Kasadya Hellhound Defined (Kasadya Hellhound Series) Read online

  Indeed. We are all in for one hell of a ride. How do you kill what you know nothing about?

  "I... I was there when he freed them," the demon male uttered.

  All eyes fell on him and he backed away from us. Fear radiated from him.

  "Oh, for the love of God, will you just spill it!" Lada's impatience was growing as thin as mine.

  He nodded but remained as far as possible.

  "Master deployed a lot of us to find something to free them. For years we searched to no avail. But then one of the demons found a chemical that could eat away the amber. He brought it back, but with the master sleeping, we waited for him to rise to release the creatures. Years passed, and then finally the master was awakened. When we failed to destroy earth, the master proceeded with these creatures. The chemical worked and the creatures were freed. Almost all the demons there were devoured at that moment. We discovered that they feed and grow, and then master did the unthinkable and ordered others to feed them. That is what you witnessed today, the feeding and what happens afterwards."

  He was smacked behind the head by Raven. "You idiots!”

  "How are we going to stop them?" Zurita asked, her eyes fixed on me.

  For the first time in my life, I had no idea how to defeat the enemy.

  "I don’t know."

  Chapter 5

  "Oh crap, that's not good," Abby breathed.

  Indeed.

  "Well, we first need to get Kas. Then we can try and find out what to do about these creatures," Max said, rubbing Nanini's ridged back.

  "How? Did you miss the part where there are huge freaking creatures out there?" Raven threw back.

  "Calm down. This is not helping," I interjected, stopping the impending argument before it started.

  Yes, Kas was first priority, but getting to her just got more difficult. And even if we do find her, she will need a safe place to heal so we can get out of here. Nothing’s ever easy.

  "There is more," the male demon uttered.

  I turned my eyes, piercing him with a promise of death. "What?"

  He tried to move away from me, his feet digging into the ground as he tried to back up only to hit the cave wall behind him.

  "He plans to release them unto earth," he revealed.

  "Oh, just great!" Raven hit him behind the head again.

  "Will you stop hitting him?" I requested.

  She snorted and moved away from the male. I kept my eyes on her, making sure she stayed away. "What? It feels good," she informed me.

  I just shook my head.

  "How does he plan to do this if a wall is stopping them?" I asked. He would have had a great opportunity when the wall was breached, but I believe the creatures weren’t ready yet. Now that opportunity is gone, the blood relics lost forever.

  "He's been bombing the wall. Using everything we could get our hands on. It won’t be long now before he finds the means to breach it again," the male continued.

  I laughed at him. No mortal element can breach the wall. They could try for thousands of years to no avail.

  "What's so funny about that?!" Raven squealed at my reaction.

  I turned to look at her. "The wall was created by God. Do you really think a mortal element like dynamite or something can breach it?" I raised my eyebrows when she rolled her eyes.

  "Alright, so how are we going to do this?" Caim asked.

  "We avoid them for now. When we have Kas safely back, we can return our attention back to them," I replied, my eyes roaming over them.

  They nodded in agreement, except for Raven, who didn’t even acknowledge me. She is going to be a handful. Female hellhounds are born to drive me insane. My eyes caught Abby trying to hide a yawn. I looked around and saw they were all drained and tired. Pushing onwards wouldn’t do any good.

  "Get some sleep," I dismissed them and made my way to the entrance.

  I stopped and peered around, assessing the situation. No sign of the creatures, but I could make out some deathly screams not far from us. They would feed on any demon they could find. Just like a phoenix, the cycle could never be ended. What troubles me though, is that he thought he could control them. When we first arrived here with our Sire, abominations like them were everywhere. No one could control or tame them, so they were all destroyed. He is in for a whole new meaning of trouble. His entire demon population will be destroyed in a few years. These creatures might even be considered an asset to the war if they weren’t so dangerous.

  "Thank you," Alexia said from behind me.

  I turned to face her and nodded. She walked to stand next to me, her eyes roaming outside.

  "You still haven’t told me why you are doing this, why you helped in the first place." I steered the conversation into another direction. I needed to find out more about this female.

  She shrugged and continued to look around.

  "At first I was as angry, as any other, that I was doomed to this existence. I wanted to destroy everything. But as time moved on, I came to realize that this was not my nature. I couldn’t destroy; I couldn’t be evil. I looked around then, and saw how evil and destructive they all became. So I started to search for the source of our power, and found that it lied with him. If I could destroy him, the rest would perish in time. He is the conduit of power to all demons." The hatred was evident on her face; she hated him as much as I did.

  "He was the reason for everyone's fall. It's only logical that power would be from him as well. It was one of the reasons I begged for his destruction." "Kill them, Sire. Spare this world of their evil." The memory plagued me again.

  "He should have destroyed us that day. But like always, He was merciful. Sometimes you have to be cruel for the greater good," she affirmed and turned to finally look at me.

  I nodded my agreement. Sometimes one must kill for life to continue.

  "I decided then to find a way to destroy him. First I had to climb in power, not an easy task with so many strong beings that fell that day. But eventually I defeated everyone I could and gained my status as dark lord. But it still wasn’t enough. Just standing next him, I could feel the power within him. When he went into slumber I searched everywhere but couldn’t find him. He knew someone would try and take his head. And so I waited for a miracle, something that would give me enough power to take him down. That miracle was your mate. When she took Ira's life, I felt his power slammed into me. It was my only chance, but then..." She trailed off, looking outside again.

  "So, all this time you were trying to kill him?" It sounded absurd, but then again, nothing is absurd these days.

  "Yes, but now it is all lost," she replied with exhaustion.

  "Perhaps not. We only need to find another way. With these new creatures, we might not have an option; he must be destroyed." I sent out a small prayer, hoping that some miracle will come our way.

  "I hope so, Chax, because if we don’t find a way, the world is doomed," she said, turning around and waking over to the now sleeping form of the male demon. She bent down and laid next to him, her back to me.

  I could only pray that the miracle I asked for would not involve my mate. Kasadya already had too many battles behind her, and still she needs to destroy Gluttire to complete her divinity. No, I will not allow that. I pulled the swords free and held them in my hands. The balance is already broken. If I must, I will restore it myself. I might lose her forever, but she will not carry another weight. She has done enough.

  With my mind made up, I placed the swords back and stood watch as the others slept. My mind drifted to the past as battle upon battle played out in my mind again. I remember all of them, treasure them. With each one, I have learned something new, pushed my body and abilities further than before. With them, I have trained myself for what lay ahead.

  I will not fail.

  After a few hours of sleep, I decided to wake them and continue on. We need to find Kasadya soon. Her suffering has become unbearable for me. My arm burned constantly as she was tortured over and over again. I reached for
her, felt her heart give in a few times, and found my own stopping with dread, knowing it would all soon start again. He will pay for this. That I promised every time her heart started to beat again. Hold on, my love.

  "So, what's the plan?" Ben asked the moment everyone was ready.

  The demon male had asked to be left behind, his fear of the direction we were heading palpable. I agreed, not feeling safe with two demons in our group. Alexia, however, has started to grow on me. But from experience, trust was not an option. I gave orders to Caim and Max to always watch her.

  "We move fast and quietly. Avoid the creatures and get to Kas." That was the only plan I had for the situation.

  "Hell yeah, let’s do this!" Nanini was pumping herself up for a long and hard run. Max just shook his head at her.

  I set the pace and moved out of the cave with immense speed. We kept together, moving fast but silently. Down the mountain, I stopped to track Kasadya again. With her location pinpointed, we continued on. As we moved around mountains and deserts, the remains of demons greeted us. The creatures had been busy.

  "You guys think we could convince them to join our side?" Ben mocked as we passed another graveyard.

  "Yeah, I can just see that picture. No thanks," Raven replied.

  As we reached a gorge between two mountains, the scream of one of the creatures made us falter and stop.

  "You just had to go and jinx us, didn’t you?" Raven punched Ben on the arm.

  "Hush!" I growled at her.

  Indicating for them to stay put, I moved forward to see where the creature was. About a mile from us, three of them were chasing down a horde of demons. The desperate screams of the demons echoed down the mountain as the creatures closed in. One launched a fireball at the horde, demons flying into the air. And then the feast began. I ran back to the team.

  "They are feeding. We need to move fast to pass them undetected," I ordered and again set the pace.

  Quietly, the team followed as I made my way past the gorging creatures. Demons screamed as they discovered the creatures have led them into the base of a mountain with no way out. Ignoring the chaos, we moved fast and swift. When we were far from them, Alexia spoke up, "They are going to evolve with each feed. How powerful will they become?"

  "From the looks of it, very powerful," Max replied.

  We turned the corner and I stopped in my tracks, the others following. In front of us was a dead end, except for the opening of a cave.

  "The entrance to his fortress," Alexia informed us.

  "How far until we reach it?" I asked, scouting the mountain above and around us.

  "A mile or two," she replied.

  "And toward the devil we ran," Nanini muttered, not impressed with going into a cave.

  I have to agree. If his fortress is located inside a mountain, it’s going to be difficult to get Kasadya, keep everyone safe, and get the hell out of there.

  "Chax, there are a lot of chambers inside. There are places where we can stop and regroup if needed," Alexia ensured me.

  The question was, can I trust her? Did I have an option? Inside that cave is my mate, and getting her out is my only cause. I nodded, reaching a decision. Inside, I will find a chamber and leave Alexia and the two Apprendos behind. That may be the only option I have to rescue my Kasadya and keep everyone safe.

  "Let's move. The hour is almost upon us again." I pressed forward into the dark cave.

  We moved slower inside, not sure of what waited in front of us. The cave was dark and cold. The walls were damp from an unknown source of liquid. The sound of water running was echoing towards us.

  "Is there a river or something down here?" Ben asked, touching the damp walls.

  "Yes, an underground one. The only one in hell, to be exact," Alexia replied, dodging a rock hanging from the roof of the cave.

  As we ventured further, the cave walls started to close in around us. At a certain point, walking was no longer an option. We crawled over boulders and rocks, descending downwards into the base of the mountain. Finally, after too many complaints from the young females, we reached the river Alexia was talking about. On its side, there was enough space to stop and catch our breaths while we planned our next descent. By the looks of it, what loomed ahead was even more difficult than what we just had behind us.

  "Is the water drinkable?" Zurita asked Alexia.

  "Yes, but is lukewarm, not really quenching a huge thirst," she replied.

  "That will have to do. Our canteens are empty.” Caim bent down and started to fill his canteen.

  I reached for mine and only then noticed that it was almost still full. I hadn’t been drinking any. My mind was so driven to get to Kasadya that I hadn’t noticed the thirst now evident. I drank some water and then joined the others to refill my canteen.

  "Alright, Alexia, how far until we reach a chamber?" I asked, getting up. With the hour approaching, we needed to find shelter.

  "Just around that bend is the first one, but I suggest using another one further down. That one is unreachable to most demons and not well known." She led the way and climbed over the first boulder.

  Silently, we followed her past the first chamber, which I agreed was too open and vulnerable to us.

  Just a few paces from it, Alexia started to climb into a crack.

  "Um, where the hell are you going?" Lada asked, looking at her.

  "You can stay there and have a ball with all the demons," Alexia threw back.

  Lada huffed her off and joined her, climbing into the crack. It was a tight squeeze but we soon reached a dark chamber with enough space for everyone. And just in time, the hour was here.

  Silence filled the darkness as we all waited for the first scream, and there it was. But this time it was not a scream of power. It was a scream of terror.

  Chapter 6

  More screams echoed into the chamber, terrified screams. And then the reason behind them also reached the chamber. The new creatures’ roars echoed into the chamber, sending everyone to straighten up, eyes frozen on the small entrance.

  "They’re feeding off the demons," Zurita said what everyone else was thinking but no one else dared to say.

  "Yes, they will return to an ashen state only to awaken from it more powerful than before." I felt the need to explain the creatures’ relentless feeding.

  "You mean they are going to get freaking bigger?" Nanini asked. Max's hand reached for hers and squeezed.

  "Indeed. He had no idea what they were capable of, and I believe that when they reach their full potential, not even he will be able to control or stop them." I rubbed my arm. Kasadya was in pain again.

  "Isn’t that the idea? He wants them loose upon the world, creating chaos and destroying everything in their path. He doesn’t care if he can’t control them; he just needs them to destroy for him," Alexia hissed, her anger radiating from her.

  "That's just insane! What the hell will he do afterwards?" Raven asked from the corner.

  Silence.

  "Nothing, but his vengeance would have been completed," I replied when the others couldn’t voice it. "That is all that he exist for, vengeance. There is no power play, no Godly intent. It's all about revenge."

  Suddenly, the sound of thousands of feet hitting the ground echoed into the chamber. Alexia went rigid and sprang up, fear evident. The ground shook with the force of the fleeing demons, and then grumbled and rocked with the force of something much bigger. A dragon's roar echoed above all the sounds, sending everyone to their feet.

  "Let's pray that none find this chamber," Caim whispered.

  There was a moment of complete silence, where only our breathing could be heard, and then screams of terror filled the chamber. More sounds followed as bones broke, and demons choked on their own blood, some begging for mercy. All of it drifted into the chamber. In the corner of my eye I saw Ben embracing Abby and rubbing her back. The sounds will haunt her for a few years. It was just sickening. That he cared so little for his own brethren was enough indication
of his state of mind. He didn’t care at all. There is only his goal. I am sure that he could hear them as clearly as we could. Yet, he didn’t even try to save any of them. A demon's scream was turned into gurgling as his throat was ripped out. I closed my eyes and concentrated on Kasadya. I prayed that these creatures couldn’t reach her, that by some miracle she was locked away too deep for them to find. The urgency to find her and get her out of here became uncontrollable. While the others stood and listened to the deaths of many demons, my mind was locked to the pain Kasadya was suffering. Again, she was being tortured over and over. Her heart stopped, mine joining it, and then slowly, after what seemed like forever, started to beat again. Only then did I notice everyone looking at me.