7. Lucifer is Dead - 1

Lucifer awakened to an entirely unfamiliar setting, his eyes adjusting to the surroundings. Assuming an upright position, his countenance bore a vacant expression, reminiscent of bewilderment. Attempting to rise, he faltered and collapsed, the grip of excruciating pain permeating every inch of his body, accompanied by a deluge of emotions flooding his consciousness. Memories of the preceding night, just before his loss of consciousness, replayed like a fractured record.

"Huff...Gasp.." despite the momentary relief from pain, Lucifer found himself gasping for air on the ground, the lingering memory leaving a bitter taste. The ground beneath him felt hard, possibly a rocky surface, and the struggle to keep his eyes open suggested an outdoor environment.

"What happened to Mom and Dad?" he exclaimed.

Amidst the agony, his thoughts gravitated towards his parents. The recollection of his father's cries under a barrage of blows, his mother pleading for mercy, and the crowd branding him a Devil weighed heavily on his 7-year-old mind. In the seconds before losing consciousness, Lucifer recalled Ubel's enraged voice, a searing heat engulfing his body, and the descent into darkness.

A disconcerting revelation interrupted his thoughts – a peculiar discomfort in the texture of his clothes. Gasping in surprise, Lucifer examined the unfamiliar fabric on various body parts. Unbeknownst to him, three young kobolds observed his actions from a distance, speculating on his behaviour.

"Hmm?" Lucifer gasped in surprise while fondling the weird fabric on his different body parts.

"Ohhh, it's a human!" someone whispered while hiding behind the tree.

"He is weird!" commented the other with unfazed eyes.

"He is a pervert, I guess" another one chimed in while caressing its chin. Believing Lucifer to be a deviant, the kobolds whispered among themselves, unaware of his astonishment at the unfamiliar attire.

The three beings were young kobolds, may be of similar age, each with a height of 15 cm.

"Who is there?" Lucifer exclaimed while turning in the direction of the voice.

"Oh my! you can understand us?" one of the young kobolds came forward with curious eyes and started inspecting Lucifer.

"Hey! be careful, he can be dangerous," another kobold said in a low voice while still hiding behind the tree.

"He is weird and different" the kobold with unfazed eyes commented again with his hands behind his back while walking forward.

"Umm..who are you guys?" Lucifer asked back while pointing in the direction with his finger. He couldn't see but by the voice, it appeared they were quite young and might be of different species since they were surprised to see him; a human.

"I guess, he is the being uncle Ubel was talking about, in that case, let me introduce ourselves. I am Alison and I'm the older brother and we are the three sons of the Former Kobold tribe leader," answered Alison with his hands behind, he had an aristocratic atmosphere around himself and appeared rather calm and calculative. He wore a thin white cloth draped around his shoulders, the same as what Lucifer was wearing. [ Alison (French origin), means "noble" ]

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I'm Addison, and I'm the second brother," said Addison, while still looking at Lucifer with curious eyes.

"And I-I am Arion." said the third brother with a low voice.

"Don't mind him, he is a little shy" exclaimed Addison.

"Oh, I'm Lucifer. Nice to meet you, by the way, do you guys know where I am? it's a little urgent, I want to go back to my vill-" Lucifer stopped mid-sentence. He remembered what happened the other night, the villagers were screaming at the top of their lungs for him to be killed. How could he go back to such a place where he was not wanted? But nonetheless, he had to go to confirm that his parents were alright.

The young kobolds looked at each other and ended up bursting into laughter. Addison asked while cracking up., "Are you talking about the only village in this forest? That village might be in ashes by now. kekeke"

"What?" Lucifer thought he heard wrong, so he asked again " What are you talking about?"

This time Alison answered, "Ahem! I'm sorry for our disgraceful behaviour, but I'm afraid what my second brother said is true, 1 week ago the village was indeed burning and mig-" but he was cut off mid-sentence.

"Wait!..you are saying it has been 1 week since the village was burning? t-then I was unconscious for a week?" anxiety visible on his face.

"It seems so" Alison answered carefully.

"N-no! I have to go, I have to..." Lucifer couldn't think of what to do in this sudden situation. He had to go, but where? He didn't even know where he was, hell! even if he knew, how would he have been able to go? he was a useless blind after all. With every beat of his heart, his chest ached, and tears burnt deep down in his throat. It felt like his world was crashing down right now, his tears had long dried up, and he couldn't feel anything now, what sin did he commit to suffer like this?

He fell on his knees," just why?" he questioned.

"Brother Alison...I believe our good-for-nothing uncle Ubel said that this human was strong. But he seems weaker than the usual humans though. What's more? he is blind!" Addison commented with his hands crossed around his chest.

"Shhh! brother Addison, you must not say in front of him, he will hear us" whispered Arion fiddling with his fingers as if embarrassed.

"So what if he listens? won't he be just a burden to us whatsoever?" Addison questioned back.

"No! that's true but..." Arion shook his head.

"Both of you keep quiet! even if this human is useless, he is a guest of Uncle Ubel, and I believe in him. We must not disrespect the Kobold Tribe Leader (Ubel)." Addison declared while looking in a direction with his eyes without moving his head.

" Alishon! my dear nephew..thank you for believing in mee...sniff sniff " Ubel sniffed as he said while wiping away the nonexistent tears from his eyes. He had just arrived and heard their conversation.

"Ohh, quit the acting uncle," Addison remarked.

Lucifer heard a voice he had long forgotten." Ubel?" He turned in the direction of the voice.

"Lucifer! Shorry for leaving you like this, but don't worry your parents....they are fine.." Ubel said with an unsure face while walking towards him with quick steps and helping him to get up even though he looked quite tired.

Lucifer got up with Ubel's help and asked back, " They are alright? y-you are not lying right?" He had a face full of anticipation as if he saw the last ray of hope.

"Yesh, they are alright but..." Ubel blurred the rest of his sentence as he avoided his gaze.

"But what? please finish what you were saying!" Lucifer shouted. Agitation and impatience were visible on his face.

There was a moment of silence.

It appeared, that Ubel was contemplating the right choice of words to say. The emotional turmoil continued as Ubel assured Lucifer that his parents were safe but hesitated before dropping a bombshell as he declared- "Lucifer, you are dead!"

"What?"

The abrupt revelation left Lucifer's face contorted with disbelief and apprehension.

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