Page 38 of Unbinding the Demon
“Gwendolyn, please wake up, my love... Dammit, she’s still not waking up... Yes, I’m shaking her! Well, what do you want me to do? Throw her across the room like an angry baboon!? Oh, Buttercup, you need to wake up... Wake up, Buttercup!... Alright, fuck this. I give up. I’m just gonna take her and leave...”
The thick fog in my mind dissipated just enough to register a familiar voice calling out to me from beyond my slumbering trance. But my drowsy eyes refused to open, and my exhausted body wouldn’t budge. I remained in a daze, disregarding both the voice and the warm hands that caressed me and shook my shoulder. While it failed to shake me from my deep slumber, I still sensed powerful arms lifting me. I was held against something warm and firm that smelled like fire and spice. I snuggled in closer, somewhat aware that it was Ashton. Then, complete darkness overtook my senses yet again.
When I finally woke up, I fluttered my sleepy eyes open and found myself cradled in Ashton’s tattooed arms. He was lovingly smiling down at me in all his demonic glory. “Good morning, Buttercup,” he said with a suspicious smirk as he caressed my cheek with his large, clawed hand.
Oh, right? That wasn’t some crazy fucked-up nightmare. Ashton is actually the demon Azathoth. I’m literally dating a maniacal demon.
Fuck.
My eyes lingered on his sharp, pearly white fangs as he spoke, then shifted to the sky behind him. We were outside, and it was still dark out, with swirling pitch-black clouds raging above us, threatening to bring one hell of an impending storm. The breeze was strangely balmy for late autumn and smelled of a faint, ashy, rotten, almost metallic odor. But it was nearly impossible to describe because I’d never smelled anything like it before. There was nothing I could compare it to, either.
I furrowed my brows in confusion when I noticed an unsettling cadence of sibilant lamentations whispering in the warm breeze. Then my eyes widened in terror, as a high-pitched, sickly roar that reminded me of a cheesy dinosaur movie screeched eerily in the distance. “What the fuck!?” I scrambled up and latched my arms around Azathoth’s neck like a startled poltroon.
His arms wrapped around me, and he leaned his head back to look into my eyes with a sly, guilty grin. “Welcome to The Abyss, my love.” He gave me a swift peck on the cheek.
The Abyss!? Did he seriously just say The motherfucking Abyss!?
“What!?”
One of my now trembling hands latched onto the nape of his neck. The other gripped his back, slipping beneath his curtain of obsidian locks and in between where his wings protruded. In complete shock and horror, I timidly peered over his veiny shoulder at my strange surroundings.
We were sitting on a large rock on the edge of some ghoulish, forbidding forest. The towering trees were thick and ancient, standing gnarled and ghostly. Their barren branches twisted skyward, whispering secrets in what sounded almost like their own language. Undead, ashen corpses were imprisoned within their dark umber bark. It appeared as if the trunks had swallowed part of them whole and then grown around them. Their skin were different shades of gray, rotted, and papery. While their soulless eyes and gaping mouths looked like abyssal holes leading into the unknown. Skeletal, branch-like limbs extended out from them, grasping randomly into the darkness with their jagged clawed hands.
In the canopy above, long, drooping black vines swayed like shadows. Ethereal gossamer sheets hung mournfully from the branches. Together, they wove a veil of melancholy over the forest. A shadowy, unnatural fog slithered ominously along the slimy ground. It slithered through the gnarled embrace of sinister thorn bushes and sparse ancient weaponry woven into the protruding roots like whispers of death. Above, ghastly, undead bat-like creatures flitted among the twisted branches, screeching in the unyielding darkness.
Horror filled my soul as one of the tree corpses snatched a poor, unsuspecting bat creature right out of the air with its skeletal limb. Then it ravenously devoured it as the bat squeaked in agony; and then it fell silent. A nervous gulp caught in my throat. I turned my head away, seeking solace in the opposite direction.
There was a large, desolate valley. The ground was composed of ash and dark, jagged stones. Thorny black shrubs writhed and hissed as they jetted up from the dark crevices along the rocks. In the far distance, sharp, jagged mountains towered like a formidable row of thrawn spikes. Some sort of large, beastly creature flew in circles around the narrow peaks. There was no color other than shades of black and gray in that dismal direction. It felt as if I were in the world’s most terrifying black-and-white horror film.
What the fuck! What the fuck! What the fuck!
I didn’t want to believe it, but there was just no flippin’ way that this malignant, abysmal place was Earth! “No, no, no, no! This can’t be happening!” Panic struck like lightning as I clutched Azathoth’s horns. They became my makeshift handles as I tried to climb atop his head and shoulders, driven by pure terror. “Why are we here!?”
He chuckled while wrapping his hands around my waist and pulling me down. “Shh, calm down. It’s alright.” My hands slipped from his horns as he placed me in a straddling position over his lap with his arms wound around my back. “We won’t be here long. I just need to acquire a special weapon, then we can leave. We’ll be home within a day or two. I promise.” His large, leathery wings folded around me in a protective embrace that actually made me feel a little safer.
“You just need a weapon!? Then why the goddamn fuck did you bring me along!? And don’t you think you should have at least woken me up before dragging me off to this godawful place!? A heads-up would have been nice!” I waved my arms in the air, unable to control my hysteria.
He shrugged as if it didn't matter. “I tried to wake you up, but you were so exhausted from yesterday’s escapades you wouldn’t even open your eyes.” His hand brushed a strand of loose hair behind my ear. “And why would I leave you back on Earth when a corrupted, enraged priest is out to kill you? Besides, I figured this would be fun... sort of like a romantic getaway.” A deep purring noise rumbled in his chest as he slowly ran his nose up the side of my neck.
“A romantic getaway?” I shrieked, while leaning away from his grinning face.
“You seriously think this is ro-fucking-mantic!? We’re literally in The Abyss! This is not romantic at all! Now put me down!” I hastily spun around, then swatted his wings away while shimmying off him. “This is fucking bonkers!” I threw my hands up and grabbed my head in panic as I started freaking the fuck out and running around in small circles. “Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!” My eyes darted wildly around as I rushed toward the shadowy tree line like a crazed, bouncing lunatic.
Ashen soil kicked up around my boots as I skidded to an abrupt halt. I froze in terror as I glimpsed a
massive, walrus-sized, black, spidery creature scurrying into the foggy darkness. A loud, horrified noise that probably sounded similar to the distressed squawk of a chain-smoking chicken came out of me. Then I frantically rushed back over to Azathoth, practically leaping into his arms. “Never mind! Pick me up! Pick me up!”
He immediately swooped me up bridal style with a cocky grin. “Well, I suppose you’re right. Our surroundings aren’t all that romantic, but getting to hold you like this certainly is.” He lustfully growled, then licked my cheek like a lascivious freak. I wanted to come up with some kind of witty remark. To tell this diabolical douchebag to go fuck himself for bringing me here. But I was so terrified that I could only grasp his neck and stare into the accursed nightmarish forest with nervous eyes. “Alright, let’s go.” To my complete horror, he started to walk toward that very same accursed nightmarish forest with an air of indifference.
“Wait! Wait! Wait!” I freaked out in his arms while attempting to shake his shoulders with my trembling hands. He stopped and raised a brow as he gazed at me with his infernal eyes. “We’re not seriously going into that dangerous, terrifying-looking forest, are we!?” I pointed to the menacing line of corpse-ridden trees, a sense of distress sinking over my soul.
“Yes, we are,” he chuckled, then to my dismay, continued walking. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you and kill anything that comes near us. Believe me, this place may seem frightening, but you’re still safer here with me than back on Earth where Adelstein can find you.” He squeezed me tighter into his embrace, as if he were loving every minute of our proximity. “Besides, I know this place like the back of my hand and how to navigate it. I was here for five thousand years, after all.” I thought about what he said, and it did kind of make sense that this was the safer option for me.
Who would have guessed that there would come a day when being spontaneously dragged off to some otherworldly, nightmarish abyss by a murderous demon would be safer than staying at home and loafing on the couch with a plate of leftover tortellini?
Azathoth’s heavy boots crunched over small, slimy stones, decaying leaves, and little bony twigs as he traversed the tree line. Dying leaves softly fluttered to the ground around us, hinting that the season was likely autumn. My eyes shifted all over the place, following dark shadows that scuttled through the thick, swirling fog not too far from us. A few locks of his hair fell over his shoulder and onto me. I jumped in fright, thinking it might be some horrid creepy-crawly skittering over the exposed flesh of my arm.
With a sudden case of the heebie-jeebies, I began scanning my body for any malign insects that could be hitching a ride. My face twisted in confusion when I realized I was no longer wearing my pajamas. I had on a short black dress and my trusty, dusty ankle boots instead. “Um, did you change my clothes while I was asleep?”
“Oh, yes, I did. It’s far too warm here for sweatpants, and I didn’t want you to overheat. I even made sure you had a fresh pair of panties on, too.” He grinned and smacked my bum, causing me to bounce in his arms. I let out a little yelp, then averted my gaze while blushing. “You don’t need to blush about that, Buttercup,” he chuckled. “You and I both know I’ve seen more of your pussy than you have.”
Wow, way to make me blush even more.
I honestly didn’t know what to say to that because I didn’t know where I stood regarding our relationship anymore. Sure, I had forgiven him for killing my aunt. And after hearing the story about why he destroyed those cities, I couldn’t really hold that against him either. But the truth was, our relationship was built on a house of cards—lies and deception. The shaky foundation made me question if it was worth saving. If I should invest my heart again or let it go? Not only was the guy a perfidious demon, but he also wasn’t truly interested in me when we started dating, and that made me feel really shitty about myself. It made me want to go out and meet someone new. Someone who would want me the moment they laid eyes on me. However, now was not a good time to have that talk with him.
“Now, I have a few rules I need you to strictly follow, no matter what.” He pulled me out of my woebegone thoughts with his assertive statement. “First, never, ever leave my sight while we’re here. In fact, it would be best if you remained within a radius of ten feet of me. Got it?” He ducked beneath a large gossamer curtain that draped mournfully from a gnarled bough, catching some of the silken web within his horns.
“Yes,” I whispered while nodding my head. The forest grew darker and thicker as we wandered deeper into the labyrinth of carnivorous trees. I tightened my hold on his neck as my eyes darted around in paranoid fear.
He tightened one arm around me in return. Then he used his other hand to remove the sticky webbing from his horns. “The second rule is that you are not to touch anything, and I mean anything, not even a measly pebble. You must always assume that everything here is hostile unless I state otherwise.” He shook his hand, then wiped the silken strands off on his pants. “There are sentient things here that wouldn’t normally be sentient back on Earth, like these trees, for example.” He kicked one of the tree corpses right in the face, causing the dreadful thing to screech in pain. The sound was echoed and eerie, sending an icy shiver up my spine. “Or these vines.” One of his claws sliced a long, slimy black vine that dangled from a branch. It let out a sickening, sibilant hiss, then recoiled away from us.
As my gaze shifted from the vine, I glimpsed huge, spindly, rotting legs creeping out of the darkness, heading toward us from between the tree trunks. Six malevolent, milky eyes came into view as a massive, decaying black spider flashed its jagged fangs at us. Putrid saliva dripped from its mouth in thick strings as it let out an eldritch hiss.
Holy fuck! Holy fuck! Holy fuck!
All the blood drained from my face, my limbs became numb with fear, and my heart pounded at an abnormally fast pace. I let out a piercing scream as Azathoth reached out nonchalantly, and to my complete shock, grabbed the thing by its motherfucking fangs. He then ripped them off with a loud snap. He barely broke his gait as he curb-stomped its head in, causing putrescent black slime to ooze from its mutilated spider skull. I stared in horror and revulsion.
“Oh, and it’s best if you don’t scream. That will attract the wolves, and even though I won’t hesitate to kill them if they come near us, I’d rather not. I like canines, and it’s hard not to see Belzar’s face as I end them,” he stated, while continuing to walk at a steady pace. I nodded stiffly to acknowledge his words as I peered over his shoulder back at the now-twitching, crumpled-up spider legs. I’m pretty sure if he were human, I would have drawn blood from how hard my nails dug into his skin.
“Anyway, there’s one more rule that’s for both of us. I have the book that Belzar stole from Adelstein in this bag.” He pointed to a black satchel bag hanging over his shoulder that I hadn’t noticed before. Probably because I was too distracted from being, well, in
The fucking Abyss! “The book is our gateway in and out of this world, so we can’t lose it no matter what, or we’ll both be stuck here until we die... I also packed you some food and water in there, too. Speaking of which, you haven’t eaten anything since yesterday morning.” He rummaged through the bag while holding me in his arms with an awkward grip.
“Here, eat this.” Plastic wrap crinkled as he handed me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Normally I would have scolded him for using plastic wrap and then gobbled it down. But my arms were too busy gripping his neck like velcro to even take the sandwich. Plus, my stomach was also all twisted from my overwhelming anxiety, making the thought of food somewhat nauseating. “I-I-I’m not really hungry,” I stuttered, while focusing on the severity of not losing that damn book and the horrors all around us.
“Gwendolyn…” He shot me a piercing look, warning me to eat. With a dramatic gesture, he nudged the sandwich closer, as if offering a lifeline. “Come on, you need to eat. I made it just for you.” He pushed it against my tightly squished-together lips. “Don’t make me put you down and force it into your mouth, because I will if I have to.”
My eyes widened from the fear of him putting me down in this horrifying place. “Alright, alright!” With great reluctance, I released my grip on his neck. My hands trembled as I finally grasped the sandwich, a mix of hunger and unease swirling within me.
His arms cradled me as I peeled the plastic away and began nibbling on the crust like a paranoid little mouse with cheese. Strange, otherworldly sounds swirled through the air, creating an unsettling chorus. While shrill ululations echoed from every direction. It prompted me to stay vigilant while I quietly enjoyed my sandwich. Azathoth was unbothered by anything we came across. He continued to casually explain about this bizarre alien world of inverted life and eternal darkness, babbling on and on as we headed deeper into the gaping jaws of the forest.
Heavy boots thudded along the jagged rocks and ashy terrain as Azathoth’s steady footsteps softly bounced me up and down. My pale hands wove together one of his silky black locks, making almost half of his head now covered in long Viking braids. I suppressed the urge to laugh at how ridiculous it looked because I was not skilled with hair at all. Hours had passed, and we were still walking through the damn abysmal forest. It was thinning out, making it easier to see, but it was still dark and ominous.
It felt like I was being carried around in the arms of death himself. Azathoth obliterated anything that had dared to come near us like a menacing top predator. Bloodlust twinkled in his incandescent eyes each time he mercilessly slew some grotesque critter. There was no denying that he was a hellish beast designed to kill. I gave up trying to keep count of how many terrifying creatures he casually pulverized. What impressed me further was that he did it all while keeping me safely wrapped in his monstrous embrace.
It was unnerving at first to have a front-row seat for all the action. But I felt a sense of ease knowing that nothing could hurt or eat me with such a fearsome demon protecting me. Hell, I even started cheering him on. I pretended to be an enthusiastic sportscaster, adding commentary to all his gruesome butcheries. And boy, did he fucking love it.
In between all his macabre slaughtering, he explained how this was going to be a “fun adventure.” We were supposedly on a quest to find some obscure weapon called the Teloch Axe to murder Adelstein with. Apparently, when someone was killed by it, they couldn’t reincarnate, and their souls were cast into the abyssal pits. There they would writhe in agony for all eternity. I thought that was all fine and dandy, because fuck Adelstein. That was until he mentioned it was hidden within the depths of some decrescent pantheon and guarded by an insane three-headed zombie dragon known as The Corrupted Vovin. I freaked out and spent the last hour trying to convince him to take us home and kill Adelstein the normal way.
“Alright, fine! If you’re not willing to bring us home, then can you please use your weird teleportation ability to teleport us to the damn axe so we can leave already!?” I huffed and yanked on one of his braids, knowing full well it wouldn’t actually hurt him. “I mean really, why the fuck haven’t you done that yet? We’ve spent hours lollygagging in this hellhole of a forest!?” I waved my hand, gesturing all around us.
“You say hellhole like it’s a bad thing.” He raised an amused brow and chuckled. “And no, I can’t do that here. Well, technically I could, but it would be a terrible idea. You see, every world has a shadow realm that mirrors it, and I use the shadow realms to teleport. However, The Abyss’s shadow realm is full of dark abyssal essence and pesky entities known as lloigors. If we entered it, you would become corrupted, and the poison in my arm would spread so fast that I’d be dead within the hour.” His arms gripped me a little tighter as he hopped over a rotten log.
A long, irritated breath escaped my lips, and then I narrowed my eyes at him. “Well then, why can’t you just fly us there?” I poked at one of his sturdy wings.
“Oh, trust me, I’ve been dying to stretch these bad boys out all day.” A cocky, evil-looking grin stretched across his face, as he gently flapped his wings like he was trying to show them off... I rolled my eyes. “But it’s better to wait until we’re beyond the forest. There are these things, sort of like gargoyles, that are quite territorial of the skies over this forest. They loathe anything else with wings.”
As he rambled on in great detail about yet another abyssal species, I couldn’t help but dwell on what he said about the poison killing him. I scanned the large web of black veins that covered his shoulder and stretched down his arm and onto his chest with unease. It was hard not to notice it had, in fact, gotten larger and darker since the first time I saw it, blending with all his real tattoos. As I traced one of the jagged lines with my fingertip, I recalled Adelstein had also said the poison was killing him. A sickening feeling of dread pooled in the pit of my stomach as I looked back up at his face with worried eyes.
“And so, unless we want to be swarmed by hundreds of undead skeletal gargoyles, it’s best to just walk through here.” He smiled down at me with a loving twinkle in his eyes as he finished speaking.
I reached down and began twiddling with the hem of my dress. “So, yeah, the gargoyles sound cool and all, but what did you mean when you said that the poison would spread so fast it would kill you within the hour?” I avoided eye contact and gave a small shrug.
He stopped moving, and I felt his muscles tense up. “Well...” He started walking again. “I guess there’s no point in beating around the bush with this.” His jaw clenched, and I could practically see the smoking gears turning in his head as he struggled to answer my question. “The poison is killing me.”
What!? No, no, no!
My jaw dropped and my heart sank. It felt like I’d been kicked in the gut repeatedly by an irate, bodybuilder Bigfoot sporting steel-toe boots. This behemoth never missed leg day, and his wrath hit hard. Sure, our relationship was on the rocks, but I knew in my heart that I still loved the lying, murderous, demon freak of a guy. And I most certainly didn’t want him to die! My heart broke, and I felt like throwing up at the mere thought of it.
The look on my face became one of deep concern as I jolted more upright. “There’s a way to cure it, right?” Dismay laced my voice, and my heart thumped in my ribcage.
His eyes shifted to me with an uneasy look in them. “Well, I don’t want to sound like I’m pressuring you or anything, but I can only heal it if my powers are unbound.”
I stared at him for a second, taking in what he’d just said. “How much longer do you think you have?” I stammered, feeling a tight knot of anxiety in my stomach.
He shrugged, his expression relaxed despite the grim circumstances. “There’s no way to know for sure, but judging by the rate it’s been spreading recently, I’d say a few months, tops.” Brittle twigs snapped around us as he traversed between a few intertwined branches.
Only a few months!?
I opened my mouth to speak a few times, but no words would come out. I wrapped my arms around him in a tight embrace, burying my face in the crook of his neck. The delightful scent of fiery spice enveloped me. But beneath that warmth, worry gnawed at my heart as I grappled with the harrowing thought of losing him. I realized he had to be set free for survival, not just to claw back his status as a powerful demon. His long, dangling braids danced in my line of vision as I made up my mind then and there about what I needed to do.
Fuck, I need to unbind this kooky demonic guy.
Azathoth stopped walking, causing me to look up. We had finally made it out of that godforsaken forest and were standing on the edge of a large, jagged precipice. It overlooked an endless sea of black, which blended in with the equally black sky. To the right of us was a huge escarpment with another tall cliff off in the far distance. The black depths made a wispy wall along a desolate, ashen valley that rested below, stretching between the two higher landmasses.
“Good news, Buttercup. We’re almost there.” A wicked grin flashed across his face. “We just have to fly over this valley while avoiding the katabatic winds that blow out of that void over there...” He gestured to the sea of darkness. “Then we’ll be only half a day away from the pantheon.”
Only half a day!? Does this guy even know what “almost there” means?
As I silently grumbled about how long this was going to take, he strode to the cliff’s edge. Perched high above the valley, he crouched like a gargoyle. His wings unfurled behind his back, spreading out on either side of us. I slipped down to the ground between his legs, and he held my back against his chest with his clawed, tattooed hand. He kissed the top of my head as we gazed out over the dark, eerie landscape together. The balmy wind blew through our long, wisping hair, causing it to dance all around us. Meanwhile, I pretended not to feel the massive boner pressing into my lower back.
“Look over there.” Azathoth pointed toward the wispy black wall. My eyes followed his direction as a large black cloud crept out like the looming shadow of death. It was slow at first, but then picked up speed and howled as it boisterously raged across the valley. “Those are sentient carnivorous winds. They come out and devour all things in their path, then return to the void. That’s why the valley is so desolate.” He lovingly caressed my arm as he spoke. “It would be best to wait until that one returns before flying over.”
I placed my hand on his, then leaned my head back and turned to look up at his face. “Azathoth?” I whispered, my words barely stirring the air.
“Yes, Buttercup?” He caressed my cheek with his free hand and tucked a stray strand of unruly hair behind my ear, as he so often did for me.
My breath hitched as I gazed into the glowing demonic eyes that were filled with so much love and adoration for me. Despite the fog of uncertainty shrouding our relationship, he'd stood as my protector multiple times. Now, it was my moment to save him. “I want to—”
A piercing screech cut off my words. We both whipped our heads around to look up at the treeline behind us. At least one hundred dark-gray creatures with long, skeletal limbs climbed through the bare treetops toward us. Their paws ended in long, terrifying claws and their bony, tattered bat wings angrily flapped. Harrowing screeches and sibilant snarls came from their ugly, decaying muzzles.
Oh shit. The undead gargoyle things.
Azathoth’s arms wrapped securely around my body, and his hands grabbed onto me with a steel-like grip.
“Fuck, they’ve seen my wings,” he grumbled to himself, agitation clear in his expression. “Hold that thought, and also, hold on to me.” Without any warning whatsoever, he dove off the cliff like a madman as the swarm of gargoyles began to viciously converge on us. I screamed at the top of my lungs while frantically holding onto him for dear fucking life as we plummeted down into the seemingly endless darkness below.