Magic - Chapter 55
My watch vibrated again. Now I was late.
This is the second book in The Godsverse Chronicles, a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.
Ollie wasn't looking for trouble, but after she saved the Antichrist from being slaughtered, it came for her.
Ollie lived by one rule. Never get involved with anyone for any reason; humans, demons, fae folk, it didn't matter. They were all trouble. Keeping her distance was how she survived in the criminal underworld for so long.
Keep your head down and don't piss anyone off. That was her motto, especially since her clients all had access to powerful dark magic.
She thought she had a flawless system for keeping her nose clean, so how did she wind up in a stolen car, with a demon spawn in her back seat, driving away from her ex-lover and a gang of demons ready to skin her alive?
That's a good question.
And why did she agree to help save the demon's life so she didn't get sacrificed to open the gates of Hell?
An even better question.
She had one rule. One stupid rule. And tonight...it goes right down the toilet.
Now, the only way for Ollie to get her life back is to save the girl, prevent the Apocalypse, and track down the people who betrayed her.
They will pay. Oh yes, they will all pay.
“Wait!” Blezor said as I set out into the streets of Plockton. I turned to see him chasing after me.
“What do you want?” I asked. “I’m late.”
“You’ve been gone for weeks. I’ve been waiting here for you, just like you said. Like a frigging puppy, and you didn’t even say two words to me.”
“I don’t have time for hysterics. Porth i West Kamokuna.” I pointed my wand, and a portal opened. I was walking toward it when I felt his tug on my arm. I shrugged it off. “Let me go.”
“Take me with you,” Blezor pleaded. “I don’t know what stupid thing you are going to do, but I want to be there to save you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t need some stupid orc to save me. Go home, Blezor.”
“I don’t have a home! In case you forgot, my home got burned down by that crazy Firestarter.”
“Aimee,” I replied. “Her name is Aimee.”
“Of course. I guess you found her, then.”
“I did. She’s helping me get into Hell.”
Blezor snarled. “So, you’ll work with her, but not with me. You treat me like a child, somebody who doesn’t even deserve an ounce of respect.”
“You told me you didn’t want to work with her!” I screamed.
“That was weeks ago! I’ve evolved since then.”
“This is so stupid.” I pulled myself away from him. “You want to risk your own life, who am I to stop you? But I have to go. Come if you want.”
He blinked a few times. “Really?”
“I’m not your mother. But you can’t piss off Aimee, okay? We need her to get to Hell and to get back.”
He held up his hands. “I’ll be cool if she can be cool.”
“No, you need to be cool either way. Otherwise, I’m leaving you here.”
“Fine.” He threw his arms around his chest in a huff. “I’ll be cool.”
My watch vibrated again. Now I was late. I stepped through the portal and arrived on West Kamokuna. On one side of us, the ocean crashed into the shore of the mighty volcano. On the other, the ash and dust rose high into the air, toward the caldera thousands of feet above us. In front of us, the red mouth of the portal to Hell spewed red light into the night air. It was still pitch dark, with only the half-moon shimmering above us for light. The gateway to Hell glowed an ominous red.
Blezor joined me on the obsidian ground at the edge of the great volcano, and together we walked across the uneven terrain toward the mouth of Hell. My last visit there hadn’t been for pleasure, and I hadn’t seen the gateway to Hell up close. As we neared, I understood why it was called that. The lava made it look like dozens of souls were fighting to escape the clutches of Hell. Perhaps they were.
“Thought you wouldn’t show,” Director Chapman said, standing a hundred yards from the red gateway. Three monsters were at the volcanic base, loading up gear. Aimee stood before the crater, her arms extended, bathing in the heat.
“Who is this?” Director Chapman asked.
“Blezor. He insisted on coming.”
“That’s stupid.” She turned to him. “Did she tell you how stupid that was? She’s going into Hell, not Disneyland.”
“She told me,” Blezor said, determined. “I don’t care.”
Chapman shrugged. “If you don’t care, then I don’t care.” She lifted an eyebrow and glanced in my direction. “But it’s coming out of your share.”
“He’s not getting any money. He’s here for the sheer love of it.”
“That’s even dumber,” she said flatly. “Come on.”
Blezor trotted behind us to catch up. “There’s money?”
“Not for you, it appears,” Chapman said.
She turned and led us toward the gateway. The heat was unbearable even a hundred feet from the entrance. Aimee was already standing there, next to three commandos—an ogre, a troll, and an inferi. They were dressed in black, chain mail armor, with crossbows and swords slung on their backs. There were no demons among them.
“This is your team,” Chapman said, pulling an amulet out of her pocket. “Wear this. It will help allay the heat of Hell.” I draped the amber necklace over my neck. She dug into her pocket and gave another one to Blezor. “Here’s one for you. Luckily, I come prepared.”
“Do I get some weapons or armor or anything?” he asked.
Chapman pointed to a table to her right, piled high with swords, axes, armor, and an assortment of other weapons, all made from the black metal of Hell. “Go nuts.” Blezor hopped over to the table as Chapman led me down the line. “This is your team. The ogre’s name is Drownt. The inferi is—well, we call him Igor, and the Troll is Bob. Aimee, you know. There’s one other member of your team, meeting you in Dis, an imp who will be your guide.”
“I hate imps,” I said.
“And this one gives imps a bad name. Don’t trust anyone or anything you see in Hell, even Charlie when you meet him. From my research, everything is a trap.”
“Your…research?” Aimee said. “Haven’t you ever been in Hell before?”
“Well, no…” Chapman trailed off.
“What?” I scoffed. “I thought—”
“It doesn’t matter what you think,” Chapman said, each syllable uttered with force. “We have as much knowledge of Hell as even Lucifer. We’ve just never performed a field operation there. This is the perfect opportunity, and we believe we are prepared enough to deal with any eventuality.”
“And if you’re not?” I said.
“We trust you to improvise.”
“Jesus Christ. This is nuts. I thought you guys had more experience than me. I—”
“Your job is still the same, either way. Toss that dagger into the lake of fire surrounding Lucifer’s castle. That will destroy it.”
I gripped the dagger at my side. “Are you even sure that will work?”
“…as sure as we are about anything.” Director Chapman turned to the team. “Igor’s been. He grew up there.”
“It’s true,” Igor said.
“This is totally—wow—” Aimee said. “We’re totally, totally screwed.”
Chapman whipped around to face her. “Which is why we have offered you so much, as well as a pardon for all your crimes. It’s not something we offer easily, or often. This is a special circumstance, and thus, we have made—” Blezor, now clad in full armor and holding a war hammer, clanked past Chapman. “—we have made allowances.”
“Whatever,” Aimee said. “Let’s just get this over with. Sooner we get into Hell, the sooner we get out.”
“Or die inside,” Blezor said. “But let’s not start out with that kind of negativity.”
“Well said, orc,” Chapman said.
“It’s not negativity to point out the obvious,” Aimee retorted, turning to the mouth of the volcano. “Do I have to do anything special to open this gateway? Or is simply using my Hellfire enough to open a path to Hell?”
“According to our research,” Chapman said, “that should be enough. See if it works, and if not, we’ll go from there.”
Aimee stared at the Director for a few moments before finally saying, “This is just peachy.”
Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could call the Hellfire without saying a word, and as she moved her hands in a circular pattern, the fire pulsated between them. When she had enough to cover her fists, she aimed it at the entrance and pushed the fire toward it. As the fire shot from her hands, the red glow of the volcano was replaced by the image of a dark cavern.
“Oh, good. It’s working,” Chapman said. “I was worried there for a second. Good luck to you all.”
This is the second book in The Godsverse Chronicles, a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.