Loose ends

Banie lay on the rocky surface of hell, a red lump forming on her cheek, and not even the strength to stand.

She gazed up at the roof of hell, no clouds obscured her sight, so she could clearly see the roiling wall of lava that stood above them, barring them entry to the higher plains.

When she was young she had dreamed of breaching the wall of magma, but it seemed that was one dream she would never reach, not in this life.

The tranquil peace of her reminiscing was rudely interrupted as a scarlet meteor came crashing down next to her.

"You dead yet Clad?" she asked in a weak voice.

A weak groan came in response.

"Me too Clad, me too"

How many years had it been since she met the big red lug, she had stopped counting around thirty, a damn long time was the best answer she could give.

"We had a good run" Clad whispered in a shaky voice, "I had fun"

"Oh cry me a river"

The two's heart felt goodbye was interrupted as their adversaries trudged towards them.

"So, Torque" Lily said in a confident tone, trying to mask the pain she was in and failing hopelessly, "Do we end it quick, or do something more creative?"

Torque made a quick swipe across his throat with his thumb.

"Your no fun" Lily moaned, "make it quick then, I want to get back on the road"

"Waste of a good tool" she muttered under her breath, throwing her now useless staff to the wayside.

Torque watched her go quietly, before turning to Banie and Clad.

With a great effort, Clad brought himself to his feet, his legs shaking like a baby dear.

"Go" he whispered to Banie, "I can give you enough time to get clear, get going"

"I don't have the strength to run" Banie said with a weak smile, "Besides, I'd rather die here with you"

"Now's not the time to get sentimental" Clad said with a weak smile, "But thanks all the same"

The Two braced for the incoming impact, but it never came, instead a bright light filled their visions.

On the floor below both of them, a pentagram began to form, a bright white light coming from each line.

A summoning circle.

After Lemegeton took over most of hell, they had a tight grip over any incoming summoning circles, as the only way for demons to grow in strength was to consume mortal souls, as such, only through a summoning could a demon grow in strength.

it had been over a year since Lemegeton had let a summoning slip into the wastes.

With newfound strength, Banie leaped to her feat, before fliping both Lily an Torque the bird.

"We living today bitches" She cried out in glee, "when we see you again, we'll be taking that bounty"

With a that, the two disappeared in a flash of light, Banie cackling gleefully, Clad just staring around blankly with a confused look.

Silence hung in the air for a minute.

Clad glanced at the now dull pentagram carved into the ground, before shrugging his shoulders calmly, and turning around.

"Why didn't you take the circle" Lily screamed in exasperation.

Torque simply pointed a Lily.

"Oh how touching, you thought of me first, that was our one way ticket to freedom, no way Lemegeton could track us in a higher realm"

Torque gave a small shrug, slowly clipping the harnesses of the cart back on, a quiet, melodic whistling coming from him as he moved.

Lily sighed, hopping into the back of the cart, wincing a little as she cleared the side.

Nothing could be done now, better to just forget about it and move on.

"Vamoos" Lily yelled, clapping her hands together.

Torque took of like a shot, dragging the cart along with it, becoming nothing more than just a cloud of dust in the distance in no time.

...

Dusk was falling on the site of the battle, the great lava ceiling had cooled into a layer of igneous rock, basking the planes of hell the warm glow of what little light managed to pass through the cracks in the rock.

As the small beams of light shone down, a few reflected off a large beast, carefully pacing along the faint tracks left by the now long gone cart.

The beast looked like a titanic wolf, though its entire coat had a metallic sheen, and each of its hairs was more like a strip of razor thin wire.

It's teeth more serrated knives, each claw a hooked sword of epic proportions and his eyes had no light in them, only the blank look of a carving, lifeless and unseeing.

The creature began to gaze around with a lazy glare, letting out a disgusted snort upon treading on the remain of the summoning circle.

The beast considered rubbing out the faint remains, but that was an effort beneath it.

The creature began to sniff the air, turning up his nose at the smell.

With nothing else to gain, the creature turned back to the faded tracks, and began to dash after what little traces it could find.

In its haste, the beast missed a white and gold plague doctors mask, nestled neatly in the crack of a large boulder.

as soon as the coast was clear, the mask burst out, a shadowy body appearing below it, like a massive black cloak.

The figure made sure the coast was clear, before hurriedly rushing over to the traces of the summoning circle.

Bending down, the figure traced the lines of the circle with a clawed finger with a desperate fervour.

After going over the circle nearly twenty times, he let out a sigh, it was genuine.

As he finished his musings, a loud and obnoxious crowing came from his cloak of shadows.

Drawing his hand in, he pulled out a crow that was squawking frantically, flapping its wings in a panicked flurry.

The figure calmly placed the crow on the ground, bending down till he almost lay on the ground, scrutinising the bird intently.

Upon being placed down, the crow ceased its frantic squabbling, becoming a still as a statue.

The crow hopped around in a little circle, nodded its head slightly, then clicked its beak with a sharp clack noise.

"Raum you old bird" The crow blurted out in a smooth voice without a single stutter, "how are you, haven't heard from you recently, everything been well, you still hunting, haven't know you for the patient type, but I guess that goes to show you never really know a demon ay"

"Furcas" Raum replied with a strained voice, "your voice is as grating as ever"

"And that stick is still as far up your ass as the day you left"

The crow spoke in a raspy voice, each word coming out as an exhausting exhale, though there was no falter in the speech.

"That is no way for a knight to address an earl" Raum spat, "your behaviour is incorrigible"

"Oh you youngsters, always so obsessed with rank" the crow sighed, "and here I thought being the oldest, and last, knight meant something"

"I hope you didn't call me just to complain, I've heard enough of your wheezes"

"Fine, fine, I swear you youngsters are always in such a rush, back in my day-"

"Furcus" Raum roared, "I swear on all that is unholy, if your useless prattle causes me to lose the fugitives once again, when I return, I will personal string you up from the tallest tower of Hell's Eden, and leave you their till your body shrivels like a prune, and you head swells like a balloon"

"Ok, no need to get so antsy, anyway, you may be losing them no matter what I say, there has been a rouge summoning, the council wishes you to investigate it"

"I have already begun the investigation, your input was not required"

"You young folk, always in a rush"

"Save it, the summoning is genuine, nothing we can do about it now, my crows are registering the hellfire traces now, we will know when they resurface, has a judgment come on what to do to the offenders?"

"Offer them a chance to join, or, make sure they never 'resurface' again"

"Understood"

"Good, good, as I always say-"

"I-I'm s-s-sor-r-ry" Raum interrupted abruptly, "c-c-on-n-nect-i-i-ion i-is b-break-k-ing u-u-up"

"Now, now, we both know that's not how-"

Raum patted the crow on the head, cutting it off mid sentence.

The crow seemed to wake from a long slumber, blinking groggily, its mouth slightly ajar.

The moment it regained its senses, it began to make retching noises, wiping at its tongue with its wings.

"I know, I know" Raum said in a comforting tone, "I would also want to get all the dust out of my mouth after having to talk for such a relic"

As Raum was comforting the crow, two other crows hopped over, each with a small vial in their beaks, one containing a crimson red mist, the other, a bright purple cloud.

"What a good job you've done" Raum said in a joyful tone, bending down till he was level with the birds.

Reaching out his clawed hand, he began to scratch behind one of the birds heads, only switching the target of his affection when the other crow got impatient and began to peck at his arm.

"Well then" He said with a chuckle, after nearly ten minutes of doating on the two birds "time to go back"

The birds obediently dipped their heads, before hopping into the folds of Raum's shadowy cloak.

Raum took one last look at his surroundings, before sinking down into the ground, his body seemingly deflating.

After a short while, only a white and gold plague mask remained, but that too was seemingly swallowed by its own shadow.

...

After nearly a full day of constant travel, the pair of Torque and Lily finally came to a stop by a small collection of free standing boulders.

"You tired already?" Lily asked, barely paying attention.

Torque turned around and looked her dead in the eyes, before gazing down at her side.

"I'm fine, just a scratch" Lily hand waved her injury, however, when she tried to stand, she clutched her side in pain, cursing under her breath.

"I'm fine" she assured Torque with a forced smile, "but a scratch"

Torque unclipped quickly and lumbered over quickly, picking Lily up by the scruff of her neck as gently as possible and placing her daintily on the ground.

"That hurts asshole" Lily complained, "is that how you treat your injured sister? I thought dad taught you manners"

Torque gave her a look.

"Ok, I admit, I'm injured, so what, it'll heal on its own"

Torque moved slowly towards Lily, his finger beginning to glow a bright orange.

"Oh hell no" Lily blurted out, shuffling backwards as fast as she could go, "you are not going anywhere near my wound"

Torque patted himself confidently on the chest in response.

"You learned about that from a mad lost soul, besides, he only explained the concept to you, you know jack shit about how to do it" 

Torque forlornly let the light in his finger die down, sitting down next to Lily with a clatter.

The two sat I silence, watching as the ceiling that kept them all trapped below cracked and crumbled, only to reform just as quickly in a never ending cycle they had watched too many times to count.

"Don't worry big guy" Lily said with a chuckle, watching as Torque gazed intently at the ceiling, as if trying to bore a hole in it with his gaze, "You'll see stars one day"

Torque gave no response, and just kept staring.

"You'll feel the soft grass beneath your feet instead of sharp rocks" Lily continued, in a practiced ritual they had carried out so many times, "see dew in the misty air, instead of a cloud of ash, bathe in true sunlight, and live out the rest of your days in paradise"

Torque final stopped staring at the ceiling, and rolled over, the gentle rumble he constantly emitted dying down slowly.

"But we're in this shit hole for now, so let's enjoy it while it lasts"