I sat upon a barren, desolate hill. The soil, red with blood and cracked with heat beneath me. I watched the clearing before me, keenly gazing on the innumerable eggs that lay there through my four red eyes. I was to give them a chance, however small, of surviving.

 I would sit and watch, my presence acting as enough of a deterrent to ensure nothing would kill the entire clutch for sport. Already, smaller predators picked off the eggs farthest from me, all manner of lesser demons grabbing what they could and running or eating the egg on the spot. I took no action against them, to do so would be a waste of time. Each hatchling wouldn’t even be worth the effort.

   My long, wicked claws scraped at the ground in annoyance. A larger predator drew near, its six legs scampering towards the eggs from tree to tree, shadow to shadow. Quietly, it drew near the brood, seeking to fill itself. As it drew closer, I was able to see how it’s skin stretched taught over its ribs, it’s long snout foaming at the mouth. 

   It got too close. I leaped off the ground, taking flight on my massive, leathery bat-like wings. In mere seconds I was above it, descending on it like a hawk would a mouse. My two appendages grabbed it, one seizing it by the neck, the other the venomous, scorpion-like tail.

   Now that I was right on top of it, I could make out it’s finer details. A frame similar to a coyote, it’s legs bent at asymmetrical angles. It’s tail flowed behind it, almost it’s entire body length long. A single horn protruded from it’s forehead, curved forward like a talon.

   It mattered little. The demon died with a single flick from my leg, snapping its neck with a sickening crunch. I leaned down, opening the gaping mouth on my chest to feed on the creature. I ripped it’s flesh from its bone, gorging myself on the kill. Soon, there was nothing left of it but scattered bones and bloodstains. 

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   I took off again, returning to my previous seat. Continuing to watch over my spawn, I sat there for several hours more. Finally, my sensitive ears picked up a faint crack, a tear appearing in the surface of the largest egg. The hatching would mark the end of my protection, and I would fly away as soon as I saw it was able to get out of it’s shell. 

   Another crisp crack followed soon after, and then another, before the egg began pulling apart slowly. A pop sounded out as the egg gave way, the small red form inside already climbing to it’s feet. It was hornless, hairless, with four appendages. Two for walking and running, the others for fine manipulation and clawing. Just about what every other freshly hatched demonling looked like. I stood from my crouch, stretching my legs and wings before taking a mighty leap into the sky. Effortlessly, I caught myself on an updraft, taking to the air and leaving my offspring to fend for themselves. The weakest and unluckiest among them would die before even making out of their eggs, and many more of their siblings would then follow. Some would survive, perhaps a few dozen out of the hundreds, possibly thousands of eggs present.

   It was simply the way of things. Hell was not kind, not even to it’s natives. It accepted only the strong, only the best. The weak would perish and the strong would grow to feed the stronger.

   Flying away, I began to search for my next meal. The coyote demon from earlier had been filling, but I had not eaten for weeks before that, and I would like to eat more before my next summoning.

   There, slithering through the grass below me, I spotted a fat snake-like demon. Diving down, I extended my claws towards my unsuspecting victim, intending to pierce it through the back of the skull. When I made contact, however, my claw going fully through its head, I was surprised to find that my claws became stuck in place. I had only a brief moment to understand what this meant before, bursting from the ground, came dozens of thick tentacles, each looking almost exactly the same as the tentacle I had dived on, all connected to a gaping maw. Each appendage secreted a strong adhesive that completely eliminated by chance of escape before I could even attempt it, my wings and legs being almost immediately bound to the much stronger demon.

   Desperately, I spit flames at the monstrosity, but it was of no use. It might as well have been a warm gust of air, for all the damage it did, and the much larger demon dragged me towards itself. It’s teeth began spinning, turning it’s already lethal mouth into a giant blender. Finally, I reached the thing’s giant maw, being thrown inside as the teeth cut away at my flesh and rent me into pieces.