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18
The Academy grounds, the other students, and my hellhounds all disappeared as a blood-red mist shrouded them out.
“Time to go to Hell, Lily. I’ve got so much in store for you,” Baal said with a wicked chuckle as he pulled me up against his chest. “If you’re lucky, I might even allow you to see your father before we set things in motion.”
“What are you planning on doing with me?” I whimpered as the fires of Hell exploded around me. I knew we were no longer on the Academy grounds, instead, we seemed to be traveling through some hellfire to our new destination, which terrified me to my core.
“Oh, my sweet child, you’re the key to everything. And I intend to use you,” he said as he stared down at me, those emerald eyes now a sickly green as they pulsated eerily.
I couldn’t drag my eyes away from his as every part of my being froze up in utter terror.
I could feel a panic that wasn’t my own as well, and I knew it was from my hellhounds, fearing for my well-being. I hated having to do this to them, and a part of me secretly hoped they would rescue me once more.
But how on earth could they find me now? There was no way they could rescue me. I knew they couldn’t just return to Hell. They needed a doorway, a rip between the two worlds.
Besides, this was to save them.
The fires and red mist all around me died down, and Baal drew in a deep breath as he waved one hand out to the side.
“Welcome to Hell, Lily,” he declared, his mouth quirking up into a vicious smirk.
I shuddered as I slowly turned my head to gaze out over the barren, ashy landscape with charred and twisted trees jutting up all around.
The same place that I had visited when I saw my father in my mind.
The red sky made my skin crawl, and I swallowed down the unease that had settled over me.
Although this area was a bit different to what I’d previously seen. Up ahead was a small hill where large red boulders jutted up out of the ground, and there were dark shadowy figures all around.
These looked different to the shadowy monsters we had been fighting too. They looked somewhat human, with only two arms and two legs.
I slowly dragged my eyes over them, my body beginning to tremble as I realized why they looked so strange. They weren’t shadowy. No, these appeared to be human, although they were charred, walking corpses with glowing red eyes.
Were these demons? True demons? Or the souls banished to Hell?
Baal stepped away from me, chuckling as he shook his head.
“Do all these damned souls bother you?” he asked with a wretched smirk that made me shudder.
“Relax, Lily. This is your destiny,” he said as he stretched and cracked his neck. His appearance started to change as he moved his limbs like he was stretching, and I covered my mouth in shock as my skin crawled. His skin slowly flaked off, large pieces falling off his arms and face, leaving dark red leathery flesh in its place. His hair turned grey and fell away while two horns started to protrude from the sides of his head. Small ones appeared along his jawline and shoulders, erupting through the leathery flesh as his suit burned away. This left him wearing what looked to be an ancient warrior uniform with a black sash across his chest. A whip-like tail flicked around from behind him, and his hands took on a more reptilian appearance with long talons.
He was terrifying to look at now, with those deadly sharp teeth and glowing eyes.
Was this his true state? Did my father have a form like this as well?
Where was my father too? If we were in Hell, wouldn’t he be here as well? Perhaps he could rescue me? That thought was quickly silenced though. I couldn’t rely on him to save me. I barely knew the man… demon, whatever the hell he was.
“Did you really think we looked like you? Like a human?” Baal laughed, his mouth splitting open far wider than was humanly possible, much like the shadowy monsters that had attacked us. “We are Princes of Hell, darling, those human forms are just something we use on occasion. I won’t lie, it’s quite fun pretending to be something I’m not, and then revealing the truth. Seeing that look on your face, one of horror and fear, it just adds to all the chaos,” he chuckled, the sound a deep, bestial rumble that made a shiver ripple down my spine.
I just stared at him, my hands balled into fists. I wanted to run, but where would I even run to? Not to mention all the damned souls around me. Would they try to stop me?
I flinched as a new creature joined us. This one was different to the charred walking corpses. Its skin was leathery and grey, but it somewhat resembled a human, although its legs were quite different, bent more like a dog’s back legs. It also had a whip-like tail like Baal.
“Prince, everything is ready as you requested,” the creature said, its voice grating on my ears like shards of glass.
“Perfect, then let’s not delay,” Baal said as he focused on me once more, his voice suddenly deeper and more unsettling.
I flinched as he reached out and curled those ghastly talons around my arm, jerking me forward as he started off towards the red boulders on the hill.
