Minor Demons Read online

  MINOR DEMONS

  BY: RANDALL J. MORRIS

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are a product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Minor Demons

  Randall Morris

  Copyright © 2015 by Randall J. Morris

  D2D Edition

  Cover by Elizabeth Mackey Graphic Design

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in critical articles or book reviews.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  A HISTORY OF DEMONS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33

  CHAPTER 34

  CHAPTER 35

  CHAPTER 36

  CHAPTER 37

  CHAPTER 38

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  A HISTORY OF DEMONS

  At the end of the Great War, the Dragon was cast into Hell. He yelled and thrashed around in his new home. Hell wasn’t Hell until the Dragon was sent there. Rocks jutted out of the ground and ended in impaling spikes. A thick mist of darkness enveloped the entire realm. Fire came into existence all around; not a fire that brought light but a fire that brought heat and pain. The Dragon raged there until he saw something else descending from the Heavens.

  The gates of Hell were broken as the Dragon’s army was thrust through them. For the first time since the last battle, the Dragon smiled. At least God had allowed him creatures that he could make more miserable than himself. Maybe there would be a chance to regroup and assault the Heavens once again...

  His thoughts were cut short as something else walked through the gates of Hell. The demons all cowered in fear and crept deeper into the shroud of darkness and fires of Hell. The Dragon stood his ground. The shimmering being walking towards him glowed with radiant light. His white eyes were no less bright, even in the blackness of Hell. His right hand gripped his sword, also a pure white but the Dragon knew it was stained with the blood of innumerable demons. Even if his followers fell back, he was not afraid of the angels, having once been one himself. He knew this angel particularly well since he was the commander of the armies of the Heavens.

  “Come to finish me off, Michael?”

  Demons had been gradually growing more used to the light surrounding Michael the Archangel and were slowly moving towards him, readying their weapons. Without turning his head, Michael could sense their approach. He took his sword in both hands, raised it high above his head, and drove it into ground. The entire realm radiated with white light and the demons fled in a final retreat.

  “Enough with the tricks. Let’s finish this.”

  The Dragon unsheathed his dark blade that still glowed with the blood of the angels. He was ready for the final fight, Lucifer and Michael – one on one.

  “I didn’t come here for that. I come with a message from God.”

  “Do you now? What does the Great Tyrant have to say about my rebellion?”

  “I wouldn’t talk ill of the Great God who spared your life. It would have been easy enough to stamp out your rebellion and put an end to you.”

  “So why didn’t you?”

  “God told me to stop.”

  “I’m not an angel anymore, Michael. I tried to overthrow God. You mean to tell me that even after I betrayed him, he didn’t have it in him to end me? What a weak and sentimental...”

  “I didn’t come here to argue with you. I’m here to offer you the terms of your exile. If you refuse,” Michael added with a smile, tightening the grip on his sword, “I will cut you off from existence. God has allowed me that privilege should you continue on in your desire to fight.”

  “Let’s hear it then, errand boy.”

  “God will allow you to bring evil into the world to test the humans. You will retain command over all the rebels you took with you from Heaven. You and your army will sustain yourselves by the souls you corrupt and successfully win over on earth. You will not appear to the humans, you will not make yourself known unless they seek you, and you will never again attempt to enter the gates of Heaven unless God demands your presence. It’s either that or I can end your miserable reality right now.”

  “I accept. We surrender.”

  Michael looked disappointed.

  “The first humans will be placed on earth shortly. Be warned that I will not allow your demons to rage out of control on earth. Angels will be sent to earth should the humans ask for it.”

  “Oh they won’t. Most of them will be under my control almost instantly. They’re weak creatures and God was a fool for creating them. If any of them do ask for angels, I’ll have other humans mock them and put them to death. I hope you don’t get too bored waiting for prayers that will never come.”

  “You underestimate God’s plan but pride has always been your downfall. You were my brother but you rose up to seek the glory that will never be yours. I had always hoped that you weren’t as stupid and impulsive as you looked but I guess you proved me wrong, Lucifer. I’ll see you again at the end of time when God gifts me the right to slay you.”

  As Michael turned to leave, Satan threw his sword at Michael’s back. Feeling darkness approaching, Michael turned and deflected the weapon with his sword. He spun and readied a counter strike, ready to split the Dragon’s head down the middle. He stopped his blade within inches. The Dragon smiled and shook all of Hell with his laugh. Michael turned and walked swiftly away, light and glory exiting Hell with him.

  It was shortly after his exile that the Dragon organized his forces. As the master of all evil, he decided to gift his knowledge to six demons – the six lords of Hell. Each would become the master of one temptation. While they took over responsibility for their specific sin immediately, they were all made masters of sin when the Dragon personally brought them to earth and taught them how to destroy humanity.

  The first major demon was Lucian, the lord of lies. Lucian accompanied the Dragon to earth when he tempted the human race’s first parents, Adam and Eve. The Dragon took possession of a snake and lied to Eve. Eve then tempted Adam. Lucian watched and learned how one lie could spread from person to person and corrupt them all. Lucian later discovered that a lie could easily lead to more lies and even a white lie could be like piercing water to bring forth innumerable ripples. It was Lucian who convinced the son of Adam to lie to God after he killed his brother.

  The second major demon was Cain, the lord of murder. His spot was contested as the Dragon couldn’t decide who was more deserving between Cain and his brother, Abaddon. Before his journey to earth to tempt a son of Adam to murder his brother, a plot to overthrow the Dragon was uncovered by Lucian. Abaddon had planned to betray the Dragon and sit on the throne of Hell. Cain pleaded wi
th the Dragon to spare his brother (while demons generally care for no one but themselves, they can’t deny a sense of responsibility when it comes to family) but Abaddon was cast into the depths of Hell to be eternally tormented. Cain adopted his nephew, Shadow, and convinced the Dragon to spare him from the torture endured by Abaddon.

  Cain, the lord of murder, went with the Dragon to earth to tempt a son of Adam to slay his brother. The demon Cain learned that murder can have any motivation: greed, jealousy, anger, even righteous vengeance. After the son of Adam was killed, it was Cain, the lord of murder who tempted Lamech to become a murderer and forge a secret society bent on murdering all that opposed them.

  The third major demon, and the only female of the six, was the demoness Vixen. Vixen became the major demon of lust. The Dragon took Vixen with him when he corrupted Sodom and Gomorrah and held absolute power over them through their complete abandon to sexual desires. Vixen learned that getting any human to focus on immediate desires, while blocking out any other thoughts, could be incredibly effective in bringing men and women to surrender to lust. After the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, Vixen was able to tempt the Egyptian pharaoh to bring Sarah, Abraham’s wife, to his house out of pure lust. God put a stop to this attempt at ruining Abraham’s lineage, but Vixen was later able to tempt David to commit adultery with Bathsheba and Cain stepped in to tempt David to murder Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah. Vixen caused Solomon to give into lust and he took every attractive woman as his wife or concubine. Once he was bound through lust to hundreds of idolatrous women, Vixen led him into other sins and almost brought down the entire House of Israel on her own.

  The fourth major demon was Baal, the lord of idolatry. Baal was present with the Dragon when the Israelites asked Aaron to make them a golden calf to worship. Baal learned that an unhealthy obsession with any object could turn into blatant idolatry. After Moses gave the Ten Commandments, Baal was still able to influence the Israelites by making idol representations of Jehovah. At times, Baal worked with Vixen to bring Israel’s pagan neighbors into the royal family as concubines or wives. Their greatest success was the marriage of Jezebel to King Ahab. Jezebel fought tirelessly to spread the worship of Baal to the entire kingdom of Israel. During some centuries, Baal was worshiped as a god by the idolatrous humans.

  The fifth major demon was Leviathan, the lord of jealousy. Leviathan went with the Dragon to earth when the Dragon convinced the sons of Israel to throw their brother, Joseph, in a pit and sell him into slavery. Leviathan learned that jealousy was capable of being the author of many other sins, including murder, theft, and lies. It was Leviathan who later planted the seed of envy in King Saul which grew into a desire for murder. Leviathan worked with Cain in an attempt to slay David through the king’s overwhelming jealousy. Since then, Leviathan has used envy as an effective tool to not only lead mankind to other sins, but to also keep them in an enraged and hateful state toward their fellowmen.

  The sixth major demon that the Dragon trusted to lead his armies was Asmodeus, the lord of inaction and laziness. Asmodeus was with the Dragon when he convinced the leaders of the Israelites to disobey the commandment of God and not destroy everything of the Canaanites. Asmodeus later convinced King Saul to spare Agag when Samuel had given the clear commandment to destroy everything. Asmodeus then took possession of Sarah, a young Israelite, and deprived her of her husbands until the arrival of Tobias, who was accompanied by the Archangel Raphael. Asmodeus fled, was captured by the Archangel Raphael, but then later escaped and has been leading men to failure through inaction ever since.

  The Dragon retained control over the sin of pride, as it was the sin that he was cast out of Heaven for. Once he put the six major demons in place, he allowed them to choose their followers. Lucian and Cain recruited the largest followings. The major demons divided their followers into ranks based on their skills as tempters. Thus, middle demons and minor demons were born. A final class of non-recruited demons remained “in-training” until recruited into the army of one of the six major demons.

  While they couldn’t appear to humans or harm them physically, except under special allowed circumstances, demons were made of the same type of matter and could harm one another. Humans could neither see them nor harm them, even though they were fairly similar in overall appearance. Demons often got into fights with one another and crafted armor and weapons out of the humans they stole away to Hell. The need to craft armor and weapons from bones coupled with the demons need to consume souls for sustenance eventually led to a shortage of humans in Hell, despite the billions the demons had corrupted and dragged down. The major demons of Hell pressured their armies to corrupt human souls further before escorting them to Hell but the shortage continued on.

  The Dragon, shortly after his exile, devised three horrible trials that demons-in-training would have to pass through to aid in the recruitment process. Major demons and middle demons tuned in to watch each new class of demons compete in the trials.

  The first trial was a labyrinth filled with monsters from the nightmares humans dreamed as well as creatures from human mythology. The labyrinth changed with each demon that entered, so no run through the labyrinth was ever exactly the same. Some creatures remained in the labyrinth each time to keep a small degree of consistency.

  The second trial was called the death pit. Two demons went in and one emerged a victor. Demons were allowed to kill their opponent, but the match was officially won when a demon incapacitated his opponent. Single elimination – no second chances.

  The final trial was tempting a simulated human in a simulated earth-like environment. Points were scored based on what the demon could get the human to do and how much chaos he could cause as a result.

  Time passed on and while the earth became more and more corrupted, Hell brought forth a new generation of demons that would have to bring humanity to an even lower level to keep Hell supplied with sufficiently corrupted souls. All hope rested with the next group of demons-in-training.

  CHAPTER 1

  The day had finally come.

  Shadow hopped out of bed and made his way slowly to the fridge. He grabbed the last remains of the soul of a drug dealer and downed it in one gulp. While his hunger didn’t fully dissipate, he was lucky he had food at all with the current soul shortage in Hell, and too much was on his mind today to worry about taste. He had been waiting a long time to finally get this chance.

  Demon placement.

  Shadow returned to his room and opened his closet. He had to look his best and find the most intimidating outfit possible for his first day. He put on his father’s old, red cloak. He found his skull helmet with the least amount of damage and placed it on his head. Those choices were easy but the final item he carried with him would make a statement more than anything else. His hand paused as he reached in to grab a weapon. It was obvious which one would make an impression. His uncle had given him a scythe on his last birthday. While it would surely be the envy of his entire class, Shadow knew he shouldn’t have it. Demons-in-training shouldn’t have a weapon that was generally only gifted to major demons. He was about to choose something else when his mother came in the room.

  “Look at you. You look exactly like a smaller version of your father.”

  “I can’t decide on a weapon.”

  “Go with your uncle’s scythe. No one else will have one.”

  “I’M not supposed to have one.”

  “Your uncle is the demon of murder and he doesn’t have a son to give things to. You should show him your respect and carry it with you.”

  “He’s not my dad. My dad is in the lowest circle of Hell.”

  “And your uncle has tried to get him out for years. You have your father’s cloak and you should carry your uncle’s scythe.”

  “I don’t want to coast on his reputation. I want to be my own version of badass.”

  “And wielding a scythe is going to prevent you from doing that?”

  Shadow sighed and then reached back in his c
loset to pull out the scythe. He could feel the power resonating from it. His mother was right; none of the demons-in-training would have a weapon like this – not even his instructor.

  “You look... so much like your father...”

  Shadow could tell the tears were about to come. He decided to distract her.

  “So, can I get some advice? I would normally ask Uncle Cain but I’m sure he’s busy at the moment.”

  Shadow gave his mother a half-crooked smile and his mother smiled.

  “If you don’t get recruited right away and become a minor demon, that’s ok. Just study and work hard and you’ll get there eventually. Most demons don’t become minor demons after the three trials. Just do your best.”

  “Is it a real human that they let you tempt in the third trial?”

  “No. Not anymore.”

  “Was it a real human you tempted when you entered the third trial?”

  “The only one I tempted on my first few days was your father.”

  She winked.

  “Mom, that’s disgusting.”

  She laughed and Shadow regretted asking her for advice.

  “Take in all you can from the trials. If you make friends with the other demons, make sure they see you as the leader. I want you to become a minor demon as fast as you can so you have a chance to move up when other spots become... vacant.”

  “There’s no need to worry, Mom. I’ll be a minor demon in no time. You know how hard I’ve trained.”

  “Yes, Shadow, I know but don’t get overconfident. Oh, I almost forgot.”

  She left the room and came back with a piece of paper.

  “Your uncle wasn’t too busy to leave you this. Read it out loud; I want to hear.”

  “Shadow,

  So it’s finally your time. You better make me proud. I’m going to check in and see how it went so I expect you to start plenty of fights with the other demons. No flying under the radar today. I want you to find the demon that you think has the most potential (other than you) and I want you to put him in his place. If you’re going to make friends, make sure they’re demons that you can control. I want you to take the scythe I gave you to the trials and if I find out you didn’t... I will drop in and murder you myself. Remember our deal, Shadow.