***The Infernal Planes of Lust***
***Isabella***
It hadn't been more than thirty minutes for sure, but waiting outside the ballroom already felt like we had been here for hours. I fidgeted with my tail, uncertain of how to apologize to my mother. Had I overdone it? Would she cast me out for disobeying her?
I realized now that I had pulled off a stunt that had the potential of ending the family, even though that hadn't been my intention. Why hadn't I just run away with Amon? Khorne would have been mad, but there would have been nothing the Ashborns could have been blamed for.
My sisters told me tales about succubi screwing up their ploys. Such things had happened in the past. The Ashborns held together. Any demoness who could count herself among our numbers could be certain of more support than any other demon was likely to receive.
But Ashley suffered no fools.
Anyone who threatened the Ashborns found herself exiled. If lucky, just to a related sisterhood. If not, other planes of existence weren't out of the question. I wasn't even certain whether I would survive exile in a fellow sisterhood.
“Do you think that your mother has calmed down?” Kitia asked while she looked towards the hole in the wall that led back into the ballroom. “It has been silent for about ten minutes now.”
“Succubi also... stopped... shoving people back.” Shax huffed out his rarely shared thoughts.
“Aw...” Jada petted his head from her spot on his shoulder. “Feeling talkative today, baby?”
I forced my eyes away from the two of them. Seeing them like this made them look more like a parent with a toddler on his shoulder than a loving couple.
“I don't know,” I replied. “I have never experienced Mother doing something like this. I didn't think her to be the type to... do physical work of her own.” Ashley certainly preferred it when others did her work for her.
“Oh, Mother is quite powerful,” Claire reassured me. “Though, she doesn't like to get her hands dirty. The last time she got violent was when she purged the settlement around this castle.”
“There was a settlement here?” I frowned.
“Yeah. She had to. Such a shame. Nobody dared to set up shop anywhere close to us ever since. The nearest one is Irkos now, and that's hours of normal travel time for demons who can't fly. Ashley was in a bad mood because of that for decades,” Kasdeya confirmed flippantly.
“Yup!” Felicia sighed. “That's when I got assigned gate-watching duty. Since I was somewhat responsible. And now I am involved in this latest mess-up too, it's likely that I will stay at the gate for a few more centuries.” She looked at the floor and kicked a piece of the wall's debris with her foot, sending it skittering across the floor.
Danielle nodded. “But you have to see the bright side of things.”
Felicia frowned, not understanding where her elder sister was going with this. “Which is?”
“You will likely have a lot of company in the future!” Danielle exclaimed.
Felicia brightened at that. “That is very likely!”
I groaned.
Philomena rubbed my back, showing unexpected compassion toward my plight. “It will be fine. Not that you deserve any less for not impersonating me, but it will be fine. Your mother seemed nice. At least you have one. A mother that is. Unlike the rest of us.”
I actually wasn't sure whether she was trying to comfort me or twisting her thumb inside the open wound. Should I tell her that the simple reason was that I wasn't able to change my mass when I transformed?
Was she truly mad at me for not impersonating her while getting it on with Amon? The large war-demoness clearly had the hots for Amon. Which meant that her relationship with Uphir was just a way to vent her frustrations.
“Would you please stop that!” Uphir complained.
“I only want to know whether Amon is up to doing it with anyone or whether it's about my size,” Philomena explained, clearly not understanding why the male was upset.
Jebril shook her head. “You all are behaving like little demonlings. It was me who Isabella actually discouraged from approaching Amon. You have no right to complain, Philo, because you didn't have the courage to try your luck.”
I absent-mindedly shot the djinn a glare that shut her up. No matter how underhandedly I had acted in the past to discourage her from approaching my Amon, I was in the right. I had met Amon first, which meant that I had dibs on him.
But no matter that I had an egg to fry with some of them, sitting amongst Amon's bickering minions was at least somewhat comfortable. They were very much a family of their own, just like the Ashborns.
Something that was all too rare in the Infernum.
My straying thoughts were interrupted when Hellith stepped out of the hole in the wall. She looked around until she found and approached us.
Our elder sister's expression and bearing were somewhat stiff when she started talking, “Ashley has calmed down a little. She says that she is ready to see you.”
I gulped involuntarily.
Jada grabbed my shoulder and squeezed. “You can do it! I am sure it will be every bit as bad as you imagine.”
“That isn't helping!” I exclaimed and threw up my hands.
Hellith cleared her throat somewhat stiffly. “I meant all of you.”
“Me too!?” Jada pointed at herself. “I didn't do anything this time!”
Hellith pursed her lips. “I am sure that if we just dig deep enough, there will be some reason for punitive actions. In my experience, you are always the first to be involved in things like these.”
“Exactly!” Jada was outraged. “Only that you already interrogated me on my involvement! Without results, I have to remind!” Then her eyes narrowed as she thought of something. “Waaait. Is that why you randy bitches didn't let me in on your little secret? Because I would be the first one Ashley and Hellith would have under suspicion?”
Danielle, Claire, Kasdeya, and even Jada's own daughter, Felicia, just smiled.
“You totally did!” Jada pointed at us. “How could you keep something like this from me!? You even turned my own little darling against me!”
Felicia coughed. “They had a very convincing argument, Mom. A very stiff... carrot.”
Hellith rolled her eyes and turned to lead the way back into the ballroom, instead of listening any further.
We followed, but the stench almost prevented me from entering the room. I was forced to move forward nonetheless when the others pressed in after me from behind.
A scene of carnage greeted me.
Khorne's men lay slain everywhere. Some had simply been stabbed to death. Others had suffered complete evisceration. A professional tracker could have probably pieced together what exactly had happened. I could only tell what was obvious and that it was brutal.
Most of the corpses lay in a heap at the large entrance gate, making it look like they had tried to get out but failed. They must have decided to flee once it became obvious that they couldn't best a Demon Lord within her own home. Ashley wasn't a well-known warrior, but she could hold her own against anyone who wasn't a Demon Lord even outside the castle without her wards.
“Best mating present ever,” I whispered to myself as I mentally went over the list of Khorne's minions that I had in my head, making sure that she had gotten all of them.
Khorne's men had likely given Mother a workout, but not much more.
In a direct confrontation between Khorne and herself, all of her prowess would have been necessary to deal with Khorne. His men could have tipped the scales or even killed a large number of my sisters. Which was why Ashley had been so careful not to antagonize them.
I let out a sigh of relief when I found a tentacle-thingy amongst the corpses, which was likely the Átahsaia that had given us so much trouble.
Mother sat at her original seat at the table, wearing a contemplative expression as she watched the far wall. The left sleeve of her dress was torn and hung down to the side, revealing her naked shoulder.
The bloody soul dagger that she had taken from the assassin stood stabbed down to the hilt into the wooden table next to her. Amon's and my contract lay in front of her as if she had to read it one final time to assure herself of its existence.
Ashley herself looked tired but uninjured.
Though her hands looked like she had dipped them into someone's guts and rooted around inside. The front of her fine dress was also covered in gore and her chin was bloody.
Had she bitten through someone's jugular?
It certainly looked like it.
Ashley let out a troubled sigh, startling the group that Hellith had assembled in front of her. She looked down at the contract and then glared at us.
“I hope you have achieved what you tried to do,” she growled. “Because it almost cost us everything. Do you have any idea how hard it is on me to maintain the castle's wards? I can't spare the power to fight foolish battles during the storm season.”
“Which is the only reason why Khorne agreed to visit us at all,” Hellith added with quite a bit of mirth. “If he had stayed with his legions, we would have never gotten a chance to negotiate with him in person.”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “It doesn't change the fact that I wouldn't have wanted to play a breeding mare for someone who I didn't care for!”
Ashley hit the desk with her dainty little fist, rattling the table and making me jump. “Which is exactly why I tried to protect you! Not that it matters now that you simply got yourself knocked up by someone else. As if that had been any better!”
“It was!” I affirmed.
“If you had just trusted me, things would have been fine if you hadn't meddled! Do I deserve so little trust?” She waved a hand at the massacre all around us.
“I finally got Khorne to visit us in person, where he would be cut off from his numerous legions! Then I even employed an assassin to weaken his entourage! Although I apparently got a bad deal with that one. It still would have worked.” Ashley stabbed a pointing finger at the Átahsaia's corpse. “All so that Khorne would be distracted and softened up for the final betrayal!”
Hellith stepped forward and slammed a big stash of papers onto the table. “A contract that would assimilate him into the Ashborn family!”
I stared at the contract that was a quite bit larger than mine. Everyone was silent for a few heavy moments.
Jada raised her hand questioningly. “Which would have helped little Isabella how exactly? Wouldn't Khorne be essentially 'married' to all of us if you contracted him to the Ashborns as a whole?”
Ashley covered her face with both hands. “It would have helped because I managed to slip in a clause which would have required him to fuck his way through all of us before he was even allowed to touch you, Isabella.”
Hellith sniffed in disdain. “No matter how powerful he may be, trying to go through forty of us intent on sucking the last drop of life out of him?” She shook her head. “I think not. Khorne would have been dead by the time it got to be Jada's turn and Ashley would have done him in for sure. We would have left it to his minions to solve the succession problem on their own. Leaving us free and without blame. To the rest of Lust, he would have been just another foolish male who dipped his tail too deep into too much succubus.”
“Which leaves us with the current duel,” Ashley mumbled. “Another foolishness.”
Hellith took a brooch from her dress and placed it on the table. The artefact glowed, and a moment later, it projected a grainy image, showing the storm outside.
“How does it look, Ex'Zibril?” Hellith asked.
I straightened with interest. Teleportation and communication were supposedly impossible or at least impractical during the storm season. The storm's interferences were too much for most artefacts. It seemed like there were ways to circumvent this issue at least in part.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Though the quality of the image was seriously lacking.
There was a 'click', and Ex's voice came out with the background hiss of static. “I am following them, but they are moving around pretty fast. I am not sure who is winning. They seem to be evenly matched.”
“Can you interfere?” Ashley asked. Her voice came out muffled from beneath her hands.
There was another clicking sound and a hiss. “To end the battle sooner? Certainly. To influence it in a certain direction? No way. I am following their energy signatures and relying solely on my speed to avoid the storm. It's bad out here and my sight is restricted.”
Another click and the louder hissing made it seem for a moment like the device had lost connection.
Then Ex was back. “If I wanted to attack, I would have to come in hard and fast and I would have no way to distinguish who is who until I am right on top of them. They would likely also sense me coming without knowing whose side I am on. There is no telling how they would react. It would be a toss of the coin.”
Hellith massaged her forehead and looked at the floor. “Who do you believe will win?”
“As I said, there is no way to tell. Though, I am inclined to let the lad handle his own fate.” Again the clicking and the storm droned out Ex's voice.
“Keep monitoring them for as long as possible,” Ashley replied. “And end it if Khorne wins. Return to Irkos before you exhaust yourself.”
“I will, mistress.”
Hellith switched off the device and returned the brooch to her dress.
I let out a breath that I hadn't realized I was holding. “Thank you, mother. I am sorry. For all that it is worth. I placed too little trust in you, but I trust Amon to win.”
Ashley shook her head. “I should have talked to you. Maybe it would have changed things.”
“I am not sure how,” Hellith complained somewhat petulantly. “Isabella is still young. She should have just listened to her elders and trusted us to keep her safe.”
I looked at the floor, not knowing what to say. Had I really made a mistake?
Looking up, I locked eyes with Hellith. “The only thing I know is that I do not regret the mating contract with Amon.”
Ashley groaned. “That stupid contract! It's the reason why those two idiots are fighting for you at all! What do you suspect will happen once your little Demon Lord wins?”
I blinked.
Hellith took the stash of papers that supposedly represented the Ashborn's contract in Ashley's name with Khorne. She tried to rip it, but red runes glowed, preventing the paper from being damaged.
“Wait!” Jada called out. “You already signed that stupid egg-yolk! I can't be 'married' to someone else when I am with Shax!”
Felicia glared at her mother. “As if that would stop you...”
Jada contemplated her daughter's words for a moment, then wiped a little bit of drool from the corner of her mouth. “Hehe, committing adultery might have its own kink. It would be a new one for me.”
My lips curled in distaste. “You mean that I have to share Amon with the whole damned family!? That wasn't the plan!”
Hellith slapped me thrice with the contract while she was screaming at me. “That's not the issue, you dolt! The issue is that we would have to kill your guy if he ever tried to touch you again!”
Kasdeya coughed. “Hah! I don't think so. He could probably take all of us lined up one after the other if we let him rest after he is done with Khorne.”
Ashley looked up and narrowed her eyes at her daughter. “What did you do?”
***The Infernal Planes of Lust***
***Amon***
Hours, or had it been days? I wasn't certain, but I knew that I was tired.
Khorne struck and I blocked.
I cast a spell and Khorne vanished as he escaped with his trademark ability. A never-ending sequence of action and reaction played out between the two of us. Neither was willing to quit.
Our duel had long since devolved into a pure battle of attrition. The question was who would be the first to mess up and fail to avoid a lethal blow of the other's soul weapon?
Worst of all, I was no longer sure that I could sustain this level of combat for much longer.
I had already taken more than one sip of Felicia's reinvigorating potion. Channelling magic became harder again, meaning that I was reaching my body's physical limitation. Just like with muscles there would be a point at which the mana channels throughout my body would simply refuse to obey the next command.
Once that happened, it would be over for me.
The infuriating thing was that Khorne wasn't more powerful than me, but he was a more experienced fighter!
“Tired?” the Demon Lord taunted and feinted to the left, then stabbed at my right with his sword.
I snarled, enraged that he had seen my weakness.
Don't lose your calm. One should never allow emotions to govern actions.
Huffing, I calmed myself and guided Myriad to hack at my opponent before I used the shaft to divert his sword once more. I had gotten really good at wielding Myriad with telekinesis alone, but it wasn't enough. Khorne was nimble enough to counter every attack I threw at him.
It was hard to admit, but I was certain that I had almost reached my limit. Even though I didn't believe Khorne to be much better off, he was better at conserving his power.
But even a newcomer could defeat a veteran if he did something unexpected. What would be unexpected enough to defeat Khorne?
I pondered the thought as we traded a series of spells. Khorne had long since learned to avoid magical exchanges and preferred to force me into physical combat situations.
Maybe therein lay the solution.
To meet Khorne on his own terms, but to turn these terms to my advantage.
My eyes flicked from side to side as I searched for the right spot. The storm had eased off somewhat and allowed for a little more range of sight.
Once I had made up my mind, I executed the plan without hesitation. I had to try as long as I was still capable of doing so.
I threw Myriad wide on my next attack, giving my opponent the opening he was searching for. Instead of dodging Khorne's next attack, I sped right into it, allowing Khorne's sword to stab deep into my side. It would be a combat-ending injury if Khorne managed to escape me now. But I had taken the blow on my own terms and was prepared for it.
The icy chill that I had already experienced numerous times through shallow cuts hit me full force this time.
My body kept moving nonetheless as I grabbed the blade and channelled my own mana into Khorne's weapon. Then I focused and traced out the intricate magical matrix that made up the enchantment. The fact that it was channelling a spell that reached for my soul well had to be ignored for now.
I head-butted Khorne as I rammed into him, sending both of us into the path of a hill-sized rock. We partly crashed through it and were repelled sideways. Meanwhile, I applied Danielle's unique art to the enchantment on Khorne's sword.
But in reverse.
Where there was harmony, I brought discord.
Where there was balance, I disturbed.
Where it wove neatly together, I unravelled.
The icy chill vanished as the blade's magic was dispelled. The metal cracked and crumbled into tiny shards beneath my fingers, leaving Khorne with nothing more than a handle.
There was a look of disbelief in his eyes, but that was what you got when you tried to kill an enchanter with an artefact.
I clawed my left hand into his face, digging middle and index claws into his eyesockets while the claws of my right hand dug into the soft part beneath his sternum. “Death Grasp!”
“Aeeii!” Khorne screamed and tried to buck me off, but my legs had closed around his hips and tail wrapped around one leg. The storm blew us along like tumbleweed.
I had him now exactly where I needed him to be. It was like my first fight with the lizard-thing all over again. All I had to do now was to not let go.
Myriad Deaths came in on an arching trajectory to finish the job, and I felt Khorne's contracts upon me.
Wait! Do you feel-
The other had suddenly qualms about killing our opponent, but I knew no such thing! The Infernum had taught us from the hatchery on that an enemy couldn't be left alive.
Myriad Deaths sliced through Khorne's neck while I ripped out his heart with Death Grasp. Then I felt it. The powerful feeling of souls rushing into my soul well like a tidal wave. The feeling was overwhelming. Just like when I had taken down the titan.
It was over almost too fast, but Khorne hadn't been someone who I could allow myself to toy with. I let the body fall while I panted and the storm quickly swallowed it. It was of no matter. I had Khorne's head and his heart to prove that I had won!
I believe that was a grave mistake.
I chuckled, then laughed like mad, daring the storm to stop me now. It was the first time that the other had actually chickened out on something instead of me.
Some strange feeling of being watched gave me pause, but when I strained my senses it was just the storm and me.
Once the immediate euphoria of victory was over, tiredness settled in once more.
I oriented myself to follow the bond that I shared with Isabella back to the castle.
My fight with Khorne had taken us far away from safety, so I had to seek shelter once or twice. If it hadn't been for my bond with Isabella, I wouldn't have been sure of finding my way back.
But eventually, I touched on the castle's wall and followed it until I found the hole that Khorne and I had created. I was covered by one of Ashley's pink barriers, but it let me through as soon as I touched it. Just like the barrier that the succubus matriarch had used for the gate.
From there, it was a straight line back to the ballroom where I found my minions and the succubi sitting and dining as if nothing had happened.
Though, something was clearly amiss.
There were blood splatters everywhere and Khorne's men were gone!
“Amon!” Isabella jumped up from her seat ran at me. “You have been gone for twelve hours!” Then she rubbed herself all over my raw skin that had barely healed since I entered the castle.
It was agony, but a sweet one.
“What happened?” I dropped my trophies, figuring that I wouldn't need proof of my prowess with Khorne's men gone. The storm hadn't left much anyway. Despite my best efforts, Khorne's head had been reduced to a skull and the heart was a fleshy mass of sinew.
Ashley took a long sip from a cup of wine and stood up. “I used the chance to clean up my house.” She sighed and approached us. “And it appears that you indeed defeated Khorne. Which makes you the inheritor to all he owned... stupid men and their bets! Congratulations nonetheless. Many males are dreaming of what you have won.”
I took Isabella by the shoulders and gently forced her to back off. “Explanation, please?”
“It's not as bad as it seems, so don't freak out, but Khorne kinda made a contract with Ashley before the two of you fought. That's actually what they tried to announce to us before I rudely interrupted them.” She placed her palms together and looked like she didn't want to be the bringer of bad news. She looked towards Ashley, but her mother scowled at her as if to say that Isabella had made her own bed.
Isa looked at the floor instead of meeting my eyes. “You are now a part of the family, so all of the Ashborn succubi are now kind of married to you.”
I blinked.
“But you and I are mated!” Isabella quickly added. “Being mates is better because we are sworn by the Infernum's rules to love and protect each other, and to share to the best of our abilities! And since our contract came first, it partly supersedes the one you now have with the rest of the family.”
I blinked again.
“Say something!” Isabella brushed a few shards of ice from my shoulder.
Yeah, say something.
I should have listened? Damn! I was just too tired to deal with any of this!
Shaking my head, I addressed Isabella, “Great. And since you are somehow responsible for this mess, you can give me back the immortal soul of Artful Slaughter. All of this would have been so much easier if I would have had the memories of a dedicated warrior.” I held out a hand, palm up. She could hardly refuse me now.
Isabella looked at my empty palm, then at her belly. Then up into my eyes with a soulful expression. “I am so, so sorry. I would if I could, after everything that you have done, but it's already in use.”
“Of course.” I looked at Isa's belly, figuring what she meant. She had used the soul for our offspring. I let out a sigh and tried to ignore all the succubi in the room that were looking at me with hungering eyes.
At least I knew how to deal with one of those forty-one problems right away.
I found the two sitting at the table with the rest of my minions. “Jada, Shax, you have my official permission to cheat on me!”
“Traitor!” Shax groaned.
Jada only smiled widely and hugged her hubby's arm. “Don't worry, Shax, I wouldn't have cared about him anyway.”
I returned my attention to Isa. “And I need someone to dig some metal shards out of me. Khorne stabbed his stupid sword into my guts and it shattered.” I was honestly a little worried about what was going to happen once I experienced some bowel movements.
Ashley snapped her fingers. “Elbred, dear, come here and take a look at our husband.”
One of the succubi approached me with an eager expression on her face and a scalpel that had appeared in her hand. “Don't worry, Amon. We will have anything that doesn't belong inside a guy outside of your body right away! Liquids included. Kasdeya told us about your marvellous invention, so this process won't take long.”
I somehow had the feeling that she didn't want to deprive me just of the metal pieces inside my guts. “Haaa... right here?” I eyed the scalpel, then the not-so-clean environment.
“We could do it in private if that's more up your alley,” Elbred replied with a smile while her dress warped into a white hospital uniform.
Ashley flicked her daughter's forehead. “Stop messing with him and get it over with.”
Elbred pouted but stopped what had apparently been an act. She dematerialized the scalpel and changed her dress back to the green tube dress she had been wearing previously. Then she placed a pink-glowing hand on my side and I felt a warm feeling spread through my body.
Somehow her hand sunk inside of me and I felt her rooting around in there. It was a strange new experience that I didn't care to repeat if not for the numerous shards from Khorne's blade that were still stuck inside me.
When she pulled her hand out, she dropped a fistful of metal splinters onto the ground. She repeated the process four more times until she proclaimed me free of foreign objects.
Moving and bending my torso felt much less painful now as I tried to test my range of movement. “Thanks, I guess.”
“Anytime!” Elbred proclaimed.
Ashley shushed Elbred away and untangled Isabella by pulling her daughter at one horn away from me.
“Hey!” Isabella complained.
“You are going to stay put here while Amon and I go to my office to talk about business,” Ashley explained.
“He is my mate!” was Isabella's only retort.
“Yes, and we haven't gotten to truly talk about what that means,” Ashley got into her daugher's face while she spoke in a measured tone that cracked from time to time, threatening violence if Isabella wouldn't back off.
“He is my daughter's mate and my many other daughters' husband. Times thirty-nine! Oh, and let's not forget that he is now apparently my husband too. Have I forgotten something? Oh, yeah, as a mother, I only found out today that my daughter has a mate. And that she is about to lay an egg. Let me have a talk with the progenitor of my future grandchild. Who is incidentally also my husband, who I apparently don't know as well as I should! I can't stress that point enough. Let's not forget that he is suddenly also a part of the entire Ashborn family! I wonder how we got into that messed-up situation!? Not to mention that four more of my daughters have already formed nothing less than a harem around him! I think it's high time for me to have a talk with him! A long one. To make sure that he understands what kind of mess all of us have gotten into!”
Never in my entire life had I seen Isabella becoming that small, figuratively speaking, of course.
I had a feeling that before the day was over I would end up wishing Khorne back among the living. What kind of contract did the stupid bastard sign?