The nail pierced the Watcher’s skin. I shoved it further, roaring and twisting my hands, so the nail cut his main artery. He finally released his grip and stumbled on his feet. I slammed back to the sitting position and stars appeared in front of my eyes. Blood poured out of the Watcher’s wound as he struggled to take the next breath.
“Julian, the chains!” I yelled, yet again trying to use the magic, but the charm around me was still active.
The Watcher was rolling on the ground, pressing his hand to the wound and making gagging-like sounds. Seconds went by and then Julian finally got inside. He was mumbling under his breath, stretching his long fingers and pointing at the wounded Watcher.
Julian must have done something with the other chain with his magic, because it loosened, so I slipped my hand free. The same thing happened with the locks around my legs. I rubbed the red marks on my wrists and rose back on my feet. The Watcher was trying to grab me, but he was losing a lot of blood. His face was ashen now and when I kicked him he finally remained still.
I’d heard too much conflicting information about hell from others. The Watchers weren’t immortal. At least this one wasn’t, because he would have killed me by now.
“Lead away, Julian!” I said. “And I promise that I’ll take you with me back to London if you get me out of here alive. ”
His eyes gleamed with joy. Moments later, once I was outside, I found myself in a long narrow corridor. I thought that Julian was fooling me when he said that Mammon lived in the castle, but I quickly realised that was no joke. Right around me I felt the cold draft, saw old Gothic windows and stepped on marble floors. It was all real and very medieval. As soon as I left the chamber my magic started circulating through my veins again.
As I ran through the halls of the castle I sensed many demons around, scattered on different levels. The Watcher was supposed to deliver my heart to Mammon, so someone was bound to check on him soon. I didn’t have much time to find the way out of here.
We reached the end of the west wing and Julian showed me the door that was ajar to my right. I sensed a few other Watchers nearby. They seemed excited about something, and I wasn’t prepared to wait to see if I was the reason.
Julian was confused. He was talking to himself, pointing at the stairs and then at the door. He was the only one that could get me out of here, so I had to calm him down somehow. And trust him. When we both heard voices nearby, I was done waiting around. The bottom line was that I couldn’t let Mammon get to me. He was ready to rip my heart out just so he could sell it to Berith.
“Julian, we need to go now,” I urged him, wiping the sweat off my forehead.
“The stairs, the stairs will lead us out,” he said anxiously and I nodded. There was no point asking questions, because no one seemed to be following any rules around here. We ran down and for a while it looked like the stairs were never going to end.
We must have stopped at some point. We both heard demons on the higher level. I had no idea what was waiting for me behind the walls of the castle. I felt magic moving through me, tingling all over my body, and that was a good sign.
After some time, and passing several others doors, we found ourselves in a large open dark chamber. The silence rang in my ears and I hated it. We were surrounded by demons, and I started to doubt that I’d ever get out of here. There were many demons behind that wall and outside. My heart skipped a beat when I heard more noises from the room straight ahead.
I checked my back pockets, looking for potions, but the Watchers must have confiscated everything when they chained me up.
“This way, they won’t—”
I didn’t let him finish and pushed him over to the window and then covered both of us with a heavy long curtain. A moment later three figures appeared, standing only a meter away from us. I knew that this was it. There was no point hiding. My energy could shield me and Julian but only for a short amount of time. Whoever was there would sense me pretty soon.
“Sir, sir … the mongrel girl, she’s gone. She killed Lubos,” shouted a Watcher approaching a demon who wore a long brown cloak. I slammed my hand over Julian’s face when he tried to leave our stupid hideout. I was high on adrenaline, but I needed to slow down my breathing to make my bouncing energy subside.
The demon in the brown cloak dropped his hood, revealing a bald head. My breath caught in my throat when I recognised him from a few demonic books. It was Mammon himself. His demonic energy spread widely, affecting my own. I couldn’t believe that I was seeing him. On the other hand this was his castle, his part of hell.
His face twisted in rage and he grabbed the Watcher by his throat, bringing him closer to his face. Julian moaned quietly, so I squeezed his face harder. For some reason Mammon didn’t sense us and we needed to stay hidden until it was safe to run.
“I want her heart. I told you how valuable that mongrel is to me. Find her, she couldn’t have gone far,” Mammon snarled, and a second later he let go of the Watcher. Sparks streamed down my arm while the Watcher massaged his neck.
“You want her alive, sir? What … what about the heart?” he stuttered.
“Forget about the heart. We’ll send Berith a different one, and we’ll keep her close. She will be useful during the election,” Mammon responded with a vicious smile. A moment later he grabbed the edge of his cloak and started marching away.
His energy was suffocating, strong, vibrant and I had a feeling that he could control any demon around him. I didn’t understand how he didn’t sense me. My clothes were still covered with blood, but it seemed that he wasn’t even aware that I was still in the castle.
We waited until the Watcher and Mammon had vanished from the chamber.
“Julian, tell me why they didn’t sense us,” I said, trying to understand if hell changed demons’ abilities.
He shrugged his shoulder. “I don’t understand what you mean. We can get out from the servant quarters,” Julian said, and urged me to keep moving.
I followed him, thinking that Mammon was perceived as a king. He had his guards and servants, and I bet a real army too. There was obviously so much more that I didn’t know about hell or the Circle of Greed. Mammon must have recreated his own circle to match the medieval times on earth. Apparently demons in this circle weren’t able to use their magic in order to sense others like those on earth; that was the only explanation for what happened here only a second ago.
Julian led me through other empty chambers, muttering incoherent stuff to himself. I got a little concerned when we were passing other demons that seemed to be working in the kitchen or in what looked like a laundry room, but no one paid any attention to us.
“Now, put this on. We have to blend into the crowd,” Julian said, handing me a black cloak that he grabbed as we were passing through what seemed to be the staff chambers. Now we were in front of a heavy metal door. I was done calculating and overthinking the reasons that I ended up in hell, but I wasn’t sure what was waiting for me outside these castle walls.
I suspected that the landscape and background changed from circle to circle. Purgatory was dark, with rocks and surrounded by water. In this circle the castle was playing the role of Mammon’s fortress.
The panic made me a little sick again and I grabbed Julian’s hand.
“Hold on a minute. I have never been in hell, and the last thing I remember was walking on the stone pathway in Purgatory. What kind of world is behind those walls?” I asked, trying to mentally prepare myself for what was out there. I didn’t consider Bianca’s home hell, and Morpheus had never told me anything useful about the dark parts of the underworld.
Maybe I was just about to witness humans being tortured. There had been so many descriptions in the past. Many demons had talked about the fire and pits, others about the rivers filled with blood and lava. However, most demons that were born in hell had never talked about their life beyond the one on earth. Even Ricky had refused to give me any specifics.
Julian scratched his head again i
n confusion.
“It’s always dark in hell… so to you it will be like it’s never-ending night. We are in Mammon’s part, and he treats us decently. There are other parts that you don’t want to wander off to,” he said and then he pushed the door open.
Intense waves of magic hit me hard, and I was amazed at how many other demons were there, just going about their business. Indeed, hell was dark, but it was nothing like I ever imagined.
Mammon’s castle was surrounded by a market of some sort, filled with stands and other outbuildings. Demons were walking around, chatting and carrying groceries. No one paid any attention to us, and the fact was that I didn’t see any mongrels. In some ways I was glad that demons didn’t stare at me.
The Circle of Greed reminded me a lot of some remote village surrounded by the tall fortress wall that stretched for several miles. I turned around and saw a breathtaking medieval castle, with defensive barbicans and a deep moat. The torches lit the wide square filled with demons. The sky was navy blue filled with clouds and stars. It was probably a mirage, but I didn’t have the time to figure out the logistics because Julian nudged me to keep following him.
My heart skipped a beat when I spotted Watchers on the other side. They were in their true forms, proudly showing off their dark wings, watching the crowd. I tried not to stare too much, but it was so hard. I saw families with children, males and females selling potions, food, and other stuff. I was in hell and yet I couldn’t quite grasp that fact.
I followed Julian, trying not to bump into anyone. Forces had been built around the castle and presumably there wasn’t any way out of here. The temperature was warm, the air humid.
We blended into the crowd, both of us wearing long black cloaks. I glanced behind me a few times, and my sharp eyes registered a few Watchers that barged out from the back entrance to the servants’ quarters. A tall dark-haired Watcher was throwing orders at others.
They quickly vanished in the crowd. We didn’t have much time. We needed to keep on moving.
Mammon wanted my heart, he mentioned the election, but he never said anything about Lucifer or the fact that the dark lord was expecting to get my soul. I had a feeling that someone betrayed Morpheus. Maybe he had no idea that I was still in hell. Either way, I needed to get to the seventh circle somehow, because that was my only hope of getting back on earth, to Summer.
We passed the market and then started walking along the muddy, wet road. There was a round of houses on each side with some posters on the windows. Some of them were praising Mammon who stood posing in a crown. There were posters with other demons that I hadn’t seen before. Julian told me that these were the other candidates that were running for Mammon’s position. We didn’t have the time to stop and discuss this, but the whole concept of an election was still intriguing.
It took us another hour to get closer to the end of the town. This area was much less populated. I felt less exposed when we disappeared behind the houses and the fortress wall.
“What’s going on? Why are we stopping?” I asked when Julian sat down behind an old barn that smelled of blood and decomposed food.
“No one can get on the other side of the fortress. Mammon has spellbound any demons that attempt to cross it,” Julian stated, rubbing his hands and looking nervously around.
“So how are you proposing that we get to the seventh circle?” I asked, aware that we weren’t safe around here. It seemed Julian didn’t sense the Watchers nearby. They were looking for us and we couldn’t just stay in one place.
“I told you already, you’re from the outside. You won’t be affected by his spell.” He then gestured for me to follow him.
We continued walking behind the houses. It was pitch dark and I couldn’t sense any intruders. Most demons were on the road, and I figured out that it was nighttime for them or at least the time that most of them slept.
“So what is behind the fortress?” I asked, but for some reason I didn’t want to know the answer. Ricky hated talking about hell in general. He used to say that I should be glad that I was born in London.
“I don’t know. I have never been in the other circles,” Julian said, sounding disappointed. He pointed at the wall and added, “There used to be a gate here, but Mammon’s Watchers removed it when Lucifer announced that there was going to be an election. You have to open it with your magic.”
I looked at him and wanted to laugh. I had no idea how I was supposed to get us through that wall, but I tapped into my source anyway. It was refreshing to feel the waves of energy moving through my system again.
I thought about what Julian was asking for a second. Morpheus had taught me that my anger triggered my energy and that way I could open the gates to hell. This time I shut my eyes and thought about all my happy times, good memories from the past. I figured that if I was already in hell then only joy and happiness could get me out of here.
I started picturing myself playing with my little girl. I saw her smile as she embraced me, squeezing her tiny hands around my neck. This wasn’t the best time to break apart, but tears were threatening to smooth my face. Julian was breathing hard, but I sensed his excitement. He had been waiting for this moment for a very long time.
“It worked, it worked,” he said, jumping up and down. When I looked, I saw that there was a passage in the wall now that anyone could squeeze through. Behind there was just gloomy darkness. Even my sharp eyes couldn’t register anything else beyond that.
Now I just needed to step through it and leave behind other demons, leave behind Mammon. This was strange, but for the first time since I woke up in the cell I wasn’t sure if that was such a good idea.
This was hell and deep down I wasn’t ready to cross to the other side.
Chapter 3
“Look closely at the steps I’ll take from here to reach the truth that you so much desire, so you’ll know how to cross this on your own.” ― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
“Darkness, I don’t see anything beyond that,” I said, feeling nervous moving across. The Watchers were taking their time and that wasn’t something that I expected. Maybe no one had thought that Julian could actually help me.
“Probably a way out to another circle,” he said, pacing around the wall and rubbing his jaw nervously. I hated that he was as scared as I was. The tiny voice of reason told me that maybe it was better to stay in here. After all, the Circle of Greed didn’t seem that bad.
I was born on earth, but everything that I knew and cared about no longer mattered. Hell followed its own set of rules.
“I think you should go first,” Julian said. “Your demonic energy is much stronger.”
I wanted to laugh at Julian. He basically wanted me to do a test run to see if I would survive.
“Fine,” I said, knowing that I couldn’t turn around and just go back to the castle. It looked like Mammon was keeping his demons prisoner behind his fortress walls; he wanted to make sure that no one would leave. I took a deep breath and touched the stone wall before going through it. It felt warm for some reason. My heartbeat sped up and I concentrated on my demonic magic.
I felt it rushing down my spine and then my hands. Moments later I squeezed through the passage and saw that there was a huge drop in front of me, leading all the way down. Behind the fortress was just a flat, desert-like landscape. My eyes didn’t register any other buildings. Besides, it was too dark and stormy out there. For a split second I considered staying in here, thinking that maybe I could convince someone to smuggle me back to earth, but that could take a lot more time. And it was time that I didn’t have.
“It’s fine, Julian, come on,” I called from the other side. The dark lord wanted something from me, but I wasn’t ready to find out what it was. I needed to get to his circle and then get back to London. The election was complicating my escape. Also the way time passed in hell was confusing. I felt like I had been here only a few hours, but I had a feeling that full days must have already passed in the world above.
&n
bsp; “All right, I’m going through it,” he said and I waited for him to appear in front of me.
Seconds dragged and a burning smell suddenly drifted through the air. Then an agonising scream broke the still silence. Julian began burning alive, lighting the whole space around me. He seemed to be stuck in the passage between the walls. I panicked, not knowing how to help him. He spread his hands and the tingling inside me intensified. This all happened so quickly, and before I could take another breath, he vanished completely right in front of my eyes. I walked up to the wall, but the passage that I created was gone, and the bricks were still warm. So King Mammon used his incredible power to make sure that no one would try to disobey him and his spell must have killed Julian. It was a sick and slimy move that I should have foreseen. A small hole that you could slip a hand through was still there. I sensed someone approaching from the other side.
“Did you see it, the fire?” asked a deep raspy voice. I moved quickly to the side of the wall. The Watchers. I could sense that there were at least two of them.
“That stupid demon that was with the girl must have tried to cross the wall,” said someone else.
“What about the mongrel girl?”
“The wasteland, Dimitri, and then the Ash Forest. She won’t survive out there,” muttered the other. “You know what Mammon has been saying: there is no life beyond his circle.”
I waited a few more minutes, breathing hard and thinking that I had no other choice but to carry on alone. Even if I could get back to the other side I had no idea where to go, who to trust.
My voice of reason told me to keep it together; after all, I was still alive. My soul hadn’t been ripped away from my body and my magic circulated deep in my veins. No one could take that away from me.
I started moving down, my shoes sinking into the soft soil. It was still pitch black in front of me, but at least now I could see the shapes, the small ponds filled with water and the flat landscape that stretched probably for miles.