Kasadya Hellhound Defined (Kasadya Hellhound Series) Page 2

  "Wow, now, that is an awful smell." Lada coughed and tried to get used to the air.

  "Talk about a swallower," Nanini pitched in.

  "This way. Make sure that you stay close to each other. Here, demons are at their strongest and will attack," Raphael said, waving his hand for us to follow.

  "It looks pretty quiet to me. You sure we are at the right place?" Ben asked, looking around.

  I laughed quietly. For the others, it would seem to be quiet. To those that have been here and survived to tell about it, we knew it was only a matter of time.

  "Don’t be foolish, Ben. Stay alert," Raphael replied.

  And just as predicted, Lotan came flying past me, a Shallot demon carrying him. "Craaaap!!"

  "Battle stations!" Raphael yelled, pulling his swords free.

  I had already pulled mine free and was sprinting to help Lotan. A pink light bomb reached the demon before me, and I watched as Lotan fell towards the earth, landing hard. As the demon collided with the ground, I was upon him, taking his head swiftly. Looking up, I surveyed my team who were fighting a horde of demons that appeared out of nowhere.

  And so, it began.

  With immense speed, I joined the others and started to take demon heads. A Slider demon came at me fast, his snake tail snapping out towards me. With a quick swipe, the tail landed on the ground and the demon screamed in agony. A sound that once thrilled me, but now only bored me. He jabbed out with his swords and I countered with mine. With a spin, I twisted around his blade and swiped with my own. There was no need to look at the result. The next demon was a Thornhurd, his strong-boned encased head heading towards me at full force. He was putting in all his effort to ram into me. I stepped to the side and watched as he stormed past me and joined his momentum. By the time he realized that he had hit nothing but air, I was at his back, swiping. His head slid to the left then fell to the ground, his body following. Turning around, I found all the demons motionless on the ground, my team watching for any other movement.

  Flames engulfed my arm and I instinctively grabbed it. They are hurting her! For a moment I could only see red as my anger poured out of me. With a roar, I kicked the Thornhurd's body and watched it fly through the air, smashing into the wall of the hill surrounding us. I was lost; I was unsure of what to do or how to unleash the anger inside me. A hand grabbed my shoulder, and fingers dugged into my flesh to secure me.

  "Breathe, brother," Raphael tried to calm me.

  "They are torturing her," I strung out, trying to regain my composure.

  He could not offer soothing words or reassurance. He knew that at the hands of demons, she was enduring torture only found in history books.

  I am coming, Kasadya. Hold on, my love! I sent these thoughts into the hot air, hoping and praying that my message would reach her somehow.

  "We need to find shelter. The hour approaches," Raphael continued.

  I nodded, unable to form a word as I stared into an abyss of nothing. I heard him convey the message to the team. I was failing not only Kasadya, but my team as well. I shook my head and bit down on my jaws. I will not fail! Turning around, I watched my team as they listened to Raphael. I joined them, many of them looking at me with pity in their eyes. All except for the half breed Max. He was as furious as I was. I nodded to him, agreeing to kill everyone who touches her. He might have found love with Nanini, but he would always care for Kasadya.

  "We need to move fast. We have about an hour to find a safe shelter to defend ourselves, and then we face what humans call "The Witching Hour." This is when demons are at their strongest, lethal and ten times more difficult to kill. Make no mistake; they know we are here. They will be coming for us," Raphael concluded the plan.

  "Then, let's move," I finished and turned.

  I started the pace with a slow jog. We needed to cover ground fast and find a high place in the mountain range. At this point we were all sitting ducks down here at the base. After a few miles we reached a mountain slope with enough places to grab on and make our way to the top. I set the pace again and grabbed the first rock, pulling myself up to the second one. The team followed close behind. As I looked up for the next spot to grab onto, my eyes caught the sky above me as it started to turn grey.

  "We need to move faster. The hour is approaching!" I yelled to the others, doubling up on my climb.

  Rocks crushed beneath my hands as I hauled myself up. As last, and just as the sky took its final black color for the hour, I reached the top. Reaching down, I helped pull up the others behind me.

  "We need to move fast. It's already begun," I urged them on.

  A few paces from the edge, we found a cave and after inspection, we decided it would have to do. Now, to wait it out and pray that the demons can’t track us. But I knew better; our scent could not be masked. My arm was once more engulfed in flames and I grabbed it, biting down on the roar I wanted to unleash. Hold on. Just hold on for me.

  Chapter 2

  Silence greeted us with an eerie feeling.

  "Wow, that is so spooky," Nanini breathed and Max embraced her. His face remained grim but tender for his mate.

  "Crap, do I want to know what is about to happen next?" Ben asked, smoothing a hand over his face.

  "No, you don't." I turned and looked at the mountain before us.

  A buzzing sound started then, followed by screeches and roars. I braced myself and waited. Soon; they will be here soon. Minutes ticked by and nothing happened. There were no demons at the entrance trying to kill us. Strange. Unexpected. But my instinct was telling me that something was wrong, really wrong. As I moved forward to go outside, a screech sounded through the air. I stopped dead in my stride.

  "No," I breathed.

  "Was that a hapry's scream?" Zurita said, moving to stand next to me, her eyes focused on the entrance.

  "Can't be, right?" Nanini asked behind us.

  The scream intensified and my instinct kicked in. "Abby!" I roared and stormed out of the cave to the edge of the mountain. At the bottom, two figures were fighting for their lives. The hellhound roared as she took demon after demon.

  "Raven!" Zurita yelled, shifting to them. I landed next to them a split second later. Chaos erupted around us.

  "I told you to go to the hellhouse!" I yelled at Raven, taking the head of a demon coming for her back.

  "I never agreed!" she yelled back, taking a demon’s head to her left.

  "Where the hell did you get the swords?" I continued, my anger at her powering my movements.

  "I borrowed them," she replied, ducking and stepping away to miss a swipe.

  "From whom?"

  "Um... you."

  "You stole them from me!" My anger breached the threshold, and the next blow cleaved a demon into two.

  "I said ‘borrowed,’ didn’t I?!" She didn’t see the demon at her back as she turned to look at me.

  "Raven!" I yelled, knowing I would be too late.

  But just as I moved forward watching the blade reaching her head, another sword blocked it and whipped it away. A female form followed the movement and crashed into the demon. Her roar joined many others. I ducked and killed the demon coming at me, but my eyes still traveled at this unknown female fighting with us. Her moves were impressive. I could see years of training working on the demons.

  "Chax!" Max yelled behind me, and I turned just in time to miss my own death blow.

  That was close, too close. I need to concentrate. More demons arrived. We were outnumbered.

  "If you value your lives and that of the hellhound taken as prisoner, take my hand and shift them," a female voice said next to me.

  I took the head of a demon and looked at her. My breath caught in my throat. "Luxuria?" I released it.

  "Take my hand now!" She ripped her sword from the demon's chest and reached her hand for me.

  Furious, I slapped it away. "No."

  "Dammit, Chax! Just take my hand or everyone will die here!" She grabbed my hand and shifted. Instinctively, I grabbed
the others and shifted them with me. Darkness encaged us.

  I could only hear hard breathing around me.

  "What the hell?" I heard Raven say, breathless.

  Light suddenly exploded around us. I raised my arm to shield the sudden impact. Seconds passed and I dropped it. Standing at a table with her arms bracing it, Luxuria was breathing hard. The sight of her pushed me forward. She heard my first step and turned to face me.

  "Demon," I growled, grabbing her throat and pinning her to the wall.

  "Wait. I can explain." She raised her hands in surrender.

  "Can you?" I wasn’t believing anything that was coming out of her mouth. A hand grabbed my shoulder.

  "Chax, just calm down for a sec," Raphael pleaded with me.

  Not releasing her, I waited for her damn lie to spill out. She was a demon, and even more, a demon prince. Trust them, and you were as good as dead. Her eyes darted between Raphael and me. Fear emanated from her.

  "Speak, demon," Raphael instructed her.

  "I... I am not a prince anymore. It was taken from me." Her eyes darted between us, unsure which of us will believe her.

  "Liar," I breathed, anger washing over me.

  "It is not a lie. He found out about me helping you. He took it from me and gave it to Gluttire. I have fallen to the lowest rank. Outcast, yet unable to leave." She sneered at me.

  "Prove it," I growled, slamming her into the wall.

  She cried out and reached for her head, her hand returned covered with blood. Shocked, she looked back up at me, then fainted. I stood there, unable to process what just happened. Silence followed until...

  "Should I be enjoying this? Because crap, I am not." Nanini broke the silence.

  "Chax, brother, let her go." Caim's hands came to rest on my own. I released her and he caught her before she fell. Shocked that a mere push could render her unconscious, I stood there, watching Caim as he tried to find a place to lay her down. My eyes roamed with him, but there was nothing but a table and candle in here. I caught something in a dark corner. There, in the back covered in darkness, was a makeshift bed.

  "There." I pointed to the corner and turned to look at the others. My eyes landed on a problem I almost had forgotten. Their eyes went wide and they stepped back in unison.

  "I gave the two of you a direct order, and you disobeyed me!" I stormed towards them.

  Abby closed her eyes, not wanting to see more. But Raven, being a hellhound, stepped in front of her and met me with even fury. "Don’t even freaking try it," she growled at me. Her eyes sparked with red flashes.

  "I should strangle both of you," I sneered back. We were in each other’s faces, Raven not backing down.

  "You thought that we would just sit back and do nothing!"

  Zurita came to stand next to me, her face as angered as mine.

  "This is no place for a child!" Zurita replied.

  Her eyes focused on Zurita. "That's just it. You want us to be warriors and at the same time you treat us like children! You can’t have both!"

  That sounded very familiar. My heart ached again. Dammit, Kasadya. You have too much influence on this one.

  "How the hell did you two even get here?" Max asked to my left.

  She backed off, suddenly aware that we all surrounded them now. "We tracked you with a charm," she declared, trying not to smile.

  My eyes darted to the one she was trying to conceal, the one peeking out from behind her. "Sorry?" Abby said from behind her.

  I should kill them both!

  "I am disappointed, Abby. I expected more from you," was my only reply. She flinched.

  "Who did you place it on?" Raphael decided to ask.

  Abby's eyes moved towards Ben and I could hear his curse. "When you hugged me?" he asked.

  She nodded. "Sorry, Ben."

  "I am not going to survive this," I murmured, turning around to look at the demon. Now watching her unconscious form, I could see scars covering her arms and legs, and just below her shirt, more blood marks were evident.

  "When we get back, if we get back, both of you will receive punishment." I closed off that problem and moved to crouch next to the demon. Now close, I could see a lot of blood stains. My eyes traveled to her bedding and the floor, and then around the cave. Blood smears were everywhere. "Raphael, was she lying?"

  "No, her words rang with truth."

  "Wow, so, she is like the dog around here then," Nanini exclaimed.

  Indeed, and by the looks of it, she had also been treated as such. Raphael came to crouch next to me. "Do you remember her?" he whispered. I frowned at him and looked at her face again. Her features had changed slightly and the color of her hair was much darker than before. I searched my memories but could not place her. She seemed familiar, but I couldn’t make out from where.

  "It will come to you," Raphael said, getting up and walking over to the table.

  I left it at that. But for some strange deranged reason, I wanted to check on her wounds. "Zurita. You and Abby see what you can do with her wounds," I said, rising and looking at them. Confused, they looked at me. I was also confused at the matter, but I had always trusted my instinct. I will trust it now. For Kasadya, I would bend earth, heaven and hell if I needed to.” She could be of use," I explained further.

  Nodding, they both moved towards her, Abby giving me another apology look before crouching down to assist with the female. Did I just refer to her as a female? I was losing it. I rubbed my hand over my face, trying to clear my head.

  "Where are we?" Lotan asked, looking around the cave.

  It had no entrance or form of light, but I could smell tainted air move in it. "It's a tomb," I replied, watching his face fell into dread.

  "What?!" they all asked in unison, except for Raphael, who was getting a kick out of it.

  "There are thousands, if not millions, of them everywhere in hell. We don’t know why they are here. By the looks of it, they are meant to hide from others."

  "How do you know so much about hell, Chax?" Max asked, his eyes never leaving mine.

  "Yeah, it's understandable that Raphael knows, but have you been here before?" Lotan joined Max.

  I turned to face Raphael. Without a word, I warned him to be quiet. "Yes, I was here before, a long time ago." I wasn’t going into that story quite yet, so I went to check on the females. Zurita was patching her up as best as she could. I should have brought a spirit fae. Kasadya may need one as well. I cursed myself for not thinking about injuries, even when I felt the burn in my arm.

  "That's it? That's your answer?" Max said behind me.

  I turned to face him. "Yes. I don’t need to explain more."

  He was furious at me. Understandable. Silence followed as we looked at each other.

  "Ok, well since we are on the ‘spill it’ subject, mind telling us about this tracking charm everyone was going nuts over?" Nanini broke the silence.

  All eyes landed on me. Even Zurita stopped to give me a disapproving look. I had nothing to regret; with that charm I could find Kasadya down here. If I didn’t do it, she would have been lost forever. I had no regrets at all.

  "In the beginning, when we lost so many fallen, we started getting desperate, especially with the hellhounds. We were running out of options to try and keep track of everyone. Vulcan and I tried many charms, but we failed, until we found this tracking charm. At first, we were relieved, until we discovered that the only way the charm works is when it is etched into the skin of the one being tracked."

  "Do you mean like a tattoo?" Lada asked, frowning at me.

  "Yes, just like a tattoo. We explored more, but the result was the same. But we also discovered that this charm cannot be undone. Once etched into the skin, it will be there forever. Still we presented it to the Custos, who grabbed at it as a blessing. However, as time passed, the Apprendos and mates receiving the charm felt different about it. They pointed out that their freedom was taken from them, that they had been imprisoned and bound to one another without their
consent. We therefore declared it forbidden. The trust between Custos and Apprendo must never be broken,” I ended and looked at them.

  Mixed emotions were evident on all of their faces. More reason for the banishment.

  "Wait. Okay. Let me get this. So, you were pissed with Kasadya for always going missing and ending up creating problems. You then tattooed a charm into her skin, without her consent, I might add, that makes it possible for you to track her no matter what?" Nanini asked.