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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] Parry hesitated. "The what?" "My Lord Lucifer, the Morning Star, as he was known before the Fall. Get down!" "So the friar shows doubt," Lucifer boomed. "For that will I do him one disfavor. Friar, I tell thee what thou dost not wish to know: the date of thy death. It is precisely three years hence, at the hour of-" Parry dropped to the floor, prostrating himself before Lucifer, and the malignant voice cut off. The Lord of Lies was satisfied. The Lord of Lies. Did that mean that this cruel information was a lie? That Lucifer was merely taunting him with a fallacious date of demise? "The friar still doubts!" Lucifer boomed again. "To Hell with him!" Suddenly flames rose up around Parry. They closed in on him, their heat excruciating. His robe caught fire. He scrambled to his feet and leaped out of the circle. He struck the ground rolling, but the material of his robe blazed up again the moment it was upward. He tore the robe off, getting free of the agony only when naked. And found himself the cynosure of a multitude of eyes. They belonged to young women, naked themselves, who gazed at him in shocked confusion. Each held a three-lined pitchfork. Parry tried to cover himself, but had nothing other than his hands. He realized the effort was pointless, and desisted; after all, they were as embarrassed as he. He was in a more literal version of Hell. There was choking smoke and smoldering fire all around, extending endlessly. The fire was contained in circular pits, each tended by one of the maidens. The nearest pits blazed up vigorously. The girls squealed in dismay, and returned to their labors, using pitchforks to scoop ashes from the edges into the center of each fire. This had the effect of damping the flames, though there was a compensating increase in the vile smoke, causing the girls to cough uncontrollably. Most of the ashes sifted down between the widely spaced tines, which hardly helped, but they had no other tools. So his appearance here had distracted these damned souls, causing them to neglect their fires, and they had been punished by increased heat and smoke. Obviously they had to keep constantly at it, or they would very soon be even more uncomfortable than they were. Lilah appeared. "I have prevailed on my Lord to give you another chance," she said. "Considering that this is your first visit here. Apologize to Him, and He will grant you the intended audience." a a T T n n s s F F f f o o D D r r P P m m Y Y e e Y Y r r B B 2 2 . . B B A A Click here to buy Click here to buy w w m m w w o o w w c c . . . . A A Y Y B B Y Y B B r r Parry realized that this was the best course. Obviously Lucifer could read his mind, and he had indeed doubted what Lucifer had told him. Then he noticed something about Lilah. Her normally perfect dresses were in disarray, and there were marks on her body. She was a demoness; no mortal could muss her or mark her, as he had long since discovered. "You were left with him," he said. "Did he hurt you?" "Of course not," she said quickly. "I cannot be hurt." "But he did something to you! You're changed!" "I am His creature," she reminded him. "I never suggested otherwise. He can do what He likes with me." The nearer fire girls were becoming distracted again, overhearing this dialogue. "What did he do to you?" Parry demanded. "Nothing I was not made for," she said defensively. "Look, Parry, this is dangerous. Just apologize to Him, and-" "How did you get him to reconsider?" "Parry, you know I have only one way to-" "You had sex with him!" he cried, in a sudden fit of jealous rage. "You prostituted yourself to him!" "That term has no meaning for my kind. Please, Parry, be reasonable, lest-" "You whore!" he screamed. The visage of Lucifer appeared amidst the hovering smoke. "Methinks our friar hath not quite yet relinquished his monkly ways," the Lord of Lies said. "Let him remain here for eternity, then!" "My Lord, no!" Lilah cried. "It is not yet his time!" "And thou with him, strumpet, for thy failure," Lucifer intoned, and faded out. Lilah tore at her hair in a remarkably human gesture of remorse. "Now look what you've done. Parry! We'll never get out of here!" Parry's rage evaporated. Of course she was a creature of this nether region, and sexual fidelity had no meaning for her. He had reacted possessively, when he had no right to be. She had never told him that she cared for him at all; she had only rewarded him in a calculated manner when he did what she wished. Whore? She had never claimed to be anything else! She had acted in her fashion to try to obtain a reprieve for him, and had succeeded-and he had thrown it away by his narrowness. "I apologize to you, Lilah," he said. "But not to him." There was a smattering of applause from the surrounding women. Then they hastened back to their work. "It's too late to apologize to anyone!" she snapped. Yet she seemed mollified; she had always reacted positively when he addressed her in a polite manner. It was evident that demons did not get much respect, and craved it. "We're both stuck here with [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |