Shannon O'Reilly was bullied and everything his older sister wasn't. When his sister Sarah gives him a chance to change things through a single wish things don't go as planned.     I Wish: Book 5 Chapter 22 Welcome to Hell By Amethyst

I could only think that it was little wonder that the Demons were looking to gain access to new worlds through conquest as Rebecca and I flew in search of a Demon to interrogate. Much of the terrain that we had seen thus far had been inhospitable at best. It was a literal hellscape, barren cracked earth where most living things had been either burned away by lava or suffocated by ash-laden air that was torture to breathe. I hoped that their entire world wasn’t like this.

We might have ended up in the middle of nowhere since we hadn’t specified any specific coordinates. It was a risk that Sarah and I had privately decided was for the best though. We hadn’t dared tried to transport back to our downed plane for several reasons after all.

The first of those was that doing so would have probably led us straight into a trap. I had little doubt that Khinara would have people scouring that area for any sign of where we had disappeared to, or of a possible return. She had used up a lot of magick energy to bring us here to destroy us, so I imagined that she wasn’t too happy when we slipped through her fingers.

The second reason was the sheer multitude of Demons that had been waiting for our arrival there the first time. I doubted very much that it was a coincidence, or that Khinara had happened to assemble an army’s worth of Demons to that spot just to kill me. It was far more likely that she had brought us to an area where Demons already congregated.

The most important reason for not taking us to the ruined remains of her mother’s plane was, of course, Rebecca. Seeing what remained of it and knowing that her mother’s mutilated remains were probably still inside would have been dangerous to her mental state. Sure, she probably needed closure, but I was hoping that she could get that by facing her literal Demons. There was no need to traumatize her all over again, and I didn’t want to see her have to go through that.

Sarah and I were familiar enough with Khinara that we probably could have used a spell to take us right to her and possibly catch her by surprise, but the flip side of that would have been that we would have no idea where she would be or who would be with her. It could end up even worse than going to wherever the plane had crashed. So, for now, it was safer for all of us if Rebecca and I could just find a solitary male Demon or a small group of them to talk to.

We seemed to have appeared on a large volcanic island, which wasn’t all that surprising given the ash clouds that we were flying under, the volcano, and the lava. I could see a large expanse of ocean ahead of us now though, and in the distance, there was a chain of small islands that looked slightly more hospitable than this one. Since Rebecca was gesturing wildly in that direction, she probably saw it too, so I nodded and we veered off in the direction of the one that seemed closest.

It took much longer than I would have liked to get clear of the ash cloud that covered the island and a good distance around it. The regeneration that we possessed in our Succubus forms kept us from being too bothered by the ash that was thick in the air, but it was still a welcome relief to be free of it. The others who were currently kept hidden in my folded-up bunker wouldn’t have been so lucky and we would need to stop soon to get some relatively fresh air in there for them. Sarah could do that with magick, but I didn’t want her wasting magick energy for that when she might need it in the battles to come.

The first couple of islands were still in the shadow of the ash cloud and pretty much barren, so we kept flying. The third island was small, but there were some signs of life there at least, with some patches of vegetation and some desiccated trees that looked more dead than alive. I thought it might be a good spot for the others to come out and get some air though, while Rebecca and I went on to check the other islands for inhabitants.

I removed the bunker entrance from its large pouch, unfolded it, and then pinned it to one of the trees so the others could leave the bunker. As they all stepped out to get some air and stretch their legs, Ziralin wrapped me in a hug and kissed me. Once she had released me from her amorous embrace, she looked around and shrugged. “It's not that bad.”

Michelle gave my fiancée an incredulous look. “I’d hate to see your idea of bad then.”

Ziralin raised her hands in defense. “Well, I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely."

Lisa turned to shake her head at the silver-haired Fae, but I could see the crack of a smile. “Really? You’re quoting the Princess Bride?”

She just grinned and shrugged as she countered, “It’s a good movie. And honestly, I was expecting way worse when we appeared so close to a volcano.”

“Well, just be glad you didn’t have to fly through that shit,” Rebecca grouched as she tried to dust herself off. “We’re all covered in ash. Shannon really shouldn’t have worn white.”

“But she’s been ‘White Witch’ ever since this whole dealing with the supernatural thing started, it’s kinda her thing. She can’t just change to some Succubus theme now, how would we introduce her?” Jennifer pointed out, though I was pretty sure she was mostly teasing. “Plus she’s rocking that hat I got her.”

I focused on using a little of my, quite frankly massive, store of magick energy to pull all of the ash, dirt, and grime from my hair, skin, and clothes and then followed up by doing the same for Rebecca. “Is that better, Beks?”

“Much better, thanks, Shannon,” she replied with a relieved smile.

“Okay, we should be good to continue on our way then. I would rather we find someone to interrogate as soon as possible so we can get on with this. Would you all rather wait here while we scout out those other islands, or go back in the bunker?”

“We should probably stay here for now,” Sarah replied thoughtfully. “If you don’t find anyone or any other signs of life then we may just have to try casting a portal to another location anyway. If you do find any Demons, then you can bring one back here for a private conversation.”

It wasn’t until the second to last island in the chain that we found something promising. It looked almost like an eighteenth-century village; roughly made stone homes with dirt walkways. On the outer edges, large oxen-like animals with thick wool grazed in pastures, and it looked like there were a couple of farms as well. There was also a large square that looked like a market of some sort by the shoreline.

As we got closer, I could see Imps, Gorgons, Djinns, centaur-like Demons, and some that looked almost human except for their horns and bright red skin. They were all just going about their daily business; working, buying things from the market, or having what looked like casual conversations. There were even Merrow set up to sell fish and other seafood on the waterside of the market.

This was not what I had been expecting. Given the wars against the Celestials, the conquest of Tír na nÓg, and their current attempts to infiltrate our world, I had expected to see something more along the lines of a military camp, if and when we found any sort of organized groups. That or Demons jockeying for position over one another, as we had seen in Toronto since Khinara had vanished.

Still, as idyllic as the village looked from our current vantage point far above, I felt it best to be cautious. We started to wing our way downward and as we descended, I tried to spot any lone male Demons to talk to. We weren’t cautious enough, it was the middle of the afternoon and we were spotted long before we could touch down on the ground. Demons of all types were looking up at us and pointing as their conversations became more animated.

With a sigh and a bad feeling in my gut, I motioned to Rebecca for us to land. The crowd followed our motion and since there was no avoiding them, I just landed in the square with Rebecca joining me a moment later. I was greeted by the tip of a spear at my throat, held by a very muscular red-skinned woman with black hair, crimson eyes, and a pair of black horns atop her head. Maybe these people weren’t as friendly and peaceful as they had looked.

“Best you go back to where you came from, Succubus. We’re not interested in fighting in your thrice-damned war. If you even look at any of our men to try to tempt them otherwise, I’ll separate your head from your body and send you back to your precious Demon King in pieces. We’ll see if you can regenerate from that.” She was speaking Demon so poor Rebecca, who had found herself in a similar position, had no idea what was going on.

Xuriel and the other Sentinels had managed to get a working knowledge of the language during the first war by using Rosetta Stones while interrogating Demon captives, so I could understand her, but dredging up Xuriel’s knowledge of the language to speak it myself took a moment. A moment where I was very careful not to move. I tried my best to keep my expression neutral as I said, “We’re not Succubae, we’re just under a curse to resemble them and can copy their abilities. If you don’t believe me, have someone look at my lower back or my companion’s right shoulder.”

“Don’t move,” the Demoness warned before turning to a female Imp and adding, “Etlik, check her back.”

The Demons surrounding us were all female; they really didn’t trust Succubae, not that I could blame them. I carried hard feelings toward the real thing as well. I felt a fingertip carefully prod my back and then the Imp behind me said, “Huh, that’s a Brand curse, she’ll be stuck with that forever. Someone really doesn’t like this girl, Kisha. There’s something strange about it though. It’s fused with another mark of some kind.”

“Yeah, that would be a Celestial mark,” I said with a grimace. That spear was still uncomfortably close to my throat and I was worried that if I moved so much as the tip of my tail that she would use it.

There were several gasps at that confession, including one from the woman holding the spear. “Who would do such a thing? Demon King Baal forbid using Brands on Celestials, lest another Shadow appears. Are you truly a Celestial? Have you come to try to kill Baal?” The spear lowered slightly as she stared at me with a conflicted look on her face.

“Shadow? Do you mean Xuriel?” Kisha’s eyes widened as I spoke the name. Given her reactions to our arrival and to what I had said so far, I decided to take a risk. If it didn’t work out, I could probably subdue the people surrounding us with a spell, now that the spearhead wasn’t uncomfortably close to my throat. “No, I’m not a Celestial, but my ancestor, Xuriel, was. I’m the one that she chose to inherit her mark, her memories, and her power. I haven’t come to try to kill Baal though, I will kill him.”

It turned out that the village of Mynsk was one of many communities that had banded together to try and eke out a decent life far away from the Rings, where most of the Demons serving under Demon King Baal lived. Kisha had once been a member of his armies until she realized that the war that Baal was intent on waging was not for lands where the denizens of Heil might find a better life than on their own mostly barren world. It was for the sole purpose of conquest.

They had practically conquered Tír na nÓg and displaced the Faery, but despite the lush lands there, no colonists were being sent. In fact, it would have been dangerous for most Demons to live their long term with the purity of the magick energy there. The same was true for Haven but he still sent offensives there. He wanted to beat the Celestials, as he had the Faery, to prove his superiority.

The target that would have made the most sense for them to take was Earth, but he had not bothered claiming it in the last war when the population was small and uneducated. He was making a move now, but our population was huge and we have created powerful weapons, and he was still focused on Haven as well. Kisha believed that he feared the power of the Sentinels and Xuriel in particular; it was why he had appointed seven generals. It was why he had his underlings try to claim their marks.

Many Demons didn’t care about the war, they were just too terrified of Baal to go against him. Some, like the people of Mynsk placed themselves far out of his influence, but they still had to repel the occasional ‘recruiters’ for his army. They had made a decent life for themselves in Mynsk and were mostly happy, but the recruiters had been coming more and more often lately as Baal tried to build up his army for a major offensive.

We needed to stop him, to take him and his generals down for good, and Kisha and the people of Mynsk were willing to help. They couldn’t fight at our side, of them all, only Kisha had any real fighting experience. She knew all too well that she was no match for any of the generals though. Instead, once we had taken her to meet the others, she offered us what knowledge she had of each of the generals and of the Rings, the largest city in their world, and the seat of Baal’s power.

Now, two days later, the ten of us stood atop a cliff overlooking the massive city below. The Rings. Nine concentric circular walls and each had a gate. The first gate would be easy enough, the first ring only contained farms and those who tended them to feed the armies of Heil. Each gate after that had a guardhouse though where the generals lived and the rings were filled with the Demons under their command and those who served them. Within the center ring, was Baal’s palace.

I turned to the others and asked my sister, “So, what do we do?”

Sarah sighed as she cast an uncertain glance at the city below us. “There’s got to be at least a hundred thousand Demons in that city, we can’t possibly fend off that many and try to take down the most powerful of them all at the same time.”

Annie nodded in agreement. “I’m always up for a good fight, but just attacking head-on might be suicide. Mason, what do you think?”

We all turned to our resident psychic. He hadn’t steered us wrong yet and his gut feelings were usually right on the money. He seemed reluctant to share his feelings though. Finally, he frowned and looked each of us over. “I know that the plan was to all fight as a team, but Sarah is right, most of us will die if we do it that way, and we won’t win. We need to attack each of the generals and Baal directly, all at the same time so they can’t reinforce one another.”

“But that’s crazy! You want us all to take on one of the eight most powerful Demons in Heil by ourselves? Can we even do that? They have the advantage here,” Ziralin pointed out with an uncertain look in my direction.

“Shannon can teleport each of us right to those gatehouses, and they are all there right now, or soon will be. I’m certain of it. If we hit them hard and fast we can take them by surprise and we’re no slouches power-wise either,” Mason insisted with a shake of his head. “My gut says this is our best chance. Shannon is the only one who can take on Baal, and each of us has advantages that will help us against one of the generals. Rebecca, Lisa, and Michelle, you’ll take the first gatehouse. Jen will take the second, I’ll take the third, Annie the fourth, Ellie the fifth, Ziralin the sixth, and Sarah will take the final gatehouse.”

We debated it for a while and nobody was happy, but Mason had a point. If we wanted to win, we couldn’t let them reinforce one another or Baal. We had to take them all down at the same time. So, in the end, I focused on the gatehouses of the city below with my enhanced Succubus vision and on each of my friends and family members with my mind. Then, as I was teleporting them to their locations, I prayed to the Goddess that I wasn’t sending them to their deaths.

I couldn’t teleport Michelle, since she was Lisa’s Familiar, but that wasn’t a problem as she used her own teleport ability to join her Witch’s side. Still, that many teleport spells at the same time while eyeballing the locations from such a distance took a bit of effort and was a little tiring, but I was already starting to gather more magick energy as I readied a final teleport spell to take me to my own destination. It was time for the final battle to begin.