This out-of-schedule update is dedicated to @imallears2012. Thank you very much for all the votes and a place in reading list. I hope you like this chapter too.

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The air stank of sulfur enough to make his lungs feel like they were on fire. The coarse gravel covering the ground dug painfully into his flesh even through his clothes. And it was hot. Not the life-giving kind of hot humidity like in the jungle, but the kind that destroyed all life.

Slowly Vine got to his feet and surveyed his surroundings to confirm what he already knew. This atmosphere was not something even an eternity could erase from his memories - and he had only been here once and very briefly at that. This was hell.

The ground was black, with the rivers and puddles of molten lava painting the gray sky with bloody hues. It looked like nothing could actually live here, but already the main inhabitants of the place were closing in on them. Dozens and dozens of dream-eaters, possibly even over a hundred, slowly moving towards the precipice they had landed on.

"Kat! Katherine, wake up!" he hissed, trying not to let fear show in his voice. He did not want to die and least of all by being eaten alive!

He could certainly fly, but not nearly far enough while carrying two humans. And where could he go anyway?

Then he noticed that Shaye was still holding the black key - he had probably grabbed it during the ritual again. Maybe...maybe they could open the door from this side just long enough to slip through.

Kat gasped in horror as she similarly surveyed their surroundings. "Where are we..?"

"It looks like we were pulled to hell along with the dream-eaters. And they are not happy about it." A sword materialized in his hand in a brief flash of black light. "Stay behind me. I can't promise we'll win, but at the very least I intend to give them a fight of their lives."

"I...I'll fight too!"

"How?"

"Just...make me a weapon like that too!"

Vine chuckled. "A weapon is not much use if you don't know how to use it. And I doubt you could wield a demon's blade anyway." Then he repeated, "Stay behind me. And look after the kid."

Shaye was also stirring and looked around himself with more sadness than fear. It did make Vine wonder if his heart was telling him he deserved to be here or if he was simply wondering if he'd find his father in this desolate place. The price for summoning a demon was always high. No exceptions, no excuses. Did a child understand this fact better than the adults who had attempted the ritual?

All three looked up to the sky in surprise at a sudden shriek of some large beast.

...A dragon. So much for being eaten alive - they'd be burned to crisp first.

But much to his surprise the dragon circled the cliff instead and unleashed its fiery breath on the hordes of lesser demons. That was when he saw the familiar figure firmly seated on a sturdy saddle on the beast's back. "Rajek!"

The man wearing an intricate spiky armor patterned in red and black jumped down from the saddle. Black wings just like Vine's slowed his fall just enough that he landed gracefully only a few feet from them. "Laeviel. I thought I sensed you, but I would have never thought I'd see you again."

"Laeviel?" Kat couldn't believe her ears. She knew that name. Everybody who had ever read the holy book knew it. "You...you started the rebellion against god?"

"And then ran when the tide turned against us," Rajek added.

Vine gritted his teeth. "Believe what you wish."

"Say...What's your claim to these humans?"

"Don't touch them. The kid holds the key to return to earth."

"Really?" The demon's gaze turned to Shaye. "Why not just take it then?"

"Go ahead and try."

Rajek tried to take the key, but pulled his hand back quickly.

"No demon can touch it. That goes also for fallen angels."

The other demon licked his burned fingers - just a touch had actually melted his armored glove into nothingness - and cast a calculating look at Shaye. "So all I really need to do is kill him and carry his corpse to the doorway, right?"

Admittedly that was one way of looking at it. "The key can only be used by someone 'innocent in the eyes of god'. And I believe that means they need to be alive."

"You're lying."

"Do you want to take the risk that it's the truth? I doubt you'll find any other innocents in here."

He looked at Kat. "And now you're going to say that she should also be kept alive just in case, right?"

Vine nodded.

"You always had a way with words if nothing else. I'll make sure they'll be left alone. At least tell me where this doorway is."

"I don't know. That's where you and the others come in."

"Oh?"

Vine extended one hand and the pattern of entwined circles like had been etched on the concrete back in the bunker appeared in the air. "Looks for this pattern. It should have appeared in both worlds when the doorway was first formed."

"And then?"

"I'll tell the rest once you've found it." Better not to make himself useless just yet. Demons were by default selfish creatures - being needed was the only real guarantee for survival.

"I'm hurt. You could trust me at least a little - we were comrades once, weren't we?" Rajek shook his head in mock sadness.

Vine didn't say anything.

The other demon took the reins of his dragon as the beast landed on the cliff with them - either called by Rajek or bored of chasing the fleeing dream-eaters. "Hop on then. I'll take you to the castle we live in."