Chained in the Demon's Lair (Hellfire Circus) Read Online Free Page B

he was back under the ground.
Quite far below as it so happened, though thankfully not nearly as
far below as that other place. Thank Scum for that, he
thought.
    And then in an instant he understood just
what they had done to him and he almost laughed at the genius of
it. He began to slide down the red surface of the huge nuclear
warhead’s nozzle, gaining speed as he approached the edge before
finally slipping over into the dark abyss and falling the few
hundred feet to the floor of the silo below.
    Bastards.
    He hit the ground with a crunch as his human
limbs shattered beneath the force of the fall. There was no point
now in even trying to repair them. In a few more seconds they’d be
torn apart with far more force than he himself would ever be able
to mend. And where would that leave him?
    “Oh shit,” he whispered, “oh no.”
    From here there was only one place to go
and he had a feeling the high dukes of Hell were not going to let
him come back to earth again anytime soon. No, they’d probably have
other plans in store for the demon who’d betrayed their rule and
gone out on his own as a renegade. It looked like the gig was
finally up.
    Or was it? Maybe there was something he could
do, anything? As Mephistopheles wracked his brain for the quick fix
that would get him out of this mess he was in, the warheads above
him turned white hot and beyond in the space of mere milliseconds
and his earthly body was obliterated in an instant. Mephistopheles
went back to Hell.
     
    ***
     
    Julie watched with grave concern as Samuel
and Baptiste used all their strength to try to subdue the terrible
force that was surely reverberating through the whole silo below.
How long she wondered, would they have to hold the force at bay?
Would they be strong enough?
    After what seemed like an eternity, every
second drawn out to its taut, intense limit, the worst of the
explosion seemed to subside and the huge glow that surrounded the
magicians began to falter.
    After another few seconds the sky was dark
again and it was almost as though nothing at all of interest had
ever taken place on that patch of earth, not even civilization
itself. The desert was bare and empty, indifferent to the plights
of men and demons alike.
    “My darling!” Samuel shouted as he ran
towards her, “you’re alright!”
    He wrapped his strong arms around her and
Julie collapsed into the security of his grasp.
    “Is it over?” she asked, “is it really
over?”
    “Yes, my love,” Samuel replied, “It’s
over.”
    He pressed his warm lips over hers and in an
instant all the pain and suffering of the ordeal was wiped away,
replaced with only love, joy and hope. The Ringmaster was a magic
kisser.
    “But Francois?” Julie asked when they finally
broke lips, “Cassandra? What about them?”
    The Ringmaster was silent for a moment.
“There was nothing we could have done,” he said finally, “they gave
up their lives so we could live. Cassandra, for all her faults, at
least redeemed herself before the end.”
    “All we can do now is live on,” Baptiste
said, “in honor of their memory. That is what a life is, a proud
affront to death and darkness. A flickering candle that lights up a
microscopic feast. It is made to be enjoyed and then it is gone as
fast as it ever appeared.”
    “For some perhaps,” the Ringmaster said,
cradling his lover in his chest as he looked out at the purple
horizon. “But some of us have mastered the art of making life last
a little longer. I’ve lived for almost three centuries my friend,
but only now am I truly free. And I intend to make the most of the
wonderful gift that has been bestowed upon me. Now at last I can be
free to realize my vision.”
    “And what’s that then?” Baptiste asked with a
wry smile.
    “Why, bringing pleasure and delight to those
who need it the most,” Samuel said, “to give a voice to all of the
best and most seductive sins, while banishing the worst ones from
the face of the earth. That