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“Shut up,” she snarled. “One more word out of you, and I’ll slice your tongue out.”
I had to get through to her. Gadriel was still in there—I could feel it. She remembered me, she remembered Medrion, but I knew time moved differently between Heaven, Earth, and Hell. What was a few months to me could’ve been actual centuries for her; many, many lives lived down here in Hell. It was no surprise she felt no connection to her old life outside of the rage she felt for Medrion.
I opened my mouth to try my luck with Gadriel once more, but my voice was drowned out by a crackling boom from the tear. It sent a shockwave of sound and Light throughout the courtyard, whipping my hair as it passed, and forcing the assembled demons to shield their eyes.
Abaddon threw himself to one knee. “Kneel, you fools!” he roared toward the crowd.
Everyone around me fell to their knees, still protecting their eyes from the blinding Light that filtered through the tear. The rebels were hit the worst; I could see Missolis trying to angle her head away from it, but we were too close, and steam was starting to come off the top of her head. It was affecting me quite differently though, the Light was invigorating me, sending little jolts of power into my body.
Finally, the tear stopped expanding. It was massive, a hundred feet wide and thirty feet high, and at its center… a tall shadow. A person was emerging, their body a dark, looming silhouette against the shimmering, bright backdrop.
Only, the closer the shadow got, the smaller it got, and the Lucifer that emerged from that portal wasn’t the towering beast depicted in the murals in the temple. This angel bore the humble countenance of a man of average height and build, and if not for the golden halo and the two pairs of fluffy, white wings, he could’ve been mistaken for a strangely good-looking… accountant, or something.
The demons were all looking at him now, slack-jawed and entirely stunned. I remembered the disappointment I’d felt when Lucifer revealed himself to me as being the absolute snake everyone said he was. I could only hope these war-hungry demons, clad in armor and ready for battle, were just as disappointed that he wasn’t the largest most muscle-bound monster in all of existence.
“What’s up, guys?” he asked, raising his hands as he came into view.
Nothing. Not even the hint of a murmur from the demons around me.
“How the Hell is everybody doing down here?” Lucifer chuckled at his own joke. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I’ve been working on that for millennia.” Another long pause. “Oof, tough crowd.”
I didn’t know how to feel as he stood there, casually cracking jokes. He looked so unassuming, so unthreatening, like a beautiful flower laced with poison. I was ashamed to admit that I was afraid of him; he had used me and discarded me, and I should have been angry but still I only felt worthless in his presence. I shrunk a little, hoping he wouldn’t spot me, but I knew I stuck out like a sore thumb.
“Lightbringer,” Abaddon finally said, bowing deeply. “The Kingdom of Hell welcomes you.”
“Aha,” Lucifer said, perhaps a little curtly. He looked up at Abaddon, who towered over him even on his knees, and then nodded to himself. “And this is the good-looking bunch of loyal demons I’m here to spring out of the joint, huh? Not bad. Not bad at all.”
“They are yours to command, my liege. Say the word, and they will obey you. Such is the oath they have taken, by fire, and blood, and pain, and?—”
“Right, right. I get it. Loyal, dutiful, ready to kill and die at my command, yada-yada—listen guys,” he directed himself at the army assembled ahead of him, “I know you’re ready for war and all that, but there’s so much more waiting for you up there, alright? I mean, there’s sun, there’s surf, there’s food—and there are so many people just waiting to be tortured by an actual demon. It’s wild. They spend so much time torturing themselves, we’d be almost helping them by doing it for them—outsourcing, if you will. So, forget this strict military B.S, and how about we get on up there and just have ourselves a good time, huh?”
“Don’t you want to inspect—” Abaddon tried to speak, but Lucifer cut him off again.
“Nah, I’m not into all that; that’s what my right hand is for.”
Another creature emerged from within the Light, and my heart stopped. This creature was larger than Lucifer in every way: tall, broad shouldered, and with a wingspan that rivaled Lucifer’s own. The Light shone off his bare shoulders and chest, highlighting his substantially large horns; thick horns that rose out of his temples, curled around the curve of his head, and then tipped up toward the sky again.
Horns that were far larger than the last time I had seen them.
“Abaddon…” I breathed.
He came up beside Lucifer, his arms crossed in front of his chest, a giant sword strapped to his back. His body was marked, run through with glowing red lines just like his namesake, only these were less vibrant and looked more like scars than cracks.
I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I wanted to stand up, run toward him and slam my fists against his chest until I was exhausted. But I also wanted him to pick me up, kiss my forehead, and tell me it was all ok. I wasn’t going to get that from him, I knew it just looking at him—his entire demeanor was different, his marks far more pronounced and worn almost like a badge of honor.
He was closer to a demon now than even the Tyrant had been.
“I’m gonna let my lieutenant Abaddon here take care of the troops, and the torturing, and the war, and all that,” said Lucifer. “So, let’s get this show on the road and get the Hell out of here?” Another chuckle. “Get the Hell out of here. Hah! I didn’t even plan that one!”
“My lord,” said Abaddon the first, “This isn’t?—”
“Look, I need you to take a seat, okay?”
“But—”
“What have you been doing down here this whole time? I mean, what have you actually been doing all this time?”
“I have prepared and trained this army for you.”
