“Humanity won’t be able to resist you,” the fallen angel murmured.
Saer wanted to ask what his creator meant, but feared parting his lips, lest he howl in anguish.He focused on the thudding of his heart, the in-and-out of the air in his lungs.
Too much and too little time passed before Lucifer reached Saer’s face.His creator’s thumb grazed over his mandible.“Look at me, my Saerkhanum.”
Saer shifted his gaze to Lucifer’s, and his creator smiled.“Your pain, so like mine.It’s spellbinding.”
His brow furrowed, unsure of how to respond.
One of the fallen angel’s fingers touched the corner of Saer’s right eye.“You’ll keep your eyes.My eyes.My perfect likeness.”
Saer had never seen his reflection.With Lucifer’s declaration, he realized he’d been given irises the color of ice, alight with blue fire.
Lucifer’s eyes.
The fallen angel moved to Saer’s jaw.“I’ll give you lips fit for tempting, a strong jawline to counteract their softness.”Lucifer squinted, as though picturing Saer’s finished face in Its mind.“Black hair, so our eyes might stand out more.”
Our eyes.
Saer swallowed, his heart stumbling at the thought of the pain to come.He never tore his gaze from Lucifer’s face.
“And these.”Lucifer’s focus shifted outward, Its palm sliding up along one of Saer’s horns.“These I’ll change to hair.You’ll keep them.Silver crescents to frame your desirable face, apart from the black tresses.”The fallen angel nodded to Itself, a slow and contemplative motion.“You’ll be my masterpiece.Lower your gaze, Saerkhanum.”
Saer couldn’t deny the sharp spike of umbrage and denial in his heart whenever Lucifer commanded he lower his gaze.But he did, and braced for further torture.
He wasn’t disappointed.
Once finished, Lucifer slumped, and would have collapsed if Saer hadn’t caught his maker by Its arms.The fallen angel leaned into Saer, pressing Its forehead to his.They listened to one another’s breathing, the sculpted shaking with residual torment, the sculptor with unfathomable exhaustion.
“Travel back to the surface,” Lucifer whispered.“Bring me what I need, Saerkhanum.”
Tell me what you need!he wanted to scream.Instead, Saer replied with a hushed tone to match, “Anything and everything, Master.”
He wished he could see Neyu before leaving again.
Lucifer’s weary lips smiled, and Saer paused, his chest aching to witness it.His maker created him.His maker loved him.His maker deserved the best he had to give.
As soon as Lucifer could stand again on Its own, Saer stepped away.The sooner he left, the sooner he could come back to It.To Hell.
To Neyu.
Hellsfire swallowed him, returning him to Earth.
Saer’s arrival met with a cacophony of alarmed shouts and activity, forcing him into an immediate, defensive stance as his Hellsfire snuffed out.
He stood in a circle of charred remains, a field of tall stalks surrounding him on all sides.What vegetation had escaped Saer’s Hellsfire reached taller than his head in neat rows, planted with deliberate precision.A crispness hung in the atmosphere—it didn’t carry the same bite he’d experienced before, though Saer’s every exhale still painted the air.The low-hanging sun cast ample light in a blue sky, moving towards warm hues of orange and pink.
Hollers closed in from multiple directions and Saer readied to strike down the makers of such sounds on sight.The memory of their spears and his subsequent punishment lay fresh in his mind.He bared his teeth, forcing a barked growl past his human lips when the stalks parted before him.
A figure froze, dark eyes wide.His head came to Saer’s chest, and his scrawny, brown torso held the beginnings of lean muscle.A smaller human.A…boy.
The human yelled over his shoulder, sounds of warning.Voices answered him, but all movement stopped.
Saer growled again, his muscles tensed.Ready.
The boy held out his empty hands.He wore bottoms made of animal skins, but nothing on his upper half.A mess of black hair half-covered his dark eyes.This human didn’t have a sharp stick.And he didn’t appear intent on attacking.
Saer relaxed some of his guard.
