Made in Hell Chapter 6

“What?” Ashe gasped, and she dropped to her knees to crawl closer to the window. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” I confirmed, but then one of the beings with the glowing golden eyes stepped out of the shadows, and both of us went silent.

He was a human man, and I immediately noted the burly build of his body and the rugged look of his face and clothes. His brown leather jacket was stained and tattered as it strained around his broad chest and arms, and his rough pants and leather boots were just as well-worn.

From where I watched, I could only see two swords on his belt, but both of them had glowing golden gems embedded in the blades.

This rugged bastard was blessed with angel magic, from his entire physical being straight to the tips of his blades, and I knew what this meant.

They’d fight as hard and fast as the angels, and as I counted the nine other pairs of golden eyes lurking in the shadows, I knew Ashe and I were fucked.

“You’re sure that’s the Blessed?” the demon woman whispered. “I’ve never encountered them before.”

“That’s them, alright,” I growled. “The eyes and weapons are a dead giveaway. My guess is the deacon who saw us earlier put the target out on us, and the Church called in their holy hunters. Fuck.”

“Not good for us.” The silver-haired beauty let out a groan as she ran one hand down her face.

Demons were a hell of a force to come up against, and the Blessed were just as bad. They wielded their holy powers with a vengeance, and once they got hold of someone, there was no courtesy like redemption.

There was only the ultimate death, and the utter end of existence.

Even for a demon.

I carefully looked out the window again and saw that the men hadn’t moved another inch. If they had only been ordered to keep a watchful eye on our movements, then they wouldn’t have made themselves so obvious in the dead of the night, so I knew they would attack soon.

“What do we do, Atticus?” Ashe asked with her voice barely a whisper.

“I’m still trying to sort that one out,” I replied.

“Do you have weapons?” she queried. “Can we fight them off?”

“I do,” I said as I pointed over to my new weapons. “But nothing that’ll take on this many of those holy fuckers. There’s at least ten of them out there, and we can’t expose our powers to them. Not if we want to live to see another night in this world.”

“Well, we can’t have them tracking us,” Ashe hissed as we moved to grab our abandoned clothes from the floor.

“We’ll slip out of here and try to shake them off our tails for now.” I slipped my pants over my legs, and then I dragged my shirt and jacket on while Ashe wiggled into her corset dress. I helped her tighten the ties at her back.

Once we were dressed, and I collected the two weapons we had available to us, we snuck out of the room and ran through the corridor with Ashe in the lead.

“Atticus, over here,” she whispered once she’d reached the far wall.

Ashe stood in front of a window that was murky like the one in room seven, but smaller and slightly thinner with no latch to open it. The ledge was a story above the alley out back, but there were no yellow eyes down there, at least.

“We can jump from here,” she decided.

I used my elbow to smash the glass free from the window frame. The tiny shards of glass fell onto the street below and shattered into miniscule pieces. If the Blessed hadn’t been aware of our movements already, then the smashing of the glass was sure to alert them, but we could move just as fast as they could.

“Here, keep a hold of this,” I said as I handed Ashe the glaive. “Okay, go.”

Ashe grabbed onto the wooden frame and then hitched her leg up and over the window. She made the entire thing look easy, especially in such a tight corset dress.

“Looks clear.” She peered down at whatever lay below us, tucked the glaive under one arm, and then she jumped. The fall wasn’t far for a demon, so she stuck the landing perfectly like the jump hadn’t been more than a light hop.

I followed l Ashe’s example, and I tucked my flail into my belt before I grabbed onto the sides of the frame. As expected, the space was far smaller for a demon my size, and I felt the wood rub against my back and thighs as I curled my body through the opening. As soon as I had both feet past the threshold, I made the jump and landed right beside my fiendish goddess.

Then we sprinted behind the inn and the other buildings that sat alongside it.

I checked the other alleyways every time we passed one, but thankfully, no glowing golden eyes were seen. The mundane sounds of the beings who took over the Shadow Quarters filled my ears as we sprinted past their homes, and I listened to their music, laughter, and the occasional snort and snarl whipping past. I also made out the panting of my breath, and the way our feet pounded against the stone and mud as we ran faster than any mortals could.

After several minutes, we’d reached a part of this quarter I was still to investigate, but we continued to follow our senses and stuck to the backs of buildings and alleys.

A sense of urgency filled my body as we ran. Not only did we have the Lord Captains plotting their next move to catch us, but now these holy fuckers had been sent to rid us of our lives.

Fortunately, the Blessed smelled awful in the holiest way, and I could now track when they were near. If the scent ever became too strong, we’d just have to turn and run in the other direction until we found a better solution.

Hopefully.

The Blessed were just as cunning as demons, and I wouldn’t put it past them to catch us off guard one of these days.

What mattered most, though, was that they never discovered what our hell powers were. Any magic our voids had embedded in us, the angels could counter just as effectively, and the less the Blessed knew about our true abilities, the better. It meant they couldn’t seek the help of the angels to gain even more powers and definitively wipe us out.

We dodged the low branches and the other obstacles in our way, but we continued to run as far as Rengfri would allow us. We finally came to a halt on a set of some stone steps deep within the Shadow Quarters, and the Blessed hadn’t followed us this far, so we took the opportunity to think for a minute.

It was noticeable that we made it further into the darker side of the Shadow Quarters, and evil cackles and snarls met my ears along with a mix of sinful smells that grew stronger in this area.

The ruins of some abandoned buildings were up ahead, and we travelled toward the stone walls. They were overgrown by a swarm of deep green moss that trickled through every crack in the stones. One wall had crumbled to the ground, and the others surrounding it weren’t far off from doing the same thing.

The moon was high in the sky, and the air had become colder and harsher, so a prickly feeling ran across my exposed skin. I welcomed the chill of the breeze, and I let it cool my temper as I thought about the holy hunters we now had on our trail.

“Let’s try through there,” I said as I pointed through the ruins.

“Do you know what all of this is?” Ashe asked.

“No, but it could be a place to lie low until we know for certain that the Blessed have gone,” I replied.

The ruins were much larger than they appeared from the alley, and it now looked as though the shell of the ancient building was once a palace, or maybe even a church.

The last thing we needed was to come across another holy dwelling in this city.

The ruins had the remains of oval archways, giant cutouts in the walls that must have been windows, and solid slabs of rock placed in the center of the ground. The rocks had been chiseled into perfect, circular rounds, and a smaller rock on top of each slab held more intricate details, like it was a symbol for something. Unfortunately, the many years since the palace had been at its full glory wore away the majority of the details. It gave me very little to work with, and I couldn’t guess what exactly used to stand here.

“Oh, look!” Ashe called from her spot deeper into the ruins. She pointed a slender finger toward the ground, and it wasn’t until I reached her that I saw what exactly she’d found.

Set up in the center of the stone floor was a mosaic. The tiles of the image were a variety of sizes, and they were all different shades of orange, blue, white, and green. A large crack in the middle of the mosaic distorted the tangled picture, but even with the slice through the center, I still knew what it was, and who it represented.

The tiny tiles made up a face which looked human at first glance. Wild, orange, curly hair surrounded the face, and mixed in the middle of the curls were five menacing serpents. The serpents’ fangs were bared, and their forked tongues seemed to be tasting the imaginary air around them. The mosaic gave me a completely different idea of the ruins we stood in, and even though it appeared empty, I knew someone, or something, still resided in the area.

A creature who was known to greatly resemble the image on the mosaic.

“Let’s keep moving,” I decided.

Ashe nodded her head in response to my decision and climbed the half-wall to her left. She heaved herself up high enough to see over the top, but then she dropped back down only a second later.

“This way’s a dead end, it just leads into the forest,” she said as she brushed back a loose strand of silver hair that had fallen in front of her face. “We’ll need to go back the way we came and try another path.”

“Yeah, the farther from the forest, the better,” I agreed.

We retraced our steps out of the ruins, but before I had the chance to think about where to go from there, a crash echoed through the thin alleyway ahead.

“What are you doing here?” a harsh, female voice hissed from the shadows.

“Nothing that concerns you,” I growled.

“Oh, but it does.” The female’s tongue got caught on every “s” she spoke, and the resulting hiss was how I imagined a snake would talk. “You see, this is our home.”

Three gorgon women walked out of the shadows. Their scaly, pale green skin shone in the moonlight, and all three of them stood at least a head taller than myself. Their bodies were slim, and scraps of fabric barely covered their nipples, but that didn’t seem to bother these women. Like the face in the mosaic, these women all had wild, curly hair that billowed out around their faces, and each one bore the same pair of piercing blue eyes.

I was still a demon beneath my human form, so I wasn’t sure if their eye contact could end my life right now, but I made sure not to hold their gaze, just in case.

I had encountered gorgons on the surface world before, but this was the first time I’d seen them standing on two feet. Other times, they’d only ever been in their secondary form, and I remembered how their bodies coiled into a giant serpent from the waist down. Their fangs had grown longer and sharper, but their blue eyes stayed exactly the same, and no matter what form they took, gorgons could turn any mortal creature into stone if they only held direct eye contact.

Gorgons were also incredibly protective of their land and history, and they preferred to keep to themselves. Now, we’d been found in their home, and this wasn’t something they would take lightly.

“We’ll be on our way,” I calmly told the three gorgon women.

The ripe smell of their violent appetites rippled from all three of them, and I would have loved to feel the pressure in my hands as their necks snapped, or to see Ashe claw out their jugulars with her deadly talons. The urge to end the evil creatures right here almost became too much to bear, but I had enough on my plate already, and I could return to the gorgons later if I wanted to.

I turned to leave, but a slim green arm shot out in front of me.

The gorgon slid in between me and the ruined wall beside me, and I felt the strength of the glare she forced onto me.

“Not so fast,” the gorgon snarled. Her voice was smooth and somewhat melodic despite the hiss of her tongue. “Tell me why you are here.”

“We were looking for a place to hide for a bit, and we didn’t realize this place was already taken,” I said honestly.

“This place is ours, and it is no place for the likes of you,” she hissed. “You must go, but if you dare step past these walls again, you’ll join the other trespassers.”

The gorgon pointed a long, scaled finger beyond my head, and when I turned to look, I noticed an area that resembled a makeshift graveyard. A line of stone statues were placed along a half-ruined wall, and each one was a different species. They all bore the same look of pain and terror on their rigid faces, and from the state they were in, it was clear some had been here longer than the others. One elven statue at the far end of the display looked brand new, like the victim’s body had only solidified a day ago.

“We said we’re leaving, bitch,” Ashe huffed.

The women didn’t seem to appreciate the annoyance of my partner, and all three of them quickly crowded around her. Their svelte bodies towered over the demon woman, and I caught the gleam of their fangs that slipped past their lips.

“What did you say?” the gorgon in the middle demanded. She must have been the leader of this group.

“I said we’re leaving, bitch,” Ashe retorted, and I heard the hint of her demon voice beginning to fester in her throat.

I had to grin. These gorgons had no idea who they were fucking with.

The curled messes of the gorgons’ hair began to shake as the strands transformed into black serpents. The tiny, yet mighty, mouths of the snakes widened to reveal the teeth inside. Each snake had their eyes firmly directed toward Ashe, and the black bodies coiled into a spring as if they were about to strike.

At the same time the snakes sent off their warnings, the women all brought out blades they’d had tucked into the back of their outfits.

My grin faded a bit.

I knew from the complex designs etched into the weapons that these were onyx blades, but there was a subtle difference. Onyx blades were typically black, but these shone a light blue in color. The weapons looked to be infused with some kind of magic, and it worried me slightly that I didn’t exactly know the secret behind the blue sheen.

Then the leader of the gorgon group raised her weapon, and she angled the tip of the blade in line with Ashe’s cheek. The other women held them to the side, as if they were waiting on their next command, but they wouldn’t even get that far.

I hadn’t intended to kill these women just yet, but the second their ringleader raised her blade at Ashe, I saw red. I no longer cared about the gorgon’s history and the powers they held.

I’d slaughter all these snaky bitches for even thinking of cutting my woman.

I could tell by Ashe’s calm smirk that she was prepared to murder, but when she saw me slowly stalking forward behind the gorgons’ backs, she smiled even wider.

The gorgons hadn’t paid me any attention, and this gave me the opportunity to grip the handle of the flail that hung from my belt.

I swiftly freed the weapon before I swung it out wide, and the steel striking head connected with the lead gorgon’s arm.

She screamed out in pain as the spikes gouged into her scaled skin, and her arm was almost entirely shredded to the bone. Slimy, yellow blood oozed from the open wounds, and the gorgon hissed in fury and whipped around to me.

My tactic had worked, though.

While I distracted the gorgons, Ashe removed the glaive from under her cape, and one swipe slashed the back of a gorgon across the legs. Then everyone was fighting, and I only spared Ashe a quick glance since she could certainly hold her own during a mortal battle.

I brought my arm back again and aimed for the lead gorgon’s head, but before the flail could connect, the gorgon sliced her blade through the air. I felt a hot sting as the tip of the strange blade tore a line across my stomach, and I staggered backward.

This blade cut through me much too easily for a mortal weapon, and it burned like nothing I’d come up against on the surface world.

“Fucking bitch,” I spat.

I held one hand over the slice in my stomach, and I applied pressure to the oozing wound, but I was more concerned with the onyx blade that continuously slashed toward me.

I used all my demon strength to whip around my flail, and it connected with the gorgon’s head right on the top of her forehead. The black snakes of her hair squealed on impact, and they exploded into black sludge as they were smashed  like putrid sausages.

When I yanked my weapon back to me, I managed to tear off half the gorgon’s face at the same time, and the white bone of her cracked skull was exposed.

The gorgon staggered silently on weak legs while yellow blood oozed from her bludgeoned head, but I took one last hit and completely shattered her skull into tiny pieces. Then she dropped to the ground in a pool of yellow blood and brain matter.

The onyx blade clattered toward my feet, and I bent down and snatched it up. I could feel the power that surged through the handle, and my suspicions were confirmed. This blade had been tampered with, and it possessed magic strong enough to mar the flesh of a demon like most mortal weapons couldn’t.

Then I heard a raging shriek nearby, and I noticed Ashe had also defeated one gorgon. She only had one left, and it looked to be a fair fight, with both opponents just as strong as the other.

I knew without a doubt that I could have left Ashe to it, and she’d still come out the victor, but where was the fun in that?

After all, my demon woman and I were a murderous team now.

All it took was for me to slice the remaining gorgon in the back with the onyx blade, and she let out a piercing scream. Then Ashe used her glaive and drove it through the gorgon’s chest. Both her back and front were now coated with the yellow blood that poured from the wounds like a fierce river, and Ashe and I both wore the same triumphant smiles as our opponent collapsed onto the ground in a heap.

“I’ll take one of these.” Ashe grinned as she scooped up an onyx blade from the bloody ground. “Atticus? Care for a new killing device?”

“I’ve got one, thanks,” I muttered as I checked out the cut on my stomach.

My congealed blood seeped through my shirt, and the fiery pain continued to flow through my veins. I lifted the blood-drenched fabric to get a better look, and it was worse than I had expected.

The cut ran diagonally from below my ribs to the center of my stomach, and black, veiny lines sprawled around the gouge. Infused weapons usually didn’t have the same effect on my demon body, so it must have been on account of my human form being more vulnerable to attack.

That was definitely something to keep in mind if we encountered more magical weapons up here.

“Shit, what happened?” Ashe gasped.

“That bitch cut me,” I sighed and pointed toward my nearly-headless victim.

“Are you okay?” the demon woman asked. “It looks painful.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said with a shrug “These human forms are just weaker, and I’ve noticed they take longer to heal. But we should go before any more gorgons turn up.”

“Or before the Blessed catch wind of what’s happened,” Ashe pointed out. “I guarantee they’d use all this as another reason to snatch us. Nevermind that we’ve basically done their work for them.”

I smirked in agreement, and then I secured my flail and new onyx blade in my belt.

We briefly checked our surroundings to make sure the Blessed hadn’t caught up to us yet, and then we headed off and left the scene of the slaughter behind us.

Returning to the half-orc’s inn was out of the question now that the Blessed knew to look for us there, so I searched around for a spot that would do for the night. One inn we came across appeared much more run-down than the one we were at earlier, but as long as we were off the streets, I didn’t mind.

I opened the main door and winced at the sharp noise that came from the old, metal hinges. It sliced across the wooden flooring, and then juddered to a stop. I couldn’t push it any further, but there was just enough room for us to slip past.

Then I realized the half-orcs must have owned most inns in the Shadow Quarters, because this one had a similarly grotesque gray beast waiting at the counter.

“Five pieces a night,” the half-orc snorted as we arrived at the desk.

“One night,” I said as I gave him a handful of pieces from my pockets.

The half-orc looked over the five coins on the desk, but he didn’t respond.

I got the impression he was deliberating about something, and I worked to calm my instant irritation. I was tired, cut up, and severely pissed off about how our night had gone. I could have used up the last of my energy fucking Ashe another four times, but instead, I’d been outrunning holy bastards and slaying gorgons for the last hour.

Had this asshole half-orc asked for more money at that moment, I probably would have left him bleeding out on the musty floor.

He finally accepted the money, though, and then he handed over a key for room four.

I gave him a tired nod, and Ashe and I walked toward the new room.

I wasn’t used to the feeling this tired or needing to sleep so immediately after a fight. Usually, I thrived on violence and bloodshed when I was in my demon form, but this human form seemed more high-maintenance.

It felt like I hit a brick wall.

I couldn’t function any longer, and I couldn’t focus on anything important. It may have had something to do with the impact from the onyx blade, but it could have also been the result of everything I’d done since removing the Dark King’s shackle from my arm.

Now, all I wanted to do was close my eyes for a few minutes with my fiendish demon lover beside me. Then I wanted to open my eyes without seeing the Tempest Void swirling around me, and continue with my new life on the surface world.

When we opened the door of our new room, I’d never been more excited to see a bed. I stripped my clothes off and dropped my weapons on a table without even giving the room a proper look, and then I allowed the soft bed to welcome me with open arms. My eyes closed within seconds, but I vaguely registered the feeling of Ashe joining me at my side before I fully relaxed.

“Mmmm… this is nice…” The demon woman’s hand slid over my bare chest as her thigh hitched up over my leg, and she bit lightly at my shoulder before exhaustion took over.

The next thing I knew, the morning sun broke through the murky windows of the room.

I stretched out my tired muscles and immediately felt the fiery pull of the wound on my stomach.

Those bastard gorgons.

The wound stung like a bitch, but the veiny lines had faded, and I knew this cut would heal in a day or so. Still, those snaky creatures deserved the ending they’d received.

Ashe was dozing naked beside me, and her silver nipples glittered even more in the morning light. I almost couldn’t believe how much she’d let me enjoy her last night, but then I remembered offering to let her obey me up here on the surface world.

Which meant this beautiful, fiending, Infernal Huntress belonged entirely to me.

Every delicious inch of her was mine.

My mouth began to water as I raked my eyes over her silvery curves. She looked so calm with her thick silver lashes closed, and I fought the urge to spread her thighs open and bend my face down between them so I could lap up her sweet juices.

It was Ashe’s first night sleeping soundly without a Lord Captain around to wake her up and send her on a mission, so I forced myself to keep my hands off her for now.

If I did my duty up here, and protected her as a master should, there’d be plenty of time ahead for playing all kinds of sinful games with the beautiful little fiend.

I silently got up and got dressed, and my shirt was covered in stains of mud and blood. The blood was both mine and the blood of trolls and gorgons, and the sleeves were torn off from using them as bandages.

My arm was healed enough not to need a wrapping today, and I studied the dried black holes that were trying to seal themselves. It was still a shocking sight, and I decided I’d need to get some more clothes, especially if we intended to blend in on the surface world. For now, I’d rely on my leather jacket to keep it hidden.

I made sure Ashe was still asleep and then collected the bucket that had been left in the room. Then I headed outside and stopped at the well in the center of the courtyard out back, and I glanced around at my surroundings briefly. I was relieved there weren’t any freaky golden eyes glowing in the shadows of the trees, and I could hear the grumbling of other Shadow Quarters residents somewhere beyond the bounds of the courtyard.

Once the bucket was heavy with water, I pulled it back up from the well using the rope, and I snuck back into the inn.

Ashe woke up as I closed the door behind me, and she sent me a sleepy smile while she mussed the silvery waves of her hair.

“I got us some water to clean up some of this blood and sweat,” I said as I held the bucket up.

“My hero.” She grinned.

“I didn’t see any of the Blessed when I was out there,” I said as I removed my jacket. “Hopefully, this means we can get out of this shithole and into better digs before we encounter them again.”

I splashed some water onto my face and smiled at how good it felt. The icy water broke through the heat of my skin like the boiling rivers of the Hellscape never did. The pleasurable feeling intensified as the water dripped down my chest, and I continued dousing myself in the water until it ran all over my hair, down my shoulders, and onto the floor.

I still didn’t feel like I’d gotten enough of the icy freshness. I was definitely going to have to find more water up here to enjoy myself in.

“Where shall we go?” Ashe questioned as she joined me near the bucket.

I had to think about the safest possible option, and where we’d be less likely to find trouble like the Blessed. The forest was a no entry zone for us, but when I’d first arrived in Port of Rengfri, I’d spent some time by the sea. That struck me as a potential escape route, but I hoped we could get to the harbor from the Shadow Quarters without having to walk through the forest.

“We’ll check out the harbor,” I decided. “I’ve seen vessels sailing past, and we can work out when they dock.”

“Who hangs out down there?” Ashe asked while she dabbed some cold water on her silver cheeks, and her pink eyes fluttered closed as a pleasurable smile curled on her lips.

“We can work that out when we get there,” I replied. “But it might be the only option we have to escape.”

Ashe and I began getting our things together, and I watched as she slid her brand new onyx blade into the make-shift belt around her waist. I pocketed the last of my pieces to buy some more clothes and food on our way there.

Then we left the Shadow Quarters, and Ashe followed alongside me and kept her head lowered like I did. Even though our eyes were still noticeable, the lower our heads hung, the easier it was to stop the humans of Rengfri from reacting badly whenever we walked past.

I led us back to the part of the city I’d first arrived in after killing the five knights in the forest, and I kept a lookout for anything that appeared promising.

The courtyard I brought us to was far busier than the one in the Shadow Quarters, and I spotted a few women collecting water from another well. Others were throwing buckets full of a thick, dark liquid onto the streets. The stench from the alley on my first night reached me again, and it confirmed my initial thought to be true.

The bucket contained the waste of these mortals along with other unimaginable items.

We wandered closer to the tavern where I’d eaten stew, and I was reminded I’d have to go repay the man his four pieces once I had more. But then I noticed a building with bolts of fabric hung up in the window. It looked like the place to get a new shirt for me, and Ashe could probably use a new dress that wouldn’t draw quite so much attention to us, too.

I’d lost count of how many humans gawked at her bare thighs, but all of the mortal women’s legs were covered in long dresses on this side of town.

The shop with the fabric looked the same as many others on the outside, with dark wooden beams, arched windows, and iron frames. We stood for a moment to consider the array of colors and textures in the window, and then Ashe turned a quizzical look toward me.

“What are we doing here?” she asked.

“Getting new clothes.” I grinned.

I went ahead and opened the door, and I instantly noticed the difference between this shop and the one owned by the half-elf in the Shadow Quarters. This one was cleaner, well-lit by candles and natural light, and even the smell was fresher. A woman stood at the other end of the shop behind a wooden desk with a couple pairs of scissors as well as some other tailoring devices around her. She wore a burnt orange dress with long sleeves and a piece of rope tied around her middle. Her hair was blonde and curled just below her ears, and her blue eyes stared down at the desk before her. She gave us a timid wave but refused to look anywhere near our faces while her fingertips trembled.

“We’re here for some clothes,” I said from my spot by the door. “A shirt for myself, and a dress for my partner.”

“O-Of course,” the woman stammered. “Please, pick the cloth you prefer.”

Ashe and I followed the direction she pointed and began to survey the different materials. The wall to our left was covered in cloth of all various colors, textures, and thicknesses, and I sighed with disgust as I eyed a bright gold cloth with pristine, white saints embroidered all over it.

“Does she make them for us?” Ashe asked in a whisper.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “I’ve never done this before.”

Clothing or garments were thrown at us in the Hellscape. If a piece tore during a mission, then we’d receive a replacement, but that was all I knew. If this woman had to make the clothes, then it could be a while before they were ready for us to wear. We didn’t have that long, but if this was the only option on the surface world, there wasn’t much we could do about it.

I found a roll of black cotton, and I decided this matched the jacket I always wore a lot better than the blood-stained white one I already had on. Ashe grabbed a roll of deep sapphire blue silk, and she sent me a questioning look as she held it near her pale cleavage. Then she smiled when I sent her a firm nod of approval, and the two of us turned around.

“We’ll take these,” I said to the woman behind the desk, and I held up the chosen fabrics.

“Yes, sir,” she mumbled.

The woman came toward us, but it was clear by her rigid posture that she would have preferred to stay back behind the desk. Still, she took the bundles of fabric from both of us, and then brought it all over to her workspace.

“Can I ask, how does this work?” I questioned.

“Oh,” her eyes widened for a split second. “I-I shall cut your cloth to size and make your garments, as well as any undergarments you wish to accompany them.”

“I don’t wear undergarments,” Ashe sighed, and the shopkeeper blushed bright red. “Too restrictive.”

“I’m fine with just the shirt for now,” I said while I tried not to grin too much.

Then the shopkeeper brought out a long, white measuring tape that reminded me of the tool we used to decide how far to stretch a creaton’s limbs in the Hellscape.

“Can you open out your arms?” she asked cautiously.

Once I had my arms out to the side, the woman began to take my measurements, and she wrote everything down on another piece of paper. She fumbled with her tools a few times as I saw her eyes flick to the blood and brain matter still caked to the flail in my belt, but she did a decent job of controlling her shaking fingers. Once she finished taking every possible measurement of my torso, arms, and neck, she moved onto Ashe and did the same thing with her.

The shopkeeper looked even more nervous working close to Ashe, and I wondered if it had to do with her bloody glaive or her lack of undergarments.

My demon lover smirked with obvious enjoyment as the woman tightened her measuring tape around her ample breasts, tiny waist, and lucious hips. When it came time for her legs to be measured, Ashe intentionally hitched her already revealing red dress up so her pussy was centimeters from being exposed.

The poor shopkeeper was as red as the dress when she finally shot up from her work.

“All done!” she announced in a wavering voice.

“Lovely,” Ashe purred with a sinful smile. “When can I expect my pretty dress to be ready?”

“I-It’ll be by sundown,” the woman announced after a brief moment of silence. “I’ll start on everything straight away.”

“How many pieces?” I asked.

“Forty for the both of them,” she replied.

We left the shop without saying another word, and Ashe let out an amused snicker as soon as the door had closed behind us.

“Are they always that frazzled up here?” she asked.

“I couldn’t say, but your beauty probably didn’t help the situation,” I chuckled.

“There’s something so enjoyable about scandalizing the innocent,” Ashe sighed.

We had time to eat and check out the water as previously planned, so we decided to do the more pressing work of surveying our escape options first.

I escorted Ashe down the road while the demon woman smirked at every woman who couldn’t meet her gaze. I was equally amused by how confused the human males were by her, and I smelled their obvious fear, but there was also a hint of intrigue as they averted their gaze.

The sun was out today, and as much as I had enjoyed the rain, it certainly was nice to see a delicate glow of sunlight cascade onto the cobblestoned streets and the vaulted roofs that towered over us.

We headed along the edge of the port city, but I needed to make sure we didn’t cross through the forests, so I relied on my nose to get us to the water. I hadn’t realized until my first day here that the surface world oceans smelled extremely salty, unlike the water in the wells. This brinier scent made my nostrils tingle in a much more enjoyable way, and I followed the scent as we crossed down a side street and then behind a few buildings.

Then the ocean appeared in the distance, and as we continued, the blue of the sea came more into view.

We had reached a cliff edge with a road curving all the way down toward the harbor. We weren't amongst the trees here, but the forest flanked one side of the winding road, and I took a deep breath of ocean air as I looked down at the wharves below.

“I hear armor,” Ashe whispered.

I paid closer attention to the noises around us, and I picked up the soft clang of metal that Ashe mentioned.

“Let’s go this way,” I said and pointed to the right.

We could climb down the rocks on the roadside and hide out there to watch the armored guards pass below. I jumped down first and then held out my hand for Ashe to take. Once we both reached the first ledge of stone, we lay flat on our stomachs and peered over the side.

The clanging of metal became more noticeable the longer we waited, and then I finally caught sight of a line of guards as they walked out of the blindspot they had been traveling from. All of them had swords sheathed on their waists, but they didn’t have helms on like the knights I killed when I first arrived in the area.

I turned my gaze to a vessel in the distance, and it was headed straight for the wharves. A few others were preparing to head out, and I figured if I could clock their movements for a couple days, I’d be able to learn what schedule we were working with.

“Atticus, look,” Ashe said with her finger pointed away from the vessel and toward the route of the armored guards.

Two men were headed toward the knights as if they were going to talk to them. The men were of average height, and one had a large stomach that rolled out from his body, whereas the other was much slimmer and lankier. They wore far grander clothes than the others I had seen humans wearing, and the dark fabric had a shine to it, almost like it had been made from silk, or perhaps velvet.

The main thing that stood out to me were the decorations that hung down the men’s chests.

Around their necks, they wore the same symbol I had seen on the front of the church. It was the same jewelry the screaming lady had clutched when she looked into my eyes yesterday.

These men either worked for the Church or had connections with the establishment.

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “That bastard Church is everywhere here.”

“We’ll need to see if they are constantly near the wharves,” Ashe responded. “There are a few more men further along with the same symbols on their necklaces.”

She was right.

Every man I saw down there was either armored or wearing symbols of the Church. If both the king’s guard and men of the Church roamed over the port on a daily basis, then it would put a roadblock in our idea of escaping this city by vessel.

We had to find a means of leaving the Port of Rengfri, but it was starting to look like both walking and sailing out wasn’t the route to take. We’d have to be undetected to escape this way, and the Church could have their beady eyes all over the place.

“Well, we need to find some way out,” I sighed as we watched the guards converse with the men. “Our Lord Captains will have demons patrolling the forests around this city, especially if they find out we’re trying to leave the area.”

“Yeah, you should have seen my LC when I was sent on this mission,” Ashe snorted. “He was beyond pissed, and yours was with him looking the same.”

“Good,” I chuckled. “I hope he fucking combusts in the Dark King’s grip over all this.”

“The Dark King will find out soon enough,” Ashe allowed, “but we both know the Lord Captains will do what they can to hide the issue from him. They will get more desperate as the hours tick by.”

I was about to agree, but then an idea came to mind as Ashe stated the obvious truth.

The Lord Captains had to know the Church reigned over the Port of Rengfri, and even though they sent me on a suicide mission, the same approach may not apply when it came to other demons. They’d already lost two of us to this city, and any more than that would get them in loads of shit with other higher ups.

“Perhaps we need to stay in the city, after all,” I mumbled through a scheming grin.

“What?” Ashe frowned. “You mean right under the noses of those holy fuckers?”

“Think about it,” I replied. “The more demons the LCs lose in this city, the more likely it is that they’ll draw the Dark King’s attention. They’ve also seen I’ll free any of their minions if given the chance. We’ve also got the Church lurking nearby, so demons and Hellhounds are even less likely to be sent out too often near the center of this city. The way I see it, if we stay closer to the Church, and farther from the forest, it’ll keep us safe for the time being.”

“Oh, well in that case, I’ll consider myself saved,” Ashe said with a coy smirk. “But this isn’t a long term fix.”

“Who would you rather face right now, though?” I asked. “A swarm of demons in the forest, or a few of the Blessed, who we’ve dodged already.”

“That’s like asking which breast I’d rather lose, my left or right,” she snorted.

“But do you see the point I’m making?” I chuckled.

“Yes, that we’re fucked on the surface either way,” Ashe sighed.

“Not at all,” I calmly countered. “I’ll find us a way out of here, but for now, given the spot we’re in, it’s best that we get set up in the belly of the beast.”

“How set up?” Ashe asked with narrowed, pink eyes.

“Like a tumor,” I snickered. “We’ll bury ourselves deep in the darkest corners of this port, and if anyone tries to root us out, we’ll fucking devour them and keep on gaining in power.”

Ashe’s mouth curled into a wicked smile while she tipped her chin up for a kiss, and I bit at her plump lips while she growled for more. Then she jumped up and brushed off the chalk from her dress and legs, and I pulled myself upright.

I helped Ashe climb from the ledge onto the cliffside road before I did the same, and my demon woman chuckled like a fiend as she turned to lead the way back into the Port of Rengfri.