Magic - Chapter 63
There was only one person who I knew had hired the Firestarter before, and I’d sworn the next time I saw that smarmy rat, I’d kill him.
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.
“This is a dumb idea,” Aimee said as we stared up the side of the sheer cliff. High above us, a small rock formation jutted out, leaving a plateau for a tall black door carved into the rock. “You should have just killed him.”
“Yes, you’ve said that before, and you might be right,” I replied. “But he’s not worth it. He’s just a sniveling coward.”
We had been staring up at the rock for an hour, having trudged across the plains in the direction that Et’atal gave us. He hadn’t lied. There was a hidden door, high up on a ledge, crafted to blend into the rock face until you were right on top of it. Whether it led into Lucifer’s castle or not was some measure of speculation.
“The absolute worst people on Earth, the vilest of the vile, are all cowards in the end. Cowardice has nothing to do with evil or how much terrible somebody can put into the world.”
I looked over at her. “If he comes back again, I’ll kill him then.”
“In my experience, you only get one chance at a thing like that.” She shook her head. “Not to mention, you took his word—”
“He made a blood pact.” I raised my hand to show her the scar from the one she and I had made. “You know better than anyone the kind of power that has.”
“I still don’t trust him.”
“Me either.” I gestured at the empty land around us. “There haven’t been demons chasing us this whole time, though, have there?”
“No.” She narrowed her eyes. “But you’re assuming there really were demons on their way. I don’t take that as truth, either.”
We had already tried scaling the cliff with our hands, with magic, and with everything at our disposal, and were no closer to reaching the ledge. We had gotten as high as a hundred feet before slipping and falling back down. Aimee almost broke her neck in the fall, and since then, I’d been cautious about trying to scale the cliff.
“I have no idea what to do now, and that is not easy for me to say.”
“I mean, let’s just try the boat, you know? Worst case scenario, Et’atal was right, and then we go back to Dis and find some climbing supplies or hire a sherpa or something that will get us up the cliff.”
It wasn’t a terrible idea, and it was better than staring up at a cliff until an answer magically presented itself. “Okay.”
The lava river was a half day’s hike from the cliffs, and if we traversed it long enough, we’d likely find a dock eventually. Aimee kept looking out at the horizon, back at Et’atal’s castle, as we walked, sure that we would be attacked at any moment.
We made it to a dock several miles upriver from where we started. “Thank god,” Aimee said, grasping her stomach. “I need to sit.”
We hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since we left the prison. Even if I didn’t need to eat or drink, the heat of Hell left my mouth miserably parched. I couldn’t imagine how hard it must be for her.
“How long do you think we’ll need to wait?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Who knows?”
My question was answered less than an hour later when a gondola pushed through the smoke of the lava. The gondolier wore a black robe, tattered and ragged like it hadn’t been changed in a million years.
“State your business,” the black-robed gondolier croaked. He had no face, save for two glowing yellow eyes that bore into my soul as he stared.
“We seek the lake of fire,” I said, holding up the dagger. “To destroy this weapon.”
“No body may pass.” The words were harsh as they came out of him. “And no weapon may pass the Black Gate.”
“Isn’t that gate up on a high hill?”
“The gate…sees all. It knows all. Once…it held off fifty legions of angelic guard that wished harm on the dark lord.”
“Charon, right?” I asked him calmly.
He nodded. “Correct.”
“We don’t wish him harm,” I said. “We just want to destroy this stupid thing so Et’atal can’t start an Apocalypse.”
Charon thought for a moment. “I detect no deception in your voice, but you will never pass through the Black Gate.” He stopped, looking me up and down. “There is another…way.”
“Yes,” I said. “The door on the cliff. We tried that, too. However, we can’t find a way to climb up the cliff. We’ve tried.”
“You…are a demon,” Charon said, a combination of statement and question.
I nodded. “Half a demon. Half an angel.”
“May I…touch you?”
I nodded, and he reached his hand up to my face. There was no skin on it. It was simply bone, and when he touched me, a jolt went through my body.
“Two sides—creation and destruction—at war in you.” Charon took a deep breath, even though it was clear he didn’t breathe. “I sense that you fear the demon inside of you. If you release it, you have powerful magic available to you.”
I gulped. “You are talking about a demon’s ability to transport themselves at will. They say that if you don’t do it right, you can vanish into the abyss forever.”
“If you do it right, you might just save everyone.”
I knew he was right, but I didn’t want him to be. I liked portals. They made sense to me, and they didn’t take complete concentration to execute correctly. Charon was right, though, and there weren’t other options.
I turned to Aimee. “I can’t do this with you. Go back to Dis. Find the Old Hat. Wait for me until tomorrow. If I don’t make it by then, go back. Don’t die here.”
“This is stupid,” Aimee said. “So stupid.”
I couldn’t argue with her. “All of this is stupid. But I can’t let anyone else die because of me, and I can’t concentrate on breaking through the abyss and keep you safe at the same time.”
When I was sixteen years old, on my first job, I thought I could simply snap my way into this rich prick’s house and grab what I wanted. I had a partner then until I lost them in the abyss. I barely made it out and promised myself never to use that method again. Here I was, about to go back on my word…but I wouldn’t risk somebody else.
“Okay,” Aimee said. “I will do this.”
I looked up at Charon. “Will you bring her to Dis? Please? She is weak from lack of food and water.”
“I’m not weak!” The effort of raising her voice made her stagger, and she dropped to her knees. “Okay, maybe I’m a little weak.”
“I’m not a chauffeur.” Charon looked at her. “There are secret ways into the city that my beloved once told me about. I will see she gets in safely.”
“Thank you.”
I walked a few yards away and gathered my thoughts, clutching the dagger. I knew the spell. My mother taught it to me. Close your eyes and imagine where you want to travel. Imagine every inch of it. Make it real in your mind…and then…disappear.
I had only done it once before, but I recognized the feeling in the pit of my stomach after I visualized the door in my mind’s eye. Everything went cold, and I felt the whip of a freezing wind, and then, the cold snapped, and I felt the heat of Hell on my face again.
When I opened my eyes, I was in front of the gigantic door. I had done it.
I looked back across the plains of Hell. Under me, the lava river ran into the distance, where I could make out the walls of Dis. I pushed open the doors. There was nothing but darkness in front of me, and I stepped inside. I felt in my gut that my quest was almost over.
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.