Evil - Chapter 35
The trip back to base was filled with quiet bewilderment as we reflected on what we had just been through capturing Prince Yimnit.
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.
It's not easy being the Antichrist.
Anjelica’s mother never told her that she was a demon. Now, all she wants is her old life back, but that’s not possible for her. Not after what she’s seen.
Anjelica used to be a popular cheerleader with an awesome life, but that was before an evil cult of demons tried to use her blood to open a portal to Hell and start the Apocalypse.
She was rescued from that fate, barely, and because of the imminent threat to her life, her saviors ripped her from Los Angeles and brought her to a safe house in the middle of nowhere.
They said it was for her own good, but she would rather be dead than stuck in boring, old Bronard, Missouri. She was from the big city, so a sleepy, rural life wasn’t for her.
She longed for excitement.
So, when she met a young witch with a mysterious past who promised to show her everything she knew about opening portals and traveling between distant lands, they bonded immediately
I mean, what’s the worst that could happen, right?
It’s not like they would open an intergalactic gateway to another planet and get thrown into a brand, new world with no way to get back to Earth, right?
Join Anjelica in her own solo adventure and find out what happened to her immediately after the events in Magic.
The eyes of the others fell on me often, and when I felt their gaze, I returned it…only to see them turn hastily away from me. I wasn’t a mind reader, but it didn’t take one to know what they were thinking. They had watched me take down an overpowered magic user without breaking a sweat, and the fear in their eyes was palpable. Even Prince Yimnit wasn’t without dread when his eyes caught mine.
The only person who didn’t have a problem with my powerful display was Margaret, and she peppered me with questions all the way to the airport about how I was able to channel Yimnit’s energy. However, when I replied to her questions with nothing more than “I don’t know,” she eventually fell silent, too, more from disappointment than the concern that gripped the rest of our party.
How did I channel the energy Prince Yimnit shot at me on that street? It felt like I had always known how to control the flame, deep down in my bones, and I just needed something to unlock it within me. However, even now that I had done it, I wasn’t sure how it happened, and I didn’t know if I could repeat it. It was like Araphel said…it was instinct, an instinct I never knew I had and wasn’t sure I wanted. An instinct that proved I wasn’t human, no matter how much I looked like one.
When we finally reached the base, Sindra wrapped me in a big hug. It was the first true kindness I had received since my battle with Prince Yimnit.
“We heard you got him!” Sindra said excitedly. “That’s awesome. We finally have a win.”
“Did you hear…how it happened?” I asked, hoping against hope that maybe she was just cooler than everyone else and didn’t care that I was a freak.
Sadly, she simply shook her head. “They don’t tell me that kind of stuff, but we’re all really happy that Prince Yimnit is under our control now.”
I cracked a smile. “Have you seen Kimberly?”
Sindra pointed to the brig. “She’s been doing something in the prison all day.”
Just a few days ago, the base was a maze to me, and now I navigated it with ease. I entered the brig and saw Kimberly drawing runes on the walls with a black marker, muttering to herself.
“Good,” she said when I approached. “You’re back. Prince Yimnit didn’t give you any trouble?”
I shook my head. “He’s been unconscious most of the ride, and we bound him like you told us.”
Kimberly looked up at her handiwork with pride. “Nice. Well, I’m almost done here.”
“What is all of this?”
“Runes to prevent Prince Yimnit from using magic, just like the ones hidden in Junebug and Carl’s house. I’m hoping that the rules of magic are the same here as on our planet. There’s no reason they wouldn’t be, given that pretty much every other rule about the universe holds true from gravity to physics to even how the grass grows.”
Director Frente walked into the room. “Are you ready?”
Kimberly nodded and stood up. “Yes, ma’am. This should hold the prince.”
Director Frente poked her head into the hall. “Bring him in!”
She moved out of the way, and Commander Bivnol pushed Prince Yimnit into the cell in the middle of the room, the same one that once held Kimberly, and pulled off the cloth that bound his hands together before removing the shackles from his hands and kicking him into the cell.
“You will pay for this.” Prince Yimnit held up his hands as if he was trying to cast a spell, but nothing happened. He tried again, and a second time, he failed. “What is—” Finally, he looked around the room and saw the runes all along the walls, ceiling, and floor. “I see. Who of you knows of the old ways?”
“That would be me,” Kimberly said. “This isn’t my first time dealing with sorcerers. You’ll find your magic quite ineffective here. Even I can’t cast within these walls.”
“So, you use magic like your friend?”
“Who?” Kimberly asked. “Anjelica? Not quite. The magic I have is different from hers but equally powerful.”
Prince Yimnit thought for a moment and then sat back on the cot against the back wall of the room. “Very well. It matters not. By now, my father will know I have been captured, and soon enough your friends will bend the knee and tell us where you are…or be destroyed in the process.”
“And how will he destroy an entire country?” Director Frente said. “Because as I see it, for the first time in forever, we have the upper hand.”
“For now, but wheels are in motion which will allow us to enact our final battle, and then we will be unstoppable. All will bow before us or be obliterated from existence.”
Commander Bivnol stepped forward. “We’ll see about that. For now, we’ll let you stew in your cage. When you see that all hope for rescue is lost, then perhaps you’ll talk willingly. If not, well, I certainly look forward to making you talk—unwillingly.” She cracked the knuckles on her thumbs. “I have been looking forward to it for a long time.”
Prince Yimnit smiled at her. “Interesting, because I haven’t thought of you, not for one moment, until today. That is the advantage of being royalty. The thoughts of commoners don’t concern you.”
Commander Bivnol tensed, but a soft hand from Director Frente calmed her, at least for a moment. “You’ll get your chance. For now, let him rest and contemplate his fate.”
***
“Torture never works,” Kimberly said when we had all regrouped in Director Frente’s office.
“Says you,” Commander Bivnol replied. “Sounds like the mutterings of a civilian who doesn’t have the guts to do what needs to be done.”
“Hey!” Kimberly shouted. “I’ve been at this long enough—I’ve killed enough demons—I’ve seen things that would make you quake in your boots. I’ve found that it’s a lot easier to get somebody to tell you the truth through trickery and sympathy than torture. People will say anything to stop torture.”
“Exactly what I’m sa—”
“They’ll beg, borrow, steal, and lie.” Kimberly continued through Commander Bivnol’s interruption. “And every time they lie, we have to track that lie down. If Prince Yimnit is to be believed, that his father is close to developing a weapon that forces countries to surrender…”
“That’s an empty threat.”
Kimberly shook her head. “He doesn’t seem like the kind to threaten or be threatened. We have to get him to tell the truth willingly.”
“And how do you propose we do that?” Director Frente asked. “I’m all ears.”
Kimberly turned to me. “Send Anjelica to talk with him.”
“What?” I shouted. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am. You bested him in combat. Even if he doesn’t want to, he respects that, and he might even fear it. With the backing of the rebellion and the fact that you bested him in combat, you’re the most likely one he’d talk to. Plus, you have one other thing going for you.”
“What’s that?” I said.
“You are a young, cute girl. Powerful men always underestimate people like you. He will assume your victory was a fluke or that you cheated, and you can use all of those power dynamics to your advantage.” Kimberly turned to the director. “And if that fails, then you can torture the prick until he screams bloody murder.”
“I like that last part the best,” Commander Bivnol said. “I say we just skip to that.”
“What do you think, Anjelica?” Director Frente asked.
I shook my head. “I can’t—I mean, I’m just—” My eyes met Kimberly’s. “You’re asking too much of me.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that it’s still our best plan.” She slapped her hand on my shoulder. “I know this has been the worst month of your whole life, Anjelica, and I sincerely hope it is the worst month you ever experience for the next eighty years. But the world doesn’t stop turning just because you think the pressure is too much to handle.
You have the whole of this rebellion on your shoulders now. You can do this. I believe in you.”
“I wish you weren’t so good at speeches. Now I’m all riled up and ready to go.” I took a deep breath. “This really has been the worst month of my whole life.”
“Good news is that after this, you’ll be prepared for anything.”
“If I live through it,” I said. “Let’s just get this over with.”
***
I was about to interrogate a prince. How was this my life? If I ever got home, who would ever believe any of this? Silly, Anjelica. When will you get it through your head that you aren’t going home? Never. I will never get that through my head. All I have to do is destroy a royal line and free an entire world, and the gods will bring me back to my mother. That sounded so stupid. I really was a naïve little thing.
Well, if I wanted to bring down a king, then I had to get the prince to talk—the same prince that had tried to kill me multiple times. This should be easy.
I stood outside the door to the brig for a long time, gathering my nerve. Nobody dared come down the hall near me. Word of what I’d done in Risyl spread through the rebellion in whispered conversations, carried like a virus on the air, and now there were few kind eyes left for me.
That hostility propelled me into the brig and toward Prince Yimnit’s cell. When he saw me, his face hardened. There was a hint of fear in his eyes that he covered with anger. “I was wondering who they would send. I thought the director, or the commander…to send a child is an insult to my position.”
There was a long pause as he scowled at me. “I beat you,” I finally said. “This child beat you.”
“Hrm,” he said. “So, you did. A surprising turn of events, to be sure, but not completely so. Almost all travelers end up being magic users or are sent by magic users. However, none have bested me before. What makes you different?”
“Perhaps you have gotten slow…or perhaps it’s because I am a demon.”
“A demon?” Prince Yimnit laughed. “Of course. I wondered why I smelled sulfur coming off you. I will remember to use water on you next time.”
I took a step closer. “There will be no next time…because you’ll never get out of this cell unless you help us, and I already know there is no chance of that.”
“Using reverse psychology on me won’t work.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know what that is, but I’m not trying to use anything on you. As you mentioned before, I am a child. That would have been an insult to me even a month ago, but if I’ve learned nothing in the past weeks, it’s that I am a child, naïve in many things.” I leaned against the bars. “But at least I’m smart enough to know how naïve I am and that you will never part with anything you are not willing to give.” I sighed. “Commander Bivnol wants to torture you. Frankly, I want her to torture you, not because I think that it will make you tell us anything, but because you deserve pain after what you have done.”
“You really are the most terrible negotiator I’ve ever met.”
“That’s not even the hundredth worst insult I’ve heard recently. It’s not even an insult. It’s the truth.” I turned away. “I will tell everyone that you wouldn’t give me anything and that they should torture you. Commander Bivnol will be so pleased.”
“Wait,” Prince Yimnit said. “You didn’t even try! Aren’t you supposed to make me an offer or something? Tell me what you want before you subject me to torture?”
There was fear in his voice when he talked about torture. “Fine. You’re right. I’ll make you an offer, though you’ll never take it.” I spun back to him. “Tell us what your father is planning and how to take him down, and we’ll let you keep your pretty, little fingers.”
He smirked. “That’s better. This is how diplomacy is done, my dear. You make me an offer, and I make a counteroffer.”
“I’m not interested.”
“Well, I will give it to you anyway.” He stepped to the edge of the cell. “I will help you, and in return—when my father is deposed—you will name me the rightful king. I will withdraw our troops from those countries we have taken and end this accursed war of attrition once and for all.”
“You want the war to end?”
He nodded. “That’s why my father won’t step down from the throne. He will never step down, not until he dies—and trust me, he will not die for a very long time. Not given the magic afforded to him and what he plans.” He took a long breath. “I alone know the way through the tunnels under the city which lead into the castle, and only the royal family knows what my father is truly planning.”
“And what is he planning?” I growled, glaring at him.
Prince Yimnit smiled. “To capture a god.”
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.