A Devil's Covenant

||2|| Shadow of Death

Grace jerked upright.
Her first thought was to get away from the cold hard ground that surrounded her. She stood up cautiously, every bone in her body ached as she glanced at her surroundings. She couldn't see anything.

Darkness was everywhere.

Covering her, concealing her, terrifying her. Those men would still be looking for her. Would they realize she'd fallen? Did they already give up?

She reached her hands out in the hope that they would be able to guide her.

She was wrong.

The dark pillars that loomed above her were only slightly visible because of the gigantic gleaming gems that where placed on them. Somewhere off in the distance she heard talking, different voices from before.

Still, she remained cautious, the last thing she needed was another near death experience. Before her stood a woman illuminated in soft yellow touch light. Her body was covered in black inky markings and her eyes were completely black.

"My queen," some nearby addressed the woman. "You understand the implications of what you are about to do, don't you? King Vine would—," the man started before a dark voice growled from the woman.

"King Vine is—," Grace listened to her say, as though she was choosing her words carefully. "He's away," the woman emphasized "and—,"

The room jerked around to face the direction Grace was in. Grace froze, her heartbeat was so intense she feared they could hear it from the other side of the large landing. "My queen," the man addressed, he was clearly confused at the hostile look the woman gave Grace.

Can she see me, Grace wondered as horror covered her too pale face. The woman had two dark crimson horns protruding from her temples, her face inhumanly angular as she searched the dark.

"A human," the queen hissed "how in hell is that possible?"

"Another traveler," her companion guessed as he shrugged nonchalantly.

Where am I, Grace wondered as her stomach dropped and the urge to hurl became over powering. No, no please not here, Grace nearly sobbed as she remained frozen.

A moment later she was on the ground. "Who are you," the woman growled "how the helldid you get here."

"Where is here," Grace cried between uncontrollable sobs causing dirt and dust to run down her pale face. "I have to be dreaming or asleep—," Grace continued to ramble off possibilities as the queen walked closer. "I rebuke you, Satan in the name of Jesus Christ," Gracelyn sobbed as soon as the queen drew closer.

The queen paused once Grace uttered those words. The woman made a face of disgust and anger as her eyes turned from black to a strange haunting human color instead. "I'll ask you one more time, human. Who are you," she hissed as she grabbed Grace by the collar of her shirt and sniffed her.

The women that everyone referred to as queen froze before Grace with a knowing smirk. "Or maybe not so human," she mused with a glance. Her companion strode up to her and sniffed her too.

"W-why are you doing that," Grace stammered, that's so weird. Her eyes were so wide she figured that she looked nothing short of a bad meme. 

"Does she smell like—lord Vine," the man mused. As he came forward Grace took note of his scarred face and pale flesh toned horns.

"She does," the queen concluded as she finally released Grace.

"My name's Gracelyn," she told the glaring queen as prayers escaped her lips.

"Shut your-," the man started to say before the queen raised her hand to silence him.

"How exactly did you get here, Gracelyn?"

"I fell," she stated as she glanced around at the darkness for any signs of familiarity.

"Yes, you did, vessel," the queen smirked as footsteps approached behind them. The queen didn't turn away from Grace. She must have known who was approaching.

"Proserpina," a dark voice that sent shivers through Grace called "what have you found for me today?" A man appeared from the shadows. He was covered in the same markings as the queen.

"My king," the man beside the queen bowed as the strange man approached them. Darkness raged from him and crashed into Grace. He wore some type of cloak that had haunted Graces nightmares since she was young.

His black eyes met hers as visions of her past, things she wanted so badly to forget, flashed through her mind. The king smiled and displayed rows of sharp teeth with jagged points. She flinched and jerked backward on her hands and knees.

The king just continued to smirk at her as he watched her struggle. "Hello, little bird," he smiled darkly as he tilted his head in interest. "Has my pet finally returned," he sang as he ran claws down the side of her tear stained face. "See that she's taken care of," the demon king huffed as he turned his back on her.

"Who is she," the queen demanded, her eyes filled with dark shadowy fire.

"My twin flame," was all the dark king offered as he disappeared before her eyes.

I've lost my mind, Grace sobbed into the darkness that closed in around her.