Chapter 15: Lana

"T he courtyard is suspiciously empty," I tell Akira.

We're perched like buzzards atop a cliff overlooking Asmodeus' fortress. Corson was right when he called it a ziggurat; it looks like something the Mayans built. Other than the fact that it's made of what looks like pure onyx.

Akira just grunts, still observing our destination, looking for movement.

"I expected imps dancing around fire pits, worshiping their demonic overlords."

This time he says nothing at all. As a successful banker from a wealthy Japanese family, he was probably used to speaking only when necessary, even before he came under Corson's tutelage.

"Have you ever been so close to an archdemon's stronghold?" I try again.

This time I get a reaction. "You talk too much."

I grin. "I know. You're blessed to be in my presence." His slightly angled eyes narrow further and I swear he's holding back a smile. I'll get there eventually. If we don't die screaming first.

It took us over a day of trekking through Hell, crossing from one domain to another, from lands covered in charcoal and ash, to barren deserts and through dead forests of gnarled trees. We didn't encounter a single denizen before we got to our destination. We must have gotten diplomatic immunity. I snort at my own internal joke. Akira ignores me.

"I sense a lot of demons inside, but I need to get closer to be able to separate what I'm feeling into numbers and hierarchies." I get to the task at hand, not willing to spend many more nights out in the open. While the majority of Hell isn't completely inhospitable – save the Burning Pits, from what we're told – the presence of soul manifestations and hungry demons make it impossible to rest without one of us keeping watch. It doesn't make for restful nights.

Akira nods and points his chin to the back of the structure. "That side is closest to cover. We should descend there."

"Agreed."

We carefully move around the structure, still staying out of line of sight, stopping to check for movement intermittently. Once we get to the closest approach, we use the skinny nascent pine trees as handholds, and their roots as steps. Halfway down, we spot one of the tunnel openings Corson described.

I sigh. "We're going to have to climb." Getting in unnoticed is just the first step in a sequence of doozies.

Once we're at the building, I crouch and give Akira a foothold up the first block. The shorter man then reaches down to pull me up. We carefully repeat the process, not speaking, until we get to the opening and I gulp. It's narrow and I can't see a light at the end. Claustrophobia tightens my ribcage.

Akira grabs my hand in solidarity and nods for me to go first. Once I get a feeling whether Asmodeus is here or not, we can return to Abaddon. It's possible we're going to have to crawl backward.

Fuck. Here goes nothing.

I, surprisingly, get used to the rhythm of my movements after a while, and avoid thinking about being trapped in the narrow darkness. I still can't get a feeling for our quarry, though.

I don't know how much time passes in silence before we hear it: screams, laughter, shouting. Pretty much what one would expect from ungoverned demonic minions. We've reached a balcony and I peek out over the railing, Akira joining me.

The scene before us is utter chaos. Demons are tearing each other apart. There are imps and raptors, like the one we faced near that graveyard years ago. The odd incubus is standing out – they're usually more lovers than fighters. A demon with fists wreathed in flames grabs hold of a hellhound and bites its head off, ichor spraying all over his face and the surrounding imps that are vying for a taste. A muscular demon, practically a behemoth, suddenly lunges towards one of the imps and rips it in half, throwing both pieces of dead demon away from him – one of them right in our direction. I quickly duck closer to the ground. The imp's lower half splatters against the wall behind me with a grotesque sound and I'm overwhelmed by an acidic smell.

I swallow down my nausea and close my eyes, trying to focus on our objective and not the overpowering sounds and smells. The more powerful demons are farther below us. I catch Akira's gaze and point down. His lips tighten but he nods.

We don't know the layout of the giant building. If the archdemon's contemporaries knew it, they did not share it with us. We crabwalk the perimeter of the balcony that's encircling the chaos below until we find another tunnel with a downward inclination. I eye the depthless dark and wince, imagining myself sliding down on my ass, straight into a behemoth's waiting maw.

No way but forward, I guess. I dangle my legs into the hole and, with a final smile of bravado at Akira, push off. A damp wind stirs the hair that escaped my braid as I keep sliding, the tunnel feeling slick as if covered by algae. God, I hope it's algae.

With a splash, I hit the water and quickly move to avoid being crushed by Akira when he lands. Taking stock of my surroundings, I realize that what I landed in can be more adequately described as sewage. I gag and almost press my hand against my mouth, before noticing it's covered in green slime.

Shit, I really am going to hurl. I feel the tell-tale tingling sensations, the saliva gathering in my mouth. Just before I upchuck, Akira lands behind me with his own splash. A splash that sends a wave of sewage over me. Suddenly I'm so glad my mouth was closed that I momentarily forget my nausea.

Seeing as we haven't been overrun by demons, I figure we're alone, and scramble toward the nearest ledge. It's not easy hoisting myself onto dry land while being covered in goo. While I slip and slide like a demented slug, Akira snickers and pulls himself out effortlessly and elegantly. Fucker.

When we're both out, we use bursts of wind to blow most of the slime, algae, and water off ourselves. We're still looking kind of green and there are scrapes from the tunnels wherever leather doesn't cover us. Shuddering over the thought of infection, I use the ether to encourage our blood cells into clotting the wounds. The ability now comes easier to me than most. Of course, Daniel is far better at it… and so was Simone. It only takes a thought to send thrombocytes to the sites of our scrapes, coaxing them to plug the ruptures.

Once I'm done, I turn in a circle and stop when I'm facing the direction with the strongest pulse of demonic presence. I point in the direction with my chin. Akira unsheathes his twin daggers and I follow suit, though I still feel like they'd be pretty ineffectual if we get surrounded by several upper-level demons.

As we exit the demonic version of aqueducts and walk down the corridor I chose, the temperature suddenly increases. While moments ago I felt a damp chill, a dry heat is now permeating the air, drying my skin and leaving behind a gritty residue. Along with the heat come angry sounds; first at a murmur, but as we creep closer, I hear growls of rage.

A red and orange glow suffuses the end of the dark hallway, light flickering on the walls, the hot wind stirring dust. We approach warily, not knowing what exactly we're getting ourselves into. The demonic presence is definitely strongest here, though, so approach it we must.

I can now sense that a couple of dozen upper-level demons are congregated in the area beyond the next turn. What I don't sense is the presence of an archdemon or anything that would be strong enough in power to be a demon lord. I stop Akira and shake my head, then shrug – now what? He looks at me, then towards the source of the flickering light, and I can understand what he's thinking – we've gotten this far.

Once we've taken the turn, we can see that the corridor is in shambles – black brick lays everywhere as if a battering ram hit it from the outside. The heat and light are coming from the hole in the wall and we can hear high-pitched wailing now, joining the growls of anger.

We try to stay out of sight of the demons we sense below as we peek outside. I see the demons I felt and in the numbers I felt. There are succubi and incubi, demons known for seduction and trickery, and something I'd expect in numbers in the court of the Duke of Lust. While these breeds look similar enough to humans, many have wings and hooves, tails and horns. They also come in varying colors, besides the spectrum found with humans: from lavender to rose, and with hair of green, blue, or white. What they all have in common, though, is an ethereal sort of beauty and allure, making them the perfect predators to feed on the body's carnal responses.

It's the presence of physically stronger demons, ones likely in positions of army commanders, however, that make me think we chanced upon some of Asmodeus' upper court. These demons are farther from human appearance; they're grotesque and alien, some much larger, all much stronger. Asmodeus' generals, demon lords, are likely in their own dwellings, and not present .

While I expected to see these demons, I didn't expect them in the state of imprisonment they're in. All of them are in suspended steel cages, futilely rattling the bars, unleashing occasional growls of rage. The sex demons look a bit peaky, like whoever imprisoned them didn't think about their… dietary requirements. I wonder how long they can feed off each other.

The captive demons aren't the strangest part of the scene before us, though. Under the cages is an opening in the ground itself, like a meteor had hurtled through all the lower levels of the citadel and stopped so far below that we can't even see where that is. The depthless crater glows. Suffocating brimstone mist fouls the air beyond what we're already used to, and the wailing seems to be coming from it as well. My mouth opens in a gasp of shock.

If I'm not mistaken, and I don't think I am since I still spend all of my free time reading what is now various grimoires (there's only so much cliterature Maalik can bring me from topside), that hole leads to the Burning Pits. The very inner sanctum of Hell, Satan's domain. A domain said to be mostly molten rock and spewing lava.

I give Akira an unmistakable ‘what the fuck is going on here?' look and he returns his own that says ‘fuck if I know'.

Okay, he would never really say that, but it's implied.

Taking one more look at the caged commanders and courtiers, trying to memorize as much as I can so that I can describe it to the Fallen, I gesture to Akira that we're done here.

This is super confusing. We haven't seen or felt any indicators that there's a rift to the human realm here, and to top it off, the archdemon's court somehow got collectively imprisoned, leaving the lesser demons completely unchecked.

The presence of the crater leading deeper into the Underworld gives me a clue to Asmodeus' location, however. I think he's in Lucifer's inner sanctum with the vilest of demons and souls. Since it doesn't appear that he's gone of his own free will, I wonder what provoked the Devil into bringing him there.