He landed on the far bank, in the heart of the destruction. The fog had been completely torn down in this area, not even a trace of it left behind. All the docks were visible, many of the boats physically tied up and bobbing against the ends. Six boats were gone.
“What happened here?” he boomed, in his humanoid form now, looking around at the gathered mass of creatures. They stood with wide eyes, blinking, stupid.
“Sire.” A sniveling half-powered demon, no more than one of the creatures living in the Edges, hobbled up with a bowed back, its head low. “A vampire passed this way before…the disturbance.”
Lucifer huffed humorlessly. Disturbance was putting it mildly.
“A vampire? Do all this?” Lucifer scoffed. “Preposterous. What of the boats? Six are gone—where did they land?”
“I have that list here, Great Master.” Victoria, back in humanoid form, her dragon off to the side, unrolled a scroll and held it out to him. “Two boats are completely unaccounted for. The Boatmen can’t be found.”
Lucifer tapped one of the sect names, where the record indicated that three boats had landed and dropped off living cargo. “Vlad the vampire deals heavily with this sect, does he not? They visit him in the Edges.”
“Yes, sire.” The sniveling half-powered demon wrung its hands. “Six vampires crossed the river behind the group that created this commotion. There was a clear leader, though we aren’t sure…” Its voice trailed away within Lucifer’s severe gaze. “There was a clear leader. Vlad, certainly.”
It wasn’t convinced, clearly, but that was no matter. Who else could it be?
Lucifer lowered the scroll a little, staring down at the cowering demon without seeing him. “He snuck into my kingdom when it was vulnerable?”
“Yes, sire. So it would seem, sire.”
“Here are the Boatmen.” Victoria held out her hand to indicate them, walking in single file, led by a wrangler. Their backs were bowed and knees awkwardly bent, not used to time on land. They rarely left their boats. There was magic stopping them from doing just that.
“And you said two boats are unaccounted for?” Lucifer asked Victoria as the Boatmen drew near.
“Yes. Their living cargo and the Boatmen with them. Another landed…” Leaning over the scroll, she tapped on the sect name. A warlike sect, low in status. “The boat was found downstream, however. Empty.”
“The boat was intact?” He handed back the scroll.
“Yes, Great Master. The Boatman was gone, however. Lost.”
“Killed, you mean. That sect has no outside affiliations that I know of. They are not inclined to deal with outsiders.” He speared Victoria with a glare. “What have they said?”
“A lone vampire, Great Master,” she said. “I have someone asking questions. There was chaos, last I heard. The conspector was killed, his dragon released.”
“A vampire.” Lucifer put his hands on his hips. “A vampire did all this…” He swept his hand out, a trail of fire in its wake. “A vampire took the safeguards off the water, killed a Boatman, and killed a conspector out from under a dragon? A vampire.”
Victoria lowered her gaze. “Despite the illogic of it, those are the reports we have so far.”
A blast of frigid air thundered out from him, sending the lesser demons flying, landing where they may. Fire was quick to follow, coating his body.
“Boatman. Come here.” He pointed in front of him.
The wrangler ushered one of them forward.
“Hello, Great Master,” it said. “What can I tell you?”
They were a species of wraith, altered for his purposes. They had been magically connected, and what one knew, they all knew. It was the safest way to monitor the comings and goings of his kingdom. Given that those leaving and entering knew that, they would know there was no point in killing a Boatman.
A stranger was in their midst.
“Who tore down the fog?”
“I am sorry, I do not know.”
The perpetrator hadn’t done it from a boat, then. The Boatmen were only active when they were needed. It prolonged their shelf-life, as it were. They were gruesome to make; Lucifer hated doing it.
“Of the last six boats to leave, who was in the one that landed in the Warsol sect?”
“Walrus piloted that ship. He landed at the Warsol sect with Black Sheep and Sparkly Thongs.”
Lucifer shook his head, his brow furrowing. “Repeat the names again.”
“Walrus, Black Sheep, and Sparkly Thongs.”
“I don’t…” He looked at Victoria.
“Walrus is the vampire Darius,” she said. “He must know we would have that name. Once you give your name to a Boatman, you can give no other.”
Lucifer half thought he was losing his mind. “The Boatman allowed him to cross the first time—any time—using Walrus as his name?”
“Yes, sire. He traveled with Eggman at first. We believe that is the heir.”
Lucifer let his breath out slower. Her magic—the strength of her mighty magic—would be enough to addle any Boatman. Once the name was accepted, it was set. “Black Sheep and…Sparkly Thong?”