Heaven, Hell, and Earth

Chapter 40

The troll in old woman's clothing lead the group to the very end of the alleyway where brick wall stood. She pushed on one of the bricks and the wall opened to reveal a large banner hung with a huge, rusty, and mechanical lock.

"What is that?" Charlie asked.

"A locking mechanism." Vaggie answered. "And judging by the engrave symbols, I'd say it's a complex combination lock."

Alastor turned to the troll lady.

"Open it Lucy." He requested.

"I will not!" She snapped defiantly.

"Pretty please?" He brought the caged bird closer toward her. She shuddered in fear, but stubbornly stood firm.

"Do what you will with me demon! Release the beast if you want! Tear out my eyes! Rip my insides and my legs and my tongue, but I will never open that door! It's strictly forbidden for any troll to-"

But Angel couldn't take another minute of this, so he sent her flying upward with one punch to the jaw. Alastor, Vaggie, and Charlie all gave him looks of disapproval.

"What? It said never." He replied.

"Didn't your mother ever teach not to hit a lady?" Alastor asked.

"My mother was the reason I hit ladies. She put two female vipers in my cradle when I was two, just to teach me combat as early as possible."

"Oh that's terrible!" Charlie cried. "Did they hurt you?"

"No. I strangled them both and played with their corpses like they were toys."

Charlie and Vaggie were disturbed by this, but Alastor was impressed.

"Really? And you were only two years old?" He asked, intrigued.

"My kind is born with freakish, human strength." Angel explained. "It's instant from the minute we hatch."

"Hatch?" Charlie said. "What do you mean hatch?"

"Well what do you think it means? I hatched from an egg. So did Vaggie."

"I didn't know that."

"Well what did you expect?" Vaggie asked. "He's an arachnid demon and I'm an insect one. We're not mammals like you and Alastor, so of course we come from eggs."

"Then come you both have hair?" Alastor asked.

"And how come Vaggie has breasts?" Charlie added.

"We don't know." Angel said. "It's one of life's great mysteries. Like the platypus for example, technically it's a mammal yet it lays eggs."

"Shall we get back to the matter at hand please?" Vaggie asked. "Anyway, lucky for us I can crack this code no problem."

"You can?" Angel asked.

"Yes. Once a week, I got to the library to study up on various creatures and doing so, I was able to learn the secret written language of the trolls. Give just me one moment."

She then proceeded to move and turn a few gears and pressed the engraved templates in a certain order. Afterward the lock dropped and a stone staircase was revealed. Without further hesitation, the group went down those stairs and entered the Troll Market.

The Troll Market was a steamy, medieval nightmare. A labyrinth of narrow alleyways and foetid vapor. Senseless trolls were scavenging all around the crumbling, marble-shoreline and through garbage. The more sensible ones however had set up kiosks, shops, and stands that sold exotic objects from every century and culture. As for the customers, they all consisted of creatures that most humans thought to be nothing more than beings of myth and lore. Goblins, elves, centaurs, pixies, demons, imps, you name it. They were all here.