POV: Fire Imp, Dra

“You are a failure Dra. To think you’ll fail such a simple mission.” Ign, another fire imp, spat out as it traveled to the gateway back home. “I have done far more than you have weakling. If you were leading this campaign you’d probably have been eaten already.” I growl out as the mature imps that came with Ign joined and followed behind cowering. “Let us see what the lord thinks once it awakens. For now, I’ll return once I report your failure. We’ll see who the weakling is once I eat that shadow you are afraid of.” Ign mocks as I feel a pang of fear thinking how the lord will respond. ‘The lord isn't awake yet and as long as I manage to burn away every last dredge before then it won’t care.’ I try to comfort myself as Ign looks at the mature imps that come with it. “Where is La?” Ign questions as fire flows out of the imp. I look around and see that all the mature imps in the area are already here.

“There aren’t more mature imps here Ign. Maybe it has already returned home afraid.” I mock Ign as I climb a nearby dune to better see the area. My eye caught on a faraway dune larger than the rest of the layer and appeared to have shrunk and the area around it was higher than before. “Fe, any idea what happened over there?” I ask as fury fills me, imagining what happened to the La. “No, a hunting party went over there and mostly came back.” “So the shadow is over there?” “Probably but what it matters? One imp is nothing compared to what it was eating before.” Fe states as it scratches its head. I look over to Ign, “I hope you told your imps to follow my order of not leaving the heart of the army.” Ign squints at me. “You have no right to order my imps. They are not cowards or weaklings like you.” Ign huffs out as it joins me on the dune to look at what I am looking at. “Well, it appears then you’ve wasted more than I have. It’s only been eating the weakest imps so far but appears that you’ve fed it a mature imp. Make sure to put that in your report.” I laugh as my fury subsides a bit.

“It just means that shadow is over there right? Then I’ll be taking the glory of eating that shadow myself then.” Ign says as a pair of wings made of flame comes out of its back and flies over to the sunken dune. “Fe move the army in that direction, I’ll be making sure that Ign won’t get eaten,” I say as I jump off the dune and quickly chase after Ign.

POV: Demon

My mind slowed as I felt the new desire make a place in the core of what I am. I’ve eaten so many imps but none of them matched the large imp. It’s as if I finally got a missing piece that finally clicked in. Violence for the sake of violence, to tear apart those weaker than me and have it all be consumed by fiery rage. Burn them, BURN THEM ALL. ‘No flame brings light and light hurts. No, it’s a waste to tear them apart when their parts can be used against their fellow imps.’ My mind fought against the impish thoughts that filled it. Eventually, I managed to make peace by thinking of new ways to use imp parts to deal with the fire imp. ‘Break the bones into splinters to allow me to piece its skin and enter it. Grind the bones down and use it to snuff out those flames.’ My mind swirled as I started to grind some of the smaller imp's bones while I splintered the large imp's bones. The large imp's bones were a lot stronger than the small imp's and they seemed to regain some energy that appeared to be mixed with me. This energy fueled my desire for violence pushing me even further. Before I could find the source of this energy in the bones a ball of fire landed on the top of the dune where the pile of bones I was in.

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Another fire imp different from the one that burned me, starts yelling down at me through the sand of the dune before collecting flame into its hand. I quickly launch several splintered bones up at the imp pushing it off the dune and scattering the flames. As the flames cover the area around the imp I launch out from the top of the dune holding as much bone powder as I can hold and scatter it over the imp as I dive into the sand behind it. The fire imp’s flames are all snuffed out as it is coughing and pulling out the bones that were thrown into it. I quickly go under it and stab the back of its leg above the ankle with a bone of the large imp’s leg. The fire imp yells again but I quickly try to enter the inside of the imp through the bone only to feel a burning sensation. The inside of the fire imp is nearly as hot as its flames but lacks the light that makes it so much worse so instead of trying to eat the inside of it I pull out the leg bone and continue to stab its legs. It managed to create flames that forced me to flee under the sand as it went back into the sky. I launch two leg bones at the imp stabbing it in its midsection and through the chest.

It flatters before yelling again and forming another large ball of fire. It is too high up for me to cover in bone powder again so I hide in the pile of bones. The imp launches the ball of fire down and as it hits the ground the sand is scattered. The entire area of the massive dune is covered by fire and the sand was pushed out leaving stone and bones covered in flames. The bones keep me safe as the imp seems to just float in the air seemingly tried as the bones remain in its body. I still have some bone powder left so I push it through the gaps of bones snuffing out most of the flames. The fire imp slowly lowers itself too weak to hold itself in the sky anymore. Its legs are riddled with holes from me stabbing it but I suspect the bone in the ribcage is draining most of its strength so I move the bone pile under the imp.

Before I could grab and drag the fire imp down the sand from the direction of the group of imps started to melt and flow over the bones. The heat seeps into the bones hurting me and I finally notice the original fire imp jump at the edge of the bone pile. ‘I can’t eat this imp and deal with that one at the same time. I’m also out of bone powder and I don’t think it will be nearly as effective against that melted sand. Damn.’ I decide before fleeing the area in the opposite direction of the fire imp as the original fire imp doesn’t seem to give chase. It's a waste to leave behind all of those bones but I can’t risk getting caught by that imp without a way to deal with the melted sand. ‘But now the group of imps aren’t protected.’ I thought as I changed course toward the group of imps grabbing any bones I could find on the way.

I reach the heart of the group as it slowly walks over to the fire imps with a few rib bones of small imps. This will probably be my last meal for a while so I’m going to take enough to last me. At the center of the group, I see several large imps and none of them notice me as I slowly rise above the sand between them keeping the bones under the sand. I target the medium-sized imps in the group as I bring the bones above the sand. I stab one in the chest with several ribs pushing it down onto the sand. The group starts to scatter but I manage to stab 2 more when I see flames in the distance. I pull the 3 imps under the sand as I struggle over control of the bones inside of the imps. With their strength being used to push me out of their body they can’t stop me from dragging them away under the sand.

I continue to run until the flames are too distant to reach me as I take my time eating the 3 medium imps. I wasted some strength fighting against their will for control over their bodies but with a handful of broken bones, I was able to cut their limbs off leaving them only able to move their head as I ate their limbs and slowly ate their midsection leaving their heads for last. Their pain and sorrow fill me as I think of how to face the fire imps. As I tried to think of new ways to deal with them a circle of light formed around me under the sand pulling me away. The next thing I see is being trapped in a magic circle surrounded by several humans. One I do recognize through the memories of Rat, the noble of the Redwood castle. “Hello demon, I have summoned you here for some answers.” A human close to the circle says.