Page 32 of The Rowan's Stone
He attacks, fast and furious, focusing everything on a purely physical fight. I zing a tendril of magic at him and find good wards. But does he have magic? Running up the side of a rock, I use the second away from the constant hammering of his sword to conjure up a ball of witchfire. When I come down, I fling it at him. It sizzles against his shield, creating a fairly sizeable hole in it. His eyes dart to it, but he makes no move to repair it. It’s not a sure sign, but if he had magic, I doubt he’d leave himself so exposed.
His eyes flicker, and my rune flares as I catch a whiff of something raunchy behind me. I shove the pointy end of my sword under my elbow and hear a squelch when it finds its target. Quickly, I pull it out and swing up to catch the sword of the guard in front of me. Dancing to the side, I maneuver until I can see the threat behind me. Another guard presses a hand to his side, waiting for it to heal. Damn immortals. If you don’t cut off their heads, they regenerate. And some are so bad, you have to cut off their heads and burn them to make sure they’re dead.
An idea comes to mind. I ease back and cast my magic toward the guard I just stabbed. With a twirl, I put on a burst of speed and come up behind him. Or myself. With a quick glamour spell, the big guy takes the bait. Thinking it’s me standing in front of him, he swings and chops off his buddy’s head. When it falls to the ground and the glamour fades, he realizes it’s a trick, but it’s already too late. His head follows it a second later.
Lucifer’s guards are doing pretty well themselves. Both have dispatched several enemy guards, and they’re engaged with the last two now. I eyeball the portal and notice it’s half the size it was originally. Fewer creatures are slipping through, and those that do quickly find themselves dead.
When the final two enemy guards are dead, we move in closer to Alain and Lucifer.
“Why?” Lucifer’s voice is raw, bleeding from the betrayal of his closest friend as he questions Alain. “We’ve been friends for thousands of years. Why suddenly throw it all away? Tell me, you bastard!” Lucifer draws his sword across Alain’s stomach. Not deep enough for guts to spill out, but it takes Alain a few seconds to heal.
An idea pops into my head. Using a simple magic spell, I amplify their voices until the entire battlefield can hear.
“You didn’t hold up your end of the bargain!” Alain yells, his sword swinging through the air to connect with Lucifer’s. “From the day you conquered the Underworld, I was your loyal servant. Finally, a fitting king to be our ruler. No weaknesses. A machine purely dedicated to fucking over the world. It was your motto and mission rolled into one, and it was beautiful. Underworld had never seen better days—mayhem, wealth, and power. We were rolling in it, and after years of serving, you rewarded my loyalty with your friendship and made me your second-in-command. Together, we became invincible. For over two thousand years, we were ruthless and nothing could stop us, but then you ruined it! Instead of fucking the witch and moving on, you fell in love, like a human, a weakling! The great King of the Underworld brought to his knees by basic human emotion,” he sneers and spits on the ground. No longer fighting, he’s standing there raging at Lucifer, years of pent-up anger and betrayal spewing out of him. “And like all humans, she got pregnant. Daire was born, then Danica, and all you wanted was to play happy fucking families. You stopped giving a shit about this magnificent empire we’d built.” His face is ugly, hatred twisting his features into a grotesque caricature.
“I tried to ignore them, but surprisingly, I discovered I liked Daire. He was immortal, not like his mother and sister, and magnificent. A new species for the Underworld—a vampire! Maybe a son wouldn’t be so bad, after all,” he reflects, as if Daire was his. “In fact, the more I thought about it, I realized this could be the opportunity of a lifetime. We could be more than friends. We could be family. Once I adjusted to the idea, I realized I needed a daughter. For twenty years, I searched, until one day, I found this beautiful baby girl vampire, the absolute perfect match for Daire.
“I’m a bastard, but even I could see how devastated you were when Danica died, then the witch a few years later. I knew you needed time to grieve, so as your friend, I stepped back and spent my days grooming Solange to be everything Daire desired while I waited for you to pick up the reins. Finally, you did, but instead of the beautiful monster of the past, you became this pathetic shell championing free will and striving to find balance with the greater good. Every single moment I’d spent as your servant and friend was wasted, and not once did you consider how I’d feel. I helped you build this empire, and you wanted to make it…less, in every way. I couldn’t stand it.” His voice is raw when he recounts his devastation. “So when she came knocking twelve hundred years ago, offering me the throne, I accepted.”
Changing to his beast form, he renews his attack against Lucifer. Towering over him, he waits for Lucifer to shed his skin, but it’s in vain. Lucifer stays in his human form. Whether he means it as an insult or if he has another reason, I don’t know.
Except for those busy with closing the portal, the battlefield is silent, all eyes upon these two, watching the brutal fight with fascination. Their knowledge of each other’s fighting habits means they both have to work hard to make a mark on the other. Alain is giving it everything he’s got and manages to land a few deep hits on Lucifer, but nothing incapacitating, not even for a moment. Soon, it becomes readily apparent to all—Lucifer’s holding back. I’ve known it from the beginning, because I’ve seen his power and I’ve never seen anyone match it. Alain knew it too, which is why it was only a tactic to buy some time until the creatures could get through the portal.
Lucifer shakes his head. “Who promised to put you on the throne?” He ignores the rest of Alain’s ramblings to focus on the one fact he deems important, and his restraint suddenly makes sense. “You said ‘she’ a second ago. Who are you talking about?”
Alain checks the portal, sees it’s closed, and drops his sword. Defeated, he laughs maniacally. “Fuck it. That bitch never helped me anyway. I’ll tell you if you let me live.”
“No,” Lucifer replies, his voice full of pain. “You could tell me as payment for the friendship we shared for thousands of years. I know it wasn’t all a façade.”
A dark defeated laugh escapes Alain. “Fuck, you’re a real pain in my ass.” He runs a hand over his face. “But you’re right, I owe you. A little over twelve hundred years ago, the Prime came knocking on several doors, including mine, offering deals left and right. She offered me the ultimate prize—King of the Underworld. If I got rid of you, she’d support my reign, and if I didn’t…well, you know the old threat, except she’s powerful enough to back it up.” He sighs. “And let’s be honest, I wanted to be king, so I took the deal. Since then, I’ve done everything I could to undermine you. I stirred up your enemies, caused a wedge between you and your son, broke treaties with our allies, and so much more. The things I did in your name…well, let’s just say your reputation as a cruel, unforgiving bastard is cemented for all time. And yet, I couldn’t find a way to bring you down.” His expression reflects his own disappointment in his failures.
I freeze.Prime?The poem on the second piece of parchment mentioned the Prime. I didn’t realize it was a person.
“Who’s the current Prime?” Lucifer is laser focused when he asks.
“You’re going to laugh. It’s the—” An almost transparent hand snatches Alain by the neck and starts dragging him toward a dark hole literally appearing out of nowhere on the ground. He claws at the hand, trying to get it to release him. Lucifer dives forward, but his hand passes right through the phantom’s wrist, and he can’t prevent it from taking Alain. Alain mouths one last thing, then he’s gone.
Shaking, I pull off my hood and stare at the hole. The same thing happened to the assassin who broke into our home when Solandis started to question him.
What the hell is going on? Who is the Prime? And why is the person behind my attempted assassinations after Lucifer too?
19
DAIRE
Satisfaction courses through me when I see the battle turn in our favor. The enemy is thinning, and without true leadership, losing its focus. Enemy forces are showing signs of fatigue, and the pile of bodies is growing. Whistling to the rest of the cadre, we tighten the lines and prepare ourselves for one last push. I assess our troops and find them fighting and launching attacks with almost the same energy as when they started. We have our own small pile of bodies, but far fewer than the enemy. It helps when the fighter next to you has your back.
Raising my arm to give the signal, I feel my phone buzz. Knowing Arden wouldn’t text unless it was important, I pull it up.
Arden:To your left. Huge portal opening. Gigantic army of black creatures waiting to enter. Vargas can’t close it by himself. He needs you. Lucifer’s gone. Going to find him.
I’d seena bright arc on the left, but thought it was a bomb or magical skirmish, not a portal. And, if I’m not mistaken, a portal to another world, one filled with creatures of death, whose only focus is finding food to eat, which is whatever or whoever is in its path. We’d had a few of them slip through barriers into the Underworld in the past, and they’d decimated entire populations.
Signaling to Valerian, I explain my plan for the last push and hand the reins of leadership to him. I motion for Astor and a few of my best fighters to follow me to the portal. If Alain’s holding it open, it’s going to take my full concentration to close it, which means I’ll be vulnerable for several minutes. I need them to watch my back until it’s done.
I whistle for the minokawa, and it kindly gives us a ride. Thirty seconds later, we land near the portal, where the overwhelming smell of blood and gore hits my nose, and I grimace. Usually after the first hour of battle, a vampire becomes immune to the smell. Something must be causing it to be worse than usual. Scanning the area, I notice the ground is littered with bodies from both sides of the war, but the smell isn’t originating from them. No, it’s caused by the rivers of blood and mounds of fresh body parts by the portal—body parts with huge teeth marks on them. Dread churns in my stomach. We’ve got to get this portal closed, fast!
With Astor and my men following, I head toward the center of the portal. When we reach the middle, I’m astonished by the sight in front of me. Vargas stands in a circle of protection, working on the portal, while Callyx and several other large, feral-looking demons fight to keep the creatures off him.
