The Deal (10 page)

Taking a deep breath I stepped out of the
darkness and into what was basically the throne room for a very old
and very pissed off demon. I managed to get about five steps
forward into the room and closer to the scroll before my presence
was finally noticed.

‘
I know that smell.’ Said
Hermetia
, sniffing the air.

I held my nerves and continued
walking towards his throne. As I got closer I realised that massive
wasn’t quite the word to use to describe his size. Gargantuan
was
apter
and I quickly realized that going toe to toe with
him was probably a very bad idea.

Scanning the area around me I could see
nothing that I could use to give me the upper hand in the battle
that was about to take place. A sense of hopelessness started to
wash over me. That was until he actually turned to face me and I
saw that his neck area was the most exposed part of his body. I
glanced down at the machete which was tiny in size, but if I aimed
it correctly and with the power in the ring, I might just be able
to disable him long enough to grab the scroll and make a run for
it.

‘
Is that the rest of my food?’ He
asked, and
this
time,
he stopped sniffing and instead his
head snapped round to face my direction.

‘
Fuck me you are one ugly bastard
even for Hell.’ I said with a smile as he looked down at me. I
could see unbridled rage well in those stagnant and hate filled
eyes of his.

‘
A human, walking freely in my
domain. I have never been so insulted in all my life. I’m going to
have a lot of fun punish…’ He stopped suddenly mid-sentence as his
gaze took in everything about me. ‘You’re his new toy.’ The words
cut through me like a knife.

‘
I’m no one’s toy.’ I stated
bluntly, trying hard to mask how offended I felt.

‘
You are his new play thing. Our
lord’s very own little hitman. How does it feel to be the plaything
of a spoiled child?’ The big demon chuckled and I was actually
starting to get quite pissed.

A
head-on
fight
was sounding more and more like a
good option because I really wanted to kick his ass all over the
hall.

‘
Listen,
dickhead, I am no one’s
plaything.’

‘
Has he sent you to kill me too? I
serve him for
millennia
and this is the thanks I get
for it?’ The laughter was quickly turning to anger and I decided to
capitalize on that.

‘
Yeah well, he is seriously pissed
that you stole that scroll from the monastery.’

‘
How could he have possibly known
it was stolen? Even he does not have the privilege of entering the
Monastery.’

I wasn’t expecting that and now it was my
minds turn to try and come up with something believable or at least
creative enough to pass as the truth.

‘
You really think that he is going
to be locked out of any place in his own kingdom. The kingdom that
he created and has controlled since the dawn of time. Did you
really think he wasn’t going to notice you trying to break your way
out of this place without his permission?’

There seemed to be some sort of brain in that
massive head because he took some time to think about what I said
and I could see that if nothing else he did at least understand the
logic of what I was saying.

‘
The monks are bound by sacred
scripture. They are untouchable in many ways, but even they have to
answer to our lord, and I feel pretty certain that they would not
bring down his wrath upon them by alerting him to the fact the
scroll was missing.’ Damn this guy was good. ‘Which means that they
have sought your help in getting it back. Yet another sin that will
count against them when his lordship comes to judge
them.’

‘
Oh,
I’m taking the scroll back fat boy.’ I said
defiantly. I kept my eyes on that soft, sagging area just under his
chin. There was no way I was going to be able to kill him, but I
should be able to wound him. Which would buy me enough time to grab
the scroll and get out of this miserable
place?

‘
We both know there is no
way
you're
leaving my hall alive.’ He roared and the eternal
rage that dwelled within him came rushing back with a
vengeance.

As
Hermetia
began to push
himself up and off his throne I decided that it was now or never. I
mustered every ounce of energy I had and threw the machete at the
rising demon lord.

For what seemed like an eternity
the blade spun through the air before it sliced through the soft,
greasy skin of
Hermetia’s
throat. I could see his eyes
shoot open with surprise as the blade dropped to the floor, leaving
behind it a wide gash which stretched
halfway
across his
throat.

Blood began to pour from the wound almost
immediately. As he clutched at his throat, gooey black blood oozing
between his fingers, I burst into a sprint towards the scroll. I
could see him turning, watching, as I grabbed hold of the ornate
gold case, emblazed with mystical symbols I would never
understand.

The air, once filled with the
demon lords booming voice, was now enriched with the sounds of him
choking on his own blood. In the back of my
mind,
I was
surprised I had been able to cause so much damage with such a small
object, but I had no time to ponder on my own
magnificence.

I had the scroll firmly gripped in my hand,
but I could see no way out. Going back the way I came was not an
option since there was no access to the monastery that way, and by
now there was probably a horde of Grimoyle’s waiting to tear me
apart.

There is a secret
passageway
which will lead you to the
monestry
from
Hermetia’s
chambers.
The Monk had said, but I could see no other
doorways or trap doors or even a bookcase that may have hidden a
secret passage.

That was until
Hermetia
tried
to take a rather half-hearted swing at me. I felt the whoosh of air
above me as his meaty fist sailed past me and slammed into his
throne of bones. There was a deafening rumble as the throne took
the full force of his anger. Slowly it rocked on one side before
crashing to the floor with a massive bang that almost knocked me
off my feet.

It was then that I saw what I had
been looking for. A small wooden trap door had been placed
countless centuries ago under the demons throne. I ran towards it,
clutching the scroll in one hand and trying to watch
Hermetia’s
movements as I went.

The huge demon stumbled backwards as the blood
kept coming from a wound that didn’t seem to heal. I pulled open
the trap door and was about to jump into the passage beyond it when
I looked up one last time.

Hermetia
had managed to gain his
balance, but only for a brief few seconds. His once rage filled
eyes looked lazy and
tired
like he was about to fall asleep.
He teetered there for only a few seconds before he finally lost his
balance for good and fell backwards out into the great hall and
straight into the flaming pit known as Argol’s fire.

I was mesmerized as the flames
quickly turned dark green, just like its
victim's
skin. My
trance was quickly broken though when I could hear the sound of
screeching Grimoyle’s descending upon the hall. It wouldn’t take
long before they were in the room so I needed to get
moving.

Giving the bright green fire one
last glance, I jumped into the secret
passageway
.

I fell only a few feet into the
secret
passageway
before I landed on
the
solid
ground with a thud. The scroll emanated a strange
glow which I was actually grateful for since there
were
no torches to light my way.

Dusting myself off, I continued north along
the passage, unsure of what to expect or what to look out
for.

This better not be a
setup
!
I thought to myself as I
plunged
into
the darkness.

I must have walked for about five minutes
before the passage came to an abrupt end. Using the scroll like a
torch I held it up towards the ceiling. Relief washed over me when
I spotted the outline of another trap door.

Unsure of what to expect, I
reached up and pulled on the iron ring. After a couple of
tugs,
the heavy wooden door swung downwards and slammed against the
wall. Glancing up through the opening it left behind I could see
a
cathedral-like
interior brightly lit
with torches.

Tucking the scroll between the waistbands of
my jeans, I reached up and grabbed hold of what felt like a cold,
concrete floor. I was about to try and climb up when another pair
of hands gloved in black leather, wrapped around both of my wrists
and suddenly I was being pulled up and into the
monastery.

The monk took a step back as he let go of my
wrists. We stood between two massive pillars while other monks sat
on the pews silently praying to their dark master.

Feeling a little breathless I pulled the
scroll out from my waistband and handed it over to the monk. He
looked hesitant as he reached out and took the sacred parchment
from my grasp.

‘
Thank
you,
Samuel. Both I
and my brothers are eternally grateful for what you have done for
us. Returning the scroll will help keep the balance within the
realms.’ There seemed to be a hint of sadness in the monks’ voice,
almost as if he didn’t want me to give him the scroll
back.

‘
I have a feeling I’m going to be
seeing more of you as time goes on.’ I said, not fully
understanding why I got that sensation. ‘So you might as well tell
me your name.’

There was a moment of
silence
like he had to try and remember what his name was.

‘
Pertilius
.’ He said eventually, and as
he did so he produced something in his free hand.

I watched as he opened his palm to reveal a
small piece of gold which had been shaped to look like several
flames bunched together.

‘
What’s this?’ I asked, a little
uncertain that I would want to know the answer.

‘
This is what the thief stole from
the church. It is the soul of Beelzebub. The first true ruler of
Hell and the creator of all things dark. Please take it.’ He said,
pushing his open palm forward.

I was hesitant to deal with
another mystical artefact, especially considering it was me who had
butchered the thief to get it back. However as
Pertilius
pushed
it towards me my right hand started to tingle and I noticed that
the gold band on my finger was glowing brightly.

That glow turned to a bright light
as I reached
out
to
take the ornate piece of gold and as
soon as my fingers encased it I felt a sudden surge of energy
unlike any I had ever felt before.

I quickly uncurled my fingers to see the gold
piece was bubbling and melting into my skin. Seconds later I could
see gold rushing through my raised veins. My head felt like a ball
of fire as I dropped to my knees and I could feel something strange
happening to my skin.

When I looked at my wrists I could
see those same strange symbols on
Pertilius’s
robe engrave
themselves in gold around my wrists, and I could feel the same
thing happening to my forehead.

With his free hand, the big monk
helped me back up to my feet. The ball of fire in my head was
slowly easing off to a gentle flame and with a shaking
hand,
I traced the strange symbols which had now been permanently
etched into my forehead.

‘
What the Hell just happened to
me?’ I asked, feeling shaky. My vision was a little blurred but I
could see that the monks out in the pews remained unmoved by
me.

‘
You are now protected by the soul
of Beelzebub. Your soul can longer be used as a prize by any demon
including our lord.’ Pertilius remained in the same spot, the
faceless darkness of his hood was the closest I was going to get to
looking him in the eyes.

‘
You mean the deal is now
worthless?’ I probably sounded a lot more hopeful than I should
have.

‘
The deal is still unbroken for
now, but with your soul now protected by our original creator our
dark lord can no longer create a link with you.
In essence,
it
makes you invisible to him when you decide that you need some time
alone.’

‘
Well,
that could come in very handy.’ I said, looking
at the ancient and foreign symbols on my wrist. ‘Is it an automatic
thing or do I have to utter some secret incantation?’