The demon’s eyes bulged weirdly as I announced that his banishment was not going to be a pleasant one.

“L-let’s not be so hasty!” He pleaded, but I was suffering from a bout of selective deafness and slowly tightened my grip on his throat, making whatever he was going to say next come out as a strangled squeak.

“Wait.” That voice did make me halt. It was Niiya. “Maybe he can help Mr. Yugal’s sister.” I sighed and even got a little misty eyed. She’s too good for this world.

“Things like him can’t be trusted.” I replied. “He’s just as likely to use her against us.” I was resolved to simply finish him off then but a smooth skinned hand touched my forearm. Saet had reached out. She was the last person I expected to stop me.

“There are ways of making a demon trustworthy.” She said, and the look on her face was positively wicked.

“I’m listening.” I said, a smile creeping onto my face as the demon’s eyes darted from Saet to me in alarm.

“Keep a hold on him and join me on the ground.” She instructed.

A few moments later we touched down on the dead moss bed. The quiet in the valley was deafening. You don’t miss the ambiance of bugs, birds, and beasts until they’re gone.

Saet began a rhythmic chant as she held her palm toward the ground, a beam of radiant white emitted from her hand. It was difficult to look at, but it resembled the blade of a white light saber. The tip of the beam scorched the dead flora and blackened the dirt beneath. She took up a rhythmic chant and began to burn a circle around us. She drew a precise ring of elaborate runes around that circle, then repeated the process three times, creating three perfect concentric rings of runes and solid lines. I switched my gaze to study Hamathael. Saet had filled me in on his name and title on the way down. The overfiend was staring hard at the circle, scrutinizing every detail as though searching for imperfections. He suddenly relaxed in my grip, and all hope left his expression.

“You may release him now and join us out here.” Saet said, seeming drained. “The circle is complete.”

I reluctantly complied. I’ll get into why maintaining touch is so important for my new evolution later. I blinked outside of the barrier, and felt a slight moment of drag as I crossed over the runes. I wouldn’t have noticed it had I not been paying close attention. I began to doubt the strength of the barrier.

“It is an imprisoning field with his name woven into it. He is at our mercy.” Saet answered my unspoken question. Could everyone read my mind?

“I know where this is going, filthy little bird.” Hamathael spat. “Name your contract and release me.”

Ohh right! Demons could be bound by contracts. So that was her angle. Still, demonic contracts were notoriously messy things that more often than not ended terribly for the non demon party.

“What do you desire of him?” Saet asked me. “Speak only to me and not the overfiend, and be as specific as possible. Words have very real power in this situation.”

I paused and closed my eyes, scouring my memories for every detail Yugal had told me about his sister. Her name was...

“There is a mountain giant girl named Ignea of Clan Borbas being held somewhere in the hells. She was captured by a Gorgothan calling himself The Warlord. I desire her safe return to this world, specifically to her brother Yugal in my territory in Gnollwood if possible.” I tried to keep my demands as simple as I spoke.

“Very well. Allow me to execute this contract on your behalf.” Such a competent lady, and still gorgeous even with that big third eye on her forehead. I realized that my revulsion for her from before was totally gone. Maybe that was part of my evolution?

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She turned from me and stared at the pouting overfiend, who had assumed a cross legged position at the center of the circle.

“Hamathael.” The word had a visible effect on the demon, and his back straightened. “In exchange for your freedom and uninhibited passage back to Cairn Carna, you shall find the individual of the mountain giant race named Ignea of Borbas. You shall liberate her from any peril, restore her body and mind to perfect working order, and deliver her whole and unharmed to the location of the individual called Yugal in the forest of Gnollwood. You shall use all of your power, intellect, and resources to execute this contract as expeditiously as possible. You shall never under any circumstance seek to twist the verbiage of this contract to your favor or conspire with others to intentionally fail to uphold these terms. You shall seek no retribution nor harm against the denizens of the mortal realm for the maximum allowable duration of one century. Should you fail to uphold these terms by no fault of your own, then you shall accept the punishment of failure. Should you willingly break this contract, then you shall accept the punishment of eternal confinement to The Pit.” Saet paused and took a breath. “Do you understand and accept these terms?”

I was so impressed that I had to remind myself to close my mouth. If I ever end up in demon jail, she’s definitely my one phone call. I looked over at Hamathael expecting him to be as impressed as me or maybe even pissed at the air tight contract but instead he was smiling ear to pointed ear.

“I, Hamathael, Overfiend of Cairn Carna request one small amendment to the contract. I can assure that it will please you.” He said solemnly, but seemed as though he was holding in a laugh.

Niiya, Saet, and I looked to each other in visible confusion. Had he not heard all of that stern and ominous stuff she said? We all held out our hands and made that face that says ‘AND?’.

“I will comply with all terms, and return the individual in question to this Fallen Dominion rather than the one named Yugal in Gnollwood. His aura will be much more convenient to locate.” That didn’t explain the sudden uptick in Hamathael’s mood but it certainly wasn’t a deal breaker.

I nodded to Saet.

“The amended term is accepted.” Saet prompted.

“I, Hamathael, Overfiend of Cairn Carna accept your contract and swear to uphold its terms.” He said, and then fell silent as though waiting for something.

A moment later, a disturbance on the ground by Hamathael’s foot drew my attention. A tiny clawed hand erupted from the dirt, followed by a bony dark skinned arm no bigger than a pencil. The rest of the little body followed, revealing a tiny imp that methodically shook the dirt off his tiny leathery wings and flapped them to fly up to Hamathael’s chest level. It was cute in an ugly pug sort of way.

Saet didn’t seem surprised or bothered by the sudden appearance so I simply took a step back and waited. The crow sized imp flapped over to Saet. She repeated the contract exactly the same as the first time with the amended line from Hamathael before extending her hand to the little demon. The imp pecked her index finger with a tiny claw, producing a single drop of blood. It then flew over to Hamathael who repeated the contract and held out his own finger.

Two drops of blood fell to the earth and the little imp let out a piercing shriek before diving straight back into the ground. He disappeared from sight and I was left to scratch my head.

“So was that like a little demon notary from demon city hall... city hell?” I joked out loud to myself.

The looks everyone threw my direction made me decide to shut up for awhile.

“The contract is sealed, and you are as impotent on this realm as a newborn bunny.” Saet said somewhat smugly. She followed her statement by summoning forth another beam of searing light and slashing a line through her pretty magic circle.

Hamathael visibly relaxed as the binding spell fell away and cleared his throat.

“And now to begin the arduous, nigh impossible task of finding a single lost soul in all the vast realms of the hells...” He snapped his fingers and a ring of pure blackness encircled by red flame appeared in the air perhaps twenty feet above us.

Before any of us could begin to decipher what was happening, two huge bare feet with smooth marble colored skin and dark grey toenails appeared as they descended from the portal. In less than three seconds, twenty vertical feet of naked female mountain giant was standing before us with slowly opening eyes.

“She was in my menagerie the whole time! That little Gorgo rat paid his debt to me with her. Contract complete! See you in a hundred years when I can come slaughter everyone you love!” He made some rude gestures and laughed as he vanished through another portal before I could respond to the departing threat. Might just have to visit the hells after all... I shook myself free of the childish fit of rage and turned my full attention to the beautiful spectacle before me.

I honestly could not believe my eyes. This was clearly Yugal’s sister! She looked so much like him it was uncanny. Sure she was shorter, and much prettier but the striking aquamarine eyes and blood red mane of thick hair were a dead match. Strangely my first thought was about Tabula. Hopefully she doesn’t feel like all her hard work breaking the Gorgothan was a waste.

“W-where am I?” Her voice was deep but still somehow feminine. She looked around her and finally noticed us below her line of sight.

“It’s kind of a long story.” I rubbed my head and started to speak up but Niiya jumped in front of me.

“Mister Yugal’s sister! You're naked!” She blurted before a cloud of ash burst from her hand and flew to cover Ignea’s exposed areas like censor bars from an old Girls Gone Wild commercial.

“Mister... Yugal..?” She ignored everything other than that name. “You know my brother!? Is he alright? Where is he!?” She was suddenly full of energy and edging closer to desperation.

“He’s a good friend of mine, and he’s thriving back at our base in the north.” I held up my hands and raised my voice to calm her.

The words had a visible impact, and she suddenly crumbled to her knees and looked up. Tears streamed down her cheeks like tiny waterfalls.

“I see the stars, and smell the air. I taste the distant sea and feel the mother stone beneath me. My prayers... Is it madness?”

“Nope, regular old freedom and a dead jungle.” I answered, though I was moved by her emotion.

A sudden thought nearly made me sick. I almost ruined this. If I had my way, Hamathael would have been tossed back to the Hells with nothing more than a little earthly spanking.

I owed Niiya and Saet SO fucking much for this, I doubted I could ever pay them back.