Malak strode down the long tunnel at the entrance of the abandoned mine, irritated that they had to be at the bottom of this forsaken rat hole. Unlike many of his demonic cohorts, he rather liked being in the real world far above. He still preferred to go out in the dark rather than into the revealing light of day.

Reaching the elevator at the end of the tunnel, Malak felt the familiar weight of fear start to overcome his being. He welcomed it with a gentle sigh, knowing that it was fear that gave him so much power. The elevator dropped to the bottom of this pit, so low that no wondering human scum would ever dare go so deep. They felt the fear radiating from this hole, and it caused them to run away.

Once the elevator stopped Malak stepped out into an open atrium of sorts. Tunnels went off in all directions, but they all ended in the same place, the massive opening caused by the cave-in that shut this mine down. Malak shed his human form as he walked down the nearest tunnel, passing other little demons as he went. Each demon he passed refused to look at Malak as he was the highest ranked demon.

Malak’s appearance was magnificent, his body covered in blue scales that seemed to glow with fire. Though mostly human in form, his face had multiple ridges that emitted a blood red glow. Instead of a nose, he had two horizontal slits that opened while breathing. His eyes shined green as he strode through the dark, but when the light was present they were black as tar.

“Malak, the master is calling for you in his chamber,” A small no name ugly little demon screeched as he ran down the tunnel.

Malak chose not to speak to any of these no name, small reputation demons. They had every opportunity to grow in the art of deception, but most of them refused to take control of the humans. They would tempt and cause some to fall, but they would not dare get into their mind. They feared failure, Rejection, weak pathetic little excuses for demons in Malak’s opinion.

Malak entered into the massive cave-in site, known as the nest, and breathed the death stained air into his nostril slits. All other demons in the site instantly stopped what they were doing and watched as Malak strode to the nest. It was a sight to behold as the tens of thousands of demons all stared at him, watching as he approached the throne room gateway. It was in a far corner of the nest, it was an area he and he alone dared even go near with invitation. Inside was the master, the one who directed each demon into his next mission. Each mission came with a price and failure was not an option. Failure would only bring suffering at the master’s hand.

Malak, as his name in Hebrew meant, was a messenger. He brought news that he was eager to deliver, knowing it would cause much suffering.

Entering the portal to the master’s throne, Malak fell to his face and whispered in his growl of a voice. “The capture of Paul…has failed, your servant Molter has failed you. He chose not to possess the fool of a human he used, and the pathetic human failed to seize or kill Paul. The Photenós now has him, and have taken him to some location unknown to us right now. I have eyes and ears worldwide; we are waiting for one of our own to spot him.”

The room was silent for a good deal of time before the master’s anger became apparent. The master as always sat on his throne of fire, leaving the master undetectable even to Malak’s keen eyes.

The very room itself began to shake intensely and the very air seemed to be on fire as the masters voice spoke right into Malak’s thoughts. “BRING Molter to ME, he WILL taste the AGONY of failure!” the master screamed into Malak’s thoughts so loud he thought his head would burst.

“Yes Master, I will bring him right away,” Malak said as he turned to go back into the nest.

“Malak…. have the human that failed to capture Paul tortured in every physical way possible. When he is near death, have him brought here to me,” the masters’ voice whispered in a gut-wrenching and terrifying tone.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“As you wish, master, I will do anything you command,” Malak said with a sense of great accomplishment in his voice.

Malak exited the master’s throne room back into the human realms. As he entered into the nest, he realized that every demon in existence had heard the voice of the master in their head as well. Every demon was stirring with excitement at the news of a human being tortured and brought to see the master.

The last human to have that done, though no one other than the demons knew, had been Adolf Hitler. The victories for evil that ensued were felt by the entire world. The wake of those actions still shook the human world today. Entire families denouncing their precious light, generations of people refusing to believe in anything other than human power to overcome evil.

The demons all applauded Malak as he walked into the nest. Malak strode through with head held high, and his blue fired scales glowing with pride at having the task of delivering such evil. He had gained dark wings of black smoke that he showed off as he walked.

Molter, also an elegantly colored demon, ran into the nest with his head hung low. He knew that he was about to experience pain like he had not felt in centuries. His fire barely showed under his yellow scales, having been extinguished by shame. He hesitated before going into the throne room, and for good reason.

Every demon including Malak stared at the black entrance to the throne room. Within moments of entering the throne room, Molter was thrown back out. He came out screaming in agony, as his entire body had been stripped of its scale and fire.

Molter sat moaning in a pile on the floor, his skin like that of a human, and no fire to behold at all. His rank had been stripped, and his demonic honor had been obliterated.

“That will teach you to fail our master.” Malak touted from the entrance to the nest. “I assume you have been reassigned?”

Molter looked up from the floor and angrily shouted. “Yes, I have been assigned to church duty!”

The roar of laughing from the nest grew to a roar that must have caused an earthquake. Demons of all ranks hailed insults at Molter.

The demons knew their place by the amount of beauty they were allowed to possess. The beauty could be given by the master alone as a reward for accomplishing varying degrees of evil deeds. Molter now sat as the ugliest of all forms to a demon, human.

Church was the most feared and unwanted task a demon could have. The light was overwhelming, it was less about destroying lives, and more about limiting the power of the light to change lives.

Malak walked out of the nest, leaving the stripped form of Molter behind. It was time for him to find and deliver the human to be tortured before he brought him to the master.

Exiting the cave, Malak spread his black wings and flew high into the midnight air. He laughed as he thought of the speed that his new gift had given him.

“I am unstoppable!” Malak screamed as he swooped down on the human whom Molter had failed to use effectively.

Malak didn’t even change form as he swooped down and grabbed the man by the leg with his tail. The man screamed all the way to the location he was to be tortured. Malak’s laughter could be heard even above the man’s feeble cries for help as they soared through the air.

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As always, let me know what you thought. Every now and then I will be doing these bonus episodes, always written from the evil side of the story. If you like these episodes, there are plenty more to come.

If you like the bonus episodes, there are more at my site for The Unseen War.  I post these episodes as goals are met over on my site.