I ran through the debris and headed to the left as I entered what remained of the house. There wouldn’t be much time left now, if any. When I made it into the study, I looked around. He wasn’t here, but I could feel power building somewhere deeper in the house. There was no time to be subtle; if that was Jackson in there with him, I needed to stop them both. I called on the gift of fire and sent it swirling around the room, burning hotter and hotter. The bookcases turned to ashes in seconds, and I had my path forward.
Sprinting down the stone hallway, I came to a stop just as I entered the room. Stillman was in the center of a circle, chanting, and a portal had opened. A young man in a dark suit stepped into the portal. I was too late; Jackson was gone.
Stillman watched the portal close, and then he spoke. “Godspeed, Antovious.”
My heart soared. If that was Antovious, then maybe Jackson was still here somewhere. Maybe I wasn’t too late after all. Keeping him out of hell and away from the clutches of the demons had to be the priority. The easiest way to make sure that happened was to end the miserable existence of the man in front of me.
Joshua stood and faced me. He looked haggard. Maybe I had been in time after all. The only thing that could drain him that much was if he had been forced to cast a lot of heavy magic in a day. He spread his arms to the side in a showing of supplication, and then he began to talk.
“Adam, old friend. Has it really come to this?”
“Whatever friendship we may have had dissolved long ago. How long has it been since you sided with the demons?” To my great surprise, he laughed.
“Sided with the demons. I would never do such a thing. I decided to back myself. The demons are merely a means to an end.”
“Is that what you tell yourself? If you gave Jackson to them, our best hope of defeating them forever is lost.”
“Jackson came to me willingly and asked for my help. Who was I to deny him?”
“Damn it! You know how important he is!”
“Do I? I think the demons might be more important. They keep me in power, and they bring us endless wealth. Tell me, why would I want to end that?”
How had I missed that he was this broken? Maybe this was my greatest failure as a leader. Instead of embracing Joshua and shaping him into something wonderful, I had spent my life threatening him. In the end, he had done the only thing he could. He turned to someone else for the help that he needed. He had found solace with the demons, and I had driven him there.
“I’m sorry that I have failed you.”
He laughed again, but this time it was harsh and grating. “You feel sorry for me? Fuck you, Adam. You can take your sorrys and shove them up your ass. I’ve transcended you, and it’s time you realized that.”
Without another word spoken, he lashed out with a wave of power. If he hadn’t been so weakened by his recent magic use, he might have actually been able to hurt me. Joshua had been a formidable warrior in his time, but he had long ago forsaken his training and turned to a war of words. They had served him well until now.
I brushed his attack away as if it was nothing. “If that is the best you have to offer, you may as well kill yourself and save me the trouble.”
His eyes glowed with desperation as he searched for a way out of this mess. “At least let me get dressed first and die with some dignity.”
“What makes you think that you deserve to die with dignity?” I growled. If anything, he deserved to die on his knees, begging for his life. How many people had I let this man hurt with my willful ignorance? I would make up for that mistake now.
Stillman lashed out again, and then held his hands up in surrender. “Adam, please.”
He begged well, but it wouldn’t be enough, not this time.
“At least let me die with a blade in my hand. That should be my right.”
If it had been anyone else, I would have given them a sword and been happy to duel with them in the old fashion. A true warrior deserved to die with honor and respect. It was a chance for them to prove their worth before God. Stillman didn’t deserve that chance. God had forsaken him long ago.
He stopped begging and stood up straight. He knew that this was the end. At least when it was his time to die, he managed to find some kind of pride. It wouldn’t redeem him in any way, but some small part of me was happy that he had found some sort of strength in the end. I whispered the words that had been on the tip of my tongue since I walked into the room. “This is for John.”
A black cloud of smoke started to rise up around his ankles. It swirled around him faster and faster, stripping away pieces of his flesh with each pass. He started to scream as the smoke clawed its way up his legs. I wanted to turn away, but it was my duty to make sure this was actually over. The smoke continued to rise until it enveloped his entire body, and then it disappeared. Stillman fell to the ground, his skin having been completely removed. He looked up into my eyes, and all I saw was hate. With a word, he burst into ash. It was better and quicker than he deserved, and yet it left a sour taste in my mouth.
At least it was finally over. Now all our hopes rested in Jackson being able to find his way home. I had underestimated his desire to get his father back. Maybe if I had explained to him what hell really was, he would have understood? Maybe I could have done more to stop him. If nothing else, I should have respected his determination and helped him. This was a burden of my own making, and I had no idea if I would be able to fix it.
CHAPTER 9
JACKSON
The demon that brought me to hell had whispered her name to me as we crossed through the barrier between worlds. She was Salina, not that it truly mattered to me. I was here for one purpose and one purpose only. To find my dad. Then the job was to get the hell out of here. I didn’t want to be trapped in this place any longer than I had to be.
The air here was warmer than it was on our world, but not as stifling as I had expected it to be. In the distance, I could see mountains covered in snow. Turning to look behind us, there was a vast ocean that extended to the horizon. My first thought was that of course there would be different landscapes; not everyone was made uncomfortable by the same things. For some reason, that thought didn’t really feel right. Maybe my idea of hell and what the demons were was wrong. If I had to be honest, hell looked a lot like home.
Salina moved in front of me and stretched. Wings erupted from her back, and her fingers and toes grew wicked-looking claws instead of nails. Surprisingly the rest of her body stayed mostly human. Outside of her red skin and the wings, even in hell she radiated beauty. If every demon looked like her, it was no wonder people fell prey to them.
I tore my gaze away from her naked body and returned it to her eyes. She smiled knowingly at me and beat her wings against the air. I knew that I couldn’t trust this woman. Knowing that she worked with Stillman made it doubly so. That smile and body spoke of seduction, but I had the love of my life at home. I wouldn’t be falling into that trap.
Salina waited for me to take a few steps forward before she spoke. “My master has requested that I bring you to him for an audience.” She said it with a lighthearted smile. Her tone made it sound like a request, but I knew what it really was.
“Does your master know where my father is?”
“My master is your father’s owner. I wouldn’t be surprised if he brought him to your meeting.”
I knew that anything she said might be a lie. It was possible she was just feeding me exactly what I wanted to hear, but I didn’t really have a choice. I had no idea where to go, and no one else to turn to. For some reason, I had always pictured hell as smaller. Each person confined to their own personal brand of torture. Instead I found a lush and vibrant world before me. Nothing about this place told me why the demons wanted our world so badly. There really wasn’t enough of a difference to wage a war. Maybe it was just in their nature?
I also hadn’t seen a single human yet. Was this really where their souls went to be plied with endless misery for their life’s bad
deeds? I didn’t see any evidence of that yet. Again I wondered just how wrong my perceptions of hell might really be. The demons we had fought to close the portal sure fit the description of what I had imagined, but now a seed of doubt had wormed its way into my mind.
Salina flew gently in front of me, and I had made my decision. “Lead the way.”
“Come to me,” Salina said as she arched her back and spread her wings.
It was hard not to look at her, but I did my best to keep my eyes on hers. I was looking for any sign of betrayal. She didn’t say anything, but she did give a slight smirk at one of my wayward glances. When I got close to her, she launched herself into the air and stayed there. She flew around me in a quick circle, dove down, and picked me up by the shoulders with her talons. Before I could do anything, we were flying toward the mountains in the distance.
I thought about cutting myself free from her, but again, I had no idea where to go without her. Did her master really have my father? Just who was this master, anyway? The landscape continued to rush by, and eventually I saw a small city nestled against the foothills of the mountain. A castle rose against the hills, and the city spread out before it. Four massive domes lined the road to the city. They spread out around it in a semi-circle. Each dome looked to be made out of large iron strips. What could those possibly be used for?
The domes dominated the landscape. Each one had to be two hundred feet high and four times as wide. Demons walked among them, haggling with each other at shops that lined the streets. We flew over it all until we reached the castle. Salina shot upward, and we flew over the outer wall. I could see that she was headed for the tallest tower.
When we reached the balcony, she swooped in and dropped me. I called on my magic to slow me down and found myself hovering a foot off the ground. Magic in this world came more easily than it did in ours. Everything seemed stronger and more magnified. I dropped the spell before Salina could see what I had done. The last thing I wanted them to notice was the control I had over my gift in this place.
She landed behind me and tucked her wings in against her back. She walked past me, trailing a finger against my shoulder as she did. Again, I got that pleasure spiked with pain feeling. It was the kind of thing that would be seductive if you let it. She glanced at me over her shoulder and gave me a sultry smirk before continuing into the castle. There was no way she could be trusted, but I found myself following her anyway. Really, where else could I go?
The hallway into the castle was shorter than I would have thought. When it ended, I found myself in what must have been an audience chamber. A massive throne of jagged iron spikes dominated the back wall of the room. The throne almost looked more like a sculpture. The iron spikes and the rock of the mountain were intertwined almost seamlessly. The throne rose into the vaulted ceilings of the room. The space was massive. A three-story building would have fit inside of it. Standing in front of that throne and speaking to whoever was in charge would have been intimidating for anyone, and I was sure that was the point.
Salina placed a hand on me, sending shivers down my spine. She turned me gently until I was facing a massive set of doors. The doors creaked open, swinging easily on hinges that must have been three feet tall. A mountain of a man walked through them. I could feel the power radiating off of him from where I stood. He towered above the man who was shambling along behind him. I would have said he was at least twelve feet tall and built like Dwayne Johnson.
As he walked toward us, Salina dropped down to one knee and lowered her head in a gesture of submission. I could hear the clink of the ankle restraints the man behind him was wearing. Salina motioned for me to kneel with her, but I batted her hand to the side. This man, if he was even a man at all, was not my master.
The giant walked forward quickly, and the man behind him struggled to keep up. The giant spared me one quick glance and continued past me up to the giant throne. I was pretty sure that man would be able to physically rip me in half. The thought of fighting against him sent a cold chill through my body. Salina turned slowly on the floor so she was facing her master. She kept her head down the entire time, and never once looked up at him.
As impressive as the man was, I wanted to know who was trailing behind him. My worst thoughts were confirmed when John shambled forward. He spared me one glance, his eyes widening at the sight of me, before he continued past us. He moved to the base of the throne and stood with his back straight even against the massive chains binding his wrists.
He didn’t look very good. His clothes were ripped and stained with blood, his hair was unkempt, and he had a beard. I was sure that he smelled horrible. But his eyes. His eyes burned with the same passion that I had seen in them when we closed the portal. They hadn’t broken him yet, but from the looks of things, they had only just gotten started.
The man on the throne looked down at us, and finally he motioned for Salina to stand. She walked forward until she was standing below her master. I trailed along in her wake, standing off to one side. All of my instincts were telling me to grab John and run. But every time I calculated the distance to the ledge, I didn’t think we would make it. I wasn’t ready to commit to a battle just yet. So I waited silently to see how things would unfold.
“I’ve brought the boy as you commanded, Sire.”
“I can see that quite clearly.” His voice rumbled through the cavernous hall. “And the other part of our arrangement?”
“As soon as I have your leave, I will go to complete the task. Already I can feel his magic calling to me.”
“Then go.” He waved his hand dismissively at her.
She bowed her head low and then strutted back out the way we came in. It seemed that she only had one way; no matter her speed, each step still spoke of seduction. I turned back from watching her leave and looked at my father. He gave me a smile that said everything will be fine. But his eyes had lost some of the shine they had a moment ago. That had me feeling like I might have walked into something bigger than I could handle.
“How is it that Salina brought you here?” the giant rumbled.
“Believe it or not, I asked someone to help me find a way into hell. This is what he offered.”
“Oh, so you have met Salina’s pet. The one they call Stillman.”
“I have.”
“What do you think of him?”
“That he isn’t worth our time to talk about.”
The giant’s laugh came out as more of a barking grumble. The sound of it echoed around the massive chamber and shook dust from the walls. “A fair statement, indeed. So tell me, son of John, why did you wish to come?”
I looked from the man to my father. John nodded at me to let me know it was ok. “I’ve come to take my father home again.”
The giant’s laughter filled the hall again. “Tell me, son of John, why would I ever let you do that?”
Let me? I knew that we were in his castle and that it entitled him to some amount of swagger, but just who in the fuck did he think he was talking to? I hadn’t come here to bargain for his life. I was taking my father home. That was going to be the end of it. If I had to fight this giant, then so be it. My magic was stronger here. If nothing else, it gave me a fighting chance.
“I didn’t intend to ask. I will be taking him home.”
The man rose from his throne and marched down the steps. My father shied away from him. That was something I hadn’t seen before. Even against the archfiend, my dad showed no fear. He was afraid of this demon, and that meant I had probably bitten off more than I could chew. Three steps from the bottom of the stairs, and the human shell he had been wearing tore away from him. He expanded so quickly, I wondered how all of him had fit inside the giant.
He was damned near thirty feet tall now, skin a burning crimson. His wings expanded at least that far to either side of him. His giant hands ended in razor-sharp claws. Could this be the demon that dragged my father back into hell in the first place? He looked down at me, his eyes burning with rage.
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“You dare to challenge me? Here in my home? Then come, son of John, and show me what you are made of.”
I cast a furtive look to my father, and he shook his head. How could I get out of this? My big mouth had already gotten me into trouble, maybe it could find a way to get me back out. “I apologize for my ignorance, but I still don’t know who or what is standing before me.”
“This is the kingdom of Sole, one of the nine realms of hell. I am its crown prince, Adramelech.”
“Forgive my ignorance of your ways, Adramelech. I meant no disrespect.”
“You have a funny way of showing it. If you speak out of turn again, I will not give you a second chance to live.”
He turned back to the throne, and as he walked forward, he shrank back into the giant that I had seen enter the room. He strode back to his throne, and once he was sitting, he turned his gaze back onto me.
“I will tell you what it will cost to set your father free.”
I didn’t like the sound of that, but outside of fighting this demon to the death, I didn’t know what else to do. “Go on.”
“You must battle and live through three matches in the crucible.”
John met my gaze, and he nodded. That meant he thought that I could do it. There wasn’t really anything else for me to say. I met the prince’s glare and nodded sharply. “I agree.”
“And so it is done.” He smiled down at me, and I knew that whatever was coming my way wouldn’t be easy. “I will have someone show you to your quarters.”
“Adramelech, may I request one more thing from you?”
“I will entertain your request.”
“Can my father join me until it is time for me to fight?”
“I don’t see any reason why he can’t. It should act as a good incentive for you to put on a good show. Tomorrow I will see you enter the crucible. Maybe if you are lucky, you will walk back out again.”
He waved his hand, and two women came out from a door hidden in the stone. One walked toward John, and I heard the sound of his chains hitting the floor. He rubbed his wrists for a moment as she unlocked his ankles. He walked forward now with more confidence. He put his arm around my shoulders, and we followed the women out of the hall.
The Rising Darkness (Ascendancy Legacy 5) Page 7
