The Beginning Of An End

Chapter 11

"So, what do you have there?" I shifted in place, a full moon at the horizon beaming down on us. The silence of nature at this hour made the human world seem ghostly. The breeze dancing through the leaves was the only noise reaching our ears. It was the only thing reminding us there was some life around us.

Mammon was holding a simple medium-sized chest with its ridges made out of gold while the rest of it was pure wood. He took a deep breath as he slowly opened it and revealed a stash of various types of jewelry scattered all around the chest's bottom. The content ranged from necklaces to rings and from bracelets to earrings. Any type of jewelry you'd think of, it was right there.

I reached out to grab one chain and the moment my fingers graced it, the intensity of the power emanating from it struck me. A weird buzzing started spreading all through my body and I immediately let go of it.

"What is this, Mammon?" I frowned.

"Heavenly things." He smiled grimly.

"How are we going to know which ones are disenchanted?"

"Just the ones that don't try to kill you." He mused, his eyes almost glistening in the dark.

"So we are just going to have to touch each one and hope we don't die?"

"Oh, come on, it won't be that bad! The worst that can happen to you is fainting." Mammon grumbled and took a seat on the grass. I followed right after him but still didn't dare reach out in that chest.

It was 3 a.m. in the human world, the time when the veil between realms was thinnest. This hour drew out more than just demons; other beings roamed too. We decided it wouldn't be suspicious for us to be out, trying to piece together our plan. With Mammon now sanctioned and me resented by most demons, we found ourselves isolated. No one wanted to associate with us, which, in a way, gave us the freedom to maneuver without prying eyes.

"So each of us takes one until we find one that we can use." I said before letting out a sigh after which Mammon was the first one to grab a ring. He immediately let it fall to the ground with a hiss. I chuckled at that but as I took another piece of jewelry I ended up dropping it the same way he did.

"This is kind of ridiculous." I mumbled. "When did you even accumulate all of this?"

"It's eons old." He replied without looking up as he continued dropping one piece after another.

"Whew, that's quite a while."

Mammon simply nodded as he was eagerly searching through the chest's contents. I soon joined him again after I took a brief break. The darkness around seemed like it grew in intensity. It slowly began becoming pitch black all around us. Was it true that the world was darkest before dawn? Maybe I should make a point of coming here during this hour.

About fifteen minutes later, Mammon grabbed a ring, and to my surprise, there was no hissing noise. In fact, he was holding it and grinning at me.

"We found it." Once again, his dark orbs almost sparkled in the darkness. He really did enjoy this.