Page 103 of A Hail From Hell: Vol 1

By then, Evan had screamed his throat raw, and a furrow had permanently settled between his brows.

The demon's core—essentially its brain in this form—was not functioning as it ought to. So obviously it couldn’t just hear someone yelling and turn around to yell back.

There needed to be something. Something that could grab his attention.

Lowering his hands from his mouth, Evan stared at the mindlessly raging Hellguard. Not raising his voice any louder than his usual tone, he spoke. “The Eternal has sent me.”

True to the tale, the Hellguard’s hearing was exceptional. Despite the meters separating them, and its own roars filling the air, it caught the whisper of Evan’s words.

Its rock body stilled. A low rumble stirred from one of its crammed, grinding joints.

A beat of complete silence passed. All the creatures in the forest quieted down, holding their breaths in anticipation.

Unconsciously, Evan’s eyes darted around in search of a red-clad body somewhere in the dark.

The Hellguard twisted its head around, rock grating against rock, almost dislodging its neck as it faced Evan. If it had eyes, they would’ve been staring straight at him.

What sounded like air gushing into a hollow vessel echoed somewhere, and it took Evan a moment to realize it was coming from inside the Hellguard. It inhaled deeply as if the air had been stuck midway down its lungs, then exhaled. A pair of dusty clouds spurted out of two indiscernible holes above its mouth.

“Who are you?” The Hellguard’s voice quaked through the ground, harder than his footsteps had.

The Shadow’s palms cupped protectively around Evan.

The demon didn’t sound particularly pleased, and he was still far away. Too far to accurately target a spiritual energy blast at his core. If the Shadow moved, his footsteps would thunder like the demon’s, and it could set him off, which would make it more difficult to aim at his head.

The best way was to coax him into coming closer.

With another sweeping glance around the area for Xen, Evan spoke in an even tone. “I am…a messenger of the Eternal.”

The Hellguard snorted some more dust from his nostrils before turning his body around completely. “What message do you bear?”

It wasn’t even a surprise that the demon didn’t doubt a random voice coming and claiming to be his master’s messenger. That was just a confirmation that his core was suppressed to the point he was already going mad.

“What message?” His voice rumbled with impatience, but there was an undercurrent of…something else. Longing? “Has My Lord finally called for me?”

Desperation. Evan caught it then—the faint, restless desperation in his tone.

Well, three centuries could make even a god desperate for someone to come save them.

“Your Lord wishes for you to return,” Evan bullshitted, cringing slightly as he spewed whatever nonsense surfaced in his mind. “He has asked me to bring you back.”

Thump.

The Hellguard took a step forward.

Evan nodded over his shoulder at the Shadow, and it extended its palms forward as if offering Evan to the Hellguard. That brought him closer to the target. With his enormous stride, only a couple more steps and the demon would be in Evan’s range of attack.

Just four more steps.

“My Lord…” The Hellguard stilled, then shook his head as if in disbelief before bellowing, “Liar!”

With that roar came a gust of wind so strong it propelled Evan back. The palms under his feet twitched, itching to pull him away from the demon.

Turned out the demon still had some sense of rationality, even if just a smidge.

Keeping his calm, despite the goosebumps erupting across his exposed forearms, Evan said. “Why would I lie? Do you not wish to see your Lord?”

Who knows about him, but I have a feeling I might be sent up to my Lord very soon.

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