Chapter 8
HEL
T he sour smell of the dungeons filled Hel’s nostrils.
He flicked his fingertips and a burning civar appeared between them to mask the mildew.
With the wave of his hand the torches along the walls lit up, bringing an orange flickering light to the darkness.
His boots lightly clapped over the dirty stone steps until he made it to the bottom level and rounded the corner to find Synick sat in a chair against the wall behind bars.
Hel stopped directly outside his cell and took a drag.
“Gods, it smells like shit down here.”
“It’s the dungeons,” War said, as if it should be obvious. He’d gotten down here first but by the lack of fresh blood, his cousin hadn’t been doing much.
Leave it to Hel to do the dirty work. Not that he minded.
Synick lifted his head. Giving him full view of his putrid face. He was filthy from crown to toe and the bloodstains on his top looked brown and rusted. Katagas serum and chains kept him in his cell.
“You look like you crawled out of a demon’s asshole,” Hel said and took a puff of the sweet herbs.
Synick rolled his eyes or at least tried to. Only the good one seemed capable of the movement. The decayed eye was cloudy and stared endlessly ahead. “Get me out of these chains.”
“Let me get right to that.” He gave him the middle finger instead.
War stuck a key into the lock and metal grated on metal, squealing as he tugged the door open.
Hel pulled a dirty wooden chair from the wall and twisted it around to sit.
He rested his elbow on the back of it and took an inhale of his civar.
Something moved in the decaying side of Synick’s face, a maggot perhaps.
Hel nearly shuddered. “How did you get out of the underrealm?” He blew smoke into his face.
“You’ve been sucking cock and got a favor? ”
“Fuck you,” Synick growled.
War’s fist cracked against the good half of his flesh, and blood sprayed across the floor. He groaned but lifted his chin defiantly.
“You bleed easier than you used to,” War said.
“Come on, Syn,” Hel drawled. “Confession is good for the soul. Or so I hear.”
“How should I know? I saw an opening and I took it.”
“You were just sitting there in your misery and suddenly a portal opened? And it really must be misery for a god down there. It’s the oldest rivalry time has, demons versus gods.
” There were some people he might feel sorry for having to endure what he no doubt had, but Synick wasn’t one of those people.
“Has it been so long you have forgotten I can taste lies?”
Synick stared at him. The cloudy, lidless eye suddenly flicked side to side then forward again. “It’s worse than you can imagine.”
“I don’t need to imagine it. I’ve been there.”
“Not as long as I have.”
“Thank the Maker for that. But here’s the thing,” Hel took another pull on his civar, “no one could have known when Valeen was going to open the portal to Runevale. And it wouldn’t explain a doorway into the underrealm.”
“I don’t know.”
War hit him in the face again, knocking him and his chair to the ground. Synick groaned then spit a glob of saliva and blood near Hel’s boot. War dragged him and the chair upright once again. “You really have fallen from grace. Rotten, filthy, and can you even see out of that eye?”
“You wouldn’t expect after that bitch killed me, I’d be exactly the same, would you?”
Hel snarled, leaned forward and snatched a handful of Synick’s hair, scraping his nails against his scalp.
“I’d cut out your tongue, but I need you to be able to speak.
You know what you don’t need though?” The burning end of Hel’s civar glowed orange in the low light of the dungeon.
He rolled it in between his fingers, then shoved it into Synick’s good eye. “To see.”
“You fucking bastard!” Synick roared, jerking like a fish caught on a line.
Hel got up from his chair, kicking it aside, and drove his knee onto Synick’s thigh to keep him from tipping back and smiled.
There was something poetic about being able to torture the male who had made his life miserable since childhood.
“Let’s move on. It doesn’t really matter how you got out. You’re already here. Where would the council hide our immortality? Where are their most secret hiding places?” He pulled the civar back, keeping it ready for the other eye.
“I’ve been gone a long time. And I was dead before they did their ritual to take your immortality. You can’t expect me to be privy to this.”
If Synick knew about the ritual then he had some relationship with the demon princes, which made him wonder if they knew who had the third brother’s ring. But he wouldn’t ask. It was too dangerous of information to even let Synick wonder about it.
“I didn’t ask you where they were, did I?” Hel let go of Synick’s greasy hair and wiped his hand on his black coat. Disgusting.
“There is a myriad of places they could hide things. But something as precious and rare as immortality, The Drakonan Treasury in Ryvengaard namely. It’s the most secure place in the realms and has never been breached.”
Hel smirked. “Well, that’s not true anymore, but it can’t be there. The portals in and out of Runevale closed once Valeen was executed. They would be hidden in Runevale. Where?”
“I’ll start talking when you get me out of these chains.”
“That’s not going to happen,” War said, drumming his fingers along the handle of the dagger at his hip. “Let’s not forget you’re the one who said that mercy is for fools and females, and we’re neither of those.”
“You’ll start talking because if you don’t, I’ll make what you did to us look like a child’s game.”
“Nothing you could do would be worse than what the demons did, I can assure you, Hel. There is no amount of torture that will get anything out of me. Just as Valeen will never give up Soulender, I won’t be giving away leverage of any kind.
Don’t even bother asking about the Sword of Truth.
Even the demons couldn’t get it out of me. ”
Hel tapped the toe of his boot. That might be true, but he’d find out for himself.
Synick let out a dark chuckle. “Speaking of your… wife , when we made the bet about Valeen you weren’t supposed to actually fall in love with her. Did you help her kill me to get rid of your competition?”
Laughter bubbled in Hel’s throat, and he couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face.
“ You competition for me ? I know you think highly of yourself, but I didn’t believe you were quite so delusional.
She’s always despised you. I don’t think there is a person in all the realms she hates more than you.
I might be a dick but at least I still have a pretty face.
You on the other hand…” Hel shoved another fresh civar into Synick’s rotten eye just to see if it caused pain.
He screamed through his teeth and jerked away.
“I could use Soulender and make that eye disappear permanently.”
“Where would they hide our immortality?” War crossed his arms.
“I said I’m not talking.”
Hel summoned his magical crimson snake, Selene, and soon she coiled down his arm. Her black forked tongue flicked out and her yellow eyes glowed in the dim torchlight. “If you don’t know anything, there’s no reason to keep you alive.”
Synick stiffened and pushed back in his chair. “I said I wasn’t talking, not that I didn’t know anything. I know of several places they would hide your immortality. Places you’d never find without knowing.”
“Too late. I’m bored of you now.” Hel lifted a shoulder and Selene slithered down to his wrist and onto Synick’s lap.
“I know you can’t see so let me elaborate.
My serpent friend here has a bite that is lethal in seconds, but first there is burning, really intense, like your insides are melting.
I’m sure the demon princes will be missing you and they might even have a welcome home party.
I’m sorry I won’t be able to make it. Busy, you see. ”
War shifted slightly closer to Hel and gave him a wary look.
They did need information from him, and no doubt War was unsure if he would actually kill him.
But Synick was only one tool in their arsenal.
He had never planned for Synick to be alive to question.
He’d find their immortality without him.
The Sword of Truth was really the only thing worth keeping this prick alive for, but they wouldn’t be able to torture it out of him…
they’d have to fight him while he used it.
Synick kicked and wiggled, trying to bounce Selene off. She curled her tail around his calf and glided up his chest. “We can go to the council together and settle this. They’ll take me back and I can pardon my nephews.”
“You think they would take you back looking like that?” War asked. “A grotesque demon-looking thing? No.”
“There are problems with your proposal, Synick. First of all, I made a promise to kill everyone on the council, and I don’t go back on my word.
Two, you didn’t add my wife into the deal even if we could work out a peace treaty.
And most importantly, three, you murdered Katana to punish Valeen because she wouldn’t fuck a piece of shit like you.
And for that, one day I will carve out not simply your eyes but your heart and give your body to the trolls to tear apart, and your soul will spend eternity in the underrealm.
I’ll pay the demon princes handsomely to make certain you never get peace. ”
Synick scrunched his face into a sneer. “You’re as much of a monster as I am, Hel. You may end up there yourself one day.”