Devil's tale

Devil's tale, chapter 38

The third circle of hell was enveloped in a thick, greenish fog. The air was dense and noxious, the ground made of black sand and the plant-life that grew was twisted, thorny and looked unnatural. Before Avarice had a chance to consider his next move, he fell to his knees, gripping his throat. His veins felt heavy, his lungs felt like they'd been filled with acid, the very air he breathed was pure poison. Agony overwhelmed him and he felt if he didn't act, he only had about a minute left to live. Doing the only thing he could, Avarice let the fire within himself explode. He sent flames through his veins, through his entire body in a desperate attempt to burn away the poison. He felt his heartbeat grow slightly more stable and breathed a sigh of relief. His life was out of danger for the moment. But the pain of the poison still remained, every movement he made had his muscles scream out in protest and even the simple act of breathing was excruciating. All of this would've been bad enough without Avarice having to constantly concentrate on maintaining a consistent heat within himself to stave off the mortal effects of the toxins in the air. He wondered how long he could possibly last like this.

Something leapt out of a bundle of thorns behind Avarice. The devil spun around and drew his rapier. To his surprise, his blade collided with another sword, as staring back at him, was a green-skinned demon with intelligent eyes and a humanoid form.

"The prince's murderer, come to receive judgement. This is truly an auspicious day!" The demon snarled.

"Mormir's death was justice, so you'll have jo judgment over me today." Avarice replied. The demon hacked at the devil with his curved blade. Avarice parried the strike. He felt his arms nearly give way underneath the strength of the demon's blow. If he didn't end the fight quickly, the demon would surely fell him. Thinking quickly, Avarice sang a single, shrill note. He turned the noxious gas in the air flammable and he snapped his fingers, creating a spark of flame. The very air the demon inhaled turned to fire and the being burst into pieces. Of course, the air Avarice inhaled exploded as well, and though he was resistant to fire it didn't stop the sheer force of the explosion from nearly tearing him apart. He was only saved by his flesh being resistant to the flames, and therefor strong enough to withstand the blast, albeit barely. He coughed up smoke and wobbled on his feet. He felt dizzy and disoriented. He slapped himself and regained focus. He had to find the gate to the next circle, and quickly. He walked ahead, wheezing and gasping for breath as he went. His throat felt like sandpaper, his eyes watered from contact with the air, and all of it only continued to get worse. Avarice heard footsteps approaching in the distance and he quickly searched for a place to hide. He ran through the thorny undergrowth. Glancing upwards, Avarice saw the sky was a dark-grey mess of clouds, with no light visible behind them. As he looked, something fell from the air and hit him in the eye. It burned horribly, in a way unlike fire. This was a kind of burn Avarice was not resistant to, the feeling of acid. More drops began to fall from the sky and, sensing the impending disaster, Avarice removed his coat and held it above his head before the acidic rain melted him. He desperately searched for shelter, but none of the plants around him had any leaves to speak of, nor did any of them offer a canopy thick enough to block out the downpour. Another problem was that while his coat was well-lined with dragon-scales, the armour didn't cover everything, and acid began to seep through the unprotected parts of the fabric. His fingers, holding the coat over him, began to burn and he bit his lip in pain. As he ran, he finally cleared the strange forest and saw a massive, barren expanse stretching before him, beneath the foot of a hill the forest had seemed to be situated upon. The plain was covered by a floor of thorns and vines, as well as strange flowers, expelling dark-coloured gasses. Without plants above his head to somewhat block the acid-rain, the downpour's intensity increased. Acid leaked through the openings in Avarice's coat and he knew he had to find shelter, but there was nothing in sight. Hearing demons approaching behind him, shouting in hellish, Avarice knew he had but once choice. He ran down the hill, turned on a heel and performed a fast, passionate dance. He thanked the gods that he'd learned from Sha'li, or he was certain his moves wouldn't have been enough to conjure a spell with the power he needed. A cave opened up in the side of the hill, and Avarice ran into the artificial shelter, out of the acid rain. He doffed his coat and laid it on the ground. His heart sank, seeing the damage it had sustained. The once beautifully blue fabric had lost all colour, holes riddled the coat and even the supposedly indestructible dragon-scales, had been damaged and filed down by the acidic rain, instead of their usual, smooth texture, they were riddled with erosion. He took one of the scales from the coat in his hand and applied pressure. It turned to dust in his palm.