Made in Hell 2 Chapter 5

After I’d finished with the imps, I travelled back toward the manor, but the same thoughts continued to swarm around my head. The entire mining operation was incredible, and I still couldn’t quite understand how everything worked. I knew the magical orbs had a part to play in it, but the vanishing shack, the shimmering door handle, and the moving of the great wall was more than I’d ever imagined.

I was also fascinated by the beasts that roamed the forests on the opposite side of the great wall, too. I wondered what else there was to discover in Rengfri, and if I’d ever learn all of the secrets that the city held in its clutches. I knew there were beings around here that could tell me more, whether this information came from the imps or the fairies, but I was also interested to know if Sveila knew anymore about it. I was meeting with her again the following evening, and if she was willing to disclose some more secrets, I could try and get her to tell me everything she knew.

I arrived back at the manor and found Ashe in the room opposite the kitchen. This room didn’t really have a purpose, but it came with a large leather couch and a few shelves of books, so it was a nice place to relax after a tiring day. Ashe lounged across the couch with her feet propped up against one arm rest, and her head rested on the opposite side. She had a book in her hands, but for a second, I almost thought she was asleep. Her eyes were closed, and she had a mellowed expression on her face. The late afternoon sun shone through the window, which casted beautiful shadows across one side of her face.

I was about to turn from the room and leave her to rest, but then she broke the silence.

“You’re back,” my demon lover smiled, but her eyes remained closed.

“Did I wake you?” I asked.

Ashe then looked up at me, and she looked tired, but she also looked incredibly peaceful. “No, I wasn’t asleep. I was enjoying some peace and quiet for once.”

I let out a soft laugh as I crossed the room. I knew what she meant by that, especially when things had been so up in the air. It was nice to take the time to sit down before everything started up again.

Ashe moved her feet off the side of the couch to allow me the room to sit down. She closed the thick book and threw it to the floor, and a heavy echo travelled around the room as the book landed on the wooden floorboards with a thud. It wasn’t a book that I recognized, and from the state of the cover and the wrinkled spine, it had clearly been in this house for ages.

“What were you reading?” I queried.

“Oh, it’s some elf shit,” she sneered sarcastically. “It was all in their own language, so I just looked at the pictures and then quickly gave up.”

I leaned down to collect the book from the floor.

It weighed more than I had previously expected, and the cover was made from red leather while the writing on the front had been embossed in gold. In the center of the cover was a drawing, or a mark of some sort, but I couldn’t translate the words to work out what the mark was. It was a large, gold circle, with a swirled pattern in the middle. It almost looked like the swirling lines created the outline of a tree, but that could have just been how my eyes interpreted it.

“So, how did it go with the imps?” my huntress asked as she sat up properly on the seat.

“Amazing,” I sighed. “You’ll have to witness it for yourself to understand.”

“Do you think that’ll be anytime soon?” she asked with a hopeful look in her pink eyes.

“I’d hope so, but I’ll give it a few more days before I make a final decision,” I replied honestly. “The wall appears to be safe enough, but the imps told me about a few beasts on the opposite side, so if anything went wrong, it wouldn’t take much for them to seep into our side.”

I was about to explain everything that I saw, but my words were interrupted by a rumbling noise that came from my stomach. It hadn’t been long since I last ate, but clearly my body needed more food already.

“Do we still have some meat left?” I wondered aloud.

“Er…” Ashe stared into the corner of the room as she thought through my question. “I think we’ve got enough for one, but I’ve already asked Gyor to bring us some more.”

“I bet he wonders how we go through it so quickly,” I laughed.

“Hopefully, he’s used to our eating habits by now,” she joked.

The two of us stood from the seat and wandered through to the kitchen. A few grapes were left on the vines, some apples were seen alongside the grapes in the basket, and some potatoes were still in the pot from when they were boiled up this morning. There was enough cheese for two people, but the bread was running short, and the white meat was thinning out.

“Do you want to head into the marketplace?” I asked. “Maybe get a few legs of meat to last us until Gyor can complete his task?”

“Ooh, yeah!” Ashe grinned happily. “We can check if my dresses are ready, too. I know the elf said two days, but this dress is on its last thread.”

After the fight with the vampires, Ashe’s gray dress was seconds away from falling to pieces. The sides had been torn, and I noticed that she had attempted to sew it back together again, but it didn’t quite do the job. Even though I didn’t have an issue with her walking around like that, it wasn’t quite suitable for everyday tasks that often worked better when someone’s fully clothed.

“Let’s go then.” I smiled.

Ashe slipped her sapphire sword into her belt while I grabbed my sickle with the tanzanite gems embedded in it, and then she looped her arm through mine as we left the manor and locked the main door behind us. Tiny droplets of rain fell through the canopy of leaves above us, but the rain didn’t sound too severe just yet. I knew the stalls in the marketplace often closed up whenever the rain began, so I hoped we could get there and buy the food before the weather turned too bad.

I was able to feel the full effect of the rain when we left the thicker groves of trees, but from the speed that the droplets fell at, I knew it wouldn’t be long before a heavy downpour started.

“What does it look like?” Ashe asked as we strolled along. “The mining shack, I mean. What’s so amazing about it?”

We were the only ones in the sidelane, which gave me the privacy to talk. I didn’t want eavesdroppers to overhear our conversation, even if the shack was as secure as it appeared. It still seemed that someone with the right tricks up their sleeves could overpower the imp’s enchantments and ruin everything they had created.

“Well, at first you can’t see anything,” I explained, and my words came out in a whisper. “I was told to focus between two specific trees, and then a wooden shack appeared out of nowhere.”

“What?” Ashe snickered.

“I know.” I nodded. “According to what I was told, if you know what you’re looking for, you’ll be able to see it. Otherwise, it’s completely invisible to everyone who passes those trees.”

“Fuck,” she said under her breath. “And the orbs? Are they all stored inside?”

“Every one of them,” I replied. “The imps have created a system to organize them into the separate colors, and they’ve got it all sorted into piles for when someone buys some. There’s loads of crates stacked around, and I found out the green orbs allow the wielder to move objects with their mind.”

“That really is amazing,” Ashe responded. “Imagine what we could do with a power like that…”

“But that’s not the best part.” I grinned. “The imps told me that they’d sensed something when they were out mining. Apparently, they caught wind of a silver orb that’s within reach out there.”

“A silver one?” she repeated. “I didn’t know we had silver ones?”

“We don’t at the moment,” I replied. “These ones are incredibly rare, and an important orb to have in terms of power and wealth.”

We reached the end of the sidelane, so our conversation came to an end until we were certain that the coast was clear. The alleys were deserted, but I put that down to the fact the rain had started, and most surface world beings headed indoors whenever the clouds opened.

“Continue…” Ashe smirked, and her already bright eyes lit up more as her excitement grew.

“From what the imps said, the silver orbs have the ability to create a shield around whoever holds it,” I informed her. “So, say you and I were up against the Blessed, I could produce a shield around the two of us.”

“But what about our hell powers?” Ashe frowned. “Would they still work if we have some other magic in the way?”

“I don’t know much about it yet.” I shrugged. “But I guess there would be a way around that.”

“Damn, imagine the power you would hold!” she cried and clutched my bicep. “That’s exactly the sort of gem you should have at hand, especially with the bastards who are out to get us right now.”

“It could be that the imps sensed something else, or that they can’t get the silver ones, but we can at least hope they find them,” I replied.

Ashe never responded, but when I caught the look on her face, I saw that she was thinking through everything thoroughly. A small smile appeared on her lips, and I could just tell that she was imagining all the power we’d hold if we came across those silver orbs.

We’d managed to defeat the Blessed, dark elves, and vampires without the use of the magical gems, so we’d only become stronger if we had a power like the silver orbs in our pockets.

We reached the marketplace as our conversation came to an end, and despite the change in weather, the area was still fairly packed with a variety of different creatures. As always, three banshees could be seen on the outskirts of the marketplace as they conjured up a fire, and all three of them danced around the flames in a circle as they chanted a song. The song was in their own language, but from the tone and tune, it sounded like a spell.

Two goblins had found a seat on the ground beside an alley, and they shared a bottle of tonic back and forth. One goblin took more than the other, and a vicious row broke between the two beings in a matter of seconds. The easy option would have been to buy a bottle each, but goblins never took the easy option, and fights between the groups were common around here.

We passed the squabbling beings and headed toward the same orc’s stall where we usually grabbed a bite to eat. He had a fresh load of meat hung from silver hooks, but the fire beside him had started to die down. A metal griddle was placed underneath the legs of meat to catch all the grease and juices that dropped from them, and I wasn’t quite sure why the orc bothered with the griddle at all. Nothing had been set up underneath it, so the juices fell directly onto the dusty ground, and a dark, damp patch was permanently seen underneath the stall from the constant dripping.

The orc stared at us with disinterest as we neared his stall. His mottled, gray skin was damp from the rain, and he cleared his throat with a grotesque snort. The orc spat the contents of his mouth on the ground beside him and then gave us a pointed look as he silently asked what we wanted. I got the impression that the orc would have rather been serving someone else, but he was too desperate for the money to voice his real feelings.

“Four legs of meat,” I told him with a roll of my eyes. I didn’t think the orcs and I were ever going to get along. But as long as he continued to serve us, and we paid him, there shouldn’t be an issue.

“Twelve pieces,” the orc grunted.

I fished out twelve coins from my pants pocket and handed them over to the orc’s greedy hands. His four-fingered hand curled around the coins and then threw them into a cloth bag that was around his enormous stomach.

Ashe and I took two legs each, and then she gave the orc a sarcastic smile as we walked away. I heard the beast snort again, but I wasn’t sure if he was clearing his throat, or if that was his sorry attempt at a laugh.

There was a spare wall to the side of the marketplace, so we chose to sit there and both tucked into one leg of meat. They had only recently come off the fire, and the burning meat singed pleasantly against my tongue whenever I took a bite. My teeth made light work of the food, and I was half-tempted to devour the second leg, but I wasn’t sure when Gyor was going to drop off the food for us, so I saved that one for now.

“Do you want some apples?” Ashe asked as she licked the juices from her fingers.

“Sure, I’ll take some.” I nodded.

“Back in a minute!” She grinned and jumped from the wall.

There was a stall set up near the orc’s. It was owned by a half-elf, and a variety of fruit and vegetables were on offer. I hadn’t seen such an amount before today, so I suspected that the half-elf had managed to get their hands on a decent supply. I spotted a few potatoes hidden at the back of the stall, and some apples and grapes were closer to the front. Had I known that they were going to be so well stocked over here, I wouldn’t have sent Gyor to purchase them for us, but at least that was information to know for next time.

Ashe stood patiently in the line that had formed in front of the stall. A Black Witch stood before her, and a tinsel fairy hovered in the air in front of the witch. I guessed from the witch’s posture that she wasn’t keen on waiting for something, but it looked as though she had found something to help beat the boredom.

Three red apples lifted from the stall and began to twirl around in circles. The Black Witch had her hand out to the side, and every time she rolled her wrist, the apples would spin faster and faster. The half-elf peered over at the floating fruit, but she ignored them and continued to serve the tinsel fairy.

That must have been a common sight in the Grimmway, especially as the creatures around here felt free to show their true selves, instead of hiding behind closed doors in the Shadow Quarters.

When it was finally Ashe’s turn, I watched on as she pointed toward the apples, which were no longer floating in the air, and then the half-elf placed four into a paper bag. Ashe paid for the food and then skipped back toward me.

“Did you see the Black Witch?” she asked as she held the bag out to me.

“Of course, I did,” I snickered. “It was entertaining.”

“But that’s not the best bit,” Ashe replied. “The witch was whispering something under her breath the whole time.”

“What, like a chant?” I suggested.

“Yeah!” she said with her eyes open wide. “I don’t know a lot about the Black Witches, but I made sure to pick the four apples that hadn’t been caught in her spell.”

I stared cautiously at the green apple in my hand. “That was probably a good idea…”

Thankfully, we couldn’t be affected too strongly by any witches’ enchantments, but it was best not to put it to the test, just in case. It could have been that the witch whispered her spell to make the apples float, but some residents of the Grimmway were often out to get others. It was like a game to them, to see who would fall first.

The apple tasted just as fresh as they always did, and I ate both of mine without an issue. Ashe wondered whether to save one for later, but then she ended up eating both and flicked the cores to the ground once she was finished with them.

“Do you want to stop at the dress shop on our way home?” I asked.

“Yes, we can just see if the elf has them ready.” Ashe nodded. “I have enough pieces with me to pay for them anyway.”

The creatures in the marketplace had started to lessen which made it much easier for us to walk through. Ashe and I headed through the center and then turned down the small road which led to the shop.

The rain had started to pick up in the time that we were out, but heavy rain had never bothered me. It felt so refreshing against my skin, and it was much easier to cope with the rain with my shorter hair. My pitch black hair used to stop at my shoulders, and it always got in the way, but then Madame Nyra decided to cut it for me.

The difference in hunger and hair were two of the things that Ashe and I had struggled with in our human forms. In the Hellscape, we had no hair, and instead wore two large horns, but that all changed as soon as we entered the surface world. Ashe enjoyed the length and look of her silver-blue hair, but mine wasn’t something that I was overly fond of.

When we arrived at the elf’s dress shop, I noticed more candles than normal had been placed behind the windows. The sun had started to set, so the added light gave out a soft glow, and the outlines of the windows were painted on the ground below. Despite the time of day, and the weather, the floral building still looked warm and exciting.

The orange-haired elf could be seen wandering around the shop, and she gave us a small wave as she noticed us arriving. She must have seen the purple and pink eyes, and we were the only ones in the Grimmway with eyes as bright as ours.

“Good evening,” the elf greeted us as I held open the door for Ashe to enter.

“Hello,” Ashe replied. “I know it hasn’t been long, but I was wondering if any of the dresses were ready yet? This one is really falling to pieces.”

My demon lover held clumps of her dress in her hands, and the slight pull made the stitched sides strain, as if they were about to pop open at any second.

I eyed the glimpse of pale skin the sparse stitching revealed on Ashe’s hip, and I decided I was going to miss this tattered look on her.

“I have nine of them, but the final one won’t be ready until tomorrow, is that okay?” the elf asked.

“Yes, that’s great!” Ashe cheered. “Anything is better than the scraps of material I’m currently wearing.”

“I don’t know about that,” I muttered so only Ashe could hear, and the demon sent me a coy smile.

“Okay, I’ll get them for you now.” The elf gave us both a timid smile as she stared at our chests instead of our faces, and then she returned to the back of the shop which was hidden behind a blue curtain.

I stood and waited for the elf to return, whereas Ashe browsed the dresses hung up around the place, and when she found any that she liked, she’d pull it from the rail and hold it up against her body to get a better feel of the garment.

As long as the dress came with a corset and helped to emphasize her cleavage, Ashe wasn’t picky with the colors. She found one that was as pink as her eyes with silver lining at the back to tighten the corset. Even though she put it back on the rail, I had a feeling my beautiful fiend would return for that one at some point soon.

“Here you go,” the elf said a few minutes later. She had all nine dresses draped over her arm, and then set them down onto the desk that separated us.

“Amazing.” Ashe grinned. “You managed to get this done so quickly.”

“I’ve had a quiet day.” The elf shrugged. “Normally, I don’t have time to sew them together if I have a lot of customers, but I was given the chance today.”

Ashe picked the first dress from the top of the pile and didn’t hesitate to strip from the one she was already wearing, and I shifted so I blocked the door in case any other patrons strolled in.

Then I watched in amusement as a blush blossomed over the pretty elf’s face, and she tried to look anywhere other than at the naked demon who stood a step away from her. I noticed her blush only deepened when she suddenly realized Ashe’s nipples were silver and glittery, but while the young elf did all she could to keep from staring, I gladly took in the sheer beauty of Ashe’s naked body.

Her icy, pale skin glistened in the dying sunlight, and I couldn’t take my eyes away from the natural curves of her ass. The sight of her body tormented me, and I realized I was seconds away from taking her against the desk. It would, potentially, destroy the dresses the elf had made for Ashe, but we had enough money to repay her for the damage, so I was tempted to listen to the urge in my body and let the frustrations free.

Judging by the look on the elf’s face, she’d either watch and blush a fierce red, or politely dismiss herself without arguing at all.

Or maybe I could pull the cute woman in to participate with us. The thought of deflowering a shy beauty like her with Ashe was quite enticing.

Before I had the chance to go ahead with my needs, Ashe had the new dress on, and her incredible ass and breasts were hidden from view.

The new dress was a deep green in color, like the leaves that coated the trees. Her corset was a darker shade of green, and it had additional silk that lined the cuffed sleeves and ran across her cleavage.

Once the elf was sure that Ashe was fully clothed again, she looked up from the floor, and the blush began to simmer down.

“That looks great on you,” the elf mumbled.

“I know, it really does,” Ashe sighed and ran her hands down her sides and over the curve of her hips.

The dress, like all the others, stopped mid-thigh, and it paired perfectly with her black, knee-high boots. The sizing was perfect and complemented every delicious curve on her body, and I couldn’t wait to see her model the other nine garments she’d ordered for me when we got back to our manor.

“Atticus, do you approve?” Ashe asked as she checked herself out in the full-length mirror. She messed her hair up slightly and then pulled her shoulders back to get a better look at her breasts.

“Fuck, I won’t be able to keep my hands off you,” I groaned.

“You never do anyway.” Ashe sent me a wink and then turned toward the elf. “Is your man as insatiable as mine? For your sake, I hope he is.”

“O-Oh… I, uh… I don’t…” The flustered young elf blushed all over again, and I smirked as I guessed she’d never had a man, let alone a demon one.

“Leave her be, Ashe,” I ordered my lover. “You’ve scandalized the poor girl enough for one day.”

“Have I really?” Ashe asked lightly. “Surely not. Do I displease you, girl?”

My beautiful little fiend propped her hand on her hip as she sauntered forward to the counter, and she leaned over the edge while the elf still couldn’t meet her gaze.

The pretty dressmaker fiddled with the bright flowers on her skirt instead, but to my surprise, she was smiling now. Then she shook her head the tiniest bit, and her orange hair tumbled over her shoulder to frame her innocent face.

“No, miss,” the pretty elf murmured. “I like to serve you.”

Ashe arched an eyebrow at the words, and as she looked my way, a low chuckled rippled in my throat.

“What a lovely answer,” my demon lover purred. “And what a coincidence. I adore servitude, too.”

“You certainly wear it well,” I growled.

“Maybe you can serve us in… other ways?” Ashe chuckled shamelessly, and the pretty elf actually giggled while she turned bright pink.

I couldn’t help noticing she was hard to look away from when she was so flushed with a sweet smile on her face. The fact that she couldn’t look me in the eye only made me want to admire the view a little longer, but it wasn’t just that.

There was a tiny hint of curious arousal wafting from her, and not a scrap of evil, which was not a combination I was used to.

This was certainly intriguing, especially when the elf had to know how devious Ashe and I both were from just looking at us.

“I’ll pay you the two hundred pieces now,” Ashe told the elf, “but we’ll return tomorrow to collect the final dress.”

“Of course.” The elf nodded. “I’ll make sure it’s ready for you.”

Ashe poured out the coins she had in her velvet bag, and she quickly scanned over them to make sure she still had two hundred in there before she took the dresses off the desk.

“Thank you so much,” she sighed. “You really do make the best dresses in Rengfri.”

“I’m glad you like them,” the dressmaker said. “Especially as you go through them so quickly.”

Ashe and I both grinned at the elf who smiled with her lashes lowered to the ground.

“Have a nice day,” I told her, and her blush ripened to cherry red as she bowed her head toward me.

We left the shop with the eight dresses over Ashe’s arms and the two extra legs of meat in my hand, and the two of us exchanged lewd glances on our way back to the bizarre marketplace at the center of the Grimmway.

The scene was entirely different than it had been before when we arrived. Most beings had gone inside to hide from the rain, but the banshees were still dancing and chanting. Odd, wavering music could be heard from a wagon in the far corner, and the sellers were clearing up their stalls for the night.

All apart from one.

A gremlin still had his stall open and set up for the village to see. I had noticed his stall before, but it was usually crowded by so many patrons that I’d never taken a decent look at it. Rows upon rows of bottles were spread out across the every surface in his stall, and some of the bottles were twice the size of the others. Now that it was clear to see, I noticed that some of the liquids inside the bottles were fizzing, and some shimmered like the handle at the mining shack.

The gremlin sold tonics and potions. It was no wonder that his stall was always so popular.

We stopped walking as we came closer to the stall, and I noticed the gremlin was drinking from one of the bottles. It was ruby red, and the liquid inside bubbled ferociously at the top.

Two Black Fairies sat nearby, and they, too, were drinking from a bottle, but this one was purple. Whenever the fairies took a drink, their large gray eyes would roll back, and their wings would flutter from the feeling that ran through their bodies.

“Aah, typical,” I snickered.

“We should have known, given the time of day,” Ashe replied. “It’s prime drinking time.”

Ashe and I didn’t often wander through the marketplace once it had gotten dark, not unless we were returning home from somewhere. This was the time of day where the village really came alive, and even more so when the weather was nice. Apart from the drinks in the tavern, I hadn’t experienced a tonic from a stall like that before on the surface world.

But I was curious to see what would happen if Ashe and I drank one.

“Shall we buy one?” I smirked at my demon huntress.

The same expression as mine formed on her eager face. “Oooh, could we really?”

“If that’s what you want,” I said in a low growl.

“It is,” Ashe sent me a hungry smile. “We could take it home with us! Or join the fairies?”

One look at the fairies told me that they were far too gone, and we wouldn’t have been the right company for them, especially if we were sober. But taking the tonic home sounded like a good idea.

“Come on, let’s see what the gremlin has to offer,” I said and nudged my lover forward.

“Sparkles told me of a brew that would be fun to try,” Ashe continued excitedly. “I don’t know if it would have the same effect on us, but it’s worth it to try.”

Sparkles the tinsel fairy spent the majority of her time in taverns or getting drunk on the street, so it was no shock to me that she had recommended a brew for Ashe to try.

“That’s the one!” Ashe said happily as we neared the stall.

The bottle was gold, but the liquid inside was black, and it fizzed near the cork that kept the bottle closed. A paper tag had been attached around the neck of the bottle, and it said that this particular brew was called “The Midnight Eye.”

“What did Sparkles say about it?” I asked as I inspected the bottle.

“Apparently, it enhances your senses, but too much of it can affect your vision in a bad way, hence the name,” Ashe responded. “She said that it made her see things that weren’t there, and she ended up walking into walls and flew into other beings.”

“That just sounds like Sparkles, to be honest,” I snickered.

“But given we’re demons, and these mortal brews don’t affect us so strongly,” Ashe led with a mischievous glance. “I think it’s safe to say we could take plenty and simply… enjoy the sensations together?”

“Hmm.” I grinned as I sensed the raw lust pouring from my beautiful fiend, and she bit her bottom lip just to entice me even more.

“Please?” she whispered.

“You can buy it,” I allowed.

Ashe squealed and thrust her hand into my pocket to dig out some pieces, and I chuckled while she took her damn time doing it, too.

Then we bought the bottle of the Midnight Eye tonic from the gremlin, and both Ashe and I were excited to see if it would have the same side effects for us as it did with other beings around here. The bottle was only fifteen pieces, so I was happy to return for more if my demon lover really enjoyed it.

We headed back toward the denser trees with everything in hand, and I had visions of what would happen as soon as we walked into the manor. I pictured the food and dresses being thrown to the tabletop, and Ashe and I would enjoy the entire bottle of tonic before I took her against every surface in the house.

I’d told her to be careful with the new green dress she had on, but I quickly forgot about that idea now that we had our evening all planned out. She had nine other dresses to enjoy, and one wasn’t going to be missed.

While I strolled along with Ashe on my arm, I listened to the wavering music drifting through the night, and I continued thinking about the positions I’d have my beautiful fiend in this evening. I imagined the sinful look in her pink eyes as I drove my cock in deeper and deeper…

But then Ashe pulled me to a sudden halt.

She had one finger against her lips to keep me quiet, and then she pointed toward the oaken grove ahead.

The scent hit me seconds later.

A scent that I’d never forget.

The putrid, festering evil of hellish ash and brimstone.

I spotted the five pairs of glowing, red Hellhound eyes a moment later, followed quickly by the hulking demon who tamed them.

It was another hunter from the Hellscape, but this one was nothing like Ashe, and as his flaming silhouette prowled through the trees, his Hellhounds began to howl.