Page 26 of Hell-Bound (Pacts of the Infernal #1)

I don’t remember a time before existence. I have always been, but sometimes even the infinite learn. This was what I wanted from my children. To learn. But I wish that learning did not come with such regret and shame.

Ren woke up the next morning to the smell of grilled meat. Azur was sitting by a small fire, holding the sizzling food with his bare hands.

“You don’t burn?”

she asked, wiping the sleepiness from her eyes.

“I’m immune to fire. Hell-god and all that.”

He spun the meat a few times before offering it to her.

Ren had no desire to talk about the night before. She wanted to keep the memory safe and untarnished by awkward conversation, and Azur didn’t seem the type to put any great value on a sexual encounter with a Mortal. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of reminding him that it was her—Ren’s, first time.

“So where are we going?”

Ren asked, tearing off a piece of meat, forcing her mind to other matters.

Finished with his cooking, Azur stood up and dusted off his breeches.

“The inside of a volcano. Specifically, Mount Maleth. A wonderful tourist destination—if you like lakes of lava and not seeing the sky.”

“Inside a volcano? Azur, you might be immune to fire, but I certainly am not.”

He leaned down and touched her nose.

“Yes. You. Are. My. Dear.”

He emphasized each word with a tap before taking her hand and kissing the ring Jester had given her.

After everything that had happened, Ren had completely forgotten about her little jewel.

“The hard part will be arriving. I still can’t portal, but there should be a shortcut after we reach The Lacerated Valley.”

“The Lacerated Valley? You thought naming something The Lacerated Valley wouldn’t encourage people’s negative opinion of this plane?”

He glowered at her.

“It’s called that because it is a cavernous valley. Additionally, I never said I didn’t like instilling a modicum of fear.”

He flashed a wide smile.

“You should try it sometimes. You’re about as terrifying as a daisy.”

She gaped at him.

“I am very terrifying! You should have seen the look on those guards’ faces! They were basically pissing their pants!”

Azur looked at her pityingly.

“Yes, yes, my dear. I’m sure you were quite monstrous.”

Ren stuck her tongue out at him.

“Very mature,”

he said, raising an eyebrow and slinging the rucksack over one shoulder.

He leaned down and opened his arms.

“Okay, Elfy, time to go!”

She stomped over to him, and he scooped her up before launching into the sky.

They flew for several minutes until Ren’s mind began to wander.

“Azur, why did you save Gabriela?”

Azur looked taken aback by the question.

“Because she was being held against her will. She was being mistreated and abused. Why wouldn’t I help her?”

“I just mean—you said you’d given up—on being anything other than evil. Saving an innocent female doesn’t sound like you’ve given up.”

Ren could feel Azur’s muscles tighten, but he didn’t reply.

Their flight continued in the uncomfortable silence for another hour before the smog started to thicken, and Ren had to shut her eyes to keep out the ashy particles. Azur began to glide under the gray clouds, and the land below became visible. Streaked with caverns, some of which glowed red from the fire in the pits below. Azur was right. It did evoke the image of a giant beast that had raked its claws down the valley.

Azur slowed his descent before landing gently on a large bank divided by two massive craters. The air was stifling hot and Ren knew, from the way her body perspired uncomfortably, that the ring was the only reason why she was able to withstand the heat.

The terrain was all craggy rock and mountainous planes. Several, far off, were spewing black ashy smoke. Despite the distance from the smog, the air still felt gritty. This hell, with the threat of fire and brimstone, genuinely looked nightmarish.

“It’s…horrible.”

“Why would you say that?”

Azur asked, stepping up beside her.

“This plane is so...dead. Nothing can survive here.”

Azur scoffed.

“I know it isn’t like Ziemia’s plane, but it still has its beauty.”

“Beauty? What makes this beautiful?”

she asked skeptically.

“Or are you just envious of your sister?”

Azur muttered something audible under his breath before responding.

“Ziemia created her land with delicate creations on the surface. The beauty of my creations exists below the surface. The glitters of vurmite, that you so love, the fires from the mountain. Fire is not just destruction, my darling. It can be used to forge, rebuild, and strengthen. My plane isn’t what it used to be before my brother, but it is still beautiful in the ways that matter.”

Ren considered, returning to observe the billowing smog.

“I suppose you’re right. I can’t say I’m very comfortable here. It’s dreadfully hot.”

She wiped the beads of sweat that were beginning to trickle down her temples.

“But I agree, vurmite is truly something spectacular to behold.”

Ren turned, having heard a dull popping sound from the direction of her companion, but it wasn’t Azur before her any longer—it was Jester.

“No. Absolutely not!”

Ren barked.

“There might be creatures down here, and I can’t be The King of The Hells walking around a random layer of The Underworld. It would be too suspicious. I’m trying to keep the most powerful relic in the universe hidden, after all.”

Ren ground her teeth.

“It’s just—I don’t like it,”

she said, crossing her arms.

Azur, as Jester furrowed his brow.

“Please explain.”

“Jester was my friend!”

she blurted.

Azur cocked his head, a strand of Jester’s straight hair falling into his eyes.

“He was…the first real friend I’ve ever had, and now it feels—it was like a lie! Like our friendship was all a manipulation.”

She swallowed a lump in her throat.

“And I feel like my friend died, and now he’s here again, but not and—”

She choked back her angry tears.

Azur reached for her, grabbing her hand.

“I won’t say that manipulation wasn’t part of why I chose to be Jester around you. But the times we had together, the laughs we shared, that was all real, Ren. At least, it was for me.”

She wanted to interrupt, to vent all her unexpressed outage at him, but she let him continue.

“Sometimes, all the time, I can’t be who I want to be. I am a god. I am the villainous King of The Hells. I can’t be seen jumping from walls and telling jokes in halls. It would be—disrespectful to all the beings who are hurting. And it—”

He cleared his throat.

“It’s also a way for me to see Ahdan again.”

It felt almost unfair that he could use Adhan to defend his actions. Yet Ren knew he was being genuine. If she thought about it, it made sense why he’d want to keep his identity hidden from her. But this reasoning didn’t stop the hurt that bubbled in her stomach.

“Let’s just go. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

She dropped his hand. She was beginning to realize that most decisions were double-edged despite their intentions.

Azur looked over her head.

“It’s that way.”

Ren turned, noticing for the first time how the two large craters dipped down and formed a hollow. It would have been almost invisible from the sky, and she imagined it would be easily overlooked if one didn’t know its exact location. From this vantage, she couldn’t see any towns or cities close by. The area looked positively barren.

Except for under the ground, she reminded herself.

At the entrance, the hollow sloped down sharply. If Ren wasn’t so adept at balance, she would likely have slipped, crashing to the ground below. Even going slow, she lost her balance, boots beginning to slide. Azur reached to steady her, but she stubbornly batted his hand away.

The bottom opened up into a small room scarcely large enough for the two standing side by side. Perhaps it would have been if Jester hadn’t been so tall.

The only distinguishing feature was the adjacent wall, which was carved with the devilish script of The Hells. Azur leaned in and brushed off layers of ash. He read them aloud, the words sounding harsh and guttural to Ren’s ears.

“Did you gods create your own languages?”

she asked.

He smiled proudly.

“Isn’t it lovely?”

“No, actually. It sounds like you’re gargling with gravel.”

She refused to temper her grumpiness.

It was Azur’s turn to scowl at Ren.

“It’s a riddle, little Elf,”

he said, pointing a long red nail at the wall.

She snorted.

“A riddle? A bit cliche, don’t you think?”

“It was a thousand years ago. They were very popular when I wrote it!”

he said, indignant.

“Just give the answer, then,”

she groaned, rolling her eyes.

“There is just one problem,”

he paused.

“I don’t remember the answer.”

“You’re kidding. Please tell me that Jester’s face is just screwing with me?”

He turned to her sheepishly.

“As I said, it was a thousand years ago, darling.”

She pursed her lips.

“Right. Let’s just figure it out, shall we? I’m sure the answer will come to me,”

he said, trying to break the tense standoff.

Ren sighed loudly.

“Okay, let’s have it.”

“It says, I prefer the dark, yet in the skies I soar, the glitters of the world are what I adore. I can change my face but not my mind. It isn’t just fire that is my kind.”

He finished and bit his lip.

“Any guesses, Elfy?”

She thought for a moment, stumped.

“I…don’t think riddles were one of the things that Renata was good at.”

“You mean that you’re good at?”

He rolled his eyes.

“Memories aren’t related to deciphering riddles.”

She pursed her lips.

At some point, you have to stop blaming her for everything.

“Hmm. I think it’s stars,”

he said, scratching the back of his head.

“Stars? That makes sense. Dark and in the skies—glittering—we know you like lights.”

Azur, with Jester’s face, grinned until his dimples appeared.

“You’re right.”

He cleared his throat.

“Magic wall! The answer is stars!”

They both flinched as a loud crack echoed through the small chamber as the wall split into two hulking pieces and fell forward. The impact threw ash into the air, momentarily cutting off their light source. As their vision cleared, they could see that the wall was actually an entrance to a massive underground grotto. Pools dotted the room, but instead of being filled with water, they were filled with molten rock.

“This tunnel should lead us to the volcano. Overland would have taken us days to cross the mountains,” he said.

“It looks pretty volcanic already,”

Ren murmured, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

Azur strolled into the grotto, looking around.

“Wait,”

he said, holding a hand to stop Ren, tail lashing nervously.

“I remember the answer. And it wasn’t stars.”

They heard a low rumble as the heat intensified.

“Ren—”

A tremor rocked the cavern, and both lost their balance and stumbled to their knees. More ash wafted into the air, and rocks began to fall from the ceiling.

Ren rolled aside just in time for a large boulder to miss her.

“What’s the answer!”

she yelled, staggering to her feet.

As more rocks fell, crashing to the ground, Azur teleported to hover over her, blocking the onslaught. He had changed again, no longer Jester, he was The King of Hells—wings spread and face shimmering like coals.

Another low rumble vibrated the room before—

Stillness.

Then, through the brown and gray ash, she saw two giant yellow eyes.

“Dragon,”

she whispered before the air left her lungs.

Azur grabbed her around the waist and shot into the air, the dragon’s eyes following closely, tracking them.

It was the size of several buildings, scales inky black, and shimmered in the light of the magma.

“You kept a dragon down here?!”

she shouted.

“How could you forget about a dragon?!”

Azur was flying in circles around the room.

“I didn’t forget the dragon!”

Another tremor tossed rocks around the room as the dragon beat its massive wings.

“He’s only meant to appear if you get the riddle wrong!”

“Which we did because you forgot that the answer was dragon!”

The creatures breathed in the air, pulling like a whirlwind. Its throat began to expand, and green veins appeared under its enormous maw.

“But we can’t be hurt by fire, right?”

Ren hollered, predicting what came next.

“This dragon doesn’t breathe fire!”

he shouted over the sound of crashing rubble.

The dragon’s throat began to pulse, threatening to explode, before it released a spew of liquified mucus towards the two. Azur dove—barely avoiding the eruption.

The green liquid splattered against the far wall and began to sear into the rocky exterior.

“Fire isn’t the only thing that burns, Elfy!”

The dragon bellowed in agitation and lashed its tail wildly.

Azur dashed to the left side of the grotto, where there was a narrow indentation on the rock.

“Stay here.”

he said, releasing Ren and taking off again.

Ren, exasperated at being left behind, bent down, hiding behind the protruding barrier.

Azur’s talons burst from his fingers, and his eyes beamed red light, grabbing the dragon’s full attention.

The enormous creature screeched as it swung its barbed tail in Azur’s direction. He pivoted in the air just in time for the dragon to miss—tail colliding with another wall. The collision shook the grotto, and more rocks fell from above, landing in the magma pools and spraying sparks of red fire.

Ren’s mind swirled, trying to think of how she could help. She wasn’t sure how much power Azur would have over the beast in his weakened state. She watched as he glided down, slashing his large talons across the dragon’s face. The creature slung its head to the side in pain and collided with Azur’s body, sending him flying. Azur spun twice before redirecting himself and darting back for another attack.

Ren fumbled for her piccolo and raised it to her lips. She squinted her eyes, willing the music to come. But as much as she concentrated, her piccolo remained obstinately silent.

She tapped the piccolo on her hand.

“Come on, girl! What’s wrong?”

She heard another screech from the beast as it gnashed its teeth at Azur, who was still darting around its head. Realizing with a start what he was doing, Ren unsheathed her dagger. She hesitated. If she did this, successfully or not, she would be losing her only defense.

Ren observed closely as the dragon whipped its head back and forth—green acid seeping from its open mouth, sizzling and melting any object it came in contact with.

Azur avoided the barrage deftly, flying high above its head, preparing another charge.

It was her moment. Ren steadied herself before rearing her arm back and hurling the dagger at the dragon.

Her aim was true.

The dagger flew through the air before lodging itself with a spurt in the dragon’s large yellow eye. The creature wailed with pain and spewed acid in every direction, and Ren was exposed, no longer shielded from the barrage.

Acid rained down, burning through her clothes and searing into her skin.

The pain was immediate and excruciating. The skin on her torso and legs bubbled and dissolved as the green liquid melted through layers. Ren shoved her fist in her mouth, biting down a scream.

The monstrous dragon continued to roar—spitting, lashing, and thrashing.

Azur circled again, hands dripping with gore, having successfully blinded the beast’s other eye and now able to fly unhindered. He made two rapid passes around the grotto, picking up speed. He was moving so fast that his fiery face blurred. He then bulleted himself towards the beast’s chest, slamming his entire body in and through the monster, emerging from near its spine.

The dragon, heart pierced, and bones shattered, began to sway on its clawed feet, futility swiping once more before it crashed its long neck into the wall—the sickening sound of bone splitting apart echoed as the infernal beast’s neck snapped in two.

Ren barely noticed. She was yelling and squirming on the ground, her whole body in tremors from the pain as the acid continued to eat away at her skin. She had no way to stop its spread. Her hands began to split apart as she tried desperately to wipe off the fluid. Blood was starting to pool and mix with green ichor as her skin continued to bubble and dissolve. She wasn’t sure at what point Azur landed in front of her.

“No, no, no. Stay with me, Elfy,”

he said, grabbing her and pulling her onto his lap.

She hardly felt him lift her head and try to move her arms, but all she could hear and discern was pain. She wasn’t sure if she was still screaming or if the cavern continued to echo forever. Her body started to convulse, and she tasted blood.

“Play Ren,”

his voice sounded desperate.

“Please play.”

She felt a familiar shape glide across her ruined hands, scraping against the new wounds.

My piccolo.

It was impossible. She couldn’t play—couldn’t move. She could only lay there and exist in agony.

“Ren, my darling, please listen,”

his voice was gentle and desperate.

“You have to let me have control. Just for a moment.”

She heard another scream echo off the walls.

“I can save you if you let me in.”

What was he saying? She couldn’t comprehend the words, nothing made sense, and thinking was unbearable. All she wanted was for the pain to end.

He could end it. Yes, I think he could end me. End all of this. Yes, end the suffering, Azur.

Through the waves of anguish, she felt her heart stop, and the pain disappear. She came to consciousness inside her body, existing in the space that was her and also not her.

She watched as her body—bloody and destroyed, lifted her piccolo to her lips, smudges of blood painting the instrument. She felt the flutter of the openings begging for her to play, longing for the next notes. The piccolo took over, forming a quick cascade of lilting harmonies twinning with a tune Ren could swear she’d heard before. Ren saw her fingers caressing the wood and watched as the skin, burned almost to the bone, began to stitch itself together. Ren finally noticed Azur’s face, creased with distress and desperation.

Azur gasped, and the song ended. Ren could feel the tightening in her chest as small thumps returned to her heart space.

She began to come back to herself and surveyed her body, starting with her hands. Her left hand looked completely normal, but her right, having taken the brunt of the acid, was maimed with raised scars. She moved them, testing. The skin felt tight, straining to stretch, and felt a similar tightness in her abdomen. Looking down, the lower half of her shirt had burned away, and she was deeply scarred.

Azur’s whole body slackened in relief.

“Fuck, Ren! I can’t even remember the last time someone scared me like that.”

Her head was swimming from the shock.

“Medical magic should be able to heal the scars,”

he spoke clearly.

“if that’s…something you’d want. Personally, I think you’re looking less like a daisy every minute, and I mean that as a compliment.”

“How did you know that my piccolo could heal me?”

she asked, mind still fuzzy from the shock.

He shook his head.

Something else he couldn’t tell her.

“You saved me,”

she said, groggily.

Azur thought it was a question.

“No, your piccolo saved you. I just made it to where you were strong enough to play. Plus, I owe you. This dragon business was my fault.”

Ren reached for him, needing aid to sit up.

“Are there any other giant beasts I should know about?”

she said, trying to inject a bit of humor despite her lingering soreness.

“No. I was pretty confident no one would survive Tevlov.”

Ren tried to stand, but her legs wobbled, and she had to sit again.

“Rest for a moment. We are close,”

he said, steadying her.

“We can’t help your parents if you can’t reach them.”

“And Nephele.”

she said between shaky breaths.

“Nephele?”

“Yes, my partner—”

“I know who Nephele is,”

he interjected.

Feeling a bit less woozy, she grinned.

“Don’t tell me you’re jealous, Mister Envy?”

“In the first place, I am within my rights as The King of Sinners to be envious. Secondly, I am not jealous of Nephele. I just didn’t realize I was on a mission to save your boyfriend.”

“And my parents!”

“Which is why I’m still here,”

he said, helping Ren to her feet.

Her brain had mostly cleared, and her vision was no longer blurry, thanks to her piccolo’s apparent healing properties. Besides the scars, the only evidence that she had been close to death was the large burnt patches on her clothes.

“Why didn’t my piccolo work on the dragon?”

she asked, remembering her desperate attempt to pacify the creature.

“Tevlov was a magical being. He would have been able to resist your song, or your piccolo was trying to protect you. Didn’t want you to give your position away—again—only for it to fail.”

“My piccolo has full sentients, then?”

His lips thinned, carefully considering his next words.

“Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. Contracts siphon some of my godly powers. That’s what allows me to grant the desires of the recipients. Your contract, your piccolo, could have siphoned off more power than most. But it could be that your piccolo was already imbued with some power before our…negotiation.”

His words were delicate, dancing around as to not give away too much of her past.

Ren fingered the rough surface of her instrument.

“So…just another thing connected to my past.”

She huffed.

“Perhaps this is a question you can ask Nephele once you return home.”

He grunted.

There was something new in his tone. Something outside of envy.

He offered his hand to Ren’s and gently guided her to standing. He flew them down to the dragon carcass. Ren retrieved her dagger, still buried in the dragon’s eyes, as Azur surveyed the path ahead.

“This way,”

he said, once again taking Ren’s hand, and her head began to swim for a wholly different reason. His stride was more confident as he led her through the magma maze. Apparently, his memories of the volcano had returned.

They walked hand-in-hand in silence, and Ren didn’t feel the need to break it. It was peaceful despite their surroundings. She knew his hold on her was more utilitarian than affectionate, but she let her mind wander and enjoy the contact.

Eventually, Azur stopped in front of a large magma river. Her brain warned her to run as waves of heat wafted off its slow ripples.

But unlike Ren, Azur was not looking at the river. His piercing eyes were burrowing into her. Once she met his penetrating gaze, he lifted her hand and kissed her ring tenderly.

“Ren.”

He swallowed, looking down at her.

“Take off your clothes.”