The Devil nodded. His humour had darkened too and he waved his arm across the vista that lay before and beneath them. The scene changed and the two young half-demons saw a scene of gory battle with Dusty in the centre, grim-faced and determined, hacking away at monsters and men, enemies all. She was dressed in blood spattered armour and her army was behind her, sweeping all before them and victory after victory was hers for the claiming.
The battle melted away and Dusty was left surrounded by gore and severed limbs, accepting a crown and the fealty of her warriors and the defeated army.
Then she was marching into a town to accept their recognition of her supremacy too. Dusty wasn’t certain, but from what she remembered from her history lessons at school, the surroundings resembled the middle ages and she had a feeling that the Devil was promising her glory and power across the ages.
In another scene, Dusty was again in the centre of the action, but she was dressed in a well-cut business suit. She was surrounded by men but the scene resembled the chaos of the Wall Street Stock Exchange rather than the more conventional battlefield from before. Arms were waving and men were shouting. Chaos reigned but Dusty stood in the centre, holding court it would seem, and when the final bell rang clear and loud, she smiled, but the smile did not reach her eyes, it was an empty, soulless smirk and the Dusty on top of the mountain grimaced at the sight of it.
That scene melted too and they could see Dusty, dressed beautifully, getting into a limousine. She had a fur coat wrapped around her shoulders and Dusty just knew that it was real fur, not fake. She shook her head at the image and they watched the limousine arrive at a large building with crowds of people swarming outside. There were photographers taking pictures and flash bulbs were flashing like strobe lights. They watched as the figure of Dusty emerged from the vehicle and she went inside. Someone caught hold of her coat somehow and she immediately dropped the garment without allowing the person to slow her passage into the building. The security guard picked up the coat and there was a scuffle as he indicated to the one that had grabbed it.
The next scene that appeared before their eyes was one that both dismayed and disgusted Dusty. It was a large room, decorated in decadent red and gold furnishings. There were naked people everywhere, mainly women, and then the image of Dusty strode through the room. She was fully clothed and she took almost no notice of the proceedings that were going on.
Dusty on the mountain held up her hand to stop the show.
“I’ve seen enough. Now show me the disadvantages, unless I’ve already seen them?” Dusty turned to the Devil and looked him in the eye. He was certainly not used to anyone or any demon being so confident in his presence.
“It could be said that yes, you have seen the disadvantages. It could also be said that given time and the correct teachings, there will be no disadvantages.” The Devil allowed his words to sink in for a moment.
“No disadvantages? So what about that one extreme disadvantage? What about the one life that you have been promised? Who does that belong to?” Dusty asked. Hunter squeezed her hand to remind her that he was there and she squeezed his in return.
Then the Devil’s attention was caught by something behind Dusty and Hunter and his face darkened in anger. Dusty was puzzled at his expression and hesitated to turn around but eventually she did. It was her turn to be so shocked that she took a step back. Hunter held her hand tight as she regained her composure and then tried to run forward. Hunter kept a tight hold of her hand to stop her. She turned to him in fury, but he stood his ground and refused to let her go.
“Hunter!” Dusty almost screamed at him.
“Think, Dusty, is it really her? Really?” He gritted his teeth as Dusty’s nails scraped his skin while she tried to pry his fingers from her other hand. “Dusty, think!”
The urgency in his voice made her stop and take stock of what she was doing. She relaxed and shook her head. Then she closed her eyes and bowed her head in shame. “Hunter, I’m sorry, you’re right. It couldn’t possibly be my mother.” Dusty whispered the words so softly that Hunter was certain that he was the only one who could have heard them. Dusty’s head raised again and she looked directly at the figure of her mother. She let go of Hunter’s hand and after a moment’s thought, he also let go. She brought her hand down to her side slowly and deliberately.
The woman smiled a beautiful beaming smile at Dusty and Dusty smiled back. Hunter could see the love shining in Dusty’s eyes and was worried but he knew that he could do no more. Whatever Dusty did from now, was of her own free will and neither he nor anyone else could or should influence that.
Dusty’s mother walked towards her daughter but Dusty remained at Hunter’s side. She waited until her mother’s hand moved upwards, until she was almost close enough to touch her cheek and then, as fast as a lightning bolt, Dusty whipped her sword from its sheath and lopped off her mother’s right hand.
Immediately it sizzled as though it was so much bacon in a hot frying pan. It wriggled and twitched on the ground and the figure that had resembled Dusty’s mother screeched in fury and agony. It held the stump of its arm out in front of itself and howled in anger. The stump glowed bright electric blue, with tiny crackles of lightning playing across the flesh.
The figure rapidly changed from a beautiful, slim and elegant young woman into a bloated two-legged parody of a man with the legs of what could have been a giant goat or perhaps a llama. The flesh of the demon was scorched red and raw in places and appeared to be suffering with mange. The fur was patchy and discoloured on the inside of the legs in what could be a severe case of incontinence. Dusty wrinkled her nose in disgust. She looked down at her feet to see the dismembered hand and lower arm moving towards her foot and she kicked it away from her, towards the goat-legged demon.
She couldn’t see her father’s face because his head was still tilted back in his fury. When he eventually levelled his glare in her direction, she did very well not to flinch but she stood her ground and Hunter heard a murmur of approval from behind them. The Devil was pleased with her, even if her father wasn’t.
His face was as bloated and misshapen as his body was. She saw the claws on his left hand as it gripped his right arm as though perhaps to staunch any blood flow, although he wasn’t bleeding.
The sword had cauterised the flesh as it seared through it. ‘Very efficient,’ Dusty thought and she allowed herself a slight smile, just the barest movement of her lips.
The demon before her saw the smile and was livid.
“You laugh at me, spawn?”
“Laugh? No, I’m not laughing. Does it really look like I’m laughing?” This time, she heard the giggle from behind her. The Devil was in quite a childish mood, she thought but it gave her a little more confidence.
“I’ve a good mind to refuse your apprenticeship for that. My arm will take ages to grow back.”
“Don’t take away the apprenticeship,” Dusty said. Hunter was astonished and he looked at her in amazement. Then he relaxed. He didn’t know what she was about to do, but he knew Dusty and her father didn’t. Hunter decided to watch the show and enjoy it, just as the Devil was doing.
“That’s better, child,” the demon said. “I understand your anger at being confronted by what appeared to be your mother.”
“No, that’s not it,” Dusty said and turned around to the Devil to silently ask him a question. The Devil answered her in kind and she turned to face her father again. “No, what made me so angry was that you actually thought that you could fool me with that terrible disguise.”
The demon blinked and his eyelids slid sideways across his eyes.
“Terrible disguise? But it was the exact image of your mother.”
“Not really,” Dusty said. Hunter caught the emotion in her voice and took hold of her hand again. She squeezed his hand but let it go immediately.
“The last image I had of my mother was of her lying broken on the ground, bent backwards and very dead. You looked nothing like that, you may have fooled me for a moment but it didn’t last. It was a dirty trick and I resent you all the more for it. Now, Theodorous,” Dusty used his name and the demon that was her father gasped in shock and let go of his stump of an arm.
He glared over Dusty’s shoulder at the Devil but he quickly realised exactly who he was directing his animosity towards and became contrite as the Devil glowered back and rumbled his annoyance at the display of insubordination. It would appear that the Devil had taken a shine to Dusty and he had decided which side to take.
Dusty turned to look at the Devil and he nodded that she should continue. “As I was saying,” she continued. “Theodorus, I would like to know the details of the apprenticeship that you have planned for me. I want to know if I am the only one of your spawn to be offered the apprenticeship, what the terms are regarding time to be served, tribute to be made and of course, that one other, most important factor, the life which has been offered to your Master.”
Catch up with Part 1 of the story Here
Part 2 Here
Part 3 Here
Part 4