The Lesser Evil - 6. The Demon Lord

Hot winds blew across the desolate terrain as Lothar blinked onto the black granite path. None of the demons in the vicinity, near or far, paid much attention to him. He unzipped and removed his black leather jacket, as it was always too hot in this part of the Demonic Domain.

The blood-red sky was streaked with black clouds, with a rare raven and vulture occasionally flying across, seeking for food or a place to roost. The volcanic mountains in the distance emitted plumes of dark smoke, an ominous sign of an impending eruption. It was nothing that demons, imps and other creatures who lived there weren’t already used to.

Lothar continued along the path, his steely gaze focused on the road ahead, until he finally reached his destination - the Obsidian Keep ruled by Demon Lord Cromwell, Lothar’s commander. The imposing black citadel stood tall and mighty, its thick walls and sharp spires discouraging anyone from even approaching it, let alone entering. Red flames burned atop each tower, a signal that everything was in order. In the event of an angelic raid or any other conflict, the fires would turn white, visible from a vast distance, as a warning to all inhabitants. These were rather common in Cromwell’s territory, as it was located in the border area of the Demonic Domain. The demon lord himself had seen his fair share of battles, having ruled for the last two hundred years. Even so, he was considered a novice by some of the other lords who had been nearly ten centuries old.

“Long time no see,” one of the two burly guards standing in front of the entrance to the Keep nodded as Lothar approached.

“We thought you moved to the Earth to live among humans,” the other spoke, barely suppressing a laugh.

“Don’t try to be funny, Victor. You know talking isn’t your strong suit,” Lothar passed between them, barely sparing them a glance. They may be good warriors, but couldn’t offer much else beside their brute strength. He despised their stupidity and lack of grace.

“I’d watch my mouth, unless you want a fist in it,” the first guard spoke again. “Boss is already pissed at you.”

Lothar frowned as he neared the main door. He was hardly surprised Cromwell was dissatisfied, and he had a rather good idea why. He would have to tread even more carefully from now on.

The massive obsidian door opened as soon as he pressed his palm against it, letting him in. The inside of the fortress was just as bleak as the outside. Small windows of colored glass painted everything in a reddish hue, while torches burned on every wall.

Taking the well-known route, Lothar made his way to the topmost floor. Once he reached the chamber of his commander, he knocked on the door, waiting for a response.

“Come on in,” Cromwell’s cold, deep voice responded from the other side.

“My lord,” the younger demon entered, greeting the tall, burly figure that sat in an armchair, reading a long scroll in the candlelight. Even though not as big as the guards outside, Cromwell was much taller and bulkier than Lothar. His head was covered in long, auburn dreadlocks, while his face had symmetrical red tattoos across the cheeks, the mark of a demon lord. On the floor next to him lay Pang, a menacing black panther that was sharpening its claws on a large piece of wood.

“What’s the situation?” the older demon asked, going straight to business. Lothar stood near the door, not wanting to go further inside. There was little he was afraid of, but he knew he had to be cautious around Cromwell - his commander for the last several decades. The demon lord never had too much to say, but when he did, his subjects were expected to pay attention to every single word. Notorious, or perhaps celebrated among demons for being ruthless, he suffered no fools. His reputation as a cruel leader was well-known across his realm, and even beyond.

“As I told you last time, the girl who was taken was training to be a priestess, and I’ve just found out there was another case where a priestess from the same temple vanished. I spoke to her husband. He says her name was Helga and she was taken eight years ago. It’s no surprise the angels are targeting people of faith. Religion is a powerful tool among humans, it makes them easy to control. We should check who was assigned to that woman’s case and if they discovered anything.”

“I’ll take care of that,” Cromwell said, nodding almost imperceptibly. “What else have you found out?”

“That is all for now. I’m trying to-”

“That’s it?” the demon lord grumbled. As if sensing his dissatisfaction, the panther looked up, turning towards his master. “You’ve spent all that time over there and this is all you have to show for it? I’m starting to think those idiots were right. Maybe you weren’t right for the job.”

“My lord, I’ve never failed you and I don’t intend to start now,” Lothar replied, refraining from lashing out. He couldn’t afford to lose his cool. “Just because I don’t rush into things like some pebble-brained morons around here, doesn’t mean I don’t get the job done. I believe you know that.”

Cromwell reached over with his hand, stroking the panther’s neck. It seemed almost gentle, an act of affection. The animal closed its deep purple eyes and began purring. “Just make sure you don’t disappoint me,” the demon said, seemingly unimpressed with Lothar’s response. After a brief pause, he added: “There’s a reason we made the pact not to involve humans in our war. They are a treacherous kind and can be easily swayed either way. They don’t have lasting allegiances like we do. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t,” Lothar clenched his jaw, looking at Cromwell with confidence. Always the same talk about humans. All the demons told him that, but what did they know? Cromwell never spent any time among humans, he never even went to Earth. He only repeated what he heard from others, just like most other demons. They didn’t know what people were capable of. They didn’t know Edwin like he did. Besides, he needed no reminders. He knew very well what his job was, and he would get it done.

Tired and irritable, the young demon left the Obsidian Keep and headed straight for the rocky hills behind it. They were barren and difficult to climb, but the view from the top was always worth it. The hills overlooked the dark forest to the west, as well as demonic settlements to the east, always buzzing with activity.

He always used to go there with Adrian, but now that he was alone, there was no point in making the effort of hiking. Instead, he simply blinked to the top and sat down on the cold, hard ground. He hadn’t been there in months. It was too painful to return to the spot he had so many happy memories attached to, but this time, something drew him there.

As he looked down at the scenery below, he realized little had changed. The forest was still gloomy and vast, while the demonic houses still stood tall. Made of dark volcanic rock, they all looked alike. The streets were lit with hundreds of torches, while demons moved about, each going their own way. So similar to humans in some ways, yet so different in others.

“I didn’t see you return,” a voice startled him. He turned to see Nyra standing a few feet away. With pale skin and long, black hair flowing in the wind, the young woman was dressed in her usual attire of tight black trousers and a long maroon jacket. She had a black ring on her right hand, similar to the one Lothar wore. A smile came naturally on Lothar’s face upon seeing her – she was one of his best and oldest friends.

“Sorry, I just got back. Reporting to Cromwell and all that,” he replied. The girl came closer and sat next to him. “What have you been up to?”

Nyra laughed, the sound filling the night air. “You know there is nothing even remotely interesting in my life. Everything is so bloody… peaceful. I’ve been training some kids, but it’s not even close to the real thing. I need to fight someone for real. I miss it,” she let out a sigh, stretching her arms above her head. “At least you’ve been having some adventures on Earth, haven’t you?”

“Just another case to solve,” he shrugged.

“There’s more to it than that, I can tell. Aren’t you afraid Cromwell’s going to sense it too?”

Lothar frowned and looked ahead, avoiding her gaze. “How can you still want to go and fight?” he asked, desperate to change the subject. “After everything that happened?” Nyra was a fearless warrior, adept at spear and sword fighting. She had fought in as many battles as Lothar had, and after seeing her in combat, he was glad she was on his side.

“He wasn’t just your friend, you know? He was mine too. I miss him just as much,” the woman replied, as if she could read his mind.

“Then how can you say you miss the war?” he asked, already regretting starting this conversation. That was exactly why he’d been avoiding Nyra lately. He didn’t want to talk about Adrian. He wanted to remember his friend in silence, not talk about his death. But he was even less prepared to talk about Edwin.

“Because I want to avenge him. I want to kill those angels. No, not just those who killed him. All of them. I want to tear their wings off as they scream in pain, torture them for days and weeks before I finally cut their heads off with my sword,” Nyra spoke passionately. “Don’t you want that too?”

Lothar didn’t speak. He was tired of discussions about the war between demons and angels. They were as pointless as the war itself. They had been going at it for centuries, yet neither side could win. All they managed to accomplish was endless casualties on both sides. When would they finally realize that and give up? When there’s no one left to fight?

“What I want is for him to be alive again, but that is something I cannot have,” he replied curtly. With that, he blinked and vanished, leaving Nyra sitting alone at the top of the hill.

It was early when Lothar woke up in his home the following morning. He had barely slept, thinking about the endless conflict between the two races. Humans also waged wars all the time on Earth, but they always ended sooner or later, with one side as the victor, and the other the loser. That wasn’t the case here.

After a quick meal, he returned to the Obsidian Keep. He needed to know if Cromwell had tracked down whoever was in charge of Helga’s case all those years ago, hoping they had discovered something useful. If they could find Helga, maybe that would also lead them to Edwin’s friend.

“Good, we’re all here now,” Cromwell announced as Lothar entered the chamber. The demon lord was sitting on a massive throne-like chair carved out of volcanic rock. In his ceremonial black robes with red trimming, he almost looked regal, in a perverse and twisted sort of way. His panther lay at his feet, seemingly asleep, but Lothar knew it was but a trick. He had seen the animal jump at its master’s orders and pounce on unsuspecting victims in the blink of an eye on many occasions.

A short and rather slim young demon stood to the side, turning to look at the new arrival. Lothar recognized him as Zelig, a spy who was often sent on covert operations, whether to other realms in the Demonic Domain, or to the angels’ domain to infiltrate and spy on the enemies. His sand-colored hair was cropped short on the sides, while long bangs fell across his forehead. With his gentle facial features and light skin, he could almost pass as a human if it weren’t for his blood red eyes. Even though he appeared unarmed, Lothar assumed he had at least three blades hidden somewhere on his body.

“Zelig, it’s been a while.”

“Too long,” the young demon replied with a smirk. “How’s Earth, you lucky bastard?”

Even though he was one of Cromwell’s best spies, he rarely had the opportunity to go to the realm of humans, which was one of his favorite things to do, as he’d told Lothar on a few occasions. They were a species he had met only a handful of times. He was curious to see more of how they lived and just how much he’d be able to manipulate them.

“Just another mission,” Lothar shrugged.

“Well, I call dibs on the next one. I’m sick of angels,” Zelig replied, his face turning into a frown. “They’re so fucking dull.”

“Zelig was the one assigned to the case of the woman named Helga,” Cromwell explained, cutting their chit-chat short. “We have another abduction by the angels, as Lothar managed to find out.”

The spy lifted an eyebrow, turning to look at Lothar with interest.

“Another priestess from the same town. I came across a man claiming to be Helga’s husband. He’d been searching for her for years with no success.”

“Of course, and he’s never going to find her,” the other demon stated matter-of-factly, “not unless he can travel through realms.”

“So the angels do have her?”

“Yes, I managed to track her – and quite easily at that,” Zelig added, unable to resist the opportunity to boast. “The last thing I know about her is that they took her to the Cultivation Spire.”

Lothar frowned at the news. The Celestial Spire, the angelic domain, actually consisted of numerous tall structures that seemed to have been created from pure energy itself. No matter how many times demons tried to destroy them with fire, demonic magic or brute force, the structures would always somehow repair themselves. None of the demons knew what the source of that energy was, but they assumed it existed, and that its destruction would allow them to finally defeat the angelic forces once and for all.

One of these towering creations was called the Cultivation Spire, where new angels were trained – at least according to what demonic spies were able to find out.

“I doubt they plan to turn her into just another angelic soldier. They have enough of those,” Cromwell offered. “No, if the woman was a priestess, it means she has some sway over people. They trust her, they listen to her. After the angels are done transforming her into one of them, they can use her to convert masses to their side. Whole towns and cities.”

“They must be planning the same with Ida,” Lothar concluded. They could not allow the angels to gain the upper hand, which meant they had to act quickly. If the other demon lords found out that angels were trying to recruit humans under their noses, a new war would surely break out. As much as he wanted to see those hateful creatures defeated, Lothar wanted to avoid another large-scale conflict even more. He had already lost his best friend in one such war, and for what? The only thing that was sure was even more pointless deaths all around.

“Find them. Whatever it takes,” the demon lord ordered. “And bring them to me alive.”

~~

After his two subjects left the chamber, Cromwell closed his eyes, focusing. “You can come now,” he sent a telepathic message, and then opened his eyes. The panther at his feet still lay peacefully, ignoring everything that was happening around it.

A few moments later, a female demon blinked into the room, appearing in front of the demon lord. She bowed, her long, black hair falling over her face.

“My lord.”

“You know what to do, Nyra,” Cromwell said. “Follow him. Every minute he’s here, I want to know what he’s doing.”

“My lord, do you truly believe-“

“The smell of some human is all over him, I can feel it,” the demon lord replied, glaring at her. “I need to know he won’t slip up.”

“Of course. As you wish,” Nyra nodded obediently. “Is there anything else?”

“That’s all… for now,” he nodded glumly. Without another word, the young woman blinked, disappearing from the chamber.