Lucian ruffled Danny’s hair. “You need to relax, and get a little more courage.” He said. “First off, there isn’t a coincidence about nine keys and nine levels of Hell. Unfortunately, the first level is Purgatory, where the soul of the newly dead where, as you climb the mountain to Heaven, you’re submitted to humility and confession, cleansing your soul. As long as you escaped damnation. But that isn’t an option. Obviously one key is here, before we get to the nine levels.”

They returned to the road leading into the destroyed city. “Once you’re wearing the collar, you’ll be fine. Each demon and devil has their own scent, and once someone’s placed in the collar of a demon, others will leave that person alone.” He was studying his nails. “Oh, and you’ll not find ‘anti-demon’ weapons. This is Hell, we’re pretty adamant about keeping those types out of here. Like I said in the beginning, the weapons we have here take years to master, and they’re made of blistering brass and iron, so they’ll burn the skin off your hands.”

He led Danny through a narrow alleyway that seemed to be a dead end, trapping them with a brick wall. “You can never fully trust a demon or devil.” Lucian continued. “But then again, you can’t trust anyone, can you? Anyone can be evil, and everyone has a bit of evil in them.” He ran a hand over the mortar between the bricks, around the middle, and they fell away. “I’m the kindest demon you’ll ever meet, though, so believe me, you’re better off than with... Say, Nybras. You’d never be the same...” He laughed quietly, pushing Danny into the area beyond the brick doorway. Within what seemed like a dead end, a large, darkly-lit den stood waiting with hot stone floors and iron-laced walls.