Into the Hells Read online

  INTO THE HELLS

  Book Three of the AXE DRUID Series

  Written by Christopher Johns

  © 2019 Mountaindale Press. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by US copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Newsletter

  The Story so Far

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Afterword

  Author’s Note

  About Christopher Johns

  About Mountaindale Press

  Mountaindale Press Titles

  GameLit and LitRPG

  Appendix

  The Good

  The Bad

  And The Ugly

  Dedication

  This one is dedicated to my dear friend and roommate who’s always had his voice, but recently found a way to express it again.

  Welcome back to the fold, brother. I look forward to seeing what you can do.

  Acknowledgments

  I would like to give a shoutout to the model for Bokaj, Jake Earley. Friend, gamer, and amazing musician. Thank you for being you and for writing the amazing song that you and Cory did. Into the Hells was amazing and I honestly never thought that the adventures these characters went on would touch anything but people’s imaginations. You gave these words and this book a tune I never could have dreamed of.

  Please, check out lostpasteverest on Instagram and the song, “Into the Hells”, to be featured on their upcoming album “Wizard Oil”.

  Next, I would like to thank an amazing artist whose vision was able to craft a symbol that I hope you all like as much as I did. Britni, you lovely nerd, your vision is as superb as the skill behind your artwork and I couldn’t be happier to have been able to trust my thoughts to you.

  If you like the symbol for the Axe Druid series, please check out nerdsthewordprints for amazing artwork and mind-blowing skill.

  And finally, a word to those of you who have made it this far:

  Thank you. You’re a badass in your own right, and I’m proud to share these adventures with you all.

  Welcome back to Brindolla.

  Newsletter

  Don’t miss out on future releases! Sign up for the Mountaindale Press newsletter to stay up to date. And as always, thank you for your support! You are the reason we’re able to bring these stories to life.

  The Story so Far

  Hey! Zeke here, and if you’re reading this—you probably know that my friends and I have been through some shit.

  We were brought to this crazy world called Brindolla—this entire world with video game style rules and laws—by Radiance and her fellow gods. Why? Well, to fight a big, bad galactic conqueror called War—why else?

  They told us that if we can help stop him here, the vain bastard won’t turn his sights on the next world—you guessed it—Earth. All we had to do was kill the minions and Generals to keep them from creating too much havoc so the gods can focus on keeping him out.

  Before I go too much deeper into this rabbit hole with you in tow, I’d better reintroduce you all, right?

  Yohsuke, my brother from the Marine Corps and someone I trust with my life. James, another of Yoh’s Marine Corps buddies that we gamed with together regularly. He’s a good dude. My roommate Muu, crazy, smart—never the two together—and insanely sarcastic at times. Our friend Jaken, lovable guy with a surfer-like mentality at times, new dad, and probably one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. Bokaj and Balmur, two of my friends from when I worked at a gym, both of whom are huge gamers. Bokaj is the thin one with a love of music because of his band life. Balmur is kind of quiet, but when you get to know him, he’s hilarious. Also, Balmur is kind of stuck in the Hells right now.

  We’re working on that, I promise.

  We all took up the challenge and have been through, well, some shit. Like I said—I said that, right?

  I’m rambling. Sorry.

  We’ve fought a Bone Dragon, killed some weird creatures, beat some beasts, and mangled a few monsters along the way. We’d even managed to kill one of War’s Generals—Rowan, real asshole—then our friend Balmur was sent to the Hells by some kind of spell.

  Since we figured out where he was, we’ve been working on getting stronger and trying to find a way to get there.

  While we were doing that, we helped out the Primordial Fire Elemental by me taking in a flame wolf. Got some better gear. Fought and almost got our asses handed to us by a would-be world killer, a Greater Fiend possessed by one of War’s minions.

  Okay, we did get our asses kicked. Satisfied? The only reason we came out alive was that Maebe, the Unseelie Queen of Winter and Darkness and my girlfriend, helped us. She’s super powerful. Beautiful. Deadly. Seriously—she fed a guy his heart, then froze him alive. Yes, alive—I know, right?

  After that, we rescued some kids from being eaten by a fake god called Lothir. Big serpent. Big attitude. She ate kids, man. What were we supposed to do? Leave the little folks there to be a midnight snake and shake run? Yeah. No—not happening. Big experience. Yeah, we killed her too.

  I picked up a subclass—Primal Warrior. It’s a good time. Muu, my roommate and one of my closest civilian friends, received some much needed training from a nice green Dragon. Now that we have her assistance and some more information, we’re headed off to find the black Dragon!

  We also know where we need to go to bust our way into the Hells and get our friend back. And there’s another General possibly hiding among the denizens there. So, there’s that.

  Wish us luck, yeah? Or—you know—read along?

  Chapter One

  “So, let’s beat feet, man!” Bokaj growled anxiously.

  I stood there surrounded by my friends in the village we recently liberated from a Greater Fiend called Decay, who had been possessed and infected the jungle with a plague-like sickness causing things to grow mushrooms. It was trippy. Since eradicating him, we used the place as our base of operations while we cleansed the area.

  Muu, a Dragon Beast-kin—Dragon-kin—with green scales covering his body and the matching-colored metallic scale mail he wore, stood closest to me on my right. His royal purple eyes were focused on me, and his facial features, partially obscured by the horned helm, were much finer around his snout, eyes, and mouth. The slightly pointed protrusions that hung from his face to mirror a goatee shook the same as his slightly dreadlocked hair did. He looked concerned, yet still managed to smile, somehow. His small but sharp teeth shone in the moonlight that filtered through the jungle around us.

  His clawed hands motioned toward the group of children we had rescued. “We need to make sure we can take care of them first.”

  I nodded. “That’s fair. I’ll go talk to Maebe. You guys sort out our next step.”

  Maebe had gone home to
the Fae Realm to check up on her people and some disconcerting news that she hadn’t shared yet.

  “That is our next step, man.” Yohsuke grunted. “The kids come first. So if she’s planning to come back any time soon, she will need to let us know, or you’ll have to go get her or something because we’re taking these guys to Sunrise Village.”

  I nodded. Yohsuke walked over and put a gray-skinned hand on my shoulder. His sickly-yellow eyes stared at me from under his black and red embroidered cloak.

  “You good, bro?” Some of his pure-white hair poked out of the opening to the hood, the long hair staying surprisingly out of his way all the time.

  “Yeah, just a lot going on and seeing the little man like that reminded me of a bad time when I was a kid.” I tried to smile but shivered involuntarily. “A terrible horror movie I watched as a kid involving one of the little bastards on a bloody rampage looking for his gold.”

  My Kitsune mouth attempted another smile. “I’ll be good. Just lemme go talk to Maebe, and I’ll get us to Sunrise. Shouldn’t take too long at all.”

  I walked away from the others and went to the other side of the village—close enough to be heard if any sort of danger came to find us but far enough for a modicum of privacy.

  Once I was alone, I cast Shadow Speak. I felt the pull from my mana and watched as the deeper shadows began to rise and coalesce into a familiar form.

  “Hello, Zekiel Erebos,” the figure greeted playfully formal.

  “Queen Maebe.” I bowed low, wiggling my hips and wagging my tails playfully as I did so. “Empress of the Shadows and Ice.”

  “Oh, you do know how to flatter. Tell me, what new stupid thing did you do while I have been home for all of a few hours?”

  I smiled. She knew me too well by now, even with the time dilation. “Oh, you know—killed a wanna-be goddess. Forcefully liberated a people who, well, let’s be honest, didn’t want to be liberated. Saved some kids.” I saw her shade stiffen. “There was much yelling of the stupid word ‘pie’.”

  Y’all know what a safe word is, right? Thought so. Mine is butterscotch. What’s yours? Sorry, tangent. The reason I bring that up is because Maebe asked me to come up with a sort of safe word for when I planned to do something stupid and likely ridiculously dangerous. Pie was that word.

  She relaxed again. “And I take it you were victorious?”

  I put my arms up and flexed my muscles in reply. My body, while covered in beautiful raven-black fur, is a giant muscle. Don’t get me wrong, I lift at home, but I would have to lift crazy heavy and eat so much better than I did to be even remotely close to as strong or well muscled as I am here. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, and five gloriously fluffy tails. Mmm, I do love my tails.

  Stop judging me—you should know this by now. Come on, there’s more happening.

  Maebe giggled. Her shoulders shook from it. While the majority of the detail was gone from the shadows, I could still see her outline. She was shorter than me, around five-foot-four with a curvaceous figure, long hair, and long, pointed ears that shot straight out from the sides of her head at almost right angles. They were angled back a bit though, and the various earrings dangling from them were super cute. The amount of metal she had in her ears would make most punk rockers want to genuflect.

  “Good, my pet.” She stepped forward, closing the distance between us. “It has been days there for you. Is all else alright? It has been a few hours here for me, and already you have put yourself in great danger. What will you do now?”

  “The guys are fine. The kids too. But we need to get them away from here. We’re going to take them to Sunrise. After that, we’ll be going to try and get James the blessing of a black Dragon. I guess it’s the ‘nicest one?’ Something for us to do that could give us enough strength to be ready for the Hells and getting Balmur back.”

  She looked left for a moment and said something I couldn’t understand, then she addressed me, “According to Winterheart, there are no ‘nice’ black Dragons. They are monsters. Little better than beasts.”

  Winterheart was Maebe’s… uncle? The ancient white Dragon has a lot of love for the queen and was very intelligent.

  “Of course,” I grunted sardonically, “but, yes—we will be taking the children to Sunrise Village first. How much longer do you think you will be?”

  “I do not know,” she answered sadly. “The new king of the Seelie has put things into motion that my people must be prepared for. I am issuing orders and making decrees as swiftly as I am able, but if they call me while I am away—I will need to return hastily. And I do not know that it will be wise to travel the realms with so little time to rest.”

  Nodding, I added, “Your duty is to your people. Just like mine is to the people of this realm and my home. I understand completely. It still sucks, but I understand.”

  “Things are moving swiftly, especially with Winterheart here, as well as my most trusted advisor. They aren’t quite where I need them to be for my return, but things should remain well in hand until I am truly needed again,” Maebe explained. When I looked at her questioningly, she sighed. “My mother.”

  “Oh,” my eyebrows shot up, “how is she?”

  “She is well,” Her voice was suddenly much more reserved and royal sounding. “She is curious of many things that I will discuss with you when I am with you once more. It should only be a few more days in your time on the Prime realm. I will contact you as soon as I am able and on that side of the veil.”

  “Thank you, and please—be safe.” I smiled at her and began to step forward to touch her but stopped short. It hadn’t worked the first time—why would it now?

  “You as well.” She hesitated for a moment longer, watching me. Then the shadows dissipated and fled back to their origins.

  I returned to the group. Jaken, a tall, purple-skinned man with a thin but highly muscled build hidden under plate mail armor of a blue hue, was the only person in the party who spoke Fae-Orc and was speaking to the oldest of the children. He, the oldest, was a pain in my ass, Set. The boy wore a simple loincloth, same as the other kids, and was trim with a good bit of muscle for a kid. He was a good fighter with a bow, but it hadn’t been enough.

  He was the first of the local Fae-Orcs that I had met and accidentally interrupted his trial. It was a weird situation that had gotten him kicked out of his home and left him and his siblings struggling. It had been his leader’s fault, but I felt responsible.

  Jaken shook his long black hair that had been pulled back into a ponytail and rubbed his mustache and goatee. His hazel eyes considered the children. Then he looked my way.

  “Everything cool?” His normally relaxed, surfer-like voice held a small note of worry in it.

  “She’s going to be a few more days.” I looked at the others. “We ready to roll?”

  They nodded, and I noticed Muu off to the side with Ampharia, the green Dragon in her Dragon-kin form. Her scales were a deeper green than his, and her head remained the same as her true form. The shape of her horns reminded me of tree limbs or antlers.

  She reached out and pulled him against her and rubbed the side of her head against his chin. Muu stilled, then hugged her back, saying something I couldn’t pick up. After a second, she turned and waved goodbye to us and ran into the tree line behind him.

  “What was that all about man?” Bokaj said from my left.

  I turned to find the Snow Elf Ranger grinning broadly under the unruly and long, side-swept black hair covering some of his face. The sides were clean-shaven, and his pointed ears made the stark contrast between his skin, a pale blue, and the hair a little easier. His blue eyes held mirth and merriment that was characteristic of him, and we all knew the teasing would be coming soon. His lithe build was clothed in a white shirt that looked almost like a hoodie made of leather with a matching pair of breeches and boots.

  “She just wanted me to know that she would miss me. That’s all.” Muu looked away from us bashfully.

  “Uh huh,”
Bokaj grunted conspiratorially. Tmont, Bokaj’s black panther companion with slightly faded stripes and tufts of fur on her ears rubbed herself against her master and watched the rest of us.

  “Come on, man. There are children here! Have some class,” Jaken half-heartedly reprimanded Bokaj before turning on Muu. “You join the mile high club or what?”

  “Oh my god, you guys are insufferable.” Muu sighed resolutely and just dealt with the playful ribbing.

  “Agreed.” I chuckled. “Let’s go. How many have we got again? Me, Jaken, Bokaj, Muu, Yohsuke, the four kids. Hey, where’s James?”

  “I’m over here!” a voice called from the building we had been using as a shelter. All of the other buildings were destroyed during our fight with Decay. Luckily, that one hadn’t been because beds were nicer than sleeping on the ground.

  James sauntered over toward us. His Elvish body was tan with smatterings of black scales scattered in patches all over his body except just beneath his chest, and his stomach was bare too. He wore gray sandals and black padded breeches like my own.

  He sported some pretty cool tattoos on some of the less scaled portions of his skin—not ones I would have picked, mind you—that added to his strength and defense. One was a set of pointed horns on his stomach that reminded me of a rhinoceros’s horns. Or a Belgar, as I’m certain that’s what they were meant to look like. The next were spirals of blue that began on the inside of his elbow and wrapped down his forearms into his palms, as well as a pair of thick, black swirls on his pectoral muscles and gold and black wings on his back.

  The dude was shredded, and as our monk, he had to be. He hit a lot of shit. Martial arts was on point too.

  With him in the headcount, that made ten. I looked down at Tmont and sighed. Eleven. I could carry eleven creatures with me with Teleport. Well within my limits, by one. Ha, one. I shook my head and opened my status screen. I had made it to level 29. So, time to place my available stat points and grow a bit.