Lucifer's Legacy: Book 1 of the Heaven's Insurrection Saga Read online

  A thousand feet below the castle walls was an outer wall at the base of the mountain, and beyond that was what she thought must be the greatest city in the world: Dengrin. City building ordinances restricted the height of buildings to the elevation of the upper wall, so while there were dozens of a hundred-story skyscrapers, Alex could see clearly over the top of them all. From her tower she could see buildings large and small covering the valley, the hills, and beyond. The city sprawled as far as the horizon.

  While she was still in her fleece pajamas with a kitten pattern covering pants and shirt, she was not worried about being seen. There were seven towers taller than hers in the castle, but all of the upper balconies pointed out toward the city and no two could see each other. The balconies were small, solid stone outcroppings from expansive towers, and it was impossible to see into them from the land below. It was the perfect balance of privacy and freedom.

  Alex’s long brunette hair blew in the breeze as she absorbed it all. The view, the sun, and the air that smelled so fresh. They said she was tall by girl standards at five-foot six-inches but spending her days around the castle guards and her taller-than-average friends always made her feel like she was shorter than she was. Her father was the top-ranking military officer in Denoria. When he was summoned to join the Governing Circle—the council that presided over Denoria’s government—she travelled with him to the country’s capital.

  Due to her father’s high-level appointment, she had been living for two years in Dengrin Castle, the beating heart of the city that had grown up around it. To live in Dengrin had always been a dream of hers, but to live in the castle was an honor she never even dreamed of! Her father surprised her with the news on her twenty-first birthday and she squealed at the announcement like a thirteen-year-old at a music concert.

  Alex walked back inside and set about getting ready for the day. She normally would have been awake much earlier and be sitting in a graduate class in something related to Denorian history by this time in the morning, but she was on summer break and there were not many things she relished more than letting her normal routine slip to the wayside. Having showered and eaten a small breakfast—just enough to hold her a few hours to lunch—she headed for the elevator.

  The castle towers still had the circular staircases that they were built with, but a few decades before Alex came to live there, the council had replaced the deadly fall hazard that used to be the center of the towers with elevators. This modernized the towers and allowed architects to outfit the rooms of the with more modern amenities that utilized electricity, turning them into ideal living spaces.

  Once the elevator arrived at the ground floor she went for a leisurely stroll through the streets that wound through several smaller buildings before stopping at the wall overlooking the North Valley.

  The North Valley had not been heavily developed in the early days of Dengrin, and when modern construction techniques met eager entrepreneurs a little less than a hundred years ago, the majority of Denoria’s skyscrapers were built there. Since they were only allowed to be built to the height of the wall she was now standing on, it seemed like there was an invisible glass ceiling that covered the city. From her vantage point the tops of all the skyscrapers were flat with a bustle of activity below her sight line and nothing but blue sky above it. She looked down into the city with a sigh. She had a friend somewhere down there in the city that was supposed to be meeting with her, and it was not like him to be late.

  Meanwhile . . .

  “City of the Five Sisters! That’s what they used to call it!” Jesse Clark announced over the loudspeaker of his tour bus. “Back then Castle Dengrin was all of the city that there really was, and the surrounding hills were all farmland. The five sisters speak to the five hills that surround it. We will get to the watch towers that crested these hills a little later in the tour. The name was changed to the City of Dengrin after General Dengrin won the Second Chengarian War 500 years ago. Records that far back are a little sparse, but the oral legends that have been passed down say that in the decisive victory that won the war he was outnumbered three to one by the forces of Chengar. General Dengrin started the battle with only half his forces, then used a feigned retreat to make Chengar break ranks and pursue him into an ambush he had carefully laid out. The valley where this ambush took place was known as the Valley of the Dead for centuries afterward, and if you ever find yourselves visiting the city of Navin, we have tours there as well. We can even show you the location of this great battle!”

  Jesse pulled the bus to a stop and opened the doors. “We have arrived at the main gates of Castle Dengrin. A hundred years ago, give or take, this castle started to be officially labeled on maps as Castle Dengrin. This happened because that was the name most widely used in the general populace. The official name for the castle is the Citadel of Valor. When the Governing Circle proposed naming the city Dengrin, General Dengrin wanted to differentiate the castle from the rest of land around it, dedicating it to the men he lost in the war. We have a thirty-minute scheduled stop here so feel free to see the sights, but don’t wander too far off!”

  “Thanks for the ride Jesse!” Cliff Johnson yelled over the clamor of tour patrons as he got up out of his seat on the bus. He was dressed in jean pants and a red plaid button down shirt that was not tucked into his pants. It was obvious to Jesse that he was going for the ‘I want to look good, but I don’t want anyone to think I am trying’ look. “But I think you need to learn to drive more aggressively to stay on schedule.” Cliff looked back and forth impatiently as he waited for the elderly man who was sitting in front of him to make his way down the stairs.

  “The schedule I need to keep is apparently not as rigid as yours.” Jesse chided. “And who is doing who a favor here?” Jesse leaned back toward his exterior bus window and kicked his feet up on the dash of his driver’s cab, which was separated from the rest of the bus by a clear bulletproof plastic window and located to the left of the stairs that exited to the street. He had his own door that opened directly to the street on the left side of his cab. There were holes he could cover over in case of emergency that allowed him to talk to people directly outside the cab and he had a loudspeaker for addressing the whole bus. He took a granola bar out of his bag and began to eat his snack while he marked the time he would be closing the doors to move on to the next destination.

  “I definitely owe you one.” Cliff responded. “Don’t eat too many snacks now, we are still all meeting for lunch today!” Cliff yelled the last part over his shoulder as he finally was able to dash past the elderly man and up toward the gate. He was late to meet someone, but the smell of the tour patron behind him—who had not showered anytime recently and then decided to go on a physically demanding tour of Dengrin—was his more pressing concern.

  His six-foot one-inch height gave him a lengthy stride that carried him to the castle gate before the person with the impressive body odor behind him was even off the bus. The outer gate towered above him as did the rest of the outer wall, which seemed to glisten in the morning sun. He had heard Jesse say earlier on in the tour that this was the best-preserved castle in existence and he didn’t doubt it. It sat elegantly on one of the tallest mountains in the country and had been the capital of Denoria for well over 2,000 years. Despite many efforts by many countries, Dengrin had yet to be occupied by a hostile force in all of its storied history.

  A few hundred years, ago the Governing Circle had started to focus on restoration of the castle, and it had become a museum. A little less than a hundred years ago, they changed their focus from restoration to functionality, as they wanted to make the castle the functional heart of the government again. Now the castle had a full complement of maintenance personnel that lived on the grounds. This included stonemasons, architects, engineers, and a janitorial staff. Cliff had been going to trade school to learn to be a stonemason with hopes of one day caring for the Citadel of Valor himself.

  Cliff walked briskly and with purpose toward
the north wall. The first time he entered the castle he gawked at the towers and buildings and it inspired him to become a stonemason, but now he was more interested in the girl that was waiting for him up on the stonework than the stonework itself. He nearly sprinted up the stairs to the top of the wall. When he first glimpsed at her, he abruptly slowed down to a casual walk before she noticed him. Alexis Reminir, the love of his life—not that she had any idea, at least he didn’t think so.

  As he closed the distance to where she stood he forcibly slowed is breathing, hoping she hadn’t noticed he had been rushing to her side. “Good morning beautiful!” he said with a natural smile. He delivered the sentence smoothly even though he was fighting through the brief headache that came with talking instead taking the extra breath his body was screaming for.

  “Hey handsome!” She replied as she looked back toward the valley. “I love this valley; I don’t think I will ever get tired of looking at it.”

  Cliff pulled out his portable phone and leaned toward Alex for a picture. She leaned into him and they took a picture with the valley in the background. “I’ll send that to you later.” He said in a nonchalant manner. Instead of responding to him she just turned back to the valley again. He moved in a little closer and stared out over the valley with her. His brain was running a mile a minute. He had been best friends with Alex since she had moved next door to him when they were six years old. They had gone to every class together growing up, their families went on joint vacations, and sometimes they even shared holidays when her father was deployed or on unaccompanied tours for extended periods.

  When Alex moved to Dengrin, Cliff felt strangely released to start dating—something he had not done up to that point. However, it was on his very first date that he realized the reason why he had never dated anybody before: he had feelings for Alex! Shortly after, he transferred to finish the craftsmanship portion of his stonemason’s four-year college program in Dengrin. He had told Alex that this was a logical choice. After all, the stonemasons that worked on Castle Dengrin taught the university programs, and they were some of the best in the world! He shook his head as he thought it over—he knew that was not the real reason.

  His chest was tight, and he felt like he might vomit as his stomach churned. He was going to tell her how he felt this morning, he had to! Holding in his feelings any longer would make him burst . . . but how could he? What if she didn’t feel the same way and then could not look at him the same way? He could not live his life without her, and friendship was better than nothing!

  This was a perfect moment. They were staring out over one of the most romantic views in the world and there was no one else around! This was it! He turned his head away from the valley to look at her. She was so beautiful! Her hair blew in the breeze behind her and her eyes made the view in the valley seem boring! She was just wearing a pair of jeans and an extra-long embroidered shirt, but he could swear he had never seen a more beautiful woman. He opened his mouth to speak but his mouth was suddenly dry. A smell mixing Alex’s light perfume and whatever scented products she used in her hair tickled his nose. He tried to talk but he felt as if a frog was stuck in his throat.

  “So what are we doing today?” She said with a happy tone in her voice. She did not stop looking at the valley or even seem to notice Cliff looking at her.

  Her question poked Cliff’s mental bubble and he felt his courage collapse like a deflating balloon. “Oh . . . uh . . .” Cliff felt almost relieved to have the tension drain out of him. He could feel his stomach slowly returning to normal as he mentally dismissed the idea of saying anything. “Why do I always have to decide these things? What do you want to do?”

  “My dad is in meetings all day, there are some serious tensions in the Farasi Ocean and he is getting classified reports of a possible coup in Chengar. I was thinking of a trip to visit Grandma Lena to try and get my mind off of all of it.” Alex replied.

  Cliff was surprised that Alex had actually made a concrete suggestion—usually she put all the planning on him. His surprise faded to worry when the first half of what she had said sank in. “That’s heavy stuff to get your mind off of.” he said grimacing. “What are you doing getting info on classified reports?”

  “I was watching a movie with my dad last night in his quarters—he has been really stressed over this island chain you know. I wanted to cheer him up, so I planned a father/daughter movie night. Better than having him struggle with giving into Chengar or starting another war. You know how bloody the last few have been.” Alex looked visibly sad talking about it. “Anyway, he got a call mid movie. I was right next to him and the guy on the phone seemed so panicked! He was screaming, so it was hard for me to not overhear it.”

  “Wow. Last night I was busy with your father too.” Cliff said with a sly smile. Alex looked at him suspiciously waiting for him to explain the joke she knew was coming. “For a school project we have to do a stone crafting caricature of someone famous or that we admire. I figured I would do your dad and give it to him for his birthday. So basically, I spent last night carving your dad out of stone.”

  “I wish I got a picture of him last night to show you, his face did look like stone. He had to cut our movie short and head out to get in tune with the ongoing developments.” Alex seemed frustrated as she spoke. “So much for getting him to unwind.”

  Cliff stared at her for a moment. “I think you are the person we need to unwind today. Let’s head for Lena’s house and chat with her a while. I am supposed to meet Jesse and Davis for lunch, so we can do that after.”

  “Sounds like a plan!” Alex said forcing her eyes away from the valley. “Let’s get started with that unwinding before my head explodes!” She slapped Cliff on the shoulder as she walked past him toward the stairs.

  Cliff watched her walk away for a moment. His shoulder was tingling, not from the slap but from having her hand in contact with his shoulder for the briefest moment. It was almost euphoric. Lena’s house has incredible flower gardens, maybe I’ll have the courage to say something by the time we get there? he thought to himself. He smiled at the thought and then felt sick for a moment. I’m going to go insane if I don’t say something soon, I mean seriously Cliff? This was a perfect opportunity! After mentally kicking himself, he followed after her, walking briskly to catch up.

  Alex and Cliff walked outside the gates and toward the designated castle resident parking area. There was plenty of parking for the castle since no one was allowed to develop the land between the outer wall at the bottom of the mountain and the inner wall of the keep closer to the top. The only action this land saw besides parking was the occasional high-performance car competition or commercial shoot that utilized the spectacular views and notoriously winding mountain roads to sell cars and tickets. “Want to take the fun way down the mountain?” Alex said with a mischievous grin as they got to her car.

  “I don’t know.” Cliff replied with a smile. “It feels wrong to drive fast and dangerous in your car. You would think with all the clout your family has now that you could have bought a respectable vehicle.” Alex’s car was a small pink compact. She argued that she bought it for the high fuel efficiency and the ease she had parking it in tight spaces, but anyone that knew her at all knew that she bought it because it was the only pink car on the lot. Being a small car just made it cuter to her. “You’re just lucky Davis has a truck.” Cliff chided.

  “No, you and Davis are lucky that Davis has a truck or all of you would have to fit in here.” Alex quipped back defensively. “Besides, I don’t think Davis could fit in here even if he managed to get over the ‘assault on his manhood’ that looking at my baby conjures in him.”

  Cliff laughed as he buckled his seatbelt. Davis was a good friend he had made recently, but he seemed to fit in pretty well with the two of them. There was some conflict between Jesse and Davis that he did not fully understand, but he thought of the four of them as a pretty tight knit group. “So, the fun way?”

  “The fun way.�
�� Alex responded with a smile and a definitive nod.

  Cliff completely tuned out what she was saying as he stared obliviously at her smile. He was broken out of his trance as Alex jolted out of her parking spot and pealed out of the lot. Before them lay two roads with two arrows—one arrow said “Castle Dengrin outer gate” and the other said “Scenic route.” The scenic route was a one-way road that circled and zig-zagged down the mountain with perfect visibility of the road going down and no posted speed limit. “Oh God, please don’t let us die this time, I’m too young . . . and good looking!” Cliff yelled over the surprisingly loud roar of the engine.

  Alex laughed and slammed the accelerator to the floor as she came out of a tight turn. “God doesn’t let us live forever!” Alex yelled back as she fishtailed the car through another tight turn. “Now this is unwinding!” she yelled.

  Chapter 3

  In what seemed like moments to Alex, and an eternity to Cliff, they left the outer gate and found themselves back in the land of speed limits. They drove south to the base of the lowest of the five hills that surrounded Dengrin and then started up a small private drive. They were shortly met by a wall and gate that opened on its own as they approached. Grandma Lena they called her, even though she was not related to any of them. She was just so old and nice that the name fit.

  As one of the perks of being General Reminir’s daughter, Alex had been allowed to test drive an experimental hovercraft that was being built for the army and decided to take Cliff along. It was supposed to be able to hover up to 50 feet in the air. It shorted out halfway through Alex’s flight and she had a soft crash landing into one of the flower gardens on Lena’s property.