The Pleasures of Hell

~~Day 66~~

~~David~~

Daoka clicked in his face and poked him with a claw. Someone had, apparently, ratted him out. A quick glance at the grinning Caera announced her betrayal.

"You could have at least woken us," Jes said, getting up off the pile of silk blankets.

"I think Acelina wanted to do something a little... private," he said.

"With the other spire mothers?"

"Kinda?"

Daoka clicked some more, frowning, got behind him, and hugged him. Hard. Her breastplate dug into his back, and he winced and half squeaked, but she didn't let him go. Death by bear hug.

Jes got up in his face and poked him in the forehead. "Your owner isn't happy."

"Sorry! Sorry. Acelina sounded like she really wanted--"

"Yeah yeah, I get it. Dao understands, too."

Daoka sighed, chirped, and rubbed her cheek on the top of his head.

The Las joined in, clicking and whining, and a few of them punched David in the leg. Gently. Tiny as they were, they were stronger than humans by a decent margin, but they were smart enough to not break his legs as they frowned up at him.

"I think Acelina wants to leave it at that," Caera said. "You know what she's like. Lilith forbid she ever relax around the group for half a second. But she relaxed with the other spire mothers, so, it was a good goodbye." Nodding, Caera stepped closer on all fours and nudged her head between Dao and David, saving him from asphyxiation. "Let's get ready. Who knows what Azailia's gonna do. I'm guessing she'll try and trick David into staying."

"Perhaps," Moriah said. "But Azailia has been known to be direct in the past." Right, Moriah probably had learned some history about what the spires had been up to the past century or ten.

"Whatever it is," David said, "we'll deal, right? We got a powerful angel with us."

Moriah glared at him. "Do you mock me?"

"What? No." Uh oh.

"I am still missing a wing, fool." She aimed her shoulder with the missing wing toward him. The second wing was still a stub, not even a meter long, underdeveloped and snug against her back. "And this shoulder..." She rotated the bad shoulder. Just watching proved it wasn't in good shape. He'd seen people favor a shoulder like that before, ones who'd had nasty dislocations that meant permanent issues. "My body spends every waking moment repairing the damage of hellfire, and you expect me to--"

Jes smacked Moriah in the ass with her tail. Everyone froze. Moriah sucked in a hard hiss and readied a nuclear salvo, and Jes put up her hands.

"We get it. The rider fucked you up. But we've all been there, beaten to fuck, injured and broken, and still found a way to make shit work. And hey, you're an angel. Even half an angel is stronger than most demons, right? Calm the fuck down."

Cue the glaring match. Everyone took a step back, and Moriah and Jes took a step toward each other. Sure, Jes was a great fighter. A gargoyle who knew how to kill and knew it well, working as one of Zel's enforcers. But the chances a gorgala could beat a one-winged angel in a fight were pretty damn small.

Moriah took a deep breath, stretched out her good wing, and nodded.

"Very well."

Jes smiled. "Great. Thought I was gonna have to kick your ass for a second there."

David braced for an explosion. None came. Moriah rolled her eyes and stepped away.

"I am well enough to use batlam and fight, at least somewhat," she said. "But I cannot fly."

"None of us can fly," Caera said.

"An angel relies on flight for superiority. Maneuverability is key."

Daoka nodded and clicked, but gestured around, picked up a piece of armor, and put it back on. No one had completely removed their armor, and the translation was clear: time to get ready.

They did. Everyone put back on what pieces of armor they'd taken off, checked their weapons, wings, hooves, and got ready by the door. Acelina had closed it for them, and someone had to open it.

Someone did. Azailia returned, with Timaeus, Laoko, and her right hand Silvain, and at least forty demons. No, wait, more. Some were from Timaeus's group, but plenty of others David had never seen; not that he was good at telling demons apart, but they sure looked new. Brutes and vrats and gargoyles, a tiger, and a satyr. All wore armor, bent chunks of black metal on random body parts, held to limbs by leather straps. All stared at David and Moriah like they were dangerous-but-delicious meals.

The new demons weren't just regular demons. They had more pieces of armor. Some had trophies hanging off belts. All wore more armor than the typical demon. Even the brutes, who usually went naked, had a few pieces of armor on them.

"Hello, my dear guests," Azailia said, smiling.

Jes snarled and stood in the front of the group. "That's a lot of demons to say hello."

Caera crept closer, got on David's side, and stayed there, tail deadly still behind her.

Azailia nodded. "Indeed. They are some of my best enforcers, and they will join you across the border. They will take you to the Scar all the way to Tarkissa, assuming Tarkissa's bailiffs do not give you trouble."

Daoka joined David's other side and clicked once into his ear. Again, no need for a translation. He didn't trust any of that.

"We going now?" Caera asked.

"After the feast. You must cross the Dead Lands and the Amisius Forest to reach the border of the Scar. And while there are pockets of activity where souls are frequently dumped, you must travel between them. We should eat before you go." She smiled, soft face wielding a scalpel of a little grin, and she gestured for them to follow.

David looked at Laoko. Normally, the tetrad had her own little smiles and grins, but not this time. She frowned slightly, eyes pointed down in classic thinking mode, but she met David's gaze for a moment, and her frown only grew. But she followed her ruler.

Moriah sucked in a slow breath and stepped out in front. Demons backed away, nudging each other to get out of her path. They hadn't expected the one-winged angel to go first, especially without her armor, but Moriah marched on like she could incinerate every demon around her if they so much as looked at her wrong. She was smaller than every one of them, and yet, bigger.

Jes traded a surprised glance with Dao. Dao shrugged, and followed her. Everyone else followed, too, the Las taking the back and huddling together close to Caera's tail.

They went up a couple floors, and everyone, all sixty or seventy of them, stepped into a giant room of metal walls with flesh pulsating between ribs. Not nearly as much flesh as down in the hatching pits or lower, but enough flesh the room smelled of blood. And in the center of the room, a large section of the floor was wet muscle, slowly beating, and a pile of hearts waited to be eaten.

"Come, eat," Azailia said. "I cannot join you on your journey, but Laoko and Silvain will."

"Not Timaeus?" Jes asked, marched up to the pile, and took a heart from the top. Maybe she wanted to show off her ego, or be strong and commanding like Moriah. Either way, she didn't even glance back. Rude. David followed suit. If David had waited, or asked for permission to eat, that would have been showing weakness. He took a heart, too.

Moriah joined them, filtered through the hearts, and found a large one that couldn't have come from a human. She devoured it quickly. Maybe demon hearts were affecting her, because she was getting more comfortable eating them, and not being squeamish about it, either. She ripped through the flesh with her teeth all too much like a demon, and stared around at the other demons who slowly approached the pile like hungry pack animals, waiting for their turn.

Dao and Caera got their own hearts, but Caera also played caretaker and gave the Las a heart each. They cheered. It wasn't every day the Las got a whole heart for each, tiny as they were.

Laoko smiled at the little ladies and fetched a heart, too.

"It's a long journey to the Scar," she said. "But we must leave quickly before the rider attacks. Two days was probably too long a stay."

"Can he assault a spire solo?" David asked. "Last time he attacked a spire, he had a giant hellbeast and a couple dozen demons in aera armor with it. I mean, if he comes in alone, can you capture him?"

"Many have tried," Azailia said. "No one has captured the rider. He always escapes. No matter how many demons come at him, he always survives. But he is a wild animal, chasing whatever scent catches his interest. That scent is you, so it is best you stay on the move." She folded her four arms across her chest, and her tail flicked once to the side. "Not that I cannot fend off the rider if I have to, but I would prefer to not waste demons on a pointless affair."

"So Timaeus is going back?" Jes asked, and she threw the huge tetrad a squinting eye along with a small flap of her wings. He returned the eye squint, and the wing flap, grinned, and swallowed down a heart.

"Yes," Azailia said. "Ultimately, we decided he cannot leave his district for too long. Factions war and cause chaos without a shepherd to punish their misdeeds. You understand. Laoko will be your guide, as will Silvain."

The group looked at Silvain. Somehow, despite how similar he looked to Timaeus, a ten-foot demon with a tail, dinosaur feet, giant wings, and four enormous black horns, he looked considerably meaner. Maybe it was just the stoic attitude, but David immediately put him on the 'do not trust' list.

They ate, David's group, and everyone else. No one looked comfortable with each other. The brutes, in particular, looked at Moriah and David like they wanted a fight. Sure, Moriah could win that fist fight, but David couldn't, not inside the spire. Once they were out on the road, he'd feel more comfortable, but right now the tension felt like a wire ready to snap.

Nothing happened. Everyone ate and went down to the ground floor. David snuck some glances with Caera and Jes, and they both shrugged. Moriah couldn't stop glaring at the demons, daring them to try something; subtle, she was not. But no demon so much as got close to them.

They stood in the spire's entrance where the fog pooled. First out went Silvain, then David and his group, and then Laoko and her demon entourage. A lot of demons, ready for battle, ready to protect David and the group on their perilous journey.

Yeah right. What the fuck was going on?

Another fifty demons waited for them, all wearing armor.

"Uh..." David tilted his head.

"You must be protected," Azailia said. "A force this size will give the rider pause, at least."

"You're announcing our location," Moriah said.

"Hardly. Unlike angels, we do not need the sky to move silently. Make the effort to remain hidden, and the fog will hide you. Or did you not think there are forces of similar size between you and your goal?" Azailia shrugged and folded her four arms across her huge chest. "I know my province well. There are dozens of groups that could attack you, and no angel testing the fog could separate them from yours at a glance. You will be hiding in plain sight, in a sense."

It was like medieval Europe, or ancient Greece, or ancient China, or... lots of places, now that he thought about it. Small, warring states, who treated combat like a natural part of life. And they were going to pretend to be one of those states, just nomadic?

"My warriors," Silvain said, shot a hard glare at David over his shoulder, and gestured to his troops with a flick of his tail. "Respect them."

David glared right back. Showing weakness wasn't allowed, and he marched forward after the tetrad like he wasn't scared at all.

He was fucking terrified. It was so many demons, all glaring at him, red eyes piercing the fog, all twitching their claws or scraping said claws across the nigh blunt edges of their swords and axes. If they jumped him, the best he could do was summon his armor on the spot and maybe block an attack. In a brawl, he was fucked. He needed distance, and having an entourage of nearly a hundred demons he didn't trust was the opposite of healthy distance.

A brute gently thudded the tip of their stupidly enormous sword on the ground. David knew why no demon bothered with spears or halberds. The fuck was the point in killing someone if you didn't get to feel the splitting of flesh or the breaking of bone under the weight of your swing? It was a wonder none of them used giant hammers, so they could feel a skull crush the way a rock could crush.

He looked down at his hands and squeezed them. He knew that sensation. It wasn't a good sensation.

Taking a deep breath, he walked forward, and his girls followed. A look back showed Azailia watching, and she slowly disappeared behind a veil of god, grin unending.

He already missed Acelina.

"Laoko," he said once they had some distance, "you trust these demons?" He didn't whisper.

"I trust Azailia."

He frowned up at her over his shoulder. That wasn't what he asked, but it was a clear enough answer. No, she didn't, not really.

Moriah cracked her knuckles and marched on ahead of the group. Jes hopped after her, and Dao behind her. David walked with Caera, Las around him, and Laoko followed directly behind David. Silvain stayed in front, and the nearly hundred demons working for him and Azailia circled the group.

Entourage, or prison guards.

They began the march. Other demons watched, younger ones, smaller ones, some perching on metal pillars that stuck out of the ground, and some gathered in groups, imps and grems that stared with wide eyes. The Las waved.

"The rider is going to find us," Jes said. She slowed down and walked with Laoko instead, directly behind David. "This is way too big a group."

"Azailia knows what she's doing," Laoko said. "These are many of her best enforcers. Some are centuries old."

They looked it. Some brutes had scars, not a common sight; demons usually healed. Plenty of them had trophies on their belts, or hanging off chest or back straps. One gorgala who might have had a century or two on Jes had tiny bones hanging off her wings' fingers at the claw. He had no idea if that meant she was a better fighter than Jes, but it certainly gave him reason to keep the woman in sight.

They gave him his space. With him in the back and Moriah up front, the demons didn't get close, most on the edge of the fog with only Silvain truly directly in front.

They managed an entire hour before trouble started.

"Silvain," Moriah said. "Go further up."

The tetrad turned and growled down at the angel. Yeah, he was a lot grumpier than his fellow tetrad, and he flared his wings and turned, full stop.

"Do not give me orders."

David checked behind them. The spire was out of sight, all buried in fog, and Azailia wasn't around to play referee.

"It wasn't an order. It was a threat. I do not want you near me. So you will stay good and far away, or I will smite you down." Moriah stepped closer. "Understood?"

Silvain glared down at the angel. She was shy of seven feet tall, and had one wing. Silvain was ten feet tall, with two enormous wings, bulging muscles, four enormous horns, and a demony skull-ish face showing off his many teeth. He made her look irrelevant.

She stepped closer, and he growled and braced. What would Mia say? His pride was on the line, and if he backed down, he'd have a bunch of demons questioning his authority.

He made a good show of being big and scary, but after a long staring match, he snorted, turned, and followed his fellow demons deeper into the fog, giving Moriah and the gang more space.

"That girl," Laoko said, "is going to be trouble."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They created three groups. David's group, Laoko's group, and Silvain's group. Silvain's took the front, David's in the middle, Laoko's in the back, and they all found places to hide for twilight hours. Problematically, there weren't any good places to hide. But with a hundred demons, the group was bold enough to find empty areas to sit and get ready for sleep.

Black dirt with hundreds of white pebbles, all broken off the enormous white tombstones sticking up from the ground. A single mausoleum stood nearby, so David and the girls took it. It didn't have a basement, but the room was large enough, tall walls with shelves stacked full of black skulls. A couple real ones, too.

They sat in the big, empty room of sculpted death, and huddled close.

"Anticlimactic," David said.

"Yeah," Jes said. "I expected to have to fight our way out of there."

"We're surrounded," Caera said. "Fighting our way out is still a possibility."

David traced the black stone floor with a finger. "I can fight out here. I can use the music, like I did with the rider."

Caera grumbled. "Last time you did that, you fainted."

"I feel better about it, this time. Getting better at playing the music."

"Good enough to take on a hundred demons? From all sides? While we're in the fight?"

He winced. "Probably not. But maybe we can change that? If we just kinda... get ourselves in a different position, maybe we can--"

A clopping hooves sound outside shut him up. Laoko poked her head around the entrance of the mausoleum, and smiled at the group.

"La!" The Las said. They hopped up from playing in their corner, ran through the group, and jumped around Laoko's legs in a circle. "La! La!"

Laoko smiled and patted each of their heads once, each with a different hand.

"You four are terribly cute, far cuter than most imps and grems I have dealt with. What is your secret?" She squatted down and tugged on their wings and tails.

The Las giggled and hopped around some more.

"Las older than most imps and grems," Lasca said, and she poked her temple. "Smart."

David choked down a laugh.

"Laoko," Caera said, "visiting?"

"Of course. I wanted to see how you were fairing."

"You," Jes said, "just wanted to make sure we were still around, and not plotting some way to escape."

Laoko frowned, stood in the mausoleum entrance, and leaned against the side, upper arms folded across her breastplate, lower on her hips.

"Why would you want to escape? I promised you we would see Azailia, and she would help you with your journey. Is this not help?"

Daoka shook her head and gestured at the walls and beyond them.

But Lao shook her head harder. "They're not your jailers. They're--"

"And you promised us to tell us more about you." Jes slapped the floor with her tail. "We seemed to skip that part. So if you wanna sit and chat with us again, how about you tell us a little more about yourself, miss Azailia's favorite?"

That was a good point. In all the changes and commotion, David had forgotten. He looked at Caera and Dao, but both looked up at Lao, waiting. They were on board with forcing her to speak.

Laoko growled, but sat down by the door and leaned back with palms behind her against the floor.

"I am old. I helped Azailia take this tower during the Spire's War."

"Fuck," Jes said. "That is old."

"Yes. Back then, tetrads were far more common, and children of the Old Ones were not extinct. Battles were... extreme." She gestured to her throat. "I could not breathe hellfire then. That came with age."

"So you were a part of the biggest war Hell's ever seen," Jes said, "since Cain's war?"

"Yes. Azailia, myself, and many other tetrads cooperated and fought for control of the Grave Valley."

"Teleius," David said.

"Yes." She frowned, looking down. "And others, over the centuries."

"Why'd you leave the spire?" Jes asked. "Sounds like you and Azailia were close."

"I met a man."

Jes choked on a laugh. "Wait, you're serious?"

"Yes. Angels came to investigate the aftermath of the Spires War, and once they realized Azailia was no child of the Old Ones, capable of uniting all of Hell, they let us be. I got to know some of those angels, and..." She smiled, looked down, and twisted to sit in that classic feminine sit-on-hip way. "The gabriem were interested in us. They wanted to know why we were so insistent on fighting each other. The rapholem and mikalim, not so much. But the gabriem asked questions, and I answered."