Deal of the Devil

Due the blurred vision everything around felt like a fabrication of mind. The golden palace around me was transformed to a tiny, damp, dark room. Fragrant odor that filled my nostrils a while ago was now stimulated by a gushing effluvium of rotten flesh. In an instant my face was drenched from the water dripping down.

Smell of the water was discrete. Clearing my face, I realized it was nothing but the saliva dripping down the razor edged fangs of a beast.

Those callous green eyes glittering against black body were piercing my soul. May be he considered me a palletizing dinner for the night. Beast advanced towards me in a slow, steady movement and my steps backward.

Patting heavily, I reached the limit. I was corned in a room. Dark! I could only see those cruel eyes. The beast was just an inch away from my shivering body. Life in despair. I could sense the door of hell open for me. The screams of unliberated souls of hell was echoing in my eardrum. In the middle of this a sweet seductive voice diverted my line of thinking.

With her gentle voice she ordered the beast to back off. And the way she approached to pat the beast made me think it was her pet. Leaving her pet behind she walked to me with the flickering light of dark fire decked up on her forefinger. Black pupil surrounded by red iris, calm, fallacious. She was covered in a black robe with eagle's fur adoring her shoulders. Two tiny little brownish black horns hiding between mid-thigh length white hair.

"Only her horns were cute"

This time she questioned me in her irresistible voice,

"So will you accept the deal or die?"

A clear emotion of dismay was expressed by my tone,

"What is the deal?"

All of a sudden she shushed me with her finger,

"Shhhhh! Lord doesn't like questions. Don't let him hear you"

Stuttering tone of mine, "Who?"

"Humans! They never change", shaking her head in disbelief she directly choked my neck smashing my back on the wall and again she asked,

"This is your last time either I hear you say yes or you will be the dinner of my dear pet"

I said yes without a hesitation because it was the matter of my death.

As she heard my answer a crescent smile of triumph crept her face. She called upon the guard ordering,

"Convey the message to Lord, Wakuba accepted the deal and soon will be presented in the demon court."

She signaled me to follow her. Neither my hands cuffed nor I was heavily guarded. She guided me as a common visitor of the place. May be she was firm with fact that I could never escape their clutches.

As I walked through the hallway I could see the magnificent red blood crystal palace of the demon, heavily guarded by demon warriors. The lady whispered in low,

"This is why you are not chained. Escaping the demon palace is a nightmare that directly lands your foot on the graveyard."

Wicked women. A servant crowned with such attitude what will be the pace of her Lord!

Court of the demons was the real epitome of their ferocious deeds. A throne in the centre entirely craved of bones. Might be the bones of enemies. High erected pillars around ten in number. Demon guards along with nine caged kings. I remember them as Aryans, the rulers of nine kingdoms allied with Alaka.

A heavy footsteps heard, everyone in the court bowing with fear in the direction. I was pulled to the side by the lady and was forced to bow. A cold, deep voice was heard,

"Gaagi, you will be rewarded"

"Thank you. My Lord"

I lifted my head to witness the most unpleasant face on the earth. No empathy, no guilt, eyes that only radiate fear, anguish. He was dressed with some kind of leather. His intense tone still rings my ear.

The deal he offered was to steal. The biggest theft of my lifetime and the biggest blunder too. In return he offered me immortality and a life of rich.

A covetous person like me never imagined the consequence. I was drowning in the greed of excess wealth and pleasures. I never imagined immortality would be a golden cage seized with guilt.

Orzala questioned, "What was the thing to steal? And who offered the deal?!"

With tear filled eyes he uttered, "Seven Stones of Creation and The Blood stone was the thing I stole. The person offering this was The Demon God Khalida, father of Kalhar the demon prince"

Silence filled the room. Orzala neither knew Kalhar nor had an idea about his father Khalida. She only knew them from the story narrated by Wakuba.

"How was my father connected to all this?", Orzala asked desperately.

"He does hold a big role. Let me finish the story".