Dantalion lowered his head into his hands. He believed he was invincible, yet his powers along with his demonic armies' could not save me once inside Satan's dominion. Dantalion recalled his fate. "If I cannot save Laurel's soul myself by the tenth day, it will be lost forever. Only one day left."
He began hearing whispers, every sound amplified within the dark cavern descending back toward his armies. "Who's there?" Dantalion whirled around, prepared for the worst. Souls of the dead moved in and out through the caves below him. Crystal rock formations lined the passages, and the air was damp and humid. A mist clouded his vision, rising from the underground hot springs throughout the caves. He could see a stream of light coming in through the caverns high above him.
Satan's souls, continuing to follow him back, drove Dantalion into a frenzy, claws fully extended. "Show yourself!" he commanded, fire illuminating from his hands. Through the mist, hundreds of his armies lay dying beside the shallow pools of hot springs. Rowan and Count Druitte were among them as Dantalion approached.
"The armies, they have been driven mad. The Demonic Lord's powers have taken hold. We hoped you had found Laurel's soul," Rowan's voice trailed off.
"Satan has her. She was within my grasp but he took her. Her soul now lives within Satan's recreation of Lilith! He has created an evil that tempteth even demon war lords. She will continue to seduce both mortal and immortal men for eternity," Dantalion lamented.
"Dantalion, we cannot give up hope." Rowan added.
He loved me as much as Dantalion, but knew I could never love him back. By no fault of our own, Rowan and I were enslaved in Dantalion's world.
Dantalion walked amongst the bodies of his thirty- six legions of demons, completely depleted of their powers. "Satan wills it , we must pay allegiance to him now."
Count Druitte could not believe what he had heard. "Lord Dantalion, we only pay allegiance to thee. Never will we bend at his mercy. We will die by our own hands before we surrender to be enslaved in his first heaven for eternity!"
Count Druitte believed what Dantalion said in his speech to the armies. All demons must answer to their own transgressions, but even the fallen can reclaim their salvation. They wished to repent for their wrongs and live once again as men. None ever sat at the hands of God as Dantalion had. Nonetheless, all wished to be saved. Now, their chances were diminished.