Up close, the Gates still was scary but for some reason, I had the urge to look up into the nose of this enormous visage. Maybe I thought if I only would spot a single nose hair then I knew it wasn't real. There were so many stories and urban myths about demonic cultivators, that I never really considered them to be fact. Sometimes I think my naivety will be the death of me or even worse, it will lose me my audience. Anyway, as I was saying, I was screwed.
My redheaded kidnapper fiddled with her cyber interface, a tiny implant in her forehead. She used some kind of communication or code because afterwards the door opened, seemingly by itself. It was spooky until I saw the antique mechanism powering the oversized doors. Machines consisting of gears and pulleys were rare nowadays, only to be seen in textbooks, museums, and, of course, secret caves of demonic cults.
She shoved me forwards. "No need to be violent, okay?" I complained.
She just gave me a look which likely meant: 'Huh? I'm a demonic cultivator, bitch.'
Yeah, figures.
As we went in I spotted underground-people, other than my bullying caretaker. And they were certainly not few in numbers, hundreds at least, if not thousands. An expansive cave with open living quarters chiseled right out of the rock was unfolding in front of my eyes. "Now, that's different", I thought while marveling at the strange beauty of it all. My tardiness was rewarded with a kick to my lower back.
"Ouch!" I moaned while being pulled down one of the many roads. "Meadow, remember to pay her back double, no, tenth fold the amount of pain", I said to myself while clenching my teeth.
A boy, maybe thirteen or fourteen years old, came running to us: "Sister! You are back! And what is that? Your hunt was successful?" He mustered me with creepy proficiency. I was certainly not the first one who was 'hunted'.
"Kind of scrawny", he continued.
The older sister handed the handbag and the suitcase over to him and waved: "With the chaos on the surface I was lucky to snatch anyone. Nearly got evaporated by a red."
"A red-beast!? In the city!?" The boy's face fell.
"Don't worry Cale, I'm unhurt. Yeah, not sure which of the surface dwellers offended the beasts. Well, I have one stupid enough to insult a red in its face here, so it could be anyone, really" she indicated at me, "not that I care."
For some reason, I bowed slightly when I got so rudely introduced. Funnily enough, the boy called Cale responded with the same gesture.
Being freed from her load made my mean kidnapper chatty again. The two siblings talked about trivial stuff while we were walking. I continued to examine my surroundings. It looked a bit like my father described the Kunlun Depths only less urban if that makes any sense. There wasn't much concrete used in the makeshift buildings. The most common materials were stone, wood, and crude metal. The machines they used, like the mechanism which opened the gate, were all antiques. Steam-powered if I had to guess but I couldn't make out any source of heat. Strange.
Now that I looked closely I saw no warming fires, except the torches that lit the cave. No heating units, not even people cuddling under thick blankets. They all wore ragged but ordinary clothes and just did their daily routines as if it were a friendly day in spring. I thought it was very cold down here which is only logical, considering the depth. But how did these people manage? I had a feeling that I didn't want to know the answer.
We marched toward the center of the cave. There stood a rustic wooden chapel. As we approached I saw two people who shared my fate, beaten up and captured, but in worse shape. They came from different roads therefore I assumed there must be more than one entrance to this underground sanctum. One was a woman in a stained business costume who endlessly, but silently, cried. The other was a police officer who was barely alive. Wounds from either the battle against the mecha beasts or against his captor were coloring his uniform crimson. His remaining eye had a delirious but stubborn look. For what purpose did they bring us here? Did they want us to join them?
"A half-dead copper and a scrawny bitch. You two really did lose this time."
"Shut up, Ash", said my redheaded captor, "mine is a feisty one. She provoked a red and survived. I bet she has plenty of qi, more than the mental wrack you brought."
Ash shrugged: "Well, at least I didn't bring a copper. You know what the abbess thinks about provoking the authorities.
The big guy who brought the officer ignored both and just continued toward the entrance to the holy ground.
"Say, Zoey, what exactly is going on up there?" The rough guy named Ash pointed upwards, "you said there was a red?"
"Don't know. Don't wanna know. It's none of my concern", the woman who ambushed me, Zoey, frowned, "I nearly died and that thing destroyed one of my favorite hunting spots. The one by the station. That is all I know."
Ash also frowned as if sharing in her pain: "I don't give a shit about your life but the one at the station was a damn good spot. A shame."
Zoey rolled her eyes and opened the doors. On the other side stood a granny in a pure white robe: "Hunters, what do you offer the Church of the Heavenly Demon today?"
We, the three prisoners, were pushed forward. The cop lost his balance and fell. The old woman clicked with her tongue: "That one is already crossing the river to the underworld. Why do you bring me this? We need our sacrifices to be alive. And a copper at that! Boris, you know the rules!"
Uhm, did she say sacrifices?
The silent big guy swallowed and bowed. He kicked the dying man away and took his place.
"Shall I do it? Or do you want to?" Ash asked Zoey.
"You do it."
Ash got out another pair of dark iron handcuffs and put them on his former companion: "Sorry, big guy. Zoey, I trust you can handle both?"
She nodded. What was going on?
The crying woman saw the shifting situation as her chance to flee. She didn't get far before being mercilessly stopped with the same efficiency as I was put down. Zoey's eyes didn't show annoyance but rather amusement. She dragged the pitiable woman by her long hair. Whole strands were ripped out. Her scalp was a bloody mess when the two of them returned.
I was disgusted. Everyone else only had a placid expression, like they were used to it. But I think I saw Cales' eyes shift uncomfortably. He clearly was not one of them, yet. Although I could sense his eagerness to prove himself.
"Hunters do not waste any more time. Bring the sacrifices in," the old priestess clapped in her hands, seemingly tired of her interaction with these people. And, yes, she said sacrifices. I'm beginning to think that I should have tried to escape earlier.
The inside of the church was dark except for some sparsely lit candles. The floor was kind of wet and a bit sticky. I'm not sure what we were walking on but I was sure I didn't want to find out.
"Where is the hollow one?" The old lady asked into the darkness.
"I'm here abbess Blackheart", a girl, about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a boyish brown haircut emerged from the shadows, "how can I serve you?"
"It can't be! Rose!?" I couldn't believe my eyes. But there she was.
The old woman clicked with her tongue: "Stop your foolishness! You know exactly what you have to do. Pay your debt!"
I laughed out loud: "So you are a demon, after all!"
Everyone turned to me.
Thanks for the chapter