out behind him, ready to strike with the wickedly sharp talons on the tips, or to knock me off my feet. His sword was a scarlet blur as it came at my face again. I parried it with my axe then scored a cut on his arm before he could step back.
As we circled each other, I knew this battle was going to test me. A cloven hoof kicked out and I raised my axe to chop at it. It was just a feint and his wing came at me too fast to avoid it. His talon tore through my neck, seeking my jugular vein.
A shrill squeal of rage sounded then acid washed over Valac’s wing. He bellowed in pain and turned on the crab beetle. It scuttled backwards and my hounds surged forward. The prince tried to cut my alpha down, but the hound disappeared before the sword could pierce his side. He reappeared behind the demon and tore into his hamstring. The crab beetle moved in again and swung one of its claws. Valac let out another grunt of pain as he was sent flying.
I chased after him and leaped through the air with my axe over my head. Landing right in front of him when he hit the ground, I swung my weapon with all of my strength. He caught the handle with one hand and thrust his sword at me with the other. It glanced off one of my skulls that had become my breastplate and he cursed. Yanking me down to him, he rolled us over so he was on top and pinned me down with my own weapon across my throat. “You lose, Hellscourge,” he sneered in triumph.
“I think you’re forgetting something,” I said and my
gaze shifted behind him.
Sensing danger, he looked over his shoulder just as my Wraith Warrior materialized behind him. She swung her shadowy sword and it passed through his neck. He froze in anticipation of pain then grinned when nothing happened. “You should have known that the essence of a Wraith Warrior cannot harm a Demon Prince.”
After seeing what had happened to Bob on Earth, I’d hoped the taint would affect demons in this realm. I knew better now and filed the information away. “That’s okay,” I said. “It was just a diversion anyway.”
“A diversion for what?” he asked suspiciously.
“For this,” I said as the crab beetle crept up on his blind side and spat acid on him from behind.
Screaming in pain as his armor and flesh melted. Valac fell onto his side as the gigantic bug closed in on him. A few snips of its claws severed his arms and legs, leaving him helpless. The beetle snatched up one of his legs, moved back from the battle and began to feed.
Climbing to my feet, I stood over the fallen prince and stared down at him. His wings were trapped beneath him and I pinned him down with my foot before he could roll to the side. Cutting his armor open, I bent down and yanked out his entrails, just as I’d promised. Roaring in agony, he thrashed beneath me, but I held him down easily. “Do you have any final words?” I asked as I readied myself to finish him off.
“You have no idea what will happen once you have killed us all,” he said. Beneath his fear of death was a hint of satisfaction.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it all before,” I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. “You all make up some excuse to try to stay alive. It didn’t work for the others and it isn’t going to work now.”
“You will see,” he said ominously. “Only when it is too late will you realize your mistake. By then, you will not be able to take it back.”
“I’ll take my chances,” I replied with heavy sarcasm. Making my axe disappear, I bent down and grasped his horns with my hands. Using all of my strength, I tore his head clean off his shoulders. His Wraith Warrior screamed in despair and reached out a hand to his master. Turning to mist, he dissipated without a trace as he followed the prince into death.
Letting go of Valac’s head, I kicked it across the throne room as though it was a football. “I always keep my promises,” I said gravely then sniggered, wishing Sam had been there to see our final showdown. I knew he would have enjoyed the spectacle.
₪₪₪
Chapter Twenty-Six
With my enemy now dead, my wrath faded away, leaving me feeling wrung out. Due to the assistance of my lords, I wasn’t as exhausted as I would have been if I’d had to face the small army of demons alone.
I turned to my Wraith Warrior and she regarded me in return. “Thanks for coming to the rescue,” I said.
She cocked her head to the side in what I took to be puzzlement. “I am a part of you. By thanking me, you are thanking yourself.”
“I thought you were created by the taint from the other warrior’s blade.”
“He merely planted the seed that grew inside you each time you returned to hell. As the darkness inside you grew, so did I.”
I didn’t feel particularly evil, but Valac’s headless corpse said otherwise. I’d enjoyed watching him being brought down by the crab beetle and my hounds. The satisfaction I’d felt as I’d ended his life still thrummed through me now. I could no longer deny my demonic half. How could I when I was turning into a Demon Princess? “Do you want to wait inside me again?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “That would not be wise. The other Wraith Warrior inside you grows stronger every day. It was all I could do to keep him from killing me. I fear that he will prevail and I will perish if I were to remain inside you any longer. I will be content to wait in the nowhere lands now that you have made it a more pleasant place to be.”
“I have another Wraith Warrior inside me?” The thought made me uneasy. If this was the case, then they should have been working together rather than fighting for supremacy.
“He is not made from your essence like I was,” she told me. “He is an interloper and he means you harm.”
“He was made from the Hellmaster’s essence,” I said bleakly. “Is there any way I can get him out of me?”
“I fear he will not willingly leave you as I have. He intends to sicken your human body so that you will be forced to remain in hell.”
That gelled with the vision Sophia had been sent. Thanks to the second infusion of toxin, I had a death sentence hanging over me. My warrior had just confirmed how bad it was. Something else that she’d said dawned on me. “That dream I had about being in the nowhere lands was real then? I really made those changes?”
“So I have heard from your other servants,” she confirmed.
The hounds looked at her and I realized they could communicate. “Do you have to go there when I don’t need you?” I asked. “Can’t you just stay in hell instead?”
“The rulers of the realms do not want their servants to be underfoot at all times,” she replied. “That is why Satan created the nowhere lands. We are sent there because we are not worthy of being in his presence.”
“Satan has been overthrown. Why do you still have to go to the nowhere lands if he isn’t in charge anymore?”
She gave me a slight shrug. “I do not know. I only know that we have no choice but to leave once our masters no longer require our help.”
It was a puzzle that I couldn’t solve, so I gave up on trying to figure it out. “Okay, I guess I’ll be seeing you all when I need you again.”
At that, she and my hounds disappeared. To my surprise, the crab beetle was also drawn to the nowhere lands. I’d defeated the ruler of this realm, which meant his creatures were now tied to me. From what I’d seen of the nowhere lands, the bug was the first of its kind to be sent there.
I would normally head back to Earth after I killed a Demon Prince. This time was different. Without anyone to heal me, I would be doomed the moment I stepped through the portal. I had little choice but to head to the second realm of hell and hunt down the final prince. It was going to be a long trip. I hoped my nightmares would be able to last the distance.
There was no reason for me to stick around, so I turned to the hallway that would take me to the main entrance. I had to step over the bodies of the fallen minions that my lords had cut down. The floor was slick with blood and whatever passed for their internal organs.
Hearing the flapping of wings, I turned back to see my feathered nemesis landing on Valac’s throne. The raven looked around at the massacre then stared at the huge, headless corpse. “You’d better warn the Prince of the second realm that I’m coming for him next,” I said.
Fluffing its mangy feathers up, it looked at me, but it didn’t utter its usual derisive caw. Maybe it was finally realizing that I wasn’t going to be easily defeated. I had only one more prince left to kill before I’d be gunning for its master. Launching itself into the air, it flew out through one of the windows that overlooked the throne room. It’s wing was healing, but it still moved awkwardly. Maybe its eye would never heal because I’d sliced it out with my magical dagger.
Continuing down the wide hallway, I found the main entrance unguarded. Standing in the doorway, I listened intently. Instead of hearing the hubbub of soldiers and servants going about their tasks in the lower tiers, I heard only the moans and cries of human souls. They would be kept in a pit somewhere nearby.
It seemed the demons had fled from the city. They were either heading towards the inner realms, where they hoped they would be safe from me, or they were heading towards the portal that led to New York. What little money I had was on the second option.
My nightmares appeared at my mental call and I studied my image on the carriage door. Not much had changed. My horns and fangs were longer and my wings were slightly larger. My physical form always lagged a bit behind what my image portrayed. It was an indicator of what was to come.
“Will yo
u be able to take me all the way to the second realm of hell?” I asked my horses.
Exchanging a look, they flicked their ears and gave snorts of what I took to be insult that I’d had to ask.
“Feel free to stop if you need to rest or to eat,” I said. This time, they looked startled at the offer. Demons didn’t need to eat, drink or sleep, but the hellbeasts did. From what I’d seen so far, they were all carnivorous.
Climbing inside, I settled back against the plush black leather seat and pulled the curtain aside so I could look out through the window. I tried not to look at the empty seat across from me. The last time I’d been in this carriage, Sam’s lifeless body had been my companion. I willed away the tears that tried to rise. I’d lost everyone I cared about and now I was alone.
Catching sight of my reflection in the glass, I saw how monstrous I’d become. My insides were slowly changing to match my exterior. Soon, I would be just as evil as my enemies. Maybe it was better for me to be alone. That way I couldn’t hurt the people I loved.
₪₪₪
Chapter Twenty-Seven
My nightmares took off and the wheels of the carriage rumbled over the cobblestones. The city was eerily quiet as we headed downhill from the palace and made our way through the lower tiers. After seeing the gigantic capital city in the third realm, this one seemed like a large town in comparison.
We circled halfway around the city and the hellhorses cantered towards a gate that would lead us to the far side of the ninth realm. I’d never travelled directly from one realm to another before. I’d always entered them through hellgates in the shadowlands.
As we left the city, the mournful moans from the human souls drew closer. I shifted to the other window and looked out to see the edge of a gigantic pit a hundred yards away. There was no one left to torture the pitiful beings now. They were confused and frightened at being abandoned.
