The Arena (19 page)

Adam leaned forward in his chair. His eyes burned with an intensity that I hadn’t seen from him yet. “You had a dream? Tell me about it?”

It came out as a question, but I knew it was more of a command. I guess it didn’t matter if I thought the dream was crazy. If Adam wanted to hear about it, so be it. He was the leader of our order; I couldn’t really say no to him. I told him about my dream from start to finish. It felt good to get it off of my chest. As if I was shedding some kind of burden. During one part, I thought I heard him mumble something, and I stopped.

“Wait, did you say that is how it looked in the arena? Is that why I am here? Did I kill Ted?”

Adam got up from his chair and moved across the room. He started rummaging through a large cabinet by his desk. “Well, to be fair, Jackson, he was trying to kill you at the time. I wouldn’t feel too bad about Ted. All of us thought you were going to be dead when you came out of the time spell. That’s a tricky bit of magic, by the way, something Ted should not have been able to do by himself.”

Shocked
might be too kind of a word for what I was feeling. It would have been closer to say I was feeling completely drained. I felt empty. I had just killed someone, a fellow student. Someone who I might have ended up working with a few years from now. Had he really been trying to murder me? Everything Adam had said pointed toward yes. I wasn’t sure if that made me feel better or not. “He didn’t cast a spell; he had a vial of something he threw at my feet.”

Adam continued rummaging around. God, what could he be looking for now? He continued to speak to me, while I heard things moving back and forth in his cabinet. “Well, that explains a lot about what happened today, then. Finish telling me about your dream.”

As I finished telling Adam about my dream, he let out an exclamation. “Ah, here it is! You might recognize this staff from your dream.”

I couldn’t believe it; Adam was standing in the room holding a piece of my dream. How was that even possible? The staff was amazing. The iron center was inscribed with runes; the oak that wrapped around the iron seemed to have grown out of the core of the staff. The staff ended with two crescent moons at the top, leaving the center open. I could tell exactly where I would hold the staff. It was the only place wrapped with leather.

Adam walked over and held the staff out to me. I stood up from my spot on the couch and took hold of it. I felt a small charge run through my arm as I held the staff, almost the same kind of charge I had felt the first time I put on my dad’s necklace. I wondered, had this staff been my dad’s?

Adam seemed to have noticed my face when the little jolt of power ran up my arm. He seemed excited as he started to speak. “Simply extraordinary. I had given up hope that you were alive. We all assumed you had died with your parents. This staff was your father’s; the woman he kissed in the dream was your mother.”

I needed a minute to process what Adam was telling me. Fortunately he seemed content to let me have it.

Adam walked back toward his desk before saying, “Excuse me for a moment. I need to make a call.”

I felt the pressure in the room drop, and my ears popped just like on my first plane ride. I looked over to where Adam had picked up the phone, but couldn’t hear a word he was saying. By the expression on his face, he wasn’t happy with whomever he was talking to. I had the feeling that call might take a while, but that was ok, I had more than enough to think about.

T
he desert night was cold
, and frost was just forming on the low-lying spots in the valley. The circle of five watched as the edges of the pentagram slowly came to life. The muddy red light started to slowly pulse through the lines of the pentagram. The light increased in intensity until the night was bathed in red. A pulse of bright light was followed by five more in rapid succession. Then the light faded until the five were left standing in darkness.

The center of the pentagram started to bubble. Black liquid oozed out of the ground, slowly filling the pentagram. The strain of it against our combined magic was almost too much to bear. The tarry black substance finally filled the entire space. A collective sigh swept through the five. The spell had held. Slowly a shape started to emerge from the inky black substance. First the crown of a head emerged, quickly followed by a face. The black tar melted from the body, revealing feminine features. The liquid continued to fall back to the ground as her body rose into the air. She floated now just above the pentagram, her body fully exposed. Her white skin was revealed as the drips continued to fall from her body. She was beautiful, all curves that spoke to her powers of persuasion. As the last drop of the black tar slid from her toe, the pentagram flashed red again and disappeared from this world.

The newly risen Demon fell back to the ground at the center of where the pentagram had been. Rising from a crouch, she stood naked in her full splendor. One of the five ran forward, covering her with a red cloak laced with an intricate golden design. The remaining members of the five all moved back a step and fell to their knees. They bowed their heads and waited for instructions from their new master.

She spoke her first words on earth in over a century. “So the prophecy has been fulfilled. I am the Voice of the Abyss, a harbinger for change. We must prepare this world for the rise of my master. Adramelech shall soon walk the earth again.”

One of the five rushed forward to escort her to the waiting limo. “Much of this world has changed since you last walked on this plane. You will find things much different and that the stink of the humans can sometimes be overwhelming. If you would follow me, I have a car waiting to take us back to your residence.”

The Demon reached out and, with a flick of her wrist, sent the man flying away from her into the night. He rushed, limping, back to her and threw himself at her feet. She looked down upon him with disdain.

He looked up, his eyes barely above her feet as he strained to make eye contact. His voice took on the whiny tone of a sycophant. “My queen, I am sorry to have displeased you.”

Snarling, she replied, “You will do well to remember that you serve me in all things. Never will you ask me to follow you again. There will be no further warnings; the next time I am displeased with you, it will mean your death.”

Rising from his knees, the lowly Demon got to his feet. “I am your humble servant, my queen. I merely meant to suggest that you allow me to show you the way to our vehicle. It has been too long since I have served a Demon of any true power; I have forgotten myself.”

A vicious smile creased her features. “It is well that you remember your place. I hope you have prepared in earnest for my ascension. If I find things in acceptable condition, you may continue to serve me.”

The Demon kept his eyes lowered as he began leading the way toward the limo. “Everything you have commanded has been done. We have a host of Demons waiting to meet you. I hope that you will find your accommodations to your liking.”

The queen moved toward the limo, a faint look of disgust firmly planted on her otherwise beautiful features. Her servant opened the door and then followed her inside. A gentle tap of his knuckles against the glass, and the limo started to roll forward into the night.

The queen did not acknowledge her minion in any way. She asked questions, expecting that answers would be provided without any delay. “It is true that I have been gone from this world for some time; tell me about what has changed since I last walked the mortal realm.”

Her minion was quick to supply her answer. “Much has changed, my queen, such as the vehicle we are riding in now. People no longer use horses to get around, and vast roads have been built to make transportation between places easier. You will also notice that the sheer volume of humans has grown beyond anything we had expected. The city we are heading toward now houses well over a half million people.”

The minion looked up at his queen; she simply motioned for him to continue. “It has become easier for us to blend in. Most of the humans do not even believe in us anymore. There are so many now, and some of them even live in the streets. When one of them goes missing, it almost goes unnoticed. We walk a fine line; if the humans ever truly believed, then they might be able to offer some resistance.”

The queen made a snort. “I doubt even in such ridiculous numbers they would stand a chance against the full might of hell.” She waved his fears away as inconsequential before continuing. “How are there so many? Is there no famine, no war, no disease? It seems as though it might be time for a proper culling of the herd.”

The minion smiled for the first time since being sent flying into the night. “A proper culling could be set in motion, if that is what you desire. As for your other questions, most of the world’s wars have been reduced to words, food is produced in such quantities, every person could be fed, yet some still go hungry, and diseases have almost been eradicated. Food may be the tipping point for the humans. If they keep breeding at the same pace as they do now, eventually the world won’t be able to sustain them.’

A fond smile reached the queen’s lips. She looked to be thinking about something that pleased her. “So many humans, so much death, and they can be so easily corrupted. All of this will make it easier to come back into the power we deserve. Soon they will remember why they pray to their God. Tell me about the boy?”

For the first time that night, her minion looked worried, fidgeting in his seat. “The boy has already been secured by the Ascendancy. In fact, it was there that he killed someone, ensuring that we could raise you from the pit.”

The queen did not even look up, which somehow was even more frightening than when she fixed one with her gaze. “That will have to be rectified.”

The car pulled up to a mansion in the hills surrounding Las Vegas; the city lights twinkled bewitchingly in the background. The stone structure resembled a castle from the middle ages, some wealthy man’s small eccentricity. It was the perfect home for a queen.

Her minion opened the door for her, and she was pleased with what she saw. A palace was fitting for someone of her stature. She walked inside the castle and was again pleasantly surprised by the open, modern feel of the place. The outside reminded her of the last time she walked this world, while the inside was full of new delights. Her minion motioned for her to follow. She noted that this time he kept his eyes lowered, like a good slave.

He led her into a bathing room built from solid white tile. The water in the pool in front of her steamed softly into the air. The queen noticed that the water had been scented by rose petals, and she shivered slightly at the thought. She dropped her cloak to the floor, and her minion picked it up before closing the door on his way out. She stepped toward the water, and two women moved silently from the side of the room to assist her. All three of them entered the water together.

The queen stood in the center of the steaming pool of clear water while the two women slowly scrubbed her skin. One of the women moved behind her and started to work on cleaning her hair, while the other moved in front of her and continued to gently scrub her flesh with a sponge. The queen felt a slight flare of passion at the soft caresses on her skin. She tilted the slave’s head up and placed her lips to hers. She sighed when a tongue flicked out and she tasted her for the first time. It had been too long since she had enjoyed the pleasures of the flesh. For now, she must content herself with waiting. There would be time to fully indulge in them later.

When the queen exited the bath, her two servants followed, wrapping her in a warm towel before retreating back to the sides of the room. She enjoyed the feel of the soft cloth against her skin, but it wasn’t necessary. Dropping it to the ground, she used a small burst of power to heat her skin. Steam rose from her perfect flesh, as the fires of hell burned inside of her. When her skin and hair had dried, she turned off her power with a thought. She moved into the bedroom and looked for the clothing her minion had been asked to prepare.

Her minion had done well. The outfit she requested was laid out on the bed before her. It might not fit into this world, but she found the clothes fitting for what she would need to accomplish. The light leather armor was fitted with small metal plates, the loose-fitting pants offered freedom of motion, and the low-soled leather shoes would add comfort if she found herself in a long battle. Her sword was a simple blade, roughly as long as her arm. Its razor sharp edge glowed faintly in the room’s light. The red hooded cloak with gold scrollwork finished off her outfit, adding the only shade of color to her ensemble.

Fully dressed and armed, she walked out onto the balcony to address her followers. As she stepped out onto the terrace, the moonlight made the gold on her cloak shimmer. The city lights behind her helped to make her stand out against the dark stone of her home. She looked down on her servants, and a faint smile touched one side of her lips. They cheered as she walked forward to address them.

“Tonight is the first step in taking this world back from the humans. They are weak and will fall easily as our numbers grow. I have already reached out to some of these so-called Pretenders, and have secured a deal with the Fae. While they will not aid us in our quest, they will also not help any of the others oppose us. Their time will come when we have secured this plane for my master.”

The Demons assembled below continued to cheer. Most of them had never laid eyes on a Demon as powerful as her. “For us to win this battle, we must slowly build our strength. The dealers will be instrumental in making that happen. Emptying the souls from a human’s body to make room for a Demon is just the start. After we raise my master from the depths, he will be able to summon stronger Demons to bolster our ranks.”

The queen picked up her drink and held it in the air. “To Adramelech, may he come into this world and burn it all.” She lowered her glass and took a drink. The Demons below her broke out in a frenzy as the music filled the night’s cool air. She had much to do, but one night of celebration would not slow their plans. Things were going to be moving forward quickly from this point forward; she hoped that her servants were up to the task.

Stepping back into the house, she found her minion waiting for her. At some point, she would have to give him a proper name, but not yet; he had earned nothing so far. “Is everything prepared?”

He bowed low, keeping his eyes away from her. “It is, my queen.”

“Take me there now.”

She followed him through the home’s hallways, thinking about what she would need from her dealers. They would need to secure financing for what she had in store. The dealers could offer a person their deepest desire for a price. Normally they would have to forfeit their souls after a period of ten years. With the soul vacated from the body, it became the perfect vessel for a Demon. Tonight she had more in mind than filling meat shells with her brethren. Tonight was the chance to think past that, the chance to take over companies. The vast wealth would be used to have the humans bring themselves to the upcoming slaughter.

Her minion opened the door to the chamber and, after she stepped in, closed it behind her, sealing her inside. The room was simply constructed out of concrete. The walls and the roof were smooth; the floor was etched with a pentagram. The queen undressed, laying her clothes on the table by the door. She looked toward the far end of the room at the naked man huddled in the corner. Her mind opened as she took control of the man, moving him to the stone basin at the edge of the circle.

The queen pushed her control further into the man, swatting aside his feeble attempts to regain control. Slowly he lowered himself to his knees, placing his throat above the basin. The queen walked forward, handing the man a ritualistic-looking knife, and then stepped into the center of the pentagram. Once she was seated in the center, she commanded the man to slit his throat. Blood gushed into the basin and slowly filled the lines of the pentagram. As the man’s blood continued to flow, the queen started to cast her spell.

The concrete floor seemed to vibrate around her as she repeated the spell again and again. Finally, she felt the magic take hold and she called out for her master. “Adramelech, I summon you.”

The room grew cold around her. She could see the faint swirls in the air as his form took hold in front of her. She watched as his Demon body slowly transformed into the likeness of a human.

He stepped forward, a red glow around him. “I have come to your call, Jahi, but my time is limited here.”

“Thank you for heeding my call, Master. I have found that we lack numbers for launching any real offensive at this time. I am putting a plan in place to swell our ranks and our finances. This world will be yours, Master. Soon we will find a way to bring you here to rule.”

Laughter filled the air. “Things have gone better than expected already. The Gifted delivered the boy, and his killing of another raised you from the depths. To think, he thought his bribes were enough to bend me to his will. I wonder if even now he realizes what he has done. You have a task to accomplish; do not fail me.”

With that, her master faded from sight. The queen slowly rose from her place in the center of the pentagram and moved toward the table to get dressed. Fully dressed, she opened the doors to the chamber, and her minion scuttled forward. “Do with the body what you will. Have the dealers assembled in the morning for their orders.” The queen walked away; the sounds of ripping flesh filled her ears. Earth wasn’t that much different than the pit, after all.