by Cece Rose
“They’re ready for you now,” a small-looking halfling says. He’s so scrawny, I doubt he’s eaten properly in a long time. Feeling sickened, I shrug Adam’s hand away.
“Dove—”
“Save it.”
“Just don’t die,” he says softly.
I walk to the door, and once I reach it, I turn and face him. I meet his red eyes with a determined stare. “I don’t intend to.”
Following the halfling into the arena, my jaw hangs open as I gape around at the huge space. The room is reminiscent of a Colosseum. A huge circular fighting pit, surrounded by seating, which is currently packed with demons. My impending death is clearly a hot ticket show.
The seating and the pit are sectioned off by metal fencing, making me think of cage fighters. Scanning the crowd for familiar faces, I run my eyes over the seating. The first tier seems to be all cramped in, but on the upper level, the seating is corded off into sections, more spacious and I guess you could call it pleasant. I spot Adam sitting with Asmodeus in one of the corded off sections, they appear to be having an argument about something. I'm not sure what either of them have to worry about, I'm the one that has to fight for my life here.
At the sound of a door closing, I turn around and notice that the entrance I came into the pit from has been shut behind me, the halfling who led me in has already scarped off. I'm trapped in here alone, and I can feel hundreds of eyes on me. So damn many glowing eyes.
The sound of a horn blaring out startles me. I look around for the source of the noise, but can't spot it anywhere. Trying not to appear terrified, I stand my ground. Expecting some kind of announcement or introduction first, I'm completely taken by surprise when a door opens on the far-side of the fighting pit. A monstrous looking creature races out towards me, the door slamming shut behind it. I'm trapped in with that thing now. Just freaking great.
Remembering the plan I'd made with Adam, I try not to panic as I hold out my hands. “Reciperare telum daemoniorum,” I whisper, picturing my sword. A soft burn tinges my hand lightly, and then my tachi-style demon blade appears. I grip it with both hands, ready to slay whatever the hell kind of monster this is.
The monster appears to have paused, watching me use my magic curiously. Using the opportunity of its curiosity to take a better look, I focus on the beast, trying to figure out what the heck it’s meant to be. It looks like a demon should, or rather, how I imagined demons would look. Grey, calloused skin, glowing white eyes, and leathery wings. It stands taller than Kaden does, but it’s body is much thinner, sort of spindly like a spider’s legs. I shiver at the thought. Things should never have eight long legs, it’s just wrong.
Without warning, it darts towards me, screeching as it draws close. Its scream hurts my ears, making me want to just curl up and cover them with my hands. Gritting my teeth, I dodge its attack, slashing wildly with my sword, as I try to get back in tune with it. I remember before when I used the demon blade, it had connected with me differently, I had known how to use it. Unsure how to unlock that ability again, I feel my heartbeat pick up with panic. I try and ignore the demons making noise in the stands as it slashes back at me with sharp-looking claws, I move out the way, but it catches my arm.
“Fucker,” I curse, clenching my teeth as I try not to cry out in pain. Using my moment of weakness, where I’m paused holding onto my arm, it lunges again for me. Slyly, I angle my sword, shoving it right into its stomach as it reaches for me. It claws into my arms, but the demon blade burning through it’s stomach is doing a lot more damage to it than it’s doing to me. It screeches louder, and I feel a wetness in my ears. I pull my sword out from its stomach as it stumbles back. Reaching up with one hand to touch my ear, I then hold my hand out in front of me to confirm my suspicions. Spotting the red on my fingertips, I know I was right. The monster made my freaking ears bleed!
Hearing a door open to my right, I turn and see the familiar man walking through the entrance, with a huge sword clutched in his hands. Darius? I guess he’s not so dead after all. His face has fresh-looking bruises covering the left side, but other than that, he looks the same as he did when I last saw him. I can’t help but feel relieved to see him, and then it clicks. He’s the next thing I have to fight. I look to the crowd, spotting that Adam is now sitting alone. I give him a pointed look. Thanks for the heads up, asshole.
Something crashes into the side of me, sending me flying. Shit, I guess the monster wasn’t as badly injured from my stabbing it in the gut as I thought? The beast towers over me, and I’m sure I’m done for, when Darius cuts off its head with a quick, deadly swipe of his own sword. The blood flies everywhere, covering me completely.
“Gross,” I say with a groan, as I wipe the gore from my face. Great, I probably look like a savage cannibal right now I’m so covered in blood.
“It’s you?” Darius greets me disbelievingly.
“It’s freaking me, who else did you think you were being sent in here to fight,” I mutter, as I pull myself back up onto my feet. I straighten up and face him, holding my sword ready in case he attacks. I try to push away my feelings of guilt at having to fight him. I’ll just wait for him to swing first, then I’m just defending myself.
“I cannot fight you,” he says quietly as he steps closer, looking disgusted at the very idea.
“You’re kidding me, right? I kind of need to fight you, or they’ll kill me,” I reply quietly to him. “Hell, I’m not even sure if it’ll count that I won the last fight, considering you’re the one that killed the damn thing.”
“Would you rather I let it eat you? It likes to skin its dinner alive first,” he says, a dark looking smile on his face.
“On second thoughts, thank you very much for not letting it eat me,” I mutter. “But, that doesn’t change the fact that I need to kick your ass in order to survive,” I add harshly, not sure how to even phrase this in a nicer way. I can hear jeering from the demons surrounding us, them clearly not enjoying our show of talking instead of killing. An idea strikes me. I slyly wink at him, and then dart forward with my sword, deliberately only scratching him slightly on his arm. He raises an eyebrow at me, and ever so subtlety nods. He draws closer, pressing his sword against mine and forcing me to back up.
“The fights in here don’t always have to be to the death, you just have to knock me out,” he whispers.
“How do I do that?” I whisper furiously, as we clash our swords against each other’s.
“Don’t you have magic?” he questions back.
“Yes, but I don’t know any damn knockout spells!” I snap quietly.
“Hit me over the head with the blunt end of your sword,” he growls. I pull back, making dramatic slashing gestures with my sword. I totally don’t have the physical strength to knock him out like that, do I?
I creep closer, swiping out his legs with my own the way Kaden showed me. Though, I’m completely convinced Darius wouldn’t have fallen if he didn’t want to. He holds still looking at me as I stand over him with the sword. I can hear shouting from the crowd demanding his head. He doesn’t move to defend himself, completely trusting me to knock him out instead of swiping his head off. I curve my lips into the slightest smile, and then whack him over the head with the handle of my sword like a whack-a-mole. I use every ounce of extra strength I have gained, and push as hard as I possibly can. He falls back, either unconscious or faking it. Either way, I step back and wait. Adam said there were three rounds to this show.
The third and final being I have to fight steps into the pit from another door, his face is covered by a hooded cloak as he steps closer to me. I stand on shaky legs as I wait for him to attack. Lifting my sword ready to fight, I try and move into a better stance. He strolls towards me, and then just vanishes into thin air.
Suddenly, I feel his hands grabbing me from behind. I slam an elbow into his gut, instinctual reaction, completely forgetting about my real weapons here: my sword and my magic. He whispers something in Latin and I wait for the pain to
hit, but looking down, all I see is that all the blood that was covering me has vanished. He cleaned me up? What kind of psycho cleans the blood off someone before they try and kill them?
I turn around and see the face of my opponent. What the fuck is Asmodeus doing down here? I open my mouth to question him, when he tugs me closer.
“Sorry, Desdemona, but you’re not going to be finishing this fight,” he whispers, and then he jumps us out of there before I can argue anymore.
I feel the rising and falling, the pressure in my head. We’re moving towards another world; this jump is talking so long that I am sure of it. And then suddenly, he shoves me away, and I fall back. There’s no more rising, only falling as I fall into the blackness of an abyss.
Chapter 24
The demon strolls into the house uninvited and as he expected, the residents of the house descend on him within seconds of him setting off the boundary ward.
“Where the fuck is she?” the blond fae growls, storming in quicker than the others. His guilt at letting Mona slip away without him is eating him from the inside.
The tall elf shoves him up against the wall. The demon makes no move to block the attack, trying not to smirk at the ridiculous action. He can’t help but think that the fool would regret that decision if he made it so. But fighting isn’t why he is here.
“She passed the tests,” the demon says.
“Then where is she?” another of the men demands. The demon stares at the Asian-featured man curiously. He smells like a feline shifter, but there’s something else there. An energy that comes off him that doesn’t quite fit.
“She was taken,” the demon eventually replies, shrugging off the strange feeling he gained from the shifter.
“Taken where? Yer nae making any sense,” the witch questions.
“If I knew where she was, I wouldn’t be here, would I?” he drawls, seemingly unconcerned.
“What do you mean you don’t know where she is?” the elf questions, his grip tightening on the demon’s shoulder.
“After the last task, she was taken by someone, a higher demon who was unhappy with the result. I am not sure where she is now. I’m here to get something of hers to use for a tracking spell, so I can return her to you as per my agreement with her.”
“Don’t tell me you believe him,” the fae snaps, glaring at the elf as he releases the demon.
“Calm down, Nick. He brought her back last time, we have to believe he will do it again,” the elf says. He tries to be reassuring in his tone, but he doesn’t feel it inside of himself, the dread already rising as he imagines all the terrible things that could be happening to her right now.
“Mason, go grab something of hers, will ye?” the witch asks, keeping his cerulean eyes firmly on the demon, not wanting to let him out of his sight. The other man moves quickly from the room, racing up the stairs to fetch something.
“So, once she’s found she’s safe from you all?” the elf questions, as he crosses his thick arms across his chest. The stance is meant to be intimidating, but the demon has faced much more terrifying creatures than the man who stands before him.
“She will sign, and then as a higher demon, she is safe from all those who have also bound themselves to our agreement. We choose mutually assured survival over destruction in our world. Pity your race cannot achieve the same,” he comments.
The elf grits his teeth, barely containing his urge to lash out and strike the demon. The two sides of his race have been at war for years, and as a result, so few of them remained. The light elves considered his half of their kind evil and dangerous. This is because their magic comes in a different way, and their abilities and strengths differ. He personally had always stayed away from the darker edges of the dark elves’ magic, knowing that they are still closely watched and persecuted for it.
“Here,” the man says, as he races back down the stairs, a small rock in hand.
“A rock?” the demon questions, looking at it sceptically.
“I know when tracking spells go badly that the item used can be destroyed, so this is something of hers that she hopefully won’t miss. It should work, she considers it a possession,” he replies, as he throws it to the demon from the bottom of the stairs. He catches it with ease.
“It will have to do,” he says. He holds out both of his hands in front of him, one with the rock in, the other empty. “Et ignem ut cresceret dominus est lapis,” he whispers. Green flames flare from the empty hand, and he places the stone into them. Flashes of images flare through his mind, but nowhere can he place her. He can’t reach her. She’s alive, but she’s not in this world, or in any other that he can reach her in.
“She’s not in the world, the demon world, or any other that she could be reached in,” he says to the men, as the flames go out in is hand. The rock cracks, and he drops the crumbling remains to the floor.
“What do you mean she’s not in any of the worlds?” the fae questions, narrowing his emerald eyes on the demon.
“That she’s not in any of the worlds we can reach. I can think of only one place they could have chosen to hide her,” he replies.
“Where?” the man on the bottom of the stairs asks.
“In a place that’s not a place, a world that’s not a world,” he drawls.
“Can you be any vaguer?” the fae snaps sarcastically.
“She’s stuck in the between space,” he says.
“That cannae be possible,” the witch says, running a hand over his stubble as he struggles to keep still.
“But it is. She would be in a dream-like state. The only way to reach her and pull her back would be through a link,” he begins. They all lean forward listening, caught onto the demon’s words, as they fall straight into the plan he’d devised. “I’d need your assistance, it takes at least three with magic to ground me in place while I reach her. I cannot exactly trust another demon to assist me, as most wish her dead…” he trails off, allowing his words to sink in.
The four men look between each other, and then at the demon, realising that will have to assist him, if they want any chance of bringing Mona home. They communicate with their eyes, they’re all willing to considering anything if it will work.
“How would this happen?” the elf questions, his voice low.
“I would reach her through the favour mark she still carries of mine, that weaker link would allow me to reach her mentally, but it’s not strong enough to pull her back. I need to make a deeper link.”
Chapter 25
I step outside into the garden bathed in golden sunlight, my red heels clicking softly over the pathway as I walk. I’m about halfway through the beautiful garden when I realise I have no idea why I’m here. I look around taking in all the bright colours, the leaves covering the tall garden walls are striking shades of purple and pink. Blue flowers litter the ground all over in unorganised, but beautiful chaos. The sweet smell they’re giving off is almost dizzying.
I spot something out of place. A peacock feather lies on the ground in front of me. I slowly walk towards it and cast a glance around myself, ensuring I am alone in this garden. I reach down for the feather and stand back up straight, holding the feather out in front of me. There’s something familiar about this, something I need to remember. I’m trying to latch onto the thoughts slipping out of grasp in my mind, but they keep escaping me. I twirl the feather around in my hand.
“What’s going on?” I ask it softly, not expecting an answer, after all, it’s only a feather. I feel a soft breath on the back of my neck. I try to turn around, but hands grab my sides and hold me in place, and I feel the warmth of a body pressed up against mine from behind me.
“That’s what I’m trying to find out, kitten,” a familiar voice drawls softly. I twist out of the arms caging me and face the familiar stranger.
“Who are you?” I demand. A sad smile stretches across his beautiful face, the glow in his red eyes dulling.
“Love, you’ve already forgotten me? I’m wounded.”
He smiles again, the smile not reaching his eyes. I twist my hands around each other to keep them to myself, I find myself wanting to reach out and tell him it’s okay, but for some reason, I can’t bring myself to.
“Where are we?” I ask, trying to understand what’s going on.
“We’re nowhere and everywhere.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I growl back at him, a feeling of frustration rising.
“I suppose it doesn’t,” he answers nonchalantly. He pulls a pair of sunglasses from the pocket of his shorts. Looking down I realise that’s all he’s wearing. I stare at him, taking in every inch of his toned body. A cough startles me and I look up at him, flushing red. He’s donned his sunglasses and is holding out a second pair for me. I take them and slide them over my eyes. Instantly a cold air takes over me, the light in the beautiful garden dims, the plants recede into the ground. The bright colours fade out, left in their place, a barren grey wasteland. The only colour comes from the burning red sun that blares down. I stumble back from the man.
“What the hell did you do?” I shout as I try to pull the glasses off, but they remain in place.
“I’m showing you the truth, love.”
“The truth? What’s going on?”
“Love, I haven’t got much longer to explain, but you need to listen to me. Remember, that merry band of idiot men of yours? They’re quite insistent I bring you home.”
“Merry band of idiot men?”
“Yes, the tall one, Kaden was very insistent. Hell, they all were. Callan, Mason and Nikolas too, they need you to come back.”
“Kaden, Callan, Mason and Nikolas…. Nick,” I roll the names out, testing them on my tongue, the familiarity of the names making me feel a sense of closeness to these strangers. I look up at the man again. “And who are you?”
“I’m just the one who got you into this mess, love,” he says softly.
