Page 36 of The Fearless Witch

The air was so heavy and sticky, it felt like my tongue was glued to the roof of my mouth. Once I nodded, he shifted to his hulking infernal form, towering above me as his shadow darkened the ground.

I used to imagine what Hell would look like, back in the days when I still feared spending an eternity here once my deal was complete, but my speculations paled in comparison with the sight in front of me. There was fire everywhere but not the chaotic blaze that had people melting in endless suffering. This one was quiet, intent, almost like it was moving with purpose.

The ground we stepped on was mostly made of stone, and there was even grass sprawling here and there, black and wilted yet oddly alive. The sky was an eerie shade of red, with dark clouds rolling in and out, their movements hectic and entirely unnatural. There was no sun or moon or stars and looking at it, I had a feeling there was no day or night to show the passing of time.

What I first thought were mountains turned out to be towers—or rather the remnants of ones—rising so high that I had to crane my neck back to see the top of them. Birds circled the peaks and judging by how big they looked from this distance, I most definitely didn’t want to see them up close.

“Watch your step,” Nym warned when my foot slipped on what I thought was solid stone, but turned out to be a bubbling, dark liquid. A drop of it landed on my bare leg and I yelped as the skin sizzled and festered. My healing ability immediately kicked in, but the more we ran, the more puddles we encountered, so I had to focus all of my attention on following the path Nym chose for us.

“Not to sound… entitled, but can’t you… carry me?” I asked through labored breaths when he had to stop again so I could catch up. My chest was burning painfully and my legs stung from the splashing acid.

“I can’t fight with you on my back,” Nym replied in a serious tone, his red eyes darting around us like he was expecting an attack.

“Fight?” I repeated, leaning my hand on his side to steady myself. It felt like we had been running for hours, but I was pretty sure I could almost see the ruins where Beleth’s safe house was.

“The demons are not the only denizens of Hell,” he explained in an ominous tone. “Let’s hurry. You’ll rest when you’re dead.”

He moved without warning and I almost fell to the ground, glaring as I muttered ‘Ha-ha, funny!’ and dashed after him. There had been no sign of Beleth or his damn shadows, which was a huge relief, but with my magic screaming in warning at every step, I had the nagging suspicion we might have bigger problems than a pissed-off demon asshole.

Through my peripheral vision, I spotted something dark moving among the piles of dirt and stones, so I glanced back to make sure nothing was preparing to jump us from behind. A moment later, I collided with Nym’s massive form, staggering back and dropping heavily on my ass. A grumble was just rising to my lips when a low growl reverberated through his chest, the fur on his back bristling like it did when he was trying to intimidate a dangerous enemy.

Another movement caught my attention and this time, a giant form stepped through what appeared to have been a gate once but now looked like the decaying remnants of a monster’s maw. The beast was so huge that it barely fit through the wide space, towering over Nym with at least three steps. A few smaller creatures scurried after it, their oddly shaped bodies sprawling more limbs than any being I had ever seen. Some of them had human forms, but their faces had melted or had holes or teeth in places they shouldn’t have.

“Run or fight?” I whispered, pressing a hand to Nym’s back, so he knew exactly where I was standing. His heart was racing, heat radiating from his body while he pulled his shoulders back in an attempt to make himself look bigger. That didn’t scare the big bastard, but the smaller ones stopped their advances and stared.

“You can’t outrun them in Hell. I’ll take the big one, you take the rest.” Nym started forward, but then stopped, twisting his body so he could look at me from the corner of his eyes. “Your fire is useless here, but they are… not alive anymore.”

Without waiting for my reply, he charged and so did the giant bull-like atrocity. Nym rammed into its body, sinking his teeth into the creature’s shoulder while I held my breath in anticipation. The other demons were already surrounding me by the time I realized I had wasted precious time.

I let my magic flow out, its tendrils sliding toward each of them. They either didn’t feel it or didn’t care what I was doing because, as one, they attacked. When the first was almost on top of me, I snapped the snare around its dead body, wrapping my power around all that rotting flesh and commanding it to obey me. The beauty of necromancy, as my mother used to say, was that it was everywhere. Every creature that was once alive was helpless to its call. And Nym… he remembered because I taught him that.

More and more of my nooses snapped around their minds, making them stop even as they fought against the compulsion. Tugging at the magic that now tied them to me, I commanded, “Kill each other.”

And so they did, with a ferocity that made me shudder. My tethers disintegrated one by one when beast after beast was torn to shreds before my eyes. The stone path where they had cornered us turned as red as the sky, with flesh and entrails scattered everywhere.

I released a sigh of relief when the last of them fell, turning in search of Nym when a shadow fell over me. I looked up just in time to see a giant form with massive wings diving down, its taloned feet opening as if to snatch me up.

Avoiding it was pure luck, and as I crashed into the carnage and rolled around, its frustrated shriek made my bones rattle. By the time I got up, my magic was wrapping around its mind. The creature flapped its wings several times before diving again, but this time toward what looked like a giant wolf with fur sleek like scales. Warm blood sprayed into the air when talons as big as my palm sunk into the wolf’s body. The flying monster picked the other up and threw it against the nearest stone wall. The whole thing crumbled as the canine demon crashed through it, sending rocks into the puddles of burning liquid.

I raised my hands to cover my head, hissing when a few drops landed on my skin and burned through the thin fabric of my tattered shirt. By the time I lowered them, two more wolves were running in my direction, teeth bared and saliva dribbling from their mouths. I yanked the chain on my monster’s mind and it veered toward the ground again. They seemed taken aback by the attack, but only for a second before they lunged at the demon, tearing and biting at its wings until they all crashed into one of the boiling puddles.

A howl of pain rose above their screeching, and I spun in search of Nym again. Fire and dust had filled the space where I last saw him, the sounds of fighting and roaring making my blood turn cold.

“Nym!” I screamed, taking a step toward the dust cloud when a figure appeared at the edge of it. I sighed with relief at the familiar form, but once the creature emerged into the clear, I faltered. A scream rose in my throat, but I was too stunned to make a sound.

It looked just like Nym, its skin midnight black with patches of fur here and there, however, it walked on all fours and those crimson eyes held no intelligence, no understanding, no mercy. The only thing I could see in them was a thirst for pain and blood. And that gaze was solely locked on me.

“Shit!” I cursed, sending my magic to trap it. The spell coiled around its massive body, but instead of tightening its hold, it fell off it like there was nothing to grab onto. The demon continued toward me like it hadn’t even noticed my attack, and as I tried to snare it a second time and failed, its lips curled, revealing a row of sharp teeth.

Sweat beating on my brow, I took a hesitant step back. I needed to run. I needed to… I needed…

The hellhound charged. My magic reacted faster than my brain could, grabbing onto the fallen bodies and debris and hauling them in its path, but the monster dodged, moving with speed and dexterity that no living being could possess.

I tapped into the dark, dead power, trying to seize control over its body one more time since I had no idea what else to do, when the hellhound slammed into me, tackling me to the ground. I couldn’t even scream as I landed painfully, its long nails digging into my side before it bared its teeth in my face.

My magic wrapped around me, but the horror had spread to my fingers, making them too stiff to do anything. Fear like I had never felt before, fear that this was it, the end for me, alone and in Hell, squeezed my heart as drool dripped on my neck. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting to feel its fangs tear my skin, when something yanked the demon back.

No, not back. Up.

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