"How much further?" Alex wiped sweat from his eyes. He had been trudging through for hours, his bare feet sliced and bleeding. "I'm hungry and I'm tired,"
[We are nearly there, Alex-boy. But we have a small... hypothetical curiosity to satisfy.]
"Ask away," Alex muttered, his voice raspy.
[Hypothetically: if multiple hostile entities were rushing toward you from several directions at high velocity... how did you plan to defend yourself?]
Alex stopped walking. He looked at his thin, shaking arms. "I can't defend myself. That's why I'm following your directions. That's why I want to leave."
[Ah. So, just to be clear: you are heading toward a dense gathering of hell dwellers because you believe a 'civilized' city will offer you protection?]
"Yes?" Alex felt a cold knot form in his stomach. "Isn't that how cities work?
[In other worlds, perhaps. Here? You are partially right. There is security... for those who are strong enough. For everyone else, there is only the choice between being the labor or the lunch.]
"But you said!" Alex's voice rose to a panicked shriek. "You said demons wouldn't just devour me! You said they weren't like the stories!"
["Don't be naive. We said they wouldn't backstab you for nothing. But you're offering them the greatest 'something' in the Pit. You are weak, Alex-boy. Why haggle for a soul when they can just rip it out of your chest?...And it seems our little 'hypothetical' has just been upgraded to 'current events'.]
"What?" Alex spun around, his eyes widening.
[Run, Alex-boy. Run like your soul depends on it.]
Alex didn't need to be told twice. He bolted. "Where do I go?!" Alex screamed.
[Left.]
A skittering sound, like a thousand dry needles on stone, erupted to his right. A Giant spider, its abdomen bloated with glowing violet ichor and its eight eyes fixed on Alex's throat, lunged from a rock formation. Its needle-thin legs clicked rhythmically, gaining ground with terrifying ease.
Her massive, hairy abdomen hovering directly over Alex. One of her front legs, sharp as a glass needle and dripping with paralytic venom, lunged downward. It was a killing blow, aimed straight for Alex face.
[It was nice knowing you, Alex-boy.]
Alex closed his eyes, waiting for the cold sting.
CRUNCH.
A massive, lava-cracked fist slammed into the Spider's side. A gaint Ape had leaped the gap behind them, refusing to let the arachnid claim the prize. The Spider was sent flying, her venomous leg missing Alex's ear by a mere inch, carving a deep groove into the stone where his head had been a second before.
Alex scrambled to his feet, not waiting to see who won the brawl.
[Welcome back! Strategic Advice: Don't look back. The Jackal is pacing you on the left, and the Serpent is under the sand.]
Alex sprinted toward a narrow canyon, a hole in the rock that looked just small enough to hide in. But as he reached the entrance, the Razor-Back Jackal cut him off, its twin tails whipping through the air like serrated blades. From the shadows of the canyon ,A massive bat dropped, its claws inches from his hair.
[It was nice knowing you, Alex-boy. For real this time.]
Alex ducked by pure instinct. Claws raked the air where his eyes had been. The bat-demon collided head-on with the Jackal, and the two began a frantic, snarling dance of teeth and wings.
[OHHHHHHHHHHH! THAT WAS AMAZING, ALEX-BOY! WE KNEW YOU HAD IT IN YOU!]
Alex squeezed past them, his skin crawling. He was almost through the canyon when the ground beneath him heaved.
The Barbed Serpent erupted from the ground, its circular maw of concentric teeth opening wide to swallow him whole. Alex tripped, falling backward as the Serpent lunged.
BOOM.
The moment the Serpent's head almost reached Alex, a violent pulse of white light detonated. The Serpent's face charred instantly, It shrieked, recoiling.
[ALEX, YOU'RE SO FULL OF SURPRISES!]
Alex scrambled back, but the Ape was back, looming over him. The ape was faster than a creature that size should be. It ignored the burning light, its sheer mass pushing through the burn. It reached out, its massive hand closing in on Alex's chest.
The Ape's arm began to smoke, the hair on its arms curling into ash. It roared in agony but didn't stop, Until the Spider, recovered and enraged, leaped onto the Ape's back, sinking her fangs into its back.
The Ape staggered, his hand snapping shut inches from Alex's throat, the gust of wind from the closing fist ruffling Alex's hair. The two monsters tumbled away in a heap of fur, chitin, and burning light.
"STOP!" the bat roared, its leathery wings snapping tight as it hovered between the combatants.
The violence died instantly. The Ape froze with its fist cocked; the Spider hissed, pulling her fangs from the Ape's shoulder. Even the Serpent and the Jackal went still, their predatory eyes shifting from Alex to the bat-demon. Alex collapsed against a rock,
"Look at us," the bat hissed, its voice like scraping stones. "Fighting for one soul that might vanish in a puff of white smoke before we even get a bite? Why waste the effort? Look at the quality of that soul. It's high-tier. If we take him to the city and sell him to the collectors, the split will be ten times without any of us dying."
The demons exchanged glances. The Ape grunted, slowly lowering his fist. The Spider clicked her mandibles in a slow, greedy rhythm of agreement.
[YOU IDIOT! WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? START RUNNING!]
[RUN WHERE?]
A second voice countered.
[THEY'VE STOPPED FIGHTING EACH OTHER, ALEX-BOY. INTRODUCE YOURSELF.]
"What?" Alex shouted aloud, his voice cracking in the sudden silence. Every demonic head snapped toward him.
[INTRODUCE YOURSELF. SHOW THEM YOU ARE NOT TO BE TRIFLED WITH ESTABLISH YOUR AUTHORITY.]
"But... but I am to be trifled with!"
[JUST INTRODUCE YOURSELF. PREY DON'T HAVE NAMES, SO DON'T BE A PREY. BEGGING WILL NEVER HELP YOU IN THE PIT. LEARN NOT TO BEG.]
"I'm Alex." Alex forced his spine to straighten, locking his hands behind his back to hide the fact that his fingernails were digging into his palms "You are?"