click...clack...click...clack

The sound was incessant, reverberating off the walls in the much too quiet hallway. The lifelessness of the hallways only fed into the annoyance that screwed the defined jaw of the woman into a tight clench. The black attire she wore clung to her taut body as her hair played in the air as she quickly made her way down the hallway. The faint sound of giggling had her eyes darkening to black, a sinister shadow casting over her feature and she became more dangerous and inhuman in appearance as she stopped, for but a moment, before a pair of closed heavy wooden doors.

Without a second of hesitation the once closed doors flew open in splintered pieces as the occupants in the bed gave their own sounds of surprise as they scrambled to cover themselves. Stalking forward towards a smug, handsome man she stopped at the edge of the bed her blackened eyes glued on the fiery amber ones that taunted her.

“Fancy seeing you here. Can I assume you’ve come to join in on the party, Nasrin?”

“Did you just say N-Nasrin?” One of the women squeaked as she looked over the inhuman female before her.

“Get out.” The demand was clear and immediately snapped the two women into motion as they jetted off the bed as if it had suddenly become burning hot. Not a word was shared between the smug male and Nasrin as the two women issued useless apologies on their exit. Only once the door closed did either of the two spur into action. A draw of a breath was enough time for Nasrin to have the male pressed against the headboard of the bed her sharp nails drawing beads of blood as her face came dangerously close to his.

“Azrael, tell me one reason I shouldn’t kill you here and now?”

“Kill me and you lose your only chance of controlling the forces. We’ve yet to see what this “King” has to offer, while you waste your time fucking him we have fought his battles, you have negotiated and led him this far, your subordinance makes you look weak.”

Nasrin squeezed her hand digging her nails deeper into his neck for a moment before releasing her hold, ”Remember this time, and remind the men, I can kill you all at a moment’s notice. Continue to doubt me and be sent back to the depths of hell, continue to disobey me and I will have you begging for hell. I asked for a report on the encampment East of here to be ready when I returned, and yet here am I seeking you out. Within the day you will gather your officers in the war room and present the report before your King and I. Also, accompany those pests who were frolicking uselessly in here to the courtyard, I will allow you to disrespect me just this once, but never shall any of these breeders even breathe out of their place before me, muchless in the home of their King.”



With the fire of her anger mostly extinguished an irritated sigh left her plump lips, running a hand through her hair and shaking it out she headed towards her new destination. An eagerness swept through her as the dearly commanding voice, though muffled, boomed through the central halls. Nasrin had been absent from the “palace” for a month tending to some…hellish business, and had only kept up with business in the mortal realm through a familiar. Nearer she drew as the voice of another dared rival the volume of her beloved, it seemed her absence from the “palace” allowed these idiots time to find a spine.

Ahh.. how she loved ripping out the spines of fools.

”Infinitus est numerus stultorum.”* Her velvety voice spread throughout the tense room as all eyes turned on to her. Waving a dismissive hand to the lesser demons who visibly relaxed and offered their bows of respect, her darkening eyes glued onto the mortal man who had not yet turned to face the woman stalking towards him. The scent of hell ash and gunpowder was pungent and easily identified the stout pest, instantly killing him was out of the question but punishment was not. The pupils of her eyes grew to fill them in its inky black appearance, and her skin turned an inhuman red color as she spoke in an otherworldly, echoing voice,”Kneel.” the command reverberated in the throne room as all the mortals and lesser demons quickly fell to their knees, the few higherborn demons shuffled uncomfortably as they backed away to the comfort of the perimeters of the room. Nasrin’s eyes flickered around the room before landing upon the pawn man she had pledged her loyalty to.

“If not for the mercy and ultimate guidance of your king, you insects would have already been erased from this land.” Removing her eyes from Gabriel she turned around to face the human glaring up at her, his persistence, and unwavering courage had a sinful smile spreading across her face, “It seems you wish to only tempt me..” her voice had shifted into a sultry tone as the suffocating presence sweeped out of the room. Nasrin’s foot struck with an experienced calculation as the definite sound of breaking bone filled the room, the anger in the man’s face quickly turned to pain as he cradle his limp hanging arm. A satisfied sigh exit her lips, a flicker of pleasure playing in her eyes as she turned around and bounded the stairs,”All of you leave us, bring this fool to the healers, fetch his wife and have them ready for me later on.”

Once the room was cleared and the heavy doors closed shut Nasrin’s composure relaxed, a real smile appearing on her lips as she slowly circled around the occupied throne, “Was it your goal to have me return to such a mess? Azrael is frolicking in the sheets with humans instead of tending to his duties, the lesser demons and the help are nowhere in sight as much is requiring attention, and you have subjects bold enough to shout at you in your throne room.” Nasrin’s tone had shifted from amused to irritated as she stopped in front of Gabe her hand on his throat tilting his face up, and her face mere inches from him, “Did all of my advising and teachings go to waste,Gabriel?”

When speaking of taking the journey, Azariah had not expected to spend two months trudging through endless roads covered in sand searching high and low for the “kingdom” of Aeternum. The thought was enough to make the unscathed man chuckle,”A false palace for a false king, the most befitting of circumstances.” Despite the chuckle his features furrowed into one of displeasure as he reflected upon the past two months.

The lands were ravaged, overran by hordes of lesser demons being puppetered by higherborns and Circle class demons all in name of their false kings. Hard to believe the conditions in the badlands, the expansive distance between these makeshift kingdoms, were even more so worse off, practically suicide grounds for the mortals. Cannibalistic and more savage lesser demons and exiled half-bloods took to pillaging, hunting and raiding in the areas, attacking unprotected caravans and the odd foolish traveler. The sights were harrowing in the least, the sound of tortured screams and ripping flesh all the more vibrant in his memory as a swift shake of his head dispelled the reflection, a single bead of sweat trailing from his forehead,”alis grave nil*”

Some odd hours passed, the annoying pang in his stomach enough to make him grumble, as a celestial being no such things affected him, but to make this farce believable he would have to experience a somewhat mortal existence. The sound of fighting drew him closer as he approached the entrance to what could be assumed a false kingdom, a group of demons stood outside the entrance beating upon a middle age man, their chaperon, a highborn, dug around through the ceased cargo as he smiled to himself. Azariah slowed his pace raising his hands into the air wanting to appear as docile as possible, despite the ease he would have in dispatching these poor excuses he need to get into the city, find information on Aeternum, and of its king. The demon’s paused their actions sensing his presence, hissing at the brightness of the man before him, “What is it you want pretty boy?” one of the demons hissed stepping over the man and in his direction, their highborn had yet to pay any heed to him, and he planned on not getting his attention.

“I’m just looking for information, I offer silver, and hell ash gunpowder in exchange for entrance. I have every intention of making myself useful in my time spent here.”

Azariah had abundant practice in gaining entry into the various cities, different problems plagued each of them but, resources and talent were scarce commodities that even the dumbest of lesser demons could comprehend the importance of. A bloodied hand, if you could call it that, was thrust his way and with haste he dropped eight silvers and the bag of gunpowder into the demon’s possession before hurriedly walking past the group and entering the unknown city. Perhaps in different circumstance the angel would have been impressed by his surroundings, whichever of the kings ruled this city was much more well off than the others, in terms of defensive capabilities and occupation limits.

Wandering eyes led his body straight into another as they snapped down in time to see the, human scrambling to pick up some fallen bread. The smell wafted to his nose and a small groan sounded in his throat, that was the freshest bread he had smelled in all of his existence.

His hunger was pushed aside as he gazed upon the woman before him, there was something special about her, the longer her looked the more pressing of an urge he felt to accompany her. Clearing his throat quietly he motioned to the side for them to step out of the center of the road. Being mindful of the space he left between them he leaned toward her and spoke in a hushed tone, his voice smooth like honey and soft like a lullaby.

“Instead of the bread allow me the opportunity to purchase information from you.” Reaching into his pockets he pulled out five silvers and showed them to her, “Four questions, for five silvers, and I will leave you to go about your day.” Azariah continued without waiting for her to continue,” The first, why is someone like you wandering amongst these streets all alone, and so confidently? Better yet, where have I managed to stumble upon where a woman, a beautiful one at that, can easily walk free?” A small smirk spread across his face, as he appeared to be completely at ease before the woman, maybe it was the familiarity he felt resonating within her, or perhaps for once the being shuffling the the streets paid no heed to his presence,[color=gold “Last two, where is a well-fed woman like you bustling about with that many loaves bread?”[/color]. For the last question he leaned in closer, his eyes scanning the crowd for a moment before continuing, “Is anyone aware, or shown awareness to your… ‘potential’?”

---

Unwavering and magnificent his dark blue eyes challenged the mischievous gaze she had cast upon him. The sound of his voice, though quiet, carried in the room due to its baritone, swirling around her as if taunting her, before resting in the pit of her stomach. A warm chuckle left her lips as her King released himself from her grasps, a month’s time is surely enough for human’s interests to move elsewhere, how disappointing. Taking a step backwards and clearing her mind Nasrin lowered herself to one knee, placing an arm on her bent knee as she bowed her head accepting Gabe’s dismissal of Azrael’s behavior, and offering a silent apology for her previous behavior before him.

A low growl sounded in her throat at his taunting words, perhaps his affections had changed but his love of games, at the expense of her pride, remained. Lifting her head, her irritation was met with the quirking of his lips sent her almond eyes narrowing as he basked in his own amusement, “I have no need to be showered with those… wastes of resources, do not insult me.” her voice was sultry in its natural state, a byproduct of being the ruler of the Second Circle of Lust, among many other things.

“A familiar certainly is not enough to watch over my own domain, and the rumors of another Circle ruler rising to back a King candidate were enough to draw me back to my realm.” she started in an even tone though the hand resting against the cool stone floor clenched into a fist as she continued, “Seems Abbadon, was growing tired of reining in the depths of the Sixth Circle, and has decided to grace this land with his influence. I was able to… convince him to take your kingship into consideration, he spawns in the West and will be visiting Ex Oblivione first before coming here.” Nasrin finished in her even tone as she gazed upon Gabriel observing his reactions.

“I would expect the Sixth to arrive in no more than two weeks time, his loyalty cannot be won by simply existing, you will have to offer something of interest for him to stay around. Though an omnipotent being as yourself must already have some remnants of a plan brewing, and will not require anymore of my menial influence in the matter.”

Nasrin’s tone turned devilishly sarcastic, the eagerness willingness she had to return here, return to Gabe, had turned sour by the state of the affairs and his iciness towards her. In the past she had shared enough information about the workings of the Nine Circles and how each ruler interacted and behaved with another and within their realm. Though she had not gone into specifics about each of the rulers or about any of the domains, hers included, she did cover the common abilities each ruler had and vaguely the relationships between the nine of them. “Luckily”, Abbadon was a “friend” to Nasrin, and it took just a sprinkle of her “charm” and her expertise to draw him to Aeternum.

“Before I forget, Azrael and his scouts will be awaiting with their report on the camp across the ocean, in the counsel room before dinner. Now, if there’s nothing else you require of me, allow me to take my leave.”

”There’s no need to be a bitch, Nasrin.”

Swift is the death of the usual fool to call the demon out of her name, and had her affections not been garnered he not been the most viable of the candidates, perhaps even the wickedness of her existence would reach to stamp Gabriel’s out. Quickly the anger dissipated into an obvious annoyance, and silent she remained as a confident finger angled her face upwards. The reminder he spoke between them sent a shiver down her spine and she rolled her dark eyes to mask the excitement lit within her.

Whatever moment Gabriel had graced her with was over as quickly as it begun, his back straight and eyes peering down at her. Gazing up at him in this moment Nasrin was almost proud of how much he had changed, how he had grown. Though undeniably Nasrin had a heavy hand in his climb to power and coming into his role as a ruler, she had just as much to do with the stagnant state he currently faced. The other rulers that shared this continent with Aeternum, currently, were preoccupied with establishing themselves and gaining support from the hellions. None of them, to her expansive knowledge, had mastery of their innate abilities, and thus posed no threat. There had been no pressure to advance Gabriel forward towards completion, not while the relationship and trust between them was in such a volatile state.

Well, at least before her dear friend Abbadon had expressed his desires to meddle in the affairs of this realm. Now Nasrin was faced with a choice between her pride and her objective, how she hated the growing familiarity of this decision. Prideful, but never to the point of foolishness she gave a long sigh hanging her head for a moment as she calculated her new course of action. Gabriel’s bumbling words had fallen on deaf ears and only his question of Abbadon’s question brought her attention back to him.

“Listen, Gabe…” she started pausing with uncertainty, not paying heed to the use of the nickname she never used, “I discovered a way for you to speed up the process of getting in touch with your powers...Or rather unlocking them. Let me demonstrate.”.

Nasrin slowly reached for his hand, gently holding it in her own she used her free hand to draw a thin line of blood on his palm, dipping her head she ran her tongue along the incision her pupils expanding as the faintest breaths of power washed over her. Closing her eyes she pulled her face away from his hand and traced a finger over the cut and then in a circle around his palm, “ab aeterno”. The wave of energy that left her was more than she had been expecting as she swayed forward balancing herself on the arm of the the throne as the blood on Gabriel’s palm turned black and sweeped into his skin, an incomprehensible black ring appeared just centimeters above his skin for a moment before vanishing leaving behind a single flickering black flame.

Though upon retrieving her hand from beneath his, the flame extinguished immediately and all traces of the magic gone with it. “Usually a catalyst triggers the gate to open naturally, but there are means to forcibly open it. Abbadon seeks not to usurp directly, but if his alliance is won elsewhere he would not hesitate in raising all of Hell against us. This is your best option, but the next two weeks will be horrendous and I need you to trust in me, I’m doing this for you.” Nasrin’s voice was softer than it ever had been, weak almost, the ritual she had performed had given her the clear picture of the power he had inside him and it surpassed even her expectations.

Without a doubt she knew a King sat before her, and soon enough he would be in need of a Queen.

---

Azariah was not one who lacked the observation skills and he noted the incredulous look that crossed her face as he put himself in her proximity.

A shake of his head was at first the only response he had to her rushed responses, “You seem far too humble and dare I say disgusted to be a simple whore.” He responded with a warm chuckle leaning back against cool stone wall behind him. One too many pair of eyes seemed to flicker between them settling longer on her before quickly glancing away, there was familiarity in those lingering eyes.

The angel pursed his lips in curiosity for a moment as he pondered her position in this establishment. There was possibility she was an outlier amongst the many whores he had met in his travels, but it was unlucky. Somehow the poor women had imagined themselves to be important members of society, more than just a means of procreation, and they acted as such towards other humans. Haughty and cruel they walked along in the middle of the road, the few selected for the “king” even crueler than the common whore, daring anyone to approach them.

Perhaps she was an advisor of sorts, her body was slim and looked agile enough, but the light that flickered in her eyes, and what he could sense from her was not one yet consumed by darkness. The warmth of her hands on his brought him back to her a flicker of warm light caught his eyes where their skin met and he sucked in a breath, “Dis aliter visim.” he muttered in disbelief.

Azariah acted quickly reaching a firm hand around hers ceasing her moments as a warmth spread between them, the flickering light present yet again. Perhaps this was not the perfect time for his hasty actions as a highborn stalked towards them a fierce look upon his face.

“I think I can give you answers about what you are, but it will need to be in a more secluded place and I think that demon knows you.” Azariah slipped one of the silvers in her palm after saying a quick chant under his breath, “It will function as your guide if you desire to find me, my name is Azariah.” he finished his words and quickly bowed out, vanishing into the crowd.