From Hell with Love (47 page)

He focused his eye at the last second and was surprised to see the effect.  Though the arrows were the same as always, each missile streaked toward their target while bathed in red fire.  Niccolo realized after just a moment that it was not fire at all, but the energy of the fallen angel who had added its power to his.

The arrows bathed in red energy slammed into Balam’s chest and almost exploded as they made their way through the demon’s body.  When they screamed out of the bear’s back, they took a circular chunk of flesh, about two feet in diameter, along with them.  Diogenes was lucky enough to be on the other side of the demon’s back, but the Horseman was still shaken once the demon king’s corpse fell to the street, its tongue falling out of its mouth in disbelief.

“How…” Balam’s last word leaked out of his throat, but soon the demon king was no more.  Niccolo had to gather his breath as he considered what had just happened.  He had never thought that he had the capability to kill a demon of such strength, but as Valefor’s strength flowed through him, he realized that there was so much he had yet to learn.

Then the dark, twisted energy rose from the bear’s corpse and flew toward the Horseman, sending his body careening into the building behind him.

Niccolo’s mind was flooded with anger and rage, the very nature of the beast king threatening at his sanity, but soon he was able to handle Balam’s simple thoughts of conquest and power.  The energy felt dirty, but Niccolo had no problem harnessing it for his own use, discarding the ursine demon’s advice and wishes to the side.  He knew that, unlike Valefor, Balam had nothing worthwhile to say to him.

“
No
!” a scream echoed in the real world, causing Niccolo’s eyelid to fly open.  When he finally was able to take in the scene, he noticed that all of Balam’s demonic lackeys were dead or dying, but that Viné was absolutely unscathed.  Niccolo’s breath escaped him as he took in the sight of Cimeries, who was kneeling on the ground.  Her left leg and right arm were lying off to the side; gashes wept along her entire body.

“What did you expect?” Diogenes asked as he walked from Balam’s corpse toward Despair, who was whining softly.  “Niccolo has always been more than a Horseman.”  The demon king snarled at the philosopher’s statement, but then turned back to Niccolo, curling her hands so that sharp blades extended from her wrists and elbows.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said before advancing on the leper.  “I just need to make sure you don’t get back to your precious Lucifer and Earth is ours.”

“Why do you say that?” Niccolo asked warily, creating another sword from his diseased arm.  For some reason, it did not seem to take as much out of him as usual.  Viné just laughed before allowing her rows of cat teeth to menace him.

“Five kings need to die before the portal opens, human,” she said arrogantly, which caused Moloch to look up from playing with the corpses of Balam’s thugs.

“Who told you five kings?” he asked, forcing Viné to stop and turn toward the masked creature.

“The Shroud…he told us that five kings needed to die to open the portal.  Once their lives are taken from them, the portal to Earth will open,” she said, so confused by Moloch’s question that she revealed more than she wanted.  The white mask tilted to the side as one of its hands absent-mindedly played with a nearby demon’s arm.

“
Seven
kings.  The Shroud does not know what he’s talking about.  Or,” Moloch said before crossing its front arms and setting his chin on his palm, “he does not want
you
to know.”

“It’s five, Moloch.  That’s what he said!” she screamed, frustrated by the elder creature.

“
Seven
, little angel.  Moloch knows.  You know Moloch knows.  You were there to bind the stones,” he said before yawning and turning to look at Niccolo.  “She was the little one on the far side.”

“Y-you…” Viné said, unable to understand that the Shroud had lied to her.  “He told us five, Moloch.  Lucifer, his four precious brothers and sister.  That was the
deal
, Moloch!”

“A poor deal,” Moloch said before turning back to the feline king.  “Moloch thinks you were tricked.”

“No matter!” Viné screamed before swiping at the air in front of her and turning toward Niccolo, baring her fangs with a snarl.  “I’ll kill you like dogs and get back to the palace.”

“Careful,” Diogenes cautioned as he leaned down to stroke Famine’s stretched skin.  “It is not wise to fight with dogs.”

“Why is that, human?” Viné screamed, baring all of her edges and points at the philosopher, but the breath and anger was driven from her as an upturned blade carved through her abdomen, stopping just before the ribs on her left side.  She looked down in wonder as pain started to rip through her insides.

“Because dogs come in packs,” Cadmus whispered before turning his back to the woman and using his shoulder as leverage, drawing the handle of his scythe down from the pivot point and causing the blade of his weapon the carve through her ribcage, through her heart and up through her collar bone, breaking free of Viné’s body with a spray of gore and blood.

“You…I…..” Viné said once she slumped to the ground, feeling her long life pulsating out of her torn heart.

“That’s right, a
human
just ended you,” Cadmus said before stepping around her body and grabbing her chin, unbothered by the sharp teeth which were retreating into her gum line.  The demon was terrified at first, but then laughed softly, blood gurgling out of her mouth with the effort.

“What’s so funny, Viné?  You won’t be able to conquer Earth now that you’re dead,” Niccolo said as he limped forward, his legs still in pain from Balam’s attacks.  The demon stopped laughing long enough to look into Cadmus’ grey eyes.

“No, I guess I won’t.  The Shroud always wanted me to die, it looks like,” she said before breathing in one last time.  “But at least your precious little Earth will end.”

“You say that like we’re not Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” Cadmus said before shoving the woman’s face out of his hand, forcing the fallen angel to the ground.  It only took a second before the reaper saw the life had left from the demon king, meaning that he was about to feel a sudden surge of power.

Cadmus took in the demonic king’s soul in a more-controlled fashion than Niccolo, but he did not receive the memories he wanted.  He crushed Viné’s will and removed any memory of her before turning to Niccolo with a frown.

“No memory of the Shroud’s identity,” he admitted before walking toward the massive corpse of Balam, which was now leaking an angry energy into the air around them.  The reaper swiftly ended that by drawing his scythe through the creature’s head, absorbing what remained of the demon king, Niccolo having taken most of Balam’s essence.

“And nothing there, too,” Niccolo said before sighing.  “I’m not sure they knew who it is.”

“Likely not,” Moloch agreed before walking over to Cimeries, who had shoved herself against a nearby wall, grimacing in pain.  “These two were stupid; Moloch thinks the youngest of the eleven.”

“Yeah, so what is this about the eleven stones and the seven kings and all that?” Niccolo asked before walking over to the masked creature.  It lazily looked over to him and the Horseman felt a wave of confusion permeating the air.

“You can guess, Moloch thinks.  The eleven stones that seal Hell away from Earth are tied to the souls of the angels.  It is easy,” Moloch said before picking up the Amazon’s leg with his left hand and placing it against the warrior’s stump.

“And they need seven of them to die for the portal to open?” Cadmus asked, drawing nearer to the masked creature.  It nodded as Cimeries screamed in pain, but when Moloch drew back his hand, the leg was attached to the Amazon’s body.

“Yes.  These two were lied to and foolish enough to believe it.  They thought five.  Moloch told the angel not to trust them,” he said before grabbing the warrior’s arm and bringing it closer to the demon.

“So not only do we need to save Lucifer,” Niccolo suggested, biting his lip, “we also need to keep the kings from dying.”

“That seems to be the answer, if stopping the Shroud is your goal,” Moloch said before bringing the Amazon’s arm back and fusing the skin, muscle and bone together.  It was a testament to Cimeries’ will that she did not scream at the pain of her second surgery.  Moloch turned to them and yawned before waving his hand lazily toward the palace.  “If that is true, you should go now.”

“Well, aren’t you coming?” Niccolo asked, which caused the masked demon to tilt its mask in confusion.

“Moloch will be no good there.  The angel does not need Moloch to fight his battles, little humans,” he said before rubbing one of his hands along the wounded Amazon beside him, causing her to fall to sleep.  Cadmus brought his scythe forward and peered over the edge at Moloch.

“What are you talking about?” Niccolo asked, but Cadmus did not wait for the ancient creature to answer.

“Moloch isn’t our secret weapon in fighting the Shroud, Nico,” he said before turning to the leper.  “Moloch is there to seal the portal away if the Shroud actually gets it open.”

“What?” Niccolo asked, but Moloch just chuckled before walking toward Diogenes and his horse, which was still bleeding steadily.

“This one is quite intelligent.  A good pawn for the angel,” he said before plopping himself down next to the horse.  Niccolo stared after him for a moment before looking past him and finding the palace still covered in fire.  He summoned Plague and started off toward the palace, briefly stopping by the philosopher kneeling by the ground.  Diogenes looked up at him lazily, his hand still on Despair’s emaciated ribcage.

“How did you know we were in trouble?” Niccolo asked, which brought a shrug from the philosopher before he pointed toward an alley, where a dirty, brown dog was sitting, its lips pulling back as it yawned.

“Manes followed you around.  He told me you didn’t notice him, but luckily that doesn’t offend dogs.” 

Niccolo looked at the dog and had to laugh in his surprise, but soon he gathered the reins and looked back down at the philosopher.

“So are you coming?” he asked, which brought a sigh from the dirty man, who gestured toward his wounded horse, which Moloch was just starting to tend.

“I have no horse.  Go on, save your Devil,” he said before turning back to his partner.  Niccolo was about to yell at the man, but then he realized that if Plague had been the one wounded, it would have been just as difficult to separate them.

Niccolo slapped the reins against Plague’s back and sent his horse into a gallop, knowing without listening that Cadmus was right behind him.  The palace was still on fire, but they still had time.  Or, at least, that was what Niccolo hoped.

He could not forgive himself if he was too late to save Scratch.

Chapter 14: Past - No Place Like Home

Niccolo twisted to the side and watched the short blade flying past his chest.  Slightly intimidated by the swift thrust, he had almost forgotten the bastard sword in his left hand.  Once he remembered, he pushed back, grinding his green blade against the shining sword, knocking Lucifer’s right arm away in the process.

He was rewarded with the edge of a small buckler sinking into the side of his throat, causing Niccolo to stagger backward before regaining his balance, just in time to react to a controlled slash coming from his left.  The leper ducked under the quick strike before launching his own attack, heaving down his blade from left to right, hoping to sink the edge into Lucifer’s neck.  The angel jumped to his left and let the blade fall to the stone of the courtyard, giving a short laugh in reaction.

“You trying to kill me, Nico?” he said before raising his buckler and keeping Lux to his side, the blade gleaming with an inner light.  After a breath of recovery, Niccolo straightened his back, letting his blade grind against the stonework, and eventually brought the sword behind his right hip.

“Pretty sure that’s the only way I’d ever be able to win against you, Scratch,” Niccolo said, giving a lopsided grin toward his new mentor.  Lucifer smiled before approaching the young human, his shield in front of him.

“Guess we’ll see what happens,” Lucifer said before advancing and pushing his shield forward, trying to bash it against Niccolo’s skull.  Niccolo, in turn, dodged back before bringing his blade across his hip, hoping to catch Lucifer’s exposed torso.  However, the angel had been prepared for the reactionary strike and leapt over his young student, flipping and twisting in the air so that he could thrust his short sword into Niccolo’s upper back.

In a surprising turn, Niccolo had been prepared for Lucifer’s acrobatics and continued turning his body, launching the bastard sword into the space the angel now occupied.  Lucifer was astonished by the strike and only just brought up Morningstar in order to ward off Niccolo’s heavy blade.  At the impact, metal screeched against metal and Lucifer forgot to hold back his power, causing Morningstar to flare with white light.

“Oh, you SON OF A BITCH!” Niccolo shouted as the light from Lucifer’s shield burned into his sole eye, causing him to stagger back from the angel who had just landed on his other side.  Niccolo swung his blade recklessly, bringing his right hand to his eye to somehow wipe away his nascent blindness.

“You gotta be prepared,” Lucifer said before circling around the Horseman, watching for an opening between Niccolo’s wild slashes.  Though they were not aimed for anything in particular and some of the execution was sloppy, the frequency and power behind the strikes were enough to ward off any actions.

“You said you wouldn’t use your light, Scratch!  Not fair,” Niccolo yelled before grimacing in pain and then adopting a defensive stance, holding his blade in front of him with two hands.  Lucifer could tell from the tear in his eye that Niccolo was still hurting, but he was regaining his sight.

“Haven't you heard?  I'm the Prince of Lies,” Lucifer said before finding his opportunity, throwing Morningstar toward Niccolo and forcing him to bring his blade across his body to knock away the incoming missile.  Lucifer smiled as he was already running toward Niccolo’s right side, where he was weaker, his body already twisted awkwardly from knocking away the incoming buckler.