Magnavex walked briskly down the corridor, her boots striking the stone with rhythmic confidence. She was en route to a high-level briefing, but the sudden sound of yelling made her pause. Her hand drifted to her side, not out of fear, but habit. If there was trouble, she could defend herself.
She inhaled, centering her mind. Summoning required focus, though for her the process took only seconds. One breath, and she could conjure something devastating.
She advanced.
Just as she rounded the corner, something barreled into her, small, fast, and warm. Her stance shifted automatically, energy pooling in her limbs. She almost summoned.
Then she saw him.
A boy. Barely up to her waist, red-skinned and wild-eyed. Not a threat. their eyes met and then.
Magnavex froze.
Those lines. The unmistakable mark of Tenebros’s chosen.
My Lord.
She staggered back a step, startled. Her heart pounded, not from fear, but realization.
“My Lord,” she stammered, eyes wide. “But this is much too soon. You shouldn’t be up and about yet.”
What was she doing, doubting him? This was their first interaction.
“Then again, you seem quite energetic.” She tried to recover
“And quite forward of you, too,” and immediately shoved her foot deeper into her mouth. \She covered her mouth with her hand before she made things worse.
And then it struck her.
No one else knows. Not yet. Not like I do.
If I become his confidant, the one he trusted from the start, I could ensure he stayed aligned with our side. My side.
She knelt, head bowed, voice steady and smooth. “Please, allow me to introduce myself properly.”
He will remember this, me showing respect, not fear. But I cannot grovel. Not like a servant.
She lifted her head without waiting for permission and held his gaze.
“I am Magnavex, loyal advisor to you, my lord.”
Advisor was not my official title, but if he repeated it aloud, it would become truth. Even the others would have to accept it.
“Wait… a Lord?!” he blurted.
Confusion. Real confusion. Not feigned.
Magnavex barely had time to process it before he collapsed.
She lunged, catching him before he hit the floor.
“My Lord, are you all right?”
No. He was not. And she could not take him to the infirmary. Not yet. Not where others would see. That would ruin everything.
I need someone who understands the value of secrecy.
“Dormathis,” she muttered. “Yes. For medical attention, right away.”
She swept him into her arms with practiced grace and turned down the hall toward Dormathis’s quarters, already calculating what needed to happen next.
***
Magnavex reached Dormathis’s office, knocked once, and entered without waiting for a response. Dormathis did not waste energy telling people not to do what they were already going to do.
The chamber was dimly lit, its illumination, casting soft glows across the slick, living surfaces. Along the walls stood rows of glass specimen jars, each filled with viscous amber fluid. Suspended within them were small, misshapen creatures, some human, others bestial, preserved in unnatural stillness. These were either the results of or materials for his experiments, his attempts to learn how humans and their beasts worked and how to better kill them.
Tables ringed the room, cluttered with alchemical instruments: thin copper tubing twisted in spirals, conical glass flasks with sedimented liquids, and open scrolls scrawled with indecipherable diagrams. Occasional hissing and bubbling added to the laboratory’s constant undercurrent of motion.
To one side, a table with built-in restraints stood ready, its iron shackles splayed open on a slab of smooth, dark stone. Nearby, scalpels, clamps, and syringes were arranged neatly, their metal glinting faintly in the ambient light. The floor was reinforced with some kind of hide, polished to a sheen that reflected distorted fragments of the glow, and sloped toward a drain in the corner. The room was humid, and the air smelled of various chemical products that made her feel just the tiniest bit woozy.
At the far end stood a high-backed chair upholstered in the same animal hide as the floor. She found him there, asleep at his desk amid his chemistry nonsense.
Still carrying Lucarion’s unconscious form, she kicked the chair to wake Dormathis and launched into an explanation before he had fully raised his head.
“Our Lord has been born early and collapsed. He requires healing,” she said.
Dormathis pushed himself upright and immediately pulled his concordium. A single page floated across the room and landed near the far wall. The moment it touched the ground, a bean sprout burst from the floor, thin at first, then rapidly thickening. Vines coiled outward, rooting into the stone with audible cracks. The stalk shot upward, unfurling broad, fleshy leaves that layered into a wide, bedding-like platform. Above it, a bulge formed along the stem, swelling before peeling open into a massive flower. Its petals drooped like the lobes of a mouth, glistening with thick nectar. As the blossom opened, strands of vine curled down from its center and slithered around the bedframe, anchoring themselves like resting limbs. A final leaf unfurled slowly across the top, glossy and veined like a folded blanket, still slick with moisture. All the while, the demon pulsed with a slow, steady rhythm, subtle but unmistakable.
Dormathis approached Magnavex and lifted Lucarion from her arms without a word.
He had always been like this, which suited her. The less she had to explain, the better.
“He seems perfectly healthy,” Dormathis said at last, settling into his chair and watching her expectantly.
Magnavex shifted her weight, keeping her tone light. “He only woke a few hours ago. I thought it best to bring him here first. Somewhere quieter.”
Dormathis gave a small nod, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
“I am sure you understand,” she continued, “how easily first impressions can harden.”
He motioned for her to go on.
“If he is to make the right choices, he will need space. The freedom to act with few voices in his ear.”
“Voices like yours,” Dormathis said flatly, though without accusation.
She met his gaze evenly. “And perhaps yours. He could use advisors who see the bigger picture.”
“Being from Earth, he may see things differently enough to break the stalemate,” Dormathis replied, tone unreadable. “Perhaps even save us.”
That was as much as she could hope for. She inclined her head and left before the conversation could turn less agreeable.
***
She went to her office. Splendith would be waiting. That girl would do anything she was told, which made her perfect for running interference and spinning whatever excuses Magnavex needed.
Magnavex’s office was an imposing space, dominated by a massive desk with two shorter chairs set directly in front of it. She liked it that way; it let her look down on visitors, an arrangement that intimidated most subordinates with ease.
All except one.
In one of those chairs sat a short Eclipseran girl, her skin shaded with deeper undertones of violet. Her dark hair was drawn back into a sleek, practical style that kept it out of her face. She wore a fitted jacket over a crisp blouse, an attire chosen for precision and presentation rather than comfort.
She shot to her feet the instant Magnavex stepped inside.
“Magnavex I was so worried about you I mean not worried worried I knew you would be fine obviously but then I thought what if you were not fine and I was just sitting here so I sent some Virellyns to search for you because I was not sure if I should go out and get you myself but then I thought no if you came back while I was gone you would have to wait for me and I could never make you do that well I could but I would not but then I thought what if you needed me right then and I was not here so I almost ran out the door but then I remembered you might walk in at that exact moment and then oh I forgot to say I did not just sit here I cleaned up well tidied up because it was not that messy except maybe it was a little but you did not see that so it does not matter and I polished the desk just in case which is silly because you would not care but I thought maybe you would like it and you look wonderful by the way did I say that already I think I did no wait I did not but I was definitely thinking it the whole time.”
She finally stopped to take a breath, an opportunity Magnavex was not going to waste.
“Splendith, I have a very important job for you,” Magnavex said. “I need you to attend the strategy meeting in my place and inform the council that I am feeling under the weather.”
She saw the panic rising on the young girl’s face and raised a hand to cut it off. “I am fine. I simply have something else I need to take care of. Can you handle that?”
“Yes ma’am but what should I tell them is wrong with you because if—”
Magnavex clamped a hand over her mouth before the ramble could start. Splendith’s eyes widened, but she smiled under the hand.
“They will speculate,” Magnavex said calmly. “You will tell them only that I asked for privacy. They will imagine something embarrassing, and you will let them.”
Splendith shook her head, eyes even wider.
“Yes, you will,” Magnavex said, firm. “That is what I am asking, and you will do it.”
After a moment, Splendith gave a reluctant nod.
“Good. After that, go to my quarters and stay there. Pretend you are tending to me, and do not allow anyone to enter, no matter who it is.”
With her orders given, Magnavex turned and strode out, heading back to Dormathis.
***
When Magnavex arrived at Dormathis’s office, she found him sound asleep.
In the same bed as my lord. If the one lying there had been Colbran, she might have killed Dormathis on the spot. But this was not Colbran.
This was someone else. Someone she did not know. She stood there for a moment, just staring at him while he slept.
He was small, maybe even scrawny. Earlier, he had been terrified and running. Nothing like Colbran with his immense bravery and broad shoulders.
Normally, a Demon Lord was born in front of the entire council. This was an opportunity she could not give up. And she was sure Dormathis could not either.
So she waited.
Minutes turned into an hour, the only sound in the room the slow, steady rhythm of his breathing. Once or twice he shifted, but his eyes never opened. She stayed where she was, arms folded, watching him as the time crawled on.
***
Lucarion shifted in the bed.
Magnavex composed herself, then stepped forward. “Get up. Our Lord requires your attention.”
Dormathis stirred, sliding out of bed. He gave a bow, too shallow, but calling attention to it would bring up comparisons to her own lapses. “My Lord, forgive me. I must have dozed off. Dormathis, at your service.”
Lucarion rose slowly, eyes fixed on his clothes seeing them for the first time.
He is nervous.
“This way, my Lord,” Dormathis said. “I will explain what I have found.”
“My Lord,” she began smoothly, “Dormathis says you are perfectly healthy—”
Dormathis cleared his throat, cutting her off. He glanced at a stack of notes, written while she was gone. “While you are healthy, we still cannot explain your sudden collapse. You woke earlier than expected.” He looked back to the page. “You may be underdeveloped, and we cannot have a Sigilborn passing out, after all.”
“Sigilborn?” Lucarion asked.
Sigilborn. The reincarnated from Earth never stomach these biases. She scoffed inwardly at Dormathis’s mistake.
“I am going to recommend you go back into—”
“Back into that pouch?!” Lucarion snapped. “No. I will not go. Not with that squid there.”
Absolutely not! This is our moment. I will not have him hidden away.
Dormathis continued “My Lord, it is what is best—”
“Our Lord has given you a direct order,” Magnavex cut in, placing a hand on Lucarion’s shoulder, claiming him.
Dormathis quickly pivoted. “Then our best alternative is a carefully monitored recovery plan,” he said, looking directly at her. “Proper meals, regular checkups, and a strict routine to help his body catch up.”
He does not believe that is necessary. This is his way of keeping access.
Magnavex smiled just enough to look polite. “I will personally oversee his progress.”
Dormathis did not blink. “While I am sure you would be diligent, our Lord deserves the best. Which is why I will personally be overseeing his recovery every day.”
He shifted his gaze to Lucarion. “My Lord, may I have the honor of knowing your name?”
Magnavex’s mind tensed. That was not a question she wanted asked if keeping the council uninformed was her goal. Lazeth would spread the information like wildfire.
She murmured, “He has not gone to Lazeth yet.”
Dormathis’s head snapped toward her, eyes widening. “What? You did not—how could you—he must go to Lazeth. He must be informed.”
Magnavex did not flinch. A plan was already forming. “He will. After he has had a nap,” she said firmly, cutting through his outrage. “You said he needed bed rest. I am not risking our Lord’s well-being.”
She glanced at her lord, who looked relieved that he did not need to return to his birthing pouch. She filed that away.
Dormathis hesitated, measuring her. She did not back down. He bowed his head. “As you wish.”
Magnavex gave a cool nod.
They led Lucarion back to bed. exactly the window she needed.
First, she needed to make sure Lazeth did not run to tell the others. She would warn Splendith to keep Lazeth distracted as soon as the Demon Lord left his side.
Leaving Dormathis to watch over the young lord, she slipped away, heading quietly back to her office.
***
She had been waiting for Splendith for a while now. She had eaten, taken a bath, and even sent her imp to make sure the Demon Lord did not wake up. And still she was waiting.
Magnavex had decided: Jalucia must not find out. As leader of the spy network, she would be nearly impossible to avoid, but there was one place entirely under Magnavex’s control. She would take her lord there after his meeting with Lazeth.
She also knew how she wanted to control her lord’s contacts. she needed him to trust her over anyone else in her faction. Since he had already met Dormathis, it would be wise to mention Belgorath, someone safe, a friendly name that posed no threat to her authority.
Magnavex paced the length of her office, tail flicking in irritation, when the door burst open and Splendith rushed inside. She nearly tripped in her hurry, then came to an abrupt stop, bouncing on her toes as if she might launch into the air.
“Magnavex I am so sorry I made you wait I was at the meeting and they totally believed me about you being sick but then they said I should stay so I could tell you what happened and I thought maybe I should and then—”
Magnavex silenced her with a hand over her mouth.
“What I am about to tell you does not leave this room,” she said, voice low. “And you will never admit I told you this at any point in the future.”
Splendith’s eyes went huge, perfect round promises of loyalty, and she nodded so hard a strand of hair slipped loose.
“The Demon Lord has been born early,” Magnavex said.
“Mmhmhmhm!” Splendith squealed, bouncing in place and yelling unintelligible sounds, still under Magnavex’s hand.
“Only Dormathis knows. The other council members do not. I am taking him to meet Lazeth, and after we leave, I need you to distract Lazeth. Imply, without confirming, that the rest of the council already knows.”
Magnavex waited a second before releasing her mouth.
Splendith’s jaw dropped. She froze for half a heartbeat, then made a small gasping noise. “You can count on me,” she whispered fiercely, as if accepting a sacred mission.
She snatched up a pen and paper and dropped into a chair like a soldier preparing battle plans. She began scribbling lines to rehearse, mouthing each one with deep, deadly seriousness.
***
Magnavex returned to Dormathis’s office to find both him and the Demon Lord still asleep.
She sat down to wait. She had been up for over a day, and it was starting to get to her. Before she could help it, she dozed off.
The Demon Lord shouted, the sound sharp with fear.
Magnavex was on her feet instantly, moving to his side. “My Lord, are you unwell? Should I wake Dormathis?”
He did not answer, eyes unfocused, as if distracted by something far away.
“Is something wrong, my Lord?” she asked again, watching him closely.
For a moment her mind raced. Was this an attack? A curse? Her carefully laid plans felt like they might crumble before they had begun.
She leaned over, scanning him for any sign of Lumisiel’s corruption. “My Lord, if you need assistance, please say so.”
“I am fine,” he said at last. “I just need a moment.” He seemed almost startled by the sound of his own voice.
Magnavex stayed quiet, giving him space as he took a deep breath. He showed no sign of being under Lumisiel’s control, probably just a quirk of humans, so she waited.
“My Lord, is everything alright?” she tried again.
“Yes, Magnavex, everything is fine.” He hesitated, as if testing his words. “I need to close my eyes for a second longer.”
She remained patient as he sat in silence, almost as though meditating.
A few minutes later, he opened his eyes. “I would like to see this Lazeth fellow now.”
Magnavex had planned to delay him, but he had delayed himself long enough that Splendith was likely ready by now. Still, deviating from the plan was how mistakes were made.
“I will lead you to him straight away,” she said with a small bow.
She left without waking Dormathis, choosing a longer route than necessary to the chapel.
The walk was quiet, the air filled only with the soft echo of their footsteps. His pace was measured, his gaze roaming the walls and floor as if he were cataloging every line of stone.
He reached out once, letting his fingers trail along the wall. When he stopped, palm pressed flat against the cold surface, she almost asked if something was wrong. There was no alarm in his expression.
He must be remembering his past life.
Though Colbran had never looked at stone like that. He had been forward, relentless, eyes fixed on the goal ahead. Colbran saw walls as obstacles to pass, achievements to reach, goals to fulfill.
Magnavex’s eyes traveled over him as they walked.
He is small. Smaller than I thought a Demon Lord could be, barely reaching my chest in height. His skin is deep red, like mine, but the black markings curling over his arms and neck shift so faintly they could be missed unless you watched for them. They are thin, much thinner than Colbran’s, thinner even than Lazeth’s. And his frame… slight. No corded muscle, no broad shoulders. Nothing like Colbran.
They reached the dead-end corridor, and she stopped before the carved door, ancient wood framed in blackened, twisted metal, the red sigil at its center pulsing faintly.
She watched his gaze fix on it. Whatever he saw in that glow made the fine hairs along the back of his neck rise. Good. Caution meant distrust.
“My Lord, we have made it to Lazeth. He is one of the foremost figures in our civilization,” Magnavex told him.
“Really?”
His ego must be getting bruised. She quickly added, “He is a distant second, my Lord.” Or at least he will be.
She opened the door and entered.
Lazeth was waiting at the altar.
“Welcome, Magnavex. What brings you by, and with a guest?” he said.
“Our Lord has graced us with his presence earlier than expected,” she said, not burying the lead. “He wishes to begin his studies. If we could move this along.” Her voice shook at the lie.
“Tenebros has called you forth before your time,” Lazeth said, his voice steady, his gaze fixed on the Demon Lord.
Then, without even looking at her, he added, “Magnavex, you may go.”
The words were not loud, but they landed like a blade sliding between armor plates. A dismissal. A reminder that in his chapel, her presence was by his permission alone.
Her jaw tightened. “Is that truly necessary?” she asked, lowering her voice to hide the edge in it.
“It is.”
Magnavex bowed, shallow enough to make the point that she was leaving because she chose to, not because he had ordered it.
She walked slowly, willing Lucarion to speak. Call me back, my Lord… call me back and I will stay.
He did not.
The door closed behind her, heavy and final.
Fine. Let Lazeth think this was victory.
She had seen the way Lucarion’s eyes darted, the relief that softened his face when she shielded him from that wretched pouch. He was small now, uncertain, already leaning toward her.
That was enough.
If she could not be in the room with him, she would control the next one he entered. She turned down the corridor, mind already working. She would be there every time he needed someone, until the day came when he needed no one but her.