Giselle lay in the bottom of the pit that had been her home for the past couple of years. Or maybe it was decades? She couldn't tell anymore. Scratches adorned the walls of the pit where she’d tried to judge days that had gone by, but without any form of sun to guide her, it had proven a fruitless effort.

She sighed and shifted, turning from one side to the other. It didn't matter. She was laying, near naked, on a stone floor that was just cold enough to be uncomfortable, but not enough to send her to shivers. It had surprised her, a fiery realm of demons having a cold floor, after the initial terror of being abducted waned.

She wasn't afraid anymore. She wasn't sure she could feel anything anymore. Boredom perhaps. After facing torture and terrorizing's day after day for what felt like an eternity, you no longer feared them. She no longer feared death as well. Giselle would welcome death, if only to bring respite to the hell she was trapped in.

With a weary grumble, she sat up, putting her back against the rough stone wall and kicking her legs out in front of her. The smell of sulfur still hung in the air. Another oddity of this realm, you could smell the sulfur at all times, but it never seemed to diminish or fade out. Anywhere else and she would’ve started to ignore the smell until she just didn't notice anymore. Not here though.

She rolled her head back along her neck and stared up at the opening of the hole, a halo of dim light about the size of her outstretched palm. Letting her mind drift, she found herself being pulled to thoughts of her husband for the umpteenth time. What was Gild doing anyways? A twitch of a smile flickered. Knowing him, he was probably doing something stupid and running himself ragged trying to find a way to save her.

She only hoped he didn't blame himself for the accident. They both knew the risks going in and she had insisted she be the main summoner, the main warlock to invoke a pact. How naïve they had both been. Giselle could still see the look of absolute horror on his face as Amarth had stepped through their portal, grabbing Giselle like a toy, and pulling them both back to the Other as the portal collapsed.

Such a stupid, sweet man he was. Always preaching caution when she charged forward. Keeping her grounded while she leapt for the stars. It was a good combination, if frustrating sometimes. She really hoped he wasn't wasting his life trying to find her. Even if he did, what could two gnomes do against a Demon Lord of the Other, let alone the countless other demons that would stand in their way?

As she looked upwards, eyes half closed and glazed over, a bit of motion brought her back to the present. A horned face appeared, with beady black eyes and a look of perpetual sneer. It was almost as if the demon had stepped in a pile of excrement and had just discovered what happened.

Delvios.

Even from Giselle's perspective she could see him for the whiny little pissant he was. He followed Amarth like a lost puppy, managing to get away with his snide and cutting remarks only because the stupid look that was always splashed across his ugly little face.

He grinned down at her, his eyes glittering with deceit and malevolence. Giselle just watched him. She figured he would have seized an opportunity to become a Demon Lord long ago if he wasn't such a coward. As it was, he remained a simple Greater Demon, locked into a life of servitude to the Lords.

“How are we feeling today, little gnome?” his gravelly voice bounced along the walls of her pit. “Enjoying our… hospitality?”

His grin widened even further and his body came into view. Thin black wings, bony with a thin membrane like a bat, spread behind his gray-blue body as he hovered over the entrance to her pit, blocking most of the dim light that had helped keep what little bit of sanity she had left.

“If you are here to torture me just keep talking. Your inane conversations are worse than anything physical you could do to me,” she mumbled.

“Such wit and a sharp tongue too, but alas, no. I am not here to torture you. I am actually here to bring you up out of the pit to meet our Lord, Amarth.”

Giselle stirred a bit more. A flicker of something tickled her stomach. She couldn't tell if it was fear, anger, or hope, though.

“What does she want with me? Tortures down here aren't enough anymore? Is it because I don’t scream anymore for her?”

“Not at all. In fact, I think you'll like what my mistress has to say to you.”

Delvios drifted down, coming to a rest just in front of her, his leathery wings beating slowly and keeping him aloft. He reached out and grasped her around the shoulders. With a heavy push of his wings, he pulled them both up out of the pit. Giselle looked around blearily, seeing nothing more than a room that seemed to echo the pit, just larger. The same dim light permeated everywhere, though she could not pinpoint where it was coming from.

Delvios was not gentle as they flew up and up. He let her bounce around with each flap of his wings and each sudden turn. Greys and reds and blacks flew by in a blur, her eyes not caring to focus enough to see where she was being taken. They had flown up out of the pit and continued up, that was all she knew.

After an unknown amount of time she felt him descending. Her eyes came back to her slowly, and she was suddenly dropped by the demon. Her stomach lurched, but she only fell a few feet, coming to an abrupt halt on an obsidian stone floor. The smell of sulphur still hung in the air, the same as it was in the pit.

Giselle pushed herself up from the glossy floor and slowly turned. It was an empty room until she turned around. She found herself standing in front of a massive obsidian throne with spikes cascading from the back into the air. It must have been over twenty feet tall and sitting on this spiked throne was Amarth.

The demon lord reminded Giselle of a spider in most ways. She had a lithe, hard body, seemingly covered in black armor plating over a deep red skin. Massive wings were tucked behind her. Her face was angular and bearing a wicked smile. Fanged teeth stood out and her yellow eyes flashed malevolently.

“That will be all Delvios.”

The demon that brought her here took off without a word and was gone. Amarth had never dropped her gaze from Giselle as he left. Even after all this time, when she thought everything inside of her was dead, standing in front of the Demon Lord brought a small tremor of something through her. She couldn't quite tell if it was fear or anger though.

“Hello Giselle, I hope my servant wasn't to unkind in bringing you to me.”

The gnome said nothing and just stood there, watching the demon. Amarth stood up from her throne and descended the few steps to the floor, the tips of her wings trailing behind her like some morbid gown. She came down toward Giselle and slowly paced around her, never taking her eyes off of her. The warlock had to crane up to look at the demon's face when she came back around to her front, she was several times taller than her and likely taller than most humans.

“You are probably wondering why I brought you here,” Amarth purred.

Giselle shrugged. A flash of annoyance spasmed on Amarth’s face, but she quickly replaced it with that same sharp smile.

“Well, I have something that might interest you. I need someone to go into the Mortal Realm and retrieve an object for me.”

“So send a demon.”

Amarth barked with a short laugh. “I cannot trust a simple demon to do such a task, and any Greater Demon would need to be summoned there first.”

“So that leaves me.”

“So that leaves you,” Amarth nodded. “If you retrieve this item for me, I will set you free. No traps, no hang ups, no hidden meanings.”

Giselle’s heart jumped for the first time in years. Was freedom an actual possibility? She frowned slightly as she met Amarth’s gaze again.

“What is it you need me to get for you?”

“A weapon.”

“No,” Giselle said, her heart sinking back into its familiar dull rhythm. She would not be a part of the demons taking over the Mortal Realm.

Amarth raised a spined eyebrow. “No so soon? But you don't even know what this weapon will do or what it is for. You don't even know what it is I am asking you to get.

“I wont help a demon succeed in taking over anything.”

“What if I told you this weapon was specifically designed to hurt demons.”

“Then I won't take a weapon away from anyone who may hurt demons.”

Amarth rolled her eyes, the grin dropping. “We can get hurt in your realm the same as any other damned creature. I want the weapon to seize power here. What happens here doesn’t affect your realm at all. A little bit of turnover and chaos here would probably be good for your realm, at least for a while.”

“Why can’t you just hurt them with magic and standard weapons? And won't they just disincorporate, coming back later to seek vengeance?”

“Now you are starting to think,” Amarth said. “And let's just say this weapon will keep them out of commision much longer than our more conventional means. Enough time for me to solidify my power.”

Giselle and Amarth stood for what felt like an eternity, watching each other's eyes. The easy grin slid back on and never wavered on the demon's face as Giselle thought. What did she care if the demons tore themselves to shreds in a power struggle? Even if this one took over, would they really be able to do anything to her Realm beyond what they already tried?

“So, I get this weapon for you, and I get set free. No strings attached?” she asked slowly.

“Exactly as you described it,” Amarth said. “There are a couple of stipulations in the getting of the weapon, however.”

Giselle said nothing so the demon continued. “You are there to recover the weapon. If I feel you are dawdling or trying to come up with some hairbrained plan to get out of your commitment, I will pull you back to the Other so fast you won't even realize you left here. You cannot speak to your husband during this little mission either. I don't want him trying to interfere, and if he knows you’re alive, he will.”

“He wouldn't, I’m sure he's moved on by now.”

“Oh, my sweet little child, how little you know of what he’s done.”

Giselle’s heart fluttered. Had Gild been working this whole time trying to free her? Obviously he had enough of a plan to warrant the Demon Lords attention and make her prevent a meeting between them.

“What am I getting exactly? There are a lot of weapons in the world and I need to know what I am looking for.”

“It's the Spear of Larnath.”

“Just a spear?”

“It is The Spear. Retrieve it for me and you will be set free. If you disobey me in any form, I will pull on this little shard of your soul I have here,” Giselle felt a sharp tug and the demon motioned at a small purple crystal that seemed to coalesce in the air near her hand. “And you will be here and mine forever. Trust me when I tell you we can think of endlessly creative ways to torment you for an eternity.”

Giselle paused for a moment, before saying, “Deal.”