I found her thirty feet away, standing in the middle of the tunnel with her head in her hands and her shoulders hunched forward. At first, I thought she was crying again, but when she turned to me, there was only rage in her eyes.
Beyond her, dozens of statues lined the hall, and when I lifted my flame higher, I saw they continued onward for as far as I could see. Unlike above, where twenty or thirty feet separated each of them, these statues were all right next to each other.
Almost all of them were in a different pose. Some knelt on the ground with their hands raised as if to ward off a blow, others were running, one lay on her back with her hands over her face, some held something before them as if they were handing it to someone, and three had their arms over their heads as they cowered from something.
The more I looked, the more variations of poses I saw. Little in this world and Hell had ever unnerved me, but my skin crawled at the display of countless statues in their various positions of pain, fear, and desperation.
“What did you mean by they’re demons?” I asked.
“Mytaz didn’t carve these statues from a rock; he created them from demons. With a simple touch, he turned them into this.”
I glanced at her before walking over to study a demon who had one hand on the handle of his sword and the other raised as if he were trying to ward off a blow. I examined his sightless eyes, the horns curving out of his head, and the extended fangs before continuing to a woman, and then the three leporcháins beside her.
“It only took his touch to do this?” I asked.
“Yes. He’s most likely where the humans got their legends of Midas and El Dorado. No one can touch him; some thought he was unstoppable. And then, Kobal, me, Corson, and hundreds of others decided to do something about him. He was out of control, and if we didn’t stop him, he was going to turn all of Hell intothis.”
“So, he’s dead?”
“We never confirmed his death with a body, but during the fight, his section of Hell collapsed. No one has seen or heard from him since. If he didn’t die, he became trapped, and that was good enough for us.” She glanced at the statues and shuddered. “I’m not sure if all these existed before that battle, or if he’s still alive and he’s somehow been collecting more demons.”
“Are these demons aware of what is going on around them?”
“I really hope not. I hope… I hope….” Her breath caught as her good hand grasped the wrist of her broken hand. “I hope they’re dead.”
I did too. I enjoyed watching demons and humans tear each other apart, but if these demons were trapped and aware of the world, I wouldn’t wish that fate on anyone.
It was worse than being imprisoned behind a seal. At least I’d been able to move, and as much as I hated the others, at least they were there to pass the time with, and they understood what I was going through. I’d had Zorn and a faint glimmer of hope that one day we would be free. These poor bastards would only have a shell and their thoughts.
“Shit,” I breathed and wished I had battered the ones above to pieces. I might have done them a huge favor. “Who is Fiora?”
Bale didn’t speak for so long that I didn’t think she would answer me. After a few minutes, she finally said, “My little sister.”
The melancholy in her voice was more than I could stand. For the second time in my life, the impulse to comfort another struck me. Unsure of how to do that, I listened to my instincts and returned to her side. Wrapping my arms around her, I hugged her close. At first, it was a little awkward, but there was something natural about holding Bale.
For a minute, she remained rigid in my grasp, and then her shoulders slumped and her arms wrapped around to my back. Her fingers dug into my skin as she clung to me. Holding her felt as right as drawing my next breath.
I lowered my head to hers and turned my mouth to rest it against her ear. Her fiery hair tickled my nose as her scent filled my nostrils and slipped beneath my skin. The feel of her remained ingrained on me from earlier, but her sudden vulnerability let her dig deeper into the fabric of my being.
She was always so tough that I never would have suspected she would ever need me, but she did, and I couldn’t deny that I needed her too. I hated that she made me more…humanin some ways, but I savored having her in my arms.
This ability to care for another was entirely new for me. Out of all the thousands upon thousands of years I’d been alive, I’d never put another’s needs ahead of my own. With Bale, it was so easy to do so. I wanted her to be happy and safe. I didn’t want her to be scared and upset, and I would do everything I could to keep her protected.
Fuck.
I was only supposed to claim my Chosen and bend her to my will; I wasn’t supposed tocarefor the infuriating woman. However, I was beginning to worry it was too late to stop that from happening.
Then Bale pressed her good hand against my chest and started to pull away from my embrace. I reluctantly released her. I had to get my head on straight when it came to her, and I couldn’t do that when she was in my arms. She wouldn’t meet my eye before she looked away to stare down the tunnel, and I refused to acknowledge that I missed having her in my arms.
“If I’ve been dreaming about this place practically my whole life, then we should assume Mytaz is still alive. My visions have never come to me as dreams before, but this one did, so there must be a reason for it.”
“You receive visions?”
“Occasionally and often sporadically. It’s been years since I last had one, if I don’t count my dreams about this place, but I’m a visionary and fire demon.”
“So, that’s why you can withstand fire but don’t have any of your own.”
“Yes.”
