Page 26 of Crimson Skies

“Zogganigx?” Eden whispered to Loki.

“If I’m not mistaken, it’s a Lucifugous swearword.”

Eden brightened. “Oh yeah? What does it mean?”

Loki exchanged a chagrined look with Bostrof.

Eden narrowed her eyes at them. “I’ve been to the Seventh Purgatory.”

Bostrof sighed. “It means one who lies with a hellboar.”

“Ah.” Eden blinked. “So, who’s thezogganigx?”

Bostrof winced at the ease with which the curse word rolled off her tongue. “Drarak, the one who currently sits on the throne of this realm.”

The demons in Izaran’s party scowled and uttered what sounded like derogatory terms at the mention of the name.

Izaran signaled to the guards atop the wall.

“Sound the gong!” he shouted. “Our rightful king has returned!”

12

A hollow ringingboomed across the valley. Eden jumped. By the time they’d negotiated the inner portcullis and entered the settlement, a crowd had started to gather in the main square.

“My king! My king!”

Lucifugous demons fell to their knees in waves as they beheld Bostrof. Some cried. Some wailed. A few fainted.

“It’s like the second coming,” Eden mumbled.

Her gaze landed on a pair of marble statues rising in the shadow of an overhang. She stared.

The sculptures stood some twenty feet tall and depicted Bostrof and Lilaia wearing regal outfits and crowns. Food offerings sat amidst the hundreds of candles burning at their feet.

“Told you it was a shrine,” Loki said smugly at Bostrof’s glazed expression.

“It wasn’t the only thing we took from the palace.” Izaran beamed. “We availed ourselves of half the armory and the treasures you valued most on our way out of the capital.”

Bostrof recovered from his shock at seeing his and Lilaia’s lifelike depictions. His gaze swept the rapturous crowd. “How many are you?”

“In this settlement? We number two thousand.” Izaran indicated the mouths of several tunnels. “We made our homes inside the caverns underneath these hills. We get our water supply from an underground river. Why, we even planted crops—”

“Thissettlement?” Bostrof interrupted numbly. “There are other outposts like this one?!”

Izaran dipped his head proudly. “There are ten the size of this colony and two that are larger. We built them on the very edges of the realm so as to stay out of Drarak’s sight. All the demons in those encampments are faithful to you, my king.”

Eden felt a bout of sympathy for Bostrof. The former ruler of the Shadow Empire looked like he needed to sit down.

Izaran’s expression hardened.

“When Drarak took the throne in your stead, we gave him the chance to prove himself to be as good and as noble a king as you were,” he said quietly. “It only took a hundred years for him to undo the work you had done to make this kingdom one demons were proud to live in and call home. He rescinded laws that protected the weak and wrote new ones that rewarded cruelty and greed. Almost the entire central army deserted the ranks and abandoned the capital after he publicly executed one of your most loyal counsels.” The demon’s face darkened. “But this realm’s true demise began after Drarak became addicted to Reaper Seed and started welcoming ghouls and dark alchemists into the empire.”

Loki’s tail swung agitatedly. “Is he working with Elios?”

Izaran gave the imp a puzzled look. “Elios? I do not know that name.”

Bostrof sighed. “It’s a long story. We should talk about it somewhere more private.”

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