Runes of Truth (A Demon's Fall #1)(25)
“What do you think my type is then?” he asks.
“Not sweet, that’s for sure,” I say, and stop, seeing the gate, and Azi a few feet in front of us. He walks over, and when he gets closer, I start to see that he doesn’t look happy when he gets closer.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, walking to his side.
“Come and see,” he nods his head behind him, and I run up the little hill then pause.
“Crap,” I mutter, seeing the massive gap in-between us and the gate on the other side. There is a rock in the middle, which I think I could jump to, and the wooden bridge is hanging down the side of it. There’s a river underneath, and parts of the cliff are falling into it. Someone doesn’t want us following them to hell, that’s for sure.
“I found a bridge across, about three miles that way but I can’t portal for a bit. I’ve used up too much energy,” he points to the left as he explains. Three miles? That will take ages. “I’m going to tell the others,” Azi says and walks over to Trex and Nix who are sitting near the stream, going through their bags. Connor comes to my side, and something in his eyes makes me think he knows I’m going to do something a little bit insane.
“Want to do something crazy?” I ask Connor, who frowns at me, as I keep an eye on the others.
“Like what?” he enquires.
“Jumping onto that rock, and then to the other side,” I whisper, and he shakes his head, but he can’t stop me as I run and jump, slamming onto the edge of the rock, and using what’s left of the wooden bridge to pull myself up.
“Now or never, Connor!” I shout, seeing Azi and the others looking around and spotting where I am. Connor shakes his head, stepping back and running, jumping at the last second and landing pretty much in the same space I did. I grab his hand, pulling him up as the others get to the cliff and see what we have done. I ignore them, looking at the other side of the cliff right by the gate.
“Don’t do it, Vi, I swear to the damn devil I will spank your ass if you do,” Azi shouts at me from the other side, as I unclip my daggers from my belt, and hold them at my sides. If anything, the idea of him trying to spank me just makes me want to jump more.
“Connor, fucking stop her!” Trex shouts from where he is standing next to Azi, and I look up at Connor. He is dripping with water like me, but it sticks to his leather outfit, making his gold hair stick around his face, and his gold eyes are ablaze with mischief.
“Let’s have some fun,” I wink at him, and he laughs lifting his two daggers in the air and twirling them.
“Ladies first,” he waves a hand towards the massive cliff that is falling apart, but it’s the only way to get where we want to, quickly.
“I’m no lady,” I laugh, but run forward. I run fast towards the cliff and jump, lifting my hands with the daggers in the air and slamming them into the soft rock wall, sliding down a bit but managing to save it. Well, save myself.
“You are both fucking crazy!” I hear Trex shout, just as Connor lands next to me.
“All the best people are! Good luck on the long way around boys!” I shout back and pull one of my daggers out, lifting it up, and slamming it into the soft rock above my head and pulling myself up. No one ever said anything easy wasn’t crazy.
Evie
I wave once more at the guys, seeing their annoyance, but luckily not being able to hear what they are shouting at us. Connor nods his head towards the gate, making me look away from the guys. The gate is literally a huge gold door, that glows. There is a line of souls being led into it like they can’t go anywhere else, souls that are not meant to be in hell for long. They will be reborn, lucky for them. I doubt my soul will be.
“We can join the line, no one controls this gate, or protects it like the next one,” I tell him. We walk the few steps to the line, sliding in between a gap, and walking towards the floor. The soul in front of me is an old lady in a long night dress, and her long hair is down. She looks so peaceful as she glides along, not even noticing me behind her.
“Who protects the next gate? Or do I not want to know?” Connor whispers as we walk.
“The three triplet guard dogs of hell. They aren’t dogs, but they can turn themselves into massive creatures that look like dogs,” I explain. I haven’t met them myself, I only know what Azi has told me. He said they are immortal, and bound to the gate, knowing they will die if they try to leave the gate unprotected. He also said they are assholes with appealing faces. And that the appeal was that he wanted to punch them every time they opened their mouths.
“How are we meant to get past them, exactly?” Connor asks, and I glance him expecting to see fear, but he just looks curious.
“Basically, by having Azi with us. They are forbidden to stop him, and anyone he wishes, from going into the third layer,” I explain what I’ve heard. It’s not like anyone asks to go down to hell, anyway, so I doubt the guard dogs will stop us.
“Why?” Connor asks.
“It’s his home. Azi said he, and his brothers, were born there,” I say quietly, and we finally get to the gate before Connor can ask any more questions. The soul in front of me walks straight into the gold wall like it’s not there, disappearing on the other side. I step through, feeling like a warm breeze hits me and smile as I open my eyes at the second layer of hell. It’s a desert, the snow quickly changing to the open sands, and the large pyramid in the middle of it. The gold tip is shining in the sun. The distance catches my eye, and I know that’s where the next portal is. I look around, seeing nothing for ages. I know it’s getting dark, and we need to find somewhere to hide before we try to make it to the next gate in the morning.