Page 21 of Hell on Earth
“So you believe the elf legend to be based on you because of your ears, and I’m assuming your build. I remember elves are supposed to be tall and lean,”shesaid.
“Yes.”
“I don’t remember any elves with talons sprouting from the backs of theirhands.”
“It’s not like humans saw everything through the veils once separating our worlds, and most of what they did see they jumbled up, or the passing of years twisted their tales into something entirelydifferent.”
“What are the veils?” sheasked.
“Some humans were able to glimpse into Hell and Heaven through the veils separating our worlds. It’s how many human myths were born and how some people knew about the existence of demons and angels. Some people glimpsed things in Hell and Heaven and revealed what they saw to other people. Other humans encountered demons and angels when they were allowed to walk the Earth. From werewolves to vampires to leprechauns, many demons are the basis of your legends. I am the closest thing to an elf you will find in the demonworld.”
“What about Magnus? I could also see him as an elf, especially since he does have magic ofasort.”
I thought of Magnus, the last demon of illusions, and his ability to weave things out of thin air. I didn’t like the idea of humans twisting Magnus and me into the same legend, but with his magical abilities, lean build, and ice-blond hair, I couldn’t deny that it mightbetrue.
“He has horns instead of pointed ears, but yes, Magnus or one of his ancestors could also fit into the elf legends,” Iagreed.
“Interesting,” shemurmured.
“Didn’t you learn anything about us at the wall?” Iaskedher.
“I never thought to ask about these kind of things,” sheadmitted.
“Whynot?”
“Because I knew most of what I needed to know aboutdemons.”
“How to kill us,” I saidflatly.
“Yes.”
I didn’t know why her confirmation aggravated me; I knew what Wren was and that she’d only agreed to work with us to save the other Wilders. “With the way you think about demons, you must be expecting me to leave you heretodie.”
“No, I’m not. You would have let me fall into the ouro’s hole by myself if you’d planned to letmedie.”
At least she gave me that muchcredit.
“Besides, worse things than you have tried to kill me and failed,” shestated.
“And one day they might succeed.” I had to work to keep my talons restrained over the idea of herdying.
“Most likely,” she replied with a yawn. “But I never expected to live this long tobeginwith.”
“This long? How old are you,twenty-five?”
“Twenty-two, but some days I feel like I’m a hundred. How oldareyou?”
“A great deal older. I’m thirteen hundredyearsold.”
She snorted before coughing. “Did you saythirteenhundred?”
“Idid.”
“Impressive. I didn’t think I’d make it to thirteen. I sure didn’t expect to turn twenty, and I doubt I’ll see thirty, butthirteenhundred!I can’t imagine living so many years. Most days, I can barely imagine the next hour, never mindtomorrow.”
Her words stirred sympathy within me, something I didn’t have much of, and I rarely had it for humans. When it came to Wren though, I only wanted her to be safe and know peace. However, I wasn’t sure Wren could ever know peace, not in these Wilds and not when she would do everything she could to keep the Wilders withhersafe.
I didn’t know what she’d endured in her lifetime or what she’d done to survive it. In many ways, her life had been as brutal as mine, maybe more so, and it had probably been more brutal than most if not all of the civvies. Even now, with escapees from Hell roaming more freely across the planet than they ever had before, the wall and towns beyond it, were still safer than theWilds.
