Chapter 1

At the Gates of Hell

authors: Ben - red, Veyanne - yellow, Chris - green, Jody - Blue,Martin - violet

Shelak was in trouble. Again.

He eyed the ring of angry drunks surrounding his table. He had to look way up for some of them.

“Blandine's Tits! These stupid humans don't have a sense of humor at all.”, he thought. He put on his "innocent idiot" face.

"You in trouble, boy. We don't like atheist punks in here," said one of the larger men.

"Yeah--we're all good Protestants," sneered another one.

"Shaddup, Virgil...you ain't been near a church 'cept to steal from the donation bin," said Big Man.

"So Jesus wouldn't ask to be put up for the night?" Shelak asked, furrowing his brow.

Big Man grabbed Shelak's shirt in enormous fists and hoisted him out of his chair. "I'm gonna beat some respect into you, boy!" he howled.

"You knocked over my beer," Shelak said. "And I can't hear the juke-box with you rednecks screeching about your dead savior."

“I think I'll let Big Man throw the first few punches, just to make things more interesting.”, thought Shelak.

"Son of a." Big Man went even deeper red in the face. Still holding the demon-as-man by the lapels like some human gallows, he roared in fury and slammed Shelak against the cinder-block wall.

“That's one,” Shelak thought, amused. He screwed up his face as though in pain, and whined a little. He kept one eye slightly open so he could see his "audience."

Big Man pinned him to the wall with one hand and drew the other back, cocking it for a solid punch. Shelak watched it coming. At just the last moment, he dipped his head sideways and Big Man's fist crashed into the wall.

Shelak had done this in many fights. Upon hitting the wall, the stupid human would forget about Shelak, drop him, and  leave an opening for Shelak to retaliate.

But Big Man barely blinked. He smiled.

“Uh-oh.”, thought Shelak.

Big Man muttered a Word under his breath.

“That sounded ...”

Big Man's features started to change, becoming less human and more demonic.

“demonic...”

“I think I'm in trouble.”

He looked away from the demon still pinning him to the wall. He was surrounded by demons--the gang of rednecks, a young couple who had been dancing...even the bartender.

"Baal sends his greetings," a green-skinned creature in biker leathers told him. "Let him down, Rik."

Rik-whom Shelak now recognized as Belalrik, one of Baal's arms masters-growled and put him back on his feet.

"You didn't let me rip his arms off," Rik said.

"You can do it if our little trainee doesn't please our Prince," the biker demon said. He didn't offer his name. Etiquette dictated that Shelak couldn't ask him.

"Baal wants me?" Shelak couldn't keep the reverence and wonder from his voice.

"Indeed, though you might not be so honored once you find out why. The fact that He sent us rather than coming to you in person should tell you something. You have been ‘volunteered’ to work with three other demons to help Kendra steal a soul marked for Saminga at the Market."

"Other demons?" Shelak was careful to hide his disappointment.

"Yes. I believe you know one of them. Kiri of Andrealphus," the biker said with a smirk.

“By the Sulfur Pits of Satan! Does everyone know about that bar fight?”, Shelak raged on the inside.

"The other two are named Liander of Kronos and Biffon. Rik will take you back to the Gates. I take it you know your way to the Market of Souls?"

Shelak just nodded.

"I hope to see you when you fail," Rik sneered as they faded out.

Kiri's pager was going off, and right in the middle of sex!

It always seemed to go off while she was having sex. She wondered why. It had to be that Kendra was watching her, she thought to herself, and paging her when she was having sex on purpose.

Of course, she wasn't. Kendra called her when she needed her. It was just that Kiri always in the middle of sex. Kiri reached over and fumbled for her bag.

"Baby, no, no.", spoke the large black man behind her.

"Yeah, babe, you're busy.", spoke the man in front of her.

Kiri didn't want to, but she knew that she had to. So she pulled out the pager and took a look at the numbers. She breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't an emergency, she still had a few minutes, that was plenty of time for Shaq and Kobe to score a few more times.

Liander sat at a small bar in New Orleans talking to another patron. "So for three days everything tasted like mustard..."

“and that's why polyester chafes my thighs." To the demon's mild displeasure, his companion did not seem moved by such a stirring tale. He simply continued to drool unconsciously on the bar top. Lifting the drunk's head by the hair, Liander sighed and let it drop. "Oh well, he was empty anyway." The Impudite was about to order another round when a chill ran across his spine and a voice that seemed to come from everywhere spoke to him. "It's time."

With a look of dread on his face, Liander dropped a fifty on the bar and rushed out of the building and into a nearby alley. Closing his eyes, Liander relaxed his will and let the matter which composed his physical form dissolve back into potentiality. As he let go further, he could feel himself falling, racing at incredible speeds toward a warm fiery point of light. When he opened his eyes again he stood before his Heart in The Archive. Before even looking upon his master, Liander kneeled as he turned. "My Prince, how may I serve?"

 Kronos appeared to his servant as a small, elderly man. He spoke calmly. "Go the market at Hades' gate. There you will meet an agent of Andrealphus called Kendra. I believe you are familiar with her. She will provide you with the details of your task. I understand that you are also acquainted with a subordinate of hers, Kiri. Use what influence you have to infiltrate Andrealphus' organization and report back everything you learn. The second door to the left down that hall is a portal to Hades. Go." Without another word the Prince was gone leaving one shaking servant.

With all haste, Liander found the portal and appeared at the Soul Market. Moving through the crowd of terrified mortals and demons of all type, the Impudite sought out the two faces among the many that he would never forget.

The gates of hell. Busy as usual. Swarming with politicians, lawyers, Christians, and every once in a while, an atheist. The whole place was depressing. The feeling of dread hung heavy in the air, like Shaq. Human souls were abandoning all their hope, resigning themselves to an eternal fate of suffering. It wasn't a place where you could get laid easily. So Kiri didn't go there much.

"Demons are in there.", a cold voice whispered from the darkness. It sent a chill up Kiri's spine. Kendra was creepy, even for a demon. Her voice was hollow and emotionless and seemed to come from the frozen wastes on hell's eighth layer. Hearing it made you want to run in fear, but even as Kiri was scared she felt at peace when Kendra spoke. It was her silence that was the most terrifying.

"Find them, all, quickly.", Kendra quietly commanded.

"Yes, my queen.", Kiri replied.

"Find the demons. Find the demons.", Kiri silently repeated to herself as she made her way towards the crowd.

Kiri looked too cute for where she was. The purple and yellow of Kobe's jersey stood in stark contrast with the somber gray atmosphere. It was all that she was wearing. She didn't have time to grab anything else on her way out of the hotel room.

"Find the demons. Find the demons.", Kiri kept repeating. "Hmmm, find them and do what. What did Kendra say? 'Find them all, quickly'." She didn't say what to do when she found them. She just had to be quick. She could be quick. Kiri thought that this was going to be a fun mission.

Darkness.  "Where am I?" Shelak asked Rik.

No answer. Rik wasn't there anymore.

"Hey, I didn't get to finish my beer...I'm all hopped up over that, you know!" He groaned to himself. _By the balls of Michael, I swear I will hunt that asshole down for this!_ He didn't know how he'd make a Demon Prince pay for dropping a Tongue of Puns curse on him, though.

Too bad there's no one else around to enjoy it. Or was there? He suddenly sensed someone there with him, but he couldn't see or hear anything. His skin began to crawl, and not in the pleasant way.

“That bastard! Rik and the others brought me here to kill me! ‘

He filled his lungs and shouted "Come and get--"

 He felt a sharp pain as a lock of his hair was yanked out of his head.

"Ow, shit!", instinctively he grabbed his club and swung it wildly in the air. "Show yourself you fucker!"

If he was going to go down, he was going to go down fighting, even if he was fighting Baal himself. Slowly he turned in the darkness, looking in all directions, listening, swinging when he felt that something was close.

"Destroy me already you coward! Quit hiding in the dark!", Shelak screamed into the nothingness, "You want more of my hair? Come and get it!"

Silence.

His fury passed and fear set in. Something was watching him. He could feel it. Somewhere in the darkness a pair of eyes bored into his soul, probing his motives, laying bare his deepest needs, discovering his most terrifying fears.

“Shit. Who ever it is probably knows about that bar fight, too.”

He steeled himself for an attack that never came. He couldn't keep his guard up forever, but he knew that the moment he dropped it something would make him pay. Slowly but surely he began to falter.

Before his eyes suddenly appeared Isaac, a Malakim of Blandine who had defeated and humiliated him in a fight centuries ago. Shelak saw Isaac's blade swinging toward his neck. He tried to raise his club in defense but he was too late. He winced and braced himself for the pain to follow. But there was none.

Isaac vanished. The darkness pressed around him, bore down upon him.

Shelak cursed. It was a test and he had failed. He slammed his club to the ground and loosed a stream of obscenities.

 His rage subsided again. More time passed. Finally the silence was broken by an icy cold voice.

"If you want another chance I can arrange it."

Shelak was startled at first, then his heart jumped. There was nothing that he wanted more than to lay his club upside that sleepy-eyed do-gooder Malakim. But only the real one would do.

"No more games. I want Isaac!" Shelak growled.

"Indeed, but first you must do something for me."

The words wrapped around Shelak like a shackle. He knew that if he made the promise that he would have to keep it. Still, he'd do anything for another shot at that arrogant Malachite.

"I accept," and as Shelak uttered those words he felt a hand reaching inside him and clutching his heart. He began to have second thoughts.

"Go to the market. Go to Saminga's booth. Make an ass out of yourself."

“Doesn't sound so bad”, thought Shelak.

"Don't fight anyone until I tell you when to fight and who to fight."

Shelak pushed his doubts as far aside as he could. Humans were something he could handle, but the Market of Souls...Kiri...

“She cheated”, he told himself. “She cheated and then told half the demons in hell how she won! I owe her for that...”

"And bring me his head."

Shelak gulped. Fighting he was good at. Winning was, well, winning in a fight with other demons wasn't something he made a habit out of.

But now he had to win.

The market appeared before him. He felt a little tug on his heart, pulling him towards Saminga's booth. Shelak hesitated and the pull grew a little stronger.

"Hell, what's the worst that can happen?" he said aloud as he began walking. He tried not to think about the answer to that question.

In a dark room Kendra thought through the plan once again. Things never happened according to plan. So many things can go wrong. This was hell. Hidden agendas, deception, betrayal, double crossing, secret alliances, and demons with nasty surprises abounded. You could never count on anything or anyone, and you couldn’t plan for everything. But Kendra knew that if you thought through something enough times that you would see everything that could go wrong. From there it was a matter of choosing the plan that gave you the best chance to succeed.

Kendra succeeded a lot. She knew that she had to. This was hell. You didn’t get a free ride. You had to prove your worth every day. And you didn’t prove your worth by making people happy. You did it by making people angry, angry about the fact that you took something that they thought was rightfully theirs. But this was hell, and in hell, rightfully yours meant that you had it. There were no laws or morals. You killed and stole and betrayed your way into power and made enemies all along the way. But you also became respected and feared as well as hated, and Kendra’s goal was to be the most hated demon in hell. She had her work cut out for her, but she worked hard. It was strange though. She worked for Andrealphus, the demon prince of lust, but she didn’t have time for lust anymore. She was too busy gaining power by satisfying everyone else’s lusts. Well, she did satisfy one of her lusts, her lust for power.

Today her job was simple. A vicious mass murderer had recently died. His soul was going to hell. It was marked for Saminga, the demon prince of death. Andrealphus wanted it. He felt entitled to it. The murderer had committed acts of sexual perversion that Andre admired. The murderer killed out of lust, reasoned Andre, so the murderer’s soul should be his. Kendra’s job was to deliver the soul to Andre. That was simple, but she knew that it wouldn’t be easy. Stealing souls was common in the market, but sometimes there was an awful fight for them. Some evil souls have the potential to become powerful demons, and demon princes are always looking for fresh new recruits. The battle over Hitler’s soul was ruthless. Saminga and Malphas combined to defeat Baal, but in the midst of the fray Hitler’s soul was stolen away by Asmodeus and auctioned off to the highest bidder. So Kendra was on the lookout for treachery, both against her, and for opportunities for her against others.

“Anthony’s soul is on it’s way down. Is everything going well?”, Andre’s sarcastic remarks broke the silence.

“You didn’t give me much to work with. My love.”, Kendra’s cold emotionless voice was hard to read. Andre could never tell if she was being sarcastic, affectionate, or giving him the cold shoulder. He loved her and he hated her, but mostly he wanted her. She turned him on in a way that no one else could.

At the moment he hated her. He hated her for putting her hooks into Kiri, his favorite sex toy. He knew that Kendra was trying to pull Kiri away from him and for that she had to pay.  So he gave her a difficult mission. He wanted to see her fail. He deliberately sought the help of four less than competent demons to help her. He even promised to give Kiri to her as a gift if she failed. The bitch needed to be taken down a notch, he thought. I’ll teach her to try to steal demons from me.

“I gave you a warrior, a seductress, a destroyer, and an angel that you helped turn to the dark side.”, Andre continued to needle away at Kendra. In reality he had given her a reluctant warrior who’d never won a fight, a scatter-brained sex obsessed bimbo, a practical joker with a strange and malicious sense of humor, and a fallen angel still wet behind the ears. There was no way that she could succeed with that band of misfits, and he was going to have a good hard laugh watching her fail.

“We shall see.”, Kendra passed her hand over a dark gem on her headdress and the image of the market appeared before them.

Andre sat back and watched and wondered about Kendra’s last comment. It didn’t follow what he’d said, it followed what he was thinking. “She didn’t just read my mind did she?”. Andre shook his head. “Nah, she just guessed.”

The Market of Souls, or Soul's Market, is a large roughly square area, surrounded by what appear to be run down and derelict buildings. The courtyard of the Market is usually crowded with the souls of the dead, most of whom are not happy at finding themselves in Hell. The stench of fear is always in the air, and the Demons of Beleth love spending time here. At the far western edge of the Market are the Gates of Hell. The Gates always stand open, written over the archway is the "Abandon all Hope, Ye who enter Here" sign, known by all. Lying on a rough blanket inside the gates is Cerebus, the Three Headed dog. She doesn't mind anyone entering, but will only allow demons to leave.

Beyond the Gates of Hell are the Stairs of Despair. This stairway reaches up and up, into the dark and dim sky and seemingly never ends. The souls of the dead either come walking down these stairs, or tumble down them. Any soul trying to climb up the stairs is forced back by a myriad of claws and hands that grow out of the stairs themselves. The stairs tend to be quite busy, and also quite loud with the weeping of souls as they descend into Hell. On the far eastern side of the Market are several large, metal gates. Standing by each gate is a Demonic agent of a Prince, they have a PDA and records of which soul goes where. The gates lead into runs, from which the souls are loaded into transports to be taken to their respective eternities. Walking through the souls are more Demons, poking and prodding the souls in the right direction. Several of the demons employ pitchforks, just to keep up their demonic appearance.

The Laker girl plunged into the crowd touching everyone she passed by. She closed her eyes and felt their needs. It was her power. With a touch she could know a person’s deepest desire. Souls swirled around her. As they drifted past her she sensed mostly fear, terror, and despair, but occasionally a soul seemed pleased to be in hell. Then she noticed, coming down the stairs, the soul of a tall, good looking man with a smirk on his face. He didn't looked too shocked to be here. Then she heard Kendra’s cold voice in her head, “Welcome him to hell”. Kiri perked up and made her way towards him, unknowingly brushing past an old acquaintance.

Liander casually wandered through the mash of souls avoiding the temptation to drain any of them. He could sense that most of the souls here had fulfilled their Fates, failing their Destinies, and that Kronos was pleased. Liander looked like a demon version of Harry Connick Jr. with leathery wings, horns and a dark halo. That image had served him well during the three years he'd been living in New Orleans. Before that he'd spent, what he believed to be, more than his fair share of time in Hell learning the ropes. Liander didn't like it there all that much. Sure, watching some sniveling human soil himself when a Shedite slithered by was funny the first hundred times but it got old after a while. These people had already been broken. It was the live ones back on earth that interested Liander. He could play with them, learn who were and what they wanted out of life... and make certain that they'd never achieve it. Thus, it was no small disappointment that Liander found himself on his first real mission, back in Hell.

Behind Liander stalked a large heavy set man with dark red skin, a sour face, small blunt horns, and wings that didn’t look like they could carry his weight.

Shelak stood away from the crowd, avoiding contact with mortals. He felt a hand inside him pulling his heart towards Saminga’s gate. He reluctantly followed. He hated being under Kendra’s geas. Soon he found a release for his foul mood.

Grabbing a poor soul by the sleeve he asked, "Hey, buddy...wanna see something really cool?". As the soul turned his head to face him he bared all his teeth in a snarl and growled at him. The soul squeaked in terror, and tried to pull away but could not escape. Shelak smiled and Saminga’s three Imps laughed cruelly.

“Aw...poor little fella must have been a Cat'lick priest. You know what happens to Cat'licks here, don't you?", Shelak paused and smiled widely, "Think Communion...only...you're the wine and the crackers."

"Eeep!", replied the soul. He started to make the sign of the cross on his chest, then stopped, cowering before the terrifying figure. The Imps laughed again, nastily. One poked his pitchfork into the side of the trembling soul. “C’mon get yer butt in gear.”

Kiri met the smirking soul at the bottom of the stairs, she spread her arms open wide and announced, "Welcome to hell."

Anthony smiled at her. "Thanks. I'm sure I'll enjoy my stay..." He devoured Kiri with his eyes, and she felt waves of lust coming from him.

Kiri walked up to him, wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big wet kiss on the lips. Anthony returned the kiss and put his tongue down her throat and soon they were in a passionate embrace. His hands stroked her white hair and then started reaching up under her jersey. Kiri moaned with pleasure and pushed her body up against him.

Anthony began to bite her neck, muttering "Oh, I'm going to like it here..."

Andrealphus could barely contain his laughter. He knew what was going to happen next. Instead of leading Anthony to the gates of his realm, Kiri was going to do him right there and then on the steps of hell. He pressed his lips together to squelch a laugh as Kiri put her hand down Anthony’s pants. In an instant Anthony had Kiri’s jersey off, completely revealing her gorgeous naked body. He licked her brown skin and started sucking on one of her nipples. Kiri groaned as demons from all over the market stopped what they were doing to watch the show that they were putting on.

“Lead him to Liander”. Kiri’s eyes popped open as she heard Kendra’s voice. She pulled away from Anthony’s embrace, grabbed him by the hand and started pulling him towards the center of the market.

"You're going to be hot.", she said.

“Hot, how so?”, he replied.

"I'll do whatever you want me to do.", Kiri said as Anthony followed her.

Andrealphus couldn’t believe his eyes. The smile dropped from his face. Kiri taking orders? Kiri resisting the urge to have sex? What evil demonic spell had Kendra cast on her? Briefly he glanced over at Kendra whose eyes were focused tightly on the screen. His hatred for her grew a little more.

Shelak noticed one of the Imps looking at his PDA. "Hey, isn't that one one of ours?"

One of the other Imps checked his PDA "Hey, yeah! What's that Lilim slut doing to him?"

"Hey! That bitch is leading our soul off!". The Imps were getting agitated. Shelak couldn’t quite see who they were talking about, but he had a good idea what was going on. It was time for action.

"Yer mom's a virgin.", Shelak shouted at the Imp in charge. There were few insults worse than that in hell. It caused the Imp to forget all about Kiri, "Whatchu say?", it said as it turned and pointed its pitchfork at Shelak.  Shelak then broke into verse.

"Yer mom lies with her legs spread wide, one look at her and the manhood dies, she moans and twists lyin' on her back, only an angel would want that crack!"

The Imp was incensed. Spit flew from his mouth as he jumped on Shelak’s back, trying to poke him with his pitchfork.

Shelak reached up and grabbed the Imp by the throat, "I'll send your ass to Heaven!"
Shelak was loving it.

Liander took out a cigarette and lit it. Tapping his foot impatiently he muttered "I’m missing open mike night for this?" He could sense someone following him, and it was time to find out who it was. Casually he turned his head toward the large Calabite a few steps behind him. "Can I help you?".

Biffon was a little surprised, but not really. He was never very good at hiding. “I'm here to help you if need be. No more.”

"Really? Who do you work for?"

"At the moment I'm doing a favour at Kendra's request."

Liander tilted his head in a way that made his specs slide down his nose a bit. He chuckled, "Request. Well, did she happen to mention exactly what we're supposed to be doing in this little paradise?"

Just then a familiar face appeared before him.

"Hiya!", Kiri replied, giving Liander a big hug.

"Kiri! Seems like it's been ages."

Liander kissed her lightly. His skin was tingling being so close to her. He could feel her essence. So much, so sweet. "How have you been?”, he asked. Ah, to screw her, to drain her, wild urges filled his mind. He fought them hard.

"Hot 'n' juicy. I found a new stud. He rocks.", Kiri pulled Anthony towards them

Liander glanced at the soul and whispered in Kiri’s ear "You've done better."

Liander watched Anthony’s eyes flicking back and forth between them as if he couldn’t decide who he wanted to do first. Anthony’s hands were twisting the jersey, and he kept feeling his belt, as if he wanted to use it as a weapon.

"Could you take him to my place? Then we can all have some fun."

Liander glanced over her shoulder at the ruckus near Saminga’s gate. "Aw hell. Yeah sure. Come along friend, you've got a lot to learn."

Kiri gave Anthony a saucy look over her shoulder and then disappeared into the crowd. Anthony looked after Kiri as she headed into the press of bodies then looked back at Liander. He reached out his hand "Do I get to fuck you too?"

Liander winced on the inside, but was cool on the outside, "Well, we'll see how things work out. Not exactly my department anymore."

"Put me down!", the Imp squealed as he tried to poke Shelak with his pitchfork, failing miserably.

Shelak twisted the Imp up into a ball, and soon he was begging for mercy. "Ouch! Ouch! Ok, ok, I'll stop!"

Shelak ignored him and instead hurled the Imp towards Saminga’s gate, missing badly...on purpose. The Imp squealed as he bounced against the iron bars.

“Ouch. That had to hurt”, said Biffon stepping into the clearing.

The other two Imps looked behind them and noticed that Biffon and Shelak had them surrounded. They gripped their tridents tightly. "Shit", one of them said.

"You won't need to when I catch you, little Imp.", Shelak retorted as Biffon smiled.

The two Imps stood back to back, one facing Biffon and one facing Shelak.

"Back off, you two."

"I don't really think so, boys. Here looks like a fine place to stand.", Biffon was enjoying himself.

Shelak added to the Imps displeasure, "This is one of those times when you ask yourself, 'Do I feel lucky?'...well, do you, punks?". Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the third Imp making a call on his cell phone. “That can’t be good.” he thought.

"So what are you in for anyway?", Liander asked in his charming demonic way.

"Oh, the usual. I'm a bad boy, you know." Anthony followed him as they walked through the crowd. He occasionally glanced back to see if Kiri was nearby.

"My name's Liander, by the way. What's yours?”

"Anthony Williams"

Ah, the infamous bi-sexual mass murderer. Now it was starting to make sense why this soul was marked for Saminga and why Andrealphus wanted it.

"Anthony, welcome to hell. Now as I understand it, one of the big players 'round these parts has taken a shine to you. We usually don't greet folks like this."

"Really? Is that bad?"

Liander chuckles "Most likely not. Though never can tell. Andrealphus is the one who wants you."

"Who is Andrealphus?"

"Oh, sorry. He's the Prince of Lust. Quite the swinger."

"Prince of Lust?" Anthony smirked, "Oh, I *am* going to like it here!"

"You're gonna love Shal-Mari. That's his Principality, well his and Kobal and Haagenti's. Humor and Gluttony, respectively. There's this bar on the east side where the waitresses dress like nuns..."

Kendra’s plan was going perfectly, but it wasn’t complete, and so her mind was still working through the possibilities.  Her four demons now stood between Saminga’s gate and Anthony’s soul and there was no sign of anyone who could stop them. Still, she felt that trouble was brewing. She sent out a warning.

Shelak’s mirth was broken as Kendra spoke into his mind. "Another is coming. Watch for him."

Biffon was still toying with the imps, "I wonder if I can knock your head through your buddy's nostrils", but before he could find out there was a loud BANG behind him. He turned and saw a cloud of smoke appear over Saminga’s gate.

Shelak’s head spun around. Fear gripped him. Standing at the Samingan Gate was a tall Impudite. He was wearing a black tux cut to fit his large black wings. He stretched his wings out and then relaxed, scanning the crowd, searching for something. The Imp next to him bounced up and down and pointed towards Biffon and Shelak. The other two imps took the opportunity to bolt into the crowd.

"He's the one.", Kendra’s voice made Shelak’s blood run cold. He felt the hand inside him pulling his heart towards the large demon. "Bring me his head."

“I knew I should have bent the little bastard.”, Shelak mused.

Shelak reached for his club as the Impudite began walking towards him. Then he took another look at the tall demon and hid the club behind his back, trying to blend in with the crowd. Shelak chickened out. Biffon stared at Shelak as the demon walked between them, raising his hands as if to ask, “What now?”. After the demon had passed they both turned and followed him.

Andrealphus smiled. Two demons down, two to go, and the first two didn’t even put up a fight. Kiri was next, and he knew that she wasn’t going to be able to stop him. That left Liander one on one with the Impudite. It was as good as over.

The Impudite looked over the heads of the crowd and noticed Liander leading Anthony away. Anger crossed over his face as he began forcing his way through the crowd faster.

Liander glanced over his shoulder at Anthony and noticed the big demon heading towards them. "Umm, let's pick up the pace a little eh?", Liander began walking faster as Anthony fought to keep up.

As they approached Andrealphus’ gate, Liander noticed two of Kendra’s Impudites standing by it, checking souls at they entered. They were both wearing skimpy leather outfits and very bored expressions.

"Almost there, step lively now." Liander seemed nervous. He looked over his shoulder again and saw the Impudite pushing through the crowd getting ready to shove Kiri aside. Kiri wasn’t even watching. She was locked in a French kiss with a Frenchman's soul.

“Distract the Impudite. Use your song. Make it work.”, Kendra gave Kiri short commands knowing that anything complicated would get lost inside that vacant head of hers. Kiri immediately pulled her tongue out of the Frenchman’s mouth and started her song. She knew a few, but when Kendra said ‘Distract’ she knew that she meant her love song. Kiri turned and looked around, spotting the tall Impudite easily. Her voice rose above the din of the crowd. Kendra had said to make it work so she poured a lot of her essence into it, making it loud and strong. The music caught the Impudite’s ear and he turned towards her.

“Got him!”. Kiri thought, “Umm, now what? Oh yeah, an object for his desire. What to make him fall in love with?”

Kiri looked down. She wasn’t wearing anything so that was out. And Kendra had taught her to never make anyone fall in love with her with her song because she might not be able to get rid of them. ‘Make it an object that you control, so that you can control them’ was what Kendra said. So Kiri picked the nearest object that she could find, the Frenchman.

The Impudite slowed and gazed at the soul Kiri was holding. "What are you doing, Lilim? Give me that soul you hold."

Andre’s mouth popped open. “There is no way that that just happened”, he thought to himself. The Impudite was way out of her league, and Kiri could barely measure up in her own league. How could Kendra have done this? His hatred welled up a little more. He looked at Kendra’s slender neck and thought how good it would feel to choke it.

"He's mine. Get your own.", Kiri said and gave the Frenchman another big kiss.

The Impudite frowned, "Don't make me hurt you, little Lilim. You won't like it."

Well, to be sure, Kiri probably would like it. But this was business, and Kiri had other things to take care of first.

Kiri turned to the Frenchman, "You want to come with me don't you?" she asked him smiling.

The Frenchman was bewildered. He stood silently with his eyes wide open.

The Impudite clenched his fists and growled. He stepped forward, getting closer to Kiri. "Give...me...that soul..."

Kiri frowned for a second, then said, "Only if you do something for me."

The Impudite smirked. "A deal? A geas? Like what, little Lilim?" He glanced over at Shelak and Biffon who had just caught up with him.

"Oh, I don't know." Kiri said coyly. "What can you do for me?"

The Impudite smirked. He stood right next to Kiri, his big, muscular body towering over her. Clinging to him was a slight smell of rotting corpses. "All sorts of things, little Lilim."

"Like, kill someone for me?", Kiri said in a cute and innocent way.

The Impudite grinned, and reached for Shelak. Shelak gulped hard.

"Oh, not him."

The Impudite came right up close to Kiri, pressing his body against hers. "I grow tired of your games. What do you want? Say it now."

"You'll owe me.", Kiri said as she pushed the soul towards him. As the Impudite grabbed the soul she felt the click of a geas forming. Now he had to do something for her in return, something that she could demand whenever she wanted to. The Impudite headed off into the crowd completely unaware that he had been fooled.

“I got one! I got one!”, Kiri exclaimed, jumping up and down with her hands raised.

Then Kiri grabbed Biffon and gave him a big kiss, “Thanks for all the help.”, she said as she rubbed his large belly. “You too Shelak.”

But as she walked toward him to give him a hug Shelak pulled away. So instead she blew him a kiss. She looked down at her naked body. “Hey, where did my shirt go?”

Biffon shook his head.

The two guards perked up as Liander approached, "Well well, welcome. What can we do for you?”

"Hello there. I've got a special delivery for Lady Kendra"

A pair of burning eyes shone from the darkness beyond the gate "Bring him in, Liander of Kronos."

The two guards at the gate jumped at the sound of the voice and looked pretty scared. They quickly waved Liander though. "Go on!"

Heading inside the Gate, there were several twists and turns, and many doors. But Liander had been here before. He knew where to go. One of the doors opened silently and he heard a whisper on the air "Put him in there, Liander"

Liander motioned Anthony towards the door, “After you”.

“Wait!”, he suddenly shouted. He thought that he had heard Kendra’s voice. ‘Trust no one’ she would always say, ‘especially when it’s time to deliver on your side of the bargain’.

Anthony stopped, “What?” he asked quizzically.

Liander peered into the room. It was dark and empty. Liander shook his head "Nothing. Go on in."

Anthony walked into the room, the door slammed behind him and locked.

Liander muttered, "Oh this doesn't look good." He listened at the door. Nothing. "Well. Shit. Now what?"

“Well, see you guys later. I have to go fuck all the demons, or something like that. I know that it begins with an ‘f’”, Kiri waved at Biffon and Shelak and headed back into the crowd.

Biffon leaned over and spoke into Shelak’s ear, “You don’t suppose that that Impudite is going to be happy when he finds out that he was tricked do you?”

Just then a loud howl erupted from Saminga’s gate.

"It sounds like he just checked into the Nutcracker suite", said Shelak. And they both started laughing.

Liander felt frigid air across the back of his neck. He spun around. Standing behind him was Kendra. Her body was tall, jet black, and inhumanly slender.She placed a finger on his chin. "Very good. Very good indeed..." She walked around him, her glowing red eyes blazing.

Liander bowed his head respectfully "Baroness."

This wasn’t how she usually dealt with her underlings, but she had a guest to impress... and titillate.

"Where are the others, little Liander? Or do I have you all to myself for a while..." Her voice was like an icy cold tongue sliding over his skin.

"They were distracting one of Saminga's ruffians when last I saw them, Lady."

"Well well, they'll be a little busy then..." She slid a finger inside his shirt, ruffling his chest hair. Then she moved closer to him, and she slid her other hand inside his pants. Putting her lips close to his ear she breathed, "Anything else to tell me, Li? Any deep, dark secrets you have...?"

Fear came over Liander as his breathing quickened, "I have no secrets that you cannot see”. That was true. He knew her well enough to know that she could see into his heart. He knew that she could see his secret mission. He saw that it was all over before it began. He wondered what was going to happen to him. He knew that it would be bad.

"Really?" She bit his ear lobe, sucking on it. "Kronos didn't say anything...? Anything at all...?" Her hand cupped his cock and she started stroking him.

"He sent me to aid you in retrieving the mortal."

The words barely got out of his mouth before he felt his body burning as if it had been plunged into molten lava. All his nerve endings were screaming with intense pain.

"Don't make me mad, dear boy..."

Liander fell to his knees, "...ordered... ordered...", was all that he could say.

Suddenly the intense pain was replaced with sheer pleasure. The switch made him gasp, and he shuddered with an orgasm.

"I'll reward you for being a good boy..."

Liander spoke as his body shook, "Infiltrate...spy...double agent."

“God I am so fucked”, he thought to himself.

Kendra leaned down and kissed him gently. "Of course. Of course. Now be a good boy and get your friends."

Liander staggered to his feet, and left as swiftly as he could.

Andrealphus laughed quietly as he watched the fallen angel stumbling out the gate, but inside he could barely contain his anger. Sure, he had Anthony’s soul, and Kiri was still his, technically, but he couldn’t help but feel as though he’d lost. Kendra had her hooks into everyone. She was getting good at the game. But one day she’d learn the hard way that it’s not good to anger your prince. Andrealphus smiled as he plotted. And that day was coming.