Chapter 8
Before Saer’s massive silver claws took Asheda’s spirit in their grasp, the soul saw its son. Saer opened the link between the place of his creation and the surface to begin the breakneck journey, Asheda’s screaming essence in tow. “My son was there! You swore to me!”
Each word struck like a knife in his chest.
Ruki’s essence was left behind.
It’s for the best.
Saer reemerged, blazing, in the central chamber of Hell while Asheda’s spirit screamed over the fiery roar.
Lucifer’s severe tone cut through all of it, the same command Saer heard not long past. “Silence.”
The soul quieted immediately, and Saer took the opportunity to speak. “Master, I ha—”
“You will be silent as well, Saerkhanum.” The fallen angel’s tired voice reverberated from where It rested next to the final, inert Daemoenic.
Saer swallowed, still clutching the struggling spirit of Asheda.
Lucifer’s exhausted breaths danced upon the crackling fires of Hell, but the fallen angel didn’t move, didn’t even look his way. One hand remained propped on the stony wall in front of It, a fine tremor in the limb, but little else.
The minutes passed, and Asheda’s soul eventually slumped, giving up. That, more than anything, twisted on Saer’s heart in an unexpected way.
Twice, he parted his lips, but fell back on obedience—which brought a whole new wave of frustration.
No recognition other than a command for quiet.
After all he’d done, all he’d sacrificed, the time he’d lost, the loyalty he’d shown, these damned human emotions pummeling inside his ribs, threatening to shatter them from within…
Was he being ignored as punishment for his prior failures? When he’d been given no guidance? Who else could have done better? No one. No one could have, nor would have persisted as he did!
All the muscles in Saer’s shanks, torso, and neck tightened as he swallowed the lack of acknowledgment, a scream bubbling up to take its place.
Before it could erupt, the scraping of hooves abraded his ears, followed by quiet voices—one male, one female. Saer jerked his attention to the corridor they floated from.
Neyu’s alluring form slid into view first. She carried an armful of smooth, onyx rock, her lips split in a beautiful, serene smile while she conversed with…
Errshek, Envy himself, also bore a bundle of the same stones, his face turned away from Saer and focused on Neyu. The two of them, side-by-side.
It scraped at Saer’s insides like a million thorns.
Whether he made some motion or she sensed his presence, Neyu’s focus darted to his—and her smile doubled instantly, eyes glinting with unrestrained relief and happiness.
The one look doused his sudden temper, replaced with the urgent need to close the distance between them. He redoubled his hold on Asheda and rooted his hooves in place to halt the impulse.
A sudden rasping of Lucifer’s inhale pulled all their attention.
The fallen angel’s shoulders lifted as though It meant to speak, hung in suspension, and then It slid to a knee with a harsh exhale, unable to keep upright.
“Neyuukhan, Errsheken,” their maker muttered, “help me bring my last creation to life.”
Lucifer didn’t pick him to help. Another slight.
You’re his favorite. Alus’s old words tasted bitter and fractured in the back of his throat.
Neyu and Errshek didn’t hesitate. Dropping the boulders they carried, they rushed forward and slid their arms behind Lucifer’s shoulders. With their aid, their maker leaned forward and placed trembling hands on either side of the Seventh’s face.
The form of the Seventh showed Lucifer’s fatigue.
She’d been crafted with the sin of sloth, her figure rounder, smaller, and less defined than the rest of her kin.
Too tired to bathe her in fire, the fallen angel had used ash instead, painting her a dull gray from head to hoof.
Her horns peeked from the top of her head, easy-to-miss tiny nubs.
They reflected the color of ivory, the same as her claws, hooves, and talons.
Lucifer kissed her eyelids.
The youngest demoness blinked with the slowness of someone waking from a millennia-long sleep.
Lucifer sighed and pressed Its forehead to hers. “Kaliaspherikkana. My Kaliaspher. Welcome.”
Kalia yawned and huffed, reluctant to be brought to full attention.
The fallen angel drew in a breath, presumably to take the Seventh through her vow of obedience, but shuddered and wilted instead. Silence hung, until at last, “My Saerkhanum, help me.”
He froze.
Favored, or slighted? Which was true?
Still clutching the silent spirit of Asheda, Saer stood and moved to stand next to his frail maker. Errshek’s jaw dropped when Saer pulled him aside to do so, earning him a withering glare. Closing his mouth, the Sixth’s face pulled into a frown, and he stepped back.
Saer caught Neyu’s chastising glance, but she remained silent.
Lucifer’s head hung, perhaps oblivious to all of it.
Holding the spirit of Asheda still in one grip, Saer curled his free claws under Sloth’s chin.
“Kaliaspher, look at me.” Saer put iron into the command.
She yawned again.
“Kaliaspher.”
The demoness growled but lifted her eyes.
The eldest and the youngest.
The First and the Seventh.
Biggest brother…
Her irises held the rich, deep brown of the earth.
Littlest sister.
Saer growled in return but with greater authority, and she quieted. “Our master has created you.” Saer hesitated, recalling how his other kin referred to Lucifer—as Father. He.
Lucifer made a quiet noise, and it spurred Saer on before he could second-guess his words.
“You belong to...him...wholly and completely. You are bound to protect, obey, honor, and put no others before him. If you are honored to be his and so understand and swear to follow these conditions, say as much.”
Kalia squinted her eyes as she computed the words. When she took too long for Saer’s liking, he snarled and snapped his teeth a breath from her face, earning a yelp with her immediate assent. “Yes, yes I agree!”
Saer huffed and jerked his chin in the direction of the corridors. “Find and join the others until you’re given orders.” He glanced over his shoulder at Errshek. “You, too.”
He swore Kalia shot him a mocking sneer before moving to comply—as slow as she pleased. Errshek joined her with a soft muttering under his breath. Saer couldn’t catch the words, but Kalia giggled in response.
Lucifer’s weak chuckle of delight hummed through the chamber. “Good, Saerkhanum. Where is my Neyuukhan?”
Saer warred with the pang of umbrage to hear Lucifer refer to Neyu as Its possession.
“Here, Father.” Neyu glided to them, close enough that she curled a wing around Saer, a hand on his forearm. Her honeyed voice vibrated through him.
Vexation slid away, replaced by the thrill of her nearness as he resisted the urge to lean into that touch. The pull hadn’t lessened through their time apart, the burning need to be near his perfect match.
Lucifer’s hooded eyes slid shut as though It couldn’t keep them open. “Tell me, what has Saerkhanum brought us?”
The demoness brushed her thumb along the groove of one of Saer’s forearm muscles. Their maker couldn’t have seen or noticed, but his heart tried to slam out of its ribcage as she slid her focus to Asheda’s spirit. “A glowing essence, Master. Saer holds it in place.”
She squeezed Saer’s arm, and he fought the polarizing urge to draw her closer as well as push her away out of fear for her wellbeing.
Lucifer exhaled, head lolling. “Bring it nearer, Saerkhanum.” So quiet, Saer barely heard the command.
Neyu moved, helping to turn Lucifer to sit and face them, shoulders and wings braced by the stone at Its back. Asheda’s spirit wavered as Saer shifted to present it within easy reach of their maker.
Lucifer ran Its quavering fingers along Asheda’s essence, up its side, then over its face.
Too much time passed.
Pride shut his eyes, brow pinched together. Asheda’s soul was not what his master needed. He’d be destroyed, subsumed—his promised punishment for failure.
A quiet and pleased hum rumbled in Lucifer’s throat. “Saerkhanum, you’ve exceeded my expectations.”
His eyes snapped open, capturing Neyu’s fretful gaze, warring with what he could only imagine was cautious relief. He dragged his attention back to their maker.
Lucifer regarded the soul with a ravenous gleam in Its eyes.
Terrified and sickly appearing, Asheda’s form otherwise froze, paralyzed.
Gazing upon the beautiful curve of his maker’s lips as It smiled, Saer knew it had all been worth it—the punishments, the time spent on the surface, the grueling trial and error.
He’d proven his place as First…and favored.
Lucifer mused, “What is different about this soul?”
Saer wondered the same thing since the moment he noted the discrepancy, and felt no closer to an answer. He groped for an answer within that nebulous instinct. “His essence felt different, Master.”
“Yes, my child, but why?” Lucifer’s brittle tone snapped, and Neyu’s breath caught.
Saer’s mind reeled. When had he first noticed the rightness of Asheda’s spirit? He grasped for words, anything that came to mind. “This soul has suffered more, Master. It has endured pain, grief, and trials which humans find agonizing and taxing to their bodies.”
“Suffered.” The fallen angel mused over the soul, eyes glinting. “Yes.”
Shutting Its gaze, Lucifer inhaled, and a soft, inner light glowed behind Its alabaster skin.
Panicked and desperate, Asheda’s spirit reanimated and tried to claw its way out of Saer’s grasp.
The next moment, the chief’s figure disintegrated, vaporizing into thousands of fragments of the same glowing light.
Their maker’s flesh absorbed Chief Asheda’s soul, its brilliance forever extinguished.
The change was subtle, but true. Lucifer shone brighter, more vibrant. Asheda’s essence had vanished.
Saer found the cure.
The crescendo of tension melted away from Saer’s shoulders, and Neyu’s strangling grip relaxed on his wrist.
Lucifer slumped back against the stone wall with a frightening purr, “Bring me more, Saerkhanum.”
A cavern of uncertainty expanded to take the place of success as the breadth of his next task yawned wide. Still, a spark of hope shone below the unease. An opportunity he couldn’t ignore. “Of course, Master, more spirits as that one. I’ll teach the rest of the Daemoenica, we’ll work together—”
Neyu’s hand squeezed on his arm again.
“No.” The fallen angel’s voice still trembled in its interruption.
Asheda’s soul provided a fraction of what Lucifer needed, yet It still said no? He’d asked for too much. Of course Lucifer could see through his desires.
“No, Master?” Caution laced through Saer’s question.
“Bring me any and all.”
Lucifer didn’t refute his desire to work together, but wished for all spirits? Not just ones like Asheda’s?
“Master,” Saer licked his lips, choosing his words carefully, “the boy’s spirit wasn’t sufficient for you. If I bring you more like him—”
Lucifer waved a hand away and laughed for the first time in centuries—a captivating melody.
“My First, there’s much I must teach you.
” The fallen angel’s icicle eyes lit with an excited fire pushing through millennia of fatigue.
“You and your kin will bring me all you can. The ones with the correct energy, I’ll devour immediately. ”
Saer’s heart pounded, the sound thudding in his ears.
“And the others, Master?”
“The others, dear child”—Lucifer gestured to the corridors and caverns surrounding—“will suffer until ready for my consumption.”
And so the Hells were born.