I wiped the blood from my mouth and turned back to Nathan. “So this whole deal, everything since last summer has been an attempt on Treggen’s part to take over the timestream.” My mind spun as I tried to take all that in. “So all of it, the Urisk, Miguel’s death, all of those were just steps toward his end game.”
The doors opened, and Scathiks stepped in. “Time’s up, Niner,” he said to Nathan with a chipper little grin.
Nathan got to his feet and looked me in the eyes. “It was good to see you, Vincent. Maybe we’ll get a chance to talk again.” He walked out of the room without looking back. Scathiks looked me up and down, then glanced around the room. His gaze fell on the fridge, which I hadn’t bothered to close, and he saw the Pepsi inside. He scooted over, reached in, and took one of the sodas, popped off its top and downed it in a few gulps.
“Wow, that’s sweet,” he said. “I see why you’d like this.” There was a popping sound as another Pepsi materialized in the fridge. “See, the room’s getting to know you. It’ll learn all the things you like and will provide all of them, but it’ll keep them just out of reach.” He held up his thumb and forefinger, about an inch apart.
“Yeah, I already figured that out, thanks,” I said.
“Oh, a right smart fella ya are then, aren’t ya?” Scathiks grinned. “Didja know that there are cordlings in here?”
“What?”
In response, a pair of chains burst from the wall and clamped down on my good wrist and my bad elbow. I grunted in pain as they latched into place. “These are cordlings,” Scathiks said. “They’re going to keep ya in yer room. This is part of yer prescription from the good doctor, see? No lock on yer door. The good doctor says you have apertus energy, and can Open things. Even if yer branded, there’s always a chance that ya might be able to overpower the brands, and get out. The cordlings’ll keep ya in.”
I tried to tap some of my apertus energy and Open the cordlings. In response, red eyes opened on the manacles, and teeth chomped into my flesh. I howled in pain as Scathiks fell over laughing. “Knew you’d try that, I did! Knew ya wouldn’t be able to help yerself. Gods are always the worst. Ya get used to having power and think ya can get out of anything. Oh, it’s going to be fun having ya down here, Vincent Corinthos. Fun, indeed.”
He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. “Now, I’ll be back to fetch ya first thing in the morning. Tonight, you’ll sleep in that comfy bed” — he gestured with his thumb over his shoulder — “and the cordlings will make sure ya have sweet dreams.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh, I forgot to mention that, didn’t I? Their saliva has a rather potent hallucinogen. You’ll be having nightmares like ya won’t believe. We might get lucky, and Lord Orcus will have one of his mind mages project yer thoughts on the big screen for us. I’ll make popcorn if he does.” He clapped his hands together. “Well, enough chit chat for one night. Ta.” The little demon vanished in a burst of gray smoke.
The cordlings hauled me over to the bed and bound me against the rough blanket. Hives broke out all over my skin. But nearly as soon as the sensation had registered, the pain was fading, and my head was spinning, no doubt going into the hallucinogenic dream world that Scathiks promised the cordlings would provide.
Tonight was going to suck.
Chapter 6
In the dream, things started out well enough. I was outside Woof’s, heading into HQ. Then the world rocked as an explosion tore through the Undercity, shattering the cobblestone streets and toppling buildings. Through the open front door, I saw Mrs. Rita, Jake, and Doc get crushed by falling debris as Woof’s collapsed in on itself. Screams reverberated around me, the ground still shaking, as demons with four glowing blue eyes came surging up through a crack in the Undercity street. Seven feet tall, with crimson skin and thick manes of white hair, these newcomers wasted no time laying waste to the Undercity.
Cather came surging out of his lair, his body rippling and shifting into a half-human, half-dragon form. “With me, Vincent!” he called. “We can stand against them!” And as he turned to unload hellfire on the demons, one of them jumped onto his back and slit his throat with a knife made of black stone. My kobolds came flooding out into the street, and Kleep looked up at me with sad eyes as the demons began ripping the kobolds apart.
“Why didn’t you save us?” he asked, just before a demon drove a blade through his eye socket.
I couldn’t move. Fear had me rooted in place. I wanted to scream, wanted to engage the demons, but I might as well have been a statue. The scene shifted, and now I was above ground, on the street not far from Antiquated Treasures. The ground cracked here, too, and the demons surged out and began trashing cars and slaughtering whoever they saw. Thad was by my side.
“Come on, Sweetie,” he said, producing a wand from his inside jacket pocket. “We’ll get these bastards,” my friend shot forward, sending green beams of energy from his wand tip. “Avada Kedavra, bitch,” he hissed, right before a winged demon swooped down from the sky and ripped his arms off. Thad turned to me, his eyes already glazing over as blood pumped from his shoulder sockets. “I’ve been disarmed, Vincent.” He fell to the ground, and hoards of little demon cockroaches began eating him.
The scene shifted again, and now I was in the cemetery where we’d buried the boss. The demons were ripping coffins out of the ground and either eating their occupants or animating them, building up a zombified army that fanned out into the city, swallowing it up.
“This is how you care for my city, Vincent?” I turned and saw Galahad XI sitting atop his own headstone. The boss’s clothes were covered in filth, and the bullet hole in the center of his forehead let me see through to the other side. “You failed to stop Carmilla from killing me, and now you’re letting demons run amok in Boston? Inquisitor Xavier, the Codex, the Care Taker himself all told me how dangerous you were, how reckless, and I trusted you.” Disgust filled his hollow features, and blood began to run from the bullet wound in his head. “You are a worthless agent and a failed god.”
Terror clutched at my chest so tightly it was as though a frozen vice was squeezing my heart. I found some strength and ran from the horrible visage of the boss, just needing to get away, away from everything, from everyone.
The scene shifted again, and now I was outside my apartment. Inside, I heard a series of crashes and bangs so loud they might as well have been labeled with old Batman TV show onomatopoeias. The door opened, and I saw a demon with a sledgehammer so ridiculously oversized that it belonged in a Final Fantasy game. Petra lay in shattered pieces on the floor, the demon bringing the hammer down again and again on her torso. Her head was just next to the door, and her brown eyes met mine with a mixture of anger and loathing. “You were never there for me,” she snapped. “Always running off on another mission, never thinking before you acted, never caring how it made me feel.” The hammer came down a final time, smashing Petra’s head to dust.
I screamed, and the world shifted again. Megan was standing across from me in the apartment where she’d been attacked by the strigoi viu rose. Her eyes had turned black and fangs descended over her lips. “You broke a promise to me,” she hissed. “I’m not fine anymore. And what’s worse, you failed to keep Herb safe.” Shadows lengthened all around her, and more demons were coming through the door, the windows. “Now you’re going to pay, Vincent.”
This was a level of fear I’d never experienced before in my life. My heart was beating so fast that I couldn’t feel the pauses between the beats. My vision narrowed, and the world dropped into slow motion as the demons began closing in.
And then I heard a voice.
I’m not sure if it was really there, or if it was just the product of my over-stimulated imagination. But I heard it, clear as a bell.
“Never let fear get the better of you.”
Commander Courageous’s voice, speaking the tagline of doze
ns of comics, cartoons, movies, and video games. And for the briefest moment, I saw something — a small stone structure in the woods with a simple wooden door and a series of massive padlocks. The image vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared, but something about it snapped me out of the terror.
And now another vision was taking center stage in my mind’s eye. An amulet with a series of intricate carvings depicting a lone person standing up to the stuff of nightmares. The amulet that gave Commander Courageous his powers. The Anisa Amulet.
I imagined reaching out and grabbing it, and the world around me shuddered. Suddenly, I felt in full control of myself again — my vision cleared, my heart rate still accelerated but not out of control, and my terror evaporated like a nightmare in sunlight. The vampiric Megan and her demon horde took a collective step back as I leveled my gaze at them. And then I attacked.
Every comic book fight scene I’d ever read flashed through my mind — every special effects sequence where a hero dispatches overwhelming odds, every last, desperate stand that good makes against evil. And as I fought back, as demons fell, I heard something else screaming, at first in confusion, but as I killed more and more of the demons, the screams turned to rage, then to fear. I grabbed Evil Megan by the shoulders and stared into her black eyes.
“I’m sorry, Meg,” I said, and conjured a stake from the air and drove it through her chest. She didn’t even scream before she turned to ash.
The apartment building I’d been fighting in abruptly vanished. Now I was surrounded by fog, and a serpent five feet tall reared up in front of me. I saw the markings on its head, saw the diamond shape to its eyes, and realized this was the cordling that was holding me in Tartarus, filling my blood with whatever substance was causing this acid trip from hell. Disgust welled up inside me as I regarded the creature. “The mistake you made,” I snarled, “is that we’re inside my head right now. My head, my rules.” I surged forward and grabbed the serpent by its fangs, pulling them out. There was a snap as the fangs tore free, and I flipped one of them over, stabbing the serpent in the eye with its own tooth. It shrieked and vanished.
I stood up in that place of fog and howled at the sky. “Is that all you’ve got?” No response came. It was over.
Chapter 7
Something was pulling at me. I came out of the fog and found myself covered in sweat, still restrained by the cordlings. I blinked and stared into a pair of luminescent yellow eyes. My initial thought was that it was morning and Scathiks was coming to give me my breakfast of shredded wheat maggots, but as my vision cleared, I realized I was seeing someone else entirely.
“Kleep?”
The kobold put a clawed finger to his lips and nodded to his right. I flopped my head over and saw Jeal, calmly stroking the cordling holding my elbow. The living chain was relaxing, and I could hear Jeal humming faintly. I had to fight down the urge to laugh at the scene. My high priest and Prime Liberator were singing lullabies to sentient demonic bindings. But it worked. The cordlings released me, and I flexed my hand experimentally. It hurt like hell, but I’d live.
“How did you get here?” I whispered as I scrambled off the bed.
“I saw your location when you told us to drink the Astral,” Jeal said. “Kleep and I waited until nightfall and then I created a portal here.”
Damn. I had no idea the blessing I’d given Jeal would be so powerful. She could create portals across dimensions, just like I could. I stopped. “That shouldn’t be possible,” I said. “When Orcus severed me from you, you should have lost all the blessings I’d given.”
Both Jeal and Kleep looked as confused as I was. If I hadn’t known them so well, the paranoid part of my brain might have assumed this was some sick Tartarus joke, and these were a couple of Scathiks’s pals in disguise. But I knew in my bones these were my kobolds. “Forget it,” I said. “Portal us out of here, Jeal.”
“This room doesn’t allow portals,” she said. “I have felt cut off from your gift since we entered this prison. We need to get to the courtyard. We must become invisible.” She and Kleep both vanished from sight.
“Yeah,” I said, running a hand over my face. “Unfortunately, I can’t do that anymore. I —” Hold on. Were my faith reserves completely gone, or had the fuckstick doctor just drained them? What would happen when the kobolds prayed to me again? Could they still fill those reserves? Maybe I could get my powers back.
“Guys,” I whispered. This felt weird. I’d never asked anyone to pray to me before. “Sing that seven drunken kobolds song you do as part of the post-dinner blessing.”
If they thought it an odd request, they didn’t let on. Without hesitation, they both began singing. Shards of ice and glass exploded in my chest, the cold spot I’d felt earlier dropping to absolute zero. I gasped and fell to the floor, clutching my chest and thrashing around, trying to find some warmth.
Kleep and Jeal cut off and turned visible again. Their tiny hands helped me up to a sitting position. I exhaled and saw frost mist in front of me, tinged with a bit of red. Well, that answered that question. I wasn’t getting powers from the kobolds ever again; their prayers would only cause me pain.
“Thanks for trying, guys,” I said, struggling to my feet. “But until we get this sorted out, please don’t do that again.” I let out a shuddering breath. My temperature was getting back to normal. “What sort of security did you see en route here?”
“A few demons patrol the halls,” Jeal said. “But they are careless, secure in the knowledge that their prison is impenetrable.”
“Well, yeah, not that many people want to break into a jail, let alone Hell,” I said. “Okay. I need a disguise.” I glanced around the room, wondering what I could scrounge.
“I prepared for this, Lord,” Kleep said, producing a thin stick from his tabard.
“You did?”
“Master Cather has many illusionary artifacts at his disposal. Jeal and I were unsure of what we should bring on our rescue attempt, but felt that a glamour wand was a prudent choice.”
“I love you guys, you know that?”
Kleep waved the wand. I didn’t feel anything, but when I looked down, my body was covered in thick black fur, and my hands were massive, ham-sized mitts that could’ve palmed three basketballs.
“What am I?” I asked.
“A demon from kobold mythology,” Kleep said. “He was called Karalax.”
“Hopefully, no one down here knows him,” I said as we headed for the door. The kobolds vanished as I pushed it open. As Scathiks said, it wasn’t locked. No guards on it, either. One of the kobolds took point, resting a hand on the small of my back and guiding me down the hallway. We didn’t pass anyone. The hallways were completely empty. Sweat ran down my neck and along my sides. I hoped it wasn’t visible through the glamour.
“It is just through that door,” Jeal whispered at my side. The door in question was a ten-foot-tall iron job with a series of locks on one side, and a five-spoked wheel in its center. It reminded me of the sort of thing you’d see on a submarine, complete with a circular glass window set with rivets. “I had to pick the locks on the way in,” Jeal said. “Getting out should be easier.” As we neared the door, the wheel spun, the door opened, and Orcus stepped through.
“Why, Karalax,” he said, giving me a smile. “How wonderful to see you again.” I made what I hoped passed for a friendly nod and moved as if to walk past Orcus. “Oh, before you go, I really must know one thing. How is it you have a physical form? That human necromancer exploded your body not even a century ago. You’ve got another five hundred years or so before you can fully manifest again.” He gestured at my body. “So where’d all this come from?”
Fuck.
As he’d been speaking, other demons had materialized around us. I hung my head, and Orcus snapped his fingers. My illusion vanished. Orcus’s lips were a hard line
as he regarded me. “You’re more clever than I gave you credit for, kid. How is it —” At that moment, a dragon the size of a German shepherd appeared at my side and launched itself at Orcus. The god of oaths let out a yelp of surprise and brought his arms up, but the dragon slammed into him and rode him to the ground. Another dragon appeared and released a cone of flame at the nearby demons. Demons being immune to fire, this only angered them, but the suddenness of the attack left an opening for me to run through. I rushed for the door, Kleep and Jeal flapping over my shoulders. If we could get into the courtyard, Jeal could portal us out of here.
A portcullis crashed down in front of me, one of its spikes driving right through my foot. I howled in pain, and the kobolds slammed into me, bounced off, and hit the ground, momentarily stunned. Orcus’s voice came from behind me. “Bind the dragons, and get some cordlings down here. And get Corinthos out from that gate.” The portcullis rattled up and rough hands seized me from behind. A demon hauled me over its shoulder and carried me so I was facing Orcus.
“You know something, kid?” he said, jabbing a finger in my face. “Our whole relationship has been professional up to this point, but this was my favorite suit.” I looked down and saw his suit was in tatters. “So I am really going to enjoy putting you in a dark corner of the Pit. As for these” — he gestured to the kobolds, who had resumed their normal forms — “find a hole to drop them in and—”
“Orcus, what is this?” The voice was commanding, demanding, without being loud or brash. This was the voice of someone who not only expected to be answered and obeyed, but who knew he would be as well.
“Lord Hades,” Orcus said, his tone respectful as the god of the Underworld strode up. Hades was resplendent in a black and purple robe, emblazoned with a gold leaf pattern. His eyes were glowing red orbs, and his goatee was neatly trimmed. Like all the Olympians, he was buff, and he moved with the confidence of someone who knew how to handle himself in a fight. A beautiful woman in white was on his arm, her golden hair in braids that would’ve made Padme Amidala jealous. Her gleaming emerald eyes took in everything, and her full lips were drawn down in a slight frown.
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