Page 46 of Hell Sent

“I accept your apology.”

It was that simple. She had removed all his anguish over their argument with a single sentence. Such was the enormous power she held over him. It was terrifying.

“Do you really think demons can feel all the things that mortals can?” he asked.

“Why shouldn’t they?”

“We are made different. Look at you. Look at me.” He took her small hand, looking down at her earthen skin. Vibrant red blood pulsed through her veins. She was nothing like him. Mortals and demons were not meant to coexist. They were naturally opposed. One must always conquer the other.

But she looked down at his hand calmly, as if she didn’t notice how grotesquely large it was compared to hers, or how damaged by battle and defeat it was, or how the thick muscles and tendons implied the potential for violence. She turned his hand over and ran her fingers lightly over his palm. Pinpricks ran up his spine.

“There are more similarities between us than differences,” she said.

He brought his hands to her face, cupping her cheeks. She went still, surprised.

He realized he’d come to her because he was afraid. But how could he seek comfort from her when she was also the reason for his fear?

He dragged his hands away from her. “I’m sorry for disturbing your rest,” he said, and he left.

* * *

“Last night,”Priestess Gereg announced, “I had a vision. In it, I saw the demon before us. He spoke with the dark goddess’s voice and proclaimed that he had come to fulfill Moratha’s plans for Heilune. He is to be a reaper, come to bring her wrath upon our plane. He is her instrument of death, a weapon of unknowable destruction. It begins tonight. There will be a massacre of epic proportions, starting right here in Ontag-ul. All will die. Humans and elves, children and animals alike. Death will rule the land, blood will flow like water, and Moratha will be pleased. So, demon: thus begins the goddess’s reign. You are commanded to kill indiscriminately, whenever and wherever you desire, so long as it is often. You will rend flesh with your monstrous hands, tear bloody gashes with your terrible teeth, crush bones beneath your giant’s feet. Go now and destroy. Spare none. We will follow in your footsteps with our blades high!”

Then the priestess had the audacity to bow to him, pretending respect.

Azreth had guessed it would come to this, but he had hoped they would find a solution to his binding, first. They’d run out of time.

From where they stood by the altar at the front of the main hall, they’d have to push through a wall of cultists in the pews in order to reach the exit.

Raiya seemed not to know what to do. Azreth sensed that she wouldn’t be able to smooth talk them out of harm’s way this time. He moved closer to her, ready to put himself between her and the others, because he guessed they wouldn’t be happy with his response to all this. Her hand was already on the handle of her baton, but that wouldn’t protect her thin skin from a stray blade or spell.

“No,” he said simply.He almost enjoyed the look of faint surprise on the priestess’s face. He could tell that people didn’t often say no to her.

“You are refusing her call?” she asked, her tone warning. He didn’t care.

“I am.”

She gave him a haughty look. “You were designed by the dark goddess to serve her will. You will obey her. It is your purpose.”

“What do you know of my purpose?”

“You are a tool to be used as she decrees for the spreading of darkness and despair. You are death. This is your purpose, just as a stock animal’s purpose is to feed, as a mother’s purpose is to nurture, as a wheel’s purpose is to roll. It is not a decision to make. It is already done.”

He had thought he was above emotional outbursts, but the priestess’s words sparked something in him. He surprised himself and everyone else when he raised a fist and slammed it down into the altar, smashing it into several large pieces. Beside him, Raiya jumped, and he felt a pang of regret. She was the only person in the world who believed he wasn’t a monster. She was wrong, but he still cherished her faith in him.

“What do you know of my purpose?” he snarled at the priestess.

She just blinked, unfazed. “Do you deny your goddess?”

“I care nothing for your goddess.”

The cultists gasped. Finally, the priestess looked angry. This would be the final straw. Raiya sensed it, too. She grabbed his arm and began to pull him down the aisle toward the doorway.

“Youwillserve her,” Gereg called after them. “If you will not do it willingly, then we will break you. You will obey.” A commotion broke out among the cultists. Gereg was shouting something. People blocked his way.

Azreth took Raiya’s hand, pulling her against and behind him. “Get out of the way, or I will send you to your goddess,” he snapped at the cultists.

There was a swell of magic energy in the air. A powerful spell was being cast.

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