Page 54 of Of Spindles and Nightfall
“Finally, the last one arrives,” a voice said next to her. “We were wondering when you’d get here.” She looked throughthe bars and saw a demon staring at her with a light tint of green skin and a mohawk of feathers down his head and upper back. They ended in sizable feathered wings that were folded. She’d seen pictures of his kind in texts. He was a sirin from clan Aeria, demons who had magic in their voices when they sang. They could hypnotize or heal as they chose.
“So the great arch king has gotten himself a plaything.” A woman who looked to be in her early to mid thirties with a wrapped head stared at her through the bars from two cells over. Aryana smelled the human scent drifting off of her.
“A vampire no less,” came the voice of a demon three cells from hers. A wingless imp with large horns that curled upward and a curious gaze, no doubt from the Kingdom Inferna, the underworld. As a regular imp, he was twice the size of Ernon and Mils.
“Vampire?” The woman’s eyes grew round.
“I’m Pohan.” The sirin reached a hand through the bars, and Aryana stared at him in surprise. This demon knew human greetings?
He gave a crooked smile. “A way of saying hello. Learned it from Neri.” He tossed his head, indicating the woman two cells over.
She relaxed, reaching out her hand and took his in a handshake. She noted the scars crisscrossing up his arm. “Aryana. Are you all kalators?”
Pohan nodded. “Just been waiting for you to arrive so we could get started.”
“Among the few of us still in one piece,” the imp from three stalls over said. He had a large scar running across his face. “The arch king must have something special planned for you.”
Neri shot him a look. And the imp shrugged. “What? It’s only logical…”
“Oh, spare us your morbid musings disguised as facts, Jesir.”
Jesir appeared offended, but only folded his arms and scowled.
“Don’t get nasty, Neri. We are all nervous about what is coming,” Pohan said.
Neri glared at him, but also clammed up.
Even these demons had expectations about how she was going to be treated by the demon arch king. She had to make sure whatever happened to her at the opening ceremony appeared real and believable.
Gods, she felt bad for Neri. A human. She wasn’t like them—violent, angry, bloodthirsty. Some humans deserved death, but many didn’t. For Aryana’s kind, she couldn’t help but believe that the ratio was reversed.
A guard marched past their cells. “Listen, worthless spawn, move to the corner of your enclosure unless you wish your guts to be smashed into a pile of shit all over the floor.” A sneer spread across his face as if that would make his day.
Aryana moved into the far end of her cell. There was the sound of gears moving and the ceiling above her split open, a large slab slamming down onto the stone.
The guard’s sneer twisted, a sadistic light gleaming in his eyes. “Go on up. Enjoy the opening ceremony.” He released acackling laugh.
“Good luck,” Aryana said to the others.
Pohan and Jesir nodded in dreaded silence. She already scented the fear drifting off of them.
Neri’s expression conveyed both despair and terror. “What’s good about it?”
Chapter 19
Aryana
Aryana walked up the flat stone slab and into another chamber, its walls cold and bare. A heavy door stood behind her, closed and undoubtedly locked. Ahead, iron bars framed her view of the space beyond. She moved closer, drawing in a sharp breath.
A vast underground arena stretched before her, carved directly from the earth. The ground was flat and open, save for eleven raised stone platforms scattered throughout.
She wrapped her fingers around the bars and pressed her face to the cool iron, trying to steady her nerves. Whatever was about to happen, itwouldn’t be good.
“The Demon Trials are almost upon us! Are we ready to see carnage, death, and destruction?” A voice rasped out, echoing across the arena, amplified by magic so all could hear.
The crowds sat above the field in stadium seating. A thunder of cheers bellowed from the stands.
“First up is the champion from Kingdom Misophae, Dravek, the Ravager.”
