“How do we get back out?” he asked. “Where’d that portal thing go? Don’t you have the necklace to open and close the damn thing? You can get us out of here,right?”
He sounded a little bit hysterical, but I didn’t blamehim.
“He has a good point,” I said, turning toward Lilith with a frown. “Shouldn’t we just be able to go back through theportal?”
“Unfortunately, it’s not that simple,” she said dryly. “Nothing is when it comes to the demonic realm. This portal was designed to be a route from hell to the human realm, and not the other way back. Or rather, they designed it so that if an unsuspecting human stepped through, they wouldn’t be able to returnhome.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Rourke muttered, gazing around at our nebulous surroundings, his face a new shade of pale. “Are you telling me we’re stuck in the goddamnnetherworld?”
“Stuck? No.” Lilith gave him a glittering smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “The portal back will be somewhere. We just have to find it. Unfortunately, we’re likely to run into some…obstacles along theway.”
“Can’t you get us out of here by going through the Halfway Zone?” I asked Lilith. “You’re anArchdemon.”
Lilith sighed and shook her head. “It’s not as simple as that. I can get us all to the Halfway Zone, but then the magic of the realms would prevent us from going to earth. There are precautions in place, to prevent demons from invading. That’s why we need the portals. Any traveller from hell can only return to hell. So, the Halfway Zone solvesnothing.”
I turned toward Ramiel, as if by instinct. Obviously, I’d never been to the demonic realm myself. Neither had most angels, at least not until they joined an Order. But even then, most battles were fought at the borders of Celestia. At one point in time, much of the fighting had happened here. But the demons had slowly inched their way closer and closer until they were practically knocking at ourdoor.
“I’m afraid that now is not the time to look to me, Erela.” Ramiel’s eyes were like ice. “I’ve never been here. Lilith, you’re going to have to take thelead.”
Chapter Eighteen
Erela
Our first orderof business was determining where the hell in hell we actually were. The portal had plopped us smack dab in the middle of a field full of shadow clouds. Lilith explained that these fields were fairly common in the demonic realm. They had cities here, just like we did in Celestia and the humans did on earth, but there was also plenty of countryside for the demons who wished to get away from the hustle and bustle of the frantic citylife.
The grass was unlike anything I’d ever seen. Tall and sharp along the edges but as soft as a cloud on the flat, black sides. They waved against the light breeze, a sea of pure black, glittering underneath the light of a bulbous moon. We followed the sloping hills until we reached a small village with only a cluster of sagging buildings. It was the kind of place that looked as though it had been abandoned centuries ago. The roofs were tin; the walls were made of pure black stone. The brush surrounded it had overgrown, and dark vines climbed up the sides and choked all the windows out ofsight.
“Now, this is more familiar,” Lilith said, propping her hands on her waist and gazing around. “To the west of our capital city, Agartha, there are a few small abandoned villages. Much like this one. No one has lived there for at least fifty humanyears.”
“How come?” Lizzie wandered through the small square, stopping at a well and trailing her fingers along the blackstone.
“There are rumors,” Lilith said, her voice clipped. “Of a particularly nasty demon who will rip the head off of anyone whoenters.”
Lizzie’s hand stilled on the black stone, her face paling. “Oh.”
“Don’t worry. No one has ever seenhim.”
Lizzie loosed a breath. “Probably just a rumorthen.”
“Although there are many demons who have gone missing after making a trip to one of these villages.” Lilith shrugged. “Either they wandered off and got lost,or…”
“Enough of the urban legends.” Ramiel’s voice was clear, even though his face was almost as pale as Lizzie’s. “We need to work in absolutes. Facts. This is one of those abandoned villages,yes?”
Lilith spun on her feet, gazing around at the buildings. “Almost certainly, which means we’re about a two or three hour walk fromIrkalla.”
“And could Irkalla be a potential location for theportal?”
“It would make an excellent base for it. It has the largest population of all the cities in the realm. If one wanted to do the most damage to the humans, that would be the place to putit.”
“That settles it then,” Ramiel said with a nod. “We’re going toIrkalla.”
* * *
We only madeit to the next abandoned village before the sky opened up overhead and dumped a shitload of rain onto our heads. And by shitload, I do mean shitload. It was rain unlike I’d ever felt before, like a sheet of pure ice that slanted sideways, stinging every inch of my skin. I’m not too proud to admit that I might have let out a little bit of ashriek.
We’d all spread out when we’d entered the village, gazing around at the various abandoned buildings. So, when the rain hit, we ended up darting off in opposite directions, everyone hightailing it to the closest building. Az and I ducked through an open doorway and found ourselves inside of a small hut with an old wooden bed and not much else. There was a fireplace in the corner, and an old, dust-covered rug. This must have been someone’s home once upon a time, now left to gather nothing butdust.
As I shook off the rain, Az peered out of the soot-covered window. “Looks like Lilith, Rourke, Isaac, and Lizzie ended up in the building across the road. The others ducked into thechurch.”
