Chapter 7
Lilith helped me move Vanessa’s giant cauldron into the center of the classroom floor, and then I went back to the book to see what we needed to do next.
“According to the book, there are three separate parts to this spell,” I said. “A blood sacrifice, a soul connection, and then the transportation itself.”
Lilith and I sat around the cauldron, and I placed the book in between us so she could read it, too. It gave us a list of everything we needed and the order in which to use each object. The passage said we required our blood and a strand of our hair, as well as some glass vials and some rope. At first, I had no idea what the rope was used for, but I put that thought to one side as Lilith located the items.
“Does it say how many vials we need?” Lilith asked as she raided Vanessa’s cupboard.
“We need one for every person who takes part,” I said as I checked the book.
Lilith checked every shelf and little box Vanessa had stored in the cupboard, and once she had the rope and vials in hand, Lilith returned to the cauldron and set the items carefully beside the book.
“Right, next we both need to fill the vials with our blood, but we cannot get them confused,” I said.
“Okay.” Lilith nodded.
Then my mother and I pulled out the cork lid from inside the glass tubes, and once they were carefully balanced on the floor, we each sliced a small line into the center of our palms. At first, the warm, red liquid poured down the outside of the vial, but the more blood I squeezed from the cut, the more that ran inside the glass tube.
Once the vial was full, I put the lid back on and then placed it beside me so it didn’t get mixed up with Lilith’s. The cut in my palm had already started to heal, and I felt the stretching of skin as it returned to its original form. There was a slight sting, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
“Right, what now?” Lilith asked as she placed the cork lid back on.
“We have to recite the first part of the spell, but we both need to say it at exactly the same time,” I replied. “According to the book, a second’s delay could cause the spell not to work, or it could backfire.”
“What would happen then?” She frowned.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “But I don’t think we want to find out.”
Then I used the illuminana spell to light the cauldron, and once a red smoke had appeared, I sat up on my knees so I was sitting in line with the large pot.
“You ready?” I asked.
“I’m always ready, my lord.” Lilith smiled.
I pointed out the spell we had to recite first, and then I prepared myself for whatever was going to happen next.
“Once we’ve recited the spell, we need to pour our blood into the cauldron,” I explained. “And then before we say the second part, we must add a hair to the mixture.”
“Okay, on a count of three…” Lilith said as she took a deep breath. “One… two… three.”
“Haec simul coniungit sanguinis domini quae est moveri in tenebris,” we said in unison.
I barely waited for our words to take effect before I popped open the vial, and once Lilith was ready, we poured our blood into the pot at the same time. The book didn’t say anything about every step needing to be in unison, but I didn’t want to take any risks with a spell as powerful as this one.
The red smoke quickly turned black, and the cauldron began to bubble and boil violently. A harsh, metallic stench lifted with the black clouds, but at least it was a sign the blood was working.
Next, we had to pull out a strand of our hair and add it to the pot. I just chose the first strand I touched, but Lilith unraveled the neat bun which had originally been sitting on the top of her head. Then, once her long, black hair was draped over her shoulders, Lilith separated a single strand from the lock and held it over the cauldron.
“Once we’ve dropped the hairs into the pot, we need to recite this incantation,” I said as I pointed to the spell in the book. “The smoke will turn clear, which means it’s worked, and then we add in the rope. This spell is to help bind the rope and our blood together so I’m connected to the portal.”
“I understand.” Lilith nodded.
The strands of hair were dropped over the side of the cauldron, and they quickly became lost in the darkness below.
“Ut simul nos uti funem,” Lilith and I said simultaneously.
I watched the billowing clouds of smoke carefully, and then I noticed how they turned lighter shades of black, then gray, and then completely clear. It still bubbled and boiled furiously, but at least I could see what was going on down below.
Bubbles of blood popped and spluttered, and there looked to be far more than just the two vials we’d included, but I assumed the mixture was doubling every time we completed another step of the spell.
I allowed the cauldron to sit for a minute, as instructed by the book, and then I gathered the long rope from the floor and dropped it inside. The wet mixture instantly hissed and crackled as the rope came in contact with it, and as the frantic noise began to soothe down, we went onto our final step of the spell.
Everything was in place, so this was when we’d find out if it had worked.
“We need to say the last incantation,” I said to Lilith. “Once that’s happened, the spell should be in place, so all you need to do is open the portal, and the rest is down to me.”
“Be careful, my lord,” Lilith said. “I’m aware of the strength and abilities you hold, but this is a new spell for both of us. We don’t know what will happen if anything goes wrong, so we can’t make a single mistake until you’ve completed your duties.”
“Nothing will go wrong.” I smirked. “As long as you stay connected up here, and I don’t run out of time down there, then there’s no reason why I can’t return as normal.”
I knew it was the maternal instincts inside of Lilith that made her worry, but she didn’t need to. I was confident this was going to work, and if anyone was going to complete this mission, it was going to be me.
“Okay,” she said with a slight nod of her head. “I’m ready when you are.”
I read over the final spell one last time, peered over at Lilith, and then gave her a sign that I was ready to go.
“Hic sanguis rogamus obscurum aperire portal,” we said.
A heavy silence covered the room for a fraction of a second, and then all of a sudden, a wall of blue light cascaded into the air, and it was so strong that both Lilith and I fell onto our backs from the force of it.
It reminded me of a waterfall, with bright, white sparks that shimmered like the waves, and the more the light grew, the darker it became. Within minutes, the blue light had turned purple, and I half-expected for the waterfall to spill out onto the floor. It was the most mesmerizing thing I’d ever seen, and I had to stop myself from reaching out and touching it.
“Open the portal,” I said as I stood up. “My time starts now.”
“Aperire portal,” Lilith ordered firmly.
The purple wall of light then began to separate, and a black hole appeared in the center. The black space was just large enough for me to crawl into, so I knew this was the portal I needed to travel through.
I gripped onto the sides of the cauldron, brought my feet up onto the ledge, and then jumped into the black hole. It normally only took a handful of seconds to shadow-port from one realm to another, so I wondered if this would be different. Or was it going to feel longer, just because it was a brand-new experience for me?
My thoughts were all over the place, and as I felt myself spiral and somersault through the vortex, I tried to keep a track of the time but also the sensations that raced through my body.
Flashes of light broke through the darkness all around me, and I spotted a mix between the darkest red, the lightest orange, and every shade in between. It was almost like someone had started a bonfire far off in the distance, so all I could see was the bright glow from the flames and the embers that popped and crackled.
As well as the colors, I also noticed a sudden change in temperature the further I traveled, but it wasn’t like the burning radiation from the sun like in Goshotha. This was different, like I had a naked flame pressed up against my skin. Memories of my previous existence began to swirl through my mind, and although I couldn’t remember much from the days before I arrived at Scholomance, I could recall tiny details, and the familiar heat was one of them. I remembered feeling like I was constantly burning in Hell, which made sense, but I also remembered the comfort it brought me.
Like the book had said, this was my place of peace, and this truth made more and more sense to me the further I traveled.
It felt like I’d been in the vortex for at least ten minutes, but it could have been ten seconds for all I knew. The clock was ticking, and I only had a limited amount of time before the portal closed around me, so I did my best not to focus on how long it took to reach my destination, but instead I focused on what would happen once I got there.
I knew I was about to land when I began to slow down, but also the heat and the lights intensified. The air around me felt thicker, like I needed a special piece of apparatus to stop my lungs from exploding with the pressure. I didn’t have any issues the last time I’d traveled to Hell, but there was a major difference between the lower and upper levels, so perhaps I’d encounter more negative effects the deeper I went. I wondered if my lungs could cope with the change in air, due to my past experience in this place, or maybe I was literally playing with fire because my mortal body couldn’t handle it?
There was a lot to think about, but before I could answer any of my queries, the ground formed beneath my feet, and the portal opened to reveal my new surroundings.
The first thing I noticed was the harsh stench of burning flesh mixed with the scents of ash and coal, as well as the smell of hard-boiled eggs and stone. It wafted around me, and no matter how hard I tried to ignore it, the scent continued to linger. I was also pleased to see my breathing hadn’t been affected, and perhaps I was used to the pressure after all, even in my mortal form.
Then I noticed the small, black, volcano-like mounds which had formed straight up from the ground. They looked to be the same height as myself, and gray clouds of smoke billowed from the tips, which were like little chimneys. The volcanoes were placed in various spots around me, and the deep bubbling noises that came from inside them reminded me of what they held. Should one of the rock formations erupt, a thick, murderous, river of lava would explode and cover the entire vicinity.
The underworld appeared never-ending, and there was nothing on the horizon apart from burning fires, ominous black mountains, and a wall of darkness in the distance. I recalled more and more memories as I peered around my old home, but I knew I couldn’t stand and inspect this place for too long.
I had a job to complete, and I wasn’t going to leave until I’d reached my goal.
Suddenly, a shadowed figure appeared from behind one of the small volcanoes.
At first, I noticed the horns that curled from the sides of the creature’s head, and then I spotted the wings that appeared to be at least double the size of the monster’s body. The wings and the horns looked familiar to me, but that was as far as my memories went.
The ground vibrated as the monster took each step, and as he walked away from the volcano, more creatures appeared behind him until I was faced with a wall of monstrous beings. There looked to be about three of them, and the darkness stopped me from seeing finer details, but it didn’t stop me from hearing their angered grunts and snarls.
“Who goes there?” the horned creature demanded. “Tell me your name!”
“He must be a new arrival,” a squeaky voice said.
“Of course, he’s not a new arrival,” a third, female creature replied. “Did you see the fucking portal he came in?”
“Show me your face, and perhaps I’ll tell you my name.” I smirked. “And trust me, you’ll want to hear what I have to say.”
I heard a gruff sigh, and then as the creatures came closer, the glare from the fires lit up their bodies.
All three of them varied in size, with the smallest being a couple feet in height, and the largest creature, the one with the horns, towered over everything around him. He looked double my height, with the face and body of a bull and the enormous wings that shot out from either side of him. The bull stood on his hind legs, and he had matted, brown fur and gray hooves. A gold hoop sat neatly in his nose, and the remains of a silver chain dangled from the ring.
The female beside him looked human to begin with long, black hair that ran down to her waist, and she wore a black dress that had been ripped and torn in several places. Her pale, silvery legs and arms were on display, and the material of her dress barely covered her breasts and stomach. Her feet were bare, two little horns curled out from her forehead, and a pair of wings fluttered behind her. The wings were white, extremely thin, and reminded me of a spider’s web. She was either a dead fairy, or perhaps a dead witch, but I didn’t know for certain.
The smallest creature looked to be an elf. His eyes were too big for his face, and he wore nothing but a pair of black pants. His hair was shaggy and blond, and it sat messily behind his pointed, elven ears.
I could already tell he was the one to have the high-pitched, squeaky voice.
“Where have you come from?” the bull demanded.
“I’ve come from a realm far away from here,” I said as I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’ve returned home to seek assistance from you all.”
“Returned home?” the bull asked with narrowed eyes.
“Ooh, Dolroth is going to love this,” the elf chuckled.
I blocked out everything around me as I focused on who Dolroth could be. His name seemed familiar to me, yet I couldn’t picture a face to go along with it, nor could I work out why this man was so important.
But then it came to me.
An image formed in my mind, and I saw a pair of piercing, yellow eyes, rows upon rows of snake-like fangs, and pitch-black skin that made it look like the beast had been doused in oil. The rest of my memories were vague, but I briefly remembered having a conversation with this creature, and I recalled telling him to watch over the place because I couldn’t.
He was my second-in-command. At least down here, anyway.
“Aah, Dolroth, my good friend.” I grinned.
“How do you know of the mighty Dolroth?” the female asked.
I knew my time was limited, so instead of teasing them some more, I decided just to be honest with them. I needed them to help me anyway, so the sooner they understood who I was, the better.
“My name is Cole, but you all know me as someone else,” I explained. “I came here from Scholomance, the Devil’s Academy.”
“Scholomance…” the female mumbled. “You’re a witch?”
“I am.” I nodded. “Well, technically.”
“But… Scholomance has always been an all-female academy.” She frowned. “This doesn’t make sense.”
The female clearly knew Scholomance well, which made me think she was a witch instead of a fairy, and I hoped her knowledge of the school would help her understand me better.
“But that doesn’t answer our question,” the bull said with a gruff voice. “Tell us how you know Dolroth, and then we’ll decide whether you live or die.”
“But technically we--” the elf piped up.
“Silence!” the bull ordered, and his deep voice echoed around me. “Come on, witch, we don’t have all day.”
“My name is Cole, but you all know me as the Dark Lord, the Mighty One,” I said in a loud, firm voice. “I am Satan reborn, and--”
“How dare you!” the bull roared as he stormed toward me. “You think you can portal in here and pretend to be our Dark Lord?”
The witch and the elf followed behind the bull, and even they looked just as pissed as he did.
“How do you think I summoned a portal to get here?” I asked.
“You obviously used your magic spells to cheat the system,” the elf squeaked. “It wouldn’t be the first time a witch has gone against the rules.”
“Hey.” The woman scowled. “That was one time.”
“Enough,” the bull rumbled, and he dug at the ground with his hooved foot. “This male witch is an imposter, and we all know what happens to imposters in these parts.”
The witch and the elf chanted something excitedly, but I was more concerned about the enormous bull headed straight for me. He had both of his arms outstretched, and his dark eyes were narrowed as he took long, thundering steps in my direction. I knew I needed to hold him back somehow, but I also needed them to see how powerful I really was.
Then, just as the bull was within touching distance, I clicked my fingers, and he came to a sudden halt. He was close enough that I could see every strand of fur on his body, and I saw the look of anger in his eyes, yet that look quickly turned into confusion as he noticed the hold I had on him.
No matter how hard the bull tried, he couldn’t break free from the charm.
“How are you…?” His entire body shook and trembled as he strained against the blockage, and his lips curled up to reveal a set of broken, yellow teeth, but that was about all he could do. The witch and the elf behind him were clearly just as confused, but neither of them made a move to do anything about it. Perhaps they were too shocked to act, or maybe they were scared I’d do the same to them.
Which I would without a second’s hesitation.
“You should think twice before you act,” I said with a snarl. “For I am your master, and I’m far more than just some mortal witch.”
“Should I get Dolroth?” the elf asked the witch.
“No,” I said before she could reply. “You all work for me, including Dolroth, so there’s nothing any of you can do.”
“I don’t work for anyone,” the witch said as she stormed toward me. “I especially don’t work for some shitty Scholomance student.”
Before the witch could reach me, I clicked my fingers again, and she experienced the same outcome as the bull. She huffed and spat, and her gray eyes frantically roamed the area around us for some means of escape, but she soon calmed down as she realized there was little she could do.
The timid little elf stood behind his friends, and I saw the thoughtful look on his tiny face. He was obviously deciding what to do, but I hoped he’d make the right decision and stay exactly where he was.
“Now, sit,” I said as I lowered my raised hands to my side.
The bull and the witch followed my hands’ movements, and both of them crouched to the ground, whether they wanted to or not. A look of amazement covered the elf’s face, so I had a feeling he believed me, but I still needed to work on these two stubborn fuckers.
Then a loud bang came from somewhere behind me. It was loud enough to shake the ground, and it sounded like a firework had been set off right beside me, but those noises were constantly heard in the fiery pits, so I ignored it and continued to stare at my chosen victims.
“Um…” the elf said as he ran over to us, and he played with his hands anxiously. “Now, I don’t want to alarm anyone, but--”
“Tell me!” I demanded.
Instead of voicing his reply, the elf simply pointed behind me with a single finger. I rolled my eyes as I turned my head to look over my shoulder, and at first I thought the elf was going to try and save his teammates while I wasn’t looking, but then I noticed the change in our surroundings and the outcome of the loud bang I’d just heard.
One of the small volcanoes had erupted, and a healthy stream of molten lava seeped down the sides and onto the ground. The top of the volcano coughed and spluttered, and small balls of lava rained down beside the rocky mound.
The lava melted everything in its path, and it was headed right for us.
“I mean absolutely no disrespect,” the elf said with wide eyes. “But that lava will kill us if we don’t move right now. I’ve witnessed the dead die again, and let me tell you, it’s not fun.”
I wanted to ask the elf more about that, but I also had to do something before the lava reached us.
The lava rolled toward us at a steady pace, so it gave us enough time to get to higher ground, but it was also the perfect opportunity to show these creatures my full potential.
I simply stood and watched the lava approach us, but the tiny elf stepped back more and more, and the witch and the bull stared at the incoming threat with fear. Then, when the lava was close enough, I held out my hand that wasn’t controlling the creatures, and I aimed it right at the burning river.
“Stabit,” I ordered.
A white light appeared in my palm, and as I closed my fingers around the light, it shot out toward the lava. Then everything came to a sudden halt, and the lava curled up around the white light like a wave of water hitting a sheet of glass. The longer I held the spell, the more the lava settled, and within minutes the entire river had cooled and hardened, and it looked like a sheet of red and orange cement across a black asphalt.
I didn’t remove the spell until I was certain the lava had calmed down, and then as I turned to see the creatures behind me, I noticed the looks of shock and awe in their eyes. The little elf had even returned to his original spot, and he looked between myself and the lava in turn.
“What… I…” he stuttered. “No one has ever controlled the lava flow like that.”
“Only one person has that ability.” I smirked.
I clicked my fingers to remove the charm from around the bull and the witch, but as their ability to move returned, both of them remained crouched on the ground.
“I don’t believe it,” the witch said after a moment of silence, and she stared up at me with a slack jaw. “How can this be true?”
“You were telling the truth all this time,” the elf said with his head cocked to one side.
“I was.” I nodded. “I didn’t come down here for a fun day out, and I only have a limited amount of time to complete my task.”
“My lord,” the bull said as he bowed his head. “Please accept my sincere apology. I never meant any disrespect to you.”
“I understand and accept your apology,” I replied. “You both may stand.”
The bull and the witch obeyed without a word, and they both stood with their heads hung low.
“You returned to us, my lord,” the elf said in his high-pitched voice. “We never thought we’d see you again.”
“I’m almost certain I said I’d return at some point,” I scoffed.
I couldn’t fully remember every conversation I’d ever had down here, but the memories slowly returned to me every time something came up in discussion. Like the time I ordered Dolroth to take my place, and my parting words to this group.
But one thing I couldn’t recall were their names, or the names of anyone around here. I knew there were far more creatures hidden within these black walls, but the three that encountered me were clearly guards of some sort.
“Now, I wish to speak to Dolroth,” I said. “Will you take me to see him?”
“Of course, Dark One,” the witch replied. “Please, follow us.”
Then the three of them headed back in the way they came, and I followed on behind them. They took me past a number of rumbling volcanoes and over various hilltops, but our surroundings never changed.
We could have been going in circles for all I knew.
“So, what’s brought you down here, my lord?” the elf asked a few minutes later.
“That’s something I need to discuss with Dolroth, as well as the rest of you,” I said. “But I was telling the truth when I said I needed your assistance.”
“We’ll do whatever you ask of us, Dark One.” The witch smiled.
“I must admit I can’t remember your names,” I said. “Many things have happened since I left home.”
“My name is Vurax, my lord,” the bull said.
“Mine’s Eldrin,” the elf replied.
“And my name is Venus Jinx,” the witch said. “But everyone calls me Jinx.”
“They do?” Eldrin said sarcastically. “Satan, I never knew that!”
“It’s not like you remind everyone whenever they arrive,” Vurax laughed.
It was nice to see them getting along, and the feud from earlier had settled.
But something Vurax said had reminded me of a previous question.
“Eldrin, earlier on, when the volcano erupted, you mentioned people dying again,” I began. “What did you mean?”
“Oh, yeah!” the elf said as he skipped along beside me. “So, down here we don’t technically die, because, you know, we’re already fucking dead, but if we get hit by the lava, our skin and bones melt from the intense heat. Everyone down here will hear the piercing screams, and we’d take in the stench of the burning corpse, but then their body will appear again. They’ll be scarred and warped, and some people won’t ever be the same again, but it’s like a constant spiral. Die, return, die… and so on. Some are away for weeks, whereas someone else could be away for a handful of hours. It depends on their size and shape, and however long it takes for their bodies to rebuild themselves.”
“I see…” I mumbled, but then an image formed in my mind.
It was of a human man slowly drowning in the molten river, and his flesh dripped from his bones as the lava took over. Then I remembered the face of the man, and the complete lack of respect he had for me, hence why I added the curse to the lava and threw him in the river.
“I remember now,” I said after the image vanished. “And I almost wish I could witness it just one more time.”
“Trust me, my lord, you don’t,” Jinx scoffed. “Unless it’s someone you truly despise, in which case it can be quite rewarding to watch them suffer.”
All four of us let out dark laughs, and I imagined the Elder Lord clear in my mind. I pictured his holy body being eaten up by the lava, the sound of his deafening screams, and then his warped face as he returned again.
It wasn’t going to be long before I witnessed his death for myself, and I just had to be patient.
My internal musing instantly came to a halt as Vurax, Jinx, and Eldrin stopped walking, so I peered around in an attempt to spot something different, but it all looked the same. The volcanoes, the darkness, the mountains. Everything.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Exactly where you wanted to go, Dark One,” Vurax replied. “To see Dolroth.”