by Dahlia Lu
Arvin was smirking. He sat on the throne with Kali in his arms.
Lucifer walked down the altar while the demons on both sides of the altars bowed to him.
“Give her back to me,” Lucifer said in a cold and authoritative tone.
“Lord Lucifer,” Arvin flashed him a smile. “I’m so glad you came. What a beautiful queen you have chosen for us.”
“Arvin,” Lucifer said in a warning tone.
Arvin stood up and placed Kali on the throne. He came to Lucifer’s side. “Doesn’t she look deserving?” he whispered into Lucifer’s ear. “She finally got what she wanted, the throne of Hell.”
“She never had that kind of ambition,” Lucifer said. He walked up the aisle and traced her gentle face with the back of his fingers. “Why, Arvin?”
“Lucifer!” Chevalier shouted. “What are you waiting for? Take her back to Earth!”
Acelin placed a hand on Chevalier’s shoulder to calm him down. “It won’t do any good,” he said. “Taken her back to earth now couldn’t save her.”
“What?” Chevalier stepped forward, “What the hell does that mean?”
“For a sinner, the punishment for entering forbidden territory is death.” Adria said.
“Lucifer is the ruler of Hell, who would dare to –”
“Can’t you see the helpless look in Lucifer’s eyes?” Acelin asked. “All things in life must follow a set of laws. This is beyond Lucifer…and even further beyond us.”
Chevalier shook his head in denial. “No… no…this is not happening! All of you are liars! There has to be some way to save her! There has to be!”
Acelin lowered his eyes and placed a hand over his chest.
Lucifer planted a kiss on Kali’s forehead. “She never wanted to hurt anyone. All she wanted was to be a good wife to me and a doting mother to her son. That was her only wish, Arvin.”
Trent stood still watching. The heavy droplets of tear from his eyes fell one by one onto the cold marble floor.
“This woman is the woman I love,” Lucifer placed gentle kiss on her lips. “She knew I have all the power in the world and she could ask me for anything. Even if she wanted to rule all three realms, I would have waged war against Heaven and Earth. If she wanted me to destroy everything in existence, I would have done so. But she never asked me for anything. All she ever wanted was to be a wife and a devoted mother. Yet, there was always something or someone that wanted to take her from me. It pained me dearly when those people are the two I considered even closer than flesh and blood. Now that you have brought her here to her deathbed, you should know that I will not spare you.”
Arvin summoned his sword. “No, Lucifer. I do not think that you could kill me for a mere mortal.”
“Then you do not fully understand what she means to me,” Lucifer stood up straight and faced Arvin.
“You will not kill me for a mere mortal,” Arvin repeated with unwavering confident.
“She is a mere mortal to you, but to me, she is the only purpose to my existence. The moment you brought her to Hell, I thought to myself that it is a shame that I cannot die with her. Arvin, when we walk away from his battle, only one of us shall prevail. Whether I avenge her or are killed by you. Here and now, I hope with all of my effort that it would be the second case.”
Acelin lowered his eyes.
“He doesn’t want to be alone,” Adria said under her breath. “He wants Arvin to kill him.”
“Why?” Chevalier asked.
“Because if he wins, he will have to witness the death of two people he loves,” Adria said in a sad tone. “He is in great pain.”
Lucifer summoned his sword. He charged toward Arvin at speed and struck. Arvin used his sword to fend off Lucifer’s attack. The two demons fought in mid-air. Their movements were so fast; the bystanders could barely see who was attacking who. Every time their swords met, they were pushed back by the intense pressure from the swords.
Trent came to the throne and picked Kali up in his arms. He hugged her tightly as the dim lights began to leave her body. Chevalier panicked. He ran toward Kali and Trent, trying to catch the escaping light. The light went through his hands and escaped. Even though it was in vain, Chevalier continued to try. His eyes were blood shot. He used magic to capture the dim lights but it could only hold it back for a few seconds.
“Mother,” Trent cried. “Please don’t leave us. Please don’t leave me. I’m not at all grown up yet. I still need you!”
Chevalier placed a hand on Trent’s head when he realized that he could only watch her die.
“I was wrong, Mother. I shouldn’t have taken you away. If you could forgive me…no, you will forgive me, right, Mother? You will forgive me because you are my Mother.”
Lucifer glared at Arvin when Arvin’s sword managed to cut off a part of his wing. His feathers are raining down onto the altar. A lost feather landed on Kali’s cheek. Trent could feel the life escaping from her. She was getting colder and colder while her presence was fading away. Trent’s body radiated silver light. When the light dimmed, Trent returned to the shape of a five-year old boy.
He started to cry out loud. Adria came to his side, wanting to pick him up.
He refused her violently. He turned to his Mother. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be the child you wanted,” he cried. “I’m sorry I cannot be a normal boy. If I were, I would have better appreciated the things you’ve done for me. I’m sorry I didn’t understand. Forgive your son for not understanding you, Mother.”
Two lines of tears spilled from Chevalier’s eyes. This was not happening. This was definitely not happening. Anyone but Kali! He had given her up to Lucifer, wanting her to be happy. This was not the result he wanted, not at all! If he had known, if he knew this would happen, he would have fought Lucifer till the end. He had tried so hard to bury his feelings for her all this time. He had been trying to heal his wounds. But why did she end up like this? He held onto her hand and placed his other hand on her face.
Acelin clenched his fists. He turned away, not wanting to witness the battle nor Kali’s death. He must sleep, he said to himself, after a couple of thousand years all would turn to dust and start anew. Even this pain in his chest. Even his feelings for her.
“Goodbye, my brothers,” Acelin said as he calmly walked away from the altar. “And goodbye to you, too, dearest.”
“Father, please save my Mother!” he begged. “Save her for me, please? I will never ask another favor from you again.”
Lucifer heard his son’s cry but was unable to respond.
“He can’t,” Adria said to Trent.
“Father is the all-powerful. He can save her. Only he can save her for me,” Trent wiped away his tears. He caught his breath when he no longer felt Kali’s presence. He cried out, calling out to her. Chevalier inched away. He covered his mouth with his hands. He felt sick to his stomach.
Lucifer swallowed his tears. Rage sparked in his cold blue eyes. He thrust his sword at Arvin and pierced him. He cast a magic circle in the sky to bind Arvin and flew about twenty feet away.
“You are really going to kill me?” Arvin asked when he saw the pain in Lucifer’s eyes.
Lucifer turned his sword into a bow and arrow made of blue flame. He fit the arrow into the bow and aimed it at Arvin.
“She is dead, Lucifer. Killing me won’t bring her back!” Arvin said.
“It may be so…” Lucifer said. He chanted a spell onto the arrow before letting it go. It pierced Arvin’s left wing and pinned him against the wall. “When you sacrificed yourself during the war so that I could safely arrive in Hell, I made you a promise. And I will keep that promise. I spare your life this time. However, I will take away all of your powers. For you, it’s even worse than a death sentence.”
Arvin looked over his shoulder. His wings were disintegrating into nothingness. “No, Lucifer…”
Lucifer flew to Kali’s side. He took her from Trent and gathered her lifeless body into his arms. For a long moment, he
did not speak. He planted a soft kiss on her lips and then ran his fingers through her silky hair. His beautiful eyes mourned his loss.
“Your plan failed miserably, Arvin. She didn’t die. Everything that was her had already engraved itself inside of me. You did not take her away from me, Arvin. No one could. Perhaps the only thing you did was make me realized how much she meant to me. Keep the throne of Hell, I will not return.”
“Do not forsake us, Lucifer!” Arvin shook his head. “I will only accept one master!”
“This time, I am abandoning you, Arvin.”
“Lucifer!”
Epilogue
The gloomy day was too perfect for the occasion. Chevalier tapped the dirt into place and then rested the shovel by his side. He removed his dirty gloves and shoved them into the pockets of his black jacket. There was an emotionless expression on his face as he stood for several minutes. Only her name was carved on the semi-polished gravestone. No dates or epitaph to remind them of the person she was.
“At least write something nice about her on it,” Chevalier said.
“It wasn’t necessary,” Lucifer replied as he placed a bouquet of flowers on her grave. “No one needs to know who she was besides us.”
“At least carve a date of death, Lucifer.”
"I have to find her,” Lucifer said in a soft voice.
Chevalier blinked. "What do you mean, find her?"
"Her soul was scattered across the earth. My Kali...I will find her. I will find all of her, even if it takes an eternity, even if I have to circle this earth a million times over. There will be a day I will bring her back into my arms where she belongs.”
"An eternity is an awfully long time.”
Lucifer agreed. "I sealed her body with magic to preserve it. She will need it when I resurrect her. Trent and I will have to be without her for a while.”
"We will find her,” Lucifer assured him. "Can you wait until then, Trent?"
"I will wait,” Trent nodded. "No matter how long, I will wait.”
"I guess this is goodbye,” Chevalier said, feeling heavy that it had to end this way.
Lucifer bent down and placed a kiss on her gravestone. "Trent and I will have to leave you in this cold ground for a while. I promise we'll be back before you know it. For now, have a good rest, my love.”
To be continued…
The Devil’s Lover: The Resurrection is available on August 4, 2011.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1: Obscure Intentions
Chapter 2: Hardly a Debut
Chapter 3: The Way It Never Was
Chapter 4: The Devil and the Knight
Chapter 5: More Than a Promise
Chapter 6: Chained Hearts
Chapter 7: Taken
Chapter 8: Unwritten Contract
Chapter 9: Advent to Hell
Chapter 10: Safer with Him
Chapter 11: Sacrificial
Chapter 12: Worst of All Sins
Chapter 13: The Nightmare of Hell
Chapter 14: Her Lovers
Chapter 15: His Wrath
Chapter 16: Fragile
Chapter 17: Something Sinister
Chapter 18: The Letter with No Stamp
Chapter 19: The Ones Left Behind
Chapter 20: The Two Demon Lords
Chapter 21: Ephemeral Bliss
Chapter 22: All for Brotherhood
Chapter 23: Early Blossoms This Year
Chapter 24: Heaven Isn’t Too Far
Chapter 25: Will Never Regret
Chapter 26: Sleeping Beauty
Chapter 27: For Mother
Chapter 28: His Other Son
Chapter 29: Drifting Sorrow
Epilogue
