From Hell with Love (30 page)

“I don’t know what you two have gotten into, but with everything that’s about to happen…” he trailed off, looking at the ground for a moment before breathing in deeply.  When he brought his gaze back up, he stared right into Niccolo’s face with those green eyes, but Niccolo saw something that he did not expect.  The old demon’s face was filled with pride and sadness; somehow he could tell what was at stake.

“Do your best.  The two of you, you have good hearts.  You might have come here in rough condition,” he said before patting Niccolo’s knee and laughing, “but we beat some of that out of you.  Don’t…don’t trust anybody.  There’s no telling who is who.  But I know this,” Barbas continued as his eyes gleamed, moist in the morning air.  “You’re damn good men, and you’re going to do the best damned job possible.”

“Barbas,” Niccolo said under his breath, emotion threatening to break his composure.  The fallen just shook his student’s knee and dropped his cane to the ground before raising his other hand to Plague's saddle.

“I’m already proud of you bastards,” he said before turning to Cadmus.  “Both of you,” Barbas added before turning back.  “Make sure I’m not wrong, alright?  You don’t have to win; you don’t have to get out of there in one piece.  Though,” he said before dropping his hands to his side and bending over to pick up his cane, “I guess I’d prefer it if you did.”

“We trust
you
,” Cadmus started, but the old man straightened up and  slowly started to walk between them, using his cane to tap along the wet ground of the clearing and waving away the reaper’s comment with his free hand.

“Well, that might be a safe bet, but that,” he said before turning and pointing past them with his cane, causing the Horsemen to look behind them.  The fog had parted and allowed them to see the palace towering above the rest of Dis, its gold walls gleaming in reflected firelight. 

“I can’t help you with that, boys, whatever you’re going to do.”

“Actually,” Niccolo said, but he felt the crack of wood against his grieves, which made him look back at his master.  Instead of pride, the old man’s face was stern and shook with annoyance.

“I’m too old, boys, and I was never one for a fight.  I’m sure the two of you can handle it.  Don’t…” he said before turning and heading toward his small hovel which stood only a few yards away from Niccolo’s house.  “Don’t you lose your stubborn will now.  You meant to leave without me.  Follow through on your actions, boys, whatever they are.”

Niccolo watched the old fallen hobble away, but after a moment he turned back to look at the palace, his fear and anxiety disappearing.  If nothing else, Niccolo would not disappoint the old man who had raised him up from the depths.  He urged Plague forward and the horse broke into a light trot.  Neither of them felt the need to delay any longer.

Cadmus went along with his friend, but his mind was not so clear.  As they rode toward the palace, he concentrated in his mind and called out to Mercy. 
What did he say to you?
he thought, knowing that Barbas had been very deliberate with his words.  Mercy was silent for a moment, which made Cadmus consider asking again, but soon the rasp of the white steed whispered in his mind.

He commanded me to tell you…
the horse started, but then his thoughts broke off on their own.  Cadmus could only tell that the horse felt anxious about the statement, but he did not want to hurry Mercy along.  When Cadmus looked up at the towering palace, Mercy’s voice rattled again.

If Niccolo dies, make sure it was worth it.

***

Cadmus was still eyeing Niccolo as they found their way to the outer yards of the palace, his thoughts on Barbas’ message.  If the fallen angel knew they were in such danger, Cadmus could not comprehend why he would not help, but the reaper soon found his answer.  Barbas was never much of a fighter, even if he could manipulate disease, and he had always been more of a kind teacher.  Perhaps he knew that he would just get in the way.

In any case, the time to think on Barbas’ cryptic message was behind them.  When they found themselves in the outer yard, they dismissed Mercy and Plague, each dissolving in their own way.

“C’mon, we should get inside,” Niccolo said before walking to the tall, iron double doors, but he was interrupted by a voice coming from the main pathway.

“Are you Niccolo?” a strong male voice bellowed, which caused the leper to turn around.  Underneath the main archway, a man in black armor was riding a grotesque, white horse.  The man was handsome with bright, blue eyes and blond hair, looking to be in his early forties, and the black armor he wore was very intimidating.  He had to be at least eight feet tall and from what Niccolo could see, the man was quite muscular underneath all of that armor.  Although he had a somewhat normal appearance for a demon, the Horsemen could tell that a great power was hiding underneath it all.

That might have been because of the appearance of his horse.  Unlike Mercy, who, despite his habit of turning into dust, was an otherwise pure-white stallion, this demon’s horse was a terror.  Bone spurs stuck out of its flesh and trickles of blood flowed from open wounds.  The discs of its spine were gruesomely oversized and could be seen stretching the skin underneath, but the most disturbing aspect of the beast was its head.  The teeth had been sharpened to points and the skin around its mouth cut back so they were constantly on display, and two spiraled horns jutted out from the sides of its face.

At first, the rider and the horse did not seem to go together.

“That’s me,” Niccolo said as he turned to face the man, his eyes finally parting from the mounted figure to notice that he was followed by a trail of twelve armored demons of different shapes and sizes.  Some were squat and fat, others were gangly and tall, one was almost as large as the demon and his horse combined, but most of them were about the average height of a man.  They each held different weapons holstered on their belts and backs, but they all had the black armor of their leader.  Niccolo knew he was in the presence of royalty.

“I heard Lucifer kept two of you as pets, flaunting about Adonai’s little plan,” the demon said as his horse approached them, coming within a couple yards of Niccolo.  “I can’t entirely say I’m impressed.”

“Your majesty,” Cadmus uttered before kneeling on the stone of the outer yard.  The large man looked over and grunted before turning back to Niccolo, who was still standing by the iron doors.

“At least that one knows his place.  How quaint that you remain standing,” the demonic king said before swinging his right leg over the monstrous horse and then pushing himself out of the saddle.  He turned lazily to one of the smaller men and nodded at the pathway on the left side of the palace.

“Take Misery to the stables and give her a meal of one of the lesser beasts.  She must be hungry,” he said before turning to Cadmus, who had lifted his head slightly so he could look at the demonic king.  As his men took the white monstrosity along the pathway to the stables, the fallen walked over to Cadmus and towered over him, crossing his arms.  “Do you know who I am?”

“You’re King Beleth.  We’ve met before,” Cadmus said before moving to stand up, but Beleth put out his leg and placed his weight on the reaper’s shoulder.

“That’s right.  Where do you think you’re going?” he asked with a slight turn to the corners of his lips, but Cadmus grunted and shifted his weight, letting the King’s leg fall to the ground.  Cadmus stood up and then set the handle of his scythe against the ground in defiance.

“I’m standing, Beleth,” Cadmus said, his expression having darkened after the demon king’s humiliating act.  Beleth continued to tower over Cadmus, but the smile had gone from his face.  “You’re a king and that deserves some respect. 
Some
.  I’m not going to stay on my knees all day.”

“The two of you need to learn your place,” Beleth bellowed, turning to address the Niccolo, who was standing by the door.  “You’re just human.  Some part of Adonai’s little game.  Don’t presume to be on the same level as a king,” he said, watching as Niccolo approached the two of them.

“We don’t,” Niccolo broke into the conversation as he approached him.  “We’re not ones to act beneath our station,” he teased, bringing a glare from the large demon, but they were all broken out of the confrontation by a roar of laughter.  All three of them turned to the wall of the palace and found a creature moving around near one of the major supports.  After a few moments of laughter, the creature picked itself up and they could see him for what he really was.

“Hah, I like this new pet of Lucy’s!  He’s not all stuffy and arrogant like the last Pestilence!” the demon shouted, his broad face twisted into a wide smile.  He was massive, as wide as all three of them combined, and he still held a solid foot on the Horsemen looking at him in confusion, no small part of that caused by the two bull horns sticking out from the sides of his head.  The demon was dressed in rags which barely covered his muscles and distended abdomen; he clearly did not care too much about his appearance.  Then, the ground shuddering with every step and stumble, the large demon walked toward them with a bottle in his hand.

“King Zagan, I had no idea…” Cadmus started, but the fat demon just waved the comment away with his free hand and took another drink from his bottle, which was half-filled with red wine.

“Ah, don’t worry about that.  I was just taking a nap in the corner.  I’m sure I looked like a pile of laundry or something,” Zagan said with a smile before pointing at his fellow king.  “Not like my fancy brother over there.”

“Have you no
shame
?” Beleth asked, but Zagan just roared with laughter again.

“You kidding, Bel?  Never did!  Now why don’t you take that stick out of your ass and have a drink?” he asked before walking forward and extending the hand holding the bottle.  Already the amount of wine was half what it was when Zagan stumbled over to them.

“It’s not even
noon
,” the blonde demon said with disgust, but the bull-headed king just rolled his eyes and patted Niccolo on the shoulder with his free hand.

“You watch out for this one.  He is going to make this Council all stuffy and insufferable, that’s what he’s going to do,” he said before lifting the bottle to his lips and draining it completely.  When he brought it back down, the bottle quickly refilled with more of the red liquid, seemingly out of nowhere.  He then offered it to the leper underneath his hand.  “You want shome?”

“How did you…actually, sure,” Niccolo said in confusion, taking the bottle and then taking a big gulp.  The sheer amount of alcohol would be enough to make him gag, normally, but the Horseman kept a straight face and swallowed it down.  Almost immediately, whatever unease he felt had completely disappeared.

“Hah!  That’s demon wine, boy!  You humans aren’t supposed to be able to drink it without puking your guts out!”

“Really?” Niccolo asked, his throat on fire and his stomach churning a bit, but he kept a half-smile on his face.  “Wasn’t that bad.”

“Wasn’t that bad,” Zagan muttered as he patted Niccolo’s shoulder, which felt like someone had hit him with a hammer.  He brought his arm around the smaller man and laughed heartily.  “He can lie like a champ, too!  Beleth, how can you not like these guys?” he asked, but Beleth’s face twitched in disapproval.

“I talk down to the animals, Zagan.  Maybe that’s why I’m always looking down at you, as well,” he seemed to spit out, venom coursing through his words.  The fatter demon just laughed before looking at the Horsemen.

“No sense of humor.  None.  I don’t know how we’re brothers.”

“Just because Adonai created both of us does not mean we are
brothers
,” Beleth said as he moved past them, anger held within those blue eyes.  “I don’t consider the animals my family, either.”  After the statement, the pair of soldiers who had been taking care of his horse returned, one of them holding his elbow and grimacing in pain.

“Your majesty, Malick was bitten by your horse,” the unharmed soldier explained, but Beleth turned to them with disappointment.

“He was bitten?  Did I not say the beast was hungry?  Let her finish her meal,” Beleth said off-handedly before towering over his subordinates.  The unharmed soldier stammered for a moment before replying.

“Y-your majesty, what do you mean?” he asked, which brought a disgusted sigh from the demon king.

“Let me make this easy for you,” Beleth said before looking at his injured subordinate and extended his left hand between them, drawing a circle with his finger.  At three points along the circle, Beleth paused to scrawl an angelic letter in the air, and once he finished the design, the circle burned into the air and a bright, purple sigil formed in the interior.  Before anyone could react, Beleth shoved his arm through the circle and three ghostly blades burst out of the ether and into his soldier, forcing the life from him in an instant.

“What the-” Niccolo started, about to jump into action, but Zagan just squeezed the arm wrapped around his shoulders and shook his head.  There was no use in trying to stop Beleth, as he was allowed to treat his subjects any way he pleased.  They only watched as the other soldier just looked up at his monarch and quaked with fear as Beleth leaned down.

“Now go feed my horse before I decide she needs a
feast
,” he said before standing up to his full height and turning toward his audience.  He could see the anger playing through Niccolo’s face, but decided it was not worth a comment.

“I’ll see you inside, Horsemen.  
Zagan
,” Beleth snarled, his tone icy and violent.  When he approached the iron doors, they opened of their own accord, allowing the king to walk in without stopping.  The rest of his men followed, each one glaring at the three of them, but soon they were all past the iron doors, with the exception of the poor soldier who was dragging his friend’s corpse to the stables.  Zagan shook his head and spat after them, a spray of red wine bursting from between his lips.

“Never met another fallen who hated his own kind that much,” Zagan muttered as he took his arm back from around Niccolo’s shoulders and then started toward the double doors.