The Pleasures of Hell

~~Day 91~

~~Mia~~

Romakus stabbed his sword into the flesh floor of the colossal cavern, and the group turned around. They'd heard them coming, but running wasn't an option, not when they had no idea where they were going.

From the black came the snarls and rumbling roars of cannams. Half a dozen of them, all on leashes, while pulling a giant demon behind them. And behind the giant demon, came an army of demons.

"Vicente," Romakus said. "You chased us all the way here?"

Vicente, the korgejin from the Black Valley. Covered in tribal scar tattoos, the titan licked his fangs and drew his sword, other hand holding the huge chain leashes of his pets. Half of his face was completely covered in decorative scars, like someone had turned his face into a warped piece of art.

Around him came a half dozen brutes and tigers, each donning several pieces of meera metal, like their boss. And around them came a couple hundred vrats and gargoyles. More. There even came another sarkarin like Kas, a muscular creature that walked on all fours with the posture of a gorilla, but looked more like a long-armed T-Rex. And like Kas, he had no eyes, just a flat, solid head of black, and two horns jutting forward.

"Alessio wanted to come herself," Vicente said. "But she's not stupid enough to step into another province without a proper army. That can come later."

Romakus snorted and gestured out at the approaching demons. "This isn't an army?"

"You know it isn't. But then, when's the last time you had a proper army under your control? Not since the Spires War, I imagine."

Mia, standing on her feet in the blood, and safely behind Azreal and his shield, poked her head around the gold barrier. Romakus was around during the Spires War? With an army? Even Yosepha looked a little surprised.

"That was a long time ago," Romakus said. "You managed to tame some cannams?"

"So did you," Vicente said, and he pointed his sword at Mia. "That must be a rare creature indeed."

Mia slammed her staff down and pointed right back at the bastard. "You are not touching Cerberus!" She couldn't use the music, but Vicente didn't know that.

Cerberus snarled at the approaching demons, all three heads scanning, but he didn't leave Mia's side. And with Noah and Azreal beside them, she had excellent protection. Just, not enough to stop the many, many demons stepping out from the darkness into the light of the angels' weapons. Soon, Mia and the gang were half surrounded.

Julisa pointed a sword at the Black Valley bailiff. "You were told to leave us be. The woman in aera armor herself explained that we must continue our journey."

Kas crouched next to her, tail dead still in the blood. He kept his weight off his bad arm. Faking the injury was worse than it was, maybe?

"Alessio thinks the unmarked would still be better off in her hands," Vicente said.

Yosepha stepped up and flared her wings. "She'd be wrong."

"Don't make me kill you all. Alessio sent me to bring the unmarked back, not to slaughter Romakus and what's left of his precious Damall." The tetrad came closer, and his six hellhounds snarled louder, clawing at the blood floor, trying to get off the leash and attack. "That's really all that's left of what was once a proud demon, right, Romakus? How the mighty have fallen. Once a bailiff of False Gate, now nothing more than an irka, scurrying around and causing trouble for all the spires."

No one looked Romakus's way except Mia, way in the back where no one would notice. Their leader, sort of, used to be a bailiff? And not just any bailiff, but one of False Gate, arguably the strongest and most deadly of the provinces, according to the group. That strength was partly what led Belor, a child of the Old Ones, to fight the other spires, and earn Heaven's interference.

If Romakus had been bailiff then, he probably had the blood of angels on his hands.

She didn't ask what an irka was. Some kind of hell rat, she was sure.

"That was a long time ago," Romakus said. "Many lifetimes ago."

Vicente snorted. "You're no soul, Romakus. You're just like me, timeless. And just like me, you refuse to die when you probably should." Vicente came closer, hooves splashing blood, and he flared his gigantic wings. Tetrad skulls rattled around his waist. "Traitor."

"I'm no traitor." Romakus stepped forward, too, leaving his sword behind, their only guide in the endless dark.

"Oh yes you are. How many millennia did you spend, gathering your forces, bringing them to heel, serving that maniac Belor. How many demons died when you left them?"

Romakus flared his own wings, and the many skulls dangling from them trembled with the tetrad's growing anger. Romakus wasn't the sort to get angry. Poke fun, sure. Make bad jokes, sure. The sort of demon who'd spent the past hundred years watching scrying pools more than actually pursue any sort of goal. But Vicente had his fellow tetrad almost shaking.

"Is this what you really came here for?" Romakus asked. "To goad me?"

"I came for the unmarked, and I have the numbers to take her this time."

"You won't even be able to find your way back once you have her."

Vicente gestured down at his dogs with the thumb-claws of his wings.

"They know the way back. Just like they knew to follow the path here, even through all this blood."

Julisa and Romakus quickly peeked back at Cerberus. Serious and boss head stared at the surrounding demons, but dopey head idly bit at the blood underneath him, no longer interested in the impending threat.

"Sure would be nice," Romakus said, "to have a cannam who could follow a scent."

Mia scrunched up her nose. "He's still a puppy."

Vicente laughed, and the demons near him laughed, too. "A large, three-headed puppy. Alessio can have you, unmarked, but I think I would like that unique cannam for myself."

"You aren't touching my dog."

"Where'd you find the beast? And how did you tame it? It took months of brutality to train these." He again gestured down at his six, snarling, borderline rabid animals. "You must share your secrets with me."

"Fuck you."

Vicente pulled his head back an inch, like she'd just offended him. It was a very Romakus mannerism. These two knew each other well.

Through all this, Vin stood in the center of the group, waiting, listening, scanning the darkness. Probably looking for the rider.

"Vicente," Julisa said. "You took the same path we did, to follow our scent. Then you went past the burned corpses."

"I did. The ragarin's doing?" Vicente looked at Vinicius, and growled heavy in his throat.

Vin didn't respond.

"The rider's," Romakus said.

The entire army of demons went quiet. Only the six angry cannams made noise.

"The rider is here?" Vicente asked.

Romakus nodded and lowered his wings. "If we fight, the noise will attract attention. We've already killed a mutated wurm down here, but you'll attract more. And if we're unlucky, you'll attract the rider."

Vicente snarled, matching the rabid sounds of his dogs, and he scanned the edge of the surrounding darkness. How the tetrad had even navigated this darkness was a mystery. Hellbeasts could see well in the dark, sure, but ever since Raphael had died for real, the gold tears had stopped.

If he lost the cannams, he'd have a very hard time getting back.

"Azreal," Mia whispered. "If Vicente loses the hellhounds, he'll be lost down here with no light."

Azreal nodded. And unless she was seeing things, she even caught a hint of a smile on him through a tiny slit in his helmet. Look at her, being all tactical.

Azreal looked to Noah. Noah flared his wings and--

"Stop!"

Everyone froze. A voice from behind Mia and the gang. She turned and held up her staff in front of her to block the incoming blade or demon claws coming for her neck. But nothing came.

Slowly, out of the shadow, an amber light appeared. And another, and another. Torches?

A tetrad stepped out and joined them, pinning Mia's group between Vicente, and whoever this stranger was. A gorujin tetrad like Romakus, clawed feet and a tail, wings, and ten feet tall with four horns. He had hair though, long hair that flowed freely behind him and dangled down to his hips where a collection of bones awaited. No skulls, but claws, claws bigger than even Vin's. Hellbeast claws.

A host of smaller demons mirroring Vicente's followed behind him, and at least two dozen of them carried burning sticks. The torches ended in twigs and branches, but the fire only danced on them, never bringing them to ash. Burning bushes? They'd made torches out of burning bushes. How?

"Well," the stranger said, "this is a surprise. The rider comes through our land of flesh and blood, killing all in his way. But not for the first time, and not for the last. We give him his space, but any demon who gets too close succumbs to the rider's presence. All becomes violence." Whoever this tetrad was, he spoke with eloquence, almost like he was reading poetry. But like all male tetrads, his voice had some gruff and grit to it, too.

"Anianus," Romakus said.

"Romakus, old friend, is that you?" The Romakus-look-alike stepped around Mia's group, sparing a long glance for her, the angels, Vinicius, and finally Vicente. "Vicente. Far from home. You know better than to wander Angel's Spine. Dobasi will not appreciate this trespass."

Vicente snarled, and his dogs snarled louder. "We didn't come here for Angel's Spine, Anianus. We came here for the unmarked girl."

"Oh ho." The tetrad wandered back to Mia's side of the group and squatted down nearby. Azreal stayed close, but Anianus made no move to draw the enormous axe on his back. "That explains the strange armor, I suppose. What is your name, unmarked soul?"

Mia blinked at the demon. "Mia."

"Does Mia have a last name?"

She blinked. It was the first time a demon had ever asked her that. This guy was the complete opposite of Vin and his no-names policy.

"It's uh, a secret."

Anianus laughed, stepped back, and gestured back at his small army. He was charming, in a strange, disturbing, theatrical kinda way. Handsome, too, in a demony, scary kinda way.

"Dobasi has been looking to speak to an unmarked. I hope you'll give us the pleasure of coming to the spire for a meeting."

Mia gulped and shook her head. "We have to get through Angel's Spine quickly."

"Yes, Dobasi said as much. We know you and the other unmarked souls are moving around Hell. Two of you are in Angel's Spine as we speak. Where is the other?"

Mia stared. How the fuck did this guy know all this? She looked back at the group, but no one had a thing to say, eyes flicking back and forth between everyone in case someone jumped someone else. It was like a Wild West scene. She waited for someone else to do the talking, but no one did. Up to her, then.

"That's a secret, too," she said.

Anianus smiled, showing off some of those big teeth. "Smart. Well, as you can see, you are surrounded, but we mean you no harm. We here in the dark are far less... shortsighted, than Alessio and her dogs." The big tetrad nodded toward Vicente and his hellhounds. "Come with us. We have such sights to show you."

She froze and glanced at Romakus, but the other gorujin tetrad didn't react. Either he didn't know the movie quote, or knew Anianus meant nothing by it.

"No," Vicente said. "They will come with us."

Julisa, four swords in hand, stepped to the side and kept both armies on her flanks. Romakus did the same, plucking his sword from the flesh floor. Yosepha and Kas faced Anianus and his hundreds of demons, armed with torches and meera metal. Noah and Vin faced Vicente, his hellhounds, and his larger army of demons, creeping around in the dark with no torches at all.

Azreal stayed with Mia, shield up, spear at the ready. In the dark and flickering firelight, she had to admit, Azreal had claim on the most imposing look, considering how absurdly massive and bulky his armor was, and how the front of his helmet left only the tiniest bit of his face visible. All anyone could really see of his skin were his two eyes, amethyst purple, catching the torchlight and the light of his spear's blade.

Plus, his great shield was literally taller than Mia. She took advantage and kept it between her and Vicente, but that left her facing Anianus. And unlike Vicente, Anianus and his demons were all smiling. Creepy. Cerb snarled at the newcomer and stayed by Mia's leg, apparently noticing how creepy they were, too.

"Vicente," Mia said, and she poked her head out from around Azreal's shield. "Didn't Alessio tell you what the armored woman told us?"

"She did, but you are naïve to think such a person would not simply lie to you."

"Why would she lie?"

Vicente shrugged. "Why does anyone lie? So they can gain more power. I'm sure the woman has plans for you that you do not know, plans you would not agree to."

Mia shook her head. "Maybe, but that doesn't matter! The aliens are here. I have to try something."

"You aren't stopping anything, unmarked. You are going to Alessio, where you will be her pet. Her toy, like we hear you were to Zelandariel. You will spend your nights and days doing as she says. You will use your powers to make her, and me, stronger. You will be hers. You will be--"

Vinicius pounced.

Something that big and bulky should not have been able to move that fast, but Vinicius's talons ripped up the fleshy ground, splattered blood everywhere, and the hulking titan threw himself at Vicente. He crashed straight onto the tetrad's shoulders, pinned him to the floor underneath a foot of blood, and ripped into him. The hellhounds had better reaction time than their master, and leapt onto Vinicius's body, biting and clawing. Their teeth sank into his arms, legs, and tail, but Vinicius ignored them. Roaring down at his prey, he ripped and tore, and the tetrad went still.

Chaos followed. The demons with Vicente dove for Vinicius, not a thought or concern for how much bigger he was than them. And Vinicius met their charge with a roar that almost sounded happy. They joined the hellhounds and stabbed him, but even as they sank swords inches deep into his muscle, Vinicius stood up and unleashed hellfire.

Demons went up like living kindling.

"Vinicius!" Mia yelled. "Someone help him!"

Azreal stayed with Mia and turned and faced Anianus. Cerberus watched the battle, snarling and roaring, but stayed with Mia. Everyone else dove for Vinicius, weapons out and wings flapping.

Noah stayed low and chopped two of the hellhounds off Vin's colossal tail. Yosepha took to the air, hovered behind Vin, and cut down the other four, earning a whine from each that sounded far too close to a dog's whine. And as the hounds died and fell from Vin's bleeding body, the child of Belial continued to breathe hellfire, whipping his head left and right like a dragon. Dozens of demons died in seconds, but hundreds dashed back into the darkness. Not to flee, but to reposition.

They came back, dashed through the shadows, with only the sound of splashing giving away their positions. The darkness was as thick as the Black Valley's smog. Romakus let out an evil cackle as he cut down a vrat that got too close. Instead of jumping back to a safe position, Romakus ran into the darkness after another demon, with the light of flickering hellfire on corpses disappearing beneath the blood pool lighting his path. Julisa did the same, four swords more than enough to stab a gargoyle through the neck and a brute through the face at the same time.

But the sarkarin, the Kas lookalike, dove for Julisa and knocked her swords aside. She went down on her back, sending blood splashing everywhere, but before he could rip out her throat, Kas tackled him. Kas wore no armor. The stranger did. But Kas had the element of surprise and got his claws into his kin's exposed side under the half breastplate. Vicente's demon turned and tackled Kas, and the two met head on. They rammed their heads together, and Mia winced at the echoing sound of bone smashing bone.

"Leave none alive," Anianus said, still wearing his smile.

Mia spun. "You--"

"Not you or your friends, unmarked. They know who to kill." Nodding, the tetrad pointed his axe toward Vicente's army. And like a mob of angry rioters given the order to charge, hundreds of demons armed with burning bushes shaped into torches ran forward into the dark.

The demons from the Black Valley were covered in tribal tattoos, all done through scarring, with hard edges or with obvious bone shapes drawn on like skulls. They all wore skulls, too, strapped to them by leather going through a skull's eye and out through the bottom or some such. And some had bones tied to their limbs like some sort of cheap armor.

Demons from Angel's Spine looked different. They weren't covered in scar tattoos, but normal scars, instead. Big, nasty scars, the kind that'd kill a demon. Every one of them had a dozen huge cuts somewhere on their body, a wing or tail or chest or face. Some were missing an arm. Some were missing a horn. And when they engaged Vicente's demons, they shrieked like some sort of monster coming out of the dark.

Vinicius joined them. The hellfire didn't last long, disappearing into the blood pool, but with the torches and Yosepha's light above, they could see just fine. They charged Vicente's forces, surrounded them, and cut them down. Mia covered her eyes when three demons surrounded one, and literally ripped them to pieces. But it didn't matter to Vicente's demons. Defeated and surrounded, with a literal angel above launching gold arcs of energy down at them, and the last child of the Old Ones in their face running them down, they still faced the battle and charged. And they roared with bloodlust as they did.

"Demons," Azreal said over the noise, loud enough for her to hear. "Care for death more than life. Always remember that, Mia."

She gulped and glanced up at the man. Azreal spared her only a single glance before turning back to face the battle, eyes disappearing into his helmet by the angle. Intense eyes, as always, but something more, like he was trying to tell her a secret that everyone already knew.

Kas got his weight under his counterpart, and tossed him up and over like a rhino beetle. The enemy landed with a hard thunk onto the flesh floor, and Kas pounced in a second. In the opening, Kas got his teeth around the other sarkarin's neck, and he yanked his head away, bringing a huge chunk of flesh with it.

Mia covered her ears. Better than hearing the other sarkarin try to roar or breathe through a throat that didn't exist anymore.

The battle was over quickly. A few of Anianus's demons died, but Vin's surprise attack had punched a hole straight into Vicente's forces they hadn't expected. They probably hadn't expected to run into Anianus at all. Which begged the question, how did Anianus know Mia was here at all?

The demons wasted no time collecting their bounties. Yosepha flew back, and Noah walked back to Mia's side, but everyone else got themselves food and skulls. Kas ripped out his opponent's heart and ate it, but didn't bother with the skull. Romakus got a quick meal from some random demon, as did Julisa, and each hooked a new fresh demon head to their armor's waist; cleaning it could wait until later.

"I didn't think you cared," Julisa said to Kas, smiling down at him as she bit into her heart. "I think you deserve a treat for helping me. The moment we find a place to rest, take me."

Kas snorted up at her and swallowed his heart with all the delicateness of an alligator.

"Vin!" Mia yelled. She ran up to him and stared at his back. A sword stuck out of his side. A dagger -- by demon standards -- stuck out of his shoulder. Several gashes ran down his legs. A dozen bite marks, each deep enough to draw blood, coated his calves and wrists; even his dark red skin couldn't stop cannam teeth. "Vin you... you dumbass! You could have gotten killed!"