Her words hurt, but I couldn’t blame her. “I’m sorry,” I murmured, devastated. “I never would have wanted you to go through all this because of me.”
“Your apologizing can’t change the way things are.”
I stopped her again. “I’m here now.”
She looked down at my hand on her arm and raised her eyes to mine. “It’s too late.”
I swallowed. Deep in my chest I had the terrible feeling I’d lost her forever. I’d thought Hell had erased me from her heart, but this was even worse. Stella remembered, but it wasn’t enough to bring her back to me. Just the opposite, in fact. She hated me for what I had done to her. It wasn’t just a question of winning her back. I had to make amends.
“It’s not too late. I’ll get you out of this living hell.”
“If you really believe that, you’re delusional.” She turned her back on me, resignation in her voice. “No one can get out of Hell. You can only hope to survive.”
I watched her as she walked away. No. I wouldn’t give up so easily. I would keep my promise and bring her back.
The ground trembled beneath our feet, as though in protest. Stella turned to me, her troubled eyes locked on mine. The next second, Hell burst open, swallowing her up.
6
To Each His Own Hell
“Stella!” I shouted, rushing to the chasm that had opened in the earth.
An arrow shot out of the darkness of the abyss and I dodged it just in time. A cord was tied to one end of it but the arrow missed its target, stopped in midair, and began to fall back down.
Without thinking twice I leapt over the chasm to grab it. “Got it!” I came to a rolling halt on the other side, but Stella’s weight dragged me back toward the edge. “Stellaaa!”
“I’m here!” she shouted. Stella was shrouded in darkness but her voice was loud and clear. I had to hang on to her.
The cord slipped again. She was trying to climb up it, but it was making my grip unstable. “Don’t move,” I shouted, hoping she would listen to me for once. “I’ll pull you up.” I planted my feet firmly on the ground and wound the rope around my palm. Clenching my jaw, I endured the pain: the wound inflicted by the raptor still burned. Stella was right, it wasn’t wise to intentionally get hurt in Hell. Still, I had experienced worse.
I gritted my teeth, my muscles taut from the strain. With one last savage grunt of effort I pulled her up over the edge. Our eyes lingered on each other as I held her tight.
“Hi,” I whispered, my breathing ragged. She smiled, but Hell trembled again and we shot to our feet. “What’s going on?” I asked, uneasy. It felt like the entire kingdom was about to erupt.
“We’re near the volcano. We need to get out of here!” A burst of air announced the eruption of a geyser, just steps away from us. “This way, quick!”
I followed Stella through what looked like a twisted forest of giant boulders that spread out before us. It wasn’t easy to dodge the geysers that sprang up with no warning and threatened to burn us. When the heat became suffocating, I looked up and saw it: a huge volcano with crystal-clear lava. What was coming out of its crater wasn’t fire. Hell spewed poison instead, disintegrating everything in its path. I scrambled onto a boulder that was sheltered from its spray.
“This way!” I shouted to Stella, who ran toward me as the geysers erupted more and more ferociously. Once more I heard a growl rise from the depths of Hell: its grim warning before the ground burst open again. My eyes bulged when I saw that the fissure was streaking toward Stella.
“Take my hand!” I called urgently, leaning over the rock. Stella looked behind her and gaped as the entire world split in two. She wasn’t going to make it.
“Come on, run!” She took a giant leap and threw herself into the void. Her hand grabbed mine and I gripped it tightly. Beneath her, a river of poison flowed. One of the raptors we had brought with us slid down and was vaporized in midair. We stared at each other, panting, our eyes full of fear. It was the first time I had seen her so vulnerable.
“I was really afraid I was going to lose you,” I blurted.
She clung to the rock and pulled herself up. “Get used to the feeling, soldier,” she said, putting up her defenses again.
“I just saved you. You could at least say thanks.”
“I would’ve managed on my own. I don’t need you,” she flung back harshly over her shoulder as she strode out of the stone labyrinth to a spot where the ground was more stable.
Inside me, a fissure spread all the way to my heart. Would I ever manage to break through those defenses? I wasn’t sure. But if I could make even a tiny opening, that would be enough for me.
“You’re quiet. That’s not like you.” We had been walking for a long time, dragging the remaining raptor behind us.
“I’m thinking of my brothers and sisters. I’m worried about them.”
“I don’t remember you having siblings.”
“They’re not blood relatives, but it’s like they are. After I lost you I didn’t have anybody. Until I met them. Evan, Simon, Ginevra . . . Gemma. They’re my family.”
“They’re on Earth?”
I nodded. “They’re all in danger.” I didn’t dare imagine how things had gone for them after I’d left them. “A Subterranean attacked us in our own home. That’s how I ended up here.”
“He killed you? Why would a Subterranean attack one of his own kind?”
“His mission is to kill Gemma. She’s a mortal and her time’s been up for a while now . . . but we kept Death from taking her.”
“Why?”
“Because she and Evan are in love. He was the first one assigned to execute Gemma, but he disobeyed his orders and instead of killing her, he protected her. We all did.”
“A mortal and a Soldier of Death? I don’t know whether to call that macabre or romantic.”
I smiled. “They’re not the strangest couple. Ginevra’s a Witch, but she’s with my brother Simon, who’s a Subterranean too.” I shot her a look. “Come to think of it, we’re missing a Damned Soul in our group. The award for couple of the year goes to you and me.” I winked at her, hoping she would understand that the color of her blood didn’t matter to me.
“A Witch with a Subterranean beats everything. How did she ever end up with all of you?”
“She’s not like her Sisters. She’s part of the family. So’s Gemma. We were protecting her from the Subterraneans sent in to kill her when one of them took on the appearance of Simon during combat training. I completely fell for it. By the time I realized what was going on it was too late. If only I could get my hands on that bastard . . .” I growled, fuming. “His real target wasn’t me. After he’d stabbed me he took on my appearance to brag about his plan: disguised as me, he could get close to Gemma, so killing her would be child’s play. Naturally they would blame me for it.” I ran my hand down my face, frustrated. “I can only hope he wasn’t successful. I wish I could warn them.”
“You can’t,” she replied coldly.
“You sure know how to comfort a guy.”
“Words of comfort are an illusion. They don’t change how things are. Facing the facts will make you overcome your problems more quickly.”
“I don’t hear any hope in your words.”
“There is no hope in Hell.”
Her voice was dull. I could understand why Stella had been forced to erect such an impenetrable shield around herself, but I couldn’t accept that it had extinguished her spark, leaving her in a pit of darkness. I would be her fire, even at the cost of turning to ash.
Stella leaned against a boulder and unhooked a canteen from her belt. She raised it to her mouth but there was no water left.
“Thirsty?” I asked her, concerned.
She pointed to a small field of purple flowers nearby. They were almost as tall as we were and had corkscrew stems. “Those are torquinias. They contain a rich liquid composed of water and protein.”
“Let’s stock up, then.” I took hold
of one of the flowers by its stem and cut through it, but it disintegrated at my touch. I looked at Stella, raising my hands defensively. “I was gentle, I swear.”
Her smile lit up her face. “It’s not your fault. You can’t separate a torquinia from its root. Besides, the nutrients are all right here. See?” She pushed the leaves aside to show me the little bulges on the long stalk that collected into a larger bulge at its base. “Do what I do.” Stella spread the flower open and showed me the little tube inside it. She rested her lips on it, keeping her eyes steadily on mine, which had the effect of leaving me in a daze. “Be careful not to tear the petals or the flower will wither,” she said, recalling my attention.
I followed her lead and soon the sweet liquid touched my mouth. It tasted good and was thirst-quenching. And yet, all I could think of at that moment was her, her eyes on mine and her lips resting on the flower, igniting my desire for her. I wished I could feel her lips against my own. I could only imagine how warm and sweet they were.
“Oh, fuck it!” I pushed the flowers aside with my arm and grabbed Stella passionately. My mouth instantly found her lips, as though it had never left them. She let herself be swept up in the moment. I pressed her back against a tree, my mind fogged by the heat of her body. She was the only thing that could satiate me. Our tongues touched and I lost myself in her, forgetting everything else. I felt delirious now that I had found her. Stella was my compass. Without her, I had lost my way. I felt every fiber of my being melting, longing to meld with her. I sank my hands into her hair to hold her tight, but Stella shoved me away.
“What the hell are you doing?” she snapped.
“You seemed to enjoy it,” I said, confused.
She moved closer, her expression suddenly sensual. Resting her hand on my inner thigh, she slowly slid it up to my crotch, leaving me speechless. Before I knew it she’d snatched up one of my curved daggers and held it to my throat. “If you like your head attached, keep your distance, soldier. Not even you could survive without it.”
“Sorry, I’m a passionate guy. I can’t help it!” I winked at her and my impertinent smile annoyed her even more. She turned her back on me and started walking again. “Come on, admit it. It wasn’t so bad.” I had noticed how her lips had parted to welcome mine as our bodies fused with the heat of that kiss.
“You’re cocky, has anyone ever told you that?”
“Lots of times, actually.”
“Oh, go to hell,” she snorted, picking up her pace. I grabbed her wrist and she protested. “Hey!”
“Shh.” I held a finger to her lips. I had heard something. “Wait here.”
I crept over to the boulder blocking our view and peered around it. Stella followed me, ignoring my instructions. In some ways she was even more stubborn than me.
When she saw the creature on the other side of the rock, a worried look spread over her face. She leaned back against the boulder and sighed. “This is all we needed, damn it.”
“What’s the problem? There’s only one of them and we’re armed to the teeth.”
She looked at me as though I was raving. “That’s a Molock. We have zero chance against it. Besides, there’s never only one of them.”
I peered out again. The enormous beast was on high alert. Its mighty buffalo hooves slowly pawed the ground and its human torso turned first to the right and then to the left as it sniffed the air, detecting our scent. I had never seen anything like it, not even in the Opalion. I definitely would have remembered an abomination like that.
Even its skin was black, like a buffalo’s. Its limbs were covered with a thick reddish fur that made its way up its back and framed its face. Its chest had no fur, just a shapeless mass of frightening-looking muscles, and its deformed skull formed a pointy crown. But it was the gruesome snarl frozen on its face that gave it an absolutely loathsome appearance. With those horrible sabertooth fangs filling its mouth, the creature took the expression ‘armed to the teeth’ to a whole new level.
It advanced in our direction, sniffing the air through slits that moved like gills on its cheeks. I looked at the raptor I’d tied up and slung on my back. It was still bloody. “Shit. We’ve got to get rid of this thing.”
“We should mask our scent too,” Stella suggested.
I took a step back and my foot sank into a puddle of mud. “I’ve got an idea. Hand me your rope.”
Stella did as I said. I quickly tied up the bird and hoisted it onto a branch, then took Stella’s hand and guided her in the opposite direction, where the puddle of mud became a deep pit. “Ready?”
Immediately understanding my intentions, she nodded. A savage cry put us on our guard. We had to hurry.
“Don’t let go of my hand,” I told her before immersing us both in the filthy pit.
It was a good thing we didn’t need to breathe. Still, I felt Stella’s panic growing. She tightened her grip on my hand. I pressed my body against hers so she would know I was there. We had to stay hidden until the monster went away.
I couldn’t see the Molock. Its hooves still shook the ground but they seemed distant. The time was right. We reemerged, totally covered with mud. There was no sign of the beast, but as a precaution we crawled back onto dry land without standing up. We were near a river, but . . . who knew if the Molock could swim?
“This way.” Stella motioned for me to follow her, moving out ahead of me.
At first I didn’t get what she was doing when I saw her searching through the leaves. Then I realized something was hidden among them. “What is it?”
My eyes went wide when I saw a small overturned boat.
“Our ride,” she said with a smile.
All at once the ground trembled beneath us, shaken by the galloping of mighty hooves. There couldn’t have been only one of them this time.
“Under the boat, quick!” I slid beneath the wooden hull and Stella followed me, our enemies’ hoofbeats coming closer and closer.
“We’ve got to cover our scent completely! We can’t let them smell us!” she warned me, urgency in her voice.
To make sure Stella was well covered with mud, I spread it over her arms, neck, and face, my hands lingering on her skin. For a second it felt like it was just her and me, hiding like children who’ve been playing in the mud.
But the thudding of hoofbeats soon brought me back to reality. I stretched out by her side and even held my breath. They were right there, surrounding us. Hopefully the mud and leaves wouldn’t give us away. If they did, I would sacrifice myself for her, distract them so she could escape. I was ready.
Through a tiny opening I could see them as they shuffled their enormous hooves, snorting rapaciously down their long tusks. In the tense silence, Stella reached her hand through the mud and grabbed mine. I stroked it, interlaced my fingers with hers, and our eyes sought each other’s. With her hand in mine, I thought I could happily have died.
A war cry burst out not far away and in reply several Molock let out a similar noise, galloping off in that direction. I heaved a sigh of relief. “They must’ve found that bird of ours.”
Stella withdrew her hand from mine and got up. “We’d better hurry. It won’t take them long to devour it.”
I helped her turn the little boat right-side up and we pushed it into the water. Once inside, we lay down in the bottom to hide. The oars seemed to move on their own, almost like it was some kind of haunted craft. Once we were far from the riverbank, we sat up. The mist had covered our traces and luckily we couldn’t see the shore.
“That was close,” Stella said, breaking the ghostly silence. “So what do you say, now that you’ve had a taste of Hell?”
I folded my arms behind my head and lay down again. “Oh, it’s loads of fun. Remind me to buy a ticket for my next summer vacation.”
Stella laughed and wiped the mud off her face with a cloth. “Yeah, right. You’d still be in the Gluttons’ den if I hadn’t pulled your ass out of there. And you don’t need a ticket to come back for summer vacation be
cause you’re never getting out of here.”
I moved my face closer to hers, suddenly serious. “We’re getting out of here. I’ll find a way.”
“No one has ever gotten out of Hell,” she insisted.
Something rammed into the boat. “Brace yourself!” I shouted. Peering through the mist surrounding us, I glimpsed something gliding across the surface of the water. The creature struck the hull again and Stella let out a scream, clinging to the side of the boat. “You okay?” I shouted with concern. She nodded but squeezed her eyes shut, as though in pain.
Whatever it was, the creature was enormous and wanted to capsize us. There was nothing we could do. Our best bet was to hide and hope it went away.
“Stay down and don’t move,” I whispered. She did as I said. We lay on our bellies. Little by little the waves calmed and the boat stopped rocking back and forth. I raised my eyes to Stella’s and found them waiting for me, close enough to probe deep into mine. For a second everything stopped and I saw nothing but her. The ink on her face brought out her eyes—and her mouth. The yearning to touch her lips with mine became almost painful.
A series of grunts checked my impulse. I scowled. Every time I got close to Stella, Hell got between us. Would we ever be safe?
It was up to me to check whether we had run into some other danger. I slowly raised my head and instantly ducked down again, wishing I hadn’t looked in the first place. What I’d seen on the bank were Souls devouring each other, tearing the flesh off each other like zombies. They were the Insane, the only kind of Souls in Hell who had lost every trace of their humanity. They fed off raw flesh or—even worse—still-living creatures. They were an abomination but, unlike in the movies, weren’t brainless, bloodthirsty creatures. Instead, they were sly and dangerous. I would never allow Stella to lose her humanity and turn into one of those creatures. I would get her out of there. I stroked her cheek and she let me, still gazing into my eyes.
The boat banged into something. We flinched, thinking it was the swamp creature again. Instead it was a rock close to shore. I jumped into the water, which reached my chest. “Quick, we’ve got to swim to shore before that thing comes back.”
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