Page 39 of Demanding Discord
“Fabulous.” She rummaged through her bag and pocketed several spells she had mixed at Hecate’s house. “And the zombie demons?”
“Creatures who never completed the maze.” The fine hairs on my arms stood on end, sensing the hum of the thorns before my ears registered it.
“I figured as much,” she said. “How do we get out?”
The hum intensified as the hedges quivered. A vine snaked across the ground toward Cinder’s feet, but I pinned it with my boot and sliced into it with the knife, severing it. The thorns screamed in response, and the hedges began their shift.
“We must move, lest we become its next victims.” I clutched her hand, and we paced away from the clearing, making two lefts and a right before the rotting, animated corpse of a serpentine demon—a massive snake from the waist down, his upper half resembling a muscular human with a spiked head—emerged from the bush. The brambles shifted, enclosing us on three sides, the demon blocking our only escape.
The demon, who happened to be Ascaroth, my old friend.
“An undead end. Fantastic.” Cinder tugged a small envelope from her pocket and threw the contents at Ascaroth. “Standing tall or on your knees, in the name of the goddess, I force you to freeze.”
Ascaroth shuddered, his snake half rippling as he moved toward us. His ashen scales, once obsidian with amber veins, flaked off as he moved, and strings of black venom dripped from his fangs as he opened his mouth, extending his jaw much further than his skull should have allowed.
“Damn it. How can he still move?” Cinder shook the envelope over her palm and blew the remaining powder at Ascaroth. He continued his slow advance.
“He’s a part of the labyrinth now. You would have to freeze the entire maze to have your desired effect.” I tilted my head, studying our foe. “How did this happen, old friend?”
Ascaroth groaned in response.
“You know this guy?” Cinder clutched a knife and shifted her weight from foot to foot.
“I did…before he became this hollow husk.” I crept closer to him, holding the knife behind my back. “Of all the souls to perish in this maze, I never dreamed you’d become one of them.”
Ascaroth moaned, the sides of his neck distending as they filled with liquid.
“Duck!” I grabbed Cinder’s arm, yanking her to the ground half a second before he spewed venom. The acidic liquid hit the hedge behind us, and the entire maze screeched, rattling its branches, its thorns growing larger and sharper.
Ascaroth struck, quick now and agile, but Cinder and I anticipated his moves. We rolled, his arms clasping nothing as his torso slammed into the ground, his fangs sinking into the dirt.
The sharp, sickly-sweet stench of venom filled the air, making my eyes water and my throat tighten. Ascaroth’s body twisted, the once-familiar intelligence in his gaze drowned by an unnatural hunger. I hesitated, searching his ruined face for a flicker of recognition, some sign that my old friend was still in there. All I found was emptiness.
Cinder moved quickly, jabbing her knife into his side, piercing his formerly impenetrable armor. Scales turned to dust as she removed the blade, but he whipped around, his upper half slamming into her, his tail snaking around her, pinning her arms to her sides, squeezing until her eyes bulged in their sockets.
I threw hellfire at his face, blinding him long enough to hide my advance. Taking the knife from Cinder’s hand, I leaped onto Ascaroth’s back and reached around him, shoving the blade into his upper heart.
He wailed and thrashed, slamming me against the hedge while tightening his grip on Cinder. She wheezed, and one of her joints made a sickening pop. The hedge latched onto me, wrenching me from his back and pulling my arms and legs outward, my body forming a letter X.
Ascaroth howled, a gurgling, guttural sound that echoed through the maze like a death toll. For a heartbeat, I almost believed I saw something—remorse, or perhaps pleading—flash in his eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared, devoured by the monstrous hunger that had overtaken him.
The hedge thickened around me, pulling me deeper into the bramble, and Ascaroth focused on Cinder, unlatching his jaw and opening his mouth as if he planned to devour her.
Desperation surged through me as the hedge tightened its grip, thorns pressing into my skin and drawing blood. I gasped, straining against the branches, but they held fast, feeding off my pain. The maze pulsed with malevolent anticipation, its every shadow twisting in time with our agony.
I fought to steady my breath, sending healing energy to Cinder’s dislocated joint while setting my arms ablaze. The thorns screamed, burrowing deeper into my skin. Cinder followed my lead, igniting witch fire in her palms, allowing it to lick up her arms and burn through Ascaroth’s scales.
I added heat, my flames turning from blue to white to green. The hedge surrendered, shoving me out of its clutches. I fell to my knees, but this time, I did not hesitate. I hurled the second knife at my former friend, aiming for the fleshy space between his torso and where his scales began.
The blade hit home, sinking into his second heart. Ascaroth convulsed, his jaw snapping shut with a thunderous crack as the impact drove him backward. Then he froze, his expression one that asked how could you? before he crumbled into ashes and the angry maze absorbed him.
Cinder retrieved the knives, handing one to me and clutching her injured shoulder. For a moment, the maze fell eerily quiet, its tangled limbs recoiling as if wary of the wrath we had unleashed.
“Tell me that was the final boss battle,” she said, wincing as she attempted to move her arm.
“If we can make it to the center of the maze before the labyrinth recovers, then yes.” I tucked a tangled lock of hair behind her ear. “Ascaroth is the most powerful being I have seen succumb to this fate, but we must keep moving. I don’t know whom else Lucifer has tormented since my imprisonment.”
“Well, if we have to fight again, you’ll be on your own.” Her face pinched in pain. “My left arm is useless, unless you can pop it back into place.”
