CHAPTER 32
The raven stood a full head taller than most men. He was, however, still much shorter than his two visitors. The three stood facing one another and talking of unpleasant things. The visitors called the raven Naberius.
They made it clear what was expected of him. They had come here, to the very bottom of Sheol, in order to make it clear to him. The raven lived here by himself. He did not care for the company of others, and most of the inhabitants of Sheol would never dare to venture this far down. But these two were different; these two were powerful. He knew who they were. He would do as they asked.
The raven commanded nineteen legions of cursed humans in Sheol, but he would only need a handful of his best to carry out the orders of the visitors. He had handpicked them already from the horde that lived just above him. Six of his most fierce and loyal dog soldiers stood off to the side awaiting his command. He ignored them. Instead he kept his black, wet eyes on the two visitors. When he spoke his voice was hoarse to the point of being indecipherable.
"Where is this boy?" the raven asked. His elongated throat feathers rose some when the guttural rattle of his voice passed from his bill. The base of these neck feathers were a pale grey. That was the only part of the raven that wasn't oily black in color.
"I know the place," Azazel answered. "It's secluded. It's not far from the cemetery where I'll bring you."
"All of us?" Naberius asked.
"Yes."
"At the same time?"
"Yes."
The raven didn't believe him. No entity possessed such power. Very few that lived beneath the mountain had the ability to move even themselves, much less six ghouls and one grown demon, halfway across the human world. The visitor would fail.
"There will be one amongst them who is powerful," Azazel told the raven. "It must be you Naberius, the valiant Marquis of Sheol that engages this one. The others will be no match for his sword and his magic."
"If you get me to the cemetery of which you speak," Naberius said, "then I will handle the rest. The humans will be killed. We will butcher them all, including the one who has power."