Lucas: Origins Of A Demon (5 page)

BOOK: Lucas: Origins Of A Demon
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“Lucas. Lucas Rameses.”

“Rameses. Like from ancient Egypt? That Rameses?”

“The same.”

“Well, you have been around for a while, haven’t you? Maybe even as long as me.”

“I couldn’t help but notice the chair you are sitting in. It belonged to King Rameses the second. My father, once.”

Dimitri stopped his circling and let the tip of his sword rest on the floor. “Shut up,” he says. “For real?”

“Yes. Not that I had much to with him back then. I recognize the chair though. Not his throne, but the chair he sat in in his war room.”

“No shit!” Dimitri seems delighted by this revelation. “I can’t believe that. I stole the chair from a private collector here in the city. A human. He told me the chair came from ancient Egypt, preserved in one of the pyramids. That’s all he knew.”

“Well,” Lucas says, nodding over to the chair. “You have yourself a powerful artifact there. My father made battle plans for many wars sitting in that chair.”

“No shit!” Dimitri laughs again, obviously pleased to know that he is sitting in the chair once occupied by one of the ancient world’s greatest leaders.

Lucas wonders what Dimitri would do if he knew Lucas was actually lying. If he knew the chair did not in fact belong to King Rameses II at all, and that Lucas had no idea where it came from or who owned it.

Lucas guesses Dimitri would not be happy if he found that out.

But that isn’t going to happen. As powerful a demon as Dimitri is, he has no idea that he has fallen victim to Lucas’ dark charisma, a gift partially passed on to Lucas by his father, King Rameses II (he wasn’t lying about that), but made stronger by the dark arts found in the ancient city of Memphes. Arts found nowhere else before or since, and for which Lucas betrayed many and spilled much blood to acquire.

Of course, Lucas could try to destroy Dimitri instead of bargaining with him. He could probably destroy the other demon, but Lucas has no idea if Dimitri is in league with any other demons or not. If Dimitri is, those he knew will look for him, causing more trouble for Lucas, who is still trying to keep a low profile in this city. Easier just to pay Dimitri off. Besides which, Lucas needs eyes and ears in this new city, just like he always does in every city he has ever been in. Dimitri will no doubt prove useful in that way.

He says to Dimitri, “I’ll give you double what Jake was giving you every month. That’s ten grand a month. We both know money is power here in this world.”

“Yes it is,” Dimitri says. “And you seem to have a lot of it, Lucas Rameses.”

“Like I said-”

“Yes, yes. You’re just a business man right? Like me?”

Lucas nods. “We’re not in Hell anymore.”

“No, we are not. A day never goes by for which I am not eternally grateful for that.”

“Then you know neither of us need the heat from the Hellwrathians. I’m sure you haven’t avoided them this long by being stupid.”

“Stupid?” Dimitri walks right up to Lucas, looks him straight in the eye. “Far from it. One hundred years into my second tour here.”

“More than me. Forty years ago I got here.”

Dimitri smiles like he suddenly feels superior to Lucas, which is exactly how Lucas wants him to feel. “Alright, Lucas Rameses. Why don’t we settle on fifteen grand a month, considering you put most of my minions on the down elevator.”

Lucas smiles inwardly. He was prepared to go as high as twenty grand if it meant keeping Dimitri on his side. Fifteen would do. “You have a deal,” he says. “But I arrange to have the money taken to you each month. I don’t want your goons coming around my club and scaring the humans.”

Dimitri stares hard for a moment. “Fine,” he says eventually. “Though I may visit you myself from time to time. You interest me, Lucas Rameses. I’ll bet we have a lot in common, you and I.”

I sincerely doubt that, Lucas thinks, but smiles. “I have no doubt we do. Just remember the terms of our agreement and we can both share in a profitable arrangement.”

Dimitri’s eyes flash a deep orange color for a second, his instinct obviously to continue the power struggle, but something quells his instinct and he merely smiles and nods. “Of course.”

Lucas smiles back one final time and then teleports out of Dimitri’s lair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER FIVE

 

 

Right from an early age, Lucas was fascinated and strangely drawn to the dark arts. While his eight brothers spent most of their time trying to be great warriors and learning to be leaders so they could one day become Pharaoh after their father, Lucas spent most of his time studying the ancient texts and scrolls locked up in the palace vaults and great libraries, texts that documented the history of the world, strategies for war and battle and the many philosophies that went to back it all up. The knowledge in the books--the books themselves--drew him in, fascinated him by the world of ideas and imagination they ignited in him.

The palace contained many books related to the dark arts of the time. It was a different world back then and the supernatural forces of the universe had not yet been trampled down and forced into the darkness by those who were either afraid of them, or wished to keep them secret so they could avail of such power for themselves in order to rule over the masses, as is the case in the modern world today.

Back in ancient Egypt, magical arts were widely practiced and many supernatural forces--characterized as gods and other figures in the hieroglyphics--were regularly tapped into by those that knew how. Every king in ancient Egypt had their own master of the dark arts to help them keep their reign and be successful in their duties as kings and leaders.

King Rameses II, Lucas’ father, had his own practitioner of the dark arts. A mysterious man called Eppin Ho Tepp, who spoke to no one but the King. Eppin Ho Tepp lived in the very lower levels of the palace—the catacombs--and was rarely seen by anyone. Those who did catch a glimpse of him reported only seeing a tall hooded figure who seemed to blend with the shadows of the great hallways as he glided by.

When Lucas read all the books on the dark arts he could find, he decided to seek out his father’s dark adviser. The books in the palace libraries were not enough to satisfy his curiosity or quell his insatiable thirst for knowledge, so Lucas thought Eppin Ho Tepp might be a new source of knowledge for him. He went to Ho Tepp’s quarters in the lower reaches of the palace, which were dark and mostly unused. Certainly no one lived on the lower levels. Except Ho Tepp. Barely sixteen years old at the time, Lucas felt deeply frightened as he wandered around the labyrinthine hallways of the dark lower palace, jumping at every strange sound he heard, trying not to drop the torch he held out in front of him like a weapon in case he encountered anything dangerous or unearthly down there.

Eventually, the young Lucas made it to the lowest level of the palace, a damp and squalid place that was hard to even breathe in, a place that was just passageways and great openings with nothing in them except sand and rock. Who would want to live down here? he thought at the time. Only vermin could live in such a place.

Ho Tepp found Lucas before Lucas found him. The sorcerer appeared in front of Lucas out of the darkness--a hooded figure as everyone had described, his face covered by deep and strangely moving shadows--causing Lucas to cry out in shock and drop his torch. When he picked up the torch again with shaking hands, he held it out in front of him, expecting to see the hooded figure of Eppa Ho Tepp standing before him, but there was no one there. It was like his fearful mind had somehow conjured the figure out of the shadows by itself.

But then he noticed the book on the rough stone floor. A thick book, bound in a dark leather cover, strange symbols and designs imprinted into the leather itself. When Lucas finally bent down to open the book, he realized most of what was written in it was written in a very ancient language, but one which Lucas could understand thanks to his studies in the library. Written across the front of the book in embossed blood red lettering were the words, “Book Of Universal Darkness”. Even through all his fear, he couldn’t help but smile when he discovered the book contained information on aspects of the dark arts that he had never come across before, even giving spells and incantations that he had no idea even existed, even with all his prior studies.

Picking up the book, Lucas ran back to his quarters in the palace and locked himself in there for the next two days so he could study the book that he assumed Eppin Ho Tepp had left for him. Perhaps Ho Tepp sensed his potential as a dark practitioner, Lucas didn’t know. Though he couldn’t help but get excited by the thought that such a master of the dark arts would take an interest in him, and he soon entertained notions of becoming Ho Tepp’s apprentice.

As it happened, his notions were misplaced. After studying the book for two whole days, Lucas decided to try out some of the spells he found there. He tried conjuring an entity from the spirit world first, something he thought would be easy and fairly low risk for his first foray into conjuration.

He excitedly gathered together the things he needed to make the spell work and put them together in the way the book described. Then he recited the spell to conjure the spirit. His grin of excitement never left his face as he composed the spell, his pride at finally getting a chance to practice some real dark magic blinding him to the danger of what he was doing. By the time he realized, it was too late.

He managed to conjure the spirit alright, but the spirit was far from being the benevolent one he thought it would be. The entity materialized in a cloud of dark smoke, accompanied by a great wind and a horrendous screeching sound that penetrated even the thick stone walls of the palace, its unearthly screams and wails echoing from room to room like a nightmare made manifest. Even the King heard it.

Once released, the spirit went on a rampage around the palace, surrounding people in its dark cloak of energy and causing them to melt instantly like candles under a great heat. The evil spirit killed many servants in this way, and also two of Lucas’ brothers who tried to stop the thing. It took Eppa Ho Tepp to finally bring the spirit into heel so he could send it back where it came from.

Lucas was banished from the palace and his family after that. King Rameses II said he did not want any son of his practicing the dark arts, so it was better for him to have no son at all than risk any more incidents in the palace or elsewhere.

Lucas was turned out into the streets of Memphes with nothing but the clothes on his back.

He never saw his brothers again after that, and his father only once.

Though he did encounter Eppa Ho Tepp again. Twice actually, the first time being one night while sleeping in a alleyway a few days after his banishment. Lucas awoke to find the hooded figure of Ho Tepp standing over him. Startled and full of fear, Lucas nonetheless recognized Ho Tepp straight away. “What do you want?” he asked the dark sorcerer. “Why did you give me that book? I am without a family or home now.” Despite his fear, he was also angry.

Ho Tepp stared down at him, only two pale blue eyes visible in the darkness of his hood. It was enough. When he spoke, he did so in a whisper. “I gave you what your heart desired.”

“I did not desire to kill my brothers!”

“I think you did, but that is not your true desire. Your true desire is to know the darkness, to use its power.”

Lucas could only stare back. Ho Tepp was right on both fronts. Deep down, he did want his brothers dead.

He also wanted to master the dark arts. At any cost.

Ho Tepp produced a book from out of his cloak and handed it to Lucas. It was the same book as before. The Book Of Universal Darkness. “Your heart’s desire lies in that book.”

Lucas was about to ask what that meant when Ho Tepp suddenly vanished into the night, leaving only a gust of wind behind him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER SIX

 

 

Over the next couple of weeks, Lucas puts his efforts into firmly establishing himself in Mercy City. The renovations on the club are done within the week thanks to the bonuses he promises the builders for completing their work on time. The Filthy Ecstasy club soon becomes the Demon Ecstasy club. A little obvious maybe, but Lucas renames the club because he likes the irony of it. Plus, the club needed a name change. Demon Ecstasy club is as good as any. As well as the interior overhaul, Lucas also cuts more than fifty percent of the original staff, hiring in his own staff with the help of Janice, who is now the manager of the club and loving it. Lucas even hires a few werewolves to do security. They don’t mind working for a demon as long as the money is right, and werewolves make good attack dogs when needed.

Outside of the club, Lucas has been subtly extending his influence throughout the streets of the city. He spends many days going around recruiting spies and paying people to be his eyes and ears around the city. Most of the people he approaches agree to work for him after he reaches into their minds and makes them compliant through some gentle persuasion. He also promises to pay them well for their information, giving each recruit five hundred dollars from the get go. No one he offers the money to turns it down.

Lucas approaches both humans and non-humans to be his spies. Eventually, when he secures himself against his mortal enemy Grand Duke Leonard, Lucas will expand his business interests in the human arena, so he will need information on the humans he inevitably will do business with. As for the non-human recruits, he needs them to firstly wire him off about any Hellwrathian activity in the area, or any activity related to Leonard and the Grand Duke’s personal guards, who were always on the hunt for Lucas. The spies will also feed him whatever information he needs on other non-humans.

BOOK: Lucas: Origins Of A Demon
3.37Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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