From Hell with Love (23 page)

“We’re fighting Seere?” Niccolo asked in shock, but then he remembered the old human's fondness for bloodshed.  It was only natural they would have to fight the reigning champion of the Pits.  Eligos licked his lips and then sat forward, propping up his elbows on his knees.

“Well, no, not anymore.  Believe me, I’m as surprised as you,” he said, but he was interrupted by an evil laugh from behind them.

“Why would
that
be, Eligos?” the nasal voice asked, but the Horsemen already knew who was speaking.  They turned to find a yellow imp grinning at them.

“Mammon,” Niccolo said under his breath, at which the pot-bellied demon waved at him.

“Hey, Nico!  Fancy seeing you here!” he beamed at them as he skipped to the Horseman’s side.  “You know, after our little tiff in the courtyard, I thought you’d stay clear of the Pits.  I’m glad you decided to show up!” Mammon shouted, clasping his hands in front of him.  “So can we be friends again?”

“You…” Niccolo’s thoughts turned to violence and he subconsciously started to form his sword, but Eligos interrupted by clearing his throat.

“Wait for the pit, Nico.  You two can finally have your fight down there,” he said, which caused both Horsemen to look at him in shock.

“The pit?” Cadmus asked, drawing a shrug from Eligos.

“Yep, Mammon unseated Seere.  Took the legs out from under him,” he said, which made Cadmus take a step forward.

“H-how?” he asked, but Mammon just giggled behind him.  He waited until the reaper turned back to look at him before licking his lips.

“You know, you guys can learn a thing or two from the old man up there.  Wordplay is important!” he said before bouncing in place and looking to each Horseman.  “C’mon!  Guess!”

“What did you…” Niccolo trailed off, Mammon’s vacant eyes unnerving him.  The small demon sighed before setting his hands on his hips.

“You’re no fun,” he said before licking his lips again and pointing to his fangs, which were still red.  “I ate his legs,” he said before turning to each Horseman and then bouncing again.

“You
what
?” Cadmus asked, walking up to the yellow demon and standing over him.

“His
legs
.  I ate them.  Not so tasty, but the armor was crunchy, so that was cool,” he said before nodding and looking around at the demons gaping at him in horror.  As he realized nobody was taking the comments in good humor, he looked disappointed.  “Oh, c’mon!  They’ll grow back!  He’ll be right as rain in a couple months!”

“Not the point, Mammon.  If it’s a fight between us, we try to have some…decency,” Eligos stated from his chair, which caused the pot-bellied demon to march toward the throne.

“It’s Hell!  He’ll be
fine
!  It’s not like I ate him whole!”

“That’s the only reason you didn’t get disqualified, Hellborn,” Eligos stated as he rose from his chair and then walked down the steps.  “In this next fight, no eating of limbs, you hear me?”

“That’s not fair!” Mammon cried, but Eligos just wrapped his fingers around his chest harness.

“Other way around, Hellborn.  It’s not
fair
for you to eat them,” he said, which caused Mammon to whine.

“But-” he started, stopping once Eligos gave him a stern look.

“I shouldn’t have to tell you things like you’re a child, Mammon.  There’s a reason I usually don’t let you into these tournaments.”

“Why did you let him in this one?” Cadmus asked, breaking up their conversation.  The old demon walked past Mammon and sighed, looking deep into the reaper’s eyes.

“I… honestly, this might be the last tournament.  All signs point to the Apocalypse, so I thought it might be nice to have one big blowout.  Figured Mammon couldn’t ruin absolutely
everything
.”

“And you won’t let me fight,” Ajax muttered, but Eligos just gave him a quick glare.

“Your ego is already out of control.  You can sit out one day,” he said before turning back to Niccolo.  “So you ready?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Niccolo said, which caused Eligos to nod toward the central pit.

“Well, go on, get!  You, too,” he said before looking over at Mammon.

“Ooh, this will be fun,” the yellow demon said before running over to the pit and jumping inside.

“Might as well get it over with,” Cadmus said, turning to join his fellow Horseman, but a large hand settled on his shoulder.

“Don’t think so, kiddo,” Eligos said as he walked up to the reaper’s side.  “I can’t in good conscience let two Horsemen fight at the
same time
.  Plus, this’ll be good for them.  ‘Bout time they duke it out,” he concluded before looking at Niccolo.

The leper almost felt betrayed by the act, but then he realized that this was far more appealing to him.  He had a score to settle with Mammon and sharing it with Cadmus would only serve to aggravate him.  After a moment to settle his nerves, Niccolo nodded at the two before turning and walking calmly over to the edge of the pit.  As he looked down, he watched Mammon stretching his arms behind his head and looking up at him with glee.

When he landed on the blood-soaked sand of the arena and looked at the yellow demon, Niccolo was no longer concerned with the fate of Lucifer or Hell or even the Apocalypse.  He did not care about the demons cheering him on or the bets being made against him.

He just wanted Mammon to bleed.

***

When their swords clashed, green and red fire arched away from the impact, but Niccolo felt a more intense flame burning away at his heart.

“Guess you finally get to pay,” he whispered toward his opponent, whose mouth was open in a grotesque grin.

“I bet your lizard tastes better, but we’ll just hate to wait a couple minutes to find out!” Mammon whispered back, gnashing his teeth.  Niccolo saw red and pushed forward, following up the push with a wild cross strike.  Mammon only giggled as he brought up his brand and parried the strike, slipping underneath the blow before thrusting his sword where Niccolo’s throat used to be.

Niccolo side-stepped the strike and swung his blade across his body, attempting to knock away Mammon’s sword.  It caused the imp to lose his balance and fall on top of the weapon he still held, but when Niccolo brought down his bastard sword, the Hellborn went down to one knee and held his fire brand above his head.  Fire burned along the blade, but the yellow demon was forced to put his left hand against the flat of his weapon in order to meet the Horseman’s strength.  When the skin of Mammon’s hand bubbled against the metal, Niccolo had to smile.

“I never thought I’d say this, Hellborn, but you smell good today,” he whispered, trying to force his weight into his strike.  Mammon was sweating from the effort, but he just laughed at Niccolo’s attempt at humor.

“I hate to say this, Nico, but that’s the rot on your face.  We just didn’t want to tell you and hurt your feelings,” he said before shifting his weight and the blade in his hands, causing Niccolo’s sword to grind down and then sink into the sand.  The Horseman cursed as he tried to regain his balance, but the potbellied demon threw out his foot and knocked him away before getting to his feet.

“Bastard,” Niccolo muttered, already seeing Mammon leaping after him with a one-handed, upward strike.  The Horseman was only just able to plant his foot down, sand flying in his wake, and brought his blade sideways to guard the wild strike.  After the clang of their impact, Niccolo wondered what Mammon hoped to gain from the blow, but almost immediately a cloud of sand struck his good eye, stunning him.

“Hah, you silly goose!” Mammon shouted as he jumped after Niccolo again, but the Horseman wildly swung his sword in such a way that the yellow demon could not get close.

“Fucking cheater,” Niccolo sputtered as he swung his blade with his rotten arm, trying to clear the sand from his eye with his other hand.  Red-eyed and strained, he only regained his sight as Mammon jumped on him and wrapped his legs around his midsection.  Niccolo dropped his sword as he used both of his arms to evade Mammon’s wild snapping.

“I just want to eat your nose to spite your face, Nico,” Mammon screamed as he continued to bite at the Horseman’s head.  “You’ll be better looking, I swear!  Hell, it’ll match the rest of your ugly mug!  I’m.  Doing.  You.  A.  Favor!” he ridiculed, punctuating each word with a snap of his jaws.

They rolled in the sand for a moment as Niccolo desperately tried to keep Mammon from eating his face.  Niccolo panicked at first, his eye watering from the bloody sand that still grated against his eye, but eventually he was able to gather his thoughts.  While the yellow demon continued to mock him and laugh, Niccolo grabbed Mammon by the throat with his demonic arm and reached behind him with his right hand.  The Hellborn was still laughing as Niccolo grabbed an arrow with a broad point and brought it down into Mammon’s exposed chest, drawing a gasp from the crowd.

Niccolo stood as Mammon sputtered on the ground, laughing wearily and finally feeling like he had avenged Fafnir.  He looked around the demons watching him and smiled, throwing up his arms in victory, and then walked over to where his blade had fallen. 
That was easy
, he thought, but Plague’s voice boomed in his mind.

The Hellborn is many things, but easy isn’t one of them
, his voice resonated, but Niccolo had only a moment to be confused.

“Nico, turn around!” Cadmus yelled from the top of the pit, which caused the Horseman to whip around to look at the incoming threat.  Mammon had stood up, the arrow still in his chest, and was breathing heavily.  He was hunched over, staring at the ground, but eventually he raised his head slightly to glare at his opponent.

“Don’t you walk away from me yet, human,” he whispered, but Niccolo could hear him across the arena.  None of the onlookers made a sound as Mammon stood up to his full height and swayed from side to side.

“What’s happening?” Niccolo asked out loud, but the only voice to answer him came from within.

Now you’re going to see why people fear the Hellborn
, Plague said cryptically, drawing a curse from Niccolo for not speaking plainly, but that only lasted for a moment.  Before his eyes, Mammon started to twitch, his limbs splaying out in frantic gestures, and it seemed like the imp was having a seizure.  Niccolo grabbed the handle of his sword with both hands and realized Mammon was not just another demon. 

He had been foolish to think one arrow would kill the son of the Devil.

An unearthly howl erupted from the potbellied demon’s throat, but the horror had only just begun.  His limbs stretched out to four times their usual size, his fingers and toes extending in proportion, and the potbelly disappeared.  With his torso still tiny his limbs could not be supported, so his arms fell to the ground.  Mammon’s face twisted in pain as his mouth opened up far beyond what his jaw would allow, and Niccolo shuddered when he heard the snap of tendons as it dislocated.

His screams continued as his ribcage expanded, spikes jutting out of his skin and his very spine seemed to stretch out of his back.  Niccolo could only watch as new muscle rippled out from his body and covered his gangly limbs and, instead of twisted extensions, they became powerful arms and legs.  His finger bones jutted out beyond his nails and curved wickedly, becoming even stronger weapons, and the bones of his feet did the same.  Mammon’s loose loincloth tore away as his hips flared outwards, becoming big enough to support the monstrous legs, and a massive tail made of bones erupted from the bottom of Mammon’s back.

Niccolo’s sword shook wildly back and forth, but he tightened his grip and continued to watch the demon’s transformation.  The creature was massive and was only continuing to gain in size, but suddenly its chest expanded in proportion to his limbs and back, growing black, coarse hair which eventually melted together to form a shell around his chest and shoulders.  By the end of its growth, it reflected the hellish light surrounding the pit and seemed impenetrable.

Throughout this process, Mammon’s head continued to stay the same size, its jaw dangling and screams issuing from its open mouth, but after all of the other body parts finished their transition, it looked over to Niccolo with a vacant expression.  The beast turned on all fours and looked directly toward the Horseman, and then Niccolo saw something which made him sick.  Mammon’s head seemed to widen and then stretched outward as a red, amorphous shape peeked out of his throat.  Then it burst outwards, causing Mammon’s face to stretch like a balloon, almost causing Niccolo to throw up.  The amorphous blob was horrific, but what came next was even worse.

The shape was a membrane and it tore apart, revealing the seven screaming heads that extended from Mammon’s throat, each with their own neck.  After a moment of terror, silence enveloping the demonic horde watching from above the pit, the screams coming from the seven horrors suddenly ceased.  Then one of them turned to Niccolo, the one which looked exactly like Mammon’s regular head.

“
I’m hungry
,” it said, grinning slightly.  Then it opened up its mouth and exposed its fangs, screaming as the monstrous demon squared up to Niccolo and then walked forward.

“That’s the…Hellborn?” Niccolo asked, unable to move at the revelation.  He had not expected this kind of thing from any demon, much less Lucifer’s son.  It was just too disgusting.

“Move, Nico!” a voice echoed from above him, though the Horseman could not decipher the source.  He could only watch as the Hellborn stalked forward and then came to a stop, towering over him.  The seven heads, three of which were screaming and two of them crying, all came within a foot of the stunned Horseman of the Apocalypse.

“
I expected more from you, Nico
,” one of the heads said, its neck bringing it up to Niccolo’s side.  The leper looked in horror to see that it was Lucifer’s face, twisted into a jester’s mask with slits along his cheeks.  It was more than he could take; worse than anything Niccolo had ever considered possible.

“If you don’t move, I’ll kill you myself!” Cadmus shouted above him, forcing Niccolo into the present.  Suddenly, the Horseman was angry; suddenly, he knew exactly what he needed to do.  He took his demonic arm off of his sword and grabbed the mockery of Lucifer’s head, which expressed shock, and tore it off of Mammon’s neck.