Demonheart Boxset 1: Book 1-3

by J. J. Egosi

  “What are you talking about? I’ve never seen you or this palace before. I wouldn’t even know how to get here if I wanted to,” Michael refuted.

  “Are you sure?” Lucifer asked. “Something tells me your mind carries more than your words are leading on.”

  Michael froze with fear. It was as if Lucifer had somehow penetrated his thoughts. The archangel knew of his name and where he learned it. Though he had a vague understanding of the threat he posed, the certainty that he had encountered him before petrified him most. Details of when and for why had escaped him. He could only question the demon king’s reason for pursuing him even more.

  He looked into the darkened red through the eyeholes in Lucifer’s mask. Gritting his teeth, he refused to give him the satisfaction.

  “You’re full of shit,” Michael exclaimed. “I’m sure it was you who brought me here. Now, tell me what you want.”

  Lucifer chuckled. “Oh, how defensive you’ve become. And rather naughty.”

  “Don’t act as if you know me,” Michael exclaimed.

  “Perhaps I do. Would that be so wrong?” Lucifer asked. “More importantly, perhaps you also know me?”

  Michael’s lips quivered, leaving him standing in silence. His mind flooded with questions he feared having answered.

  “To think you can only enter places based on trivial restraints such as locations and directions. You’ll find one way or another that the most intriguing places are those you enter without finding at all.” Lucifer looked out of his window with a curious grin.

  “What the hell does any of that mean?” Michael asked with panic in his voice.

  Lucifer frowned. “It appears you’ve lost sight of your old ways. What a pity. I was hoping we could have a more productive conversation tonight, but it seems you’ll just have to stay here forever.”

  “What?” Michael shouted in a frantic rage. He searched for an exit in every direction, but all doors and windows were shut. He felt a tethering sensation around his ankles. What exactly, he could not see, but it left him petrified. Trapped. Forced to indulge in the demon king’s words.

  “You still don’t get it, do you, Michael?” Lucifer took a deep breath and picked up his glass of wine. “You’re in a dream right now.”

  “I’m dreaming?” Michael’s heart sank to the bottom of his chest. A sense of confusion quickly swelled within.

  “Yes, and a powerful dreamer you are, it seems,” said Lucifer.

  “I am?” Michael wondered. “What does that mean, exactly?”

  Lucifer took a sip of wine from his glass and looked at Michael with a smile. “When you have a dream, do you normally recall people or events from your reality?”

  Michael thought back to all his past dreams of slaying orcs and dragons, vividly recalling each detail.

  “Most people forget them the instant they wake up. But I have a feeling you remember them clear as day,” Lucifer replied. “In fact, I’m sure they feel so real to you. So frightening. So inescapable just like right now.”

  Michael shivered from his words. Cold air filled the room at that moment, but the window remained closed and Lucifer’s smile never left his face.

  “The Michael in your dreams is the Michael that you believe to be the true you while you’re dreaming. Is it not?”

  “Isn’t that what a dream is?” Michael’s eyes widened with a terrifying realization that left him in silence for a moment. “Hold on, how do you even know what my dreams are about? There’s no way you could have”—

  “You have a lot to learn about me, Michael,” Lucifer replied. “Let’s first talk about why you think you’re here. More importantly, I’d like to hear your explanation for how you can remember your reality outside of this dream. After all, it’s a bit strange to think about those outside of your dreams, isn’t it? Most dreamers are engulfed in their temporary reality, yet all you can think of is what awaits you once you wake up.”

  Is it strange? Michael thought. And what exactly is he trying to get out of this conversation? I expected him to be far more brutish and commanding. Instead, he’s so outlandish and buried in secrecy. Which feels even worse, somehow.

  “I don’t know why I’m here,” he spoke. “And I’m not sure how I can remember my life outside of this dream. Isabella. Julianna. And everything outside these walls. Usually, I’m a completely different me living a completely different life in a completely different world in my dreams. Now”—

  “So, you do feel like you never really left your reality behind, is that right?” asked Lucifer. “That perhaps those two are just behind those doors?

  “Are they?” Michael darted his gaze towards the doors. Eerie darkness seeping from the goat eyes forced his attention towards Lucifer again. He could feel his body turn against its will as he clenched his jaws—fighting back.

  “Just what is this spell you keep using?”

  Lucifer smiled, showing little interest in his inquiry. He took a sip of wine and leaned back in his seat. “Let me ask you something. Have you ever felt pleasure or pain in your dreams?”

  Michael looked into Lucifer’s crimson eyes peering through the mask. They began to glow, as if with amusement.

  “What are you getting at?”

  “In dreams, one cannot feel the sensation of touch. You may be afraid of being burnt alive by a ferocious dragon or bludgeoned by a horde of orcs, but that dragon’s fire will never penetrate your senses. Neither will the clubs of orcs. Rather, you would simply wake up before the dragon ends you. That’s because the death you experienced in your dream sent you back to your reality,” said Lucifer.

  “Are you saying dreams act as a backup form of living?” said Michael.

  “I suppose you can think of it that way,” Lucifer said with a laugh, handing Michael a full glass of wine.

  Michael took the glass with reluctance. He held it and stared down at the wine’s deep shade of red, seeing his crimson reflection.

  “Tell me what you see in that glass, Michael,” said Lucifer.

  “I see my face,” Michael replied.

  “Yes, and that face is yours. I’m fairly certain you take on other personas in your other dreams. Now, tell me what you feel?” said Lucifer.

  Michael’s eyes widened, sensing the smooth material sliding from his fingertips and shattering onto the floor

  “The glass! I could feel it!”

  “Now, we’re getting somewhere,” Lucifer replied. “Damn shame you had to break my precious glass and put my premium wine to waste like that.”

  “Sorry, I’ll clean it up,” Michael said, frantically picking up the pieces.

  “Don’t worry about it,” said Lucifer. “Besides, our business here is far from over.”

  With a snap of his fingers, the scattered pieces reformed into the wineglass, filling itself back with the spilled wine and placing itself on the table beside him.

  Michael’s eyes widened. “How did you do that?”

  “Oh, you mean the reversal and alteration of time? I think the terminology speaks for itself. I simply went back in time to before the glass shattered and altered it, so it would still be where it was before I handed it to you,” Lucifer replied.

  “You can really do that?” Michael asked.

  “That, I can,” Lucifer said with a grin. “Furthermore, I made it so neither of us would forget any part of our conversation. Perhaps you remember a thing or two you didn’t know a few seconds prior.”

  Michael’s eyes widened from fear. He felt the walls around him close in under Lucifer’s haunting smile.

  He’s a complete lunatic! he thought. What kind of power is this?

  “My power is unmatched, Michael. It’s unlike anything you’ve seen before. And as for calling me a lunatic; I must say I’m hurt. I thought we were finally getting to know each other,” said Lucifer.

  “How were you able to”—Michael demanded.

  “Able to what? Read your mind? I told you. My power is unmatched,” said Lucifer.

 
; Michael stepped back, shaking. “Get away from me right now!”

  “Or what? You’ll kill yourself in this dream, bringing you back to your reality? It doesn’t take a mind reader to know what you’re planning. Your face says it all,” said Lucifer, grinning.

  “Just leave me alone!” Michael stumbled. Lucifer followed him with his head spited tilted with intrigue.

  “You know, many of the most powerful dreamers over the eons have gained an awareness of dreams and have taken advantage of their gift. Many start acting recklessly, stealing from the poor, raping all the women in sight, and killing anyone who gets in their way. Money, sex, and power are what drive one’s soul, Michael.”

  Michael envisioned such a world, certain it already existed. A world he refused to be a part of.

  “And with no consequences to dictate one’s dreams, the soul’s most blasphemous desires are acted out in the fullest. Without shame or hesitation. This is an undeniable truth that dreams flesh out for me to see.”

  The images continued to eat at his mind. He slowly saw himself plunging into the same horrid reality with the memories of his alcohol addiction.

  Lucifer watched with amusement the sweat bead down Michael’s face.

  “Perhaps you’re already showing symptoms. Julianna and Isabella were their names, correct? I hope you’re treating them well. After all, they offered you such compassion when the rest of the world tossed you to the fucking dogs!”

  Michael’s blood boiled at the very notion. The longer he let the thought infiltrate his mind, the sooner he saw himself becoming the nightmare Lucifer had painted.

  “Just shut up. I’m nothing like that,” Michael demanded.

  “Is that a fact?” Lucifer chuckled.

  “Yes!” Michael insisted. “As for Julianna and Isabella, I’d never lay a finger on them.”

  “Oh?”

  “Because you’re right.” Tears spilled down with the tender memories he shared with them. From his childhood days with Isabella, to the moment they reconciled. To the growing happiness he felt with Julianna through their journey capturing the elementals, and now as the three of them formed a kinship as one.

  “I’ve stricken a rather delightful chord, haven’t I?” Lucifer asked. “Many people who gain such power go mad with it, Michael—carrying out their wildest fantasies in their realities, leaving them broken and dead in the end.”

  “I already told you I don’t fit that description,” Michael refuted. “I have no interest. Only in”—

  “Maintaining the friendships you’ve finally earned for yourself,” Lucifer interjected.

  Michael’s heart skipped a beat. He felt both his mind and soul being read through the darkening slits of Lucifer’s mask. His heinous grin tore at Michael’s seams.

  “Power comes in many forms, Michael … and it all comes from the same place. Desire.”

  Lucifer leaned forward. He snickered as the nose of his mask brushed against Michael’s trembling face.

  “You desire to be heard. To be recognized and accepted by those around you.”

  “Stop it.” Michael’s breathing got heavy. The miasma he sensed before thickened. It gripped at his fledgling mind. “Just back off.”

  “Here’s another thing to consider,” Lucifer said, “Power also comes from fear. And what you fear is to be forgotten—to be cast aside.”

  “Enough,” Michael pleaded. He slowly saw the images of Isabella and Julianna washing away. His memories of them together fading.

  “I wonder how you’ll turn out,” Lucifer began. “Will you be cast aside like the pariah you’ve always been or will you let your own need for fitting into this world destroy what you have.”

  “You’re fucking psychotic.” Michael’s eyes flared with contempt. “Just get me out of here, already! This conversation is over!”

  Lucifer grabbed Michael by the front of his shirt and slammed him against the wall. His heart raced from the sudden aggression and the usual calmness Lucifer still possessed as he gripped him.

  “Not until you tell me why you think you’re here!”

  The fear in Michael’s eyes grew to a point where he broke into tears again. “I seriously don’t know. I just want to go back to my friends so I can help them on our mission.”

  “Mission, you say?” Lucifer grinned, slowly loosening his grip.

  “Yes, the three of us want to stop the Legion of Morningstar from destroying the world with the titan rings,” said Michael, calming down.

  “Really? That seems ambitious. Wouldn’t you say?” Said Lucifer. “After all, you must be aware by now I’m the driving force of your opposition.”

  “Maybe. So, what?” Michael’s eyes widened.

  “You still don’t get it?” asked Lucifer.

  “Get what?” said Michael, growing flustered.

  “While you may have all agreed to defeat the Legion of Morningstar, is this really a promise you can uphold? A reasonable endeavor?”

  “Are you threatening me now?” Michael demanded.

  “Surely, you’re aware of our intentions with the titan rings and the challenge that’ll come with taking them from us. How exactly do you plan to do that? Will you hope to draw out our remaining members with the ring you took from Hecate? I’m afraid the rest of us can’t be seduced so easily.”

  Lucifer leaned forward until Michael could feel his breath against his face. The hot air mixed with the aroma of wine left him shaking.

  “Or perhaps you’ll seek them all out yourself and take the rings for your nefarious desires. I’ve read that story all too many times and I know how it ends. What may just be bottled up thoughts you’ve been keeping for a while are potentially the reason you’re here. A frail man mistreated by the world … Seeking the power needed to reap revenge. A restless soul is the damnedest thing, isn’t it? What a pity it must be to be you,” said Lucifer with a grin.

  “That’s enough!” said Michael, shoving Lucifer back.

  “I said nothing you didn’t already know. Tell me; how do you plan on carrying out such an ambitious mission?” said Lucifer as he dusted himself off.

  “I don’t know. Julianna’s a great fighter and Isabella’s got a titan of her own now, plus that ax. And I” —

  “So, you aim to lean on those two little demon girls to get the job done? I wonder if that plan of yours derives itself from oversight or insight. What do you last recall from before arriving here? Just curious,” said Lucifer.

  As if in a trance, Michael thought back to what he was doing before his dream. Another dream, entirely. One he’d never had before. “I recall something from another world crashing into mine and changing it forever.”

  “There’s my answer,” said Lucifer.

  “There’s what answer? What does my last memory even mean?” Michael asked.

  “All will be made clear soon enough, my friend. Just stay patient and the bells of time will chime in a new era in your life,” said Lucifer.

  “Enough with the riddles!”

  “You’re no fun, Michael. If you wanted a straight answer, you should have just asked me for one,” said Lucifer. He walked back to his chair, holding up the king piece behind his back. Michael reluctantly followed him.

  At the snap of his fingers, another chair appeared across him. “Take a seat, Michael. You and I are about to play a game. To see if you really have a chance at defeating me. Perhaps one of us will be surprised in the end.”

  “But I don’t even know this game,” said Michael, already bewildered.

  Lucifer replied, “You might know it better than you think. Try it. You just might surprise yourself.”

  Michael’s exasperation dwindled as he focused on the game board in front of him. He laid a puzzled look at the two rows of white pieces on his side facing the black pieces on the opposite side.

  “This game is chess, right?”

  Lucifer grinned. “Very good. And you realized that all on your own, having never seen this game in your life, correct?”

/>   Michael’s face grew pale from shock. He’s right! I’ve no recollection of ever playing or watching anyone play this game in my life, yet I knew it as if I did. How is this possible? Is this another one of his spells?

  “You’re destined for great things, Michael. But, I’m sure you already knew that,” Lucifer said, moving his pawn piece forward.

  Michael shook as he matched Lucifer’s opening move. “There. That’s my move.”

  “Well, that wasn’t very inspiring, but it’ll have to do,” said Lucifer.

  “What is that supposed to mean? It’s the same move you made,” Michael argued.

  “Exactly. Innovation will grant you victory, but copying the moves of your adversaries will lead to a quick defeat. Is that what you want?”

  “Just make your move.” Michael gritted his teeth.

  “Are you hiding your knowledge for the game behind that mediocre move because you wish to prove all my words wrong somehow, or is it because you hope to end this game quickly with my victory, getting you back to the life you so desire?” Lucifer asked.

  Michael’s entire body quivered as his breathing grew heavier.

  “My turn.” With a grin, Lucifer moved his pawn piece forward.

  Michael nodded and then mirrored his move.

  “A wise man strives for innovation on the battlefield. Mimicry, however, is for fools.” Lucifer made his next move: sliding the king piece forward.

  “The king? But why would you move your best piece out in the open like that?” Michael asked.

  Lucifer grinned. “There’s the chess master I know. And to answer your question, a great king leads his men from the front lines of battle, Michael.”

  He keeps acting as if he knows me, and yet no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to remember ever meeting you, Michael thought as he moved his knight piece. But what if he actually knows me and I know him?

  He recalled his encounter with Hecate again and the way she spoke of the demon king’s demands. Specifically, for him. Paired with the sense of familiarity he still carried, the unease of another potentially lost memory worsened.