The instant Runeak prowled into the arena, her desire to prove herself—despite her place in line—ricocheted between them.The crimson-skinned, jet-eyed demoness growled her challenge as the two locked eyes.
Saer harbored no desire to fight any of his kin, but the blatant yearning for confrontation bled from Wrath and goaded him.
“Begin,” Lucifer said.
The two battled for hours.Gnashing claws, hooves, and teeth drew splashes of ruby ichor, falling in runnels on their sweat-soaked bodies.Runeak’s cries of rage and Saer’s screams of defiance spurred quiet chuckles of chilling delight from their maker.The combatants ripped into one another’s wings, breaking them at the joints and tearing open the thick membranes.Wrath refused to bend, fueled by limitless fury.
Whenever Saer slammed Runeak on the ground and demanded she lie still, the Fifth stood and returned the favor.
By the time Saer threw Runeak down and she remained where she lay, he swayed where he stood, having given almost everything to emerge the victor.
Without pause, Lucifer commanded the Sixth and Seventh to bring Runeak up the dais.
To Saer’s exhausted horror, the ruby demoness snarled and struggled against Errshek and Kalia as they lifted her, demanding to continue the fight.The harsh glare of Lucifer silenced Wrath, convincing her to join the youngerDaemoenicawithout further rebuke.
Saer expected one of the Third or Fourth to come next.Expectation leaked into disbelief when Lucifer lifted Its voice.“Areknar and Alustar, enter the ring.”
Both the Twins.
Lucifer’s smile carried into Its command as It held a hand out to Runeak at the peak of the dais.“Begin.”
Sheer force of will kept Saer from succumbing to the Twins’ dual assault.Alus lunged for Saer’s front while Arek leapt on his back, snagging his horns to prevent their razor-sharp ends from lacerating or bludgeoning their flesh.Alus’s hooves beat into Saer’s gut while his hands reached up to join his mirror’s, grasping onto the downward curving horns.Both sets of palms gripped the silver appendages, paralyzing Saer’s movement from the neck up.
He snarled and dropped backward, crushing Arek’s body.His grip loosened.
Saer tumbled sideways to do the same to Alus, clawing at his front.When Saer struck, the twin didn’t scream or cry.He laughed instead—exactly as he’d done the moment he’d taken his first breath.The reaction threw Pride off balance, allowing the opposite brother, Greed, an opening to strike fresh.Sharp talons and hooves bent up to meet ichorous, broken hooves.
More blood spilled.
The fight continued.
When the scrimmage finished and Saer held his two brothers by their horns, he stood bloodied and mauled beyond recognition.He brought Alus and Arek’s heads together and interlocked their spiral horns, dropping them to the floor in a rasping, sticky mess.
Arek moaned.
Alus chuckled, though it came tinged with well-earned exhaustion.
Saer took two shaking steps, then collapsed to a trembling kneel.“Master, I understand the need for this exercise.”He coughed and spat blood.“I thank you for what it has taught me but...I can endure no more.”
He’d fought all, save one.That one, he wished to spare.
The fallen angel watched Its creation with intense interest, then made an upward motion with Its fingers.“Stand.”
He complied, albeit with slow, agonized movements, every muscle crying for rest.
“Come to me.”
Saer shoved his groan below inherent pride and made the arduous trek up Lucifer’s dais.At the foot of Its throne, he slumped to a graceless kneel.Daemoenicblood painted the stone surrounding Lucifer’s feet where Runeak had recently vacated.
So many pieces of his body ached, bones shattered, flesh torn—he couldn’t focus on one wound or trauma.His world had become pain.
The fallen angel leaned over and placed divine hands on either side of Saer’s head, absorbing more crimson stains into Its alabaster skin.The First’s blood mingled with his kin’s, painting Lucifer’s lips when they brushed against his flesh as It whispered, “I have a secret to tell you, a gift to share.”
Saer shuddered, but other than his ragged breathing, he didn’t respond.Lucifer’s touch healed and hurt all at once—exquisite agony.
“As my First, you hold power over all of them.This is the hierarchy I have built.”
Saer’s mind couldn’t grasp what Lucifer tried to convey.Hierarchy?
