I spent several sleep cycles simply digging out my burrow, repeatedly waking, digging, and going to sleep. It had come along nicely, now at least four feet from floor to ceiling and extending farther under the tree. I continued growing, however, since my last meal and now stood roughly four and a half feet tall, meaning I still was forced to crawl if I wished to traverse my lair comfortably.

The changes didn’t end there, though. My skin had turned several shades deeper, and was now a dark red, almost black. My horns had similarly grown, becoming somewhat sharp and an inch or two longer.

It would serve nicely as a resting spot for me to sleep for some time, especially if I continued with my excavation efforts. The roots interwoven in the roof growing out of the tree also served to ensure that it would not collapse on me, so I felt it was unlikely I’d die in my sleep anytime soon.

That notion was soon challenged as, when I awoke, there seemed to be a thick root that decided to grow from roof to ground through my home. It had not blocked the entrance, thankfully, but it would make it harder than it already was to move around down here. Also, if other roots were to appear at unfortunate times or places, I could be trapped down here with no access to food for some time.

Still, if it had taken this long for this root to show up, I was hopeful it would not become much of a problem. Better to not let the roots start adding up, however, and so I approached the thing with the intent of pruning it from my dwelling.

Surprisingly, when I struck at it with my claw to begin chopping it away, it became very apparent that this was not, in fact, an ordinary root. Instead of the rough firmness of wood, my hand met a soft and slimy surface. Despite being so soft, what was apparently meat had a certain toughness to it, my attack leaving only shallow scratches on it’s surface.

What became even more of a concern was the fact that it, whatever it was, began pulling itself deeper underground. In alarm, I lashed out with my tail, extending the barb mid-stab and driving it into the soft flesh. It penetrated, but barely, and I did not have enough time to inject much of a dose before I was forced to retract my weapon so it wasn’t broken between the ground and the flesh.

The head of the creature appeared from the ceiling, revealing a circular mouth of spinning, triangular teeth on the end of the body I had touched. It had no eyes, nose, or any other facial features, only a wide maw with which to kill it’s prey.

Soon after appearing, it lunged for me. I attempted a dodge, but the creature’s teeth still cut deep into my shoulder as it’s head passed me. Blood flowed freely from the wound as I scrambled to put distance between me and it.

This was bad. Very, very bad. I couldn’t know for sure how long the demon was, but it had to be at least thirty feet, if how of it I saw while it was tunneling was any indication. It was simply too huge for my venom to have much effect unless I managed to somehow dump my entire venom gland into it’s bloodstream, which would surely lead to my death if the cut on my shoulder was anything to go by.

A blue glow surrounded me then, trailing my form like mist as I madly dashed away from my assailant. I had little time to consider what this meant as, glancing behind me, the worm had already adjusted itself to strike at me again. I leapt to the left, the worm swerving after me… in the wrong direction?

As I dove, I saw as the worm leaned right, thrashing it’s head around the air before quickly turning in my direction again as my limbs touched the ground. It had missed me again, but I knew it would catch me sooner or later. The blue glow increased in intensity, another variable that I had no control over.

I could do nothing about the glow anyway, so I ignored it for now. The more pressing issue was currently taking another lunge at me. This time when I went to dodge, it turned in the correct direction and took a sizable chunk out of my calf.

I was near the entrance now, a scant few feet away from salvation. Slowed by my injuries, I skittered towards safety as fast as I could, desperately wishing for just a few seconds before the worm struck again.

My plea went unanswered as the demon slammed into me, opening a semi-circular cut extending over most of my back. It threw me against a wall that I bounced off of to the ground. Shakily, I began again crawling towards the exit, knowing the worm would bite again soon.

My prediction was accurate, as I saw in my perephrial vision it’s head approaching me again to remove another chunk from me. But I was ready this time, and so I flexed my throat and sent towards it a spew of flame.

The creature recoiled in apparent shock from the heat. I doubt it would do much to truly wound it, but it bought me just the time I needed to make the final leg out of the hole. I was just about blinded from the light coming from the glow around me along with the red sky as I emerged, still fleeing from the deadly predator behind me.

Rubbing my eyes and turning back as I backed away, I saw no sign of the worm. It did not follow me into the open, I lived. I survived. I… I was alive!

I stumbled onto the ground, breathless. It was an incredibly close call, but now I was sa-

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

From the ground loops of black flesh burst out and surrounded me, entangling me within them with only my head exposed. The head of the demon rose out of the ground, dirt sloughing off it like water. It leaned in towards me, making a low grinding noise that I took as it’s laugh. It was mocking me. Mocking me! It had hundreds of pounds on me, caught me in it’s natural habitat, and still I nearly escaped, and even after all that it had the nerve to LAUGH at me!

The blue glow grew in brightness again as the monster leaned in closer. It… hadn’t seemed to have done anything for the demon during the scuffle. I had assumed the worm caused it somehow, but… if it had, why? Surely it must have, if it hadn’t reacted to it this entire time. Unless… unless it couldn’t see it.

I thought back to it’s miss. It had gone the completely wrong direction when I had jumped away. It only resumed chase when I had landed. Like it couldn’t see me so long as I was dodging. So it was blind? It didn’t have any eyes I could see, after all. I didn’t take it as a meaningful trait earlier, after all the spider-demon that had nearly eaten me after I hatched lacked eyes as well, but seemingly saw me easy enough.

So it saw through the ground, then? It would make sense. It wouldn’t be able to see while underground anyway, so it would need another sense to find it’s prey. A little late to figure that one out, though. There was nothing I could do now. The only reason I still lived was because it was toying with me, letting me stew in dread beneath it.

It seemed to have satisfied itself, though. It’s head was already right next to mine. I could smell it’s awful breath on my face, as it opened it’s mouth wider than I thought possible. So this was it then? Diced to bits in a worm demon’s mouth?

I resigned myself to death. I would not give this creature the pleasure of my useless resistance. It would only relish in my helplessness. As I began to descend into it’s maw, the blue light surrounding me flashed bright, blinding me.

I screwed my eyes shut. For a second I waited to feel it’s teeth rip apart my flesh. And then I waited another. When I still did not feel my death, I opened my eyes to see I was someplace else entirely. I sat huddled on a stone floor, runes surrounding me in a circle inscribed onto the stone. Beyond the circle, several creatures stood around me. The walls behind them, made out of marble, were covered in shelves. There were several tomes, clear tubes of colorful liquid, big jars of all colors, shapes and sizes.

The creatures themselves looked much more uniform than anything I had seen before. They looked even more similar to each other than I did with my hatch-mates. They shared some basic similarities with me, two arms, two legs, a head and a torso. Their facial features also looked roughly the same. They, however, lacked horns of any sort that I could see. They had a mop of fur on each of their heads, the color varying between them. They also had no visible tail. While their skin color also varied somewhat, none of them were red. Notably, I could sense deep in my being that these things were not demons. They numbered sixteen in total. Fourteen of which stood in the back, holding open notebooks and quills.

The last two stood in front of me, just outside of the circle. One had another patch of gray fur hanging from his chin, glasses over his eyes and dressed in black and purple robes. The other was dressed more similarly to the fourteen behind her, having a white uniform with a blue undershirt. She did not have the patch of fur on her chin or glasses that the other creature possessed. Instead her fur was a dull yellow, hanging from her head and reaching down to her shoulder blades. It looked younger than the gray one.

It was this one that scrunched up her face upon seeing me and turned to the other. “Why’s it so cut up? Did I mess something up with the summoning?” She asked in a language that was notably not the demon tongue, but I was somehow familiar with nonetheless.

”No, the execution of the spell had no large flaws, though you did expend slightly too much mana. Sometimes a summoned creature will have gained wounds on their home plane. Demons usually are not summoned like this, but they have been recorded to on occasion. It is theorized most wounded demons will die shortly after gaining grievous injuries, which would explain why we almost never summon them while they are hurt.” The man explained to the girl in the same language.

At this statement, most of the not-demons began scribbling in their notebooks. It occurred to me I had not known what a notebook was two minutes prior.

The younger one turned back to me, taking a deep breath. “Ahem, demon! I have summoned you from the pits of Hell in order to serve me. You will agree to a contract of servitude, or you will be sent back to your home plane. The contract is this;” She pulled out a scroll, unfurling the parchment and began reading off it’s contents.

“You will do as I command of you for as long as this contract remains valid. You will not purposefully bring harm to me or any others I do not give you permission to harm while this contract remains valid. You will not damage property I do not give you permission to damage while this contract remains valid. Finally, you will not purposefully act against my interests for as long as this contract remains valid. In return, you will receive enough food to sustain yourself while this contract remains valid, and you will gain a tithe of eighteen percent of my mana while this contract remains valid. If you accept, mark your signature in your own blood at the assigned space in this parchment.”

With that, she tossed the scroll into the circle with me. It lay on the ground in front of me, and I was able to confirm all she had just said was in fact on the contract. I glanced up and spotted a door on the far side of the room. Naturally, I jumped at it. And immediately slammed into a blue, transparent wall that had appeared seemingly out of thin air over the circle.

I stood up again and paced the edges, drawing my claws around to look for weaknesses. After circling my prison and returning to where I stood before, I quickly stabbed out my tail towards the younger of the two. It slid off the barrier as she flinched back slightly.

Unfortunate. I wasn’t entirely sure of the situation, but it would seem these creatures have brought me from where I was previously, I do believe they referred to it as Hell, to here. Now they want me to agree to serve them in return for food and something called mana.

What was mana? I searched the new information filling my head, and found it seemed to be some sort of fuel for spells. What were spells? Again, I found my answer. They were magical actions one could preform in order to make a magical effect.

It wasn’t as if I had any other options available to me, so, even as my pride positively seethed at the idea, I stalked over to the paper. From what I could tell, I would be able to survive if I were to accept this contract, for now at least. Silently raging, I brought my left claw to my finger and pricked it, drawing a dollop of blood.

With no other choice, I pressed the digit against the parchment.