‘I’m a nobody in Hell; all I’ve got going for me is whatever authority I can bluff, and my warlocks. I’ve got a good collection too. Too bad none of them can hear me. With this damned collar on I can’t even escape–’
‘Laes…’
‘Oh, good, you’re awake! Now, I can really start complaining.’
‘Please don’t. My head’s pounding enough as it is… Soel help me…’ She shuddered and whispered a prayer. She was afraid, petrified even. She wanted the solace of her lord, the feeling of warmth that filled her when her god granted her his favour.
It didn’t come.
Her heart sank. There was no panic, only despair. Not only did her people, her church name her a traitor, but her god had also abandoned her. Maybe they were right. Maybe she was a heretic, just using them to get her revenge. She’d never exactly been the perfect zealot. She’d never make it as a nun. She only made it in the Morning’s Fury because they were a bit more lax about one’s devotions.
‘We’re going to die, aren’t we, Laes?’ It wasn’t so much a question as a realisation – an admittance that this would be how she goes out.
‘Oh, most certainly.’
Despair was slowly replaced with anger. No. She’d been doing what was right. She’d been protecting people and killing demons. That’s all she was ever supposed to do. If they were going to kill her for letting a devil help her save people’s lives, then they could all go straight to hell with her.
‘I’m just glad I’m not a true devil,’ Laes added.
‘Why does that matter?’
‘Well, because it means I at least have something of a soul, which means I’ll end up back in Hell when I die. I’ll likely come back as an imp… I always hated imps. But, oh well, my contracts will still stand; they’ll give me a leg up on starting over.’
‘You seem very relaxed about this,’ she said, doing her best to keep up a brave face even as she fought back tears.
‘… I admit darling, it’s partly an act. I’m terrified, but, well, I at least know where I’m going. Plus, growing up in Hell gives you alarming pain tolerance. No clue what’ll happen to you. A zealot abandoned by her god for going too far in her pursuit of slaying demons. Sounds like something straight out of a storybook. If you’re lucky, the Wanderer might take pity on you and give you entrance to his afterlife. I hear it’s not so bad. It’s no eternal rest, but you’re basically just born again.’
‘And if I’m not lucky…?’
‘Want to consider selling me your soul? Better to have a devil that likes you on your side than being a soul up for grabs in Hell, and it’ll save you from somewhere like the Pit or the Abyss.’
‘I wouldn’t, Amberly.’ Leoric was coming down the stairs. The click of his heels on the stone silenced the songbird and Amberly looked to see it flying away. ‘The grandmaster has decreed that you will be executed, but if you confess and repent, I might be able to make that an exile. Please, don’t push your luck any further than you already have.’
‘Think on it, Amberly,’ Laes said, ‘we could still get that dinner together sometime. Though, I don’t know how much you’d like the restaurant.’
‘Quiet, Hellspawn. Each word from your mouth is razors to my ears,’ said Leoric before cursing the devil in Soel’s name, the holy words causing Laes to hiss and groan in agony.
‘Leoric,’ Amberly said, crying, ‘I just… I just wanted to save the children. I don’t see how what I did was wrong! Laes was doing the same thing! We both just wanted to kill the demons and save the children! What does it matter who I work with as long as good is done? I did nothing wrong!’
She raved, all the fear and outrage finally breaking free. All she’d wanted to do was good. Even if it was in pursuit of revenge, she was still doing what she was supposed to. She wouldn’t have been able to save those children alone! Why couldn’t they see that? Why couldn’t they see that Laes had been the best option she had? That Laes had helped her save people. That neither of them had done anything evil. It was stupid, in her eyes, to turn down an ally and hate them to the core just for what they were, even if their goals were just and aligned with hers. Stupid that her god would abandon her for so little. For trying to do what was right.
Leoric did not reply. As stern as he seemed, she could see a struggle going on in him as he entered her cell.
‘Please repent, Amberly. It hurts my soul enough to know you’ll be executed. I don’t wish you damned as well. I’m doing all I can, but you need to give me something.’
‘Soel has already abandoned me. I’ll not repent for a sin I didn’t commit. Trying to save those children was the right thing to do and I used everything I had to do it. If saving people and killing demons is a sin, then this church is the one full of sinners!’ Leoric slapped her hard enough to split her lip. A sob wracked her as he grabbed her about the shoulders.
‘Do you know how many times I’ve had to pray for Soel to forgive you? How many times I’ve had to beg him and the grandmaster to give you another try. How much I’ve sacrificed to give you one more chance!’ he hissed. Amberly was stunned into silence as he continued, the dam holding back years of frustration, breaking.
‘I’ve… I’ve worked so hard to try and make something of you Amberly, but you just… you don’t care! You’re just guided by revenge. You’ve never cared about Soel, or the church, or me. You just want to use us as a path to your petty revenge for parents you barely remember. I raised you! I took you in like you were my own! I pulled you from their arms! I saved you from those demons! Is that really worth so little to you? Am I? I’m… I’m done, Amberly. I’m done. You’ve used up your last chance.’
By the time he was finished, he was shaking, tears welled in his eyes. He let out a final sigh, and as he started to walk away from Amberley, she looked back towards Laes. He gave her a softer, friendlier smile, perhaps trying to console her or show some empathy, but it was something the devil was not used to doing.
‘You want so badly to be with the devil, Amberly?’ Leoric said, his voice heavy with emotion as he padded away. ‘You’ll burn together.’
Syline returned to the bar. As she approached, she could hear raised voices: lumberjacks and bounty hunters hurling insults at one another. Bursting inside, the door slamming wide on its hinges as the wind tore it from her hands, Syline could immediately feel all eyes upon her again. How long had it been since she’d left with the awful man? Ten minutes? Fifteen? In her mind, it felt like an eternity. She could only imagine the state she must appear in: she was crying, her clothes were dishevelled, and sitting heavy in her hands, was a bloody axe ill-fitted to her hands.
The bar was silent. There were no jokes. No seedy comments or playful jibes. Everyone wanted to know what had happened. Except for the table that already knew. The table of bounty hunters who he’d been sitting with. Who he’d been joking with. Who probably all knew his intentions when he left the tavern with the girl in tow.
The bartender was making his way over to her, but the bounty hunters got there first. They came around her like hunting hounds. As one, they demanded to know what she had done. Who she thought she was. If that was really his blood. So many questions, some of the men appalled at what their friend had done, others furious as they connected the dots, realising their friend was now dead.
Syline slowly crumpled to the floor. After all the terror she’d gone through only moments ago, this was too much for her. She felt short of breath. She felt guilty. Weak. Angry. Scared. She felt so much but didn’t have the strength to do anything. She could hear Corax cawing at her from within the folds of her scarf, butting his head against her to try and give her comfort. At that moment, she felt like Corax was the only thing in the world on her side. They crowded around her, and when the bartender tried to push between them, one shoved him back.
‘Leave the girl alone,’ the bartender snarled at them.
The one who shoved him turned to glare at the bartender.
‘Not ’til we know what she’s bloody well done with our mate. If ‘e’s dead…’ He didn’t expand, but with Syline weeping, and the increasing panic between the bounty hunters, it was obvious to the bar as a whole, what had been done now. Other patrons began to rise from their seats as the bounty hunters began to close ranks, beginning to panic. One man called out, saying that was his axe she held. Another began to try and defuse the situation, walking forwards with his hands splayed out, calling for the bounty hunters to calm down and step away from Syline. He was the first to get hit, a bounty hunter yelling for him to back off as he threw a haymaker for the man’s jaw. He crumpled; the sense knocked out of him.
The bartender threw the second punch, catching the man holding him back in the jaw. The man went sprawling, scattering broken glass and ale as he landed on a nearby table.
‘You bastards came into our town!’ he roared, leaping for the man before his friends threw the bartender back. ‘You act like the bandits you’re supposed to keep back!’
That was like the spark that ignited an inferno. Suddenly, the whole place was up in arms and everyone was fired up. Accusations were thrown at the bounty hunters. The bounty hunters accused Syline of being a murderer. The lumberjacks leapt for them, fists first. Syline screamed. The place was total chaos and Syline found herself getting trampled on as the circle of bounty hunters was broken. Some stepped over her to aid their friends, others jostled around her as lumberjacks tried to shove through them to her rescue. She should have just run. She should have just gotten out of this damned town. It was all she could do to keep Corax from getting stomped on, cradling her raven to her to keep him safe.
She was halfway through crawling beneath a table and getting out the incantation to make her disappear when one of the bounty hunters grabbed her by the collar and hefted her up out from under it.
