Chapter 7

  Neatly wrapped in the thermal blanket and fully occupied with her salted caramel chocolate bar, Flamey looked a lot better and a lot calmer already. I couldn’t say the same about our spectator, Tarashak the demon general of desolation and something or another.

  ‘That was … that was a healing spell!’ the guy gasped, and from his posture I wasn’t sure if he was about to attack me or was ready to run away. Either way, the result would be one less demon to worry about, so it was all good.

  ‘It was,’ I said to him, shrugging inside my SAC.

  ‘You’re not from the Fifth Ring. You’re not even a demon.’ He pointed at me, his voice trembling. Whether it was due to anger or shock or something else, I couldn’t say.

  Upon hearing this, Flamey looked up at me, even stopped chewing on the chocolate for a few, long moments, but then decided the sweet treat she had received was more important than mundane matters of my origin or identity.

  ‘Yeah? How did you figure that out?’ I laughed at Tarashak, my hand unobtrusively hovering near the holster of my sidearm.

  ‘Only the Blessed can use healing spells. No such thing exists in the rings,’ he bellowed. ‘Are you one of the Blessed? Are you one of their heroes? Have they … has the surface world sent you here to finally destroy us all?’

  Hm. The Blessed and the surface world? This was the second time he mentioned that, and I was beginning to believe he was referring to the normal parts of this world, as in not Hell. Where normal people lived. Probably the same place The Genius referred to as “upstairs”. I was now pretty damn curious, because it was precisely the place I wanted to go. The shuttle compartment had some comm equipment left in it, and if I could get them to work, the surface was the place to be if I was to attempt contacting Allied Systems personnel.

  ‘Let’s say I’m one of the … uh … blessed. And let’s say I kinda got lost. How would I get back to the surface world from here?’

  ‘What are you talking about? Lost? The Blessed don’t get lost, if they come here, it’s to kill us all,’ he yelled at me, his arms flailing in a weird pattern, black and red mist beginning to coalesce around his hands. He was preparing to cast a spell, wasn’t he? My hands moved closer to my handgun, while I glanced at Flamey, who looked both delighted and sad that she was on her last bite of her Crunchymel bar.

  ‘Would I have done this, if I was here to kill you all?’ I asked, gesturing at the girl, ready to draw my sidearm in a blink of an eye.

  ‘An elaborate plot!’ the demon argued.

  ‘A plot? Those minotaur bastards have already done most of the work here, so what would I need to plot about?’ I argued back.

  ‘The minotaur bastards and you shall share the worst fate imaginable,’ he growled viciously, ‘I will make sure of it!’

  ‘Yeah? You and what army?’ I scoffed.

  And the argument went back and forth like this for minutes without getting anywhere. The gathering Hell Mana around Tarashak, and my hand nervously tapping on my sidearm’s holster, did not help to calm either of us. I didn’t have any particular desire to shoot the guy, but if push came to shove, I’d do it. But then how would Flamey react? I wasn’t sure, and I sure as hell didn’t want to find out. I had to be the bigger man here. So, I withdrew my hand from my sidearm’s holster, reached for my helmet and slowly removed it, looking at the demon archmage and general with unaided eyes for the first time. I gave him my best glare. Now, a huge, red skinned demon’s eyes widening to an impossible size and his lipless mouth hanging open in astonishment, was a sight to behold. A disturbing sight, but a sight nonetheless. I once again glanced at Flamey. She was staring at my face with curiosity rather than anything else, in fact, she was kind of smiling. It was a disturbing smile, but a smile nonetheless. I got a cigarette out of my bag, lit it and inhaled deeply the soothing smoke, then blew it out. I needed it. And I needed to give Tarashak a few moments to gather his thoughts and to say something. Well, he didn’t.

  ‘Right. So, we have established I’m one of the upstairs people, a human, so just humour me, Tarashak,’ I said to him. ‘How would I get to the surface world from here?’

  ‘You’re a human?’ A new voice joined our back and forth.

  Both Tarashak and I turned our heads to Flamey. She was still sitting, wrapped in the thermal blanket, her face smeared with chocolate. She was looking right at me, unafraid, intrigued if I had to guess.

  ‘I am,’ I said, giving her a smile. Then I puffed some smoke out. ‘How are you feeling?’

  ‘Better,’ she said.

  ‘Good. Do you need anything? Water? Another blanket?’ I asked.

  She considered this for a few moments, then shook her head. And that was it, she remained quiet, just looking at me.

  ‘Okay.’ I turned back to Tarashak. ‘So, first time seeing one of my kind, then?’

  The demon shook himself like a dog that just woke up from a nap — quite a comical sight in my opinion — and swallowed hard. Luckily, the Hell Mana around him was dissipating, so I didn’t think this was going to come down to a fight.

  ‘I … saw a drawing of a human once,’ he stated, his voice rather shaky.

  ‘Alright, now that you’ve seen a live one, how about telling me how to get to the surface world?’

  ***

  After another minute of light arguing and heavy convincing, the demon general gave in and began to talk. Finally. I had a suspicion that the apparent enmity between the helldwellers and the upstairs people was a serious issue. Lucky for me, he had overcome his prejudices; as he himself had put it, a man — or demon — had to be the master of himself first, everything else second, and he had managed to master his own warring emotions to the point we could get back to civilised discussion.

  ‘The only two ways I know to get to the surface world are these,’ he explained. ‘In the First Ring, there is a gate, or so I’ve read. It is supposed to lead to the surface, but it only opens if a condition is met.’ He paused, probably for dramatic effect, and I let him. ‘And that condition is this: all five rings must have a single demon ruling them, and the one who rules them all receives a skill or a trait to open the gate.’

  ‘A lord of the rings, huh? That’s a classic even after seven hundred years.’

  ‘The what?’ the demon asked.

  ‘Nevermind, I’ve never read it. I just … heard about it. Carry on!’

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  ‘I shall,’ he said, looking as confused as a demon could. ‘The last time this happened was a thousand years ago, and the records are scarce and vague.’

  ‘Oh, the Fifth Ring demons you mentioned? The champion they sent that time?’ I recalled him mentioning something like that earlier.

  ‘Yes. The champion of the Fifth Ring, along with their lord and their armies, conquered and controlled the five rings at that time. The gate opened, and they had made it to the surface world.’

  ‘And?’ I prodded him, sensing some serious hesitation from him.

  ‘The Blessed had quickly dispatched them, and their control over the rings collapsed,’ he said it with great reluctance. ‘No such conquest has happened again, no-one has seen a denizen of the Fifth Ring ever since.’

  Hm. That wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear. I had realised something during my skirmish with the minotaur king and his lackeys: while as a human I wasn’t especially powerful, my transformed SAC and weapons were. Thanks to them, I had held my own against not one but two demon lords, not to mention a champion — supposedly the pinnacles of demonhood — so I didn’t think I had too much to worry about when it came to small skirmishes, at least for the moment. And as long as I had my SAC. Conquering Hell in its entirety, on the other hand, was not an enterprise I was willing or capable to embark on.

  ‘Right. What’s the other way?’ I asked.

  ‘A dungeon,’ he said, shrugging, as if it was the most self-evident thing in all the five rings, the upstairs, and the universe at large.

  ‘A what?’

  ‘A dungeon,’ he said it again. ‘You know what that is.’

  ‘Yeah, sure, I do,’ I lied to the demon, then whispered silently, ‘Button, what the heck is a dungeon?’

  [A dungeon is a small, designated and segregated area of Hell that can be accessed directly from Upstairs.]

  ‘Why?’ I mouthed the word almost soundlessly.

  [The Upstairs denizens typically delve into dungeons to gain power in the form of levels and skill advancements, as well as to collect materials only available in Hell.]

  ‘Why are you muttering to yourself, human?’ Tarashak inquired, raising his weird looking eyebrows.

  ‘Whatever happened to Hellfire Lord?’ I threw my own question at him.

  He burst into a tirade I was only half listening to; my mind was trying to figure out this dungeon business. Whatever a dungeon was didn’t matter at the moment, I could find that out later. If the upstairs people could access Hell through it, surely it worked the other way, too. Perhaps there was a way to get to the surface of this weird planet after all, and without having to conquer potentially billions of demons in five whole rings.

  ‘Tarashak?’ I cut the guy’s verbal onslaught short. ‘Where is the nearest dungeon?’

  ‘I seem to recall hearing about one in the First Ring, but that was old information even then, some fifty odd years ago.’

  ‘Isn’t there one here? In the Fourth Ring?’

  Tarashak just scoffed, and I couldn’t help but notice his eyes flicking to Flamey for a second. What was that about? I didn’t have to ask; the demon seemed to find enjoyment in his tirades.

  ‘As if.’ He sneered. ‘The last three lords of the dynasty have truly abandoned all reason over the last hundred years,’ he spat the words while shaking his head. ‘Of course we should have a dungeon, it’s a precious resource. Having one ensures rising Ring Energy in the entire realm. It is strength. It is power. But would they listen? Oh no, because it wouldn’t be their personal strength and power, and Hell forbid anyone else other than themselves benefiting from anything! Greedy, self-centered, power-hungry violent brutes the lot of them. And this is why we are where we are.’

  ‘Violent brutes!’ Flamey suddenly spoke again, echoing the words, almost giggling.

  That seemed to calm Tarashak. He glanced at the girl and sighed.

  ‘Well, she had … she has potential.’ He admitted.

  ‘I take it you’re not a violent, power-hungry brute then?’ I asked him.

  ‘Every demon in Hell is a violent, power-hungry brute,’ he stated, his voice dangerously cold and low. ‘I am no exception. Unfortunately, however, some of us are born with the curse of mind and reason. Needless to say, it puts one on a hard and lonely path.’

  ‘Ah, and that path allows you to be the master of yourself?’ I hazarded a guess.

  ‘Precisely. There are drawbacks to this path in terms of gaining levels and therefore personal power, but that is another story.’ He finished his spiel, and I didn’t think he’d say more on the topic.

  And that was fine, I finally had something to go on. A dungeon. A way out of this place, to the surface, so I can attempt getting in touch with a passing Allied Systems fleet, or ship, or shuttle, or mining probe … or anyone, really. I had to find myself a dungeon. Hm. First Ring, huh? I had no knowledge of the geography of hell, or how passage between the rings worked. Were they actually rings, as in circles? Or were they like countries with distinct borders and regular border patrols? Or something else? Then what about the size and population of the rings? How would I make my way through a ring without being attacked or otherwise contested every two steps by violent, power-hungry demons? I didn’t have an answer.

  ‘Isn’t there a dungeon somewhere here? Hidden or … I don’t know, undiscovered or something?’ I asked, hoping there might be something, anything.

  ‘Hah!’ Tarashak laughed out so loudly and suddenly Flamey and I both flinched. ‘Dungeons are made, you ignorant human! The ruling demon lords of each ring have the authority to establish at least one in their realms,’ he explained. ‘I wish the Fourth Ring had one. We wouldn’t be here, I’m sure.’

  Interesting. I slowly turned to face Flamey, sitting wrapped up in the thermal blanket, her back against the hull of the shuttle compartment, only a few metres from the body of her father from whom she had inherited the kingdom. I looked at the little Demon Lord of the Fourth Ring intently. Killing her wasn’t an option, obviously, but I had saved her life — twice — so if she had an inclination to repay the favour by … let’s say making a dungeon for me, I wouldn’t say no.

  ‘She won’t be able to establish a dungeon.’ Tarashak dashed my hopes with his words. Was it that obvious what I was thinking? ‘She is too young and too weak. She may have the title and the authority to lead and handle the affairs of the ring, she does not have the strength, the power and the levels. Not yet.’

  ‘Damn,’ I muttered. Even my cigarette had gone out, so I threw the butt on the ground and stomped on it.

  I had, at best, three years before army bureaucracy would upgrade me from MIA to KIA and therefore losing my pension — if it hadn’t happened already. And now all I could do was to stare at Flamey with glassy eyes, mourning the death of my hopes for a quick escape.

  Flamey clambered to her feet. She looked around, sneered at the body of her dead father — even she must have thought it wasn’t a big loss — then stepped to me. One of her hands shot out from under the blanket, and as if I was a door, she knocked on the breastplate of my SAC, looking up at me.

  ‘Uhm … yes? Who’s there?’ I asked, unsure what she was up to.

  ‘More,’ she stated, her voice kind of cute, and only a little disturbing.

  ‘More … what?’ I inquired; eyebrows raised at her.

  Her other hand appeared from the folds of the foil blanket, and in it she held the wrapper of the Crunchymel bar I had given her. Oh. A fellow fan.

  ‘More!’ she reiterated her demand, her cat eyes widening with hope and joy and happiness and anticipation — all the things naturally built into a Crunchymel bar. I felt like having one myself, to be honest. However, I had only two cartons of that deliciousness, forty-eight bars remaining, which made them rare and legendary items as far as I was concerned.

  ‘Flamey, these are a precious resource, we can’t just go gobbling them up in one sitting, alright?’ I said to the demon girl.

  ‘Flamey? What’s a flamey?’ Tarashak wondered out loud and I ignored him.

  ‘More!’ she repeated the word, the almost innocent petulance of a child present in her voice this time.

  ‘Listen, sweetheart, I don’t have a lot of them. If we eat more of them now, later we’ll have a very, very hard time. We must value them, and, well, ration them,’ I tried to explain my stance on this important matter.

  I could see the despair settling on her face. She really wanted one more, for which I couldn’t blame her, but …

  Suddenly, she put her hand back on the breastplate of my SAC, and a black and red mist formed and expanded from it, quickly entering my chest. I felt weird instantly, something stirring in me, in my newfound soul. I felt the uncomfortable sensation of a small power gathering inside there. Was she attacking me? Was she really ready to kill me for a Crunchymel bar? Even I wouldn’t do that, and I was the biggest fan of the sweets in the entire battalion. But no. She wasn’t trying to kill or hurt me, I realised, I didn’t feel threatened at all, and when she looked up at me again, her eyes were full of hope rather than anything else.

  ‘My Lord! My Lord! What are you doing? Stop!’ Tarashak yelled in a panic, reaching out to grab Flamey, but the girl lifted her other hand in a stopping motion. Tarashak halted, his face contorted into a grimace of dread.

  ‘Flamey, what are you doing?’ I asked, slowly and carefully.

  ‘This,’ she said, and at the same time the small blob of Hell Mana she had injected into me expanded painlessly, and new messages popped up on my NeuroHUD.

  [The ruling Demon Lord of the Fourth Ring, otherwise known as Flamey, offers to relinquish control of the Fourth Ring in its entirety to you, the Hellfire Lord.]

  [The ruling Demon Lord of the Fourth Ring, otherwise known as Flamey, names her price: 5 Crunchymel bars.]