The demon king sat on his throne of scorched stone and twisted bone. His form was elegant as it was dreadful, pale as ash, with sculpted features carved from ancient cruelty. His black attire clung to his form like a funeral shroud, adorned only by the cold gleam of metal studs. His eyes, deep and smouldering with amber fire, burned with a quiet, evil rage.
The air was thick and heavy, tinged with the acrid scent of sulfur and ancient ash. Shadows clung to the jagged walls like restless spirits, flickering uneasily in the glow of blackened braziers whose flames danced with unnatural hues — blue and violet licking at iron sconces.
Every footstep echoed off the cold obsidian floor, a hollow sound swallowed by the vastness of the chamber. The faint rumble of distant, unseen fires pulsed like a heartbeat beneath the stone, a reminder of the infernal power simmering just beneath the surface.
A thin haze of smoke curled upward, twisting and writhing like a living thing before vanishing into the darkness above.
The oppressive stillness pressed in on all sides, broken only by the low crackle of burning coals and the ragged breaths of the kneeling demon.
He rested his chin slightly on the back of his hand, fingers curled with the poise of a patient predator. Though he appeared calm, his silence roared louder than any outburst.
Before him, a lesser demon knelt so low its horns scraped the floor, trembling beneath the weight of the king's gaze.
"You wouldn't mind repeating that, Luciyane?" the demon king said, his velvet voice wrapped around steel.
Luciyane trembled where she knelt, her clawed fingers splayed against the cold obsidian floor. Her wings, usually sharp and proud, now folded inward like weathered leaves, twitching with every breath.
She dared not raise her eyes.
The demon king's gaze pressed on her like a mountain. It wasn't just a look - it was judgment, a slow burn that made her skin prickle.
She swallowed hard. "M-Magnus, my lord...he-he managed to escape from the seventh vault."
A flicker of flame danced within the King's eyes. His expression remained unchanged - serene, sculpted - but grew heavier, thick with heat and restrained fury.
"Didn't I make you the Flame Baron?"
"Yes, my Lord- you did."
"Then tell me....." the king continued, voice low and venom smooth. "Didn't I strip him of his rank and give it to you because I thought you were smarter than him, hmm-hmm. Who allowed them to falter?. Was it your idea to contain a flame that could burn an entire sea... in a prison of ice?
Luciyane shook, her hands still scraping the floor.
"I thought the wards were reinforced, Your Eminence. No one imagined Magnus could regain so much power..."
The King leaned forward, and the throne groaned as if it feared his wrath.
"How could you underestimate your brother," he said, voice cooling like lava."Magnus is a formidable force. He is the definition of fire itself. He can even burn fire itself.....And you locked him in a prison of ice.?
Luciyane dared not move.
Then, silence.
A heartbeat passed
Then another.
The demon king straightened. "Where is he now?"
Luciyane hesitated, as if contemplating whether to tell the King or not.
"I'm afraid- Magnus has crossed over to the human realm, your Eminence," she said, sweat-thick, dark and steaming down her leathery brow, dripping into the stone in slow, deliberate drops that echoed in the vast, deadly silent stone chamber.
For a long agonizing moment, the king remained motionless on his obsidian throne. His chin still resting on his hand, his burning eyes fixed on the cowering Luciyane below as if weighing the value of her miserable existence.
Then, a low, guttural growl rumbled from his throat, so deep it made the very air in the chamber vibrate. The flames in the blaziers that lined the wall flickered, as if recoiling in dread.
"Magnus.....has crossed to the realm of the mortals?"
Luciyane flinched as if slapped, pressing her forehead to the floor.
"Yes, your Eminence. He-he broke the warding seals.....Magnus is gone."
He rose slowly from his throne, and the chamber darkened, as if the very fabric of the underworld feared what was coming.
"We cannot cross over to the human realm unless we are summoned by a human. Did a human summon him?"
"I'm not sure, your Eminence - He could have made a pact with a human....but-."
"But what?"
"My Lord, I suspect Magnus found a way to get into the human realm without being summoned. He-"
"Do not insult me with suspicions," the king interrupted, his voice calm, but colder than any ice in the mortal realm."You know as well as I do: no demon can enter the world of the living unless summoned. Even I can't crossover. And here you are telling me that your brother managed to breach the veil?"
"My brother is reckless, Your Eminence. Dangerous, even. But he's clever and crafty. He could have made a pact. Or found....another way."
The demon king paused, thinking. The chamber pulsed with infernal energy. From the shadows, high-ranking demons- silent, faceless figures - watched with anticipation.
"If Magnus found a way to cross to the other world, he would be weak."
"Precisely, your Eminence. He won't survive for long in spirit form, he will need a host."
"Yes Luciyane, out there in the human realm, demons are much weaker. A powerful mage can bind our kind or even kill them, if they've enough magic," the king said, letting the words bitter on his tongue."You are contracted to Flame Emperor in the human world, yes?"
Luciyane nodded."Yes, my Lord, the family signed a fire pact with me a long time ago."
"You will visit the Flame Emperor. You will notify him of what has happened here....tell him Magnus has crossed over to his realm. If Magnus takes a host, it will have fire magic. The only humans capable of using fire magic are from the Flame Emperor's family."
"The Flame Emperor will do as he is told, your Eminence. He honors the pact we forged."
"Good," the king said simply. "He's to hunt Magnus, with every force he can master. He's to turn his empire upside down if he has to. He is to kill anyone who can use fire magic outside his royal blood."
"As you say, my Lord."
The demon king stepped down from his throne, and the floor itself seemed to lower in difference. He stood over the kneeling demon like a nightmare cast in flesh.
"Now then- How will you atone for letting Magnus escape?....left or right?"
"I beg your pardon, my Lord?"
"Which wing would you like to keep? The left one or the right one?"
Luciyane's knees buckled beneath her, and she sank to the cold floor, trembling like a leaf caught in a storm. Her breath hitched in her throat, shallow and rapid, as the demon king's voice echoed through the throne room, calm yet laced with the venom of cruel amusement.
The king didn't wait for her to answer.
With one sudden, vicious movement, his clawed hand lashed out. He seized Luciyane by the base of her wing. The demon screamed, shrill and inhuman as molten fire danced in the King's eyes. With an unholy roar, the demon king ripped the wing from its socket. Bones cracked and black blood splattered across the cold chamber.
Luciyane convulsed, her body arching off the floor as the pain tore through her. Her mouth opened in a scream too raw for sound, eyes bulging, veins glowing dimly beneath her leathery skin like lava under cracked stone. Her blood hissed where it hit the floor, sizzling against the cold obsidian as if her agony itself were alive.
The wing dangled from the Demon King's hand like a torn banner of shame.
Luciyane collapsed, writhing, howling in pain as the king dropped the wing at her feet.
"Fail me again and it won't be just your wings I will be tearing off."