Pyratheon

"Gentlemen, forgive me. I am Pyratheon, that is my true name, I am the one behind every deity that is not Him. I am Pan, Baal, the Earth Goddess and whatever form or distraction I could think of to get your kind to worship me."

- Pyratheon's introduction to Demurral and Finesterre

Pyratheon, also known as the Devil, Satan, and the Dark King of the Universe, is an evil creature who was once an  angel and the most favoured of God's creatures, he is now the antagonist of the first book of the Shadowmancer quartet.

Background
"Wickedness came to me easily and if it hadn't been for Riathamus, I would have suceeded!"

- Pyratheon's remniscence of his downfall

God, (named Riathamus in the novel) created Heaven and Earth, and then ordered His angels to worship Him and glorify everything. Things were good in Heaven until one of Riathamus' most beautiful angels decided to challenge Riathamus and take His power and throne. He convinced numerous other angels to follow him and converted many angels to his service, they became demons. This angel was then cursed by Riathamus and given the name "Pyratheon", the "Fire of God" by Riathamus.

He was then banished to Hell which was created for him specifically and his followers - the Dunamez, the Varrigal (the Knights of Hell) and the Glashan. These demonic races served Pyatheon in Hell, singling out followers on Earth and reporting back to their dark master about the desires of humanity and the fear they had of death. Pyratheon managed to convince numerous humans that other gods aside from God existed and this was perhaps his greatest evil against God, for in this he succeeded.

Modern times
Pyratheon gained a new follower in the 1700s by a man named Obadiah Demurral, who had been a devout priest but had then lost faith and sought to overthrow God, so he summoned up Pyratheon to help him in his mission. Pyratheon came out of the gate to  Hell with his Varrigal and an army of Glashan, who all fell down and worshipped him. Pyratheon startled both Demurral and Finesterre because they thought of the Devil as a scaly monster, but Pyratheon explained that God wouldn't let something hideous serve Him, and only something beautiful could be in Heaven. Pyratheon remnisced of his service in Heaven and how he fell, but then he said that now he was free of Hell he would do the entire thing again, and properly this time, with no interruption from God. He also said that soon God would be "nailed to the tree forever."

To take God's power, Pyratheon needed two Keruvim: statues of angels made of gold. Demurral had one, which he gave to his dark master, but the other Keruvim was human: a boy named Raphah, from Africa, and Pyratheon sent his Glashan in to pull Raphah out to him so he could use his power. Raphah escaped, with his friends Thomas and Kate, and Pyratheon was completely unfazed by his escape, saying he had plenty of contacts and plenty of powers to track them down.

Later on, the fight climaxed at a church, ironic because the myths say Satan cannot enter churches. A great battle commenced between the Glashan and the angel Raphael, who came in and met his brother Pyratheon. Both then argued about taking God's power, and Raphael said Pyratheon could do no such thing, but Pyratheon demanded Raphah give him the Keruvim, Raphah sad no, and so Pyratheon got angry and killed Raphah. Raphael then told Pyratheon that Raphah was the Keruvim in human form, Pyratheon got angry and used the single Keruvim, plunging the Earth into darkness and causing time to freeze, go ahead seventeen days, and then go back again. In Raphael's words, "Pyratheon has just meddled with time." Pyratheon gloated about overthrowing God, he had waited so long. Suddenly Kate began crying for Raphah, and Pyratheon remarked it was funny in his new world he could hear a girl crying first. Raphael ordered Pyratheon to "go and see his world" and they left the church and went out into thick darkness, and they could hear human wailing below. But then Raphael resurrected Raphah, and saved the day by revealing a faint Sun rising. Angered that  there was still hope for humanity, Pyratheon disappeared, taking Demurral with him, before Raphael could strike him with his sword.