Hi! This is the prologue to Demon Escape. I wrote it after I wrote the first two chapters, but I feel it explains a lot and leaves good foreshadowing. Read please and comment!
Check out my Guardian chapters!
Enjoy!
Prologue
V gripped the quill tightly in his rigid hand, determined not to shake. He had perused the contract over and over again, making sure that the dark figure standing gleefully in front of him did not attempt to trick him with some loophole.
Warlocks were tricky, but he had badly needed one. Only they had connections with both worlds-the world above, and the Underworld. They bartered skills for souls and powers. They were crafty with spells, but had little power.
He had plenty of power, more than he cared for, but enough to damn him anyway. Being one of the harbingers of sin and destruction was pretty stressful, to say the least. Serving the Great Lord was a giant pain in the you-know-where.
To clarify a little, V was a Deadly Sin and he was presently in a cold cave in the farther recesses of Hell. Being imbued with a Sin is not exactly the most charming qualities a person could have. Not that V was even a person. Being damned kind of stripped him of those rights.
Yet here he was, having snuck away from the Great Lord to a thin and reedy warlock to become the one thing the Great Lord despised-human.
He had watched the Highworld ever since he could remember and envied those humans and desired to be up there with them. It was green and grand and beautiful. A million sensations that he could only pine for, but never capture. The humans had such short lives and many of their souls ended down here, in eternal damnation like him. But still, that short taste of sweetness was surely worth it, was it not?
V sliced his wrist with the sharp tip of the quill and signed his name, sealing his fate. There was no going back. Only forward. Above.
But nothing happened.
V raised his arm to strike the stupid warlock down when light exploded around him, blinding him, and he felt his entire body was being torn to shreds by invisible claws. He screamed out, no longer able to see anything.
Surely this was a trick. Surely something was wrong with the contract even though he had checked it over and over again. Sure ascending to the Highworld couldn't be this painful. He had always dreamed of it as soothing-a reprieve from Hell. But now, all he could think of was pain and more pain.
And then it stopped. He felt something hard underneath him. Was he still in that damned cave? He blinked and realized he could see. There were pricks of light above him. A few more blinks told him they were stars-that could only mean he was in the Highworld, staring at the heavens. How ironic. But he didn't pause to consider that, he was too occupied with those lovely pinpoints of light. The moon here glowed much brighter than it did from the Underworld. It was an essence anchor for the Underworld to the Highworld, the patron of warlocks. When in its full moon phase, the anchor was especially strong and he, one of the deadliest demons, could cross.
He didn't move for a while, savoring the sweet scent of fresh air for the first time, before he remembered that he was human now and humans had little time to waste since it moved so quickly here.
He had so much of the world to explore and too little time. Only a year.
A year before the contract obliterated his mind and essence and left his powers for the warlock to keep.
But his sacrifice was worth it-the stars and moon and heady air proved as much, and he knew there was so much more, and he desired it all. Besides, there was no point in living in a place where time didn't matter and the only scent was death.
Still. A year was too short.
Well, he best make good use of his too-short year. He set off down the lonely, hard street, headed for places unknown, thinking, Farewell, Hell.
Stay with the story! More of Rio and Bri next chapter. They both have secrets...are they willing to confess?
YOU ARE READING
