The first and second kills were the hardest. But, even as my mind hesitated at the thought of more death, my body did not. It knew this dance well. Enserric knew it too, and his blood lust urged me ever forward.
We crossed paths almost immediately with another of the long-limbed horrors from downstairs — the babau, which the yellow-eyes tiefling had warned me about. We tore through it, pressing the advantage of surprise with a good old fashioned beheading. At the commotion, one of dretch — big ape-like creatures, with arms like tree trunks — stopped his assault on a battered door. I could hear someone sobbing in terror on the other side.
The dretch looked between us — with a face not even a mother could love — with its sagging, hate-bright eyes and pig-flat nose. The demon growled, fleshy pink nostrils flaring in the yellow-eyed tiefling's direction.
It lunged.
The tiefling's blades flashed. They were flung with such practiced precision; one, two. And then a third.
And they all struck true.
But then I remembered why he hadn't fared quite so well against the giant demons last time.
The knives struck and held, but the injuries were too shallow to do anything but anger the dretch.
Knowing from experience that there was no other way, I charged ahead with a grimace. Enserric's red light flashed throughout the ice-white hall.
I darted left, right; ducking under outstretched arms.
Then, shouting with effort, I sliced through the creature's stomach, across its groin. Warm blood and guts splashed my face and arms.
I only barely managed to escape its falling body.
I both heard and felt it collapse behind me, as I leant against the wall with a splayed hand. I panted hard. Water — I need water. And I spat a mouthful of the demon's blood from my lips.
Even with Enserric feeding me what energy he could, I was severely out of shape. I wasn't going to last long.
The tiefling smirked at the sight of my blood-covered form, and — eyes locked on my own — he placed a boot against the green demon, tugging his knives from the fresh corpse.
"Remind me not to get on your bad side," he chuckled.
I attempted to snarl back; "Too late." But it came out more of an exhausted hiss.
As the thumping in my ears lessened, my eyes snapped back towards the sounds of terror coming from the other side of the door. Young, female — one of the women who dressed me before battle? The tiefling didn't give me a chance to investigate. Armed again, he rushed forward, grabbing my arm roughly and pulling me down the hall with him. Away from the sounds.
I didn't stop him.
We ran, and then — when I couldn't any more — we walked. But mostly we waited, with breaths bated, as devils and demons passed us by.
I had no idea where we were going, having long passed anything that looked familiar. I'd only ever seen the throne room, the bedroom where I was prepared for each battle, and my cell.
The tiefling seemed confident enough, but the hazy glaze to his eyes made me nervous. I was relying solely on him to get me out. If he collapsed or caught the wrong end of a sword, I was in serious trouble.
He knew it too, and was relying on me to fight for us.
Down one particularly bloody hall, we passed the bodies of foot soldiers; most devilish, some demonic. And — on the few that I had time to look over — I saw the cause of death. Knives; lots of them. His? I glanced at the tiefling with a raised brow.
My suspicions were confirmed when he offered me a grin, pulling one such knife lose from the neck of a downed devil as we passed it. Without even wiping it clean, he shoved it through his belt.
He'd cut down his own kind. And he didn't seem the least bit put out.
Fucking devils, I cursed, following.
It seemed everyone wanted him dead. "No wonder you need my help," I managed between gulps of air.
He didn't respond, simply holding out a hand and motioning for me to slow down, as we approached the end of another hall.
A moment later, I heard what he did — fighting. Lots of it.
Thankfully, the sounds were flagging by the second.
I gripped Enserric tighter and risked poking my head around the corner, hissing at what I saw. The halls ahead were splattered in blood. Bodies littered the floor, and still more fought around them. My eyes widened at the sight of the familiar black armour, heart stuttering in my chest for the barest of moments. But none of the bodies or fighting creatures looked familiar. Still no Valen.
I tucked my body back out of sight, shaking my head at the tiefling. Not yet.
We waited for the demon's to finish off the defending devil's before we revealed ourselves to the smaller force. The five we faced were a mix of races, mostly mixed-blood tieflings, and all in variations of the same black armour Valen had worn when I'd last seen him.
I could see the anger and hate in their blood-red eyes as I killed them.
Every time I swung, another fell. Everytime I stepped away, my temporary companion's knives found their mark. We fought quickly, working well together.
Strike, retreat, duck. Strike, sidestep, thump.
We fought until there were none left. Only the mounds of their bodies, and the puddles of their blood on the once-white floor. I didn't look too long at the carnage. The tiefling didn't either.
"Where now?" was all I asked.
He led me down another hall and we cleared that too, and then the next. We found fewer and fewer devils as we progressed. And more and more demons.
Despite the chill in the air, my skin was slick and swollen with sweat. I had long ago lost the ability to tell the difference between my tarnished paint and sweat, from the blood coating it. Thankfully, most of the blood was theirs. But, as my fatigue set in, I knew I was getting more and more sloppy. It would only take one lucky hit. One misstep.
Each time we entered a new room, a new hall, my heart would leap with hope; the only flash of something human left within me, as I killed and killed and killed. But we didn't find Valen in those halls — each flash of red was just more blood, more demons.
We had just cleared another hall — both of us forced into an accompanying antechamber to help defend our backs — when the yellow-eyed tiefling placed a clawed hand around my shoulder, stilling me.
"Almost there," he breathed. In warning; in relief.
We'd fought far longer battles than this. But every time we'd been in better shape to begin with. I'd never seen him look so exhausted. And every step he took seemed to cause him pain.
I wasn't doing much better.
Grimacing, I pulled at the satchel — my satchel — slung across his shoulder, searching for something to help.
He let me jostle him in my search, eyes blinking blearily ahead. Too tired to question me.
Inside, there wasn't much. It stunk of rotting fruit and decay, and the outside of my notebook looked like it was swollen with the peaches rotten juices. Mostly, it was just my coin purse — which was surprisingly untouched — and some useless knickknacks.
But the small vials were still there. Still intact.
"Here," I thrust one under his nose.
Uncorking it tentatively, he sniffed the opening with a frown.
"What is it?" he pressed skeptically.
Uncorking my own, I tipped it back with a hiss. I could taste the barkiness of the endurance potion first, followed by the sickly sweet tang of the softsugar tea I'd mixed in. I washed it around my mouth. Swallowed.
There was barely a mouthful, but I knew it would be more than enough.
The tiefling shrugged, before downing his own.
My jaw, the spot just near my ears, tingled as warmth spread through my body. I blinked as the potent softsugar immediately kicked in; like a dull buzzing in the back of my head.
"Wow," he looked at the empty vial in disbelief. I saw him working his jaw as he blinked in surprise. "What is that?"
"A hail Mary," I told him, closing the satchel. My hands were shaking.
If we made it out, I knew we were both going to regret drinking the tiny vials. But we would worry about it then.
I pulled him down the hall behind me.
Yellow eyes alight with the same wild energy I felt thrumming through my veins, we approached the end slowly. Blood slid from the tips of our drawn weapons, sweat from our brows.
We didn't waste any more time.
At the end of the hall stood a chamber. No — an entrance hall. Massive and white and sparkling with light. The glow leached through the icy walls all around us. And, at the other side of the room stood massive doors of polished stone.
We stopped as soon as we saw what waited between us and the doors.
The space was filled with demons, all guarding against any attempt at escape. Between us and the wall of waiting creatures, the bodies of devils and humans littered the floor. There were more dead between us than I'd ever suspected lived within the icy walls. I swallowed at the sight. My eyes darted around the room, jumping from body to body. And then from demon to demon.
There were so many of them. A mismatch of different shapes and colours and sizes. Far more than we could ever hope to kill. There was some chuckling, the echos of a snicker.
Bodies shifted to approach. All clad in black.
I snarled at their approach, ready to be done with it. I felt the tiefling press closer to my side. Neither of us were giving in, but we both knew how this would end.
And then I froze — eyes catching on a flash of red hair. It took all my control not to drop Enserric, then and there.
Across the room, our eyes caught. My grey meeting his blue. I saw the careful indifference on his face falter.
His throat bobbed in a deep swallow, gaze lingering as he took in every detail of my face — I could see the relief on his features, but also the anger — it shone through his crumbling mask of careful indifference
Valen.
I smiled. "There you are." My voice was barely a whisper, shaking with each breath.
The tiefling by my side tensed in surprise, eyes searching for what I saw.
Valen offered me a curt nod, raising his weapon with the others.
My smile grew.
The demons didn't know what hit them.
With a roar, he tore through them with his flail, his horns, his fists. The demons were all shouting now, turning to see who had betrayed them.
My eyes held the gaze of two charging demons as I lifted Enserric.
"Remember," I shouted to the yellow-eyed tiefling, barely hearing myself over the clang of weapons. A laugh burst out of me; a ragged, manic sound. "You promised not to gut him." Don't you fucking dare.
I saw his lips curl up at my comment, before he flung his wrist back, letting go of a knife. It found purchase in the throats of one of the demons that had turned to swarm Valen. I guess that's answer enough. Valen barely paused at the other tielfing's assistance, spinning to knock back the bulk of demon's with another mighty swing of his flail.
Without a backward glance, the yellow-eyed tiefling darted ahead, black hair whipping around him. Two more knives were in his fisted hands.
I charged forward with a shout, heart thudding in my chest.