Minor Demons (7 page)

Shadow waited until Valefor was within a few feet. Valefor gripped the blade with both hands and was about to bring it up from his foggy hiding place to stab Shadow. Shadow brought his foot down on the blade, punched Valefor hard in the face, placed his foot under the sword, and then kicked it up into his right hand. He spun it once and then brought it down with a strike that would end Valefor’s life. His blade struck the ground. Valefor had conceded the death match right before Shadow could kill him. He sheathed his sword and walked out of the death pit. Several of the middle and major demons watching him looked impressed.

As Shadow left the death pit, he was approached by his uncle. Cain looked angry.

“You went in there with a sword. ONE sword. You didn’t think to bring anything else? You’re a lucky asshole to still be ranked in second right now.”

“I gave my daggers to my minion. It was a good investment. He’s ranked fourth and he answers solely to me.”

“That little shit? I’ll say he’s worthwhile if he makes it out of his first match alive. He’s only in fourth because you gave him credit for the snake kill in the labyrinth.”

“Uncle, did you come here to scold me or do you want to help?”

Cain grinned and pulled a wrapped sword from his cloak.

“Of course I’m here to help. You’ve done some mildly impressive work and I need you to make it past that bitchy little Nightmare to first place. Lucian has been talking shit for what seems like hours now. This blade is part of a set. You already have the other one on your belt.”

“I remember you using the sword on my belt but I don’t remember you using two swords.”

“That’s because this blade belonged to your father. The swords were given to us by the Dragon when we became middle demons.”

Cain unwrapped the blade and handed it to Shadow. It was like his other sword in every way, obsidian black mixed with a dark red, a carved skull handle, and red veins running down the length of the blade. Shadow put it on his belt.

“Thank you, Uncle. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go see if Leech was a worthwhile investment or not. He’s up next.”

“Don’t let me down, Shadow.”

“You know I won’t.”

Shadow started making his way back to the death pit when he heard the sound of Venom’s weapon signaling the beginning of the fight. Shadow ran the rest of the way.

When Shadow arrived at the edge of the pit, he saw that Leech had already disarmed his opponent. Maybe recruiting Leech was worth staying in second place for a little while longer. Right as Shadow finished thinking that, Leech’s opponent landed a kick to each of Leech’s hands and both daggers flew out of his hands. He followed it up with a spinning back kick that sent Leech flying through the air.

Leech landed on his feet looking very angry. His opponent motioned for him to approach and threw a few punches in the air. Leech put his hand on the minotaur axe strapped to his back but decided to accept his opponent’s fist fight challenge.

Leech’s opponent was the first to fire off a punch. Leech ducked underneath the blow and threw two shots at his right side. His opponent tried to feign that it didn’t hurt, but Shadow could see that he was favoring his right side. Leech noticed it as well, because he grabbed his opponent by the right wrist and landed a kick where he had punched. His opponent cried out in pain.

Leech didn’t stop to glory in his success. He continued to hold his opponent’s wrist and kicked hard at his face and then spun to land a punch at his midsection. His opponent flew backwards and landed hard on his stomach. Leech moved in to finish him off when his opponent jumped back to his feet and stabbed Leech through the leg with a dagger. It was one of the daggers he had knocked from Leech’s hands earlier on. Leech’s scream echoed throughout the arena. Following his successful attack, Leech’s opponent fell back, attempting to recover from his injuries.

Leech fell to his knees and thought about giving up. A quick look down showed that the dagger had gone clean through his right leg. Winning was going to be almost impossible now. When he looked into the crowd, he saw Nightmare pointing and laughing. This enraged him. Leech was tired of being picked on and tired of being a joke to the larger demons. Only one demon-in-training with any noticeable amount of power had ever believed in his abilities.

Leech scanned the crowd for Shadow. Shadow merely nodded and mouthed the words “finish him.” That was the adrenaline shot that Leech needed. Shadow believed he could do it. Leech’s opponent was still slowly crawling away on the ground. Leech removed the dagger from his leg with a painful grunt and stabbed his opponent through his leg, pinning him down in his retreat. His opponent brought himself up on his elbows and laughed through the pain.

“Nightmare has more power than either you or Shadow realize. Even if I lose this match, Nightmare has promised me that I can have the privilege of killing Shadow. I know he sent several others to do the same thing, but I’ll make it there first. I only have to say two simple words. I...”

Leech panicked as he realized what his opponent was about to do. Before he could finish his sentence with the word “quit.” Leech removed the axe from his back and split his opponent’s skull. When he looked into the audience again, Nightmare looked genuinely surprised. Leech flipped him off. As he retrieved his weapons and hobbled out of the death pit, Shadow met him with a smile.

“I was just having a debate with my uncle on whether or not you were worthwhile. I guess you are. I didn’t see the kill coming. I thought for sure he was going to pansy out and quit. What pissed you off so much?”

“He told me that Nightmare had sent some of his posse to kill you. He said he was coming for you. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I decided that I didn’t want to give him the chance.”

“Oh so you’re my bodyguard now, Leech?”

“Damn right, Shady. Damn right.”

Shadow offered to help him, but Leech limped the rest of the way out of the death pit on his own.

L
eech watched as Shadow began his next match in the death pit. His leg still throbbed, despite his attempts to bandage it after his match and a full night’s rest. A few demons-in-training offered to hang around him and watch the match with him but he sent them away. The pain was hard enough without having to put on a brave face for everyone around him.

Leech looked down at the crude bandage he had used to bind the wound on his leg. Shadow had offered to get him medical attention following his injury but he turned it down. Now that he had a minotaur’s axe, he would return Shadow’s daggers too if he felt he could be competitive without them. Though it ate at Leech to accept help or borrowed gear, he knew he needed it to stay alive.

When he returned his gaze to the match, he saw that Shadow had already disarmed his opponent and had him running. Right before he delivered the killing blow, a messenger demon stepped right in front of him. Leech stood to see what he had missed. Shadow had killed his opponent and was celebrating his victory.

“You made me miss the kill!”

“Leech, General Cain requests your presence. Now.”

Leech was shocked. He wasn’t sure why a major demon would want to speak with him. Of course Cain had probably heard of his ties to his nephew, but still. Leech motioned for the messenger to lead the way. Cain was watching the demons-in-training in the death pit from a private balcony attached to his office. He looked pleased with Shadow’s recent victory. He got up from his seat on the balcony and moved to the large throne-like chair behind his desk.

“General Cain, Leech is here to see you.”

“That will be all.”

The messenger demon bowed and exited the room.

“Come in, Leech. Have a seat.”

Leech sat in a chair in front of Cain’s desk and folded his arms in his lap. If he was going to be honest, both Shadow and Nightmare intimidated him but Cain was an entirely new class of scary. While Cain looked a lot like Shadow, he was much larger. Leech doubted he could even carry the armor Cain was wearing. His eyes, like Shadow’s, were a deep shade of red. His dark red cloak and armor were also oozing blood. It was a mixture of human and demon blood. Leech had heard rumors that Cain had murdered to the point where he was always caked in blood and it was unsettling to see that the rumors were true. Leech’s eyes moved to the scythe neatly resting against the wall and wondered if this meeting was going to end in his execution.

“Did you see my nephew’s most recent victory in the death pit?”

“I didn’t see the kill because your errand boy got in the way.”

Leech’s hands immediately shot up to cover his mouth. He had been so distracted by the scythe that he had momentarily forgotten who he was talking to. Cain’s laugh rattled his entire office.

“I can see what Shadow sees in you. You’re terrified right now and you are still willing to speak your mind.”

“General Cain... I am so sorry... I didn’t mean to blurt out...”

“It’s alright. You family is infamous for speaking their mind. Your father is actually being considered for a promotion to middle demon of torture. None of the middle demons want him promoted but I’m still thinking about it.”

“I didn’t realize that torture reported to you, sir.”

“Torture almost always ends in a kill. The Dragon agreed that it should be under my jurisdiction, hence the new position. Malcontent might have been a middle demon a long time ago if he didn’t run his mouth off at his superiors.”

Leech hung his head. His father had been turned down every time he had applied for a higher position.

“General Cain, let me personally apologize for my family’s... well... none of us have a filter between brain and mouth. It’s especially bad when we get angry or distracted.”

“Your family has always been very direct with me. Malcontent supported me when I fought to keep my brother out of the lowest circle of hell. Let me return the favor. I’ll tell you exactly what I’m thinking and why I called you here. I think your entire family has been underrated. You’re ranked fourth in a class of hundreds. I know Shadow had something to do with that, but I wasn’t betting on you to win your first death pit match. You did it anyways. I saw the look you gave that piece of shit before you split his head in half. What did he say to you?”

“He told me he was going to kill Shadow and he said others had been sent to kill Shadow as well. I assume he was lying, but I didn’t like what he said. I decided to end him before he pussied out and quit.”

“Interesting. That’s some very intense loyalty. Why Shadow?”

“I don’t like bullies. As talented as Shadow is, he isn’t a bully. He’s a winner. I want to win, General. I’m tired of everyone thinking my family is full of losers.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a messenger demon who entered the room, bowed in front of Cain, and held up a scroll.

“The daily birth and death totals, my Lord.”

“Summarize.”

“Murders, terrorism, and slaughters were all up. Birth rates have fallen in several key slum areas but the world’s population continues to grow.”

“Send a message to Vixen. Tell her to get off her ass. We need more teen pregnancies, rapes, and whatever else she can muster. I’m tired of having to turn normal people in to killers because she can’t do her job.”

The messenger wrote down what Cain had said and bowed.

“The message will be delivered, General Cain.”

“Good. Now leave us.”

Cain turned back to Leech.

“I’m going to give you a chance to prove that your family is worthwhile. Consider me your sponsor for the rest of your fights in the death pit. When my nephew becomes a minor demon after the trials, you are going to protect him. This is my way of saying thanks in advance.”

Leech looked uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong? You don’t want my help? You really don’t have a choice in this.”

“I just have a hard time with being given things that I haven’t earned.”

“Oh trust me, you will earn this. You’ll actually need what I’m about to give you.”

Cain searched through a pile of scrolls on his desk and showed Leech what he meant.

“Assuming you make it to the semi-finals, look who you’ll be fighting.”

Leech gasped but then smiled.

“Do you think I can take him, General Cain?”

“I think you had better do some damage. If you find yourself about to lose, you shouldn’t quit. Keep fighting. Shadow will need you to have his back when he’s promoted but doing some serious damage is more important right now. I’ll give you the tools you need to have a shot.”

“I accept your offer to be my sponsor. Thank you for this opportunity, General Cain.”

Cain snapped his fingers and said, “Armory and weapons.” Several demons entered the room. Cain pointed at Leech. They immediately began taking measurements. One of them approached Cain, ready to take notes.

“Your specific request, General Cain?”

“Make it like Shadow’s armor but less flashy. Sharpen the daggers and the axe and then see what the blacksmith can do with them.”

“Would you like a shield to be made, General?”

Cain looked over at Leech who was still being measured. He was still smiling at the news of his opponent in the semi-finals.

“No, Leech is more of an offensive demon. No shield.”

––––––––

A
s Leech made his way back to the death pit, he had a whole new outlook on his situation. He may have been given a shitty lot at birth, but Cain had given him a chance to live like the other side. His new armor was a shiny shade of black and red and it felt solid. His cape no longer had holes or patches. He had a belt with the two daggers Shadow had given him, freshly sharpened. The blacksmith had also modified his daggers and axe to have shorter grips and weigh less, which made all three weapons much more useful to a small, quick demon like Leech.

Shadow met Leech as he made his way back to the stands to watch the current death match. He was covered in blood.

“What happened? Are you ok?”

“The blood isn’t mine. I killed my last three opponents and I didn’t have my little helper monkey around to polish my armor. I’m guessing your new armor and your modified weapons came from...”