The Devil's Assistant (Watty Awards Finalist 2011)

Devil's Assistant [18]

Chapter 18

Before me, inlaid into the white rock face, was the most beautiful and ornate building that I had ever laid eyes upon. It was three stories tall but looked as if it was built for giants, the doorway in the centre of the building front was at least ten feet tall, and then another 50 feet before the face of the building met the roof of the cavern. There really was now other way to describe it, it was ginormous. Each of the windows glowed softly from the bluish light emitting from the frames which were inlaid with crystals. It made the whole thing look otherworldly and as I stared up at it I couldn’t help but gape with wide eyed wonder.

“Whoa,” I murmured stumbling after Lucius as he tugged me along by my hand. As my breathing picked up slightly, I was strangely aware of the air down here as we walked, it was strange, cleaner and purer than any air I had breathed before in my life and as I inhaled deeply through my nose I smelt the scent of roses.

Opening my mouth to question the others, I stopped abruptly when I saw movement in the giant doorway and then there, standing at the top of the three steps leading up to the gaping hole called a door was a person. I squinted my eyes as we got closer only to realise that person wasn’t quite an accurate description of the being that was standing there proudly, her luminous metallic green eyes boring into us as we came to a halt at the bottom of the flight of stairs. In place of hair were thick green vines that curled over their shoulder like ringlets before cutting off around the waist. At first I thought it might be a wig but as I leant forwards slightly I could see that it was actually growing from the person’s head. Blossoming on the vine just above where her ear should be was a blue rose. As the person’s startling eyes dropped to me I gave a small smile and a nervous wave of the hand, unsure what to say or do but when the earth being looked back at me, I saw that her green lips had curled up in a smile too.

With a beckoning hand she waved our motley group up the steps and I hurried just as fast as the boys, completely bewitched by the beautiful presence before me. Her beauty was so striking that I couldn’t help myself as I reached the top step; I smiled at the woman and let out a breathy sigh as I took in all of her.

“You’re beautiful.” I whispered, taking note of her thick green eyelashes that looked like they were made from thin blades of grass. Her skin was brown, the colour of rich brown earth, and her cheeks held a slight rosy blush. It was strange to gaze upon because to me she was the epitome of natural beauty in both meaning of the words. She was a perfect combination of human and earth.

The earth woman smiled at me before looking up at the boys who were completely unfazed by her presence. “Hello boys, long time no see. I like your new friend, she’s good for my considerably large ego, can’t say the same for you three, you all look like you’ve been hit around the face with a wet fish.” She crinkled her face so that her nostrils flared slightly before she turned on her heel and walked into the building. “Come.” Her lofty voice called back to us so the four of us stepped forwards, Lucius still holding onto Danny.

I didn’t know whether to be concerned or happy about the fact that the bloody devil is so attached to my son. There would definitely be questions when all of this was over but strangely enough, even though I heard all of the bad things about him and I’ve seen his sex crazed ways, I trusted him. If it makes me a fool, then so be it, but I’m glad that at least if I don’t survive then there is someone to care for him.

As we passed through the doorway into the building I was even more awed. The building was larger on the inside and it was incredible. Marble floors and with veins of gold and platinum running through them, the architecture inside was so strange, it wasn’t built for convenience like our buildings but rather it was created for beauty. A natural spring bubbled in the centre of the room, the water washing down little grooves in the floor that as I stepped further into the room, I noticed that they formed a strange and intricate pattern, no sign of where one end began and the other ended.