It was late and Pierre should have gone to sleep but instead, he decided to drink. Sleep was not something he looked forward to these days especially with Lucian hunting him in his dreams, or more correctly his nightmares. Everyone around him were only making things worse by talking about Lucian all the time. Now even his own son claimed to have seen Lucian. Levi was probably just affected by the rumors as he himself was.
His brother could not be alive. He would not allow it.
"Your Highness." A guard barged inside Pierres chamber. Pierre who was about to pour some liquor into his glass stopped halfways and turned to the guard.
"Didn't I say that I don't want to be disturbed?" He asked outraged.
"Your highness, prince Lucians men are gone."
Pierre stood up with such force that the chair fell backward.
"What do you mean gone?!" He asked.
The guard shook in fear. "They escaped."
"How can they escape?" Pierre yelled.
"I think someone helped them." The guard said looking terrified.
"Are you telling me now that my dead brother came back to life and helped them escape?"
Didn't sound logical but Pierre knew something wasn't right. There was someone who was trying to frighten him and he would find the bastard and make him leave this world in the most painful way.
The guard stood there shaking in fear. "I am not sure but someone or...something helped them out."
Something?
"And where are those who were supposed to guard the place?"
The guard shook even more as if he had seen something that terrified him to death and his face turned pale. "They are gone. We can't find them."
Pierre smashed the bottle on the ground making the glass shred into a thousand pieces. "I want you to find them and bring them alive or I'll deliver your corpse to your family. Do you understand?!" Pierre tried to hide his fear with anger.
The guard nodded and hurried away. Pierre fell back on his chair feeling defeated. Maybe his brother was alive. It would explain how Hazel disappeared and now even his soldiers. But how was that possible? Could Lucian really the devil's son?
***
"Your Highness, everything is ready. The rumors worked and people are now waiting for your return. To speed up the process we even spread rumors that Pierre is not mentally well to be ruling a kingdom and now the royal army are getting concerned. General Black has decided to visit to see if it's all rumors or not. That's when you need to strike and use your mind games on your brother." Julian explained.
"I don't need to do much. Pierre is already losing his mind."
Pierre had become aggressive since he found out that Lucians men had escaped. He had been killing his own men, beating the maids, never sleeping and only drinking. Lucian didn't think it would be this easy to make his brother lose his sanity. Everyone in the palace were already talking about his condition and it wouldn't take long before people outside knew as well.
"Good. General Black is a very powerful man. He is the one who leads the royal army and everyone in the army is very faithful to him. He is the one to impress. Once he loses hope in Pierre I'll introduce you to him."
Lucian nodded.
"And yes, don't try to use your tricks on him. Some people are just immune to it."
"Why?"
"I am not sure." Julian shrugged.
Would that explain why he couldn't read Hazel's thoughts?
Suddenly the door to his room swung open and Alexanders annoying sister stepped inside
"Alexander! I can't marry that...that man." She said with a wrinkled nose.
"Which man?" Lucian asked with the purpose to annoy her.
"Oh come on! You know who I am talking about. Pierre!"
"And why don't you want to marry him?"
"Because he is insane and no one likes him. You know I want to marry a charming man." She said crossing her arms and lifting her chin.
"Alright then. Pack your things. You can leave tomorrow with Jade. I need to stay here a few more days and take care of a few things."
She looked at him surprised. "Really?"
He nodded. "Oh god, thank you." She said looking up but then back at him. "I'll go pack my things. Don't change your mind." Then she left quickly.
Julian appeared again. "I'll send her brother once she is home."
The plan was to manipulate her brother into thinking that he was here and therefore he would never know that he had been gone for days.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night." He said and vanished again.
Alone again, Lucian wondered if his men reached home safely and since he had nothing to do for now he decided to go and look for them. He could of course teleport but then many questions of how he got there would arise so he decided to ride.
The first place he rode to was Lincoln's home and his wife almost died in shock when she opened the door and found him standing on the other end.
"Yo..your highness?" She reached her hand out to touch him and he took her hand in his. "You are alive."
From the way he surprised her Lucian knew that Lincoln was not home yet. "Yes, and so is your husband. He will be home soon."
Her eyes widened. "He is alive?"
Lucian nodded and her eyes teared up. "Is...is he alright. When will he be home?" Her voice broke several times as she spoke.
"Very soon. Take good care of him." Lucian said
She nodded.
"I have to go now. Take good care of yourself as well."
"You too. I am glad you are alive."
Lucian was surprised that she wasn't mad at him for almost getting her husband killed. Now he had to make sure that Lincoln and all his other men got home safely. Waving goodbye he climbed his horse and rode away to find his men. They had to be somewhere close.
Lucian sharpened his senses to see if he could hear them or smell them, but instead he heard something else. Someone or something was following him. He looked behind him but saw nothing.
Lucian rode faster through the woods but then suddenly the horse stopped and reared causing Lucian to almost fall. Lucian tightened his hold tried to take control over the horse but it kept rearing wildly until he fell off and the horse rode away on its own. Lucian lay on the ground confused. Something had scared off the horse and Lucian could feel it nearing.
As he stood up many red dots that gleamed in the darkness surrounded him blocking his way everywhere and soon several bodies appeared from the shadows. These bodies did not belong to humans.
These beings were tall, with long limbs and claws. Their skin looked thicker than normal and somehow had a purple undertone to it. As they neared Lucian could see that they had some strange marks on their neck that looked like chains and they wore several earrings on their pointy ears. As they grimaced he could see fangs hiding behind black lips.
Whatever these creatures were Lucian knew they wanted to hurt him.
One of them lurched trying to claw his face but Lucian was quick enough to reach for his sword and cut its arm off. The creatures stumbled backward holding his bleeding arm and the other began to attack viciously.
Lucian was very fast, dodging their attacks he struck at every opportunity until all of them fell dead around him. Or maybe not. Just when he was about to put his sword back they suddenly rose from the ground, their bodies intact as if nothing happened.
How?!
They just looked at him with crazed eyes, striding toward him. What were these things and what did they want? He would ask them but they didn't seem like the type to communicate with words.
Lucian decided to save himself some trouble and teleported somewhere else but just then he felt something sharp tear the flesh on his back and before he could turn around one of the creatures clawed at his face.
Did they teleport with him?
Blood seeped down his face blurring his vision and anger built inside of him. He would not waste time fighting, he would just burn them. Setting their bodies on fire, he wiped the blood from his face but what he saw shocked him.
The fire got consumed, almost sucked into the creature's skin and the skin color turned from purple to grey. Smoke came out of their nostrils and their eyes turned into a dark red.
They looked more mad than before.
Lucian was utterly confused. Maybe he was in bigger trouble than he thought. These monsters were not dying.
Grabbing his sword he held it in a steel grip. There had to be someway to kill them. He would find their weakness sooner or later.
Just as they were about to attack they got distracted by something. Their bloody red eyes darted around the darkness and they seemed slightly scared.
Lucian could see something moving very fast through the darkness and then suddenly something jumped out of the woods and began fighting the creatures. It looked like a man, holding a dagger in each hand.
Lucian watched stunned. The man, if he was one, was very fast. He struck precisely without missing once and moved with such ease and grace as if fighting was something he was born doing.
This time when the creatures fell to the ground they turned into dust. Lucian was confounded. Who was this man and how did he kill them all and so fast?
Now that he stood still Lucian could take a closer look at him. The man was tall and well built, with black hair that reached his shoulder and tanned skin. His eyes were a mixture of brown and green and they stared at him with curiosity.
"You should have protected that fine face of yours." He said waving his dagger in circular motion.
"Who are you?" Lucian asked.
"Are you asking my name or are you asking if I am a friend or a foe?"
"I am asking both." Lucian said.
"Human name? Roshan. Demon name? Ramiel. Friend or a foe? Neither."
Demon name?
"What are you?"
Roshan or Ramiel grinned, showing long pointed fangs. "What do you think I am?" He said flipping the daggers between his fingers.
He was a demon. Why wasn't Lucian very surprised? In fact, he thought that he might just have found the answers to his questions.
"And do you know what I am?" Lucian asked.
The man with too many names tilted his head to one side and arched a brow. "Do you know what you are?" He said pointing his dagger at him.
Lucian wasn't sure yet. Even though he proved to be a witch he felt like a demon. Something inside of him whispered to him everyday that he was a demon.
"I believe I am demon."
"Demons don't believe they are demons, they know they are demons. It's inside of you and it reminds you everyday of what you are."
This man just described what Lucian felt everyday. It meant only one thing, Lucian was indeed a demon. Then what about him being a witch?
"These things that you killed…" Lucian began.
"Yes, these hideous things were also demons. Different kinds of demons." He explained.
Different kind?
"And by the way, burning doesn't work on demons, we are creatures of fire, and when you kill them you need to stab their spine. That's the only way they die."
"Why are you telling me? I could kill you."
The man swung his daggers and put them back in their pockets on each side of his hips. "You could try." He smirked and began to walk away.
The man had confidence. Lucian still had some unanswered question so he followed him.
"Thank you for saving me...Re..Ro.."
"Roshan." He preferred to be called his human name. Interesting.
"And you are Lucian."
"How do you know that?"
"Every demon knows that."
"Why? How?"
Roshan came to a halt, then turned to him. "Because you are half-witch and we hate witches."