Minor Demons (6 page)

Venom shook his head at Shadow and Nightmare’s grin widened.

“We killed everything in there. It’s pretty obvious that the son of the master liar didn’t.”

“We can prove that I’m the superior one right here, Shadow. Take a shot.”

Nightmare held his chin up in the air. As much as Shadow wanted to knock him on his ass, now wasn’t the time to be goaded into a fight. He could see Venom watching out of the corner of his eye and knew he was ready to step in and break it up again.

“I’m sure we’ll meet in the death pit and Venom won’t step in to save you in there, Nightmare. You can’t run to daddy either.”

Shadow shoved Nightmare out of the way and headed towards the death pit while Venom’s underlings finished tallying the results of the labyrinth. Nightmare looked like he was going to retaliate, but he also realized that Venom was watching them. He settled for a low-pitched, annoyed growl and went to join the rest of the demons-in-training.

What Cain had previously told Shadow about the death pit seemed to be very accurate. The death pit was a large hole in the ground. A layer of thick smoke covered the floor but only rose about a foot or two from the ground so that the contestants could clearly be seen. Spikes jutted out of the walls and the floor had several large rocks that were taller than the layer of smoke but very little could be seen from Shadow’s vantage point.

When Shadow arrived at the edge of the death pit, he realized that Leech had attained mini-celebrity status. He was showing off the minotaur axe from the labyrinth. Shadow started walking towards Leech’s group, hoping that his new popularity hadn’t gone to his head. Leech saw his approach and pointed in his direction.

“There’s Shadow now. He killed the minotaur and gave me this axe.”

The crowd moved in to encircle them both. Several demons-in-training asked them questions.

“You guys really killed it? I just ran past it.”

“Does Shadow need any more minions?”

“Did Leech actually kill anything in the labyrinth?”

Shadow decided to answer a few of them.

“Leech landed a few hits on the creatures in there but he wasn’t incredibly useful at first. He was using a sharpened femur bone as a weapon until I gave him my backup daggers. It was a pretty shitty weapon.”

Several of the demons-in-training looked down at their own weapons. A snake tooth. A large rock. One of them even had a sharpened bone like Leech had been using. They didn’t look very amused with Shadow’s story. Shadow had, for a moment, forgotten who his audience was.

“Actually he was pretty impressive when we made it to the minotaur. Tell them the story, Leech.”

Leech bowed and looked honored.

“Well we had already made it past tons of horrible things. We killed a whole horde of undead spider monkeys, swam across a river made of shards of glass, and mugged a homeless man.”

Shadow couldn’t help but laugh and he interrupted Leech.

“Well it was a little more than that. We ran into a sphinx...”

“Hey now, Shady. You said I could tell the story.”

As amusing as Leech was, Shadow had a reputation to protect. He hit Leech with what appeared to be a devastating punch. In reality, he held back. Leech fell over.

“You can tell the story, but tell it right, asshole. I don’t want to have to correct you again.”

The group encircling them looked terrified. Leech got back on his feet and bowed apologetically.

“I’ll just get to the part about the minotaur, shall I? Well even with the daggers that Shadow had let me borrow, I could barely even scratch the minotaur. He laughed at me and thought it would be an easy kill. He even told me that he planned on eating me for lunch. I pretended to be a sacrifice and he came close enough that Shadow was able to throw his sword and...”

Shadow knew Leech had the opportunity to reveal to everyone that he had an angel’s short blade tucked underneath his cloak. It was time for Leech’s real test of loyalty. Leech paused for a moment and cleared his throat.

“I must have had something caught in my throat. Anyways, Shadow threw a sword in each eye and blinded the minotaur. Then he jumped into the air, I tossed up the daggers, he caught both of them, stabbed them into the beast’s chest, and drove the blades down in two parallel lines.”

One of the demons-in-training interrupted.

“He only has one sword on his belt. How did he get the minotaur in both eyes?”

Leech looked at Shadow and then continued to improvise.

“We found a sword inside the labyrinth right next to Nightmare’s dead partner. It was pretty poorly made but Shadow decided to bring it along, just in case. After he killed the minotaur, he decided to leave it stuck in its eye.”

“So how did Shadow actually kill it?”

Leech grinned.

“Decapitation.”

The crowd that had gathered was in awe. Leech continued to show off his executioner’s axe until Venom strode to the edge of the death pit with his minions and motioned for everyone to gather around him. He unrolled a scroll and called for silence.

“I’m going to go over the current standings. Your current rank is based on your completion time for the labyrinth and the amount of kills you made while inside. I’ll give you the standings starting with the fastest time and work down to the slowest. The slowest demons-in-training should just kill themselves now because that’s just embarrassing.”

“Our current leader in first place is Nightmare with a time of twenty minutes flat. His partner, unfortunately, fell at the beginning of the labyrinth.”

The announcement of Nightmare in the number one spot caused several demons-in-training to cheer and applaud. Nightmare looked very pleased with himself and looked over at Shadow with one raised eyebrow to communicate that he had just proved that he was superior. Shadow flipped him off in return. Venom once again called for silence.

“The next fastest team with a time of twenty-two forty was Shadow and...,” he consulted the scroll once again having forgotten Leech’s name, “...Leech. On completion, both demons-in-training credited most of the kills to Shadow. Shadow has, however, credited Leech with killing a large snake near the entrance. Shadow is currently ranked second and Leech is ranked fourth.”

The demons-in-training who had surrounded Shadow and Leech earlier cheered and applauded. Shadow pointed his sword at Nightmare as if to say “I’m coming for you, asshole.” Leech tried to look menacing as well and attempted to spin his axe over his head but he ended up dropping it and several of the demons-in-training laughed. Leech grinned, picked up his weapon, and secured it to his back. Venom again called for silence.

“The third quickest time was achieved by Lilith. Twenty-three minutes. Her partner was killed in the labyrinth. An analysis of the labyrinth after her run showed that several creatures were injured but very few were put to death. Her mostly solo run, however, does put her above Leech in the rankings.”

Shadow turned to look at Lilith and he was stunned. She was the most beautiful demoness he had ever seen. She had long black hair and the blackest eyes of any demoness in Hell. She was also in very good shape and it looked as if, in addition to being beautiful, she was incredibly quick and lethal. For several seconds, Shadow just stood there and stared. She didn’t even have to try to be seductive, she somehow exuded seduction effortlessly. Her charm only intensified when she looked at the crowd of demons-in-training and winked. He was only able to shake himself out of it when Leech fell over next to him and a puddle of drool slowly emerged from his open mouth. Shadow reached down and pulled him back to his feet and then slapped him hard across the face.

“Thanks Shady. I needed that. I’m not really sure what came over me.”

“Do you have any idea who this Lilith girl is?”

“Well there’s a rumor...”

“Tell me, Leech. I’m sure she’s going to be a serious contender in the death pit.”

“I’ve heard from a few demons that she’s the daughter of Vixen... you know the major demon of...”

“Lust. I thought you said that Nightmare and I were the only ones here with ties to a major demon.”

“Well it’s just a rumor. Vixen has never claimed Lilith as one of her daughters. It’s said that Lilith’s father is... well... unworthy of breeding with a major demon. Her father is...”

Leech stopped talking and just let his mouth hang open. He started to drool again. Shadow followed his gaze and saw him staring at Lilith. He elbowed him hard in the ribs.

“Shady? I forgot what I was saying.”

“Lilith’s father?”

“Oh, right. Her father is a minor demon. I don’t know what specifically he’s over... but he apparently caught Vixen’s attention.”

“So what do you think, Leech? Is she one of Vixen’s daughters?”

“Hell yes. Look at how ridiculously hot she is! The daughters that Vixen
has
claimed are all stunning and
they
aren’t even comparable to Lilith.”

Shadow grinned.

“So then what’s your plan if you have to fight her in the death pit?”

“Plan? I’ll lose... or I’ll stab my own eyes out and take her on blind. I haven’t decided which plan is the better one.”

“Well you might be able to pull it off without eyes. You’re fighting style doesn’t seem to require seeing... or thinking for that matter.”

Leech gave Shadow an annoyed look.

“Hey, I know you were staring at her for a little while too. What’s your plan if you have to face her?”

Shadow realized that Leech had a really good point. He wasn’t really sure what he would do if he had to face Lilith in one-on-one combat. Leech’s plan to gouge his eyes out was starting to sound a lot less stupid. Shadow’s thinking was interrupted as he realized that Venom had just finished announcing the rankings.

“Let’s move on to the first death pit fight. The contestants have been randomly selected. Nightmare will be facing Murmur.”

Nightmare approached the death pit with his usual cocky smile. The demon-in-training named Murmur secured two large stone clubs to his back, exhaled deeply, and entered the death pit.

“S
o do you think Murmur stands a chance?”

Leech looked as if he didn’t hold out much hope for Murmur but Shadow had more confidence in his abilities.

“I’ve trained with Murmur before, Leech. He’s strong. He’s not as strong as Nightmare, but I believe he’s a smarter fighter. Do I think he can win? I think he has a better shot than most of the other idiots here.”

Nightmare and Murmur were already in the death pit, attempting to stare each other down. Nightmare stood almost a full head taller than Murmur and was larger, but it didn’t look like either one of them was intimidated. Murmur seemed to have a fair amount of confidence in his strength. Even though Murmur didn’t match Nightmare in size, Murmur looked like he had the build of a stone golem. Without warning, Venom brought the bottom of his weapon down hard on the ground. The fight had begun.

Murmur took the first swing. He swung at Nightmare with one of his stone clubs with a shot to his right side, aimed at his ribs. Nightmare countered by punching the club before it made contact and the weapon shattered. Murmur spun and came at Nightmare with his other stone club, this time from the left side. Nightmare blocked the hit with his right arm and shattered the club with a blow from his left.

Murmur stepped back a few paces and motioned for Nightmare to take a shot at him. Nightmare aimed a punch at his chest but Murmur was able to catch his arm and used the force of his swing to throw Nightmare across the death pit. Nightmare hit the sidewall and slid down to the floor.

Murmur raised both of his fists in the air and welcomed the cheering from the crowd. It looked like Murmur had just taken down the number one ranked demon and no one could believe it. Murmur’s celebration was cut short as a large boulder was hurled at his back and shattered against him, causing him to sail several feet before landing on the ground dangerously close to a large spike. Before Murmur could get back up, Nightmare lifted him into the air with his left arm and punched him several times with his right. After several hits, Murmur caught Nightmare’s first and kicked hard at Nightmare’s chest with both feet. This propelled Murmur into the air and he back flipped before landing shakily on his feet. Nightmare stumbled back a few paces but quickly recovered and started charging at Murmur.

Murmur assessed the damage he had taken while Nightmare closed the distance between them. His whole body ached. He couldn’t think of a situation in which he could recover from the damage he had already taken. Defeating Nightmare seemed an impossibility. He decided to do something that many other demons’ egos wouldn’t allow them to do. As Nightmare raised both of his fists into the air, Murmur yelled out the words, “I quit!” Two demons on the sides of the pit cast a spell to pull Murmur out. Nightmare’s crushing blow struck the ground and shook the entire death pit, but Murmur lived to fight another day. Venom stood from his seat and applauded, then called for silence.

“So the victory goes to Nightmare. No real surprise there.”

Venom snapped his fingers and one of his minions removed Murmur from the chart and moved Nightmare forward a bracket.

“The next match will be Shadow and Valefor.”

As Shadow made his way into the death pit to face Valefor, he realized that Valefor was incredibly small. He was barely half the size of Leech. He was dressed in dark brown robes that allowed him to blend in very well with the floor of the death pit. The short layer of fog almost covered him completely. The familiar boom came from Venom’s weapon and the fight commenced.

As Shadow reached for his belt to draw his sword, he realized that it wasn’t there. He saw Valefor running off on his right side and realized that Valefor had stolen his weapon. After fleeing in a straight line, Valefor made a sharp left turn and hid. Most of the crowd laughed.

Shadow ignored the audience. He had acquired a few minor powers in his training as a young demon and intended to use one of them to find Valefor.

Shadow closed his eyes and put his hand in the dark mist. It took a few seconds for him to him to adjust, but he was then able to see everything inside of the death pit that was encompassed by the mist. It didn’t take long for him to find Valefor, who was crawling towards him with his sword.