by Raquel Dove
Baal’s eyes slid open to a smooth stone ceiling above him. He sat up on his elbows, noticing his bandaged torso, and took in his surroundings. The room was small and dark, with no windows, and a single candle burning by the bed. A wooden door on the other end of the room cracked open, and a pale skinned demon with red eyes stepped into the room, bowing at the end of the bed.
“Master Aelek will see you, if you are well enough to walk,” the demon said, avoiding Baal’s glare.
“Where am I?” Baal demanded. The last thing he remembered was escaping from Balthazar. He had passed out in an empty field just on the border of Devas.
“I’m only here to show you to my master,” the demon responded, “I cannot answer your questions.”
“Fine,” Baal growled rising from the bed with care. He could feel his chest wound healing, but it was still tender. “Take me to this ‘Aelek’.”
The demon led Baal through a maze of narrow passages, devoid of any light or scent. Baal expanded his senses, trying to smell or hear another living being but he found nothing. It was becoming very hard for him to stand the depravity to his senses.
“I don’t sense any life in this place,” Baal said, his yellow eyes straining to see through the darkness.
“Master Aelek is this way,” the servant demon said, glancing momentarily over his shoulder at Baal. They came to a heavy wooden door and the servant pushed it open, letting a flood of moonlight into the darkness. A wave of smells and sounds hit Baal’s senses, and it took him a moment to adjust.
A narrow faced demon sat on a stone bench, a fire burning in the tiled pit set into the floor of the pavilion he occupied. Two demonesses sat at his heels on thick cushions. Their black hair was so long it pooled on the earth colored tiles beneath them.
“Lord Baal,” Aelek said, rising from his seat, a smile on his thin lips. “You are feeling better I hope.”
The female demons rose from their cushions and bowed deeply to Baal. They were royalty, the wife and daughter of Master Aelek, Baal could smell the familiarity between them in their scents.
“Where am I?” Baal asked, a frown wrinkling his forehead.
“Please, have a seat,” Aelek said, motioning to an empty seat on the other side of the fire. His wife and daughter returned to the cushions at his side.
Baal studied the demon as he took a seat across from him. He was a lesser demon, and his power was minimal. It still wasn’t clear what race he was. There were so many and the Devasi only rubbed elbows with the more powerful of the demon races.
“Where am I?” Baal asked again, the chill in his voice outweighing the heat of the fire. He was getting very tired of having to ask that question.
“You are in Maracov,” Aelek said, the smile dropping from his face, “Quite a long way from Devas.”
“Why have I been brought here?” Baal asked. He didn’t have time for this. He needed to get back to Devas before Balthazar was anointed as Lord Sultan. He needed to get his revenge on that creature that took his son’s life.
“She’s a human,” Aelek said, folding his hands in his lap and looking at Baal with an even stare.
“What?” Baal’s brows pulled together, forming a deep wrinkle above his nose.
“The creature,” Aelek said, his blood red eyes fixed on Baal, “She’s a human.”
Baal’s eyes shifted anxiously from Aelek to the female demons.
“We all have our strengths, Lord Baal,” Aelek said, “Maracovians can gleam the thoughts of others.”
“That’s a good strength to have,” Baal said, leaning back, his features relaxing as understanding came to him. “But invade my thoughts again and I will tear you to pieces.”
“No offense meant,” Aelek said with a shrug, “but I believe I can help you.”
“I don’t need your help,” Baal said, his eyes narrowing on the pale-faced demon. Aelek motioned for his wife and daughter to leave. They obediently scurried off, avoiding Baal’s gaze.
“I didn’t say you needed my help,” Aelek said, “But I do hope you’ll hear me out.”
“How long have I taken to heal?” Baal asked, feeling at his bandages. If too much time had passed, Balthazar may have been able to hold his Taj festival. His only concern now was killing him before that happened and then making that girl pay for what she did.
“Two days, Lord Baal,” Aelek said with a crooked smile. He crossed a leg over his knee.
“That’s not possible,” Baal said, his eyes growing wide in astonishment. It would take him a minimum of a week’s time to heal enough from this type of injury to get out of bed. A chunk of his spine had been ripped out and he had to regrow the bone. That was something that always took a lot of time.
“Have you ever heard of the Magi?” Aelek asked, his red eyes shining in the moonlight.
“No,” Baal said. He twisted his back around a bit, feeling that his spine had in fact already regrown.
“They’re ancient creatures,” Aelek began, “Very powerful, and the natural adversaries of the human you had the displeasure of meeting. Well, technically they could be considered humans themselves, though I wouldn’t say that directly to one of them. They seem to be a bit touchy about that subject for some reason. Anyway, they’ve been gracious enough to facilitate your rapid recovery.”
“I’m listening,” Baal said, sitting up straight, his interest sufficiently piqued.
“I know you want to kill the human for what she did to your son,” Aelek said. He spread his hands out in a placating gesture when Baal bristled at the mention of his son. “I believe we have similar goals.”
“What interest could you possibly have in the girl?” Baal asked.
“I don’t have any interest in her actually,” Aelek said. His eyes darkened and he made a motion to a servant who rushed off into the darkness of the night. “I want the current bloodline of Devas to be wiped from existence.”
“Why would you want that?” Baal asked. He scratched at the overgrown stubble on his chin as he considered the other demon. Completely wiping out the bloodline of Sami had never been his goal, but it did serve Baal’s purpose. Perhaps this demon was someone he could work with after all.
“Let’s just say my kingdom hasn’t received the recognition it deserves from the current royal family,” Aelek said. He shifted in his seat and Baal could see he wasn’t comfortable with the subject. It didn’t matter. Baal didn’t really care why this demon wanted the Devasi royal family dead.
“Well, killing that family is much harder than it would seem,” Baal said with a bitter taste in his mouth as he recalled the fight with Balthazar. “Take it from me.”
“I was able to make a good start with Sami,” Aelek said, his eyes suddenly lighting up with joy. A slow smile curled on his lips.
“So that was you?” Baal said. Up until a week ago, Baal would have wanted to rip his throat out for this knowledge, but now things were different. Now, he didn’t care about things like that anymore.
“It was,” Aelek said, nodding his head.
“And where does this girl play into your little scheme?” Baal asked.
“We both know the power and prestige of the Devasi people,” Aelek said. “I’d never be able to take them down on my own. The Magi on the other hand have abilities that make nearly anything possible.”
“Again,” Baal said, “What does the girl have to do with it all?”
“Honestly, I don’t know and I don’t really care,” Aelek said. “The Magi want her and they are willing to give nearly anything to get to her.”
“What do they want with her?” Baal asked. He recalled how strange her aura was, and the way that Balthazar was so protective over her. She was valuable in some way, and that was even more evident if these powerful creatures would give nearly anything for her.
“I don’t know,” he said with a casual shrug. Baal sighed. It didn’t seem like Aelek was lying to him, at least he could smell no deception coming off him, but it was still frustrating that he didn’t have any
answers.
“So why exactly am I here?” Baal asked with a cocked brow. “The Magi will get you want you want. They’ll have to destroy practically the entire kingdom of Devas to get to the girl. And that doesn’t exactly fulfill any of my desires.”
“No, I guess it doesn’t,” Aelek said. “But nonetheless, I think we can help each other and both get what we want.”
“So then,” Baal said as understanding clicked into place, “you want to betray these Magi, and you’re going to need my help to do it.”
“See,” Aelek said, pointing at Baal with a broad smile. “I knew we could help each other.”
24
