Minor Demons (3 page)

“The scythe will be returned to Cain.”

His assistant bowed and disappeared.

“This is a lesson all of you should learn early on. You are not important. You are servants of the Dark One. Your own pride and vanity mean nothing because you
are
nothing. Whatever you think you deserve or have a right to will not be given to you until you have
earned
it.”

“My name is Venom and I’m the middle demon of half-truths. I serve under General Lucian, the Demon of Lies, who was in the garden with our Master when he first tempted Adam and Eve. I have tens of thousands of minor demons that serve under me and countless more little in-training nothings like yourselves. I never recruit anyone right after the trials so the ass kissers can stop before they start. It won’t do you any good.”

“Your immediate placement test will consist of three phases. The first is the labyrinth. Two at a time, you will enter and fight your way through the most hellish nightmare you’ve ever encountered. Creatures will attack you that you have never even conjured in your dreams. Your completion time will be recorded, as will your kill total, and both will play into how well you do overall.”

“Phase two is the death pit. We will randomly select two of you to go in there and beat each other to death. You can also quit and we will
try
to get you out in time. Single elimination and only those who make it to the semi-finals will have enough points to matter when this is all over.”

“The final test is the human tempting chambers. We put you in a room with a simulated human and simulate Earth. You talk him into doing whatever horrible thing you can think of. I’ll be impressed if half of you can tempt him to commit a simple mugging. Anything more creative than that will be rewarded.”

“Once everything is done, you will receive a final score. A very small number of you will be recruited immediately following the announcement of your score and will become minor demons. The rest of you will be assigned to follow minor or middle demons on earth until someone requests your promotion. You will all report back to me until you become minor demons and I can request to have you pulled from wherever you are. Most of you will stay demons-in-training for a very long time.”

Venom shifted his gaze to Shadow and then another demon with a smug grin on his face.

“Don’t think you can get by on family connections either. I don’t care if you’re the nephew, son, daughter, or whatever of a major demon. I don’t even give a shit if you’re the bastard offspring of Satan. You will meet the same requirements that have been in place for millennia. No one will coast on a family member’s reputation while
I’m
the demon training instructor.”

Venom’s speech continued but Shadow stopped paying attention. The other demon that Venom had looked at before making his comment about familial ties was still grinning. Shadow nudged Leech.

“Who’s that over there?”

“Which one?”

“The big one. The one that looks like he could rip the teacher apart.”

“He probably will at some point. That’s Nightmare, Lucian’s son. He’s the only one in the class other than you that has a direct tie to a major demon.”

Shadow smiled.

“That’s who Uncle Cain wants me to intimidate today. By sending me here with a scythe, he guaranteed that Venom would make some comment about special treatment. That guaranteed that I would find a rival.”

Leech shifted his stance and looked uncomfortable.

“Not to say that you can’t, but are you
sure
you can beat him? I mean... he’s huge and you don’t have your scythe anymore.”

“I’ll be fine, Leech. Don’t stress it.”

Venom’s speech was wrapping up.

“So now you’ll have fifteen minutes to find a partner for the labyrinth. Those of you who don’t will be randomly paired with anyone that’s left. Choose wisely because you don’t get to do this over; this is your one and only shot.”

Leech turned to Shadow and bowed his head.

“Well, I’ll get out of your way so you can find someone to team up with. Good luck.”

Leech took a few steps and a large hand grabbed him around the throat and lifted him into the air and then brought him down hard on the ground. Leech drew the sharpened bone from his cloak but his hand started to shake when he looked up and saw who had attacked him. Nightmare stood over him, still smiling, with his arms crossed.

“I came over here to talk to Shadow but it looks like the smallest dumbass in the class decided to get in my way. You gonna apologize for being in my way?”

Leech looked scared. He looked around to see Nightmare had brought a fairly sizable posse with him. Even if he had been a match for Nightmare, there was no way this was going to be a fair fight. While it really annoyed him, he was going to have to apologize.

Right before he began his apology, he saw Shadow out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t look scared. He looked menacing. Leech was immediately glad that he had made a deal with him. As if to confirm that Shadow still wanted to fight Nightmare, he raised both of his eyebrows. Shadow smiled and nodded. The deal was still on. He just had to muster enough confidence to play his part.

Leech got to his feet. He considered shoving Nightmare for added effect but decided against it because he preferred his arms to remain unbroken.

“I won’t be apologizing to you. Here’s the deal, Nighty. Turn around, walk away, and maybe Shadow won’t kick your ass.”

Nightmare’s right hand balled into a fist and he swung it down hard on Leech’s head. Leech collapsed, knocked out cold.

“Not sure why the little bastard thought you were going to save him. Now we have some time to talk.”

“What makes you think we have anything to talk about?”

“Look, if we team up and take the labyrinth we’ll both move on and become minor demons. I know we have the best chance of being recruited so we might as well blow everyone else out of the water.”

“I’ll pass.”

“You already have someone to partner with?”

“You just knocked him out.”

Nightmare laughed.

“That’s fine. You see, my dad is the demon of lies. I was going to knock you out the second we got in the labyrinth anyways. You’re uncle may be a major demon but your dad is just a discarded piece of shit that’s rotting in prison.”

That was all it took for Shadow to lose his temper. He kicked hard at Nightmare’s knee which brought him down to eye level and then delivered a hard upper cut to his chin. While this probably would have taken down just about any other demon-in-training, Nightmare only stumbled back a few steps. Once he regained his footing, he shook his head and his eyebrows arched down but he continued to smile. His underlings stepped forward to fight but Nightmare raised his arms and waved them back.

“He’s mine.”

Nightmare cleared the distance between them with three massive steps and then swung a powerful fist at Shadow’s head. He was able to side step the blow and deliver one of his own to Nightmare’s elbow in an attempt to get it to bend the wrong way. It had no effect. Seeing that Nightmare was unharmed, Shadow backed up to a safe distance.

As they began to circle each other, Shadow realized that Nightmare would likely remain unharmed unless he could get some shots in at his face. His initial attack had caught him off guard but he probably wouldn’t get another free pass like that now that Nightmare was angry and ready for his assault. He decided to wait for Nightmare’s next attack and go from there.

When Nightmare charged and swung a fist at Shadow’s chest, he was able to redirect the blow to the ground. Shadow then stepped on Nightmare’s forearm which brought his face within striking range. Once Shadow had a clear shot at his face, he sent several quick punches his way. Nightmare was clearly in pain but he shifted his arm which caused Shadow to stumble backwards. This was all the time Nightmare needed to bring his other arm to meet Shadow’s abdomen. He flew backwards through the air with pain resonating from his midsection.

Shadow took a few seconds to recover while he scowled at Nightmare. Once he felt most of the pain had subsided, he started charging back in Nightmare’s direction. Nightmare grinned, cracked his knuckles, and aimed what would no doubt be a devastating blow. Right before they collided again, Venom appeared in the middle of them and swung his massive battleaxe at the ground. Shadow and Nightmare both flew backwards and fell on the ground.

“Save it for the arena you stupid little assholes.”

Right as Venom said the word “assholes,” the buzzer rang. Venom smiled.

“Guess neither of you found a second for your tag team. Looks like I’ll be randomly pairing you up.”

“No I’ll take him.”

Shadow pointed at the still unconscious Leech.

“And you, Nightmare? Would you care to pick some unconscious moron as well?”

Nightmare smiled and grabbed the closest demon at his side. He delivered a hard punch to his face, knocking him out cold.

“Sure. I’ll take this unconscious moron. I’ll tie him to my back and I’ll still beat murder trash wannabe over here.”

Shadow smiled.

“I know you’re the daughter of a decent liar, but that wasn’t very convincing.”

The smile finally left Nightmare’s face. Apparently he didn’t like being called a girl or the way Shadow just referenced his father. He took a step forward but then turned his head to see Venom still standing there. Venom shook his head and Nightmare took a step back.

“Enough bullshit. Let’s see if either one of you can back up what you’ve said. Everyone make your way to the labyrinth entrance.”

Shadow went to Leech, who was finally regaining consciousness. Leech looked up and smiled.

“You kicked his ass, didn’t you? You barely look hurt.”

“I got more punches in but he landed a good shot to my stomach. Still hurts a little.”

“Is he laying face down somewhere?”

“No. Venom stepped in and broke it up.”

“Well that sucks, Shady. You find a good partner for the labyrinth?”

“No. I’m pretty sure the demon I picked is going to be more trouble than he’s worth.”

“Who?”

Shadow smiled.

“It’s you, dumbass. Now help me get my armor on and we’ll see what we can do about getting you some better equipment.”

Leech looked shocked and bowed on one knee.

“I really appreciate it, Shady. I won’t let you down.”

“You can’t. I couldn’t think any less of you than I already do. One punch from Nightmare and you’re out cold?”

“That asshole sucker punched me.”

“Well redeem yourself then. Armor. Now.”

“Sure. Right away.”

Leech opened the bag with Shadow’s armor and polished it with his cloak. He then helped Shadow secure his armor and handed him his sword. Leech saw that there was still some extra gear in the sack.

“Can I just go ahead and um... take what I want?”

“Have at it.”

While Shadow watched Leech put on a belt and attach a pair of daggers to it, he couldn’t stop thinking. Why the hell had Cain given him a scythe when he knew it would be taken away? It couldn’t be just for style points and making enemies.

Shadow decided to look at the sword so he would at least better understand his new replacement weapon. As he looked along the blade, crimson writing started to appear and extend along the surface of the sword.

“
Recite the story of the first murder and this weapon will become your salvation.
”

The writing disappeared shortly after Shadow read it and he had no idea what it meant.

T
wenty minutes flat. It was a new record for the labyrinth. Nightmare must have either run past everything in there or crushed everything in his path. For the first time since he arrived at the trials, Shadow felt a little nervous. He shook off the feeling and tried to replace it with confidence.

Venom smiled and put his hand on Nightmare’s shoulder.

“Well done! That was definitely worthy of the offspring of a major demon. Where’s the demon you went in with?”

“Couldn’t protect him. The most powerful thing in the labyrinth got him shortly after we entered. There was no saving him.”

“Well it is what it is. Don’t get cocky because there’s still two more to go. I wouldn’t enjoy having to hand your dead corpse over to your father because you got overconfident.”

“That will never happen.”

Nightmare was swarmed by the other demons-in-training. Everyone was eager to hear about what he met inside. Nightmare fabricated all sorts of creatures and Shadow was pretty sure he was lying about most of it. Nightmare made his way over to Shadow and Leech and flipped them off.

“There’s the proof that I’m the most powerful demon here.”

Shadow smiled in response.

“So you ran screaming like a little girl from the labyrinth? I’ll bet you’ll get points docked for not killing anything.”

“I killed everything in the maze. I left nothing alive.”

“We’ll see what you left alive when the scores come.”

Shadow started approaching the maze and signaled for Leech to follow. Nightmare crossed his arms and was shortly swarmed once again by the other demons-in-training. Venom waved his hand and two demons came forward to inspect their weapons. After checking Shadow’s sword and Leech’s daggers, they nodded their approval to Venom. Seeing that everything was satisfactory, Venom checked their names off on a scroll.

“Any advice for us before we go in?”

“Keep Shadow alive. He’s more important than you. Shadow... don’t die.”

“I’m not planning on it.”

“Shadow, son of Abaddon, and Leech, son of...,” there was a brief pause while he checked the scroll again, “Malcontent... enter the labyrinth trial of Hell.”

Venom waved his hand down at the demons at the entrance. They each pulled a lever that lowered a drawbridge. As Shadow and Leech approached, they could see the fires burning underneath and the souls screaming in protest to their current state. When they had crossed the drawbridge, Venom motioned for the bridge to be raised.

“The time starts when you’re locked in.”

As the drawbridge locked back into its upright position, a loud boom echoed throughout the labyrinth. The first thing Shadow noticed was the demon that went in with Nightmare. His neck was broken and he was lying in a pool of blood. What Nightmare said was deceptive, but not necessarily a lie. The most powerful thing in the labyrinth had killed this demon since Nightmare thought himself to be more powerful than anything he had encountered in the maze. Leech looked at the demon’s corpse and shuddered.