Kalistra spent an age alone in the cave. Steam continued to waft around her as blood gurgle below. She realised that when Mickie left, he had taken their light with him. Even so, the cave appeared to be suffused with a dull glow, emanating from the inverted waterfall. With little to do but sit and mope however, she soon wound up laying on the stony floor, eyes closed.
Ziz had awoken some time ago, and through their bond she sensed that something was wrong in the tower above. It only added to Kalistra’s mounting frustration at her current predicament. The gorgon closed her eyes and fell back onto the uncomfortable floor. Then, quite suddenly, she was no longer in the misty cave. Kalistra’s vision tunnelled through the dark of her own eyelids, and she saw a cavernous expanse. The abrupt brightness was not blinding, for the eyes through which she viewed the world were well adjusted to the light. Dunes rolled below her, waves in a sea of yellow sand. Above, the crystal specked cavern roof was distinct, the gorgon able to make out each craggy facet of rock.
A laugh bubbled up and echoed into the small cave of gurgling blood. She was flying. Kalistra might not be behind the wheel, but somehow, she had come to see what her newly hatched partner was seeing. The gorgon grinned as Ziz glided through the seventh circle, but the smiled faltered as the bird shifted an eye downwards. It focused on something held in its powerful talons, and Kalistra was dismayed to find Mickie, bloody and beaten in its grasp. She saw Miz-Mag screeching something, though she only had Ziz’s eyes, not its ears.
The primordial’s attention shifted towards a distant rock, and Kalistra felt her vision narrow as Ziz focused upon it. Even at such a distance, the gorgon saw the smooth surface of a plateau, marred by a jagged, vertical cut. Just like that, any remaining sense of wonder at her newfound sight fled. Ziz was taking Mickie to retrieve the Kindle Kin. That meant whatever awaited her above, it was worse than she had first thought. The gorgon’s mind raced through the possibilities as Ziz began a descent to the sand. Was it Belphegor? The Sovereign? There was no way for her to know.
Trapped in the underground chamber, all Kalistra could do was watch as her bound companion left Mickie to walk the remaining distance. The reborn primordial took back to the skies, distracting her from the mounting dread. Kalistra did not understand why Ziz had stopped so short from plateau. Then it wheeled about in the air, and she saw. Three dark forms were shooting low across the bone woods, distant even to the avian’s eyes. Flying machines, sent after the fleeing primordial.
Ziz powered into the air as it headed in the direction of the tower. Her bound partner rose higher and higher as the three vague forms gained the hard edged of dark steel. As was usual with flying machines, their backs were open to the air, and Kalistra made out demons in dark tactical gear. Enforcers, pursuing from where the tower hunched in the distance. Ziz stopped its ascent by latching onto the craggy cavern ceiling.
Kalistra was caught for a moment, curious of the avian’s plan, until their eyes past over a nearby crystal. The light was downright blinding, and Ziz’s vision flickered as it blinked to clear the dancing colours. That crystal would make them all but invisible on the cavern ceiling.
It was soon apparent that the demon’s on the fliers had either failed to see Ziz shoot upwards, or were more concerned with capturing Mickie. They did not so much as glance upwards as they neared the avian’s position. The trio were just about underneath her partner when Ziz released its hold on the ceiling. Her vision tunnelled, zeroing in on the frontmost flyer as the primordial rocketed downwards. Ziz moved like a shot from Mickie’s gun, powering itself at such speed that Kalistra swore she could hear the wind ripping by, and feel it pulling at her skin. The flyer loomed large, and she caught a momentary glimpse of a terrified demon before the world became a shuddering mess.
Kalistra gasped at the impact, and her eyes flew open. She had been almost forcefully ejected from whatever connection linked her sight to Ziz. With her surroundings once more the mist of the blood cave, Kalistra rubbed at her forehead and took a few slow breaths. The serpents atop her scalp coiled in agitation as the gorgon gathered her thoughts, running over what she had just experienced.
Now she knew what to look for, she could feel the path tying her sight to Ziz’s. It hung ethereal in her soul, begging to be used. A throb from behind her eyes warned Kalistra that restraint might be prudent. As she nursed her headache, the serpentine warrior wondered what had come of Ziz and the three flyers. Feeling along their bond, she did not sense anything negative. The oversized avian had gotten the jump on the enforcers and seemed to know what it was doing. Right now, the one she needed to worry about was herself.
The gorgon’s impatience at the flooded chamber had shifted to unease. She could make a pretty good guess now as to what awaited in the tower above. It was going to be a rough fight to escape, and one she would have to undergo soon if her ears were not misleading her. Over the edge of the stone pillar the churning of the blood had lost some intensity.
Kalistra dragged herself up to her feet and stepped over to take a look. The mere fact that she could see the blood through the mist was a sign that things were changing. There was a clear line of red on the stone, about a foot above the current level of the boiling lake. Even as the gorgon watched the blood receded further, and she could see the top of the submerged passage out. Kalistra glanced over at the inverted blood flow, noting how much calmer it was. Each pulse came after a slightly longer interval than the previous, slowing like the heartbeats of a mortal.
The chamber reverted swiftly, and soon the only sign of the pandemonium prior was a layer of steaming viscera coating every surface. Now that the pathway was open to her, it was likely open to the Enforcers as well. Kalistra hesitated only momentarily at the staircase leading down and away from the central pillar.
The lake might have retreated, but that did not mean the path was safe. The blood that remained was still hot, and she recalled distinctly how painful it had been for Mickie when he touched some. Except, had Ziz not just been reborn through the boiling lake? If her partner could withstand the strange heat, then surely Kalistra had to have been granted some resistance. Either way, she needed to get moving. Who knew how long it would be until the halls were flooded by demons.
Gathering herself, the gorgon took a tentative step onto the sticky staircase. Her scaled foot met the blood, and Kalistra immediately yanked the appendage free at the sensation of heat. That had hurt, but not to the extent that it should have. She had resistance, she could do this. Kalistra gritted her teeth and began her escape from the passage.
She met the first group of demons right by the staircase out. A single squad was guarding the exit, clad in heavy gear to protect against the heat. The moment Kalistra laid eyes upon them she pulled the pin on her stony gaze. The gorgon felt her newly rounded pupils contract into the slits of a serpent as the Enforcers shouted and raised their weapons. Belphegor’s soldiers had come prepared for her, with combat glasses of that strange material that blocked her petrifying gaze.
They knew they were going to be fighting a gorgon. What they had failed to consider however, was that it was a gorgon who had bonded to a primordial. Demons shouted, stuttered, and went still as their bodies turned to stone, eyes wide behind their protective glasses. Kalistra was equally astonished. Previously she required a powered attack to circumvent the protection. Now though, all she required was a simple glance. Kalistra grinned and surged past the new collection of statues. The gorgon’s savage glee lasted until she stepped off the stairs and into the tower’s open chamber.
An army was there to greet her. Enforcers crowded the platform before her and catwalks overhead. Easily more than a couple hundred, all with weapons drawn and raised in her direction. At their head stood a demon with deep red skin and a goatee that exaggerated his sinister grin.
‘Hello dear.’
Belphegor said. Kalistra did not respond. Instead, she called on her power, gathering it to strike as her eyes roved the front ranks of Enforcers. Almost immediately the demons began to cry out and turn to stone, their protection rendered useless before her. Overhead came the crack of gunfire and something hard punched into her right bicep. The gorgon hissed and turned her attention upwards, sweeping the catwalks and catching any fiend foolish enough to look back.
Belphegor cursed, the demon no longer smiling as it charged her down. Kalistra stumbled back into the cover of the tunnel as she turned to the old lord. With a scream the serpentine warrior released the full force of her empowered attention on it. She felt her power of her soul slam into Belphegor’s and come crashing to an ineffective stop. Then the old lord was on her, and Kalistra had to dance away from a clawed hand as it swept for her throat.
Desperate, the gorgon gathered her power for another strike, only to feel the weight in the air as Belphegor did something similar. She did not know the technique it deployed to block her power. Illiath had once told her that some demons were simply too strong to be affected. Only, she had gotten stronger now too, and still demons like Belphegor could stop her. Kalistra had felt the force of her strike against her adversaries’ soul, there had been some give. It was possible to break through, she saw that now. Just another attack, stronger than before. Kalistra would shatter Belphegor’s defences, then break through the Enforcers.
‘Rest now, little snake.’
A weight pressed down upon the serpentine warrior. She was suddenly so very tired. Kalistra lost the hold on her power and staggered as the fatigue hit her. Half dazed, the gorgon failed to notice the blow coming until it had already struck. The pain of it was distant, and deeper fog settled over her. She felt something cool against her cheek and realised it was the steel floor. When had she fallen? Kalistra rolled onto her back and noticed a face was staring down at her. For some reason, their features were fuzzy, and she could not see who it was.
Strange, Kalistra mused, was she not supposed to have improved vision. The blurry head spoke, yet all the gorgon heard was distant mumbling. She tried to tell them to speak up, but found her tongue was leaden. Whoever it was leant forward, and Kalistra caught the glint of white teeth through the growing haze. For a moment, Belphegor’s face swam into focus, and it was the last thing she saw before the darkness claimed her.
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In her dreams, Kalistra was flying. With feathered wings she glided above the fifth circle, desperately seeking her people. She awoke with the panicked feeling of the lost and found herself chained in darkness. The air was filled with the roar of some terrible beast. It was as if the circle itself was coming down on top of her. Tossing her head about to see the noise’s source, the gorgon soon felt the telltale pull of fabric on skin. She had been blindfolded. Kalistra almost laughed at the realisation. Trying to cover a gorgon’s eyes with something as mundane as cloth was foolish. It took a bit of effort, but she managed impose her will upon her own serpentine hair. The snakes that crowned every gorgon’s head were unruly, each with a mind of its own. That being said, they were also a part of her. The same blood that flowed through her veins kept the small seprpents alive. There was a connection between them, an intermingling of the soul that allowed her to exert some control.
It took the snakes less than a minute to work the blindfold free. The strip fell to the floor and Kalistra was greeted with the sight of a plain room. She could find no source to the ceaseless roar that even now made her sinuses ache with its teeth clenching intensity. The look of the space reminded her of the tower, and the gorgon doubted Belphegor would have had time to move her far. This was probably some upper level of the squat structure.
Having gotten her bearings, Kalistra decided it was time to make her escape. The chains encasing each of her limbs were strong, but she could turn sturdy metal to brittle stone. It was when Kalistra began to gather her power that she became aware of the collar about her neck. A loose and seemingly lightweight section of metal, it began to shift as she drew upon her soul. The steel tightened like a noose and soon it was crushing her airways. Kalistra gagged and tried to choke down air, thrashing in her chains as her power slipped from her grasp.
Suddenly, she could breathe again, and the gorgon sagged as she heaved down desperate lungfuls of air. Her throat felt misshapen, and seemed incapable of getting enough oxygen into her system. By the time Kalistra’s breathing had slowed she was a mess of tears and saliva. The gorgon wiped her face clean on her sleeve and glanced up to find two faces peering in from the door to her room. A pair of demon guards, obviously stationed outside her makeshift cell. Her retching had been so violent that it had overcome the ongoing roar to draw their attention. Now they stared, wide eyed and the kneeling gorgon, a mistake if ever there was one.
Kalistra met the eyes of both guards in turn and felt a grim satisfaction as their features shifted to dead stone. The collar was clearly preventing her from drawing on her soul, but her usual gaze did not require such power.
Following her petrification of the two enforcers, Kalistra spent hours with nothing but that incessant roar for company. Eventually, she noticed a drop in volume and a minute reduction in the vibration of the tower. Over the next few minutes, the sound gradually faded until all that remained was the ringing in her ears. Kalistra contemplated calling on her power again, but was concerned the steel chocker would tighten even further at another attempt. Even so, the empty quiet was getting to her, and she was on the verge of acting when footsteps echoed from outside her room.
A terribly familiar demon in a suit of dark scales stepped into the doorway. Belphegor gave each of the stone guard a sour look before shoving them aside. The lord stepped into her prison, the sound of breaking stone masking his footsteps.
‘I must apologise for keeping you waiting, that blood storm held me up. Managed to get stuck on a higher level, if you can believe that.’
Kalistra had guessed that she might have been hearing a blood storm, and was unsurprised when Belphegor confirmed her suspicions. The fiend adjusted its sleeves and cast a wicked grin her way.
‘I’m glad you took the time to wait for me, my dear. We have so very much to discuss.’
Kalistra swallowed dryly.
‘I have nothing to say to you, Belphegor.’
The lord of sloth chuckled darkly.
‘How very unexpected.’
It said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
‘You and that little enigma are two of a kind, always biting the hand which feeds.’
With a speed which belied its title, Belphegor crossed the room and grasped Kalistra by the chin. Instinctively the gorgon reached for her power, and the steel about her neck began to tighten. Swiftly, she relinquished the amorphous force and gasped for air as the chocker let her breathe. Belphegor smirked as Kalistra hissed in air about his palm.
‘Normally, I prefer cordiality to violence, but I fear time has limited my options.’
A clawed finger on the demon’s free hand hooked the collar of Kalistra’s shirt and began to pull it downwards. The gorgon grasped Belphegor’s arm with both of her own, but the lord’s strength was obscene. Without even the appearance of effort it revealed the space of skin above her heart and the scars inscribed there.
‘You have taken what is mine.’
Belphegor hissed, voice dead as the ice of ninth circle.
‘I will give you one chance, and one chance only to answer willingly. Do you understand?’
Kalistra gritted her teeth and glared at her captor. With casual ease, the lord released her shirt, reached up, and tore a handful of snakes from her head. The pain was sudden and intense. Her serpents were more than just hair, they were a part of her. All she could do was watch as Belphegor held them up; a bloody, writhing collection of trophies. It closed its red hand about them and squeezed until viscera dripped from between its fingers and her serpents were limp and lifeless.
‘Do you understand?’
This time Belphegor emphasised each word, and Kalistra clenched her eyes as the snakes atop her head writhed.
‘Yes.’
The word vomited from her before she could restrain it.
‘Good.’
Abruptly, Belphegor released her chin and turned away as Kalistra slumped against the wall.
‘Let us start with a something simple. What are the terms of your contract with Ziz, and, what is the identity of the mortal with whom you travel?’
Kalistra swallowed and tried to get her breathing under control. Belphegor did not know what Mickie was doing. She just needed to hold out until he returned, then they would kill this accused fiend with the help of the Kindle Kin. The old lord sighed when she failed to provide a response.
‘This is my final warning. Speak.’
The gorgon gritted her teeth. She would give the old lord nothing.
‘I want you to remember that I gave you the opportunity to talk. What happens now is no fault of mine.’
With a sad shake of its head, Belphegor reached into its jacket and removed a box. Small enough to hold in one hand, it looked to be made of carved bone. Her captor slid the lid free and scooped out something grey and slick. After also removing a small, rune inscribed section of metal, Belphegor pocketed the box and returned its attention to her. The lord held up its hand, providing her with a clear view of a distinctly disturbing creature.
The thing was slimy, with a long bulbous body. It had rows of limbs that might have been legs, except that Kalistra could make out hands at the end of each. Fingers grasped as if to seize the open air, reaching out, reaching towards her. Belphegor began to approach, and the small monster seemed to sense that Kalistra was growing closer. It’s grey body twisted and a head peeked out from the glistening mass. No eyes or visible ears, only a single, large mouth, filled with pointed teeth. Without realising it, Kalistra had begun to back away from Belphegor and its disturbing pet. Her back bumped up against the wall and she swallowed down a growing sense of dread.
‘It always surprises me, the reaction my little fried here produces. So small, yet able to produce such visceral distaste in whoever lays eyes upon it.’
Kalistra mastered herself, straightening to stare down the approaching lord. Belphegor only chuckled at her.
‘I’m going to go ahead and assume you don’t know what this is, seeing as if you did, you would not be so calm.’
A sinister smile played across the demon’s face.
‘What I hold here is a little monster we have taken to calling a Pain Eater. It is found extraordinarily rarely in the sixth circle, deep within the labyrinth.’
The lord tossed and caught the piece of rune inscribed metal.
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‘Hearing that name, you might be thinking to yourself that I am being overdramatic and exaggerating for the sake of a little showmanship. Well, my dear, let me assure you; I most certainly am not.’
As it grew closer, more of the Pain Eater’s eery leg arms rose in Kalistra’s direction, the hands opening and closing with an almost infantile need.
‘The name is quite literal. This creature eats pain, if you can believe it. Same as all us unfortunates of Hell, it does not need sustenance to survive, oh no. It is simply spawned with an intrinsic need to do harm, desires it like you and I might desire a warm cup of cocoa.’
The grotesque length of flesh abruptly shifted from Belphegor’s palm. It moved up and circled about the lord’s forearm. Once the Pain Eater was settled, her captor reached out almost gently and grasped Kalistra’s bicep. The gorgon recoiled from the demon, attempting to avoid its touch. Only she was chained and had her back to the wall, there was no where she could run.
Belphegor clasped her arm, and the Pain Eater crawled onto her skin, right were the scales gave way to smoother flesh. The feeling of it upon her was nauseating. Multitudes of hands pinched and pulled, cold and slick. Its head gasped with a sound that might have been delight, and pressed hard up against her.
Kalistra tried to swat the thing off with her free arm. Rip it free and trample it. Kill it so she no longer had to feel the grasp of those hands, the icy grunts of breath on her skin. Belphegor had been expecting such a reaction, however. Like it was grasping an irritating tree branch, the old lord caught her other arm near the shoulder and snapped it like dried wood.
The pain was immediate and clarifying. It was the kind of injury she had received more times than she could count in the arena, and only served to stoke her sputtering anger. Grunting, the gorgon stared down her captor, setting aside the feeling of the Pain Eater against her skin. Belphegor noticed her shift in attention. The lord took a step back from her, chuckling low and rubbing the rune coated metal with a thumb.
‘Ah, there’s the fire that served the late Illiath so well. You will have to forgive me for the damage done to your arm, I cannot have you harming my little pet now, can I?’
Kalistra hissed air through her teeth but said nothing. Already she could feel the bone shifting under her skin, beginning to repair itself.
‘Now listen closely, for what I am about to tell you is important. This piece of metal.’
Belphegor held up the rune inscribed scrap for her to see. In her brief glimpse Kalistra caught the symbols for Binding and Pain among the mess carved into its surface.
‘This little thing is tied to another, embedded within the very creature now looped so lovingly about your arm. Through an extensive process of training, I have taught the Pain Eater to obey any commands communicated to it through this metal. That means, and this is the important part, only I can make it stop. Tell me the terms of your contract with Ziz and the identity of the mortal and I will, understand?’
The pain of her arm smouldered in Kalistra like a hot coal.
‘I’m going to destroy you.’
Belphegor gave her a charming smile.
‘If you say so, my dear. Shall we get started?’
The lord did not wait for a response as the runes on the metal flared brightly for a moment. Kalistra gritted her teeth as the Pain Eater let out a gurgle of delight. She could handle pain. She only needed to hold out until Mickie got here with the Kin. She could do it. The Pain Eater bit into the skin of her upper arm. Kalistra hissed out a gasp, but held onto her resolve.
Then the monster bit again, and again. Its hands reached out, reached into her. It started to burrow under the flesh of her upper arm. Pain unlike anything Kalistra had ever felt assailed her. Icy spikes through her nerves that drove rational thought from her like animals before a wildfire. She screamed as she never had before. Her arm bulged grotesquely as the Pain Eater tunnelled into her flesh.
Kalistra could feel it’s little hands on the muscle of her bicep, grabbing, pulling, tearing. Desperately, she tried to keep a hold of her reason, remember why she had to endure. Then the Pain Eater wormed its way onto her bone. It started gnawing on tendons, causing the gorgon’s arm to jerk uncontrollably. Kalistra tried to claw at her skin, but only succeeded in grinding the bones of her broken arm.
Perhaps she could lie. Say something believable enough that Belphegor would call of its creature. Only, everything hurt too much. She could not think straight. The Pain Eater was closing on her shoulder now, working its way up. What would happen if it went for her head? Or if its chewed on her heart? Kalistra folded in upon herself and moaned. It was too much. All too much.
The gorgon’s resolve cracked, and a hidden switch flipped in the back of her brain. She did not cry, did not beg. She reverted. The waking mind fled from the pain and the serpent reared up to take its place. Kalistra drew on her power, and the chocker tightened about her neck. Breathing became difficult, then impossible, yet still she drew. Bones creaked and flexed, yet she drew. Stars behind her eyes, driven mad from the pain, Kalistra coiled her power and struck at her own arm.
With the choker about to snap her neck, the bare minimum force for an attack hit her upper bicep and turned the flesh to stone. It continued on, shifting half the Pain Eater before catching a good portion of bone too. Kalistra collapsed, unable to even gag as what remained of the creature inside her went ballistic. If the pain before had been a hot iron on her flesh, this was getting dipped into the fire itself.
She could not scream, could do nothing but writhe as her arm was ripped to pieces from within. So uncontrolled was her agony that Kalistra managed to shatter the portion of her arm that had turned to stone. The Pain Eater was torn free from her body and coiled in its death throws within a growing pool of her blood. Half stone, the living portion of the monster was as good as gone.
Kalistra did not notice or care, too caught up in the ecstasy of relief, carried by the fading waves of consciousness. Now that the agony was over, the gorgon was feeling so very distant from herself. She could not breath, could not think, could not move. But the pain was gone, at least the pain was gone.
The pressure on her neck suddenly lifted, and almost by reflex, Kalistra sucked in a breath. She struggled for air through a windpipe that was crushed almost beyond functionality. Awareness of her own body returned as a series of dull throbbing in her extremities. Her arm had the worst of it, a mess of ragged stone and flesh that oozed blood. Kalistra blinked the water out of her eyes, lifting her head to meet the gaze of Belphegor.
The lord of sloth had her pinned upright against the wall, one hand pressed to the collar about her neck. For the first time since she had glimpsed the demon outside her cell in the arena, Belphegor looked truly angry. The casual joviality was gone, replaced by a storm that darkened the demon’s features but buoyed Kalistra’s aching soul. To see this accursed creature actually loose itself was a balm for the pain she now felt.
‘I should have let the collar take your head off.’
Belphegor spoke slowly, anger colouring every word.
‘Killing my pet, refusing to speak, you are lucky I wish to obtain Ziz.’
Kalistra realised that the old lord had been worried her death would impact the avian primordial. It was right, there was a high chance that if her soul were to fall into the abyss, Ziz’s would follow. Such was the danger of a binding like theirs. Kalistra tried to say something, to goad the furious demon, but all she could manage was a weak croak. Belphegor sighed, the fury fading to be replaced with grim resolve as it regarded the dead Pain Eater.
‘You know, I wished to study those eyes of yours. I can tell your contract with Ziz has impacted them in some way, and I was eager to find out how. Only, I am now discovering, that they are more trouble than they’re worth.’
The fiend twisted slightly and flexed the clawed not pinning her to the wall.
‘It would be better, I think, if we were rid of them.’
Still recovering from the recent suffocation, her mind was too slow to register the words. They landed home as Belphegor’s claws closed upon her face. Kalistra learned then, that even through her crushed windpipe, she could still manage a good scream.
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Ziz flew like a fire was burning its hide. The primordial rocketed through the desert cavern, desperately trying to reach the distant tower. It’s silent observer watched on through the eyes of her bound partner, and knew she was the source of the avian’s urgency.
Just as Kalistra could sense the big bird through their bond, it too could sense her. The recent pain and fear had driven Ziz into a frenzy, and all Kalistra could do was watch as it rushed towards Belphegor and the enforcers. The gorgon had attempted to communicate with her partner, to tell it to stay hidden and wait for Mickie. Nothing seemed to work. She might be able to see through Ziz’s eyes, but that was all she could do.
A stab of pain made the image wobble, and Kalistra had to restrain a wave of hopeless grief. She had turned to the connection with the primordial, because it was all she could do. Belphegor had taken her eyes, ripped them straight out of her skull after she destroyed the demon’s pet. To a gorgon, the eyes were all. More than just a way to see the world, they were a blessing and a curse, the source her kind’s most deadly power. And now they were gone.
The image of Ziz’s flight quaked, and Kalistra fell away as she lost focus. The gorgon fell back into herself, to the eternal darkness that was her world. Belphegor had left after maiming her, the lord seemingly tired of trying to wrench answers from the battered gorgon. Kalistra had spent the time since alone, but for the pain that radiated through her whole body.
In particular, her arm and neck were the worst off. Picking the stone out of her wound before it was healed inside had been an ordeal. It did leave Kalistra with a spark of hope though. The gaping hole in her body was closing at a remarkable rate. If her body could manage that, then perhaps it could repair her eyesight. So far however, she had noticed no changes. The darkness remained, and Kalistra felt utterly hopeless within it.
Through the fog of pain and despair, it had taken her longer than it should have to recall her new link to Ziz. With that, she would at the very least be able to see something. She was discovering that seeing through the primordial’s eyes required focus however, and that was something her battered body was reluctant provide.
The sound of footsteps approaching her room drew Kalistra from her revery. She drew herself up as best she could, preparing to strike out at anything that approached her. It was not the first time. Not long after she had lost her eyes, a couple of enforcers had the bright idea to taunt old Stone Eye. After all, what was gorgon without her killer gaze. Kalistra was sure their bodies were still in the room somewhere, as she had heard nothing since. Upon reaching the doorway the footsteps came to a stop, punctuated by a soft and weary sigh.
‘Assigned to guard you and they get themselves killed. Sometimes I wonder why we aren’t already in charge. The propensity for stupidity within demon kind astounds me more with each passing day.’
The voice was feminine, textured with the rasp of age. Kalistra coiled like a snake against the wall. Whoever this was, if they were willing to speak it would only make them an easier target for her.
‘If it wasn’t for those bothersome powers…’
Another sigh. Kalistra waited for the speaker to get within the range of her chains.
‘When Mickie turned up, I knew the time to act was approaching. The Soul Lord must truly have been insane to juice that boy up with powers.’
Kalistra started. They had just mentioned her companion by name. As far as the gorgon was aware, none of the demons within the black city had ever figured out who he was.
‘You know him?’
Her voice was wet and raw, closer to the growl of a wounded animal than anything human.
‘Ah, you caught that, did you. Yes, I know who Mickie is, and who he was. That is the very reason I have come to see you.’
‘And who are you?’
‘Me? I’m your best bet of slipping those chains and finding your people.’
Kalistra jumped at the mention of her tribe.
‘Come now, your deal with Illiath was an open secret at best.’
From what the gorgon knew that was most certainly not the case. Her old master had dealt lethally with any rumours of their contract. Illiath had been the last descendant of Lillith, and that made the demon more paranoid than anyone Kalistra had ever met. Her mysterious visitor seemed to sense her scepticism, because they gave a small chuckle.
‘I’ve had my eye on you for some time Kalistra. You were one of the few beings I thought might be capable of achieving what I need.’
In a few sentences, this stranger had Kalistra more willing to open up than Belphegor had managed with a mountain of pain. The gorgon was aware of this fact, knew that the bait dangled before her was hooked with barbed steel. Even so, she found herself unable to resist a nibble.
‘And that is?’
She did not get an answer right away. Instead, the visitor took a couple of steps into her cell and did, something. It was hard for the gorgon to describe. The air about her rippled and seemed to firm for a moment before returning to normal. Immediately Kalistra was on edge, prepared again to strike out at the unseen figure.
‘Relax, would you. It’s just a sound barrier. You might have dealt with the guards, but I can’t have anyone overhearing us by chance.’
The room had already had something of a tinnie echo to it. Now though, it was far more pronounced, like the walls were putting effort into bouncing the sound back.
‘Sound barrier?’
‘Yes girl, try to keep up. Sound barrier. Can’t be overheard. I thought Transcribers were supposed to be smart?’
‘You know I’m a Transcriber?’
‘Of course I do, did I not just tell you that I had you under consideration?’
Kalistra frowned. She could tell when someone was speaking in circles, and was in no mood to play along. Instead, the gorgon fell silent, waiting for her visitor to speak. It did not take long for the individual to clear their throat with a rasp.
‘Sorry, yes, you probably don’t feel like beating around the bush. Mik used to get frustrated like that too.’
The gorgon’s ears perked but she did her best to hide the fact. Mik was a nickname, which indicated a level of familiarity with the mortal. Just who was this visitor?
‘Down to brass tax, then. I have come to you with an offer. Not a deal like the demons are so obsessed with, but an exchange. A transaction where we both get what we want.’
Kalistra frowned, and here empty eyes stung at the movement. She had heard a similar request before, back when Mickie came to her in the spire.
‘Enough talk.’
She rasped.
‘Tell me what you want.’
‘Very well.’
The stranger sighed dramatically.
‘I will grant you your freedom and aid you as I am able. In return, I want you to kill Belphegor.’
The words echoed into silence as Kalistra stood, speechless. Then, without meaning to, she started to laugh. Pain flared at the exertion, and the gorgon doubled over, gasping for breath. Her empty eyes watered, and the liquid stung as it ran across her raw skin.
‘Anything else? Shall I also kill the Sovereign while I’m at it?’
‘I’m not joking, Kalistra.’
The visitor’s voice was flat and serious.
‘Of course, you do not lie, you simply wish for me to die.’
‘Die? Kalistra, I have seen you fight; I know how strong you are. Since then, you have made a deal with Ziz, which has no doubt granted you even more power.’
Kalistra sighed.
‘In case you did not notice, Belphegor has taken my eyes from me.’
‘Oh, I noticed. The old bastard showed them to me like a trophy. Nasty work.’
‘And yet you still think I can be useful?’
Her visitor paused, seeming to think for a time.
‘Girl, I do not think you understand what it means when I say I had you under consideration. I have researched you, your tribe, your late mother, your people way back to stinkin’ Medusa. If there is something to know about the gorgons, then I know it.’
Kalistra was taken aback by not only the heat with which this stranger spoke, but also the indicated breadth of their research.
‘I probably know more about your kind than you do. So, tell me, do you think that in the history of the gorgons, you are the first to lose their eyes?’
Kalistra hunch in on herself. It had been so long since she had a lecture like this, and it filled her with an irrational sense of petulance.
‘I imagine not. The curse of my kind can be a burden some are unable to bear.’
‘Exactly. From what I found, gorgons were always pulling their own eyes out. A touch dramatic, but there you have it.
The serpentine warrior grew irritated at that.
‘Did you have a point? Or are you just going to insult my people?’
‘Insult? Girl, I am trying to instruct. Did your tribe ever tell stories of Typhlopidia?’
Kalistra frowned. That sounded like the name of a gorgon, though not one she had heard before.
‘Are they one of my kind?’
‘So, you haven’t heard of her. Not surprising, I’d say the last thing your elders want is over eager gorgons pulling their own eyes out. Anyway, Typhlopidia was indeed a gorgon like yourself, one who by all accounts was blind as a bat. The strange thing was, she apparently fought like she had eyes in the back of her head. A demon on the battlefield, or so they say.’
A blind gorgon that could see? While Kalistra had never heard of this Typhlopidia, that was not surprising. Her people were insular within their tribes, and this rumoured gorgon cold have easily come from another. The point about her being a warrior though…
‘How did she do it? How could she fight like she had eyes?’
‘Haven’t a clue.’
Anger bubbled up in the gorgon, but before she could curse the visitor for getting her hopes up, the old voice continued.
‘But one thing I’ve learnt since coming to Hell, is that crazy shit just happens here. You’re a smart girl, and a gorgon at that, you figure it out. You’ll have until Mickie gets back to make yourself useful.’
The furious tirade that had been building slipped away from Kalistra with a weary sigh. Nothing was ever easy.
‘Either way, it isn’t a huge deal if you can see or not.’
The stranger continued.
‘You aren’t the only horse I’ll be backing in this race.’
‘I have not yet agreed to help you.’
Kalistra muttered.
‘Oh, don’t be obstinate, girl. I’m your best chance of escaping this mess.’
The gorgon knew she should object but let herself fall silent. She should not trust this stranger, yet what choice did she have? If Kalistra had the chance to escape these chains, then she would take it.
‘So, you shall release me?’
‘If you agree to my conditions, I’ll come get you when the time is right. We’ll need to wait until Mik returns from wherever that bird of yours took him.’
Kalistra swallowed what little saliva she had worked up during the conversation. She wished more than anything that she could see who this stranger was. Perhaps if she could see them, then she could gauge their honesty. The gorgon took a moment, running through the options of who it might be. From they way they spoke, it was clear that they were a mortal, and a physically older one at that. Then it clicked.
‘Everything alright? You’ve gone awfully quiet.’
The visitor asked, her voice coming from closer by.
‘You’re the woman. Belphegor’s second.’
The pieces were all there, Kalistra was surprised it had taken her this long to put it together.
‘Ah, you figured it out. I am indeed the prized pet of our slothful lord. Now, about or agreement…’
‘Wait.’
The gorgon cut her visitor off.
‘What possible reason could you have for wanting Belphegor dead? I thought it treated you rather well.’
A long silence followed her question, and Kalistra waited nervously for a response. She did not want to lose this opportunity for escape. Yet, neither could she risk blindly following someone who supposedly served her enemy.
‘A reason…’
The woman said at length.
‘Does any human need a reason to kill a demon? We are cattle to your kind, meat for the machine. What mortal wouldn’t grasp at a chance to strike back?’
Kalistra frowned. Belphegor’s second spoke with confidence, but her answer felt flimsy. The old woman had probably sent just as many humans to the abyss as any demon in the name of her master.
‘Don’t lie to me. You don’t care about the other mortals.’
Her visitor rasped out a low chuckle.
‘No, but it sounded good, didn’t it? The sort of thing Mik might say.’
‘And you? Why would you kill your benefactor?’
Another pause, before the old woman eventually sighed.
‘Look girl, some things need to stay quiet. I’d tell you, but then you might tell Belphegor, and suddenly all I’ve worked for is up in smoke. It’ll be bad enough if you spill that we’ve had this conversation.’
Kalistra’s empty sockets ached, and she had to stop her lips from parting in a snarl.
‘You really won’t tell me?’
‘No, I will not.’
‘Then how am I supposed to trust a thing you say?’
She shouted, frustration and pain stoking her temper.
‘You offer me help, you, who serves Belphegor. How am I supposed to trust that this isn’t some trick, some way to get information from me?’
She wanted more than anything to simply agree with this strange mortal, to avenge herself upon Belphegor even if it meant her death. Yet, to believe and then fall short. Kalistra was not sure she could take it, not after losing her eyes, after being free only to once again wind up in chains.
‘You’ll trust because that’s the only option you have. Because if you don’t Belphegor will get another one of those damned Pain Eaters into you, and you’ll spill everything anyway.’
It took a few moments for the tone of the woman’s reply to breach the gorgon’s anger. It was cold and dead as the abyss. That realisation drained Kalistra of her panic faster than the deepest of breaths. There was something in what her visitor had just said, the off handed comment that she would spill everything anyway. If this really was Belphegor’s second, then she had already told Kalistra enough to doom herself.
Would someone like that really just walk away if she refused the offer? Clearly the woman had schemes that did not include Kalistra, plans which had remained secret for some time. You did not keep secrets like those without being willing to tie up a few loose ends. Suddenly, the Gorgon was very aware of the two guards she had killed, laying somewhere nearby. She thought about how easy it would be to make it looked like they had killed her and died for their troubles.
Kalistra swallowed, glad for the first time that she did not have eyes with which to give herself away. This deal was not take it or leave it, as Mickie’s had been in the spire. No, this deal was take it or die, and the one offering was beginning to think she might flake out.
‘Time’s running out girl. You going to help? Or do I leave you for Belphegor?’
Kalistra took a steadying breath. Rather than being sceptical at the offer itself, she was wary of accepting it too readily. To jump at the chance now might make the old woman suspicious.
‘I’ll help you, under one condition.’
She settled on the middle ground of acquiescent but not overeager, and held back a sigh of relief when her visitor replied.
‘Quite an overreach for someone blind and in chains, but let’s hear it.’
‘You seem so sure I’ll be of use, and that Mickie will return to the tower. I want to know why. If you won’t give me your reason for killing Belphegor, then give me this.’
There was a long silence following her request, and for a moment Kalistra thought the visitor might not answer. That the next thing she would feel was a bullet through the head. Holding herself steady, the blind gorgon awaited her answer.
‘Very well.’
The stranger said at length, and tension bled from Kalistra’s body. She was safe for now.
‘To the first part, if you can figure out some alternative for eyesight, great. If not, you’ll make an effective distraction. I do have more than one horse in this race after all.’
The gorgon nodded. Being a distraction was a more convincing outcome than having her actually kill Belphegor.
‘And as for Mik…’
Her visited gave a long, weary sigh.
‘I know he’ll come back because I know him. Better than anyone ever has. That boy is like a puppy that’s been kicked one to many times.’
That was not how Kalistra would have described the branded mortal, but she held her silence. Something had entered the stranger’s voice as she spoke of Mickie, a deep emotion the gorgon could not place.
‘All he wants is a friend, but the world we lived in taught him the danger of trust. I taught him…’
There was a sound, the rustle of fabric on skin, or maybe just the shake of a head.
‘It doesn’t matter. All you need to know is that Mickie has seemingly decided you are part of his little pack. That means he’ll be coming back to try and free you.’
There came a small click from the direction of the stranger and the air began to warble. Clearly the conversation was reaching its end.
‘As for how I know so much about Mik. It’s rather simple.’
Kalistra could hear the smile returning to the old voice.
‘What kind of sister would forget her kid brother.’
The sound barrier twisted and fell apart.
‘I’ll come get you when it’s time, try to find a way to be useful by the time I do.’