In fact, Juliana didn’t want to end up in any demon’s domain except for Eva’s. Or Arachne’s or Ylva’s, she supposed. But they were three demons among an endless population. The odds were not in her favor.
And lastly, Hell was, presumably, full of enigmas. A single one being brought to Earth was far more manageable than diving into a pit of them no matter how she considered it. Best to deal with one rather than a potentially unlimited number.
Juliana licked her lips, tasting the half-dried blood. It was finished. And now… she was just delaying.
The longer she delayed, the greater chance that something bad happened. Either Eva or her mother would walk into the hunter’s trap or the hunter would come back downstairs.
So she crawled onto the circle, doing her best to avoid messing up any lines.
After closing her eyes, Juliana started pouring magic into the summoning circle. Like clockwork, the circle lit up and started slowly rotating. That was Juliana’s cue to get out.
She scrambled off as fast as she could, trying to get to the shackles in the corner.
It wasn’t fast enough.
Something slimy wrapped around her one good leg just before she could make it off the circle. A tentacle. She hadn’t been trying to summon anything with tentacles. Which meant enigma.
Eva had said something once. They were weak. Except they also bit off her leg. Juliana didn’t quite understand, but she didn’t want her leg anywhere near its mouth.
She reached forward with her good hand and started prying the slimy tentacle off her leg. It wasn’t constricting too tight, but it had wrapped around a good half a dozen times. Unfortunately, peeling it away just made more tentacle rise up out of the slowly rotating summoning circle, which tried to wrap around Juliana’s hand as well. She barely pulled back in time.
A high-pitched whine started winding up between her ears. She tried to press one ear to her shoulder and a hand to her other, but didn’t make it.
A cannon went off. Juliana’s ears rang and her vision blurred. For just a moment, she thought she might pass out again.
But the feeling passed. Her eyes slowly focused.
And she saw the wide round maw of the enigma emerge from the summoning circle. Rows upon rows of shiny black teeth filled the beast’s throat down as far as Juliana could see. And she could suddenly understand exactly how Eva got her foot bitten off, though not so much how she reattached it. If Juliana’s foot went into that blender, it would turn to mincemeat. Maybe this was a different breed.
Not that it would matter in a few minutes. Now that the body had emerged from the depths, the tentacle around her leg had tightened and was pulling her towards it.
Juliana scraped at the hard cement. A fingernail snapped off as she tried to dig it into the unforgiving ground. She managed to move. Barely. Possibly because the enigma was still emerging from the circle, moving slightly forward and giving Juliana that much more room.
Still, as she scrambled away, she didn’t scream. Even as another fingernail split up the middle, Juliana just clenched her teeth. If she could get just a few inches more, she could get her leg to the shackles. Most of her body was already well beyond the threshold.
Just as her leg touched the shackles, the enigma shrieked. Not the high-pitched whine into explosion, but more like a dog being kicked in the stomach.
Her leg went taut with a snap as the tentacles yanked her back. A brief spike of pain crossed her hip. She gripped the flat cement as best she was able, even with her injured arm.
And still felt herself being drawn back.
“I will not go to Hell again,” she hissed through grit teeth as she struggled against the sudden pressure on her leg. “And I’m not going to be eaten either.”
Over her shoulder, the enigma looked like it was having just as many problems as she was. The tentacles streaming off its back were pulled as tight as Juliana’s leg, tense and all leading down into the summoning circle. Its wide maw snapped at the air, not actually managing to accomplish anything.
The tentacles leading into the summoning circle jerked. The enigma jerked with them, slipping a bit into the circle.
Juliana jerked back with it.
She let out a clipped whimper, cut off as she grit her teeth. Something in her knee snapped.
A hand emerged from the depths of Hell, grabbing onto the enigma’s face. Two fingers actually slipped into its razor-sharp maw.
The enigma, snapping down, broke its teeth rather than slicing through the fingers.
Juliana slid back just a little more before everything stopped.
Violet blood painted the walls. Teeth exploded outwards and burrowed into the drywall. The tentacles, save for a little end around Juliana’s ankle, were gone.
Standing with a frown on his face was a golden eyed demon.
“You,” he said in his silver voice, deep and familiar, “are looking far worse than the last time I saw you.”
Juliana didn’t have a proper response. She tried, but all that came out was a pained squeak. Trying again was impossible. Her eyes fluttered shut as her blood-covered face hit the concrete.
— — —
Irene pressed her back against an earthen wall, ducking her head as a fireball flew overhead.
Why did I sign up for this? she thought with a narrowed glare towards Saija. Oh wait! I didn’t.
But Saija was completely oblivious to her thoughts. In fact, she was completely oblivious to everything, including the battle going on around them. A stone the size of Irene’s fist slammed into her shoulder, but Saija barely noticed.
She was just… staring.
Behind her, just to the side of another barrier, Sebastian had stood up and was staring as well. An icicle whizzed past his face and he didn’t even blink.
Both were staring in the same direction.
Something knotted in Irene’s stomach. Something wrong. Two demons, both completely ignoring the battle around them?
“Saija?” Irene said, reaching to grab the succubus’ hand.
Saija didn’t even react until Irene pulled her back down behind the wall. And then, it was just to stare at Irene.
“Are you alright?”
“Perfect!” Her voice came bright and cheery. Almost forced. “Come on, let’s show these humans how real demons fight.”
Saija didn’t wait for a response from Irene. She vaulted over the wall, spreading her wings. She was gone in an instant.
Blinking, Irene realized that Sebastian was back to fighting as well. Fighting with, of all things, cutlery. A dinner fork flew from his hands over the wall. A short moment later, someone cried out.
With a short sigh, Irene felt the tension leave her shoulders. If they were both back to normal, it couldn’t have been anything too bad. She stood with her wand in hand.
Only to dive to the side as a fireball crashed against the wall, knocking shards of hardened earth into the air.
“I’m not a demon, Saija,” she mumbled. “I don’t even want to fight as a human.”
— — —
Zoe’s heart lurched.
Something happened.
Both demons at the Brakket post had frozen. That on its own might not be worth noting; however, the scout demon had frozen as well. A second camera showed him over by Isomer’s post. All three of them froze at the exact same time. No matter how she considered it, something was off.
Eva. Because what else would it have been.
She considered making an excuse to step off stage for a moment. To at least grab her cellphone and tell Wayne to be on the lookout for anything odd.
Next commercial break, she thought as she reinforced her smile.
“Glad you asked, Hank,” she said, hoping there was no strain in her voice.
— — —
Catherine jolted. A full cup of coffee spilled all down her front.
And all over the front of her cellphone.
Letting off a stream of curses at the audacity of some demons, she ran to the bathroom to grab a towel. Though she did pause at the window for one moment, looking out over her ritual circle.