She gave a small laugh as she drew her feet up onto the chair and hugged her legs to her chest. “So you’ve said. I know what happened on this side, we watched it unfold on TV, but what about you? Where were you? What did it look like?”
“I was right where the gateway opened,” I told her. “At first, it was only this small beam of light piercing through the veil between our worlds. Normally, for us to see into your world, we had to go to the oracle.” At her furrowed brow, I expanded on this. “It’s a lake of fire deep in the bowels of Hell where we could look upon your world if we wanted to. Few made the journey, as the lake was also the central source of all the heat in Hell.”
“Oh,” she murmured.
“When the humans tore through the veil, I was with the rest of the higher-level or arch-demons.”
“Much cooler where you were?” she quipped.
“It was, but even if I’d been near it, the heat of the lake has no effect on me.”
“Why is that?” she asked.
“Maybe one day we will have that conversation.” Her eyes burned with annoyance, but I continued before she could speak. “When the first pinhole of light showed through, I was drawn to it. Bale and Corson followed me. They are here with me in this camp and are also my seconds-in-command. Looking through the hole, we could see into your world, but unlike when we looked into the oracle, we couldn’t get a full view of different places in your world. All we could see was a street and a building on the other side.
“Then it exploded. The force of the blast threw many of the higher-level demons into the lower-level pits. That was the first war we fought. The lower-level demons mistakenly assumed us weakened by the blast, and though some of us perished in the ensuing battle, more of them did.”
“I see,” she murmured. “What is the difference between a high-level and a low-level demon?”
“High-levels are all born in Hell, lower-levels are souls who were so hideous they were never allowed to leave Hell again. Hell forged them into twisted monstrosities that fed off our leftovers.”
“So they’re the vultures of Hell.”
“Yes. They also all possess some kind of deformed, animalistic appearance. They are physically strong, and because higher-level demons don’t breed often, they outnumber us, but they are weaker than us and they have no powers. All of them are on Lucifer’s side.”
“But I saw demons with you who had horns and tails like an animal.”
“Horns and tails can be a demon trait. If you ever have the misfortune of seeing a lower-level demon, believe me, you will know the difference.”And if she is who I seek, she will most likely see more than one.
“But Lucifer wasn’t born in Hell, wouldn’t he be considered lower-level?”
“He is a fallen angel. Heaven works like Hell does; Lucifer was supposed to perish on the mortal plane after being cast out, along with the others who were cast out with him. Instead, he somehow managed to find his way into our world and brought his cohorts with him; there is nothing lower-level about that. Many demons decided to follow him because of that fact alone.
“He didn’t try to take over Hell the minute he arrived, or so I was informed by elder demons who passed on our history. He bided his time and grew a following who believed they should be allowed to pass freely between Hell and Earth whenever they chose, and should be able to rule over the weaker and more desirable human plane. Over time, Hell became divided into two factions who have battled each other ever since. The Palitons, my side, who fights against Lucifer, and the Craetons who follow him.”
“So God tossed the angels onto Earth to die; what about the humans there at the time? Didn’t God have any concern for their safety?”
“Lucifer and the other angels couldn’t have killed them all in the time they were here, considering he was as vulnerable to injury as the humans were. There was no concern about the angels being discovered, as humans already spoke of demons and angels, Gods and Goddesses. At the time Lucifer fell, the world was an entirely different place. One of magic and mystery. The angels would not have garnered the same reaction from humans as we did when we were thrust into your world.”
“Trying to bomb you into oblivion?” she asked with a smile.
“Exactly.”
“How did Lucifer make it into your world?”
I drummed my fingers on the table. “That is something only he knows the answer to, and he’s not very forthcoming. Unfortunately, it’s an answer we require as we think it may be the key to closing the gateway the humans created. He opened the hole and my ancestor closed it after him. No demon has been allowed to cross into the mortal realm since.”
“Why not?”
“No one would risk opening the portal while Lucifer was in Hell. He had discovered a way in, but he couldn’t find a way out, and we couldn’t risk what he would do if he walked freely back and forth between the two dimensions.”
“Is there any way to find out how he got in?”
“If there is, we will find it.” That was all I could tell her on the matter. Fortunately, Bale standing outside and requesting entrance saved me from any more of her questions.
CHAPTER 14
Kobal
