Mentored in Fire by K.F. Breene

Seven

What…

Lucifer’s mind stuttered to a stop when he flew into the vicinity of the river. The water boiled below him, this area home to some dangerous rapids that would overturn boats twice as big as those carrying his navita. Rough-hewn rock loomed above them, exposed. What should be the beach on the other side was melting away into the rocks and weeds and ugliness of the natural landscape.

Who… What…

He couldn’t form a coherent thought. He’d never seen this before. Never, in all his years, had something dissolved his illusions to this magnitude. The elves had tried. The angels had tweaked and manhandled. But nothing had acted like a disease, like acid, and burned it all away.

What sort of being had this kind of power? This kind of magic? While the vampires who’d infiltrated his kingdom peddled magic, it wasn’t to this magnitude.

Gathering himself, he flew forward over the river in his demon form, Tatsu flying alongside. Victoria, also in demon form, rode her dragon, a shimmering green spectacle that usually caught the light.

Not so, now. There was no light. The sun had dissipated with the rest of the illusion. It would take days to fix, as it had been one of the biggest illusions, servicing a vast area.

Anger boiled within him.

Was this retaliation for what he’d done to the elves’ castle? Could they be so stupid?

He could lay waste to their illusions. He could shelter the vampires in the Underworld. They’d come fleeing from the real sun, which would be exposed if the Realm’s network of magic came crashing down…and they’d stay so they could reproduce.

In fact, he might just do that anyway. War was imminent, and the vampire Vlad was having some trouble wrangling all of his recruits. Lucifer might be the guiding shove they needed. They would join him out of necessity and help him tear down the elves, once and for all.

He landed on the far bank, in the heart of the destruction. The fog had been completely torn down in this area, not even a trace of it left behind. All the docks were visible, many of the boats physically tied up and bobbing against the ends. Six boats were gone.

“What happened here?” he boomed, in his humanoid form now, looking around at the gathered mass of creatures. They stood with wide eyes, blinking, stupid.

“Sire.” A sniveling half-powered demon, no more than one of the creatures living in the Edges, hobbled up with a bowed back, its head low. “A vampire passed this way before…the disturbance.”

Lucifer huffed humorlessly. Disturbance was putting it mildly.

“A vampire? Do all this?” Lucifer scoffed. “Preposterous. What of the boats? Six are gone—where did they land?”

“I have that list here, Great Master.” Victoria, back in humanoid form, her dragon off to the side, unrolled a scroll and held it out to him. “Two boats are completely unaccounted for. The Boatmen can’t be found.”

Lucifer tapped one of the sect names, where the record indicated that three boats had landed and dropped off living cargo. “Vlad the vampire deals heavily with this sect, does he not? They visit him in the Edges.”

“Yes, sire.” The sniveling half-powered demon wrung its hands. “Six vampires crossed the river behind the group that created this commotion. There was a clear leader, though we aren’t sure…” Its voice trailed away within Lucifer’s severe gaze. “There was a clear leader. Vlad, certainly.”

It wasn’t convinced, clearly, but that was no matter. Who else could it be?

Lucifer lowered the scroll a little, staring down at the cowering demon without seeing him. “He snuck into my kingdom when it was vulnerable?”

“Yes, sire. So it would seem, sire.”

“Here are the Boatmen.” Victoria held out her hand to indicate them, walking in single file, led by a wrangler. Their backs were bowed and knees awkwardly bent, not used to time on land. They rarely left their boats. There was magic stopping them from doing just that.

“And you said two boats are unaccounted for?” Lucifer asked Victoria as the Boatmen drew near.

“Yes. Their living cargo and the Boatmen with them. Another landed…” Leaning over the scroll, she tapped on the sect name. A warlike sect, low in status. “The boat was found downstream, however. Empty.”

“The boat was intact?” He handed back the scroll.

“Yes, Great Master. The Boatman was gone, however. Lost.”

“Killed, you mean. That sect has no outside affiliations that I know of. They are not inclined to deal with outsiders.” He speared Victoria with a glare. “What have they said?”

“A lone vampire, Great Master,” she said. “I have someone asking questions. There was chaos, last I heard. The conspector was killed, his dragon released.”

“A vampire.” Lucifer put his hands on his hips. “A vampire did all this…” He swept his hand out, a trail of fire in its wake. “A vampire took the safeguards off the water, killed a Boatman, and killed a conspector out from under a dragon? A vampire.”

Victoria lowered her gaze. “Despite the illogic of it, those are the reports we have so far.”

A blast of frigid air thundered out from him, sending the lesser demons flying, landing where they may. Fire was quick to follow, coating his body.

“Boatman. Come here.” He pointed in front of him.

The wrangler ushered one of them forward.

“Hello, Great Master,” it said. “What can I tell you?”

They were a species of wraith, altered for his purposes. They had been magically connected, and what one knew, they all knew. It was the safest way to monitor the comings and goings of his kingdom. Given that those leaving and entering knew that, they would know there was no point in killing a Boatman.

A stranger was in their midst.

“Who tore down the fog?”

“I am sorry, I do not know.”

The perpetrator hadn’t done it from a boat, then. The Boatmen were only active when they were needed. It prolonged their shelf-life, as it were. They were gruesome to make; Lucifer hated doing it.

“Of the last six boats to leave, who was in the one that landed in the Warsol sect?”

“Walrus piloted that ship. He landed at the Warsol sect with Black Sheep and Sparkly Thongs.”

Lucifer shook his head, his brow furrowing. “Repeat the names again.”

“Walrus, Black Sheep, and Sparkly Thongs.”

“I don’t…” He looked at Victoria.

“Walrus is the vampire Darius,” she said. “He must know we would have that name. Once you give your name to a Boatman, you can give no other.”

Lucifer half thought he was losing his mind. “The Boatman allowed him to cross the first time—any time—using Walrus as his name?”

“Yes, sire. He traveled with Eggman at first. We believe that is the heir.”

Lucifer let his breath out slower. Her magic—the strength of her mighty magic—would be enough to addle any Boatman. Once the name was accepted, it was set. “Black Sheep and…Sparkly Thong?”

“Sparkly Thongzzz, yes. Plural. It’s English from the Brink. Black sheep is a furry sort of animal. For the other, sparkly, you know. A thong is a small slip of undergarment you likely have encountered—”

“I know what it is!” His voice thundered across the way. Anyone who wasn’t expressly needed in the area ran. Everyone else withered where they stood. “Those aren’t names. They are not proper magical identifiers. What are their names? Who are they?”

“Ah. Well…” Victoria forced herself to straighten, and Lucifer could see the effort behind it. “I am honestly not sure why those names were accepted. The heir was accounted for, of course. So there really is no explanation.”

Lucifer turned toward the river, scanning where the fog once was. “Whoever it was, they were powerful enough to get through my barrier and rip down my illusions. Check that sect. Get any information you can. I want to know what sort of being has infiltrated my territory. If it is the angels after that accursed druid…” He tightened his hand into a fist. “Just find out who they are and trap them. I will deal with them myself. Their deaths will be a public spectacle.”

“But the heir enjoys that vampire, sire.”

“It will be easy to sow mistrust. He’s a vampire, after all. She is probably just addicted to his bite. We will cure her of that. I need to get that druid out of there, though, before he poisons her mind with thoughts of leaving. He will remind her of the life she had. Of her humanity. If that happens, she will go the same way as the last heir. I cannot have that.”

“Yes, sire.”

Victoria turned to leave.

“And Victoria?” He waited for her to turn back. “Find that vampire Vlad. Take him to the castle. I would like a word.”

“How will we keep him here, sire? He is cunning. Able to get out of tight spots.”

Lucifer’s smile showed his teeth. “Call the most powerful conspectors. They will help me create a barrier not even an angel could tear down. The Underworld is closed until further notice—no one in or out. I want those trespassers—all of them.”