Ridley

We rode on two demon horses. They had been supplied by the stables and they weren't like any creature I had ever ridden before. They were a glossy black with eyes that matched. I looked over to Vandel now, he galloped a few feet ahead of me.

"How long should this take? I kind of hate you so it would be great if we could make this as fast as possible, no offence."

Vandel simply shrugged. "None taken, I hate you too."

I swallowed hard. I really shouldn't be doing this...this was a bad idea. Helping a demon could be considered treason to the crown. Was my own life truly worth this dishonor? It wasn't too late. I could just ask Vandel to kill me now. I shook my head. I couldn't, I had to survive so I could continue to serve the kingdom. The crown would pardon me for this...and if they didn't then I would willingly face the consequences.

Vandel looked to me now. "What were you doing back at the palace? Most humans wouldn't escape from some place so dangerous and then immediately try to come back."

"I'm not most humans."

"I'd beg to differ," Vandel scoffed. "You're stubborn, obnoxious and annoying, all very human traits."

I glared at him. "Did you just call me obnoxious?"

Vandel snickered. "Why, does that hurt your feelings?"

"I've never been called obnoxious in my entire life. I'm always extremely polite."

"You just told me you hated me, that doesn't seem very polite to me."

I chewed on my lip, surprised that he actually had a point.

"I...I don't usually say things like that," I said slowly. "I promise you, I'm usually much more professional, even regarding demons."

"Even when you're running them down?" Vandel said dryly.

I stiffened. "When humans and demons meet it's usually not a play date Vandel it's battle. I have no choice." I sighed softly. "It would be nice though...for the blood shed to stop..." But not until I cut down whatever wretch of a demon killed my father. I shrugged now. "By the way, I do have every right to hate you regardless, you kidnapped the princess, you lied to us about having a fair meeting to get her back, you led me straight to a Bone Monster-"

"Well you kidnapped me."

"Yeah, well maybe you should have better security on your own damn castle."

"Oh shut up, like you're one to talk! It took us literally five minutes to capture princess Annette and you want to talk about castle security? You ARE the security."

My mouth drew into a thin line. "Can we please stop talking and just get this over with?"

"Changing the subject so suddenly," Vandel cooed. "Is it because you know I'm right?" I didn't answer and Vandel let out a low chuckle. "I'll take your silence as a yes." Gods I hated him. I took in a deep breath trying to stay calm and ignore Vandel's jests. Suddenly Vandel pulled on the reins and his horse slowed to a stop. I glanced in the same direction Vandel was looking and saw a giant black gaping hole in the forest floor.

I stared at it agape. "What...is that?"

Vandel smirked at me. "That's where you're about to go to retrieve the cloak."   

I stared at Vandel a moment, a clear look of disbelief plastered to my face. He slipped off his horse and slowly I did the same. The moment our bodies left the horses they turned perfectly still, as if they were carved from marble.

At last I turned to face him slowly. "We're going...down there?"

Vandel smirked. "Oh, there is no we, just you."

"But I can't be more than ten feet away from you. I'm pretty sure that hole is much deeper than ten feet." Vandel lay a hand on my shoulder. I hated how closely his long black nails resembled claws.

"I can expand the area, you can move freely at my will, it's part of the spell. I'll be able to sense you wherever you are and vise versa. That means if you try to run I can change the radius back to 10 feet and trust me you won't want to see what happens then."

I furrowed my brow. "You can change the range of where I can move anytime you want? That doesn't make any sense."

"It's fucking magic Ridley of course it's not going to make sense." He pulled out a bag he had brought and tossed a pile of rope at me. "There you are, just tie it tree or something and lower yourself down. Please try to make this quick. I don't want to get back too late, I need my beauty sleep."

"Clearly you need it."

Vandel cast me a sharp glare. "Hey! The fuck did I say about being obnoxious!" He ran a hand through his hair. "Not that I'm too upset, I know you're just jealous that you're not nearly as good looking as me."

"Clearly." I was honestly shocked at myself, I never acted like this. Being around Vandel must just bring out the worst in me. Vandel began to dig around in his bag. He pulled out a crystal wine glass and a bottle of wine.

I arched a brow. "Are you serious?"

Vandel didn't respond, tugging off the cork with his teeth. He proceeded to pour the dark liquid into his glass. At last he brought the cup to his lips, took a sip, and then finally looked to me.

"Oh don't mind me, I'm just going to be enjoying a nice beverage while you're down there." He grinned. "Have fun."

Sighing heavily I knotted one end of the rope Vandel had given me around my waist and then proceeded to tie the other side to a tree. Slowly I made my way to the edge of the pit. Well...there was no doubt in my mind that this was going to be an absolutely dreadful experience.

Vandel snapped his fingers. "The fuck are you doing? Enjoying the view? Hurry it up." And then something came over me. I had no idea what it was....it was a bitter anger that I had never experienced before. And then for the first time in my life I raised one finger in an obscene gesture to Vandel before I lowered myself into the gaping mouth of the pit.

I was honestly shocked at my behavior today, I don't think I have ever acted so rudely in my life. Then again, it was towards Vandel so I supposed maybe, just maybe that gave me a free pass.

I made my way down into the pit and Finally my boots hit the ground. It was dark, but after awhile my eyes became accustomed to it. I glanced around. I appeared to be in some kind of underground cave complex. At the other end of the chamber a large rock rose up, on it rested a black garment. That must be the cloak of the heavens. I was surprised how easy this was going to be. I took a step forward and my feet were met by something wet. I stumbled back immediately. With a start I realized the entire cavern floor, save on the spot I was standing, was covered in some type of thick green slime. I ignored my initial bout of disgust and took a step further. I seemed to have miscalculated the depth of the green slime because my foot sunk much deeper than I expected. The further I moved towards the center of the cave the deeper it seemed to become. It moved up my ankles to my knees to my waist. About midway through an awful stench seemed to kick in that smelled like rotten eggs. I cursed my luck and began wading deeper. It was hard to move through the slime, it was thick and it slowed my movements. It was almost like walking through gelatin. As I continued the slime began to move up my chest causing me to shuddered. I was suddenly met with the awful realization that I couldn't keep my exposed hands above it anymore. A shiver ran up my spine as my I skin came in contact with the cold gooey substance. I forced myself onwards, fighting for each step. Suddenly I heard a noise. It was low, like a hum. I stopped, looking around. The sound got nearer and then suddenly I realized the sound was a buzz. Suddenly a black cloud appeared. With horror I realized that the cloud was made up of dozens of small black locust like insects. I would have reached for my sword but I knew it would do little good against the swarm, especially with both my hands submerged in the goo. I simply shut my eyes, closed my mouth, and waited for the cloud of the disgusting insects to pass through. I prayed silently to the Gods that these things didn't sting. The swarm surrounded me, I could feel the insects hitting my face with a thud and brushing against my skin. I tried my best to not throw up, clenching my jaw tighter. Their buzzing was a roar in my ear and I swallowed hard, attempting to regain my composure. Finally it was over. Cautiously I opened my eyes. No harm had been done, if anything the green slime seemed to have been lowered back to my waist. The insects must be feeding off of it. I shook my head, either way I just wanted to get this damn cloak and get out as soon as humanly possible before they came back.

I finally managed to make it to the bank on the other side and pull myself up. As I neared the cloak the stone around the garment began to glow a luminescent blue. I suddenly noticed the same blue glow had appeared on the wall. When I looked up I saw there were drawings there which I hadn't been able to make out before. In the drawing there was a creature. I wasn't sure what it was, it looked human but it was huge with grisly teeth. The creature had a smaller person in its grasp. Upon closer observation of the smaller creature's eyes I realized it was a demon. In this monsters other hand was a sword on which another demon was impaled like a shish kabob. Beside the drawing appeared the words 'The Demon Eater'. I furrowed my brow, that was odd. I would have examined the strange writing further but I wanted to get out of this hell hole as soon as possible.

I snatched up the garment quickly. For a moment I thought it would be funny to dunk the item in the slime, just so it would look awful when I gave it back to Vandel and he would be pissed off. I didn't do this for two reasons. One, I sir Ridley of the house of Alester never did funny things and the fact that I had even thought of it surprised me. The second was that I didn't know if the bond would be broken if the garment was ruined and there was no way in hell I wanted to find out. Holding the cloth above my head I began to wade back. That's when suddenly I noticed that the slime in a specific spot was moving. I froze, my stomach turning to ice water. Suddenly a green serpent like creature rose from the depths of the slime. Luckily I was only up to my knees in it so I was able to tuck the cloak under my arm and reach for Crystalbreaker. It was a little tricky to draw the sword with its hilt covered in the slippery slime. Once I grabbed it and unsheathed it however I was surprised at how perfect the sword felt in my grip. It was almost as if it was meant to be there, like an extension of my own hand. I looked to the serpent and sighed heavily.

"Well," I said, to no one in particular. "Here we go."