Hell's Gate Ch. 01

Chapter One: The Prisoner

"Sir?" a voice said from behind the tall figure, deep in the dark room's shadows staring into the cold fireplace, " We've captured one."

The figure turned around suddenly, still masked in darkness, and the owner of the voice, a small goblin-like creature jumped back a little in fright. The goblin's Lord was not known for his kindness and everything he did, right down to his movements, struck fear into the hearts of those under his command.

"Bring her to me."

"Right away, my Lord," The goblin creature said, his deep bow causing the bits and pieces of armor he wore to clang together before he ran off out of his master's chambers to retrieve the prisoner.

Alone, the figure stepped out of the shadows and made dark red fire spring up in the fireplace, reveling himself to be a very tall, very strong man with jet black hair slicked back over his skull. Yellow eyes gleamed in the firelight as he adjusted the black suit he wore over his pale skin.

After only a few seconds of waiting, the goblin was back, this time with company. Behind him marched two huge, red beasts with hooves for feet and horns growing out of their heads. Muscles bulged awkwardly all over their bodies and a filthy loincloth was the only piece of clothing either of them wore.

Between the beasts, an unconscious woman slumped. White-blond hair hung across her face and a simple white gown flowed around her thin body. Her feet dragged across the floor as she was brought into the room.

"Lord Taint," the goblin soldier bowed, "I present you with an Angel from the Spirit Dimension."

Lord Taint smiled and snapped his fingers. With a clink and a rattle, a black chain descended from the stone ceiling above them. Attached to the end of the chain was a pair of light shackles which dangled about seven feet from the ground.

"Please secure her," Taint ordered and the beast-guards went to work putting the unconscious woman's wrists into the fetters. Once secure, she hung limply with her arms stretched straight above her head and her feet barely touching the ground.

"Angel, huh?" the Lord chuckled at some private joke, "We'll see about that. You are free to go."

Bowing another noisy bow, the goblin exited the room quickly, followed by the two guards. The door shut by itself behind the creatures, leaving Lord Taint alone with his newly acquired and very beautiful looking prisoner.

"Wake up, Angel," he commanded loudly.

At the sound of his words, the woman's eyelids started to flutter open, revealing brilliantly blue irises beneath. She was groggy, but instantly aware of her surroundings, letting out a soft moan of despair.

"Not where you were planning on waking up?" Taint asked her with a smirk.

The prisoner moaned again and lifted her head to face her captor. The soft features of her face made her look weak and innocent, but Taint knew enough about Angels to know she was far from it.

"What is your name?" he asked.

She didn't answer, but instead stared Taint directly in the eyes in defiance.

He took a step toward her, "I don't know who you are, but do you know who I am?"

Olivia continued to stare, not blinking once. If looks could kill...

"My name is Lord Taint, one of the sex demon keepers of Hell's Gate and this is my stronghold."

Reaction. The woman's eyes widened briefly in...fear? Shock? Whatever it was, Taint knew in that instant that she had indeed heard of him, or at least his rank. There were very few people in the universe who hadn't. Human's, mostly.

Taint waited for Olivia to say something, but she remained silent, irking him slightly.

"This silent treatment is already growing old, Angel," his voice was laced with warning, "If you don't speak soon, I might let those guards come in here and convince you to."

After a moment's thinking it through, the Angel finally spoke, "My name is Olivia. What do you want with me, demon?"

"There's a good girl," Taint smiled maliciously and snapped his fingers. A black armchair appeared in a puff of smoke and he sat down in it, facing the chained woman as he spoke, "What I want is very simple. And that is...you. Or rather, your power."

Olivia's small eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"You see, I'm facing a bit of a dilemma here," Taint continued, "Armies from all over Hell have been attacking the Gate in an attempt to escape. These attacks have been small and foolish, but they're beginning to take a toll on the integrity of the Gate," he paused and grinned hungrily at Olivia, "That's where you come in."

"I can't fix your damn Gate if that's what you think," Olivia snarled angrily.

"You don't need to. I can do that myself," Taint sat back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other, "But I will need your energy. The Gate was built by Angelic power and so needs to be repaired by the same force. The force that you possess in great quantities."

He let the message sink in and watched as Olivia's face fell. "You can't just..."

"Don't you worry about what I can or cannot do," Taint interrupted, "I just thought I'd extend the courtesy of telling you why you are here. That is all."

"And what if I refuse to cooperate?" Olivia challenged.

"I have ways of persuading you..." Taint said, allowing his voice to trail off menacingly, "But you don't refuse...do you?" He asked the question with a distinct air of anticipation; wanting her to defy him.

"Of course I do," the Angel said defiantly.

The demon stood up and his chair disappeared. "Good," he sneered, revealing impossibly white teeth with pointed tips. The door to his chambers opened, revealing the two guards from earlier. "Strip her and put her in the prison," he ordered the guards before turning to a now-terrified looking Olivia, "We'll talk more tomorrow, where you will pay for your refusal."

Taint observed with malicious glee as the guards tore Olivia's white gown from her body with one tug. She hung naked and pale, tempting the demon's resolve as she was unshackled and dragged, struggling uselessly, from the room. The door closed and Taint was alone once again.

He had not wanted to harm the Angel, but her power was needed. Everything he had told her was true; the Gate was weakening and needed repair. It would look very poor if the gatekeepers did not keep the object of their command firmly shut. The consequences of failing would be catastrophic...

"Sir?" the goblin soldier was back, wordlessly bidden by Taint's powers.

"How many did we lose getting her here?" he asked the soldier.

"A couple hundred, my Lord."

"Did the Archangels see you?"

"She was alone, Sir."

"Good. That is all."

The soldier left silently and Taint felt a little better. The last thing he needed was the wrath of the Archangels descending upon his already cracked walls. He had full intentions of returning Olivia once he was done using her. If she wanted to leave by then, that is. Perhaps she would find her stay here more pleasurable than she imagined...

A guard arrived and Taint ordered it to bring Olivia to him in the morning. She still had to pay for her insubordination. Nobody defied him in his home and got away with it, especially not Angels. She was his prisoner and would remain as such until his walls were repaired. Until then, she would listen and obey just like everyone else.

The guard grunted its understanding and sauntered off. Undressing, Taint climbed into his bed in the corner of his chambers and fell asleep quickly.

His dreams were filled with fire and destruction. Demons attacked his Gate while Archangels flew down from the sky, smiting his stronghold with Heavenly wrath. In the midst of it all was Olivia, reaching out for the Archangels and demanding rescue from the tallest tower of the castle; his chambers.

The scene dissolved and there was the Angel again, reaching out for him this time, surrounded by blackness. She was saying something that Taint could not make out, but he knew the meaning of the words. Feeling himself reach out for her hand in the dream, Taint was suddenly awakened by a loud knock.

He sat up in bed, his sheets tented in front of him and his mood fouled from being dragged from a rapidly improving dream.

"What!?" he yelled toward the door. Light was streaming through the windows of his room, indicating it was already morning.

"Your prisoner, Sir," a soft voice called, muffled by the thick wood of the door, "You told us to bring her to you in the morning."

Suddenly, Taint's mood improved and he climbed out of bed. With a snap of his fingers he was fully dressed and groomed in the same style he had been the day before. Straightening his suit coat, he made his armchair appear and he sat down in front of the chain he had left dangling.

"Bring her in," he called and the door opened, revealing a tall, thin figure in a hooded black robe that blocked its face from view. Behind the figure were the same two guards from the night before, with Olivia held between them.

"Slake," he addressed the hooded figure, "I'm surprised to see you."

"There are so few fellow women in this castle," the figure said, "I always get curious when one drops by. And an Angel no less..."

Slake was Taint's second and command and a frightfully gifted sorceress. Originally a human, she gained demon status when the acts she committed on Earth polluted her soul beyond repair.

"She is here for our benefit," Taint explained, gesturing for the guards to shackle her, "Olivia is going to repair our Gate."

"Very good, Sir," Slake whispered from beneath her hood, "But I trust you will be breaking her in first?"

"Only because she needs to learn her place," Taint eyed the now-secured Angel pointedly.

Slake said nothing, just bowed shallowly and left with the guards without another sound. The door clicked shut satisfyingly, leaving Taint alone with his prisoner.

His eyes roamed over her suspended body, still free of garments.

"Such a beautiful creature," he purred, soaking in the view of small, pert breasts tipped with tiny pink nipples. Further down, across a span of smooth, pure skin, his eyes settled on the completely bare pussy nestled between the Angel's dangling legs. "I am sure I will enjoy this..."

Olivia's eyes widened in fear, "What...please..."

Taint laughed out loud at her sudden reaction. What had she thought was going to happen to her? He was a demon after all, and if there was one thing demons loved, it was sex and seduction. They lived off it and were very well practiced in it. She might resist him at first, but soon would learn to crave his touch and to have him insider her. They always did, in the end.

"Tsk tsk, little Angel," Taint scolded from his chair, "I told you that you would pay for defying me. Now what kind of demon Lord would I be if I did not hold true to my words?"

The Angel was now struggling fecklessly against her bonds, "You can't..."

In an instant, Taint was out of his chair and standing inches from his captive. He grabbed her chin with one hand and held it so she was forced to look into his eyes, which were glowing an angry red. "I can do whatever I please," he snarled, placing his free hand on Olivia's thighs, "This is my domain." His fingers traveled lightly across her skin, inching closer to the juncture between her legs.

"Please..." tears were forming at the corners of Olivia's eyes as she searched his face, pleading. It was a well known fact that Angels are required to remain pure their entire lives and what Taint was presuming to do to her would ruin that for her forever.

Good. Taint continued to hold her gaze as he dipped the tip of one finger in between her folds. She was dry, so he withdrew and smirked satisfyingly. He had properly frightened her. Now it was time to pleasure his little Angel.

"Don't worry, Olivia," he purred, releasing her chin and taking a step back, "You will enjoy this...you have my word..."

********************

She couldn't believe the situation she had managed to get herself into. When the goblins had arrived in the hundreds, Olivia had thought she was dreaming. But when she didn't wake up, she knew that they were frightfully real.

They must have been there for ages, just waiting for some stupid, curious Angel to wander too far from the protection of the Archangels and the City. Which is exactly what Olivia had done. Angry at her father, she had run to the edge of their city before crossing under the huge golden gates. It was not forbidden to leave the City of Angels, just strongly discouraged. But Olivia had not cared and so had put herself in grave danger.

Outside the walls was no less beautiful than inside. The sky was a perfect blue and green fields ran off into the horizon. A road had led from the gate through these fields and Olivia had wandered down it, enjoying the scenery and looking behind her every couple of minutes to see the City fading into the background.

After about an hour or two of walking, she had come upon a small, clear stream and sat down to relax. She would return to her father later that evening and confront him, but until then she was content with sitting in the grass and listening to the babble of the stream as it flowed over the rocky bed.

It hadn't taken her long to start to feel drowsy, sitting by the stream, and had just been about to doze off when the sound of splashing reached her ears from somewhere downstream. Immediately, she had sat up and stared toward the source of the noise, but had seen nothing. Deciding it was just an animal, she had lain back down and closed her eyes when a loud horn blast shook her awake and chilled her nerves.

Springing to her feet, Olivia had reached into the air and pulled out a brilliant golden sword out of nothing. She held it defensively, scanning her surroundings with narrowed eyes.

They came from all around her; pale green and no more than four feet high with beady black eyes and tall, tufted ears. Pieces of armor, no doubt stolen, adored each of their bodies haphazardly and they carried long, black curved blades in their long, knobby fingers.

She had read about goblins before, but the books claimed they only lived in Hell, leaving occasionally to wander the mortal realm called Earth to feast on humans. Now they had wandered into the Spirit Dimension and were surrounding Olivia from all sides, and she had nowhere to run.

In a flash of bright white light, large feathery wings had sprung from between her shoulders and flapped menacingly, stirring the wind and causing more than a few of the goblins to shirk back.

"Stay away," she had warned, "I am an Angel and you are trespassing in my Dimension. Return to Hell immediately and I will not harm you."

None of the goblins had moved except for one, larger than the rest with red eyes instead of black and a sword made out of expensive looking steel.

"We have orders to capture an Angel and bring it back to Hell," the goblin had said in a raspy voice.

"I do not care what your orders are," Olivia had said firmly, sounding braver than she felt, "You will pay dearly if you lay one hand on me."

"Then how about more than one hand?" the goblin had sneered and raised his sword up in one fluid motion.

On cue, the goblin hoard descended on her from all sides. Mustering her strength, Olivia had sent a blast of magic in a circle around her, vaporizing a few dozen goblins and halting the advance. But they had been insistent and regrouped in a matter of seconds, advancing on her once again.

The blast had taken a lot out of Olivia, but she was an Angel and a trained warrior. With a cry, she met the goblins head-on, hacking and slashing at them with her sword. They were superior in number, but she far outmatched them in skill. Head and limbs flew in every direction as her sword met its marks. Her wings had tried to keep the goblins off her back, and had succeeded for a while. But their numbers were too great and it wasn't long before they began to overcome her.

With a shout to the heavens, Olivia had used the last of her strength to send a beam of pure energy straight from the sky into the mass of creatures. With that attack alone, over one hundred goblins had been instantly vaporized.

It wasn't enough, though and with her strength completely tapped, Olivia had sunk to her knees and watched as the seemingly unending army of goblins overcame her until blackness clouded her vision and she fell unconscious to the ground.

She had woken up suspended from a chain in some demon's castle while he sneered and demanded things from her that she was not willing to give. And when she denied him, the demon, Taint was his name, had her stripped naked and thrown into a damp, dark cell somewhere beneath the stronghold.

All night she had lain there, shivering with cold and plotting her revenge. And the next morning, the guards were back, this time with a thin figure in black robes.

The figure had bent toward where Olivia crouched on the ground and whispered, "Just try and enjoy him," revealing herself to be a woman.

Next the guards had dragged her back up from the bowels of the castle and into the room from the night before. She had realized, with a strange feeling inside her chest, that the room was a bedchamber and what the robed woman had said before took on a whole new meaning.

'Try and enjoy him' she had said, and now, with the demon sticking the tip of his finger inside her...

"So you're just going to rape me?" she spat when Taint finally stepped back, claiming that she'd enjoy it.

"Not if you don't want me to," the demon said, calmly removing his black suit coat and having it disappear in a puff of black smoke.

"I don't want you to," Olivia said firmly, knowing that he wouldn't listen.

"Not yet you don't," the black tie was next, "But you will."

One button at a time, Taint began to remove his shirt. Each one undone revealed another expanse of pale skin. With the last button, he pulled off the garment and it too disappeared. And as much as Olivia hated to admit it, the demon was not a sore sight. He was tall, with darkly handsome features and a strong, athletic build. Black tattoos depicting ancient demonic symbols appeared here and there across his well-defined chest and sculpted abs.

For the first time since being dragged into this place, Olivia felt something other than simmering hatred. She couldn't quite place what this new feeling was. Admiration? Fear? Whatever it was, it formed a warm pit in her belly.

"Spread your legs for me, Angel," Taint said smoothly, pausing his undressing and facing her.

She refused to budge.

"What will it take for you to learn your lesson?" he asked, shaking his head and snapping his fingers.

Olivia felt cold metal securely clamp itself around her ankles. Looking down, she noticed two chains had appeared from the floor and fastened themselves to her. She heard Taint snap his fingers again, and the chains began to shorten. As they did so, her legs were drawn apart inch by inch. There was nothing Olivia could do to stop it and by the time the chains stopped moving, her thighs were spread far apart, revealing her sex and leaving it defenseless.

"You are so beautiful," Taint breathed, coming to stand directly in front of her.

He was so close that with each breath, Olivia could feel the very tips of her nipples brush against the hard muscle of Taint's chest. Slight shivers raced down her spine and the warmth in her belly grew a little more.

The demon reached up to grab her chin again. But this time he was gentler, slowly guiding her head to stare up into his eyes, which were glowing a soft, seductive yellow.

"Tell me, little Angel," he whispered, "Have you ever even been kissed before?"

Olivia had not. Angels were required to remain chaste their entire immortal lives. Children were not born but raised, beginning as pure human souls and eventually becoming fierce heavenly warriors.