“If you are faced with a mountain, you have several options. You can climb it and cross to the other side. You can go around it. You can dig under it. You can fly over it. You can blow it up. You can ignore it and pretend it’s not there. You can turn around and go back the way you came. Or you can stay on the mountain and make it your home.”

― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Three days of flying non-stop, three days of talking and learning all she could about the Nether Realm. Tabitha learned a lot from Zula, unfortunately, even though the succubus is a hundred years old. Zula has spent her entire life a prisoner inside her father’s palace. Zula did not know much about the Nether Realm, all the knowledge she has was taught to her by her mother. A very ancient succubus, one with great wisdom and knowledge.

Tabitha thought about Zula’s father, Eldest…the Demon Lord of Lust. For some reason, Tabitha thought this wrong. She did not know why, but she knew down to her very being that Eldest should not be the Demon Lord of Lust. In any case, from the way, Zula talks about her father. It sounded like Eldest would-be trouble in the not so distant future. Tabitha would deal with him if he should be a problem later. Two days before they had caught sight of the peaks of the Frost Back Mountains. Tabitha was amazed at how she did not tire at all, three days of flying and she did not need to rest. Hell, she could fight a horde of demons right now and still not break a sweat.

As soon as the pair reached the mountains, Tabitha felt the heat go down a bit. She felt the chill in the air and knew that it was the snow atop the peaks cooling the area. The heat of the Nether Realm which was over 200 degrees Celsius did not bother her. The chill in the air was barely noticeable.

“You know, this place is nice. Yeah, there are no trees or vegetation. Just rocks and barren ground, but I can see myself making a home here.”

Zula nodded at Tabitha’s words.

“My mother told me once other than the Badlands, demons made their homes here in the Frost Back Mountains. She said it was a lot better than the Badlands, lots of places to hide.”

Tabitha agreed, there were deep valleys and clearings as well as hundreds of hidden paths and caves. Yes, this is the perfect place to hide. If anyone does come after us, it would take them weeks perhaps months to find our hiding spot.

“Zula, where should we make camp?”

“I would like to find a cave, but the problem with that is we don’t want to pick a cave occupied by other demons.”

“How do we know if a cave is already occupied by other demons?”

Tabitha asked the obvious question.

“Usually, you can tell by the auras around or near the entrances of caves that have demons in them. But there are a lot of jerks in the Nether Realm and some demons like to ambush you if you enter their caves by hiding or erasing their auras.”

Tabitha did not like that, even though she was 15 feet in height. Tabitha did not want to go around picking fights, she would only fight if she had to. But acting as if you’re the biggest and toughest is a recipe for disaster. Sooner or later, someone more powerful would take her down. Tabitha was surprised to find out when she first met other demons that she was a giant. Never in her entire life as a human was, she even more powerful than anyone else. Both physically, and economically. Yet, when she faced those three male demons, it was a shock to see how small they were. It was then that she realized that they were of a normal human size, while she was the one who towered overall. For some reason, the Nether Realm decide that Tabitha would be a giant among demons.

“Well, we won’t get anything done if we don’t pick a cave. If there are auras around the entrances, we leave them alone. And if we choose one without an aura but still has someone living in it. Then we’ll deal with it.”

Tabitha said with more confidence than she felt.

“That sounds like a plan to me.”

Zula said agreeing, and so they proceeded to look for unoccupied caves. Even though the Frost Back Mountains are a big place, Zula and Tabitha found out that there is a lot of demons using caves as their homes. Zula told Tabitha that the colors she sees around people or things are magical or non-magical energies when she shifts her sight to the magical spectrum. They flew from one mountain to another looking for empty caves. But so far, they had no luck.

“I didn’t think there would be so many demons living in the Frost Back Mountains. This is crazy, I thought it would be easy finding a cave. Boy was I wrong.”

Zula sounded frustrated, Tabitha knew that Zula was afraid of being captured and taken back to her father. That is why Zula was sticking with her, making herself useful. Tabitha knew that Zula was staying with her for protection, and Tabitha was alright with it. She did plenty of the same thing back on earth after she ran away from the church orphanage. Staying in groups or the few boyfriends she had for protection from the church and criminals. Tabitha did not mind at all. Zula had given her plenty of information. Now, Tabitha felt a lot better for becoming a devil. In fact, she did not miss her human life that much. As human and female, she was vulnerable to the whims of the Holy Church of Romanto and the men in the church. Her father and mother were executed by the church, and all her relatives were already dead. But now, she is a powerful greater she-devil, and she was liking it.

“It’s only a matter of time before we find our very own cave. This is indeed a big place, after all, so we have time.”

Zula sighed and then nodded in agreement at Tabitha’s words.

“You’re right, I just want to get to a safe place and relax for a bit.”

“Trust me Zula, I understand how you feel. I was in a similar situation. Don’t worry, we’ll be okay.”

It was another 20 minutes of flying from mountain base to mountain base searching for any empty caves when Zula said.

“There! There’s no aura around the entrance of that cave.”

Zula pointed at a cave at the very base of one of the largest mountains in the Frost Back. The cave opening was situated in front of a clearing and the entrance was just big enough for Tabitha to walk through. They landed in the clearing a few yards away from the cave entrance. There may not be any auras around the mouth of the cave, but Tabitha was taking Zula’s words to heart. She would be cautious and make certain there was no one inside the cave.

Zula did not see or sense any auras. She sighed in relief and took two steps forward when Tabitha said.

“Wait.”

It was a whisper, but Zula’s demonic hearing picked up the warning.

“What is it? What’s the matter?”

She asked in her own whisper.

“There may not be an aura anywhere, but there is a presence deep within the cave.”

Tabitha’s eyes had shifted to the other sight spectrum, and that is when she saw it. The ghostly after image of a serpent-like demon. She could not get a good look at it, but the demon might just be as big as her. The image was opaque and there were splotches of blackness all over it. Tabitha could not tell if the demon was male or female, but she did get a bad vibe from the image.

“I think this cave is no good.”

Tabitha turned her head to face Zula.

“We better move on to—”

Something blurred passed Tabitha, wrapped around Zula, and dragged her into the cave. Tabitha reacted a second too late, by the time she grabbed for Zula the succubus was gone. Tabitha whirled around towards the mouth of the cave just in time to see Zula with a scaly serpent’s tail wrapped around her torso disappearing into the blackness of the cave. Tabitha did not think twice, she rushed into the cave after the only friend she has made in the Nether Realm.

………………………………..

Zula did not see a damn thing, the demon just came out of the cave, grabbed her, and dragged her back into the cave in a flash. She did not even know what had grabbed her, what she does know is whatever grabbed her. It is serpent-like and scaly because the tail end was wrapped tightly around her torso. Zula tried desperately to break free. She clawed and bit, but the scales were hard, and she could not penetrate them to reach the flesh. She was being dragged on the cave floors through tunnels. Taking so many twists and turns, Zula had no idea where she was. Even if she somehow managed to get free, she would not be able to find her way back out.

The demon was none too gentle, it banged and dragged Zula around on floors, walls, and even bumped her head on a few ceilings. Zula was disoriented from all the banging around, but she hit her head on an overhead rock that was protruding slightly from the ceiling. That knocked her out. When Zula came to, she found herself in a massive cavern with a lava pit 50 yards away from her. At the other end of the cavern, there was a large hole in the wall, but a hundred feet to the right was another large hole. But to the left a thousand or so feet away from the other large holes across from the lava pit was another large hole.

“Great, now I don’t know which tunnel I came out of,

Zula sighed and tried to move, it was then she discovered that her arms and legs were stuck to the cavern’s wall. She tried to use her strength to break free when that did not work. Zula tried magic. She was shocked to find out that her magic was nullified.

“What the hell?”

She tried to use her magic again with the same results.

“Why can’t I use magic?”

Zula looked down her body, and her eyes widen in surprise to discover that she was completely nude.

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“And what the hell happened to my clothes?”

“Oh darling, that would be the Marilith who took off your clothes and stuck you to the wall.”

Zula whipped her head to the right at the voice, next to her were two female minor demons, fiends by the look of them who were equally naked and stuck to the wall. One was completely red except for her hair. It was black and short. She had regular horns, bat-like wings, and a spade tail. But she was bigger than a regular minor demon, Zula judged her to be 5 feet and 2 inches in height. But she had a body to die for. The other she-demon was a regularly sized fiend, about 4 feet in height but she was green all over. Her horns, spade tail, and wings are as green as grass. But instead of two wings, the demoness had four wings.

Zula did not find this odd, there are plenty of humanoid demons in the Nether Realm with all kinds of appearances. When the green female demon spoke, Zula realized it was she who spoke to her in the first place.

“For some unknown reason, she’s paranoid. I think she went off the deep end some time ago.”

“Who are you guys? Did you get captured too?”

And then the words from the green demoness hit Zula, here red eyes popped wide open.

“A marilith! What the hell is a marilith doing here in the Frost Back Mountains? Isn’t she supposed to be leading armies and slaughtering demons on some faraway battlefield?”

The red demoness spoke next.

“Well my dare, my name is Talin and my little green friend is Balca. Like you, we ran a fowl of this marilith. To answer your other questions, we are not sure why she came to the Frost Back Mountains. But if I were to hazard a guess, I would say the marilith was once a big shot but got replaced by someone better. Or the master she served was defeated, and she is hiding from the victors.”

Talin shrugged and continued.

“Either way, she has been asking us a lot of questions.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Balca started to say, swinging her head from side to side in a playful motion. Zula was beginning to think that this green she-demon was even stranger than she looks.

“She kept on asking lots of questions. Where did you come from? Who sent you? Why are you here? Who’s your master? Did you come from the Courts? I mean she goes on and on with the questions. I swear, it gets annoying really quick. But since we’re stuck what can you do?”

Balca shrugged as if to say the situation is what it is. Zula was getting a bad feeling.

“What does the marilith do when you answer all her questions? I assume she doesn’t simply let you go right?”

“Your suspicions are correct.”

Talin confirmed.

“Once we have answered all her questions, she will simply kill us.”

“But we can’t die. We are demons.”

Zula protested.

“That would be true for most cases, but like we said the marilith is paranoid. Plus, she has the time and power to kill us permanently. Not to mention the lava pit over there.”

Balca motioned her head towards the lava pit and Zula had to admit that the green demoness had a point. All demons from lesser to kings are immortal and cannot die, but if you have the time, power, and put forth the effort. You could kill a demon forever never to return.

“We need to get out of here now.”

Zula declared. The two she-demons shook their heads.

“It’s no good.”

Said Talin and Balca added her agreement.

“No can-do sweetheart, the spell the marilith uses is too strong. We just don’t have the power or skills to escape.”

“Frankly my dear, to put it simply. We are all dead meat.”

Talin said with a resigned expression.

“Not if my friend finds us in time.”

Zula said and this little piece of information got the attention of the green demoness.

“And who might your friend be if you don’t mind me asking?”

“My apologies, you told me your names and I have been so rude as to not give you, my name. Allow me to return the courtesy. My name is Zula, and I came here with a greater she-devil named Tabitha.”

Balca cocked an eyebrow at hearing that, there was a look of satisfaction that Zula could not understand.

“Why would a greater she-devil hangout with a succubus? Devils live in palaces and fortresses, not roughing it out here in the hinterlands.”

“Tabitha is not your typical devil. She was not born in the Nether Realm.”

Zula said in a whisper, and Talin’s black eyes widen in shock. But Balca’s green eyes narrowed in calculation, Zula and Talin were looking at each other and did not see Balca’s expressions.

“Are you saying that this Tabitha is a new arrival and not a native-born devil?”

Talin demanded in disbelief, Zula nodded.

“I know what you are thinking, I thought the same. Even though she is only three days old, she is one of the most powerful devils I have ever come across.”

“How is this possible?”

Talin asked but did not expect an answer from the succubus, and she was not disappointed when Zula said.

“I don’t know, but it has happened. I came here with my friend, and I have no doubt that she will come for me.”

“Why no doubt?”

Balca asked curiously.

“Because she helped me out of a serious jam. She was new, scared, and didn’t understand the situation. Yet, she helped me anyway. I know Tabitha will come for me.”

Balca nodded.

“Well, we’re saved.”

Talin looked at her partner before saying.

“What do you mean we’re saved? She might be a she-devil, but do not forget she is a new arrival too.”

Balca blew out a breath, and smoke came out from her mouth. She shrugged saying.

“A devil is a devil, no matter if she is born or a new arrival.”

Talin gave Balca a look of disbelief.

“What do you mean a devil is a devil no matter if she’s born or a new arrival? We all know new arrivals don’t know what they can or cannot do. Even a newly arrived higher level demon will need more than three days to discover how powerful they are. Balca, you are not making sense right now.”

As Talin and Balca went back and forth on the merit on whether a never before newly arrived devil would be strong enough to take on a marilith. Zula was thinking about said marilith. Mariliths have humanoid female upper bodies with six arms. Their heads and torsos look almost human or be covered in reptilian scales. Their lower bodies are those of giant snakes, typically green or brown. Mariliths are the generals and strategists, they command the armies of their demon or devil masters. Even though they command armies, they will enter the battlefield in melee combat if given a chance. mariliths usually carry six swords or some form of melee weapon. Tabitha is strong but if she has to fight a marilith, Zula did not know if she could win. The marilith could be centuries or perhaps thousands of years old. Not only are the mariliths as large as a greater demon, but they are also considered to be at the Arch demon level. The only saving grace about the mariliths, they do not have wings which are rare for demons in the Nether Realm. However, the mariliths have an ability that compensates for the lack of wings.

Zula snapped her head to the middle tunnel. She had heard the sounds of scales slithering over the ground. Apparently, Talin and Balca heard the same thing because they stopped their discussion and looked in the same direction. The marilith melted out of the darkness of the tunnel, entering the cavern with serpent grace. Zula could see immediately that this marilith had dark brown scales. She was as big as Tabitha. Her hair was long and flaming red with eyes of serpent yellow. The serpent demoness had a beautiful human face, with strong cheekbones. The marilith wore no garments, just necklaces around her neck. Zula saw all of that, but what really caught her attention are all the leather straps holding her swords.

On the left and right sides of her hips, are four swords. Two are broadswords and two are scimitars, and the swords crisscrossed and strapped to her back looked like katanas. The leather straps crisscrossed around her chest covering her breast nicely. The marilith moved smoothly, not hurrying at all. When she was just a few steps away from Zula and the others, the snake woman said in a hissing voice.

“I have quessstionssss, I will asssk and you will anssswer. If you refussse to anssswer, I will hurt you.”

Zula felt a bit of fear creeping up inside her, but she said in a calm voice.

“Hey, no problem. We can talk about whatever you want. If you let me down, I will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.”

“You ssstay right where you are. You will anssswer my quessstionsss.”

The marilith drew one of her scimitars, placing the edge of the blade a few inches from Zula’s pretty face.

“You will cooperate, or you will feel pain.”

Zula nodded enthusiastically.

“Of course, I have no problem with that.”

Satisfied, the marilith withdrew the scimitar away from Zula’s face. But she still held the sword at the ready.

“Now, why have you come here?”

The marilith asked the first question, and Zula was quick to answer.

“I was looking for an empty cave to settle in. I did not mean to come to your cave, I will leave right away.”

“No.”

The marilith said with finality.

“You are not going anywhere. Who isss the greater ssshe-devil you were with?”

“We just met three days ago, we decided to travel together. You know, safety in numbers and all that.”

Zula choose her words carefully, it was clear to her that this marilith was not only paranoid. She was unhinged as well, a dangerous combination for an Archdemon.

“You’re lying, who sssent you?”

“No one sent me, I swear it.”

There was a flash of a blade, and the spray of black blood. Zula hissed more in shock than in pain. The marilith had just cut her left cheek with the scimitar. It was a shallow cut and had already healed, but Zula did not even see her move.

“That wasss a warning. Lie to me again and I will make the cut deeper and more painful.”

The marilith threatened, and Zula did not doubt her one bit.

“Why have you brought the ssshe-devil? Did you come here for me? Who do you ssserve? Isss the ssshe-devil your massster? Or do you both ssserve someone more powerful? Have you come here to end me?”

The marilith was asking so many questions at a rapid pace, Zula did not have a chance to answer. Finally, Zula just screamed out.

“No! We did not come here for you! We came here to hide! Nothing to do with you!”

The marilith went silent and gave Zula a very discomforting look. Zula had a feeling that she had just made a mistake. Did I say something I should not have? Then the marilith asked this question.

“Who isss after you?”

When Zula did not respond, she found the marilith’s scimitar underneath her chin pushing her head up so that red eyes met yellow ones.

“Who do you hide from? Ssspeak or sssuffer the consssequencesss.”

The marilith pushed the blade of her sword underneath Zula’s chin a bit harder. It caused the tip of the sword to break Zula’s alabaster skin allowing a small amount of blood to trickle down on to the metal.

“Alright already! It’s Eldest! He’s the one that’s after me! Okay!”

The pressure underneath her chin disappeared and the marilith slithered back a few feet. Zula could see that the snake woman had a look of both fear and fury on her lovely face.

“Eldessst! The Demon Lord of Lussst Eldessst! The Princcce of Carnal Desssiresss Eldesst!”

The marilith sounded more frightened than angry, and Zula’s bad feeling got even worse.

“Then if Eldessst is after you, he will find me assswell. I cannot allow that. You have to go now.”

“I agree, now if you would be so kind as to release me. And to do you a favor, I will take these two demonesses with me.”

Zula said it in a tone that suggests she would be happy to help the marilith out. Balca chimed in on that idea.

“Yeah, we can get out of your hair in a jiffy. We can see that you’re quite busy.”

“I concur, we’ll leave, and you can continue to do…whatever it is you do.”

Talin put in her own bid for freedom as well. All three demonesses wanted to get out of the cavern in one piece, but the marilith had other ideas. The snake demoness shook her head slowly, ominously, and said in a regrettable voice.

“No, that will not do. If I let you go and you get captured. They will forccce you to tell them where I am, I cannot allow that, I cannot be found, I am sssorry but you all mussst go.”

The marilith raised her scimitar preparing to strike.

“I promissse to make it asss quick and asss painlesss asss posssbile.”

And then she swung, aiming the scimitar at Zula’s head. But before the blade could bite, something blurred out of the tunnel entrance to the left and came streaking right at the marilith. A large red famine fist crashed into the left temple of the marilith, the blow sent the snake demoness flying 15 feet away from Zula and the others. Even though the marilith did not have wings, she was still nimble enough to flip in mid-air and land on the ground drawing all five of her other swords.

Zula blinked in surprise and found herself staring at Tabitha’s winged back. Standing between her and the others against the marilith.

“Zula, are you okay?”

Tabitha asked, never taking her eyes of the snake demoness. Who stared at her with anger and caution?

“Yeah, I’m fine. But be careful Tabitha, that’s a marilith. She can cast illusionary spells, and even though she does not have wings. She can use teleportation magic.”

“Thanks for the info. I’ll be careful.”

The marilith roared her defiance at this greater she-devil.

“None of you will leave thisss cavern alive!”

Then she attacked.