Cleevus's charger roared down the highway through the sandstone canyons of Wrath, with the sun gleaming on the car's black paint. He hung his arm out of the window and felt the wind blowing through his fingers. A pack of desert curs ran down from a drainage in the canyon wall and alongside his car for a while, until they all turned off to a fork in the canyon led by a dried riverbed.
He exited the canyon and saw the massive Wrath coliseum several miles away to the left. He continued on the 2-lane to where it merged with a 6-lane highway, which was unusually busy. He continued down the highway to the exit leading to the coliseum. After waiting in line behind some buses, he drove into the parking lot. He was getting a lot of side glances from the sinners walking along the sidewalk, as they seemingly knew who he was by his car.
He parked the car in a shaded area reserved for officials and got out. The 10-story stadium loomed overhead. Banners were hung on the sides and Wrathian flags were flying on poles on the top of the stadium. He walked through the lot and up to the entrance, then moved ahead of the lines and passed through the officials entry, the security guards not saying anything to him.
He moved through the crowd of sinners underneath the stands of the Coliseum. The sun was shining bright through the stone columns, there was noise and excitement everywhere. Food stands were selling grilled meats and sugary fried dough. Large TV's overhead were displaying the order of the fights about to take place.
He walked to a flight of stairs leading to the lower viewing level of the coliseum reserved for the high class. He passed by 2 security guards and came into the shaded, air-conditioned level of the arena, which was adorned with leather chairs facing the fighting grounds. The area was still deserted at the time. As he walked over to the seating area reserved for archdemons, he noticed Andras approaching him.
Andras was a lightly built, older-looking sinner, with short horns on his head. He was wearing a long brown suit jacket.
"The day is going as planned, Cleevus. We've found who is in possession of the ring," he said, clasping his hands together in front of him.
"What's the plan?" Cleevus asked.
"A group of imps will attempt an assassination on Lucifer, which will most likely cause the holder to flee. You'll kill him and take the ring in the chaos that unfolds. The ring is held by Lucifer's 2nd advisor, Maren. He's the one in the dark red suit. Of course, you mustn't be recognized while doing so." He held out a small white crystal. "Crush this, and it'll disguise you as another sinner for a short time. But you must escape as soon as you have the ring, so no one can catch on. Report to the prince's stronghold afterwards to return the ring."
Cleevus took the crystal. "Will do," he said.
"And the Prince wanted to remind you that there is no room for failure in this. Also, you'll be fighting in the tournament today to represent Wrath." he said.
Cleevus was confused. "He wants me to fight in the tournament?" He asked.
"I know it's short notice but he said it's nothing you can't handle. The gladiator that was going to compete was killed in training yesterday. You'll need to report to the staging area in…" Andras looked at his watch. "One hour. They'll guide you from there. You'll be fighting some ravagers, nothing too difficult."
Cleevus paused. "Alright then," he said, turning and walking away.
He was about to go down the staircase leading out of the high-class level, when a familiar voice spoke to him.
"Going somewhere Cleevus?"
He turned around.
"Lilith?" He said with surprise.
She was wearing a black dress with red accents, similar to what she had been wearing when they'd met. She gave him her usual flirty yet intelligent smile.
"You left without letting me say goodbye." She folded her arms and looked at him with disappointment. "And I thought you might just be a gentleman."
He was somewhat taken back to see her here. "I just… had something important to take care of," he said.
Her expression lightened. "I'm only teasing you," she said.
Cleevus cracked a smile himself. "Right. What brings you here?"
"I'm accompanying my husband today," she said. "I don't care for all the violence, but he's required to attend this event."
Cleevus paused. "Your husband?" He asked.
She nodded.
"You didn't tell me about that…" He said.
She looked at him indifferently. "Did I need to?" She asked.
"Well… no," He said. "I just assumed you were single."
She shrugged. "So I assume you're here as security for Wrath's prince or something similar?" She asked.
He shook his head. "No, actually." He of course couldn't tell her about Satan's plan to take Solomon's ring. "I'm fighting in the tournament today," he said.
"Really?" She said, sounding interested.
"Yeah, I'm supposed to represent Wrath," he said. "Not something I asked for, but duty calls I guess."
She nodded again. "Well best of luck to you Cleevus, maybe we can spend some time together when you're finished," she said.
"Yeah… maybe. See you around Lilith," he said.
"Till later, Cleevus," she replied.
He turned and walked down the stairs out of the high-class level.
An hour later, he went down to the lowest level of the stadium, where the staging area was. It was a dark area bordered by the columns supporting the stadium, with large cages that housed exotic hell beasts from outside of Wrath. Gladiators clad in bronze armor were sparring with each other, and arena employees were carting out the bloody bodies of dead contestants. He walked to a sinner in a black silk shirt holding a clipboard who appeared to be the manager.
"There you are," the manager said. "Your armor has already been selected for you. You're on in 10 minutes."
He headed to the armory room, changed out of his normal clothes, then strapped on his armor with the help of a female sinner employee. The armor was traditional Wrath gladiator armor, consisting of steel shoulder pauldrons with Wrath's crest on one, steel thigh plates, a hardened leather mid-section guard, gauntlets, and boots. Cleevus looked over the wood rack of weapons in the armory, and pulled off an ancient-style single-edged sword set, one long and one short sword.
He then walked to the entrance to the fighting grounds. He heard the crowd cheering outside, and the announcer talking over the speakers. As he approached the entrance, more carts with bloody bodies on them came through from the fighting grounds. He stood in the doorway and looked into the arena fighting grounds. A familiar bulky-looking man was standing in the center on blood-soaked sand, fighting another gladiator. The man swung his battle axe and cleaved through the shoulder of his opponent.
"People of Wrath, Abbadon… the destroyer!" The announcer on the overhead speakers said.
Abbadon pulled his axe out of the gladiator's body on the ground and held it up in the air. The crowd roared with approval. Abbadon then walked towards the entrance as the employees came back out to get the last body. He passed through the archway and noticed Cleevus.
"There he is, the slayer." Abbadon said, smirking at him with sweat trickling down his forehead. He was wearing armor similar to Cleevus's, only heavier, that had blood smeared on it. He slapped Cleevus on the shoulder. "Go get 'em tiger," he said, then walked off.
The announcer spoke over the speakers again. "And for our next event, we have a new fighter in the tournament this year. Few have crossed this man and lived to tell about it. Cleevus, the Slayer of Wrath!"
Cleevus stepped out of the archway into the light, the bright sun making him squint as his eyes adjusted. The cheers of the crowd around him filled his ears. The fighting ground was only about 150 meters in diameter, the stands made up most of the massive stadium's size, which were almost completely full by the looks of it. He walked forward towards the center of the fighting grounds as huge TVs in the stands were showing him as he walked. He passed by the employees carting away the fresh corpses of Abbadon's opponents.
He came to the center and stood on the red sand, looking around the arena. He spotted the higher-ups seated on the lowest level, and noticed Satan sitting among his underlings. His red eyes were glowing faintly in the shade, he was looking at Cleevus as though he expected him to do something. Cleevus raised both of his arms in the air, with the long sword in hand, and the crowd roared.
He scanned over the people sitting in the archdemon's seating. There was Andras next to Satan, looking small next to him, along with some of his generals and advisors. To the left of Satan was another tall-looking man in a light gray suit. He had long blonde hair, and an angelic-looking face. He must be Lucifer. He was holding a black walking stick with a silver handle, and had a fairly disinterested look on his face. A woman in a dress was sitting beside him, along with a few other men and women in suits nearby.
The woman in the dress looked very familiar. He squinted and realized it was Lilith sitting next to Lucifer. She was looking at him with a slight smile on her face.
Cleevus was a little shocked. Lilith is the wife of Lucifer?
His thoughts were cut short by the sound of the announcer speaking.
"Now observe the Slayer at work…"
The exit gates around the fighting grounds began to close, save for one. Cleevus stared into the dark tunnel, preparing himself for what was to come. Some wild-looking Wrath natives began to emerge from the darkness. They had rough, scaly skin and spiny black hair on their heads and necks, pointed teeth, and were scantily-clad in ragged clothing. The last few were forced out of the darkness by arena employees in protective gear using long shock prods. After all of the ravagers were out, the employees threw some weapons out onto the ground and stepped back behind the heavy gate before it closed. The ravagers all scrambled to grab the weapons, which appeared to be clubs and swords made of scrap metal.
The ravagers then turned and faced their opposition, immediately locking their focus on him. They began to fan out and stalk towards him like a pack of hyenas. Cleevus counted 10 altogether. He drew the short sword as they closed in.
The first ran at him with the club raised, yelling a war cry. Cleevus stepped to the side and slashed the attackers mid-section with a wide sweep. The next came at him with an overhead attack with their sword. He blocked the sword with his own, and stabbed the ravager in the gut with his short sword. Another clubbed him in the left arm at the same time. He kicked away the one he had just stabbed and slashed the throat of the one who had just clubbed him. The fourth came from his right side and tried to machete slash him, which he caught with his long sword, and the blade slid off and hit his shoulder armor. He stabbed the fourth in the side with his short sword. One behind him tried clubbing him on his back, but the armor took the hit. He spun around and slashed the shoulder of the ravager. It stumbled back and grabbed the wound, then came at him swinging the club with one arm. He blocked the club with his left gauntlet and thrust the long sword into the ravager's chest. He pulled it out and stepped back into his fighting stance, facing his next opponents.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
The other half of the ravagers were circling around him, seemingly rethinking their strategy. He faced them with his blades held out. He had lost some feeling in his left arm where he had been clubbed. Two ran at him at the same time, he slashed the first and tried to block the second's attack with the short sword, however the ravager's sword skidded off the blade and slashed his leg. A third came and clubbed him in the side of the head as he was handling the second. His vision went blurry for a second, then he stabbed it through the ribs with the long sword, and felt hot blood trickling down his leg. He butted the other ravager with his horns and stabbed it with the short sword, his vision still blurry. He stepped back and surveyed what was around him as his vision was still readjusting. Several ravagers were on the ground bleeding out, the rest were lying still.
The last two were standing behind the bodies of their fallen brothers, and backing away, seemingly knowing they couldn't win the fight. They both turned and ran back towards the gate they had come from, when they were stopped by the shock collars on their necks. They both grabbed and tugged at the collars with their claws as they were shocked. They turned back and faced Cleevus as he approached them. One ran at him with its club raised, and he easily cut it down with the long sword. The final ravager backed away as he approached. It came forward and slashed at him with its sword, Cleevus caught the blade with his long sword and sliced the ravager's arm with his short sword, making the ravager drop its sword. The ravager knelt down and put its hands in front of its head, seemingly wanting to surrender. Cleevus lowered his swords and stood over it.
He looked around the stadium at the spectators. They were pointing their thumbs down and chanting kill! kill! kill! He turned and looked at the higher-ups seating. Satan looked at him with his usual cold gaze and pointed his thumb down. Just then the ravager bit his arm. Cleevus grunted in pain and quickly stabbed it in the side. The dying ravager released his arm and dropped to the ground. He looked at his arm, the ravager's sharp teeth had left a bloody bite mark on his upper arm.
Cleevus stood breathing heavily over the bodies of the ravagers with blood dripping off his swords as the crowd cheered around him. The side of his head and his shoulder where he had been clubbed were throbbing, and the deep cut on his leg was stinging.
The announcer spoke again.
"And now, the bonus round!"
Cleevus's head snapped back up to the gates on the other side of the arena as they began to rise again.
"A vicious beast all the way from Lust; the lustian Fera Bestia!" The announcer said.
A lengthy snout with long, sharp black teeth began to emerge from the darkness, followed by two sets of glowing yellow eyes. The beast fully emerged, prowling out of the dark. It had a muscular, athletic looking body with dark red skin, and yellow stripes on its back, along with sharp claws on its feet. It appeared to be about twice his size. It immediately locked its focus on Cleevus and began stalking towards him, while slowly opening and closing its mouth. He breathed out and went back into his fighting stance, pointing the long sword out at the beast.
It bounded forward quickly and lunged at him. He moved to the side and slashed its left leg when it was in-range. The crowd cheered and the beast yelped in pain, then quickly turned back to face him. It snapped at him viciously with its large jaws as he jabbed at it with the long sword, trying to keep it at bay. It sprung forward and pounced on him, pushing him onto his back. He put his left arm out to keep its jaws away from his face and it bit down on his gauntlet, and gnawed on the armor with intense force. It was too close to stab it with the long sword in his other hand. As saliva from its jaws dripped onto him, he rolled his legs in and kicked it in its midsection. The beast became unstable and it moved to the side some. He slashed the side of its neck with the long sword, and it released his arm and he rolled to the other side.
Cleevus got back on his feet as the beast snapped at him. He slashed its face with his sword and it retreated back a little. It then jumped at him again and he put his swords out to protect himself. One of its claws scratched the side of his arm as its jaws snapped at him within inches of his face. He slashed its neck with the long sword and it dropped to the ground as the wound started bleeding profusely. He stepped back and observed the beast as it tried to get back on its feet, then fell again, clearly weakening. It just laid on its side, whimpering in pain, and stared at him with its four eyes as he approached.
Cleevus gripped the short sword tightly and plunged it into the beast's chest, between its ribs. It let out one final whimper, and laid still. He pulled the sword out and the crowd cheered. He looked around while breathing heavily as sweat trickled down his face, stinging his eyes.
He turned and looked up at one of the massive TV's and saw himself on the screen, standing amongst the bodies of his foes, with blood running down the side of his head where he had been clubbed.
He raised his two bloody swords in the air tiredly and the crowd roared with applause. He noticed Abbadon, still in his arena armor, leaning in the doorway of one of the exits, clapping for him. He turned to the higher-ups seating again. Satan was clapping stiffly with Lucifer sitting beside him and clapping, looking somewhat bored. He looked at Lilith and their eyes met. She was clapping also, but unusually, she wasn't smiling. She was looking at him with what looked to be some pity.
The announcer spoke once more.
"People of Wrath; Cleevus, the Hell Slayer!"
Cleevus leaned on the steel wall of the elevator as it made its way to the top of the stadium. He had showered in the armory and changed back into his normal clothes. He stepped out onto the top level of the stadium, which acted as a bar and lounge area for the higher-class. It was shaded, and had several bars around the level. It was mostly deserted at this time as the fights were still going on. He saw someone with long, dark red hair sitting in a leather chair facing the fighting grounds below, and he walked over.
Lilith noticed him approaching and turned to him.
"Hm, look at you," she said, shaking her head. "Such a mess."
"Believe me, I've been through worse," he said as he tiredly sat down in the chair next to her.
"Your head…" She said, clearly referring to where the side of his head was still bleeding a little from being clubbed.
"It'll heal," he said dismissively.
"Here." Lilith held her hands out in front of her as if she were holding something.
Cleevus looked at her confused, and something started to materialize in her hands. A white box formed from the air, until it was a solid object. She opened it up and took out a piece of cloth and a black bottle, then set the box on the table between them. She poured some liquid from the bottle onto the cloth and looked back up at him, then moved to the edge of her chair so she was closer to him.
"Look forward darling," she said.
He did so hesitantly, still in awe of her making the box materialize out of thin air, as he had never seen magic like that before. She began carefully cleaning the wound on the side of his head off, the liquid making it burn a little.
"You can make things materialize from nothing?" Cleevus asked.
"Only certain things," she said while carefully wiping off the wound on the side of his head. "Being wife to the King of Hell has its privileges."
"I noticed that," Cleevus said. "Can't say I was expecting it…"
She put away the blood-stained cloth and pulled out another glass bottle, opened it, then dipped her fingers in it. She gently brushed the ointment onto the torn skin. Cleevus felt the area around it begin to pulsate and burn, just as it would at a healer. After a few moments it stopped, and Lilith wiped the ointment off the area of the wound with a piece of clean cloth. He touched the side of his head and felt fresh skin where the wound used to be.
"What is that?" He asked.
"Cream of red medicamen, from Pride," she said.
He didn't mention the wounds on his arm and leg. "Thanks," he said quietly.
"Of course," she replied. She wiped her fingers off and put away the bottle of ointment, then closed the box. She then held it out in front of her, and it dissipated just as it had formed. "So how long have you been in service to him?" She asked.
"You mean Satan?" Cleevus asked.
Lilith nodded.
He paused and thought for a moment. "Twenty-three years now," he replied.
"And he put you through all of that just for their entertainment?" She asked.
"Yeah… more or less," he said. "He also didn't say I'd be fighting that beast from Lust."
"How cruel…" She remarked.
"Welcome to Wrath," he said with a little smile. "I'm used to it anyways. How long have you and… the Prince of Pride been together?"
"Almost 7 millennia," she replied.
Cleevus paused. "Huh… so I take it you two aren't on very good terms?" He asked.
"No, not really," she replied.
"Oh…" He thought of Satan's apparent plan to kill Lucifer later on, and decided he'd leave it at that.
Lilith looked down at the gladiator fight happening below. One of the gladiators sliced the arm of their opponent, and their arm began bleeding profusely as the crowd cheered.
"Look at them…" Lilith said while lightly shaking her head at the cheering spectators. "And they wonder why they've been sent here."
Cleevus paused. "They're doing what people do best I guess," he said.
She nodded.
He felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out and saw a text from Andras.
It's time, in ten minutes, it read.
Cleevus paused, then put it back in his pocket and stood up. "I have to go, Wrath's prince has something important for me to do," he said.
"You just love disappearing, don't you?" Lilith said with an edge of humor in her voice.
Cleevus shrugged. "Maybe we can see each other again some other time," he said.
She raised an eyebrow slightly. "Do you treat all of your women like this?" She said, still with a little humor.
Cleevus sighed. "You have a phone number you can give me Lilith?" He asked.
Lilith paused. "No, but we can talk using these-" She held out her hand, and a small blood-red stone similar to his transit stone materialized in it. She held it out to him, and he took it. "Say my name with it in hand, and we can speak to each other."
Cleevus nodded. "Got it," he said.
Lilith gave him a smile. "Goodbye for now then, Cleevus," she said.
He gave her a nod. "Bye Lilith," he said, then turned and walked away.
Cleevus watched the higher-ups seating while standing in the shadow of a stone column on the vip level just above the higher-ups level. The last match of the tournament was just finishing up, the crowd was cheering for the victor as more bodies were being carted out. After the grounds were cleared the announcer spoke.
"That concludes the final match of the 2062 Wrath Gladiator Tournament. Now, people of Wrath, we are honored to hear some closing remarks from the Lord of Wrath," the announcer said.
Cleevus looked at his phone. It was 5:55 PM in Wrath's time; only 5 minutes left. He turned and walked out of the viewing area, then down a few flights of stairs to the ground level. He walked down the hall a ways, and found a door to a storage room. He looked over both of his shoulders, and saw the coast was clear. He then walked in, quietly closing the door behind him. He turned on a dim light, revealing that the room was mostly filled with cleaning supplies. He then pulled the small white crystal Andras had given him out, and crushed the brittle crystal in his palm.
White smoke leaked out from between his fingers, and began to climb up his arm. It spread over him, covering his face and entire body. After a few moments it dissipated, and he looked down at himself. He was now wearing a weathered black jacket and acid-washed jeans. He looked in a mirror leaned against a wall. He was now a sinner with short horns, medium-length hair, a short brown beard, and light red skin. He turned around and casually walked out of the storage closet, and down the hall to the main area where all the vendors were.
The vendor area was fairly empty now. He walked back to the entrance to the higher-ups seating that he had been to earlier. The two security guards were still standing at the doorway. Cleevus casually leaned against a wall near the entrance, and pulled his phone out. It was 5:59, only 1 minute left now. He could hear Satan speaking over the speakers in the stadium. He was saying something about how Hell is in good hands under Lucifer.
After about another 30 seconds, he heard a gunshot from inside the level. Shouting and screams from the spectators followed. The 2 guards both turned and ran up into the level.
Cleevus ran after them, up the stairs into the high-class level. To the left at the archdemons seating, a group of scummy-looking imps with their hoods up were climbing down the supports around the railing from the level above and surrounding Satan and Lucifer's group. One of Lucifer's underlings was on the ground in front of Lucifer with blood soaking their shirt. The imps pulled out handguns, uzis, and knives. Satan drew his sword, and the long, blazing, fiery blade was revealed. Lucifer pulled apart his walking stick, revealing that a sword with a slender, gleaming silver blade was hidden in the staff.
Cleevus spotted Maren in the dark red suit turn and flee in the other direction, and ran towards the fight after him. The 2 guards at the doorway had their handguns out and were firing at the imps. He shoved one out of the way and ran past as the other guard fired 2 shots into his back.
Lucifer and Satan were cutting down the imps as they flooded into the area. The imps were shooting them with their guns, however the bullets were only vaporizing into smoke when they hit their bodies. Satan was slicing the imps clean in half with his sword like a hot knife through butter, the fiery blade leaving the insides of their corpses singed. Lucifer slashed an imp with his sword, throwing blood up as the sharp blade sliced deep into the imp's body.
Lucifer saw Cleevus running up, and lunged forward with surprising speed, slashing his blade at him horizontally. Cleevus slid onto the floor, barely clearing the blade of the sword. He got up and continued running. Satan briefly made eye contact with him as he passed in the midst of the chaos. He shoved past more imps, with Maren just a little ahead of him now.
He saw Maren pull out a transit stone and say a location quickly. A black portal appeared about 30 feet in front of Maren, and he continued running towards it. Several more security guards entered the level ahead of them and ran towards them.
Cleevus sprinted at full speed, and tackled Maren when he was right in front of the portal.
The two both transitioned through the portal at the same time. They landed on pavement, as they were in an alleyway between two tall buildings.
Maren tried to get up and run, but Cleevus grabbed his leg and pulled him back as he did, making him trip. He heard a metallic click, and Maren rolled over and stabbed a switchblade into his side. Cleevus pulled out his own knife and plunged it into Maren's neck. Maren tightly gripped Cleevus's arms as he stared into his eyes, realizing he was dying.
In the moment, white smoke began to come off of Cleevus's body. After a few moments, it dissipated, and Cleevus saw that he was wearing his leather jacket again, and the skin on his hands were back to gray. Maren's eyes widened as he recognized him, now that the disguise had worn off.
Maren made his last few breaths with Cleevus on top of him, holding the knife in his throat. After another few moments, Maren's grip weakened, and he let go of his arms, his head dropping to the side lifelessly. Cleevus pulled out his knife, breathing heavily, and got off of him. He then pulled the switchblade out of his side, and tossed it on the ground.
He noticed a leather band around Maren's neck and pulled it out. Hanging on the band was a rough bronze ring, with the seal of Solomon engraved in it. He pulled it off, and stood up. The sky above him was a mixture of red, purple, and orange, meaning that he must be on Pride. He pulled out his own transit stone and held it in front of him.
"The Prince's stronghold, underworld of Wrath," he commanded.
In a spiral of flames, he vanished.