The devil's son

Chapter 08

Hecate stood before the lake and raised a stone from the water into her hand. Ayla tried, lifting a stone above the water, letting it fall back. They stayed there for a while until she finally managed to bring the stone into her hand and obtained a rose quartz.

~ "I see that you are in love." ~ "I am, but everyone prevents us from being together." ~ "In the end, love always prevails." ~ "Madam, can you do something for us?" ~ "He is a demon; I can't change that. And you made a pact with Lilith; I can't interfere with that either. But I can improve your skills. We covered water, earth, and now we go to fire, with which you already have some skill."

They went to a place with a crackling bonfire, surrounded by wood, apparently never extinguishing. The flames varied from red to blue. Hecate first placed her hand in the red flame, from which emerged an animal resembling a phoenix. Then she dipped her other hand into the blue flame, causing the phoenix to be reborn in blue fire.

~ "Manipulating the red flame is easy; the real challenge is with the pure blue flame. It's your turn."

Ayla managed to create a phoenix with the red flame in one hand but struggled with the blue flame. Hecate suggested she try to capture the blue flame with both hands, and she managed to grasp a small blue flame. Still, she couldn't mold it into anything. Hecate instructed her to create the phoenix with the red flame and then capture the blue flame with the other hand. She managed to do this, merging the flames into a red and blue phoenix.

~ "Now transfer the red flame to the blue flame hand." She did this, resulting in a phoenix with shades of red and blue. Hecate noted that maintaining the blue flame was progress. They moved to a field of lilies, where the wind blew in a calm vortex, making the lilies sway gently in circles. When it was Ayla's turn, her vortex was strong, uprooting some lilies.

~ "Breathe and do this calmly; don't let anger take over." Following these instructions, Ayla managed to make the lilies move peacefully.

~ "We've covered earth, air, fire, and water. Do you know what remains?" ~ "Is there another element?" ~ "Spirit. But since you are aligned with darkness, you can only take life instead of giving it." ~ "But I want to give life; I don't want to take it." ~ "Oh, my child, you made one of your worst choices by embracing darkness. You radiate life and don't fit the typical pattern of those in darkness." ~ "How can I leave it, Hecate, please help me." ~ "I can't, my girl. You belong to Lilith."

They returned to the grand hall, and Lilith was waiting for Ayla, looking like a mother waiting for her daughter after school. They returned to Lilith's castle, where she told Ayla that she could now participate in large rituals like the ones they attended earlier. She had full permission to take lives for sacrifices. However, Ayla didn't want to sacrifice anything; she wanted to show Denys everything she had learned and see if he could perform such feats. When Lilith disappeared, Ayla ran to look for her but instead found the blonde demon at Denys's house, with Denys absent.He asked why she was there, and she claimed to be there on Lilith's orders. He sensed the lie but said nothing. He explained that Denys was at a meeting to recruit new followers and gain more power. He was there to get a book they needed. She asked when the meeting would end, and he said it could take hours. He mentioned that they were summoning a new Cerberus for the Demon King's protection, but she was not involved. He suggested she leave. She returned to the grand castle where Lilith was waiting for her, this time for another ritual. However, the destination was different—they were going to Switzerland to attend a cult. They were transported there through invocation, but after the ritual, Ayla wanted to explore the place she had long wanted to visit, though not under these circumstances.

Returning from Switzerland, Ayla could only think about how nice it would be to live in Italy with her great love, and she decided to go to his house again to see if she could find him. When she arrived, he was there, but Lilith kept calling her. She ignored it, wanting to spend time with Denys. Denys listened to everything that had happened and she also wanted to know how the ritual with the Demon King had gone, but he didn't want to tell her because he said it wasn't necessary for her to know such terrible things. She wondered what could be worse than the rituals she witnessed. After much conversation, she decided to run back to the castle to calm Lilith, who must have been furious, and found Atayr there with her. He laughed mockingly, looking at her.

"So you were with Denys?" Lilith asked. "I was," Ayla said. "Atayr told me that you've been meeting him in secret." "I didn't know I wasn't allowed to meet him." "You are my subordinate and gave up everything to be my follower. Don't think you can have a romance; you are here to become strong, not a weakling in love." "I heard you were once in love with a demon." "We're not discussing that. You have no right to argue with me, or I will let Atayr torture you himself." "And why were you calling me, my Lady?" "I'll deal with you later. I have more important matters now. Get ready, we're going to the Castle of the Gods."

Ayla went to get ready and was happy about where they were going because Hecate, who was kind to her, was there. Now it would be more difficult to see Denys because of the detestable Atayr. She thought he only did it to have the opportunity to torture her again, but he didn't succeed. Ayla finished getting ready and went to meet Lilith, and they both went to the great hall of the Gods, where they found Persephone, Goddess of the Underworld. Lilith left Ayla with her to be trained in the powers of the underworld. Persephone guarded the secrets of the underworld and was going to pass some of them to Ayla, who was excited. This way, she could learn a way to leave because Persephone had left the underworld to help her mother, Demeter, so she could help Ayla. The three of them went to a large library and took out a big black leather-bound book titled "Hades" in red. Persephone handed the book to Ayla.

~ "Once you finish reading and training, we will talk again to complete your wisdom and power."

Ayla took the book and was sad that it wouldn't end with her at that moment, but she would study the book as quickly as possible to have some time alone with her without Lilith. They returned, and Lilith thanked Persephone, and they returned to Lilith's castle.

~ "I'll give you a week off from the rituals to study the book, and if you think about meeting Denys, you will be punished so severely that you'll never want to see him again."

Ayla, with the book in hand, said nothing and went to the library and began to learn about the animals that existed in the underworld, such as:

Cerberus: A monstrous three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to the underworld, the subterranean realm of the dead, allowing souls to enter but never to leave, and tearing apart mortals who dared to venture there.

Scylla: A sea creature that devoured everything and everyone that tried to pass by.

Sphinx: A lion's body with a falcon's head, an animal of power and wisdom.

Harpies: Birds of prey with the face of a woman and breasts that fed on men and animals.