Gaspar

Ahead loomed a wall made of skulls. Inside their eye sockets were eyes of all colors, turning and looking around. A shiver travelled along my spine, lifting the hairs on my neck. From beside me Tavi watched me, searching for my attention, but I pretended not to notice. The men holding spears gathered in front of the iron gate in a two stiff rows. Their commander threw us a look as he walked past us with a grunt. The white marble in his eye looked odd next to the eyes moving about inside the lone skulls.

The gates swished open to which the Commander's long, black hair blew around. The two rows of warriors marched with their commander up front, and us in their middle. We cautiously looked around as we followed them at a rapid pace. It was more blue grass, along with tall bones aged yellow sticking out like claws.

A music began to play bringing forth tunes that reminded me of violins and we came to an abrupt halt. The warriors moved aside and the Commander dropped on his knees. We had a clear view when the red horse appeared, riding it was a giant of a man clothed in a soldier's uniform colored as red as the horse he sat on and the golden crown resting over his sleek dark hair was embedded with blinking eyes instead of jewels. He rode past the kneeling commander and the moment he parked next to us the music stopped playing.

With a soft smile he gazed down at us. "Welcome." His voice sounded clear and soothing, the kind of voice everyone wished to hear stories from, but his face was of the kind no one would want to encounter; small black eyes with no white and no iris and skin torn open and showing what looked like decaying flesh. I exchanged a glance with Tavi and swallowed. When looking back at him, we dropped on our knees. "Rise," he said as he stepped off his horse.

"Duke Berith," I said with a small bow. "It is an honor to be in your presence."

Tavi at his turn also attempted a bow, managing only to slightly slouch forward. "Great Duke Berith."

The Duke put his hands behind his back and observed us thoroughly, even our shoulders and elbows were of his interest. "So, yer the supreme demons I heard so much about." He took a step forward and laid his hands on my shoulders, eyeing my face and my neck and my legs, then repeated the same with Tavi. "Hm." After taking a step backwards, he shrugged and shook his head. "I don't see the supremacy. I could crush both of ye in a second. At the same time. Tell me, my sons, what is so supreme about the Original Seven?"

"We were created in mankind's image," Tavi said.

"Aren't we all?" The Duke replied.

"We were born on Earth as humans," I added. "Yet we are the pure products of Hell, whereas everyone else here are either spirits or exiled Angels. There are none like us."

The Duke blinked a few times, looking like he'd just heard the most ludicrous story in his lifetime. Then he frowned. "Hm. Can ye tell the past, present, and the future?"

Tavi shook his head. "No."

"I can." Great Duke Berith snorted. "Can ye turn water into gold?"

"No," I said.

"I can," the Duke said with a chuckle, clearly amused now. "Can ye cause great wars among mankind and even influence their outcome?"

Tavi and I looked at one another, then shook our heads and mumbled, "No."

The Duke patted his chest. "I can." At this point, it was rather clear that the Great Duke Berith was mocking us. "Can ye make men and women fall in love with a flick of yer finger, and make them hate one another with that same ease?"

Both Tavi and I replied, "Yes!"

The Great Duke laughed. "Finally, yer good for something." He laid a hand on both our shoulders and nudged us forward. "Come, my guests, drink and dine with me."

After walking through humid candlelit halls for what seemed like forever we entered the dining room. Though it was more bright in here than the hallways, there were more flickering torches added and even a large lit fireplace right across the red clothed long and narrow dining table, still there were more shadows than glows. On the red velvet cloth lay baskets with fresh fried bread, glistening silver platters with sausages and pig's heads and whole turkeys. Scattered around the platters were smaller silver bowls containing green olives and purple grapes and chickpeas drenched in tomato sauce.

Tavi and I shoved back a chair on opposite sides with the Great Duke sitting at the head of the table, across the fireplace. The Duke laid his crown with moving eyes below him on the table and threw us a smile.

"Where ye boys heading?" The Duke asked as he ripped a leg off the turkey.

I hunched over the table to grab a piece of round fried bread out of the basket, then poked my fork in a sausage. "West, to The Wik. We have business with Andras."

The Duke bit a chunk of the turkey leg and continued his questioning while chewing with loud gnawing noises. "And, what is that business of yers?"

"I mean no disrespect, Great Duke Berith, but..." I paused as I filled the silver cup with red wine, and took a large gulp. "But I see no reason of being obligated to share that information with you."

"But ye are, and for two reasons." Duke Berith threw an olive inside his mouth. "First being; ye will never reach The Wik without my men guiding ye, and I'd like to know why I'm sending my warriors with ye." The Duke threw the leg's clean bone across the table. "And second; that man yer visiting in The Wik, Andras, he happens to be my father. Now, I ask again, what business do ye have in The Wik?"

Something took a hold of me, seizing control of my tongue and throat. "We're going to kill him."

Tavi punched my shoulder. "Gaspar, what the fuck?"

"He made me say it," I said as I rubbed my shoulder. I didn't say anything.

A silence fell as Tavi and I stared at our host whose father we planned to assassinate, and he stared back; his eyes darting back and forth. Then he threw his head back and laughed the loudest roaring laugh I'd ever heard. He pointed at us as he wheezed for breath, and said, "Ye... Ye weak idiots are going to kill one of the most powerful demons?" And he slammed the table as he continued his roaring laughter. "Oh..." Duke Berith shook his head. "Boys, boys, boys. I haven't had this much entertainment in decades."

Tavi and I exchanged a look of fright, then we looked down. Andras was indeed powerful, the commander of thirty legions of demons and the Grand Emperor of The Wik; the largest city in Tartarus covering nearly the entire western part, and so it did not surprise me that Duke Berith laughed at us. The fact that he was Andras' son did not help our case. We hadn't even reached The Wik and our fate had already been sealed, I was sure we'd never leave Duke Berith's castle alive. My eyes slid over the red clothed table. For a last meal, this food was poor and bland.

"Do ye have any idea what kind of a father he was?" Duke Berith asked. We looked up. "His greatest power, as yer very well aware, is crawling inside yer mind and giving ye violent thoughts, even making you kill if he wants to." The Duke frowned and slumped his shoulders, looking defeated almost. "My father thought it was funny to crawl inside mine and make me torture, and sometimes even kill, my own friends. He did this often." He shut his eyes and knocked on the table four times, then shuddered. "My father made me kill my own mother." He locked our eyes briefly. "Ye know why? Because they had a big fight. He crawled inside my head and made me hate my mother so much that I have beaten her to death with a spiked bat."

Duke Berith rose up and cracked his neck. "Let's kill the bastard once and for all ."

In order to reach The Wik one had to pass the Styx first, which consists of a dozen rivers that together form the only frontier separating Earth from the Underworld. We sailed slow and cautious on the smallest ship the Duke owned, being rocked viciously by the hostile waves. Behind us sailed Duke Berith's twenty-four legions of demons on slightly bigger ships, yet still small. The water is always restless and wild in these rivers, for they are a home to the thousands of gods who swore an oath to the Styx in the demand of their god, Zeus. The bigger your ship, the bigger the Gods' urge to sink it. There was enough room for us to walk from the ship's wheel to its tail and for three beds in the deck below, but that was it. The loud sounds of the massive cloths tied to the tall masts flapping in the storms lasted for the entire trip of weeks, as did the waves crashing against the ship's wood.

Along the way there were many faces inside the waters. There were the mermaids, ornamented with silver lines curling on their flawless skin, and they pulled all their tricks out of the box to lure us in. They sang, they flashed their breasts and fluttered their eyelashes, they even climbed on deck to show their beauty from up close. Then there were the wailing men who had fallen victim to these mermaids, appearing above the surface for a brief few seconds before being pulled under again.

But none of those compared to the creature we had to face upon setting sail to The Wik. We'd hope we didn't have to face it, but there it was. From the moment the creature loomed over us, its body took up all the space and you could see nothing else but its massive snake-like frame and a head filled with big, slimy gills, growling at us with a mouth that contained countless spikey teeth. Since there was no way to defeat this creature, Leviathan – or as some referred to it; the Kraken – we had no choice but to remain calm and continue our sail. Leviathan twirled around our ship, making it float high in the air for a while before it dropped back on the water, but the creature let us pass without causing any harm.

The shore of The Wik looked like I'd expected it to look; many shipwrecks scattered over a forsaken dark beach. There was a group of dark clothed men waiting for us. As we stepped on dry land I noticed that they were a big army, stretching over nearly the entire beach and each of their heads covered inside black masks, but they were still a small crowd compared to Berith's legions sailing behind us. At the front of the army stood an individual who was the only one not wearing a mask, carried by a giant black wolf restrained by the silver chains he held onto. It had the body of a man, almost naked except for the piece of cloth covering his genitals, and the head of a lion.

As we neared the creature with the lion's head, he approached us as well. A loud roar cut through the air coming from the lion's head. The body was surrounded by black smoke and I could faintly see it morphing and changing color. When the black smoke cleared, a little boy stood there in front of us. His hair was blonde and curly, and his eyes were big and blue. Draped over his shoulders was a golden cape, while his small body was clothed in plain black fabric. Demons did not show their true shape easily, if at all, but this young boy I looked at was Emperor Andras' true form. A boy that looked like an angel.

Emperor Andras frowned and walked over to the Duke. "Berith?" His voice sounded deep and gruff, nothing like a young boy's. The child looked his grown son over from top to bottom. "What a surprise to see you here."

Duke Berith dropped down on his knees in front of the child, and lowered his eyes to the dirt beneath him. "Father, these two behind me happened to land in my territory and, since they were travelling to you, I decided to join them on their journey."

The boy turned to us and observed us thoroughly with his hands on his back. "Who are you and why are you looking for me?"

"We are from the Original Seven," I said, and nudged at Tavi. "He's from the Makarov line, and I am from the Varga line." I noticed the Duke looking up at me and grasped that he wanted us to drop on our knees as well, so I kneeled and Tavi followed. "Since you are the most powerful of all, Grand Emperor, we have come to ask for your strength to fight our enemies. Maybe some of your warriors?"

"And why would I fight your battle?" Emperor Andras asked.

We did not care if he helped us, as all of it was but an excuse to come close enough to him to kill him. "I don't know," I said.

He turned to face Berith. "Son, did you know of this?" The Duke shook his head, to which the boy faced us again. "I only fight my own battles. I will not help you." He tilted his head aside and pursed his lips. "However, since you managed to bring my son to see me, I will have you stay here as long as you wish with your every demand taken care of."

Tavi and I made a bow thanked him.

The room they assigned me to sleep and rest held everything one could desire; a corner with a fireplace and soft sofas and a heated round tub with enough space for a dozen men and a big bed that was soft and smelled fresh. Once I'd undressed, I stepped inside the steaming bath and scrubbed myself until my muscles grew sore. With a creak the door opened, and a line of young women walked inside. Without saying a word they took off their robes and joined me in the tub. The water made their breasts glisten. A wide smile appeared on my face. Grand Emperor Andras certainly knew how to please his guests.

When they knocked on my door, I was exhausted of the women whose names I did not know. Occasionally I kissed one of them and felt up another, before throwing my head backwards and let the warm water carry me to peaceful dreamlands. An old man with a long white beard stepped near the tub and gave me a small bow. The wrinkles on his face were deep and sagged, and his eyebrows were so bushy that I figured one might be able to braid them, but still the old man looked fit enough to pat Leviathan on the head. His stature was straight and firm, and his movements swift and steady.

"The Grand Emperor requests you in his dining hall," the old man spoke softly with his hands clasped together. "He sent me to escort you."

"How nice of him," I said as I pulled myself out of the water. From a stacked row of fresh white towels I pulled the top one and started drying myself off. "If you give me minute to get dressed."

"Of course," he said with another bow.

The wardrobe held many clothes of which nearly all were tunics. Since I associated tunics with women's dresses, I searched stack after stack for an outfit that was not one of those. Finally, I found an uniform consisting of a long, navy coat with golden stitches and a black shirt and trousers. After I was dressed, I followed the old man through the white halls. The roofs were supported with countless carved pillars and painted on the shiny tiles we walked on were sigils of all the demons. They consisted of stripes and circles mostly, some had waves.

The Grand Emperor's dining hall was much brighter than his son's, and much bigger. The walls were gold with tall painted portraits of men I did not know, and the white clothed table stretched narrow and far. Just as I had in Duke Berith's dining hall, I took place across from Tavi, who stared at me with his hands beneath the table. Unlike at Duke Berith's, however, there was only one meal to choose from. On a golden platter lay a pie, bigger than any pie I'd ever seen.

"Dig in," the blond boy said with a nod towards the pie.

I looked around with a frown. "Shouldn't we wait for Duke Berith to join us?"

A smile crept up the Emperor's face and in his eyes flashed a twinkle. "Berith will be joining us later on."

Tavi and I exchanged a glance, then picked up our knife and fork and carved a thick slice off the pie. Dark meat oozed out of it once it was cut. The Emperor threw us a slight smile, then helped himself to a piece. However, as Tavi and I ate the crust and the meat, the Emperor didn't touch his. All he did was stare at us, watching us eat.

A strange feeling of unease washed over me, that kind where one's intuition is screaming in their mind, and I laid down the cutlery. Tavi, too, laid down his knife and fork with a frown, as he, too, felt that same uncanny sensation.

"When will Duke Berith be joining us, exactly?" I asked.

The blonde boy, who still hadn't touched his meat pie, blinked and smiled. "He already has." The Grand emperor looked at the pie in the middle of the table and his smile grew wider.

My eyes, too, grew wide as I looked down at the pie on my plate. My body began to tremble. After I swallowed, I slowly looked up at the boy. I moved my tongue and lips to form words, but I couldn't.

The Grand Emperor laughed. "Did you really think I'd let my own son betray me and go unpunished?"

A wave of vomit hit my throat. I hunched over and threw up the pie I'd just eaten, the meat of Duke Berith.