Ruin.

The World Below.

 Chapter 9: The World Below::

The blood flowed freely from his leg as Trystan pushed his way past thick branches, struggling to evade the strange girl’s gaze.

The hour he’d gained outside, through the sacrifice of his own blood, was almost up. Of course it would run short, pulling him back prematurely. The demon world had a way of bending deals with its denizens. Trystan fell to the ground, the pull of the World Below becoming unbearably strong. He landed on his knees, connecting not with the soft pine needle carpet one would expect, but with the cold hard stone floor he knew was waiting.

Back in his room, he stood and stretched his injured leg. The blood was already drying on his jeans and skin, the wound almost healed. His various injuries always healed faster in the Demon realm, it was a benefit of sharing the energy of the place. The world recognized and protected its own fiercely. He glanced around at the Spartan qualities of his chambers before moving toward the double doors leading to the balcony. He grasped the ornate handles and moved outside.

The balcony was one of the few places he really liked about his world. He had spent countless hours sweating and panting, cultivating the garden that took up most of the standing space. Swinging his leg over the rail and perching on the thin metal bar, Trystan looked out onto the place he called home.

The World Below was a mirror image of the Earth above. Replicated in exact detail, down to the leaves falling from the trees and the pebbles lining the bottom of the oceans, it was perfect. The World Below, however, had one difference. It was bathed in fire, completely consumed by it. Everywhere he looked, bright flames licked at the trees, the buildings, the very air. The hot tendrils were colorful, almost beautiful if not for the pain they caused those who walked and lived among them.

He hated that searing heat, the constant reminder that, as much as his world resembled the one above, he still resided in a literal Hell. He was, after all, a demon.

Technically, though, he was only half-demon, on his father’s side. The man who had helped to create Trystan was The Demon, the first of all. His children were diverse and he gave each race a specific task to complete. To his two eldest sons, he gave the name Aratagh, and the task of creating a permanent escape from World Below into the one above for the upper level demons. All lower level demons, the imps and ghouls, were granted passage because they could cause little harm. The upper levels, however, were confined to their own dimension; their escape could irrevocably harm the world. 

His mother, despite abandoning him seconds after he was brought into the world, had done him one favor. Thanks to his half-human heritage, he was the only upper level resident of the demon realm who could escape, although even his time in the World Above was limited, timed in length.

Scanning once more over the sea of flames below him, Trystan swung his legs back over the rail and went in search of his older brother, Abadan.

His older brother, the first Aratagh ever to exist, was a powerful and greatly feared monster. He was also Trystan’s best friend. When his mother had abandoned him, and the small infant had been left entirely alone, Abadan had come to his rescue, taking him to be raised in Hell. The kindness that Abadan had shown Trystan had cemented their bond. The boy idolized his brother and was infinitely loyal. That loyalty was the only reason he’d been in the woods, watching that girl.

Abadan had searched him out earlier in the year, setting him an important task. As the only half-Aratagh in existence, his little brother was the only one of their race that could journey to the World Above. Abadan needed the female Protector watched, and sent Trystan into the world for the first time since his infancy to accomplish this.

He had been charged with watching the female, Ariana, and so he had. From the shadows of the forest, under the cover of night, he watched her every move.

He had expected to spend hours sitting and waiting, tired of her but unwilling to fail his mentor, his brother. What he hadn’t expected was to find the petite thing so enticing. Feeling himself being drawn to her, he resolved to keep his distance, only watching from afar.

Then came the day in the woods. He was following her, glad the beastly dog who stuck to her heel like glue didn’t notice him when she waved it off toward the house. The potential to be caught had been substantially reduced when the animal left and Trystan relaxed. He cut around in front of her and stopped in a clearing to rest for a moment.

He had just lowered himself onto a rotting stump when he heard it. Rustling. He had determined that the rustling was coming from the brambles off to his right and stood, ready to defend himself, when Ariana appeared and promptly tripped, falling headlong into a solid oak log.

The sickening crunch of her head meeting the solid wood resounded through the clearing. Without thinking, he ran to help her. He didn’t consider the fact that this girl was a demon-murderer many times over. He didn’t think that her death would free the boy to be taken and help his brother accomplish the ultimate goal of their kind. His whole being simply screamed at him to help her, and so he did.

  He checked her over, gently prodding along her body to make sure that no damage, besides the giant knot growing on her head, had been done. She was waking, and he thought, for a second, that he felt her body rise up and push against his hands.

Just then her eyes snapped open, banishing that thought and all others from his brain.

She sat up, grimacing.

“You might want to lie back for a minute,” he advised. “You’ve got a pretty nasty cut.”

The girl had pushed his hands away and stood, backing up until her back hit a tree. She had drawn her dagger and prepared to fight him.

He had been ready to placate her, although he didn’t think she would have taken the bait. “I’m not going to-“ The words left his mouth just as a giant animal sunk its teeth into his leg, anchoring him to the ground. She pulled the animal off, content now that he was a neutralized threat.

He had no doubt that she would have won, even if the beast from before hadn’t attacked him.

The look in her eyes, her deep, emerald green eyes, had told him that she wasn’t going to stop until she did.

Someone took hold of his arm, jolting him out of his reverie.

“Trystan, you’ve returned,” a deep, commanding voice boomed in his ear. “What do you have to report?” Trystan looked into his brother’s eyes, the completely black orbs consuming him. He didn’t want to lie to Abadan, but wanted to understand his potentially disastrous feelings for the girl with the forest green eyes before endangering her.

Deciding to keep his word to report to him, he told his brother of the day’s findings, leaving out the attack and his inner turmoil. “She is young, but smart. The boy is never alone in the house. He is hardly let out of the Protector’s or a guard’s sight. She has learned of her powers, and is even now learning to control them.”

He watched as his brother absorbed the information, adding his own opinion on the chances for capture. “Trying to take the Key by force would be risky, and holds little hope for success. We need to distract the Protector, keep her mind wandering. This way we can create and exploit the holes in her defense of the boy.”

A scheming look crawled onto Abadan’s face, chilling the very blood in Trystan’s veins.

“Then distract her we will. More precisely, you will. Talk to her, become her friend, seduce her if you have to. Just distract her.” With that, he turned and stalked down the hall.

Trystan, left alone with his thoughts, remembered the effect those deep, addictive green eyes had on him, and wondered, in the end, if Abadan would come to regret this newest plan of action.