The blade tore through the demon as if he was made out of a watermelon instead of solid rock. I called on my gift, and the blade came speeding back toward me, ripping through the demon again. I snatched the blade out of the air and marched forward as the demon hit the ground and slid toward the edge of the fountain. I cut off his head and tossed it away before ducking back into the fountain for one last attempt to get clean.
Hopping out of the water, I used a little fire magic to heat my clothes. It only took a second for the magic to do its thing. Steam rose off of me, and then I was dry again. My clothes were stained, but there was nothing I could do about it now. I had left my go bag in the last palace that I had visited, and frankly, I had no intention of ever going back for it.
At least my swords were clean. It might have sounded vain, but I didn’t want to challenge a prince of hell looking like I had been sleeping under a park bench for a week. But what did it really matter? All I wanted to do was get home. If it took me going back in shredded clothes and smelling like shit, so be it. It was worth it.
Movement from the side of the building caught my eye, and I noticed Erik and his crew, as well as about twenty extra humans, making their way toward me. When they reached me, he smiled and extended his hand.
“Seems like maybe you had a little more fun than we did.”
“I’m not sure about that. It seems like you made some new friends,” I said as we broke our shake.
“That we did. Would you like to do the honors this time?” He held out the device that would trigger the detonation.
“That’s almost too kind of you.” Reaching out, I hit the button, and the explosions went off. As the building crumbled to the ground, a cheer rose up from the crowd of people I was with. They started chanting, and it was one word repeated over and over. Redeemer.
Erik signaled for the retreat, and then we were running. Two men fell behind, and I could see they were struggling to bring the woman who had been beaten with them. I had thought she would have been dead, but against all odds, she wasn’t. Turning to the men, I said, “Put her on the ground and catch up with the others.” They did what I said without question and took off at a run. Erik paused at the corner of the building and waited for me, looking nervous.
There was no way to heal her enough to run again, but I could do enough that running with her over my shoulder wouldn’t damage her further. I placed my hands on her and did what I could. I was no healer, but I promised myself that I would try and learn more when I could. The woman’s eyes fluttered open for a moment and then closed again. I tossed her over my shoulder and started running. If it wasn’t for my wolf, I wouldn’t have made it more than a mile, but my legs kept churning long after that. By the time I set her down in the tin hut, it felt like I had been running for a day. We had done it. Now I had a prince to find.
Chapter Ten
Jackson
There was a celebration happening outside of the tin hut, but I wasn’t in the mood to celebrate. We had killed a ton of innocent people today. Yes, we did it for the greater good, and I had even pushed one of the detonation buttons myself. That didn’t mean I had to feel good about it.
It was influenced by the bleak outlook that the humans here had on life. They were willing to die and to kill their own people if it meant seeing the demons suffer. Thoughts of what I had seen in Adramelech’s kingdom flashed through my mind. That was no way to live. People shouldn’t only have the option between death and an existence worse than death. To wake up every day knowing you will most likely be beaten, raped, and eaten was no way to live. Not knowing which order it would happen in only made it worse. Maybe they were right. The demons had to be stopped at any cost. Suddenly I was filled with a sense of urgency.
Cass slipped into the room, holding a plate of food and some bandages. “I came to check on you,” she said with a smile. “Thank you for making sure that Erik returned to me today.”
I waved away her thanks; I didn’t deserve it. Erik had taken care of himself. She handed me the plate of meat and veggies and then moved to the side of the room. After filling a bowl with water and grabbing a clean cloth, she returned to my side and the woman lying there. She started to clean her wounds as I dug into the food.
Maybe it wasn’t the right time to be eating, but I had used my magic, and I would need all of my strength to fight the prince. The longer I sat here, the more determined I was to get this over with. The longer I gave him to prepare, the harder it would be to get there. We needed to go now. I shoved the last of the food into my mouth and stood up.
Cass gave me an incredulous look as I set the empty tray down. Yes, I had eaten enough food for three people in less than five minutes. What could I say? The beast inside of me was hungry. “Please do your best to take care of her.”
Cass looked up at me with a look of adoration I didn’t deserve. “I will.”
Walking out of the room, I spotted Erik and headed in his direction. He had a mug of beer in his hand, and some of it had clearly dribbled through his beard. “I need to get to Phenex.”
He clapped me on the back. “Now? We are celebrating.”
“It won’t last long if we can’t get to him.” That wiped the smile from his face.
The men around us were still cheering and eating. Erik looked around and then yelled into the air. “Silence.” Everyone stopped what they were doing almost at once. “The redeemer wishes to speak.”
Wishes to speak? What in the fuck was he thinking? I didn’t want to address these people. I wanted Erik to live up to his end of our agreement and take me to the prince. I had absolutely no idea what to say. Every pair of eyes in the room turned toward me.
“We accomplished something great today.” They broke out into cheers. “But the fight isn’t over. We need to take the battle to Phenex.” The room went silent. “The longer we give him to prepare, the harder this fight will be for all of us. We need to strike hard and fast. We need to strike now.”
The room stayed in complete silence after my speech. None of these men were equipped to take on a prince of hell. I understood their fear, their desire not to go, but it had to be done. I turned to Erik and met his eyes. He looked away from me and then down at the floor. It hurt me to know he had no intention of helping me now. Despite all of his bravado, he was just as scared as the rest of them.
A young man stepped from the crowd. He was dirty and couldn’t have been more than sixteen. “I will fight with you, Redeemer. I would gladly give my life for the cause.”
Two men pushed the boy back into the crowd, shouting at him. They told him he didn’t know what he was saying and that he needed to go back to his mother. He fought against them but couldn’t break free.
Another man stepped forward. He was old, probably in his seventies. “I will fight for you as well.”
One by one, more men came forward and pledged themselves to me. Only Erik and his chosen warriors refused to join them. The elder limped on a cane into the room and strode out into the center of the gathered crowd.
When she spoke, her voice rang out clear and true. “We have already promised the Redeemer our help. Will you make a liar of us all, Erik?”
He hung his head in shame. Cass moved out of the tin structure and went to stand by his side. Her hand wove its way into his, and she gave it a firm squeeze. When he looked up at me, Erik had tears in his eyes, but his gaze was as fierce as ever.
“I am with you, Redeemer. Just tell me what needs to be done.”
For the next ten minutes, we came up with a rough plan. Most of it hinged on me being able to bring the prince almost to death's door before I was sent away. Then the men would finish him off. Erik and his men started passing out weapons to everyone who wanted to join the fray. I was surprised to see Cass with a sword in hand, but also relieved. We could do this.
Erik pointed toward one of the tunnels out of the underground complex. “This way.”
He started to jog through the tunnel, and I followed. The next few hours
would decide the fate of this world. Hopefully I could do enough for them to secure a better future. I felt close to these people now, and I didn’t want any of them to die for me. If it came to it, I would kill the prince even if it meant never seeing my family again. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
It took us several hours of traversing through the underground system before we reached the palace. The iron grate barring the entrance into the area had been ripped aside. The damage had occurred some time ago based off of the rust and mold growing from the grate. Once we stepped over the threshold, I was that much closer to a chance at making it home. If everything worked out as planned, I would be there in the next hour.
We worked our way up from the tunnels into the sewer system and finally out into the palace itself. It was such a drastic change from the burning wreckage of downtown, that I was stunned. The palace was clean, almost immaculate. Everything was polished and looked as if a design team from some home goods magazine had staged the place.
I motioned for Erik to join me. “We are going to make our way to the throne room. I’d like you to take the rear. I need someone I can trust back there.” He nodded, but I could tell that he wasn’t happy. “Once we reach the prince and I engage him in the fight, I’ll force him to open a portal for me. When I go through, you can lead the charge to finish him.”
His eyes sparkled at the thought of the prestige that would bring him as a warrior. I knew that I had him hook, line, and sinker. He was the right person to watch our backs. I knew that he would kill anything that saw us moving through the castle, without hesitation. It wouldn’t be much longer before this was all over. One way or another, my fate would be decided tonight.
Moving out into the hallway, I looked both directions before settling on the way to go. The furniture and décor seemed to get richer in one direction. That was the direction that I selected. Each room seemed slightly gaudier than the last. Energy thrummed through my body. The anticipation was nearly killing me. I told myself to focus. If I couldn’t find a way to do that, then my journey would end right here.
We moved through the castle slowly. A few demons going about their daily routine happened upon us. We killed them quickly and without mercy, tucking their bodies away. We shouldn’t be here for long enough that the bodies would be discovered. If for some reason someone found them before I engaged in the fight with Phenex, we might be in trouble. As long as I was fighting the prince before they were discovered, we were all set.
Two massive stone doors loomed at the end of the corridor. I hoped this was our final destination. We stopped outside of the doors. I motioned for Erik to join me at the front. “Keep your men to either side of these doors. I’d like the prince to think I came here alone. If for some reason he sends other demons into the fray, you can engage. Otherwise, wait for my signal.”
“What will your signal be?”
“The prince should be dead or dying and holding a portal open.”
“I will be sad to see you go, Redeemer.”
“There are people waiting for me whom I need to get back to.”
“Ah, then you do this for a woman.”
I clapped my hand on his shoulder, and we both smiled. “Of course. Is there any other reason we do this crazy shit?” He laughed, and I motioned for him to move the men. He quickly moved up and down the line, moving them to one side of the door or the other. Once they were all out of sight, I opened both stone doors, shoving them to the side until they hit the wall.
The room I entered seemed as if it was made out of white marble. Every surface shined as though a team of slaves polished it every morning. Fuck, they probably did. The white marble floor extended to the other side of the room and up into a throne. Pillars led down the single walkway. It was impressive as hell.
The demon on the throne didn’t move as I entered the chamber. That didn’t surprise me. Much like his sibling, he probably didn’t have any respect for my kind. That would be changing soon enough.
He maintained his human guise as he sat on the throne. White fur covered the cold stone, and he had one leg draped over the side. His posture was full of arrogance, and he was focused on some little gem in his hands. He turned it this way and that, watching the light reflect off of it. If nothing else, I hated him for being a demon, but seeing the way demons treated humans in his city filled me with a rage that burned a thousand times hotter.
I stopped about forty feet away from the throne, waiting for the demon to turn toward me. He sat there ignoring me, completely lost in whatever fascination he had with the crystal. Finally, he turned toward me and stood. He had on tight bright purple pants with black vertical stripes, and a coat made out of the skin of a white wolf. The wolf’s head rested atop his own, but his chest remained bare to the world. One of his nipples was pierced, and from it dangled the tooth of some creature.
All in all, it was a slightly ridiculous ensemble that made me think of something out of Clockwork Orange, or some mix of science fiction and fantasy gone wrong. Despite his look, I could feel the power radiating off of him. He was a demon through and through, and a powerful one. He tossed the gem back onto the throne before continuing toward me. When he reached me, he walked around me in a slow circle, trailing a finger along my shoulders.
He stepped back, appraising me. He put one finger to his mouth, and his eyes crinkled. “I really don’t see what all the fuss is about.”
I waited there, saying absolutely nothing. He might not have understood what all the fuss was about, but one of the other princes did. It wouldn’t be long before he came to the same understanding. I couldn’t wait to wipe that arrogant look off of his face.
“You didn’t even dress for the occasion,” he said with a pout.
“Well, I’ve had a pretty busy day.”
His smile vanished almost instantly. “For that, I would love to see you pay.” He spun around with a flourish and sashayed back to his throne. “Unfortunately, I’ve been asked to make you an offer. Personally, I’d rather kill you, but Father seems to think you might be a danger to us. I haven’t the foggiest idea why.”
He smiled down at me as he sat back down on his throne. “And the offer?”
His eyes twinkled, and for the first time, I noticed that he might have had purple glitter above them. “Everything you want, of course. Passage back home, and our promise not to invade your world for the foreseeable future.”
Well, that was something I hadn’t expected. I wanted to go home, to see April, to be able to hold her in my arms again and hear her calling my name as I slipped inside of her. At the same time, there was no way I could leave now. The people here would face harsh repercussions from our actions today. If I left now, it would haunt me forever.
“I’m going to need something to sweeten the pot.”
Phenex leaned forward with his lips pulled back, exposing his sharp teeth. “Do tell.”
“I want you and your kind gone from this world, and the one I have already liberated as well. If you can do that, then I’ll leave peacefully.”
He leaned back in his chair with a foppish look on his face, and I knew he was only pretending to consider my offer. He turned his gaze back to me. “I told Father this was a waste of time. If you give them an inch, they will try and take everything from you. He seemed to think you’d be more reasonable considering your woman was in our care, but I told him that was simply ridiculous.”
Wait, did he just say that they had April? If that was true, the need for me to get home was much greater than I thought it was. I wouldn’t have to wait long now. He would change soon, and I would have to be ready for anything. I took a few steps back to gain some space. I wanted at least a few seconds to size up the situation before I had to act. “You have April?”
“Indeed we do, but back on your world. None of that matters now. You’ll never see her again.” He stepped forward, and his body shimmered. The change happened so quickly, that I almost didn’t have time to process it before I was diving out of the way
of his first attack.
Had I seen that right? Was it even possible? I poked my head around the pillar and looked at the snarling face. I had seen it right, and this wasn’t going to be easy. Phenex had turned into a giant white wolf with purple eyes. Saliva dripped from his open jaws as he slowly circled around, hunting me. He was going to be quick and aggressive. If that wasn’t enough, I had no idea what his weaknesses were. There wouldn’t be any hiding from that nose. This battle was going to be gruesome. I just hoped that I came out of it alive.
When I say giant wolf, I don’t mean Game of Thrones direwolf size. More like William Corvinus in Underworld. Phenex snapped his jaws and darted his head around the pillar. Rolling away, I cast a wall of fire out in front of me. The edge of it singed the wolf’s giant paw. It didn’t look to have done any lasting damage. The only thing that I could tell I had accomplished was pissing him off.
My wolf called to me; it wanted to be free. Frankly, I was inclined to let him out. This was a creature I would never truly understand how to fight. If my wolf could destroy him, then it was worth the pain. I created three rings of fire around me, sending them slowly out into the room. As the third ring was created, I opened my mind and called to my wolf. He surged forward, and I fell to the ground, gasping in pain.
My mother said it got easier with time, that after a while, the change would come and go without a thought. I hadn’t reached that point yet. Every time one of my bones broke and reformed, it was pure agony. The only blessing was that the change seemed to be happening faster than before. As soon as it was done, my wolf pulled out my swords and howled a challenge into the room.
It was hard for me to take a back seat to the action, but this worked better if I just let him take control. There was no point in slowing down the natural reflexes of my beast. The giant wolf snapped his jaws and growled in challenge as my new scent reached him. It had to make him angry to have another wolf challenging him here in his den. It still wasn’t exactly what I would call a fair battle. Phenex was nine feet tall at the shoulder, and easily as long. He was going to be fast, and one bite from those jaws, and this was over. My wolf didn’t seem worried. At least that made one of us.
Redemption (Ascendancy Legacy 6) Page 9
