Prologue

Flames liquidized, incinerating the air in lashing tongues. Its red-hot dancing form burned through charred stone and worked its way on rails of steel. Glass refracted the orangey glow the fire exuded as embers were tempest-tossed in the unrelenting ambiance. Black hands that had been purged of skin had their fingers curled over the edge of some of the molten metal. Their faces were inextricably molded into the last screams that had failed to emit over the siren song of heat. A putrid stench clung to the air.

Two amber eyes glowered in the midst of smoke and flame, rolling back cinders as its creamy paws stepped forthright. A distasteful frown formed on its semi-flat, masked face. Ash clouds rested on the frayed fur that draped on either side of its head and neck. With each forced step, the rattling of its shackled ankles reverberated deafly against the roar of the fire. Crystalline features protruding from its sides seemed to lift in accordance with its head, an earsplitting screech bursting from its vocals.

The tremendous beast had once been revered as a spirit of fire, but in its current state, it had been reduced to a hellish demon. Infuriation reigned true in the bear-and-cat-like canine’s countenance, seeping with unruly energy.

Lucifer inhaled the several scents that plagued the scorched air, taking in the sight and stowing it in the back of his mind. His cranberry-red eyes belittled. With a turn of his shoulder, he abandoned the suffering village below the clifface, his sinewy body of shadows vaporizing into the webbings of darkness. He trotted forthright, all eight, golden rings illuminating his way with a small, iridescent glow. He had escaped. But the others had not.