Infernum

Emerging from a porthole, Alex and Hope stood in a snow-covered meadow at the base of the caribou wilderness in the heart of the Lassen Volcanic National Park. As the porthole closed Alex immediately got a chill down his spine from the frigid air. He looked over to Hope just in time to watch her soft pale skin react to the cold air. The cold air shivered its way up her long legs causing them to quiver slightly, moving its way up the back of her spine causing her nipples to go erect like two big goose bumps under her shirt. Quickly making its way to the back of her delicate neck, the cold air fully encompassed Hope before descending back down to her feet again. The sight of her reacting to the cold shiver was enough to make Alex forget all about the cold air; there was something about it that made her appear vulnerable as any other normal human would be. The cold air faded into the background as Alex acclimated; in fact, he thought it was starting to get a little hot.

“Where are we, Alex?” Hope asked, confused by the lack of a mountain.

“This is Hay Meadows. It was the closest place I could think of,” he imparted. “Mt. Lassen is right over there,” he added, pointing behind Hope. She turned around and saw the base of what looked to be a massive mountain in the distance. The mountain was covered in snow but Hope could easily tell that the top two-thirds of it had been blown off during its last eruption.

“Do you think we made it in time?” Alex asked.

“I am sure of it, Alex… If the daemon broke into that mountain, it would be erupting right now,” she informed him with a condescending tone. “Remember, when we get up there. You stay back and let me deal with it,” she reminded him.

“No problem, Hope, it’s all you,” he replied.

Hope stared at the high side of the crater and then opened a porthole for her and Alex to go through. Once at the top of the mountain, Alex could see down into the crater.

“I still can’t get over this whole instant porthole thing, Hope, it still freaks me out every time we do it,” he said casually.

“Get your head straight, Alex, that daemon could be anywhere and we don’t want it to take us by surprise,” Hope snapped back.

Alex looked around at the crater; it looked like a huge bowl a few miles across and several hundred feet deep, covered in deep snow. This area was almost devoid of notable features. He started looking around inside the crater; as he glanced over to the other side he saw a black lump amidst the snow.

“Hope… Over there,” he proclaimed.

“I see it, Alex, now stay put… I’ll be right back,” she told him. She took a few steps away from Alex, and then slowly began to raise her arms above her head. As her arms went up, her clothes transformed back into a liquid metallic state then almost melted off her before reshaping into her white armor and covering her entire body, the same armor Gabriel wore all those nights ago back on Bass Hill the night he died.

“Holy shit! What is that?” Alex called out in astonishment, trying to keep his voice down.

“It is my armor, Alex; it will keep me safe from the daemon,” Hope informs him.

“Can my ánimam do that too?” he asked.

“No, my armor is different. The ánimam can’t protect you like this can, think of it as a shield and your ánimam as a sword. Both ánimam and armor are effective on their own, but together they are almost unstoppable.

“What about Gabriel?” Alex hesitantly asked.

“He was, the almost,” Hope answered. “Why do you think I wanted you to stay back?” she added.

Alex looked over at her; she now closely resembled the way Gabriel looked on the night he died.

“I got a bad feeling about this, Hope. I’m not so sure this is a good idea anymore,” he said out of concern, remembering Gabriel’s last moments.

“Don’t worry, Alex; my armor is not going to fail me. The odds of that happening are astronomical,” Hope said to reassure him as she stepped through a recently opened porthole.

No wonder I couldn’t get her shoes off the other night, Alex thought to himself as she stepped through.

***

Hope emerged from her porthole some 50 feet from the black object that had caught her attention before. As she drew nearer it became obvious that the object was no more than an ordinary rock on the hillside sticking out of the snow; a disappointment, but Hope began to survey the area, making a grid-like sweep of the crater not giving up on the hunt. She started scanning for the daemon on the uphill side and worked her way back and forth moving closer to the center with each pass of her eyes. She glided across the snow-covered terrain with ease as she moved from one grid area to the next quicker and quicker around the edge of the crater working her way toward the center of the bowl.

Then she saw it, the snow gave way to a hole near the center of the crater. Hope approached the hole and then, standing on the edge of the 10-foot wide chasm, she peered down. The hole was only 20 feet deep, just past the snow so Hope could see all the way to the bottom, and what she saw took her by surprise. The daemon was there as suspected; however, it was not digging into the crater. Sitting at the bottom of the hole was a duller daemon sitting in a fetal position rocking back and forth slightly with its arms crossed and head down. The daemon was almost completely devoid of its inner light, only a slight glow could be seen between the chinks of its rock hard armor plating.

The daemon was near death, but Hope exercised even more caution as she saw the beast in this weak state. Like a wounded animal, a daemon could be even more dangerous if injured, so Hope only descended a few feet into the hole. Ribbons at the ready, she called out to the daemon with no response. She called out a few more times, trying to elicit a response from the daemon and then began to poke and prod it with her ribbons. She suddenly understood the beast’s affliction; the lack of heat was slowly killing this monstrous beast. Hope lifted herself back up to the ledge above and gazed down at the daemon again. If she wanted to interrogate this creature, she would have to attempt something considered by most to be near suicidal. She would have to use her ribbons to give the creature the heat its body so desperately needed and, to a further extent, power. Hope knew it was a stupid move, but she had to get some information, and the Daemon was fading fast.

Disregarding her better judgment, Hope extended her ánimam outward. The golden ribbons wrapped around the daemon’s body several times before Hope started applying heat. Her ribbons began to glow brightly as they heated up around the beast. The golden glow of the ribbons heat soon turned white hot as Hope concentrated harder. As the snow began to melt both in the hole and on the surrounding ledge, the daemon began to show signs of life. The almost absent light inside the creature started to get brighter. Hope could see the lava inside the daemon flowing again, slowly at first but it did not take long before it was raging.

The daemon looked up and stared at Hope for a moment; then, with a renewed fire inside it and without notice, it sprang back to life standing on its feet quickly and raising its arms to break free of the ribbons’ grasp; it leaped out of the hole in the same fluid motion. Not a clumsy beast like she thought them to be; instead, Hope saw a fierce warrior with the same grace as any royal guardsman. She stopped giving the creature heat to feed on; however, it was too late, by the time she had removed her ribbons from the beast it was already on top of her. The ground shook as it pounced on Hope, pinning her to the ground beneath its massive clawed hand, pressing her deep into the snow, melting it around its hand, and body spewing steam high into the air around them both as they sank slowly into the deep snow until they hit the rock beneath, making a new hole.

Although Hope’s armor was more than enough protection from the daemon’s heat and weight, she was at its mercy as it held her down. The daemon leaned over her until it was face-to-face with Hope as if it was showing its dominance over her. It roared at Hope loudly, causing her hair to blow away from her face and her eyes to sting from the putrid smell. The daemon’s roar echoed loudly up the side of the crater to where Alex was standing. Alex was pacing back and forth practically chomping at the bit to be at Hope’s side. When he heard the daemon’s roar it was almost too much to bear, but he diligently followed Hope’s command to stay put, resisting his urge to charge in.

As the pitch-black daemon hovered over Hope, she could see the lava inside of it flowing fiercely between the chinks of its protective exoskeletal armor. As she continued to watch, the lava inside the beast seemed to slow down a bit and it began to exhibit signs of lucidness. The daemon shook its head back and forth, and then, as its awareness increased, it backed away from Hope slowly. Hope stood up and looked at the daemon. Slightly confused by its submissive actions, she demanded an explanation.

“How dare you attack me!” she screamed at the beast. “The insolence!” she added.

The daemon dropped to its knees throwing its arms out in front of it.

“You are a servant of a lord… I would never,” it replied reverently.

Hope was even more confused by the daemon’s response than she was by its actions.

“What are you talking about, beast?” she demanded.

The daemon stood back up and stared at her.

“The other one did not know either … how strange,” it said curiously as it continued to stare at her. “I was suffering from hypothermic dementia… It happens when we get too cold. I never would have attacked a lord’s servant otherwise,” the daemon explained.

“Tell me why you would never… Tell me what you told my amalgamate Gabriel,” Hope said as she raised her ánimam’s ribbons in preparation to strike the daemon down.

“As the Concordat says, no daemon may strike a lord or its servant. That is part of the bargain,” the daemon explained plainly.

“What are you talking about, beast? I have seen the Concordat with my own two eyes and have committed every part to memory. There is no mention of a bargain with daemons, to say otherwise is blasphemy,” Hope replied smugly.

The Daemon took one step closer to Hope and leaned down to her level.

“You have seen the Concordat?” it asked in a condescending tone.

“Of course I have… Every royal guardsman who has ever been to the great temple on Caelo has. It’s an honor,” she replied with arrogance in her voice.

“The Concordat is in the central chamber of the Infernum just below the great Ifriet’s throne, how could you have seen it?” the daemon asked.

“Wait… You mean there is another Concordat outside of the great temple?” Hope asked the daemon as her ribbons lowered her slightly, taking on a less aggressive posture.

“Yes… There are many Concordats, one is made for each bargain they strike,” the daemon informed her. Hope, taken aback by what the daemon had told her, thought to herself, If another Concordat exists, the guardians, our lords, must have made a deal with the daemons to stop the invasion. She refocused her attention back to the daemon.

“What else is written on your Concordat? Tell me!” She ordered the daemon to answer.

The daemon bowed down to Hope again. Her mind began to wander again. Not conquer them as we were led to believe, she thought to herself before refocusing on the beast in front of her.

“I am sorry, lord’s servant, I do not know. I have only seen the Concordat once, to see it again would be death,” it explained. Still bowed down to Hope, the daemon pleaded with her to send it back home to the Infernum.

Hope looked down on the daemon and saw something other than a mindless beast hell-bent on her destruction. For the first time, she saw the daemon for what it was, a lost child who wanted to go home. She lowered her guard and approached it.

“I only have one more question… Why is it death to look upon the Concordat a second time?” she asked respectfully.

“Our master, the great Ifriet, devours all who enter his temple. It is not death to look upon the Concordat. It is death to enter the throne room where the Concordat is, Ifriet’s hunger is never satisfied,” the daemon replied with a cautious warning in his tone.

Hope looked at it. “I can’t see myself sending you back home at this time, beast; after all, it was your kind that murdered my amalgamate,” she said in a scornful voice.

“Then I will dig my way in!” the daemon replied as it stood up and turned around. It took a few steps then jumped back into the hole it had been digging in earlier.

“Wait!” Hope shouted as she moved over to the edge of the hole. “I can’t let you do that… We are not done talking yet,” she said with authority in her voice. The beast ignored her and begun to dig deeper into the mountain, dirt and rocks began flying out of the hole.

“Stop!” Hope shouted. She took an aggressive posture and ordered the daemon to stop digging one last time. She prepared herself for the unavoidable confrontation that would happen if the beast did not comply. As she gave one last order for compliance, the daemon became aware of her intentions. It took a defensive posture in the hole and stood ready to strike.

As Hope prepared to fight the daemon, it suddenly occurred to her that her emotions were affecting her better judgment, an oddity that had never occurred with her before. Get your head in the game, Hope… What is wrong with you? she thought to herself before easing up a bit from her aggressive fighting stance.

“Wait! I said I couldn’t see myself sending you back; I did not say that I wouldn’t. I can send you back, but you must give me a minute,” she said with confidant deportment. The daemon looked up at Hope and gave her a slight nod. “Give me just one minute, I’ll be right back,” she instructed. After another nod from the beast, Hope opened a porthole and went through.

***

She emerged from the porthole a few feet from Alex who was abusing his ribbons, karate chopping a tree. Hope just dropped her head down and shook it from side to side in embarrassment. Alex caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye and immediately stopped his childish horseplay. He ran over to her.

“Oh thank God you’re alright… How did it go? Did you find it?” Alex asked with impatience.

“Yes Alex, I found it. And as it turns out, our little adventure just got a whole lot more complicated,” Hope told him.

“How do you mean?” he replied.

“The daemon just told me of another Concordat,” Hope said as her head spun with the complexity of the situation.

“So does that mean you can go back? Home I mean,” Alex asked hesitantly.

“Not quite yet, we must see that Concordat. I must know what secrets it holds.” Hope could tell she was losing Alex so she told him to refer to his ánimam for information on the Concordat. Alex closed his eyes for a moment.

“A second concordat? You know what that could mean?” he asked, now knowing all of its importance.

“Yes, another one… But there is a small problem,” she told him with a solemn look on her face.

“What?” he asked.

“The second Concordat is in the Infernum, Alex,” Hope reminded him.

“Okay, so open up a porthole, zip down there, grab it and zip back up quickly before it’s ever even missed. You’ll be back in a few minutes,” Alex said with enthusiasm.

“I’m afraid it’s a little more complicated than that, Alex… I can’t open a porthole into the Infernum; it’s too deep in the earth. Sure, I can open a porthole on the other side of the galaxy, but that’s easy, there is nothing in space to go through. It’s empty space,” Hope told Alex.

“So what do we do?” he replied.

Hope looked at him with a thousand-yard stare.

“We combine our ánimams. Together we might have enough power to open a porthole into the Infernum,” she said with a hint of doubt. “But we have to get you some armor before we go in; you won’t survive the heat without it,” she added as she grimaced at Alex. “I’m so sorry, Alex… I don’t want to place you in harm’s way, but this is bigger than you or me. If what the daemon said is true, it will change everything we know about our past. The history books will have to be rewritten,” she said as she turned and started to walk away from Alex staring up at the sky.

“Hope, where am I going to get armor? It’s not like we can walk into an armor shop on Caelo … can we?” Alex asked.

“No. If we go to Caelo it would be game over. There is another colony of humans out there with the technology—” Hope paused “—but it would mean breaking another law.”

“Will that work?” Alex asked.

“It’s not as advanced as Caelo armor, but it’s defiantly tougher and should do the trick,” Hope replied. “All we have to do is survive the planet long enough to get you what you need. And that will be more dangerous than the Infernum,” she added as she turned back around toward him.

“What do you mean more dangerous?” Alex asked with uncertainty in his voice.

“You know I would do this myself if I could, Alex. Nevertheless, I need you with me down there to open the porthole back. I’ll tell you all about the dangers ahead later; right now we need to get that daemon back home before he makes a bigger scene and calls down the attention of the entire royal guard,” Hope said, avoiding Alex’s question.

She opened a porthole and the two went through, arriving next to the hole where the daemon sat impatiently. Alex began to look around, frightened.

“It’s down in the hole,” Hope said, knowing that Alex was looking for the daemon. Alex walked over to the edge and peered down, seeing the daemon waiting for their return. Hope joined him at the edge and called out to the daemon to come out of the hole.

“Alex, we need to join our ribbons together to get the power we need. Just make a big circle and I’ll take care of the rest,” Hope said confidently.

The daemon emerged from the hole and stood by as Alex and Hope formed a large circle around the hole with their golden ribbons. As Hope joined her ribbons to Alex’s, their minds once again became one. The ribbons surged with electricity and Alex could feel Hope take over his ánimam. Energy was flowing back and forth between them until a small porthole formed in the center then expanded toward the edges. Hope looked over at the daemon.

“Hurry up, get through! I don’t know how long we can hold it for,” she shouted over the piercing sound of the surging energy.

The daemon approached the porthole and looked over to Hope as if to say thank you. It screamed at the sound of the ribbons’ electrical surges then jumped toward the center of the porthole into the Infernum. Alex could feel the intense heat radiating through the porthole, it was so hot that it began to melt the snow off his clothes, turning them to steam as they dissipated. He had to turn his face away from the porthole, even though he wanted nothing more than to see down into the depths of the Infernum.

As the daemon leaped through the porthole, a spike on its arm caught hold of Hope’s ribbons. She tried to react, but there was no time as all of her concentration was on the porthole. The daemon was now pulling her down toward the Infernum and there was nothing she could do about it.

“Hope!” Alex screamed as he reached out toward her, stretching his arm as far as he could, but she was already beyond his reach. The porthole began to close as Hope disconnected from Alex. His ribbons shot out past his arm as he reacted to the situation allowing the porthole to close faster and faster.

As Hope fell into the abyss, it was as if time slowed down when Alex’s and Hope’s ribbons touched tips for just a moment before the porthole fully closed and their minds and bodies were connected in a way neither of them had ever experienced before. Alex could hear Hope in his mind through the ribbons’ connection with sobering clarity; just one word came across the connection, one little word that was clear as a bell to hear but as thick as mud to understand. “Lamia!” was all she said before the porthole closed behind her, severing their connection.

Alex dropped to the ground where the porthole once was on the edge of the daemon’s hole and called out for Hope as loud as he could scream her name. However, it did no good as he was now alone, separated from the only person he had ever truly connected with.