Chapter 14
I continued to walk Agelos through the crowd of elder men, and occasionally one of them would call out for his help, but Agelos ignored them and only listened to my commands.
Which was exactly what I wanted.
At one point, I made Agelos look across the grassy plains, and I noticed the wall of Scholomance witches that surrounded my body. I couldn’t see through them, so I didn’t know how my body reacted while I was in this form, but at least I had the brief security I needed.
The serpens continued to fly overhead, often being chased, or chasing my dragons, and the sky was constantly being lit up by streams of fire that flew from my dragons’ throats.
But then a wild screaming caught my attention, and I ordered Agelos to follow the sound until he came across the owner. It sounded as though it came from a female, perhaps more than one, so I knew it had to have been one of my own, and anger bubbled through my blood at the thought of an elder harming my witches.
Agelos sauntered through the path of elders as the blood-curdling screams intensified. I tried my best to look out for someone who appeared to be in trouble, but it wasn’t as easy as I first thought. Elders were dying left, right, and center, so everyone was in trouble in one way or another.
Then Agelos found the source of the screaming, so I ordered him to race over there as fast as his little legs could carry him. Elders called out for Agelos’ help, but he ignored them and continued to run. Then we came across a group of six women all huddled together on the ground, with fear and pain in their eyes. The women all wore Scholomance robes, and two elders towered over them with dirty, evil grins on their faces.
A selection of wands was scattered across the grass, so I assumed the witches had dropped them during the fight, but now the weapons were slightly out of reach for the women to grab.
I had to think of a way to make Agelos save the witches without drawing attention to us, but before that could happen, a bright blue light whizzed through the air, and it connected with the group before any of them could react. Then more lights came their way, and it almost pained me to watch the witches cover their heads from the raining lights. I knew I wouldn’t have the time to return to my own physical body, but that was alright.
My women were strong. Stronger than the elders even knew.
The women screamed as the lights burned away at their skin. Clouds of smoke billowed into the air like the women were on fire, and the elders around them simply stood there and laughed. They were instantly added to my list of motherfuckers I wished to murder with my bare hands.
Their screams died down as the smoke increased, and then a small, orange flame appeared in the center of the huddle. The fire erupted, and the harsh stench of burning flesh wafted past Agelos’ nose. The elders all laughed and celebrated, but I would make sure they soon received a punishment worse than death.
“What do we do now?” Agelos whispered.
Don’t you fucking move, I spat. These bastards tried to kill my witches, and they’ll soon regret it.
But then the elders’ laughter came to an end as a golden glow erupted from the pile of dead witches. A few elders stood around with deep frowns between their eyebrows, and it was clear they had no idea what was going on. They mumbled a few words back and forth, but I ordered Agelos to pay close attention.
This is why your pathetic army won’t live to see another day, I laughed.
The fire died down, the smoke lifted freely into the air, and the golden glow grew stronger and stronger. It took a handful of minutes for the witches to reappear, and I watched through Agelos’ eyes as their robes were repaired, and their skin returned to normal. It was almost like nothing had ever happened, but I knew the secret behind it all.
The blood pact had worked, and it was going to take a lot more than a few simple spells to kill us off.
The elders were in a state of shock, which gave the witches just enough time to grab their wands and aim directly at the gaping idiots. Then I ordered Agelos to walk away before the witches aimed for us, but he was just as confused as the others.
I was about to explain what happened, and perhaps help him understand, but then someone grabbed our attention once again.
“Agelos,” an elder said as he ran up to my victim. “Help me, please. I beg of you.”
The holy man had blood all down his face and chest, his white shirt and black pants were torn, his metal breastplate hung only by a thread, and I felt the pressure of his hands as he held onto Agelos for dear life. I also saw the plea in the elder’s brown eyes, but there was no sympathy to be found in me.
Kill him, I ordered.
“W-What?” Agelos asked in fear.
Don’t question my actions, I growled. Now, kill him.
The elder continued to beg for Agelos’ help, and in the distance I noticed Eldrin sprinting across the grass toward us, so I wondered if he had been the one to cause such damage to the elder man’s face.
Agelos finally found a set of balls as he unsheathed a sword from his scabbard, and as the constant flurry of questions filled my head, Agelos forced the weapon straight into the elder’s stomach. A thick stream of blood ran down to the ground, and the holy man let out a gargled scream as his eyes grew wide. Agelos instantly removed the sword before others could see, and a wave of pure emotion flooded my mind.
Agelos prayed for the lord to forgive him his sins, but I was the only lord he should worry about.
Very good, I said. Now, catch the elf’s attention before he attacks. Tell him about the food fight in the banquet hall the other day.
Eldrin let out a high-pitched cry as he flew through the air and grabbed onto Agelos’ neck, but I felt the stinging pain just as much as he did.
“Cole…” Agelos said as he fought against Eldrin’s sharp nails. “Cole is in my head and controlling my body. He told me you had a food fight the other day.”
“Don’t you dare speak to me,” the tiny elf laughed. “You’re nothing but holy trash, and you don’t deserve to speak my master’s name.”
Make him believe you! I shouted. I turned Eldrin into a beetle for his games in the hall.
Agelos continued to fight against the elf, but he managed to stutter out my words. It took a second for Eldrin to fully believe the elder, but then I noticed how the realization coated the elf’s large eyes, and like with Jinx, Eldrin let out a gasp as he noticed who he was fighting.
“My lord,” the elf whispered. “Is that really you?”
Yes, it’s me, I said, and Agelos copied my words. Pretend to fight me so people don’t get suspicious.
I had to give it to Agelos and Eldrin, they were both pretty good at play-fighting, and if anyone looked over now, they would have believed the entire thing.
Jinx is in on the game, I said a minute later. But I need you to try and get the message out there.
“This is so amazing!” Eldrin punched the air with a fist, and then he directed his fists back at Agelos. “Don’t you worry, master, I’ll tell as many people as I can!”
But remember, the elders can’t know I’ve taken over this pathetic man, I continued. Find Dolroth first, and he’ll help you with the rest.
“You can count on me.” Eldrin winked. “Oh, and I expect to see you in Hell after this.”
The elf prodded Agelos with his tiny finger, shot him a smirk, and then ran away. I needed as much help as possible if I was going to keep this body without someone trying to kill him, so with Jinx and Eldrin in on the plan, it increased my chances of survival.
I made Agelos start walking again, and the holy man kept silently asking if he was really going to Hell for his actions, even though they weren’t his own. I hadn’t really answered his questions until that point, because I saw no need to, but I decided to respond to this one, mainly for the fun of it.
You’ll definitely be going to Hell, I said. You’ve murdered your own men, and there will be many more to come. The Elder Lord doesn’t own you anymore, I do.
Agelos choked back a sob, but this only made me laugh. The elders’ worst nightmare was to end up in the Underworld, so I imagine they did everything they could to avoid it, but I’d changed that for this pathetic man. He wasn’t going to live to see the end of the war, and he’d soon find himself in the portal on the way to the fiery pits.
I ordered Agelos to stop walking once again so I could take in the scenes around me, but the elder used that time to unleash his childish emotions. His internal cries were almost deafening, but I brushed them off as best as I could and focused on the glorious vision of death and murder.
Shots of bright lights whizzed through the air as both armies aimed at each other, bloodstains and body parts littered the ground, and all I could hear were loud grunts, screams, and cries for help. It was wonderful to witness, and from the looks of things, my army had the upper-hand.
But that wasn’t a shock to me. I always knew we were going to come out of this as the victors.
Right, I’ve surveyed enough, I said a few minutes later. Take me to the Elder Lord, and don’t you fucking dare stop until I have him in my sight. I need to show him who’s really in charge around here.
Agelos bravely thought I’d never be in charge, and I could have easily killed him for thinking such a thing, but I didn’t have the time to find a new body to control. The Elder Lord could have been anywhere by now, and I had no idea what his plans were, so I needed to find him before time ran out.
A few elders came up to Agelos as he made his way through the chaos, and every one of them pleaded and begged for him to help them, but I simply told Agelos to kill the motherfuckers and keep walking. I’d been too busy to keep a tally of the number of elders Agelos killed, but it had to be nearing double digits, and that made me incredibly proud.
My message must have reached the Hell creatures, too, because whenever Agelos came in contact with one, they simply looked him in the eyes and walked away. I only had to worry about the elders, but it didn’t seem as if they’d caught on to my game.
“Agelos, my brother,” an elder said with relief as he stumbled toward us. “Thank the Great Lord I’ve found you.”
Kill him and walk away, I sighed.
Agelos reached for his sword, but then the holy man began to talk again.
“I overheard someone talking, they said you’ve been taken over by the Devil,” the elder said. “Is this true?”
“I…” Agelos hesitated.
You’ll wish you were dead if you even think about telling him the truth, I growled.
“I mean, no, of course not,” Agelos said as confidently as possible. “Why would you think that?”
“Because the description I heard sounded just like you,” the man replied.
Tell him it’s someone else, then kill him. I internally rolled my eyes.
I didn’t have time for this shit.
Agelos somehow managed to convince his teammate, and he even pointed him in the direction of a man with a beard just like Agelos’, but before the elder could leave, Agelos sliced the man’s throat with his sword and then ran away before anyone else saw.
I kept an eye out for the Elder Lord as Agelos ran, and I made him stop and ask a few people if they’d seen the holy fucker anywhere. Most of them grumbled a response and turned away, but one soldier said he’d seen the Elder Lord headed for his chosen hideout.
What’s the hideout? I asked.
“I don’t know,” Agelos whispered beneath his breath. “My lord told us about a place he’d picked to give him privacy, but he never told us where it was.”
What a pussy, I laughed. You better find that spot before I rip your heart out from your chest.
Agelos did everything he could to locate the mysterious hideout, and he asked as many men as possible to see if they could give him any leads. I almost thought I had to find a new body to control, but then Agelos received the details he was after.
All Agelos had to say was he was in big trouble and needed somewhere safe to hide, and the other elder spilled every ounce of information he knew.
“Head for that selection of trees,” an elder said with his arm pointing in the right direction. “He’s created a hut only we can enter, so you’ll be safe there. May the Great Lord be with you.”
“Thank you,” Agelos said, and then he turned on his heels and ran.
I heard the thumping of his pitiful heart in his chest and the loud pants that blew from his lips, and I felt the weight of his sword as it smacked off his thigh. There was also a sharp stench in the air which I guessed came from Agelos’ armpits, or perhaps the shit that had collected in his pants.
I was glad to see the elder had been telling the truth, and shortly after Agelos entered the trees, a steel hut was seen in the distance. It was a small building, with four walls and a slanted roof, but the ghastly stench of the elders covered every inch of the place.
I still had no idea why the Elder Lord needed to create a safe spot to hide in, but he must have seen us as a threat, otherwise there would have been no need for one in the first place.
Agelos made his way toward the steel door, but as he grabbed onto the handle, an electric shock ran up his palm. The elder had said only their men could enter, and even the charm around the hut picked up on my presence. I wondered if it was going to be the same with the Elder Lord, but there was only one way to find out.
Find a way in there, I demanded. Break down the fucking door for all I care.
“Great Lord, are you in there?” Agelos asked as he pounded his fist against the door. “Please, you must help me.”
I heard movement from inside the hut, but no one came to the door.
“Please, I beg of you,” Agelos tried again. “The demons have tried to take my soul, and only you can save me!”
The movements were heard again, and then the door finally swung open to reveal the Elder Lord standing on the other side. A frown was painted over his ugly face, and his blond hair was a mess on his head, almost like he’d ran his hands through it one too many times. His white toga had black stains all across it, and he’d taken off his breastplate, but the crown remained firmly on his head.
Then I noticed an interesting scent that wafted from the hut. It was like a mix between rotten eggs and garlic, and it didn’t take a genius to work out why the Elder Lord had been hiding all this time.
He’d been creating something, perhaps a toxic gas that potentially had the ability to kill everyone in sight. The Elder Lord couldn’t get his hands on the artifacts, so he’d gone for a poison instead.
You have to destroy that poison, whatever and wherever it is, I demanded.
“Agelos, ” the Elder Lord said as he looked us up and down. “What brought you here? I told you to stay out there and kill as many of those sinful beings as you can.”
“Yes, but you must help me,” Agelos replied. “Please, may I enter?”
The Elder Lord thought for a second, and I noticed the dark look that coated his blue eyes, which made me think he knew Agelos was up to something.
“Very well, you may enter,” the holy fucker said a moment later.
Agelos wandered inside the steel hut, and I instantly noticed it was far bigger on the inside than I’d originally thought. It was all one large room, and there were various tables and chairs set up along the sides. A gold throne sat at the far end of the hut with intricate, red roses painted along the armrests. Beside the throne was another table, but this one was covered in a number of different jars and bottles, which I knew had to be whatever the Elder Lord had been in the middle of creating.
Do I have to remind you of your duties? I asked Agelos.
The elder subtly moved his head from right to left as a way of answering my question, and then he casually wandered over to the table with all the bottles.
“What are you making?” Agelos asked as he lifted up a green bottle to inspect it.
A faint label had been applied to the front, but no words were written there, and the liquid inside bobbed against the glass as Agelos moved the bottle around in his hand.
“That’s none of your concern,” the Elder Lord answered. “Now, tell me what caused you such difficulty entering this hut?”
“I… I, um…” Agelos said. “The demons tried to take over my soul, so that must have affected me somehow.”
“I see…” the Elder Lord mumbled as he narrowed his eyes. “You know, Agelos, you’ve never been the best at lying.”
You can’t fool him anymore, I said. Destroy that potion, now!
Agelos carefully placed the green bottle back on the table, but then with a swing of his arm, Agelos pushed all the bottles onto the metal flooring. An almighty crash filled my ears, as well as the murderous roar from the Elder Lord as his creation burned a hole through everything it touched.
The stench of eggs and garlic smothered Agelos’ face, and even I felt slightly dizzy and faint from the fumes. I had no idea what the concoction had been made from, but I knew my army wouldn’t have survived if we’d come in contact with the completed poison.
Then my view suddenly changed as Agelos was lifted into the air and slammed against a wall. The Elder Lord had a dark, dangerous look in his eyes, and he glared at the feeble man he held in his hands.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he said with a roar. “Who are you?”
Tell him the truth, I said. Tell him I’m the Dark Lord. I’m Satan reborn, and I’m about to kill everyone in sight.
“I’m the Dark Lord,” Agelos said with a smirk. “I am Satan reborn, and I’ll kill every elder in sight.”
“You don’t have the power or the ability to complete such a task,” the holy leader sneered.
At least I haven’t been hiding in a shed, I replied. And while you’ve been in here, Agelos has been murdering your precious men with his bare hands. Now, why don’t you leave your hiding place, and come and face me like a real man?
I spotted the anger deepening across the Elder Lord’s face as Agelos repeated my words. I could have killed the leader there and then, and I could have ordered Agelos to copy my movements, but I felt no excitement in that. I wanted to feel the Elder Lord’s final breaths on my skin, hear his heart thump one last time, and I needed him to look me directly in the eyes as I ended his life.
The holy motherfucker then slammed Agelos against the wall, but he added much more power and force into his move, and I experienced a dull thump of pain as Agelos smashed his head off the steel. It wouldn’t have taken much to kill the man, and I could see the lack of respect the Elder Lord had for his army if he murdered them without thinking twice.
But I decided to make it easier for him.
Tell your so-called lord that he knows where to find me, I said. And then use your sword to end your life.
Agelos silently begged and pleaded for me to change my mind, but there wasn’t much he could have done. Part of me wanted to thank Agelos for the work he’d done, but then I realized he hadn’t actually done that much, and I was the one to do all the work, so his life meant nothing to me.
The elder man repeated my words with a shaky voice, and then he managed to unhook one arm out from the Elder Lord’s grasp, grabbed the handle of his sword, and pierced it straight into his stomach.
A painful, burning sting hit me square in the gut, and a flash of yellow light burned my eyes as Agelos slowly died before I returned to my body once again. I heard the man’s screams and the Elder Lord’s roars, and I felt every ache that radiated through the dying man’s body.
The journey back to my regular self was much different than before, and instead of soaring through the air, it almost felt like I was spinning and spiraling through a vortex. I wasn’t sure what had caused that, whether it was from Agelos dying or something else, but before I could work out the reason behind it, I was forced back into my body, and every sound and ounce of pain instantly vanished.
“My lord, are you okay?” I heard Beatrix ask, but her voice was faint and distant, like I was underwater.
“Give him a second to come to,” Lilith said. “He’s returned, but it’ll take a minute for his body and soul to combine as one.”
I fought against the pressure that covered my head, and as I slowly opened my eyes, I noticed the wall of witches around me. They weren’t the same ones who were there before I channeled the spell, so they must have taken it in turns to fight and protect my body.
“Master!” Eldrin’s recognizable voice came from somewhere behind the wall, and then he snuck past Circe to stand in front of me. “That was fucking awesome!”
“Thank you.” I smiled. “And thank you for passing on the message, too.”
Eldrin gave me a salute, and a cheeky grin covered his face. “I was only doing my job.”
“The Elder Lord was creating a poison,” I said to my audience. “I managed to destroy it, but he isn’t happy about it.”
“I doubt anything makes him happy,” Marina laughed.
“I also managed to catch glimpses of the war, but I was more interested in tracking him down,” I added.
“The war is going well,” Lilith replied. “The elders appear to be dropping like lacewing flies, and we all have an impressive number of kills under our belts.”
“Excellent.” I grinned. “I imagine the Elder Lord will leave his hiding spot soon in order to find me, so I need you all to focus on the elders, and I’ll deal with him.”
“Are you sure, master?” Cleo asked. “Should you not have someone around you for when he turns up?”
Some of the witches snorted at Cleo’s question, but I answered her properly.
“I’m far stronger than the Elder Lord, despite what he may believe,” I said. “Plus, the less men around to save their leader, the better.”
“Of course.” The Edrian witch nodded. “In that case, what would you like us to do?”
“Simple.” I shrugged. “Kill as many men as you can, and don’t stop until the ground is littered with nothing but their deceased bodies.”
My audience nodded their heads, and then they turned on their heels and ran toward our opponents. Some of them let out war cries, whereas others remained silent and focused on the men before them.
Master, Alexander said as he came up beside me. Would you like us to get involved now?
I glanced across the rolling hills as I thought through his question. There were still a large number of the elders to kill, and originally I wanted to wait until they’d decreased rapidly in size before I included the familiars, but I also knew the war would end faster if the animals joined in sooner.
“Yes,” I replied. “Aim for the weak, or assist the witches, just make sure you all return to me at the end of things.”
You can always rely on me, Cole. The wolverine winked.
Then Alexander lifted himself off the ground, and he swooped his left wing forward in a rolling motion as if to tell the other familiars to follow him. The ground vibrated beneath my feet as the stampede of animals ran past me. They varied in size, but each one of them held the ability to kill a man, and that was all I wanted.
But suddenly, as I watched the familiars charge, a blood-curdling scream caught my attention. The owner of the scream was clearly female, and I scanned the area around me to try and work out where the scream came from. I briefly wondered if I was going to witness a witch come back to life again, but there was a chance she wasn’t from Scholomance, so she might not have the advantage of the blood pact.
The witch screamed again, but this time I was able to follow the sound toward a witch near the stone statue. She was flat on her back, and an elder had crouched over her with one hand pinning her to the ground. The witch shook her head from side to side, and she tried her best to wriggle free, but the man was too strong for her.
I kept my eyes solely focused on the witch as I sprinted toward her. I didn’t recognize the girl, so she wasn’t a Scholomance student, and I wasn’t aware of her hidden powers, but I did see the girl was trying to reach her wand that had been abandoned on the grass. This told me she didn’t have the capability to use her hands to conduct spells, which made her even more vulnerable in the fight.
The girl continued to scream and sob, and I was still a short distance away, but I reached for my wand just as the elder reached for his sword.
“Proelium!” I shouted with my weapon aimed directly at him.
A tangerine-colored light left my wand, and it smacked the elder man straight in the back before he could fully unsheathe his sword. The force of the hit sent the man flying back, and his body smashed into the stone statue as a weakened groan left his lips.
The girl must have been in a state of shock, because it took her a second to realize she was free to move. But once she noticed the man had gone, the girl jumped up to her feet and wiped the tears off her cheeks. She looked around her, and then her eyes caught mine.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I crouched down to collect her wand.
“Um… y-yes,” she stuttered. “He came out of nowhere, and he was too strong for me to fight off.”
I handed the wooden weapon back to the girl, and I noticed a bruise had started to form in the shape of a handprint around her arm.
“He won’t bother you anymore,” I said. “I’ll make sure of that.”
“Thank you, my-my lord,” the girl said with a whimper.
“You are welcome.” I grinned.
The witch returned my smile, but I wandered over toward the elder before she could voice a response. The man was a crumpled mess on the ground, and a small line of blood trickled down his face, but, unfortunately, he was still very much alive.
Or perhaps it was a good thing, because it meant I could torture him some more.
I heaved his unconscious body off the ground, and then I held him flat against the stone statue as I decided on my next move.
“Wake up,” I ordered as I shook his body slightly.
The elder mumbled a groggy response as his eyes slowly opened, and then they widened in fear as he caught sight of my face.
“Did you enjoy torturing that witch?” I asked. “Did it make you feel powerful?”
The elder was far too scared to speak, so he bobbed his head from left to right, but that was the only answer he gave me.
“Well, I’m about to show you what real power looks like,” I said. “However, you won’t be alive long enough to see the end of it.”
The man began to quiver again, and he let out pitiful mewls as he attempted to keep his tears at bay. I’d had enough of his pathetic crying, so I dropped the man to the ground and then slapped my hands on either side of his head.
“Please, please,” he begged. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have aimed for the girl.”
“You can cry and beg all you want, but it won’t change my decision,” I replied. “In fact, it only makes me want to kill you faster.”
I kept a firm hold of his head with one hand and then located my dagger from my pocket. I could have used a spell to end his life, but I wanted to inflict as much pain as possible.
I positioned the blade of my weapon against his forehead, and then I slowly drew a line down the center of his face. His sweaty skin ripped open, and rivers of dark, holy blood drenched his face and neck. Then, as I reached the base of his throat, I repositioned the dagger and sliced through his jugular vein with one swift movement.
I heard the satisfying sound of his muscles snapping, and the elder’s head lolled forward as he lost the strength to keep it upright. My hands were covered in his blood, but I ignored the mess and dropped the dying man to the ground. The grass soaked up his blood, and I knew it would have only taken a few moments for his heart to stop beating.
Then, as I walked away from the elder, a drop of rain landed on my arm, followed quickly by a roll of thunder. The storm had officially started, and it couldn’t have arrived at a better possible moment.
Because as I inspected the weather, I spotted the Elder Lord in the distance with his eyes firmly set on me.
I’d been waiting a long time for this moment to arrive, and now it was finally here.