Page 45 of The Road to Hell

Don’t run. Never run.

Vol glanced at me, his eyes barely visible from within the shadows. “Gotta admit, that was fun to watch.”

I rolled my eyes. The imp had no sense of self-preservation.

We strode from the outpost, the noise from the market fading behind us. I didn’t breathe again until we left Fellmoor. And only then did I allow myself to feel the full weight of what I’d just done.

The rebellion had officially begun.

ChapterTwelve

RATHIEL

We’d been walking for hours.

Though the landscape sometimes changed, the rest of Hell never did. The sky burned the same, the heat never wavered, and the land stretched. There was no real sense of time here, no sun to track, no moon to mark the shift into night. But I’d spent enough years in Hell to know when the day met its end.

The firelight in the distance had begun to dim, the landscape taking on a deeper, redder hue. This was as close as Hell ever got to twilight—when the glow of its molten veins pulsed lower, the infernal energy ebbing before the next surge.

I took stock of the others.

Lily seemed fine. She hadn’t spoken much since Fellmoor, but she walked with purpose. She didn’t glance back, didn’t slow, didn’t waver—just continued pressing forward. I kept searching her face for signs of weariness or hunger, but she didn’t show a hint of weakness. That didn’t surprise me, considering her upbringing. My brethren had beaten that out of her. She knew what it was like to go days without sleep or food.

Eliza, on the other hand, could barely keep up. Her usual perkiness had dulled, her steps dragging slightly as the exhaustion of the past day caught up with her. She didn’t look anything like her usual, picture-perfect self, not with all the dust and ash caking her face and arms. I had to keep reminding myself that she wasn’t from Hell. Her life on Earth hadn’t required trudging relentless miles without a full night’s sleep.

And we still had two days to go until we reached the next outpost.

If it was just me and Lily, I might have pushed us harder. Hell, I could have flown with her in my arms. Eliza hadn’t faltered yet, but I feared if we pushed her much further, she would.

Which meant it was time to stop.

I slowed my pace and fell into step beside Lily. “We’ll need to make camp soon.”

She shot me a look. “We still have a lot of ground to cover.”

“We’ve covered enough for today.”

Her frown deepened, and for a second, I thought she might argue. But then I tipped my head toward Eliza. Lily glanced back and understanding smoothed away her frown.

“There’s a cavern nearby. We’ll rest there for the night,” I said.

Eliza perked up at that, wiping a streak of ash from her cheek as she caught up to us. “Rest? In a cave? With walls and a roof? Please tell me there’s water, too. Like real water.”

I gave a humourless laugh. “There’s no water in Hell. Not the kind you’re thinking of anyway. But there are pools.”

“Pools?” she repeated, enthusiasm still shining in her eyes.

“They’re fed by vapor vents from deep below the surface,” I explained. “So, it isn’t water. And it isn’t fresh. But it’s liquid.”

Eliza groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “So, swampy sulphur pits?”

“More or less,” I said with a shrug. “It’ll get the worst of the grime off you. Just don’t drink it if you want to stay alive.”

“Noted,” Eliza muttered. “At this point, I’ll take it.”

“We aren’t far,” I said. “Another hour or so.”

“Ughhh,” Eliza groaned, her feet dragging as though each step weighed a thousand pounds. A muffled but impish chuckle sounded from inside Lily’s pouch. Clearly, Vol was enjoying her misery.

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