Lord of Hell (Alex Holden) (13 page)

Someone knocked on the door. Few people knew where we were. I’d created a war room for us to meet in when there were too many of us to fit around my desk in the office. Instead of calling for them to come in, I got up and answered the door.

“My lord.” Ernaz bowed. His red eyes were wide. “Valafar is leading an army to attack the castle.”

He was a duke, with thousands of demons under his command. While the others in the room exclaimed and muttered, I said, “Couldn’t face me one-on-one, huh?”

“They’re right outside the gates.”

I loved the idea of a fight, but not against this many. I turned to the others in the war room. “I guess we’re going to get some practice.” Seven demons sat around the table. Not nearly enough to take on an army, but some of them had troops of their own.

Semiazas stood. “I’ll gather my demons.”

“I will as well,” Astaroth said.

“Do either of you know how many demons Valafar has?” I knew how many Semiazas and Astaroth had since we’d just been talking numbers.

“Six thousand,” Astaroth said.

“And that’s if he has not convinced the others to join him.” Semiazas gave me a hard look. “This is not merely a bid for the throne. This is a coup. He means to make a show of force so he can hold the power once he takes it.”

I met his gaze. “It’s a rebellion.”

He nodded once, sharply.

“Go gather your demons,” I said to them. I turned to Naamah. “Gather everyone in your group. Go help her,” I told Braxis and the other three. They were the most trustworthy of the demons in my cult. Those in the room were the closest thing I had to loyal subjects. Seven demons I’d taken the risk of letting in on my plans. Could I really trust any of them?

I’ll go check outside,
Mew-Mew said before he teleported

“And what about you?” I asked Ernaz. He wasn’t part of my war council, but since he’d become my chief messenger, I’d let him know what we were planning. He was part of the team. “Will you fight for your lord?”

He swallowed. “If you command it.”

“I do.”

You have to see this,
Mew-Mew said before sending the image. He stood on a high balcony overlooking the castle gates. A shiver of fear went through me at the sight of all those demons gathered on the rocky plain. If Valafar had only brought his own troops, Semiazas and Astaroth’s men combined could match them. That didn’t mean we’d win, but at least the odds would be even. But if Valafar had convinced others to join him… we could be in a shitload of trouble.

I needed more troops.

I went to the throne room and stood on the dais. Several demons were already lurking in the shadows, so they knew something was up.

“Valafar is leading a rebellion against me.” How should I word this? I couldn’t appeal to their loyalty, and I didn’t want to force them through fear. I thought of how they’d called for Naamah’s death. Maybe I could appeal to their bloodthirstiness. “I won’t allow it. I’ll crush him and all those who stand with him. You want a fight? You want someone to hurt?” I pointed in the direction of the gates. Animus sent warm pulses through my hip and leg. “There are thousands of demons out there right now, and we’re going to show them just how much it hurts to turn against me.”

Several demons came out of the shadows as I spoke and a cheer-hiss-howl went up when I finished. Semiazas hurried into the room and bowed. He wore armor now, his stubby little wings hidden. “My demons are gathered in the courtyard. May we speak for a moment in private, my lord?”

The attack could happen any minute, so we didn’t really have time, but he wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important. “Yeah.” I put a hand on his shoulder and teleported to my office.

A second after we arrived, he said, “Valafar was able to gather a larger force than we thought.”

“How large?” I asked, heart pounding.

“I only took a quick estimate, but there must be twenty thousand of them.”

Twenty thousand demons storming the castle, and we only had six thousand to defend it. “Shit.”

Semiazas gripped my arm. “But your forces are much larger. You only have to summon them.”

“How?” I might have convinced those lurking in the throne room to join me, but how many were there? A hundred? Two hundred?

“Alex, you are the ruler of Hell. Use your power and command them to come.”

“Just… what? Think about all the demons showing up and they will?” Twenty thousand rebels outside the gates. Six thousand defenders. I thought of those historical movies, siege ladders and defenders firing arrows from the walls. Castles burning.

“Don’t think, command!” His jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed. “I heard what you said in the throne room about crushing them, hurting them. Now do it. Command your demons to come and they will.”

I nodded and pulled the black key out of my pocket. Squeezing it in my left hand, I closed my eyes. I focused on my anger and all the frustration of the last few weeks: having to deal with these demons, the people on Earth who were in danger of more disasters as the tribulation ramped up, my rage at Jehovah for trying to destroy everything and how much I wished I could fight him right now. Animus hummed, adding her strength and her eagerness for battle.
How dare Valafar lead a rebellion against me? All of you, all the demons in Hell, come right now. Come to the castle, fill the courtyard and the walls, fill the plain outside the gates and crush the everliving fuck out of them!

A roar filled my head.

“You did it.”

I opened my eyes. The roar wasn’t in my head, it was from outside, loud enough to be heard through the stone walls.

A whole shitload more demons just arrived,
Mew-Mew said.

They’re on our side.
At least I hoped they’d fight for me. Summoning them was one thing, leading them was another. I wasn’t exactly popular around here. “Let’s go kick some ass,” I told Semiazas. We joined Mew-Mew on the balcony. Demons as far as I could see, like a swarm of army ants in the jungle. Only one strip of land was empty. That had to be the boundary between my forces and Valafar’s. My heart was pounding again, but it wasn’t just from fear.

I unsheathed Animus and held her high. “Listen up!” My voice boomed and the demons fell silent. “Valafar is mine. As for the rest of them…” I scanned the tens of thousands of demons gathered below, all of them listening to me. If I wanted them to follow me in an attack on Heaven, I had to earn their loyalty. Well… whatever passed for loyalty here.

I grinned. “Have fun.”

A cheer went up and I shouted, “Attack!”

Chapter 16

Animus sang a high, joyful note as she sank into another demon’s neck. I spun to fend off a spiked mace, my sword looking like a toothpick compared to it, but she was more than a match in strength. With a shove, I pushed the huge, centaur-like demon back. Going into a crouch, I swept my blade low. The demon howled as I sliced through his legs. As he fell, I summoned a huge spike of ice and dropped it through his middle.

I used my power to yank a spider demon away from one of my troops before he could land a blow. I slammed him into the ground and set him on fire.

A little voice in the back of my head whispered that I shouldn’t be enjoying this so much.

I kept fighting my way through the rebels, trying to get to Valafar. I didn’t know if the others would obey my order to leave him for me. The reason I wanted to kill him myself was to show my strength and take him out one-on-one like I had the other challengers. And yes, because I wouldn’t feel satisfied if someone else killed him.

I wasn’t dumb enough to move ahead of my army, so I had to keep checking that the front line was with me. A few times, I teleported back to the castle walls to take a breather and see how the overall battle was going. There was so much chaos it was hard to tell, and it wasn’t like either side was wearing uniforms. I had to watch the ebb and flow to see who was moving toward the castle and who was moving away.

Our side had overwhelming numbers, but the rebels were fighting hard. They really wanted me gone. Makes you feel warm all over to know a few thousand beings hate you so much they’re willing to die to take you out.

After another break, I joined Astaroth’s men as they rushed the enemy’s right flank. The demons here were more powerful, some of them mounted on various beasts to make a cavalry. Other demons flew overhead and dropped arrows, spears, and fireballs.

As I jumped to attack a rider on a two-headed horse, one of the fireballs hit me. A thud of impact, a rush of heat, and I tumbled to the ground. I started rolling, thinking to put out the flames, but there weren’t any. I quickly patted my body, finding no fire and no pain. It hadn’t done any damage.

Wondering why, I scrambled to my feet, but there was too much going on around me. I gripped Animus and went for the next attack.

Soon I was fighting beside Astaroth, ducking between mounted warriors, attacking those on foot. We kept pressing forward. “Do you know where Valafar is?” I shouted over the noise of battle.

“I had a report that he is near.” Astaroth blocked a curved blade. With his other hand, he sank his claws into the other demon and ripped out his heart. “Up ahead.” He crushed the organ and dropped it on the collapsed body.

Yikes.

Animus sliced through a long spear, setting the remaining haft on fire. The demon dropped it, yowling, and I rushed forward to stab her through the chest. “So we could run into him any minute?” I asked as I turned back to Astaroth.

“Yes.” He glared and threw his sword at me.

I yelped and ducked. Dammit, I should have known this was coming. Sooner or later one of them would take advantage of the chaos and try to kill me. Red fire danced along Animus’s blade. “What the fuck?”

Astaroth kept glaring and walked toward me. “I was not aiming for you.”

I dared a glance over my shoulder. A ten-foot-tall mass of flesh gurgled as it grasped at the sword in the center of its chest. Black blood oozed as it fell to its knees, and I had to dodge out of the way before it fell on me. The thing collapsed, still gurgling.

“Thanks,” I muttered.

Astaroth rolled the thing over to retrieve his sword. Yanking it out, he swept the blade down and cut off the misshapen head of the thing. “You are welcome.”

“Human lover!” A voice roared.

I whipped my head around to face a demon that looked like the ugly love child of a classic demon and a minotaur. Bright red with thick, curving horns, he even had a gold ring through his big bull nose.

“Valafar,” Astaroth said.

The demon held a huge curved sword in each hand. On the bright side, he only looked about eight feet tall. “Make sure you keep his troops away from me.” The air around me shimmered as I called on my power.

“Yes, my lord.”

Valafar roared and charged. I ran to meet him. At the last moment, as he swung both his swords, I leapt up, wings snapping out. I shot a jet of flame at his face. He shifted his stance, bringing his swords up to block. Flame splashed against them while he growled. I couldn’t tell if any of it got through to hurt him.

His swords came down and he launched a huge fireball at me. I dodged. As the heat ripped past me, I tried to use my power to throw Valafar to the ground. He stumbled, but that was the best I could do.

A loud scream behind me drew my attention. One of Valafar’s demons had tried to attack me, but a vulture-looking demon from Astaroth’s legion had run a huge barbed spear through him. I nodded a quick thanks and turned back in time to see Valafar hurl another fireball at me. I started to dodge, but the vulture demon was right behind me. The guy had just saved me.

I threw a wall of fire in front of me and shoved. It collided with the fireball, absorbed it, and turned into something like a comet with wings as it reversed. It was so bright I couldn’t see if Valafar was standing in the way. Then he roared, the sound quickly rising to a shriek as the fireball hit him and set him on fire.

For a moment I thought that was it. Then the flames died, and the bull-like demon stood smoking and glaring. “You fucking human-loving bastard!”

I dropped to the ground and lifted Animus high. “I’d call you a traitor, but I don’t think you’d take that as an insult.”

He charged. Anger propelled him, but there was a slight stiffness to his movements. He was hurt. That didn’t mean he’d be easy to beat, though.

The fireball had helped clear a wide area and it looked like demons from both sides were staying back, letting us fight one-on-one. Just the way I’d wanted. I grinned.

I should have been scared. The demon was three or four times my size and could easily kill me. But facing him down in the middle of the battlefield just felt so good.

Valafar’s curved swords swept down and Animus flashed, blocking both. His right sword came at me sideways and I danced away. Animus met his left sword, blue sparks flashing. Valafar reeked of burned flesh, making my nose wrinkle. Smoke rose from his skin.

Dealing with two swords was tough, but I was fast and the burns were slowing him down.

“I will erase you.” He aimed a kick of his huge cloven foot at me.

I dodged and threw power at him. The demon fell to his knees, using one of his hands to steady himself. I summoned a spear of ice and hurled it at his chest.

It hit and went straight through him. He roared, heat shimmering over his body. The spear started melting. “I will make it as though you never existed.”

He surged to his feet and his swords flashed. I blocked again, Animus helping me to move just where she was needed. But I was just a bit too slow to meet one of his attacks. One curved blade sliced down the right side of my chest. I screamed at the pain and almost fell.

“Not so strong.” He laughed and came at me again.

Now I was scared.

Gritting my teeth against the pain, I blocked and dodged. I’d burned him, thrown a spear through his chest, and he was still fighting. Every move tugged at the wound in my chest. I didn’t want to see how bad it was. On the bright side, I felt it closing up even through the pain.

Heart pounding and mind racing, I tried to figure out what to do. I had one free hand and needed to make the best use of it. I narrowly missed another swipe of his blade, twisted, and hurled a whip made of fire at him.