When she had reawakened it was too late to stop Talia from entering Romana’s tiny body, but she had sealed Romana’s soul within her tiny form. Talia had been unable to undo the magic, and in the moment of panic where she lost control of her own magic, Kate had created a prison for her in the back of Romana’s mind.
It had taken so much of her magic that she hadn’t been able to stop the elves who took Romana to the human village. She’d gone to find somewhere safe to hide her child when disaster struck for the final time and Romana had been stolen by bandits who burned the village to the ground and then sold her baby to a slave shop.
The one blessing had been the weak mindedness of the slave master, who she had compelled into naming the child Romana. But with Talia being inside of her child, Kate had not been able to raise her daughter as she had wished. Instead she had withdrawn to the Isle of the Gifted, watching and waiting.
To distract herself from her melancholy thoughts, Kate looked back at the water which was still displaying Silver whipping her troops into shape. “She has not yet found her familiar as you had hoped she would.” It had been Gaillean’s idea that the easiest way for Silver to find her familiar quickly, and in doing so stabilise her own powers, would be to send her to the demonic realm. It had served a dual purpose when Silver had used the opportunity to familiarise herself with the different species.
“But she has excellent control of her powers already.” Gaillean pointed out. “Since I had to trigger the release of her magic early I had thought there would be consequences. Apparently that is not the case.”
“But what if her familiar is one of those on the fifth world? To let one of those creatures loose on our realm…” Kate shuddered, unable to complete her sentence.
“Another necessary evil in the Council’s eyes.” Gaillean muttered. “They would not tell us the species if they knew, probably for fear of our objection. Still, she has not seen every demon on the third or fourth worlds yet. Perhaps we are getting ahead of ourselves.”
Kate nodded; yet watching Silver, her sense of foreboding grew. She had to wonder, if Silver survived another battle with a half-ancient, what would the consequences be for the rest of the world?
Chapter Twelve
HIERARCHY
Silver huffed out a sigh as she looked around the noxious world for what was hopefully the last time. One more world to go and she could finally get back to spreading chaos in her own realm.
The fourth world had been interesting to say the least, a world consumed by poison and hallucinogenic plants, populated by demons whose presence spread disease, but whose blood would also cure any sickness it touched. Needless to say she had collected a phial of blood for herself; it would have to do until she could summon them into her own world. The mushrooms here released spores that would send you into dreamland for hours – she’d found that out the hard way – and she’d collected a few of those too. All in all, the fourth world was an apothecary’s paradise.
So as she waited for Gaillean to teleport her, she wondered why on earth he was taking so long. It was already two hours into the eighth day, and every other time he had been regular as clockwork.
Without warning, Gaillean appeared beside her, his hair windswept and his clothes reeking of that eerie mist from Kate’s own plane.
“How is Kate this morning?” Silver taunted. “You’re late.”
“Stop talking.” Gaillean instructed, and she felt compulsion seep into his voice and force her compliance. “Now listen to me; the last world is far more deadly than any world you have been on before. The humans who live there fight for their souls on a daily basis. Hellhounds originate on that world and so do other beings that feed on what is left of the corpses. It would be in your best interest to remain airborne where your soul cannot be stolen from you and your body cannot be devoured by these scavengers. I will return at the end of seven days, if you have not learned to control them by that time, I will leave you another week, then another until I am satisfied that you can keep them on a leash in our realm. Is that understood?”
Silver nodded.
“Then you will practice using the skills you have been observing and conjuring demons on your world till I am satisfied with your ability to do so.” Compulsion roared back into his voice. “You will not leave your caves upon your return, nor will you communicate with anyone or allow them to know of your return, is that also clear?”
How was she supposed to refuse? He was compelling her.
“You may speak again.” Gaillean muttered, but gave her no time to argue with him before he teleported her from the noxious world of the patho-demons and straight into hell.
The soil was a dark red-brown, as if blood had soaked into it so many times that it had retained the colour. It was shifting, like sand in some kind of vast red desert, yet it was softer than sand, more like ash.
The sunlight here was dim, though there were no clouds, and the sky was a burnt orange.
Silver looked around for signs of life and found none, though it didn’t surprise her; deserts were hardly the most hospitable of places.
She unfolded her wings and leapt into the sky, the soft soil making it harder.
Silver was surprised to find herself so close to a fort. It hadn’t been visible from the ground because of the dunes, but she could see humans patrolling the walls. Behind the wall, she could make out some kind of keep, but it was the demons in front of it that surprised her.
Dead people – she was far too used to seeing them now – littered the ground; their eyes open in shock while demon birds swooped down, tearing at their flesh and carrying it away to eat in the sky.
Hellhounds had been here.
Silver moved to the demon birds, they could not communicate in any way that could be considered useful; in fact they were animal enough that they could have been vultures, so she merely read their mind, learning that the hellhounds had moved east.
Time to track them, she had no intention of staying here any longer than she had to, and the sooner she found some, the sooner she could learn to control them and the sooner she could get out of here. She set off with grim determination, flying faster than usual because she knew the demons she was after would be able to run faster than she could.
Tracking them proved tricky, the soil of the desert shifted, removing any tracks, and even once out of the desert and into a bizarre forest she had no luck. The trees were fairly similar to her own world, but the leaves and bark had taken on the same red colour as the soil from the desert. The earth had turned black and hard beneath her feet before she encountered the lone demon, its body injured and weak.
She followed it for a while, noticing the way that its back leg was crippled and gored, most likely by another hellhound. It moved slowly, and Silver was convinced it knew she was there, yet either it did not care, or it was hoping she would land so that it could feed and heal itself.
After a day of following it, she took a risk and dropped noiselessly onto a tree branch. The hellhound stopped, peered back in her direction, and then turned to face her.
“Do you know my language?” Silver asked it.
“Just because I walk on four legs instead of two does not make me any less intelligent than you.” The hellhound replied. “Why have you been following me?”
“Study.” Silver replied. “I only get off of this planet if I can learn to control your race. Unsurprisingly I just want to get on with it.”
“Control us?” The hound let out a barking laugh. “Who are you to do such a thing? Fancy wings will not bend us to your will.”
Silver smirked and laced her voice with compulsion. “Sit.”
Nothing happened.
“Was that supposed to be funny?” The hound growled. “Puny magic will not work on us.”
Silver felt like growling herself, of course it wouldn’t be that easy, Gaillean had practically told her that and she hadn’t listened. Great, now she felt smart.
“Why not?” Silver asked.
“We of the upper tier have a natural defence. If you had tried to use it against the lower tier you may have succeeded.”
“Lower tier?” Silver sat down on the branch with her legs swinging and took out her notebook. “Can you please explain?”
“You want to document us?” If hounds could snort Silver was pretty sure this one would have. “Stupid wytch. You do not even know my name yet you wish to pry information from me.”
“I apologise, what’s your name oh great and temperamental demon?” Silver’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Since you asked so nicely, I am Naphulan, upper tier demon of Black Castle and commander of thirty six lesser hellhounds – the cowardly traitorous bunch.”
“They left you like this?” She gestured to his leg.
“What are you, a moron? They did this! Do you think those pathetic humans could have wounded me?”
He had a good point; even she would find it offensive if someone suggested mortals could harm her so badly.
“So, Black Castle…”
“I am not telling the likes of you.”
“I’ll find it eventually.”
“You’re welcome to try, but you won’t get there by following me.”
“You’ll go there eventually.”
“Only if summoned, I have no plans to advance my rank; I have a difficult enough time holding the stupid title.”
“Who commands you?”
“The king.”
The dogs had kings? “Who is?”
“Do I look like I’m going to tell you? Just leave already so I can die in peace.”
Now that he said it, maybe his wounds were fairly severe.
“If I save you, will you tell me anything I want to know?”
“Save me?”
“I could bring a mortal. You only need to eat souls to regenerate, right?”
“If I wished to live, do you think you would be sitting there right now, still alive?”
“I don’t think you could take me one on one.”
The demon’s eyes glared fiercely. “Get me a human, and we will see who wins.” He growled. “Though I doubt you could even finish off a human.”
“If I get a human and win, you’ll tell me everything?” Silver asked.
“If I survive our battle.”
“I guess I’ll have to bring two humans then. Wait here.”
She jumped from the branch and flew back to the nearest fort. Considering the scarcity of humans on the other world, this world seemed to make up for it. She had passed five forts just by following Naphulan. The nearest one took her ten minutes, snatching two guards from the walls and knocking them out took a few seconds. Stupid humans never tried to run when they should, not that it would have made much difference if they had.
Naphulan did look surprised at her return.
“How do you feel about a little roast guard tonight?” Silver joked, dropping one of the unconscious men at the hellhound’s feet.
“I don’t need to roast anything.” Was his reply as he lowered his head and sniffed the man. “His soul will suffice, though I usually prefer it when my meals wriggle.”
Great, so her food wasn’t gourmet enough for a dog.
“Deal with it or die.” It was his only option.
The hellhound opened its jaws and pressed its mouth over the spot where the guard’s heart would be. As if sensing something amiss the guard stirred, but it was too late. Naphulan’s teeth were embedded in the skin there in the next instant. The man writhed, and a bluish mist seemed to seep from his pores and into the hound’s mouth. It only took seconds, and what was left was a corpse.
The difference to Naphulan was immediate, blood dried and skin rewove itself. His fur grew back and turned sleeker. His eyes glowed.
“Are you scared yet?” He demanded, eyes flashing as he drew upwards to his full height, making him as tall as any horse.
“I told you, I can take you one on one.” Silver drew her swords.
“And I told you that magic won’t work on me.”
Silver smirked, “Any wytch who cannot survive without magic is a stupid wytch.”
“Surviving isn’t the same as flourishing.”
Silver, bored of his taunting, lunged. Her swords, made in Gaillean’s forge, sliced straight through the scales on the hound’s neck and into the flesh.
Naphulan cursed. “That is no normal weapon you carry.” He lunged and she used her wings to lift her enough that she dodged him.
“No,” She smirked. “It’s not normal at all.” She sliced the demon’s other arm, and then blurred past him slashing his hind quarters. Somehow he was still standing, but she was faster than a hellhound, and she drew two daggers, stabbing them through his front paws, then she did the same on his back legs. She had driven the blades into the stone beneath them. To his credit, Naphulan did not whimper, but continued to growl.
“Do you yield?” Silver asked, holding one of her double broadswords under the hound’s neck, ready to slice his throat if something went wrong.
He growled some more and tried to pull off of the blades but moving them would be difficult when he was in that much pain.
He tried twice more, then she saw the fight go out of his body, and he offered her his neck, tilting his head away from her blade so that if she wished she could kill him then and there. It was a sign of submission among animals.
“I yield.” He muttered.
Silver yanked the daggers out one by one and then stalked over to the second guard who was still slumbering on the ground before she grabbed him by the collar and tossed him at Naphulan.
The hound looked at her gratefully and then quickly devoured the human’s soul. The entire thing took only seconds.
“Ask your questions.” Naphulan grunted, walking away from the corpse and laying down on top of the stone, examining the sealing wounds on his paws.
“How do I command hellhounds?”
“Only the king can command us.” Naphulan informed her dismissively.
“How does one become king?”
“You’d have to work your way up through the tiers. You have beaten me, and so have moved to a spot just above mine on the hierarchy. The king is the strongest of all of us; he can only be challenged by a member of the grand tier. If one of the members of the grand tier beat him, he swaps places with them in the hierarchy. There is much fighting inside the grand tier, but the reigning king has ruled for well over three years now. If you are a member of the grand tier and you challenge the king and then you lose, you have to begin again, starting at the very lowest rank.”
“How do I reach the grand tier?”
If dogs could snort, he would have. “What do you plan to do? Challenge the king? You’re good pup but you’re not that good. They’ll rip you to shreds.”
“That’s what you think.” Silver huffed.
“They’re the strongest, fastest, most deadly beings on this world. Follow me to Black Castle and you’ll see for yourself. You may have beaten me, but beating them will take more than you’ve got.”
“You’re assuming it took me a lot of effort to finish you off.” Silver smirked. “You are wrong.”
“The grand tier keeps counsel in the deepest vaults of Black Castle with the king. You won’t get in.”
“Won’t I?” Silver chuckled. “You say it’s underground? Then there must be vents. I will drop into the room, kill all of them and come out as their queen. Simple.”
“You think going up against the ten strongest hounds is simple?” Naphulan laughed. “I might come along just to watch you get eaten.”
“You’ll be disappointed. Lead on.” Silver waved her hand, and watched as the hound sighed.
“We’re already here.” He muttered, standing, and leading her to what she now saw was the edge of a cliff.
It was created from black stone, and formed a dome in what seemed to be a dried up riverbed. In fact, it looked almost as if a huge black bowl had been upturned and forced into the earth.
> “Hellhounds created this?” Silver was sceptical.
“Alas, my race lacks the ability; humans made it, thinking themselves safe beneath the ground. Ironically, we did as you think to do, and invaded through the vents, slaughtering all in our path.”
“Yet you did not take precautions against the same strategy being used against you?”
“That was over a hundred years ago. Now the area is so well patrolled that you’d be hard pressed to find a human for forty leagues.” Naphulan informed her. “Best wait for night, your suit would not camouflage well in the sun.”
“Is anything around here edible?” Silver asked, feeling a slight spike of hunger.
“Humans can be tasty, depending on the age.” Was Naphulan’s sarcastic reply.
Silver raised an eyebrow behind her mask. “What do the humans eat?”
“Berries, they have a few cattle within their forts, but not much.”
Silver grumbled. “I’m going to find something to eat. Do what you want.”
“Thanks for the permission.” Naphulan said, and Silver let out a cold laugh, because it was exactly the thing that she would have said in his place.
She turned on her heel, ignoring the dog’s growling and took off; using her wings to soar over the forest in search of food, or better yet, humans gathering food that she could steal from.
Chapter Thirteen
ALEGIANCE
But it was not humans that she discovered in the forest. A yowl of pain greeted her ears, along with a roar of victory. Hellhounds seemed to be battling each other. Out of curiosity, she swooped towards the sound dropping down into a clearing, Swords drawn.
But the scene surprised her.
Four hellhounds were sprawled on the ground, three male, one larger female. All of them were torn bloody, with gaping holes ripped from them in places. They had put up a hell of a fight, and the female was still breathing, barely, her eyes open as she stared at Silver. Keening noises were coming from the back of her throat.
Silver's Redemption (Soul Merge Saga Book 3) Page 9
