Contractor (63 page)

poked out from its hood. It pointed. "Down

the path here. Feel free to jump if you want

to die. Wouldn’t blame you."

Daniel digested that for a minute, then

started down the slightly less snowy section

of rock the goblin had indicated. They were

on a sort of shelf protruding from the

mountain. To Daniel’s right was a steep

drop-off into the valley below. There wasn’t

anything to break a fall for a good five

hundred feet. He stayed close to the left side

of the path and kept an eye on his footing.

A sharp gust whistled by. Daniel bent

low as it stole the heat from his clothes.

"Shit."

The demon hacked a laugh. "Little nippy

today."

"No kidding." Daniel plodded forward

on the rocks. "Not to be rude, but what are

you?"

"Imp, in our tongue. Sometimes you call

us goblins."

Daniel glanced back at the imp. "I’m

Daniel. What’s your name?"

"…I think that’s the first time a

prisoner’s ever asked my name."

"First time for everything."

"Point made. I’m called Minum. Don’t

know why you’d care, though."

"Trying to keep my mind off the fact…"

Daniel shivered again. "…that my balls are

shriveling up."

Minum made a raspy, coughing chuckle.

"Cheeky ones are the most fun."

"Why’s that?"

"More entertaining when they finally

break."

"…oh." Daniel half-laughed, half

breathed through his nose. "So you the

gatekeeper, or something?"

"More or less. Lead you human lot from

the arrival platform in." He jabbed a thumb

back over his shoulder. "You can’t see it

much with all the snow, but that’s a serious

enchantment. You’re younger than most, I

gotta say. Been a few young ones lately."

"Kinda crappy to sit out here."

He spat over the cliff. "Cold work, but

you get used to it. And we know when you’re

coming. Only been here five minutes."

Minum seemed talkative. Daniel figured

he probably didn’t get to vent about his job

much. It might be a good opportunity to get

information. "I seem to like it," he prompted.

"Yeah, it’s not so bad. Contractor

nonsense has put the spring back in my step."

"Your English is pretty good for a

demon."

"Heh." The imp spat again. "Long time

ago, used to be a dozen languages for every

race, just like your world. The old ruler got

sick and tired of it, so they cast a spell so we

could all understand each other

permanently."

"Sounds like they’re strong."

"She was the kind to make you wet

yourself, yeah. But she’s long gone."

"She?"

"Yeah. She."

"Imagine that."

Minum laughed again. "You got a good

attitude. Most come down kicking and

screaming. Gotta drag em’ with magic. I

encourage most to jump. Boys back at the

prison have a pool going for how many kill

themselves. I’m 23 for 35 this year."

Daniel swallowed. "I guess freezing

mountainsides don’t have much in the way of

entertainment."

Daniel watched the goblin’s face split

into a fanged grin. "Oh, there’s plenty of

entertainment. We watch what goes on in the

prison. That’s more than enough most times.

Biggest broadcast station in the empire."

Hell. Prison. Torture. Eternity. Daniel

looked over the edge of the cliff. A quick

death might not be so bad.

For a moment, he thought about Rachel.

The pain came again.

He felt a sudden clarity. He understood

why people would just jump. They were so

desperate for an ending that any would do.

He considered jumping for a moment, giving

it the long thought of a man that had nothing

to lose and could dwell on whatever impulse

struck his fancy. But it wasn’t for him.

Or maybe he was just too afraid.

No, it wasn't that. He wasn't too afraid.

He was too angry. He wanted to choke the

life out of Matthew before he died.

"…so…what exactly is the prison?" he

asked. "Do I get a cell?"

"Why spoil the surprise? You’ll find out

soon enough."

They rounded a large drift of snow.

Daniel stopped. Nestled a few dozen yards

past them in the side of the mountain was a

series of towers and walkways carved

straight from the black rock. It looked like a

jagged hole in the earth made to suck down

every good thing in the world. Daniel

shivered again, but not from the cold.

"The Gates of Hell," Minum said.

"Homey, ain’t it?"

"I wouldn’t have picked that exterior."

Minum slapped him on the back a bit too

hard. "Nothing gets you down, huh? Maybe

I’ll keep an eye on you, kid. Give you your

first follower."

"Follower?"

"Heh. You’ll see, you’ll see. Keep on,

now, your balls ain’t the only ones freezing."

They kept along the path until the

structure leered high over their heads. Daniel

noticed a wide road tucked in the rock

opposite them. Maybe there was some

civilization in some distant land past the

mountains. "What did you mean by broadcast

station? Is this shown on television or

something?

"PrisonWatch," Minum said. "Biggest

television channel in the empire, which

spans twenty solar systems."

"Are you joking?"

"Does it sound like I’m joking?" Minum

huffed. "Humans all the same. They can’t

ever believe that they’re the backward

moron race. Welcome to reality."

They reached the entrance. The double

doors formed an intimidating stone gateway.

Their surface was carved with screaming,

twisted faces. Daniel watched them open,

pulled by long chains connected to pulleys

high up on the tower. Watchmen posted

above must have noticed their approach.

The doors creaked to a halt. Within was

a murky black hall. Daniel’s eyes drifted to a

wide arch set just above the entrance. It was

carved with strange symbols he didn’t

recognize, but almost as soon as he looked at

it, the words wavered, shifting into legible

English.

Through me you pass into the city of

woe:

Through me you pass into eternal pain:

Through me among the people lost for

aye.

Justice the founder of my fabric

moved:

To rear me was the task of Power

divine,

Supremest Wisdom, and primeval Love.

Before me things create were none,

save things

Eternal, and eternal I endure.

All hope abandon ye who enter here.

"…no confetti? I expected confetti."

Minum grinned. "This place been here

apiece even before the king now was king.

He’s a bit of a showman. Gotta keep the

ratings up. Ratings means advertising, and

that means cash."

"Evidently."

"In you go," Minum said. "I like you kid, so here’s fair warning. Don’t get your hopes

up."

Daniel planted his feet forward and

walked under the arch. "See you later,

Minum."

"Heh." Minum’s voice echoed into the

hall. "Good luck, kid. Maybe I will bet on

you."

The doors groaned shut behind him,

sealing him in with a solid boom that rung

out with all the finality of the place called

Hell. He was plunged into complete

darkness.

And then he heard the weeping.

Daniel felt the last tiny bit of hope

evaporate out of his heart.

Epilogue

Xikanthus Vol’mund Dovian

pom'Nafalstra appeared outside Beelzebub’s

central office. The innermost room was deep

within the palace at the capital of the demon

empire, the city called Dis.

Xik examined the enchantment that held

the door locked. He passed a hand over it

and analyzed the structure with a diagnostic

sigil. The spell passed the information back

to Nafalstra. In a few seconds, a sigil pattern

arrived back in his current universe.

Xik pushed his power forward. Orange

light seeped into the bolt. The lock opened

soundlessly. Xik poked his head in between

the doors.

The office was soft shades of green. A

wood desk sat behind several chairs. It was

rather conservative for a demon.

Standing behind the desk, facing a long

row of windows, was the king of Hell,

Beelzebub. The demon’s powerful build

made Xik look like a thin rod. His skin was

blood red. Black claws folded behind his

back clicked together impatiently.

"You have two choices," Beezlebub

said. "You may explain why you have broken

into my office and be tortured to death.

Alternatively, I will force it out of you, and

for wasting my time, you’ll be tortured

forever."

"Impressive you noticed me."

Beelzebub turned from the windows.

"Not as impressive as how you can hide your

presence."

"Then how did you know I was here?"

"I sensed my spell on the door fail."

"Ah." Xik made a mental note to put in a

complaint to Nafalstra. "You are the king of

Hell, Beelzebub, correct?"

The demon closed his eyes. "I think I’ll

enjoy peeling the skin off your body."

"I am an ambassador from the Klide,"

Xik added. He smiled at Beelzebub’s

surprise. "Are you more amenable to a

discussion, knowing that?"

"I thought you might visit me sometime.

But there are no Vorid in Hell."

"Yet," Xik said. "But we both know that Earth’s fate is tied quite closely to this

universe. If the humans go, then -"

"I’m aware of the consequences. I wrote

the treaty. I built Hell." Beelzebub glanced

out from his office. The city of Dis stretched

below the palace. In the distance, a huge

transport ship was landing at the spaceport,

returned from an excavation on the planet’s

moon. "What do you want?"

"A contractor will be imprisoned in

Hell shortly. A young man named Daniel

Fitzgerald."

"And?"

"The humans may be as stubborn as they

like, but the Klide cannot afford to lose him.

Survival rates against lords are not

particularly high."

"I cannot disturb the treaty."

"You won’t have to." Xik walked

forward until he stood next to the demon.

"We aren’t interested in who fights against

the Vorid; only that they fight. In exchange

for your cooperation, you could be that

warrior. When the Vorid threat ends, the

power will be yours to do with as you wish."

"Are you suggesting that I become a

contractor myself and kill this human?"

A smile crept up Xik’s wide frog lips.

"You have the general idea."

###

To Be Continued

In Book Two of The Contractors:

Prisoner

###

Acknowledgements

Thanks for reading my book! I hope you

had as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

This book represents the culmination of

a lot of time and effort, as well as the advice

and encouragement of friends and family. I

owe them more than they realize.

To a few special fans that followed me

through a few other, smaller projects that sit

in relative obscurity—thank you for the

support.

This book would not be what it is

without my editors: my mother, who gave me

my first fantasy novel; my older sister, who

is an amazing writer all her own; and one of

my best friends, Scott, who would not rest

until there were no plot holes.

One last shout out to the C104 club—

thanks for being there.

About the Author

Andrew Stephen Ball is an indie author and

pharmacy technician. He attended college at

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New

York State, where he earned a B.S. in

Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology. He

plans on going to pharmacy school in New

Hampshire, where he currently lives with his

grandmother. He's been a lifelong fantasy

and science fiction enthusiast. His favorite

food is pizza, and he does not trust people

who don’t like chocolate.

Connect with me:

Official Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Andrew-

S-Ball/1515164785382499

Follow me on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Andrew_S_Ball

Smashwords Author Profile:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/andrewsball

Novels by Andrew S. Ball

The Contractors

Contractor

Prisoner
(2015)

###

Following is a short excerpt from the

upcoming sequel to Contractor:

Prisoner

As a human, Jack Killiney was small