1

One Year Later

A Tier I imp lunged at me, nothing I couldn't handle. I had been training for this. Teeth as sharp as needles, hundreds of them, aimed for my throat.

Demons love the taste of blood.

My hand wrung its scrawny neck, stabbing its flailing body with my dagger. Black blood drizzled out of the tiny gray creature until its movement ceased. I dropped the body as hellfire consumed it, shattering into a puff of ash as it hit the ground. Sulfuric fumes rose from the fabric where its blood splattered onto me.

The shadows warped by the metal gate, demons moving within, watching me in my circle of light. I spun, holding out my dagger as I waited for another attack.

Two imps jumped out of the darkness from opposite directions. Their big mouths held too many teeth, their huge black eyes filled too much of their tiny face. Wrinkled skin stuck on bone-thin bodies, only coming in at a little over a foot. I slashed as I dodged one of them, hitting the other across the chest. The imp fell to the ground, clutching its injury and glaring up at me.

The other imp cackled as it leapt nearby before diving at me again. I aimed a throwing knife, the blade skimming its arm as it flew. The metal clattered against the cement as it grabbed hold of my leg. Instinctively, I wagged my leg in a silly gesture to fling the little guy off.

I gasped as its teeth sunk into my thigh.

I dispatched the other one first, slitting its throat. The pest still biting my leg needed its head removed before the teeth released. The two imps burnt their way back to Hell.

Before I could recover, a half-naked green creature charged at me, two long ears poking out from under a bloodstained hat. Double the size of an imp, with a much more menacing disposition. A redcap goblin—Tier II, mainly because they had the ability to speak. But my book knowledge wouldn't save me as he charged.

He was smarter than the imps. I prepared to attack, but he went back into the shadows, coming at me from an entirely new direction. I swiped my blade through the air.

Miss.

The goblin cackled, his laughter echoing as he huffed for air. A throwing knife landed in his chest, piercing a lung and spewing black blood out of his mouth.

I retrieved my weapon as the goblin burned, self-combusting into hellfire.

A gentle chuckle came from the shadows at my back. I spun around as it edged into the light. I stepped forward, doing my best to quell any fear. Demons could smell it.

My dark hood cast a shadow over my face and covered my white hair. "There's no escaping your fate, demon. You may as well get it over with."

"Kitsune," it hissed. "Pretending to be so honorable. Keeping us locked in cages, weakening us to test worthless things like you. What kind of test is a withering prisoner?"

Chort, Tier II. A demon with long and straight gray horns sticking up into the air. Beige hair covered her body, a lion's tail swishing behind her. She carried no weapon. Chorts preferred to use their teeth like all lesser demons.

She stalked around me, her tail flicking with each step of her hoofed feet. She held her hands in front of her, her claws piercing through the end of each finger. My steps were silent, while a clop marked each of hers.

The chort took her shot. I dodged both of her swipes, cutting her arm with my dagger. She slammed my back with a sharp whip of her tail. She darted into the shadows, nursing her bleeding arm.

Pain flooded from the hit, the first real pain of the fight, knocking the wind out of me. I sucked at the sulfuric air of burning demons, unable to breathe. Fear of escalating the pain kept me frozen.

I worked too hard to give up now. I forced my body into motion, finding each step easier than the last, searching in the shadows for a hint of movement.

I flicked the knife with a twitch of the wrist, only to hear the unholy squeal a moment later. I jogged forward, drawing my dagger as I tracked the sounds into the darkness.

"Agghhhh!" She clutched her goat leg where my blade pierced. "Stupid kitsune, that really hurts."

"Then let me put you out of your misery." I readied my blade, drawing closer to her neck.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" She scrambled backward, holding a hand out in front of her defensively. "You don't have to do that! We can make some kind of deal!"

Demons always wanted to make deals. Anything to try and save their sorry-asses for another day out of Hell. Who could blame them?

"I don't make deals with demons."

Her back hit the wall and my dagger pierced her neck. She choked against the blade, slumping to one side as her blackened blood pooled beneath her.

The demon gasped for her last breaths as I pulled my blade from her, wiping it off on her furry leg. Bluish hellfire leapt over her and consumed her body until she was nothing but ash.

All of the lights came on in a series of clunks , revealing the gates that had been hidden in the shadows nearby. A female voice came on over an intercom:

"Applicant four-fifteen, Dove Hawthorn: Fail."