Hellhound: Prince of Fire (5 page)

“You are fucking kidding me, right?” he said and Dorin got a look of confusion on his face.

“Let me tell you the truth about my brother “God” as they call him.”

“I did not come here for a history lesson.”

Lucifer was suddenly in his face and the hot wind crept up behind him as Dorin felt the uneasiness settle in his chest. Lucifer may be a demon as he was
, but his power was great and Dorin could die easily if he provoked him enough.

“I
guess I would love to hear about it,” Dorin whispered.

Lucifer’s terrible expression immediately changed to one of delight and he snapped his fingers as the room changed from that of a bath house to a nice wooded area. Dorin looked around and then back to him.

“Welcome to the Garden of Eden,” Lucifer said as Dorin stared up at a large tree, that of the mythical one in all legends, the Tree of creation.

Chapter Five

Eat the Fucking A
pple

Gunner stood in the middle of a Mall and sighed as Ari and Finna stepped up beside him. He looked around as all of the shoppers remained frozen in time. It was not that they were actually frozen, not in the “frozen in time” sense of the word, but to explain it completely I guess I can just say this: a Hellhound and any creature, other than a human, works on a different time table, as in between seconds, the moments that humans do not see all around them. So as we battle, we fight in the moments of time they are not even aware of. If we stay long enough we see eyelids starting to move ever so slowly to blink, small changes in expression. But like I said, we move faster than they can see.

Tercia stepped out of a store and shook her head as Gunner scanned the upper deck of the mall and then they
all heard it. One long howl. They bolted towards the escalator and ran up it, weaving in between people as they rode it unsuspecting of their presence. Once at the top, Gunner sniffed the air and looked to his right as he saw a flash of something and knew immediately what it was. He ran as he pulled his blades and slid across the slick floor as two shadows jumped over him from both sides. Ari raised a hand and stopped Finna as she started to rush towards him and Tercia stood her ground too as Gunner rose up and pivoted on one foot, swords extended. She crossed her arms on her chest as she watched him, knowing that she always enjoyed watching him battle. Gunner lowered his goggles and he could now see the beasts as they were, black wolves darting from here to there almost as quickly as the vampire.

Suddenly a shadow flashed up into his face and he sliced the air so quickly with his sword that it looked like a blur. The shadow would dart into his face and out
, over and over again until finally he dropped the swords and simply snatched a shadow from the air and the girl cried out as everyone but Gunner covered his ears. He turned her and placed a hand over her mouth to muffle the terrible noise. Ari lowered his fingers and saw blood on them as it made his ears bleed. The girl looked all of 90 pounds and probably 17 perhaps 16 years of age. Gunner leaned into her ear.

“If you stop
, I will let you go.”

She hissed and then bit his hand so he dropped her
. But Tercia ran towards them and dropped to the ground, sliding on her side and then grabbing the girl’s foot and causing her to fall. She held on until Gunner could reach her and he jerked the girl to her feet and grinned as she spit at him.

“You are seriously feisty,
” Gunner said as she tried to kick him and Finna knocked her on her ass and placed a large axe to her throat as she bit into an apple and tossed it.

“Listen up. We are not here to battle you. S
omething much bigger is coming and we need to speak to your pack leader.”

She then started
to howl and Finna blinked as all of the glass rattled in the malls dome above them and a small crack ran up the lens in the man’s glasses standing closest to them. Gunner looked over at him and sighed.

“Tell them we mean no harm or you will be dead before any one of them get here.”

She narrowed her eyes and howled again. This time it did not sound desperate at all. Gunner nodded to her and Finna pulled her axe away from her throat. Gunner reached down and offered a hand to the girl and she took it, still looking a bit irritated. He pulled her up and she looked him over.

“What is it you want dog?”

“Moxy, mind your manners,” a voice said from behind all of them.

They all turned to see a man standing there in jeans and a black button down shirt. He also wore black military style boots, his hair was black and shaggy, framing his face and hanging in his eyes unless he moved it aside, which he did as he looked at all of them one by one. He was very attractive, almost chiseled in his featu
res. His jaw was not too square, but definitely defined. His lips were full, but not feminine, his eyes brown, so brown they almost looked black. His skin had a nice olive tint to it, so he did not appear inhuman, although he definitely was.

“Jack, they attacked me,” s
he said as her voice went up an octave.

He smiled and waved her
over to him and she complied as she had no choice. Jack was obviously pack leader and she had to obey. He spoke quietly to her as she crossed her arms on her chest and then looked back at Gunner and the rest of them. She rolled her eyes and was gone in a flash, appearing like a blurred black shadow. Jack then turned to face Gunner and looked him over.

“I guess this cannot be good news if you are seeking my help, Hellhound.”

“You would think that we would have more in common, Wolf,” Gunner said as Jack grinned and rubbed his chin.

“It is true we must be rel
ated somewhere down the line, but I have yet to figure that out, seeing that you have killed some of my kind.”

Finna stepped forward. “We have only killed those who tried to kill us.”

“Like Moxy?” he asked as his eyes went to her and Gunner interrupted.

“We would have never
harmed her. We simply needed to get your attention and it seems the youngest ones in the pack like this nonsense,” Gunner said as he pointed around him at the Mall.

“I would
have to agree. I hate the Mall.”

Gunner smiled. “Well then we do have something in common.”

“Okay, speak,” Jack said.

                                                               ****

Gunner, Finna, Tercia and Ari all stood at the front of a warehouse and looked up.

“This is not good,
” Ari whispered as they continued to look up and heard a howling from the rooftop.

“We need to make alliances and the only way we can is to reach out in peace.”

Ari laughed. “This coming from Marcus Brutus, himself.”

They all laughed and Gunner shook his head.

“I am not here for war, I am here for help.”

“Like it was your idea
.” Finna said as Gunner shot her a look. She shrugged her shoulders.

They all stepped back as they heard lock after lock being undone and then the doors opened up as a smell of dog rolled out of the building.

“Oh.” Finna said as she covered her nose.

“Come on.” Gunner said as he walked in and looked at Moxy, she held the door with a look of disgust on her face. She obviously hated them and he could not blame her. As the count would go they had slain at least 1100 wolves over time, many more vampires had fallen
, but they had killed her kind just the same. It was not without provocation, wolves that go rogue have no pack and no pack leader. They kill without mercy and have no loyalty to anything, but the hunt and kill. Although the hunt, kill and survive mantra could be appreciated, it still did not take away from the fact that they killed humans, and that was not allowed.

“Welcome.” Jack said as they all stopped and looked up to see him on the second level, this place looked like an old abandoned theatre with a huge red curtain still hanging over a stage and rows of seating that sloped upward. Jack was in the balcony overlooking everything and Gunner turned to Tercia.

“If by chance this goes south, kill everything that moves and get Finna and Ari out of here. Do not worry about me.”

“Like you could.” Moxy said as she laughed behind them and Gunner sighed and turned to her.

“It is rude to eavesdrop.”

“It is even ruder to
talk about fucking murdering my family.”

“Now no one is going to murder anyone.” Jack said as he appeared in a flash in front of all of them. Gunner sighed and looked at him.

“I do not blame you for being protective. I am very protective of my people too, so on this we agree,” Jack said.

Gunner nodded as Jack started to walk away and they all followed him.

****

Dorin stepped up to the tr
ee and stared at the plump fruit on the branches. It housed apples of plenty, each one even tempting to him. He smelled their sweetness and then looked back at Lucifer.

“Fucking eat the apple already.”

Dorin shook his head and turned back to him.

“So what is this about?
” he asked him and Lucifer smiled and walked up to the tree. He placed his hand to its side and then leaned in, pressing his ear against it and could hear the heart beating inside of it.

“Oh that is a glorious sound. T
he sound of life.”

“Many have come to this tree seeking
its power and yet here we are, with no one around. Do you find that odd?” Lucifer asked and Dorin stared at him.

“The legend is that this is the tree that allowed humans free will.”

Lucifer laughed and tapped the tree a couple of times, looking up and studying it.

“It is a trick.”

“In what way?” Dorin asked him.

“This wa
s placed on earth by my brother. It was a bet between us.”

“I don’t follow.”

Lucifer turned and leaned on it with his shoulder. “It was a bet between me and my brother to see what his kind would do.”

“You mean humans.”

“That I do. I mean we could have come in and just did what we had done before, take over and shit, but we decided to switch it up and this tree ended up being the Trojan horse for all of us.”

“So what? You placed the tree on earth and humans ate from it? What did you expect?”

“We expected compliance and we got defiance. They ate and we lost control.”

Dorin laughed and then quickly stopped as Lu
cifer stared at him without changing his expression. “I am sorry. I mean am I supposed to feel bad that a little joke between you and God backfired on you?”

Lucifer was in his face quickly and with it the hot wind. Dorin
’s hair blew back and he blinked as Lucifer calmed down and looked him over. “If it had not been for this fucking tree, it would have been fine and we would not be trapped here like fucking animals.”

“Trapped? You mean you cannot leave?”

Lucifer looked down and regretted saying anything so he walked back to the tree and looked upward. “I do not know why you care for them at all.”

Dorin sighed and stared up at
the tree too. “I was once human. I was not born vampire.”

“That is a shame
, for what a beautiful creature you are in this light,” Lucifer said.

Dorin watched him very closely as he walked around the back of the tree and disappeared. He had no choice but to follow and when he reached the other side he saw
Halo sitting there in the grass about to bite into the apple and he ran to her and knocked it from her hand. She looked up at him with an expression of true compassion and he was confused as she rose up and let her hand touch his chest and then the other gently caressed his cheek. He stood his ground, but when her lips met his he was surprised to find that he wanted it, more than he could have ever imagined. He closed his eyes and her tongue slid into his mouth as he wrapped his arms around her waist and returned her affection. She took her lips from his and he reached up and touched her face just as she morphed into Lucifer and he stepped back and spit onto the ground.

“Fuck you,” h
e muttered as Lucifer wiped his lip.

“Well, isn’t that interesting.”

Dorin sighed and then realized that his intentions for coming to hell may be more than he had ever bargained for.