***The Infernal Planes of Lust***
***Isabella***
“ISABELLA!”
I flinched upon hearing the roar that carried my name through the entire castle. The sound seemed to reverberate through the ancient stone of the building, carrying my mother's wrath with it.
“Just how did she find out?” I hissed and looked up at the ceiling in search of some sign of a divination spell. Of course, there wasn't one. At least nothing that was obvious.
Claire, one of my sisters who came from a rare triple clutch of eggs, looked up from her book and sniffed. “Was that Ashley? She sounded pissed.” Then her eyes trailed towards me, conveying all the scorn an elder sister could convey. “Isa, what did you do? When mother is pissed she never stops with only those who deserve her wrath, so you better have a good reason to spoil our day.”
I shrank a little in on myself, wondering how everyone always seemed to know that I was up to something. It wasn’t that I believed that any of my forty sisters would do something to me, but there was something intimidating about a demon who had three millenia on me.
It was tough to be the youngest.
Before I could answer, another of the triplets joined the conversation. They were never far from each other and it simply happened that today they decided to spend their time in the castle’s living room.
“That was her ‘I will tear you a new one!’ voice.” Jada nodded and stopped gyrating her hips, although she didn’t let go of the groaning ‘boyfriend’ who she had brought home yesterday. Though, 'caught' may be the better term in her case.
The victim of her affection, a burly warrior-demon who was straddled between her thighs, a Dagon to be specific, tried to push her off but only succeeded in mashing her boobs against her chest which enticed her to start moving her hips again. That sufficed to shut him up.
She had him on his back squarely over the living room's dinner table, not caring that three of her sisters were in the same room. This castle was a succubus-den after all. Our family knew no shame when it came to sex.
I studied the poor sod who Jada rode like a master and gave him one more day before she broke him. Maybe even less if he didn’t get some rest soon. His mental resistance was so low that he was already a drooling mess. If he wasn't out of souls by tomorrow, his mind would turn to mush.
Simple-minded demons weren’t exactly the best choice when it came to lasting relationships. Yet, Jada who always professed her desire for a permanent mate kept bringing home men with little to no resistances to succubi. Probably her problem was that those were the only ones she could catch. The smart ones rarely came near castle P.o.P., not to mention that they didn’t dare to enter our humble abode. Which meant that it was no surprise that there wasn’t a single village in the castle’s vicinity.
Unsurprisingly, Jada’s ‘catches’ quickly expired under her attention. Or at the latest once one of my other sisters got a hold of them and mistook them for a quick snack.
Danielle, sister number three, put down the fertility figure which she was carving out of some old bone and turned her flaming eyes towards me. “What did you do, Isabella?”
As the youngest of the family, I squirmed under my elder sister’s attention. “Do? I did nothing.”
I avoided her eyes and cradled the melon-sized egg between my thighs.
“I wondered what she was up to, but it surely has something to do with that egg, doesn’t it?” Claire pointed at it. “Isa, you aren't the type to play around with demonlings. Don’t tell me that you intend to trick Demon Lord Khorne by giving him some servant’s random egg?”
“D- did not!” I raised the egg protectively. “I saw to it that the parents were as close to a succubus and a wraith like Khorne as possible. I found a siren who got herself knocked up by a wraith. She was happy enough to sell me one of the dozen eggs for a soul. He won’t realize that I tricked him!”
Sirens were almost like succubi. They also targeted men as their prey and used their womanly allure to reel them in. The only difference was that they tended to eat their victims.
“Except that succubus-eggs are white with a light golden sheen, and not blue with red splodges. And did you make sure that it was a wraith who knocked her up? Did you watch the act?” Claire pointed out without a hint of mercy in her tone.
Why would I want to watch without joining in? And how could I have watched something that supposedly had happened a few months ago when I came up with this plan last week? But Claire was probably right that the siren had lied to me, I understood that.
I still pulled down the corners of my mouth in defiance, unwilling to admit that she had a point. “That’s why I’ll paint it,” I pointed out.
“You do know that eggs need to breathe through their shells?” Jada spills a surprising bit of knowledge. “If it’s painted, the demonling inside it will die before it hatches. And I suppose that you will have to hand over the egg right after its supposed ‘birth’. Let's assume that our dear Lord won't notice the paint, it still would never hatch.”
I frown at my sister. “Why would you know such a thing?”
Jada shrugs, looking sad for a mere moment. “I lost one of mine to a little vanity.” But then she quickly cheers up and starts bouncing with more enthusiasm on top of her boytoy, the loss of her offspring already forgotten.
I still couldn’t understand it. Why would she paint one of her eggs?
“Add to that,” Danielle mused in her husky tone, “that sirens might lay enough eggs that they don’t care about their offspring, but they can’t control the demonling’s gender like we succubi do. What do you do when it hatches and it’s female? Khorne will have your head.”
“It’s still a fifty-fifty chance!” I defended my plan, not wanting to admit that my sisters were in the process of dissecting my half-baked idea. “I was still working on the details. It’s not like tricking a Demon Lord like Khorne would be easy. Maybe I could use a divining spell to determine the gender beforehand.”
At that moment, Ashley stormed into the room, her eyes blazing red with anger. “Isabella! What did I hear about you purchasing a siren-egg? I hope you aren’t up to something stupid, or by the Infernum, I will see to it that the stupid Demon Lord takes you and not just your egg!”
How did she even learn about the egg? Ever since I was a little demonling it seemed like Ashley knew about everything that happened in her castle.
I gulped and decided that the proper reaction was to smile and to deny everything. “Of course not. Why would you think that buying an egg would be a part of some plan?”
Ashley's eyes narrowed as she studied the egg on my lap. “Then what do you need it for?”
“I-” I licked my lips, trying my best to come up with an explanation. Was there any use for an egg, other than having rarely wanted offspring? I could claim that I wanted to open a hatchery business, but Ashley wouldn't believe that in a million years.
My sisters were waiting patiently for my answer while I was sweating beneath mother’s gaze. They would never rat me out to the matriarch. That was the advantage of sisterhood in a succubus family. But neither would they help me with something that had the potential to end their peace.
Let's see, eggs were essentially useless for most demons aside from selling them to a hatchery... or...
“-heard that they taste good.” I cringed at my own words, but there was no helping it.
There was no way to tell what Mom would do if I came to her with only the idea of a plan. No doubt that she would help with something that had a decent chance of success, but giving a false egg to Khorne could only end in misery at this stage. It would be proof that I was stupid, and stupidity was a reason to get punished.
My sisters almost did a double-take at that. Even Jada stopped rocking her hips for a moment.
“Stone-cold, Isa,” Claire commented. It actually sounded like she was praising me.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“What?” I tried to defend my claim. “I heard that they eat them all the time over in Gluttony to cull their numbers. The ones from more powerful demons are a delicacy.”
Ashley placed a hand on her curvy hips and tapped the sole of her high-heel on the floor. Then she gestured with one hand. “Go on.”
I looked down at the egg, then at her. “Right here?”
“Yes.”
I swallowed, feeling suddenly a little clammy at the idea. “Ah, I was trying to save it for dinner. Maybe with some bread? And cooked, definitely cooked.”
Ashley's expression changed, and not for the better. “Am I supposed to believe that? Have you ever been to Gluttony? They eat them raw there, including demonlings. You have to get over yourself, Isabella. It's just one egg. So, did you tell the truth or are you planning something stupid after all?”
After I took a deep breath, I transformed my fingernails into sharp claws and broke the top of the egg, glad to find out that there was nothing inside aside from the egg white and the yolk.
Forgive me, little one. I truly intended to pretend that I love you like only a mother would while handing you over. The scene of a sniffling succubus being separated from her offspring would have been epic. Legions would have gone to war upon seeing my distraught face.
I smiled and raised the egg, then drank in front of my mother and sisters.
At last, Ashley nodded and left the room, her heels clicking ominously on the stone floor.
Once she was gone, I lowered the egg and took a deep breath.
Danielle didn’t immediately return to carving her figurine and instead studied me intensely. “Are you alright? You are somewhat pale.”
“Oh, dear!” Jada clapped her hands together, and patted her boyfriend on his muscular chest, apparently unaware that he had expired sometime between Ashley’s arrival and departure. “Do you want a short ride to recharge? I think there is still some juice left in him.”
I looked down at the egg which was supposed to become a new demon, well, if I had performed the soul-giving ritual, and then my eyes wandered to the corpse between Jada’s legs. And I wondered whether the proud age of eighty-something years was really enough to expose a sheltered succubus-princess like myself to necrophilia.
It shouldn’t have been a problem, given that I was a demon, but I had always been a little different.
My body decided that it was one thing too much and I burped as something came up my throat, then leaned forward and regurgitated the contents of my belly into the half-empty egg with enough pressure to spray some of the stuff back into my face.
Which only engendered more projectile vomiting.
That done, and after dry heaving a few times, I sat back up and found Claire rubbing my back while looking over my shoulder. “Poor Isa. You know, the yolk is still fine. I wonder what Infernal Beast we might spawn if we glue the egg closed and gave it a soul? I doubt anyone ever modified the ritual by barfing into the egg. Khorne might be pleased with the outcome since it would be your creation – in a sense.”
“Baby? Baby? Are you alright?” Jada was more concerned with her toy than with me. She petted her boyfriend’s cheek and lifted his arm which slapped lifelessly back onto the table once she let go.
She was so bad at holding back. Even in a sexual feeding delirium I at least managed to notice when they turned cold.
As the better sister, Danielle ignored the scene which had already repeated itself countless times within these halls. “Claire, don’t be mean to our poor Isa. She is bringing a great sacrifice for all of us. The least we can do is not to rub in her many failings as a succubus.”
I looked up and glared at my sisters as I felt the spark of determination and rebellion slowly growing within me. That was it! I would prove to them that I could solve things like a true succubus! By twisting the hearts of men and by fucking the brains out of some sorry… ahem… very lucky bastard!
I would find an acceptable solution to my situation and turn this around no matter what. And if the Planes of Lust had to disappear in an ocean of blood and war for Khorne to die, so be it!
***Mortal Plane***
***Imp***
For some reason, I felt a cold shiver run down my spine. I lowered the tome and studied the library, wondering where the threat could be coming from in a peaceful place like this. My instincts told me that something was up, and they were rarely wrong. Yet, there was no danger to be seen.
Aside from the two humans who were humping each other in the library’s upper floor, believing that I wouldn't notice.
After a minute without anything happening, I allowed myself to relax and leaned back in my seat.
Two months of peaceful service as a librarian at the Kadeshian Academy of Magical Studies and I was still as easily riled up as back in the Infernum.
To think that you would end up as a simple servant…
I ignored the other’s snarky remark, assured that my course of action had to be the right one. Playing the academy’s librarian in exchange for a high-quality monster soul wasn’t the worst deal. It wasn’t the quickest way to earn souls, but I got to settle down and familiarize myself with my abilities.
The humans surely were hypocrites. Too fine to sell their own souls, but intelligent ‘monsters’ were perfectly fine as payment. It took some negotiating and verification with the mortals, but it turned out that this world’s monsters were intelligent enough to house souls. Which meant that it was all the same to me.
The contract gave them some security that I wouldn’t go on a rampage while I got the time necessary for my inevitable return to the Infernum. In preparation for that day, I was also spreading my contracts throughout this world, hoping that others would offer me profitable deals. Blessed be the postal offices. It was so easy to copy summoning circles on paper and to send them to anyone who might be in need of a demon.
Thanks to the library and to having the time to sort out my memories, I managed to master quite a few spells because of this body’s superb affinity with magic. A trademark fireball and some everyday convenience spells were the first ones that I added to my repertoire. There was nothing to say against a little telekinesis and a general shielding spell.
The only problem I had were the items that I got from Amon, whose name I decided to take on when I interacted with the mortals. I knew that it was probably stupid to take up his mantle, but there were too many possible boons along the road to forgo this chance. And I definitely wanted to reclaim the spear at some point to complete the set.
The passive protection against the elements which was granted by the bracelet was self-explanatory, and I already tested it with the help of human mages.
Then there was the ring that automatically created an Infernal Shield when I was attacked. As soon as something approached me with dangerous speeds, the ring would take a part of my mana and cast a shield of fire with a weak force-field effect. It wasn’t a perfect protection, but it was enough to stop surprise attacks.
The ring of Arcane Sight also wasn’t hard to figure out. Eventually, I realized that by channelling mana into the artefact it would grant me a buff which allowed me to see mana concentrations. That was immensely useful against magical traps or people who hid themselves with magic.
These effects weren't anything that couldn't be achieved on your own, but Amon clearly intended them as a boost for me, as all those spells and powers would still require intensive training otherwise. I was determined to learn them on my own, as I simply didn't want to rely too heavily on items, but for now, it freed up my time for other things and gave me an incredible power boost in the meantime.
Alas, the amulet was a complete mystery to me. It was without a doubt a magical artefact, but no matter what I did, I didn’t manage to activate it and I tried a lot.
Which brought me back to the dagger. I had gotten better at wielding it, but only by utterly relying on the warrior souls’ memories which I looted from Amon’s tomb. I also found out that the damned noodle somehow reacted to my imagination.
It had the capability to move on its own, which was incredibly useful when trying to attack an opponent’s weak spot. The red ribbon could move around an opponent’s weapon or it could solidify to block. Unfortunately, that meant that it was also an incredibly dangerous weapon to the wielder.
After many hours of training, I had lost count of the number of fingers, hands, and tails which I unintentionally amputated – most of those my own. I would have to delve deeper into the experiences of the warrior souls if I truly intended to make full use of the dagger.
As of right now, I managed to swing the weapon without harming myself, but I had no doubt that in a serious fight not only my opponent’s pieces would litter the battlefield, but also my own.
I scowled when the two humans became loud enough to be heard by other visitors of the library. This level of noise could no longer be ignored and so I spread my wings to interrupt their lovemaking-time.
Then a thought came to my mind. It was the perfect opportunity to test my new Icicle spell. I only needed some time to aim, and whoever had his rear-end pointed towards me would have a cringe-worthy surprise!