The whole thing looked like the king of death, with his jaw open ready to consume you whole and devour your soul and I was soon to discover why.
“What is this place?” I asked in an astonished tone.
“This is the Kingdom of Death,” Trice answered before he continued on down the other side of the hill. Just looking at the space between us and the sculpture, then I knew that we had at least another hour of walking left before we even reached the massive entrance in front of us.
“But of course, it is,” I grumbled making Vern chuckle as he came up behind me,
“Cheer up, lassie, cuid be worse,” he then added nudging my shoulder and making me ask,
“Yeah, how do figure that?”
“Ye cuid be traivelin thro' thare alone,” he said winking at me and like Gryph had done, he ruffled the top of my hair as though I was some little pet of theirs. But then, I couldn’t really argue against this, as he was right,
I could have been alone.
This made me think about Lucius, as I was desperate to know what he was doing right now. Had he managed to get through the barrier into the Temple or had he been forced to look for another way? And if he had been granted access, like the Keepers of Three had said he could, did he then try and go through the portal after me? What if it had closed by then, or worse, what if the Witch had somehow managed to get through and now he was being forced to deal with her and her army alone.
Gods, but there were just too many questions and each one only led to how foolish I felt by coming here. Damn it, but if this place didn’t manage to do it first, then by the time Lucius did show up, he was going to kill me!
But then, in my defence, I had believed he would just have been able to follow me. Which made me promise myself that if ever I was faced with making potentially dangerous and stupid decisions, then first I would at least ask about all the variables surrounding it and know all possible outcomes. Because the fault of being reckless was mine and mine alone. I had come here not thinking for one moment that I would have to face completing this journey alone. And well, had it not been for walking into that battle and being saved by these three, then I doubt I would have made it even another hour past that point without ending up dead.
Of course, it also had to be said that since the brothers had flown me here and landed in the field, then we hadn’t run into any trouble yet. But all I needed to do was take one look at the gigantic mouth of death we were soon to walk through, to know that whatever was beyond this wall, more likely than not, was going to be my new nightmare.
But Vern was right, at least I wasn’t alone and as far as protectors went, then these guys looked more than capable of being able to handle themselves. Of course, I also didn’t think it wise to be the stupid cow that questioned why we were going this way. Especially seeing as Vern was right, it would probably take me until I was in my fifties before we walked around it …that was even if there was a way around it.
However, this allowed me to spend the next hour worrying about why the wall was there in the first place? Was it to protect what was beyond it, or to protect the world from it? Naturally, I hoped for the first, but then again, one look behind at the serene looking landscape we had just come from and I knew that this didn’t seem likely. Not when we were exchanging the quiet rolling hills of brown grass for barren scenery. One that looked as though it could have been Hell’s version of California’s Death Valley!
My once red and white sneakers sank into the crusted desert sands and quickly became caked in the orange earth, not exactly making it the easiest terrain to walk on. And jeez, just one look down at myself and I felt like my clothes needed to be set alight, making me cringe at what the rest of me must look like. I felt as though I needed to be soaked in a bath for a week, as I was still finding webbing attached to my jeans. A pair that had started off life as being indigo and were now more of a dirty grey, thanks to the spider forest part of the trip. I had long ago given up on my plaid shirt and taken it off, revealing a slightly cleaner white tank top underneath. Then, so as not to waste my shirt completely, I ripped off a strip of it to use as a makeshift bandage for the scratch on my arm.
Trice had watched me the whole time I had done this and with only a few muttered words, had handed me a flask from his belt. I sniffed at it discovering it was water, which prompted him to say,
“Fur ye tae clean ye wound.” I nodded my thanks before doing as he suggested. Then, after I had finished, he silently nodded for me to drink, and well, considering I felt like my mouth had been sucking on a dry loofah sponge this last hour, then let’s just say that I didn’t need to be offered it twice.
After I was done, I wrapped the material around my arm and when I fumbled with one hand, he silently took over, tying it for me.
“Thanks, again,” I mumbled receiving only a nod in return. I didn’t know what was with him, was he uncomfortable around me or was he just trying to get this job done and not get attached? Either way, something was odd about him. I continued to try and guess the enigma that was Trice when finally, we had crossed the barren land.
This meant that it had come to the point where there was nowhere else to go but over the cloaked lip of the skull’s head, seeing as it was missing the bottom part of its jaw. This obviously wasn’t made for shorter legs either as I was just trying to gain friction with my toes when I slipped. But before I felt the painful landing in my knees I was being lifted by a pair of strong hands at my waist, now holding me steady.
I was silently helped up over the curved rock and into the huge dark cave and only when the floor evened out, did I discover which of the brothers it was.
“Try staying on yer feet m'eudail, or Vern will think yer falling for him.” This was whispered in my ear before the hands left my waist and Trice walked from behind me.
“Aye, that ah wull,” Vern added with a quick turn on his heel so he could poke me in my belly before spinning around again as he walked ahead.
“What does M’eudail mean?” I asked, making Vern wink at me over his shoulder before tapping the side of his nose, whilst Gryph’s booming voice came up behind me and answered,
“It means M’eudail.” Then he threw his head back and laughed at his own joke seeing as he’d just repeated what Trice had said, only in a stronger accent making it helpful in no way possible.
“Oh great, looks like I found the comedy brothers of Hell,” I muttered to myself without malice, making Vern turn around, fold an arm to his waist and bow in a dramatic fashion before tipping an imaginary hat to me. Of course, I couldn’t help but giggle.
But then my giggling soon stopped the further in we travelled, as soon what faced me wasn’t a Kingdom at all,
It was something else entirely.
Chapter 17
Necromancer
“Really, this is it?” I asked, my high pitched tone speaking for itself.
“Whit wur ye expecting?” Vern asked as I came to stand in between the three of them all looking up. I, too, gazed up following the twisty path to find the last sight I would have expected after walking through what had looked like the mouth of Hell.
“After that bad ass entrance, a lot more than some shanty town, that’s for damn sure!” I commented sarcastically, because that was exactly what it looked like, or at least a demonic version of one.
But then, it was also a bit like stepping back in time. As if five hundred years ago, the earth split open and what fell into it was some broken town from the Tudor period. One that had been crudely fixed over time with whatever the people who were forced to endure this life could get their hands on.
It looked as if the first part of the town had been built inside the huge wall. One that had this section hollowed out to make space for it, as the thickness of the wall alone must have been at least a mile wide.
The town rose up in some sections and then dipped down in others, with a tight knit collection of buildings. These were both narrow and wide and built wherever, despite what should have b
een the limitations of the rocky foundations they were built upon.
A cobbled street ran up through the centre of it all and looked to be the only safe place to walk as there was barely any space between the swarm of buildings. And each looked slightly different to the next, with some that started off being made of stone and finished off topped with unstable looking wooden structures above. Some dwellings looked solely made out of scrap wood ripped off something else, like a boat or a dock. Some were topped with scraps of material with more holes than swiss cheese and others that could claim more luxury. For these had cone shaped roofs clad in dirty blue tiles or red soot covered triangular pitched rooftops.
But you couldn’t tell if these were places people lived in or just a cram packed array of shops, as almost all of them had some sort of faded sign out the front, swinging from curled iron rods.
My complaint ended up making Vern laugh as Trice rolled his eyes and said,
“Let’s just git tae th' shop already.”
“Wait, that’s why we are here, so you guys can do some shopping…hey, wait up!” I asked after they all started walking towards the start of the street, which began with an arch of stone and steps leading up. I started jogging to catch up and walked through the arch, passing under a creaking wooden sign. I muttered the name as I read the demonic script,
“Kingdom of Death” as it was written in what looked like a form of Sumerian, but it was one I understood enough. I couldn’t help but shudder as I entered, as if some sinister force had just passed through my body. But then I heard a whistle and looked up to find Gryph paused waiting for me.
“Come on, ye wee Lass,” Gryph said as he patted his thigh as if I was some yappy dog, thus making me decide to ignore the snippy response I would have given and instead asked,
“Seriously, what could you guys want anyway, ‘cause unless it’s a demon donkey to carry a new arsenal of weapons, I really don’t see…?”
“Does she ever stop asking questions?” Vern asked after pointing a thumb over his shoulder at me making me huff.
“Nae, as of yet she doesn’t, bit then, that’s a bonnie lass fur ye,” Trice replied. I huffed at this and snapped,
“Oh, well excuse me for wanting to know a little something of my fate and if it’s the type of thing that could get me killed or not.”
“Weel yer be in th' right place fur that, Sweetheart,” Vern said with a laugh making me scowl back at him.
“Cute, Chuckles,” I commented under my breath, making him wink at me.
“What it wull include is food 'n' a bed tae sleep in, if you’re interested in that type of fate,” Trice commented dryly and right in that moment just the mention of food had my belly rumbling.
“Weel ah would say her tummy wis interested, that’s fur sure,” Vern said with a chuckle.
“Aye and mine,” Gryph said making Vern tug on his long twist of hair down his back before swinging it over his shoulder and saying,
“'ere, chew oan this!”
“Tis mair meat that yer chicken arms, Laddie!” was Gryph’s deep reply making Vern give him the finger before saying,
“Ah wis built fur speed, Bucko, nae fur carrying a golden Mammothant foot oan mah back,” Gryph grunted in reply before turning to me and saying,
“He is just sad fur he is puny a' over.” Then he wagged his little finger at me, making me giggle as he was obviously talking about the size of Vern’s manhood.
“Fck aff, wull ye, th' lasses kin barely handle whit ah hae tae give them!” I laughed despite only understanding half of it, guessing it was about what Vern could give the ladies in the bedroom, when Gryph wagged his little finger at me again, making Vern shout,
“Speak fur yerself!”
“If ye be done comparing cocks, let’s git this shit done, th' girl is drawing attention,” Trice said looking tense as we made our way up the narrow street making me catch up with him and say,
“The girl has a name you know.” At this he just granted me a brief look over his shoulder at me and said,
“I know your name.” And it was the way he said it that made me question if he knew something more about me than he was letting on. It was clear something was going on with him. Unless of course it was just as he said, and he was just feeling tense at the fact that we were no longer alone. And clearly, with his hand now resting on the hilt of his sword, he was ready for the possible threat.
I continued along the street, thankful at least that the whole town was lit up because there was no sky to speak of. Most of the light came from the warm glow behind the thousands of windows of panes of red glass in every size and shape. It was also from the tall flaming lanterns that lined the streets and looked like black iron demonic hands holding bowls swinging on three chains.
Some of the buildings were also linked together from above by rickety covered bridges that made for precarious looking walkways. Especially when I could see from below the way splintered dust would rain down every time some cloaked figure crossed one.
We then passed one building that looked little more than a series of scaffolding poles holding up a wooden box the size of a small room. This made it look like some giant insect with lots of skinny legs or maybe something out of War of the Worlds. Then the next one we came across was more rounded at the top from using hammered sheet metal for the curled walls.
But the town itself obviously wasn’t the only strange thing about the place, as this was mainly down to the Hellish beings that inhabited it. Because Vern had been right, coming here alone would have been worse…far, far worse. As this part of Hell looked as if it was a mix of lost and wandering souls in tortured human bodies and demons that strangely enough, actually looked like they were trying to make a living.
There were those that scurried along the street like overgrown furless rats with extra limbs, black bodies, spiked spines and heads wrapped in blood soaked cloth. Then there were the more humanoid shaped demons that were tortured skeletons and rotted flesh, reminding me of zombies. Although why zombies had been given a skull full of nails for what appeared to be no reason at all, I didn’t know.
There were the full on demons that went from horned beings that walked on two feet and had more muscles than looked possible, to those that were cloaked creatures looking pieced together by some kind of mad scientist with an abundance of demonic body parts.
There were also a few demons that obviously had human hosts, and these were dressed like hunters, or trained muscle for hire. Of course, what gave it away was the mass of weaponry strapped to their bodies whilst walking through the streets elbowing or kicking people out of their way, as if on a mission.
And that became another thing in this town, as you could most definitely tell the strong from the weak that was for sure! Also there didn’t seem to be a middle ground with the beings that lived here. In fact, the only thing people seemed to have in common was that everyone looked permanently pissed off. But then this was Hell and not a Florida vacation. Although, I was pretty sure that would have been Lucius’ idea of Hell, as let’s just say that he didn’t exactly strike me as the Mickey Mouse hat wearing type of guy!
Gods, how I missed him!
It was cruel really, seeing as we had only been together for what felt like a mere moment before fate had ripped us apart once more! And once again, it felt as though it was all my fault! But what was I saying, of course it was my fault as Lucius had tried to warn me not to go through the portal. But once again I hadn’t listened, and now here I was, in some Hellish slum town looking for a shop, selling I had no clue what.
But then I also knew I had to be thankful for something, mainly that I was still alive thanks to the serious muscle I had on my side. And it continued to show because as it was, walking through the streets with these three surrounding me didn’t make me scared in the slightest. Because seeing demons wasn’t really going to frighten me, only the situations I continued to get myself into did. Especially when it felt like I was seriously lacking in the weapon departmen
t here, that and any fight up against about ninety percent of the demons and I was a straight up goner!
My only problem though was that Trice picked up on my lack of fear, seeing as it was clear he was the silent, observant one of the three, seemingly not missing a trick. Because if my story had been true, that I was human and just woke up in Hell one day, wouldn’t I have been a hysterical mess right now?
Shit, I should have thought of that!
Well, it was a little too late to pull the damsel in distress card now because the other two might have bought it, but Trice most certainly wouldn’t! So, I decided to ignore the blindingly obvious flaw in my plan at trying to pretend I was ‘nobody important’ down here. This being my ‘I was here by mistake act’ and instead continued to be led further into the town. This was until we came across a little shopfront that was different to the rest. This was in the sense that it had a bay window made up of tiny shards of black and grey glass that was pieced together by lead strips.
I squinted my eyes to see that, as a whole, the window made up a picture that looked like black souls trying to rise up, reaching for the sign above it.
One that again was spelt out in lead framed glass letters, this time in blood red.
It read…
The Necromancer.
Chapter 18
A Touch of Nero
Vern walked in front of us and pushed open the black door that had a single hand painted sign that said,
‘Open to Bitches,
Not Bastards!’
Vern flicked the sign, making it spin round on its hook and commented,
“Noo that’s cute.” Then he walked inside, followed by Gryph, who as usual had a beaming grin and had to duck and turn sideways to fit. Trice then held out his arm and said,
“After ye, Lass.” I nodded my thanks and walked in with the rest of them and soon my eyes widened in awe as I looked around at the room that was filled to the brim with so much stuff, it was hard to make one thing out!
Kingdoms Of Hell: Vampire Paranormal Romance (Transfusion Book 7) Page 15
