He tried to pull back and ended up dragging Juliana down onto the ground.
With her on top.
Knives erupted from Juliana’s back.
There was a small gasp followed by a release of air not unlike a punctured tire. A gurgling tire.
A strong scent of nothing in particular wafted over her. It didn’t smell good, nor did it smell bad. However, it did block out all the smells she had been smelling in the ambient air.
Juliana realized with a sudden clarity that she stunk. So did everything else in this place. It had been so permeated in everything that she didn’t notice until it was gone.
Then the purple tendrils of the void portals reached up around her sides.
Juliana started to thrash and struggle to get off of the demon. She did not want to get dragged down to whatever hell demons went to when they died.
She couldn’t retract the barbs in time. The demon’s body was already falling and Juliana along with it.
Juliana hit the ground with a clatter.
The demon was gone.
And she didn’t go with it.
That’s nice to know, Juliana thought as she got to her feet. “There’s still one left?”
“Fleeing,” Prax said with a gesture down the hall.
Juliana turned just in time to watch a body appear a short distance away.
The body slumped to its knees before falling on its chest. His head rolled across the floor.
A void portal opened beneath both parts and swallowed them whole.
“Did you do that?” Juliana whispered.
Prax shook his head. He gripped his fingers so tightly that his arms shook.
“Well, well, whatever do we have here?”
The indigo skinned demon walked–sauntered–out of the shadows. It was a bit disturbing how she could move like that despite the massive gash in her thigh and across half her stomach. Black blood oozed from the wound a whole lot less than it spurted forth.
“Pathetic imbeciles, cannot even dispatch one little human. But, it served as a worthy test, I suppose.”
Juliana glanced towards Prax with an eyebrow raised. “Test?” she half whispered.
Prax didn’t so much as flick his eyes in her direction. “You are going to have to try harder than that if you want to kill me, Maoa.”
The demon reared back as if Prax had slapped her. She regained her composure with a fury-filled glare. “You dare speak my name in this despicable tongue?”
“If you take issue, try to stop me. Though that might waste time. I wonder, Maoa, how hot on your heels is the sword-wielding doll?”
She flinched back again at the mention of her name. “You,” she pointed a narrow finger at Juliana, “will have the pleasure of being my host.”
“Wha–”
“Maoa,” Prax cut in with a voice as cold as ice, “surely you are not so far gone that you have failed to notice.”
Prax stepped forwards and gripped Juliana’s wrist. He twisted it around and held it up around eye level.
For a moment, Juliana was about to attack him. She realized what he was doing the second before small spikes jutted out of her hand.
The metal making up her gauntlet flowed over and down her arm to pool around her wrist, revealing a black ring with a skull etching prominently displayed.
“It is not a figment of your imagination, Maoa. That chill you feel is Death.”
Prax let go of her wrist and Juliana let it fall to her side. Maoa kept her wide eyes glued to the ring as it swung down.
For a minute, everyone stared at each other in silence. Prax was the one to break it.
“Come, mortal, the exit is not far.” With one last look at the demon, he turned his back on her and started walking.
Juliana shrugged and followed after him.
“Wait. The exit will have a barrier. The walls will be too thick to breach.”
“We will walk through,” Prax said without turning.
“There will be dolls.”
“They did not attack earlier. The sword-wielder had her blade at this one’s throat,” he said with a gesture towards himself, “and did not remove her head. You will be the only one who finds difficulty bypassing the dolls.”
The succubus narrowed her eyes to thin slits.
“You are strong, but not infallible. If you are unable to cross the barrier, you will eventually be caught. The way I see it, Maoa, you have two choices. Attempt to break out and risk the dolls dragging you back to your cell. Quite a high risk, if I may say so. Wherever Keeper has gone off to, he won’t be gone forever. Should he return, your reimprisonment is assured.”
Maoa scowled, baring her sharp teeth. “And the other choice?” she ground out.
“Simple.” Prax stopped moving. His right hand clenched into a fist, knuckles cracking as he moved. “I tear out your heart. Simple, clean, easy. You will regenerate fast enough and escape the Void in record time. Besides,” Prax shrugged, “what is a little time in the Void compared to freedom?”
Juliana could see the boiling anger all but steam out of Maoa’s nostrils. The pungent scent of sulfur filled the air. Juliana tried not to show any discomfort.
Ring or no ring, she wasn’t going to risk drawing the succubus’ ire.
“You dare to tell me to give up?” she snarled.
“Most certainly not, Maoa. You fought the good fight. You reclaimed your core. Allow me to send you back to your domain, safe, sound, and ready to fight again. You are going to continue the crusade, are you not?”
“I am,” she said. The smoke curling out of her nose died down to a low simmer. For a long moment, she went entirely silent. Barely moving at all.
While Prax mimicked her stillness, Juliana was forced to shift her weight side to side several times before anyone spoke.
“Your words are not without merit. Very well, make haste in your deed.”
Prax nodded, twisting Shalise’s face into a cruel grin that didn’t suit the kind-hearted girl in the slightest. “Of course.” He moved forwards, reaching an arm out just beneath her left breast.
The succubus gripped his hand a mere inch from her skin. “Tell me,” she said, jutting her chin out, “which of my loyal followers resides within that meat-sack? I wish to reward you upon my return for your clever thinking.”
“Even inside this pathetic mortal body, I’m hurt that you do not recognize me. After all…” Prax’s unrestrained arm shot out in the blink of an eye, burrowing wrist deep in her chest. “I am your son.”
Maoa’s eyes went wide, but the portal to the Void had already opened beneath her.
As she sank into the ground, Prax clasped his hands around her head and pulled. He introduced his knee to her forehead with a resounding crack. With a disgusting snort, he hocked back and spat, catching the succubus’ caved in face just before she disappeared into the portal.
“That,” Prax said, laughing, “will keep her down for a month or two.”
“You killed your own mother?” Juliana half-shrieked, eyes about as wide as Maoa’s were in her final moments.
“Bah,” Prax said, waving his arm at the spot the portal had occupied. “I would do it again and again and enjoy it every time. She’s half the reason I am here in the first place. ‘Families’ here in Hell have a far different meaning than what I understand mortals consider families. More of slaves than anything else.
“Come,” he said, “unless you wish to linger as food for the less savory of my kind.”
Prax did not look back at the stunned Juliana as he walked off.
Not wanting to be left behind, Juliana slapped her cheeks before running after him.
For what had to have been a half a day, they marched through the prison in utter silence. No one spoke save for Prax mumbling to himself under his breath every now and again.
They walked until they finally found a wall stretching high into the air. A flat wall with no cells set within. A barrier-covered door lay directly in front of them along with three dolls–at least, Juliana assumed they were dolls. They looked like the stereotypical iron maidens, though they moved and shifted like people.