Tribulation

Chapter 9: Hel

Hel and Isaac stared at one another. Both had their swords drawn, both ready to kill the other.

She smirked, "You just gonna stand there all day or you gonna move?"

Isaac smiled and in a flash, he was gone. She blinked in surprise. Then, in a second he was in her face, landing a blow to her gut with his fist. She barely budged. She landed a blow and sent him back.

"Dammit." He spat.

"Still wanna play?" She grinned evilly.

Isaac smiled with determination. Then he ran at her. His speed unmatched, even by Hel. He brought in an uppercut with Faithless. Hel dodged but Isaac cut her chin, drawing blood. He smirked.

She felt the blood and smiled. "You still won't be able to kill me."

She ducked beneath a slash from Isaac, then jumped over the hunter. He fell forward and was able to catch himself. He spun around and sliced at her leg. She jumped and rolled away, nearly doing a backflip to stab at him. Metal began to clash throughout the camp. Two trained killers trying to end one another. The tension could be cut with a knife as they paused to glare at the other. Isaac rushed in again, drenched in sweat. He faked her out, and in seconds was behind her and ran his blade through her chest. Hel looked down at the blade protruding from her chest. Her mouth hung open and a small trail of blood trickled down her chin. Isaac pulled the blade from her body. The demon's corpse fell to the ground, limp and lifeless. Isaac cleaned off his blade and sheathed it. He turned back to Sarkany and Jackson who just looked at him in amazement.

"What?" He asked with a clueless look on his face.

Neither of them said a thing.

They stayed in the camp for a few more hours. Isaac took a drink of water when he heard a snap from behind. He turned quickly to see Akuma coming out of the woods.

"Akuma!?" He grabbed him and slammed him against a tree. "What the hell are you doing here?" Isaac inquired.

Akuma, nervous as usual, replied. "I heard a struggle and thought if things went bad for both sides I'd get some new supplies. Isaac looked into the boys eyes. Something was still odd about them... something sinister almost.

"Well, we just cleared this camp of some demons. So you can take whatever's left." He let him go and shoved him further in the camp.

"Where'd you learn to move like that?"

Isaac glared at him. "...Long story," Isaac, Jackson, and Sarkany muttered simultaneously.

"What do you want, Akuma?" Sarkany asked.

The boy looked around. "I want to help you. I swear!"

Isaac glanced at Sarkany who shook her head. He then looked at Jackson who did the same. Isaac thought for a moment.

"Help us with what?" Isaac asked.

Akuma spoke quickly. "You're hunting demon-lords right?"

Sarkany's eyes widened. "How the hell could you know what we're doing?"

Akuma grinned mischievously "I know things."

Isaac grabbed him by the shirt collar. "Okay, smartass, what's keeping me from killing you right now?"

The boy flinched. "I have sources in Hell! Words gotten around that you're hunting them. Please don't kill me, I can take you to the third one!" Isaac looked over at Sarkany again. This time she nodded.

"How do we know we can trust you?" She asked.

"I'm unarmed and Isaac showed just a minute ago that he can very easily out-move me."