Chapter 5

For the second time in what seemed like very little time, Amira found herself waking up in an unknown place. Instead of being surrounded by garbage, she blinked her eyes open to find herself hogtied to a cot. Rope or twine wrapped around her wrists and ankles, binding her to the cot. 

She was in a small bare room, the interior lit by a single candle on the table a few away from her. A wooden door beyond the table. There was no one else in the room except for her. 

What the hell? Where was she? Was this still Hell? 

Cursing, Amira struggled against her bonds. The rope stood no chance against her newfound strength. With one good tug, she freed her hands and used her talons to cut the rope at her ankles. She stood up and was just about to head for the door when she heard footsteps approaching. 

Quick as lightning, Amira ducked behind the door, ready for whatever or whoever it was. Whatever it was had tied her up and moved her to someplace, meaning that it was an enemy. The door opened and a slim figure stepped through the doorway. They didn't even have time to gasp when Amira snaked her arm around their neck, choking them in a headlock. 

Tiny needles sunk into Amira's arm but she refused to let go. They tried shoving her against the wall to break the hold but Amira didn't budge. 

Suddenly, a pointy elbow jabbed into her midsection, causing her to loosen her hold just a bit. Damn it, she hadn't regained all of her strength apparently. The creature she was head locking seized the opportunity, slipping out of her arms before whirling to face her.

It was...a girl? 

A petite girl who looked no more than twenty years stood in front of her, hands fisted in a defensive stance. She was a little over five feet tall and wore a black shirt and black jeans. And she was gorgeous. She had a heart-shaped face and big blue eyes framed by long thick eyelashes. Her lips were a perfect cupid's bow even though they were formed now in a scowl. Amira didn't swing that way but even she could tell that the person in front of her was beautiful. 

Her beauty almost distracted Amira from the two red horns that poked through her brown locks at the top of her head and the talons that tipped her fingers. Even though she looked mostly human, Amira wasn't quite sure she was. So what was she? She had no wings, so she couldn't have been an angel. But she looked too human to be a demon. Yet those talons and horns definitely didn't belong to a human. 

Amira blinked. "What are you?" came out before she could stop it. 

The girl lowered her hands before rubbing her raw throat, glaring at her as she coughed. "How did you get out? And do you always thank your savior that way? " 

"Savior?" 

"Didn't they teach you in Heaven that it's rude to strangle someone who saved you?" the girl huffed. "Serves my demon ass right for saving an angel." 

You can't be a demon," Amira blurted. "You look human."

She scoffed, touching her fingers to her bruised throat and winced. "You gave me a nasty one." Yet...the bruise slowly turned from purple to yellow and vanished, leaving behind unblemished skin. Yup...definitely not human.

Amira stepped back warily.  Whatever this person was, she was an unknown. She said she was a demon but Amira had never seen demons that looked like humans.  "You look human," she repeated.

"What are you, an owl?" she retorted.

Amira stared back at her. The girl raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "So are we going to stand here all day?" 

"If you're a demon, shouldn't you be attacking me right now?" Amira asked. "We're mortal enemies."

The girl sighed, muttering "thick" underneath her breath. Amira tried not to bristle.

"You're a fallen angel," the girl enunciated, speaking slowly. "I'm a demon. We're on the same team. Team Hell, you know?" 

Amira blinked. That's right, she was a fallen angel now. A fact that she kept forgetting. 

"How do I know I can trust you?" 

"If I wanted to hurt or kill you, I could have done it earlier," the girl pointed out. "And I wouldn't have saved your ass if I wanted to." 

"Saved me? From what?" 

The girl peered at her like she was dumb. "From the imps. Duh." 

Amira was getting more and more confused as the conversation went on. "Imps?" 

"We found you passed out in a trash pile not too far from the border. You know, it's a good thing that we found you before they did. Otherwise, you'd be in shreds by now. Imps are vicious creatures."

"Who's we?" 

The girl stiffened, her eyes darting. "My friends and I." 

It was obvious that she was lying. Maybe she was trying to protect someone. Whatever the case, Amira didn't really care. 

Amira thought of the demons she had killed before her body decided to give out. So they were called imps. She thought of telling the girl that they had been taken care of but Amira didn't want to reveal any more information than was necessary. She did have many questions though. Like why this demon looked so human. Or why it had chosen to save her. Or why she was still standing here talking to said demon. 

"Where are we right now?" she asked instead. 

The girl narrowed her eyes. "What are you going to do once you know?" 

"I'm going to leave," Amira told her truthfully. "I'm going to find my way out of Hell." 

She stared at Amira for a few moments before bursting out in laughter. "Oh, that's good," she said, wiping away a stray tear. "And just how are you going to do that?" 

"I just need to find a portal. I'm on my way to the outer rings where there is one." 

The girl looked at her. "There's no way you can make it to the outer rings. You'd have to get past the Polluted Lands, survive the imps, cross over the Sea of Fire, and make it over the Meadow of Swords. You'll be dead before you know it." 

"Just tell me where I am now." 

"Why should I tell you?" the girl snarked. 

"Tell me or I'll rip you apart while your friends watch," Amira hissed, her patience gone. 

Instead of hissing back, the girl shrank, eyes wide. Amira felt a stab of guilt for scaring her when she had saved Amira but then she reminded herself that this was a demon.  

"Tell me." 

"Okay, okay. You're in the Seventh Ring." 

"Is that still in Hell?" 

"Yes, this is still Hell. We're in the seventh ring from the center. If you want to make it to the outer rings, you need to travel four rings from here." 

"Great." Amira brushed past her, opening the door. It opened to a foyer which led to the main door. 

"A thank you would have been nice!" she heard the girl yell as the door closed. 

Amira ignored her. She wasn't sure what she expected when she opened the main door--maybe pits of lava and torture chambers--but a bustling town was not it. 

Black condominiums lined a black street. The sky was a dull grey, and there was no sun, but it was somehow bright enough for Amira to see in front of her. The street was filled with people--no, demons. A few looked like humans except for their horns and talons while most of them looked like, well, demons. Amira gaped as a colossal giant the color of moss ambled past. The majority of the demons in the street had scaly red bodies and long leathery tails. Amira stifled a gasp when one passed by her, narrowing its snake-like eyes. 

Amira froze in place. What in Heaven's name was she seeing? This was not the representation of Hell that they had shown her in Heaven. She had expected elaborate torture chambers and black pits. Wailing human souls and cackling demons. Not this. Besides the color, it looked like Heaven. 

Footsteps sounded behind her. She looked back to see the girl who grinned at her shocked face. 

"Surprised?" the girl asked. 

"Yes," Amira admitted. "What the hell is this? Are you telling me this is Hell?" 

"For the second and last time, yes this is Hell," the girl rolled her eyes.  

"Where are all the torture chambers and lava pits?" 

"Oh, we still have those," the girl said brightly. "They're just not around here since this our living space. Isn't it the same in Heaven? You don't have your soul processing right next to where you live now, don't you?" 

Amira didn't say anything. Actually, the La'ziel lived the closest to the soul processing unit out of all the angels. But she was still wary of this girl/demon and didn't want to give her any information, even if it was useless. 

"Could you tell me more about this place?" Despite herself, Amira was fascinated. This was nothing like what she imagined or what she first woke up to. "Where did you find me?" 

"Why should I tell you?" 

Here we go again. Has she not learned?  Amira sighed. "You've already told me a lot of information. Why withhold it now?" she pointed out. 

The girl opened her mouth when a squeaky voice came from behind her. 

"You woke up!" A few feet away from them was a little demon. It was about two feet tall with a scaly body and a black tail. It was staring at Amira, its yellow eyes full of wonder. Amira never thought the day would come where she would describe a demon as cute but here it was. 

"Donovan! How did you get out of your room?" the girl rushed towards him, hiding him behind her. She stared at Amira, tensed, and ready to fight. 

Ah. So this is what she had been lying about. 

Amira snorted. She had no interest in going after anyone who didn't bother her. "I won't hurt your kid. I don't touch children." Although she did wonder why the kid looked more like a demon than she did. Were they different types of demons? 

At her words, the girl relaxed a bit but kept Donovan behind her. 

"You woke up!" the kid piped up. "I thought you would sleep forever because you fought the imps." 

Amira startled. She had no idea someone had been watching her fight. 

"Now what did I tell you about lying?" the girl admonished. 

Amira couldn't believe she was hearing a demon tell off her kid for lying. 

"You gotta make it believable. That's how you'll get away with it." 

Never mind. 

"But she really did fight them! I saw!" the kid whined. "Tell her, angel!" 

Amira preferred her fighting abilities to remain unknown so she said nothing. 

"I think she could join the Tournament if she wanted to," Donovan continued. 

"What's the tournament?" Amira asked mildly, despite her better instincts. 

"It's a battle tournament held once every century! Any demon can compete! And if you win, you get one wish from one of the Princes!" 

"Princes?" This was getting more confusing. Since when were there princes in Hell? 

"The Princes of Hell! Our lord is hosting it this century so it'll be right here in this ring!" 

"Who is your lord?" 

"His name is Asmodeus," the girl said. "He's the Prince of Lust and the lord of this ring." 

"Asmodeus," Amira repeated. The name sounded like sin. For some reason, she felt like she had heard it somewhere before. She shook away her thoughts. 

"And you said the winner gets a wish if they win?" A plan was beginning to form in her head. "How powerful are these princes?" 

The girl shrugged. "I don't know but they are the most powerful demons in Hell." 

Hmm, the most powerful demons. Amira wondered if they could get her out of Hell. 

The girl seemed to read her mind because she narrowed her eyes. "No way. You don't think you can win, do you? Do you even know how deadly this tournament is? You'd be dead in seconds." 

Amira stretched her wings. Her body felt a bit sore but her wounds had healed and her strength was slowly returning. Her Warfire, which had been a small flame since she fought the imps, began to stir. 

She grinned wickedly at the two demons. How she loved proving people wrong. "Wanna bet?" 

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