AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s a human word,” I said. “I guess it means?—”
“I know what badass means. I’m just surprised to hear an angel use that expression. Are we ready to head out?”
“Your people look like they are.”
Missolis glanced around at the demons assembling at the lip of the mountain. They had paired up, they were stretching their wings, and were embracing each other and wishing each other luck. She turned her attention back to me. “We’re ready, and our spotters already have eyes on the line of pilgrims heading toward the Citadel.”
“Really? That quick?”
“I told you, there’s new pilgrims every day, and their long convoys can be easily spotted. We should be able to catch up with them and blend in with them soon enough. Etari and Malachi will stay with you to make sure you don’t get too close to anyone you shouldn’t.”
I nodded. “Bodyguards. I’ll take it.”
“Alright, let’s get to it,” she said, rolling her shoulders, and, where previously she’d only had a single wing, a second wing now grew and stretched. She arched her back, cracked her neck, and turned away from me.
“You glamored one of your wings?” I asked. “Why?”
Missolis’ eyes brightened. “Never underestimate the element of surprise.” She walked over to the edge of the mountain, looked up at the sky, and roared. “Demons! With me!”
Where Missolis went, the rest of the demons followed. She hurled herself off the edge of the cliff, using her wings to then soar into the air after a moment spent plunging into the valley beyond. It wasn’t long before they had all taken the dive, including those who had paired up with non-fliers.
Malachi gave me a deep look, nodded at Etari, and then took off where he stood. I followed him, with Etari at my back, joining the airborne company of demons and hugging the terrain to avoid being spotted by the enemy before we could join the pilgrims.
It was an insane plan which had no right to work as easily as Missolis had laid it out. The nagging feeling that we were heading towards disaster only got stronger once I saw Abaddon’s dark Citadel looming on the horizon… but we had to make it work.
Everything depended on it.
CHAPTER TEN
Abaddon’s Citadel loomed over Hell’s horizon. It was a tall, imposing structure that could be seen from far and wide, striking onlookers with as much awe as fear. Onlookers like me. With its impossibly large towers, pointed parapets, and walls that went on for miles, it looked more like a collection of knives trying to reach up and stab the low hanging clouds than it did a fortress.
It was the kind of look someone like Abaddon would go for. It also seemed to me like this was to Hell what the Sacred City was to Heaven. Already I could see hundreds of demons flooding into the Citadel through its large, open gates. They were coming from all over the place, their heads bowed, their eyes clinging to the ground beneath their feet.
They weren’t stopped on their way in.
They weren’t harassed by guards trying to determine what their business was.
Anyone and everyone were welcome in Abaddon’s Citadel, but none of that served to ease my heart the closer I got to it. I felt like I was willingly walking into the mouth of a lion on the promise that it would not eat me so long as I was quick enough and careful enough not to bother it. I was walking into its mouth—of course it was going to eat me!
Lacking any other choice, I nervously followed the rebels and joined the hordes of demons filing in through the Citadel’s main gates. Once we passed through it, the ambient sounds of the city started to unfold around me, and it was nothing like the rebels’ city under the mountain.
There had been laughter there, joy, music. The demons in Missolis’ care were living happy, comfortable, and safe lives. There was laughter here, yes, but it was more of a maniacal cackle instead of a mirthful sound. There was nothing mirthful about this place. Nothing peaceful, or serene. It was all chaos, and noise, and violence.
All around me I could hear fights taking place, scuffles in the middle of the street between pairs of demons arguing over some stupid thing or other. Up on a balcony, one demon slapped another one so hard across the face, he staggered back and plummeted three stories into the ground not far from the line of pilgrims I was in.
The sudden thud forced the throng of demons to shift and move, and I felt bodies press in all around me. A howl of laughter rang out from the top of the balcony, with a few of the demons below joining in. No one was helping the demon who had been thrown off, instead they were rifling through his pockets and taking everything in them.
These demons lived up to their reputation, taking whatever they wanted from others, hurting each other for fun, and simply serving their own desires. I fought the urge to help the fallen demon up and shoo away the thieves, and I was glad that I did; as soon as he got up, he pulled a blade from somewhere and began wildly slashing at those around him before flying back up to the balcony and continuing the fight.
Things didn’t get any prettier the further into the city we got.
Past the rowdy demons, in a long, narrow street lined with cages, we heard the cries. At first I thought I was hearing wounded animals wailing, but as the line of pilgrims got closer, I realized the shapes inside were humanoid. I expected to see demons in those cages… but I was wrong. They were humans, all of them. Mortal souls trapped inside of cages, battered, bleeding, and crying out for help and mercy.
My heart squeezed.
Humans… in Hell. I had heard such a thing was possible, but Hell was not a place for humans—despite what the humans themselves believed. These had arrived here either by willingly trading their soul to a demon for a boon, or being dragged back with the demon when it was exorcised from the weakened host.
It was disgustingly easy to tell which ones had traded their souls. They were not crying or huddled in the corners of their cages like the rest, but reaching out and shouting to the passing demons, promising the souls they had already given away—or worse, the souls of still living relatives—if they would only let them free. One of the first cages we passed begged and pleaded to be released, offering his newborn son in his place.
