The Demon Lord And His Hero

"Rowan, the emperor sends his regards. He wants to know why you haven't already killed Zenoli."

The little demon child who acted as an intermediary between Rowan and Traxdart went by the name Vargh. He had a head of shocking white hair and narrow hooded green eyes like that of a fox.

"Tell Traxdart that I am not his murderer for hire," Rowan told the child. "Zenoli isn't on my list."

Vargh was a special demon that hadn't existed in the previous timeline. He had the unique never seen before power to create doors between realms though he still wasn't powerful enough to open a steady portal straight between the demonic kingdom and humanity's realm. Rowan had discovered that the portal which Blue had come through was the child's handiwork. Now the creature was back home where it belonged.

"You try saying no to him!" The child huffed. "So easy for you to refuse because I am the messenger and it's my head that gets chopped off. Mhm," he nodded to himself as he complained to the blond. "Say, brother-in-law, buy me some tangerine jam. I ran out of that stuff this morning."

"You eat too much sugar," Rowan chided the kid who reminded him of a younger Lucien. "And stop calling me brother-in-law." Vargh had been fed that line nearly as many times as Rowan had reluctantly supplied him with jam. Traxdart had forbidden all kinds of sugary food because Vargh had lost several of his baby teeth to cavities. The demonic emperor had been witness to too many cavity induced meltdowns that the child had thrown over his toddler years. Getting insight into Traxdart's problems with Vargh almost humanised him in the eyes of Rowan. Almost, because the blond would never forget the cruelty that lay beneath his charming exterior. Traxdart could not be allowed to live. That was that.

"Someday Syryn will wake up and he'll approve of me calling you brother-in-law," Vargh muttered. "Anyway, don't forget the jam!" The child waved and stepped through the portal he created to wherever Traxdart was located.

Rowan was now all alone inside his dimension. His mind drifted to thoughts of Syryn, Lucien, and finally Vargh. He had come to realise the undeniable truth that there was goodness in children even if a part of them was demonic. The gods, deities, heaven itself, had failed them all so miserably by looking away from the problem and letting the ones in between suffer. All they did was enjoy incense, worship, and adoration, growing in power while the ones who worshipped them languished when the demons arrived.

Hatred, a feeling that had been so foreign to him had buried itself deep in Rowan's existence when he realised that they were all worshipping false gods. These beings were only gods when it was convenient for them.

"Eos," he said to a golden flower floating in the waters of his dimension. She was no longer alive in the way that the gods were. Reduced to a palm-sized bud in his space, the goddess had lost her powers, and thus her temples had been silent for many years. "Do you hate what I've become?"

_____________

Riaku had agreed to let Lucien speak with the demon in the sword but only if the redhead did it in the presence of the king himself. This was because the avian did not trust the sword to not try and trick Lucien into setting it free.

"I'm coming with you, Lulu. I don't care what you think."

Lucien wished for once that the fire mage's protective streak could be turned on and off.

"I don't want an audience while I'm dealing with a hostile demon that's probably gone insane from being trapped inside a weapon for god only knows how many years!"

"Does that not reinforce my point?" Magnus calmly responded. "I am concerned for your safety."

"Riaku will be right there, ready to seal it back inside if does something strange. Magnus, come on, why are you so worried?" Lucien lowered his voice and whispered. "I'm also a demon for goodness sake. Did you forget that?"

"No-"

"Then what are you afraid of?"

Magnus felt uncomfortable saying that he was worried because Luci had once been possessed by Red. Red, props to the demon, had turned out great for Luci, but who was to say that this other guy wouldn't just try and attempt to body snatch Lulu?

"If I hear so much as a squeak, I am busting the door down and dragging you off to Rowan so he can exorcise you," Magnus said with a bit of frustration. There was nothing he could realistically do to help Lucien and that rankled him to no end.

"Rowan can't exorcise anything," the redhead replied as he tried to figure out if Magnus was serious or not. "If he could exorcise demons then Syryn would have already ascended and joined the saints." Saying that, the redhead sniggered to himself because a dirty joke presented itself and did a quick jog around his mind.

Magnus almost immediately figured out what was so amusing to the redhead.

"Umm- so I gotta go. Later, Magnus."

The fire mage let out a worried breath as he watched Lucien open the tall doors of the avian sanctuary.

____

"Hey Riaku, am I late?" Lucien asked the avian king who was perched on an arch that pierced the clouds. The avian sanctuary was an acrophobe's worst nightmare. Even the redhead felt a bit of vertigo as he walked across a narrow ramp that was supported only by magic. The place had been built with avians in mind, and it was obvious from the architecture that was as beautiful as it was dangerous for anyone with unsteady feet.

"Yes," Riaku responded as he snapped his dark wings out, the force of the air making a whump sound. Lucien watched with mixed feelings as the avian glided and landed in front of him with a grace that the redhead lacked when he landed.

"I'm sorry. I got held up by something."

Riaku smiled. "No need for apologies. You were only a few minutes late."