The wind blew over the ruined village, carrying a smell of ashes, wet earth and dried blood. Lucifer stood in the middle of this field of death, his blue eyes fixed on the creature standing before him.
Aeshma looked at him, her iridescent eyes shining with an amused glow. She approached, her bat wings folding against her back, and placed a hand on Lucifer's shoulder.
"I see in your eyes that you are wondering if you made the right choice," she said, her voice soft like a caress. "But the question is no longer whether you did right or wrong. The question is whether you are ready to assume what you have chosen."
Lucifer turned his head toward her. "I had no choice. You offered me a possibility, and I took it." He paused, his eyes hardening. "But I do not trust you."
Aeshma laughed, a crystalline sound that echoed in the silence. "You are intelligent, Lucifer. That is a good thing. Idiots do not live long in the world we are going to face."
