Magic - Chapter 61
I bent down closer to the bile lake. It smelled as foul as the souls piled high all through Hell.
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.
“There it is!” Shi’lo said as he pointed to a black castle across a lake of black bile. “Though this lake wasn’t here the last time I was here.”
I bent down closer to the bile lake. It smelled as foul as the souls piled high all through Hell. I touched my finger to it, and the bile stuck to my finger like tar. It wouldn’t rub off on the ground, either.
“Um—” in fact, far from wiping it off, the bile grew on my finger until it consumed my whole hand. “Ew. Ew. Ew. Get it off.”
“Don’t look at me,” Aimee said. “Unless you want it burned off.”
“I don’t really care how it goes away—” I remembered that Aimee’s fire burned through souls. “Actually, no. Please don’t touch me.” I turned to Shi’lo. “What is this stuff?”
“Hrm,” Shi’lo said. “It looks like runoff from the pits coalesced in this spot.” He tapped his finger on his chin. “It’s like liquid soul. I’m not sure if that’s the right way to describe it, but…” He leaned in close, and the bile tried to leap onto his nose. He backed away. “Yes, if I had to guess, then that would be my answer. Though, I’m afraid I was never much of a guesser.”
The black bile kept creeping up until it covered my whole forearm. I held my hand as far away from the rest of my body that I could. “Somebody think of something.”
“Well,” Aimee said. She had long since dropped the fire around her body. “My fire burns through souls, so technically, if it’s really just liquid soul, my fire should be able to burn it off, but it’s hella dangerous.”
“How hella dangerous?” I asked.
“Like, hella hella dangerous. I would not recommend it, though it’s probably our only option.”
“Awesome.” I sighed. “Just do it.”
“All right.” She snapped her fingers, but nothing happened. “Come on.”
She snapped her fingers again and again, but there was nothing coming out of her.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
Shi’lo looked at her. “You haven’t eaten or slept since you entered Hell, have you?”
“No.”
“I thought not. The magic is the first to go. I can help you gain more power, though,” he said. “If you’ll allow it.”
“How?” Blezor replied. “Are you magic now?”
“Well, yes, but so are all demons.”
“Less talking,” I yelled as the black bile reached up my arm. “More fire.”
“Will you allow me?” Shi’lo asked Aimee.
Aimee nodded. She looked weaker, suddenly. “Just do it.”
Shi’lo beckoned her forward and touched her on the arm, and muttered something under his breath. “Okay, try it now.”
Aimee snapped her fingers, and this time, a spark of fire appeared. “Wicked.” She turned to me. “I need you to stay really still. It’s super hard to keep a controlled burn. Easy to light a big fire or a tiny ember, but what you’re asking takes a huge amount of concentration.”
Staying still while being burned by Hellfire, sure. I held my arm in the air and knelt down, planting myself with as much of my body on the ground as I could. The goop oozed down. “Hurry!”
Aimee took a deep breath, and when she let it out, a tiny stream of flames shot from the end of her finger and hit the sludge on my arm. I felt it shrink against my skin immediately, and scatter away from the fire. The burning smell from the putrid bile nearly caused me to pass out, but I knew if I collapsed, I’d lose my arm.
“It’s working!” Aimee said.
“I can feel it. It’s really gross.”
A few minutes later, the ooze no longer throbbed on my fingers. I looked up and saw that the bile was gone.
“All done,” she said. “That was lucky. I’ve never actually done that before.”
“What?” I said. “Please tell me that isn’t true.”
“I mean, I don’t know where I would have the occasion to move black soul bile off somebody but look.” She slapped me on the back. “It all worked out.”
I smiled. “And I think we have a way through the black bile lake, too.”
“My fire?” Aimee looked out upon the lake. “That is going to take one hell of a controlled burn.”
“Can you do it?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Usually, I start the fire, and then it takes care of itself. You’re basically asking me to keep a flame going consistently for an hour or more until we get across the lake, right?”
“Less if we run,” I said. “Plus, you used that fire for a long time to create the illusion you were an inferi.”
“Yeah,” Aimee replied. “And look at me now. Completely out of juice. I can’t do it alone.” Aimee turned back to Shi’lo. “Do you have that much energy left to give me, old man?”
He hesitated for a second, then nodded. “Absolutely.”
“Awesome.” Aimee turned to the lake and clapped her hands together. “Then let’s try it. Worst case, we drown in soul juice. Get close to me.”
We gathered around her while she closed her eyes and pressed her hands together. She pushed the flame out in front of her and moved her hands around her head in a circle, encasing us in a cocoon of fire.
She stepped forward, and the black bile jumped back where the flame touched it. Once we were completely inside the lake, Aimee picked up her pace. I could see her struggling. She was strong, but the human body was not meant to conduct Hellfire against such overwhelming odds.
“I’m half demon,” I said to Shi’lo when we were halfway across the lake. “Why doesn’t my power work?”
“The magic you use is Earthen magic and doesn’t come from angels or demons. You have that power, especially the demon one, though. It’s just buried deep.”
“That’s funny,” I replied. “My mom says I’m all demon.”
“She’s wrong. You need to embrace your demon side if you hope to—”
Aimee dropped to her knee.
“Aimee!”
The fire collapsed closer to us as I bent down to pick her up. She was burning up, sweating, and shaking like she had the flu.
“I’m okay,” she whimpered, but I knew she was wrong. The edge of the lake was close, but we couldn’t run for it.
“Here, child,” Shi-lo said from behind, placing his hand on Aimee’s back. With his touch, Aimee’s breathing returned to normal and she stopped shaking.
“Thank you.”
We continued across the lake, and when we were finally safely on the other side, Aimee collapsed, white as a sheet.
“Shi’lo!” Blezor said, and when I looked over, Shi’lo was equally weakened. I left Aimee and walked over to him.
“What did you do, you old fool?”
He smiled. “I tried…to do something good…in the end. I wonder what is on the other side…for me.”
His eyes closed, and he fell to the ground with one last breath. I wanted to cry. Shi’lo was nothing to me, and yet, I felt a deep sadness for him. There wasn’t a chance to mourn for him before the door to the castle opened. A small turtle skeleton wearing tuxedo tails and a monocle ambled outside.
“Et’atal requests the pleasure of your company. Attendance is compulsory.”
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.