Connor drew deep from the black pit that sat at the core of his body. Once, a golden sphere of energy as pure as the sun filled his core, but now it had been replaced by a tiny fragment of the Horned One’s own corrupt soul. Dark power, dense beyond the comprehension of mortal sorcerers, was his to command. That it had transformed him into something other than human was a small price to pay. With that power Connor could shatter castles, lay waste to whole villages. The question now was, could he dominate the demon blocking his path deeper into the pyramid?

Time to find out.

A river of black flames poured from Connor’s raised hands. The flames struck a deep red barrier and were pushed back.

In the sanguine light Connor got his first good look at the creature that opposed him. Curved tusks grew from a distended jaw filled with jagged teeth. Red eyes glowed in a porcine face. Massive legs covered in bristly hair ended in cloven hooves. Behind it bat wings obscured everything deeper in the pyramid and a lashing tail tipped with a mass of spiked bone twitched from side to side.

The demon roared and red flames pushed Connor’s dark fire further back.

He sent more power into his attack.

This would be so much easier if he could simply kill the guardian. Unfortunately, the demon’s life-force was inextricably bound to the pyramid. If Connor killed the guardian the pyramid would collapse, burying the secrets he hoped to collect.

No, he needed to bind the demon, force it to submit to his superior power. Connor conjured a pair of black, clawed hands and had them clutch the demon.

It snarled and shrugged massive shoulders. The constructs shattered into so many black sparks.

The demon threw its head back then forward. A torrent of red flames spewed at Connor.

He fell flat.

Heat and vileness seared his back.

Though he now possessed demonic soul force his body still retained some of its human frailties, and hellfire destroyed his flesh the way it did anything else it encountered.

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Connor didn’t know if he could win going blast for blast with the guardian. His eyes narrowed as he studied it. A crimson cord of power ran from its back deeper into the pyramid. That cord represented the link that bound the demon to the pyramid.

He rolled right. Another blast of hellfire narrowly missed turning Connor to ash.

The creature drew power from the pyramid, augmenting its already formidable strength. Worse, Connor couldn’t sever the link without destroying the very thing he sought to explore.

Connor hammered the demon with a blast of dark fire, forcing it back a pace. The warlock scrambled to his feet. If he couldn’t sever the connection maybe he could block it.

Before the demon regained its balance, Connor slammed a barrier into the cord, blocking the flow of power. Instantly the demon shrank by half. Its massive frame withered and it roared in pain. Not wanting to give it a moment to recover, Connor conjured black chains, binding the demon from neck to ankles. He poured almost all his power into the construct.

The guardian tried to shatter it.

Connor held his breath. If the chains broke he had nothing left to continue the fight.

Strain and struggle as he might, the demon couldn’t escape in its reduced form. Connor let out the breath he’d been holding. He’d won. For now at least.

He had to make sure the demon didn’t escape until he finished his search. He sent a stream of energy to maintain the rapidly deteriorating block and a second to maintain the chains. That left him with only a trickle to replenish his almost empty core.

He grimaced. If there were more guardians he’d be in bad shape to fight, though it didn’t really matter. If the binding failed the demon would finish him. Anything beyond that remained speculation and he’d deal with it when it became fact.

Connor waved his hand and the demon slammed into the left side of the tunnel. It let out a guttural snarl as Connor walked past.

The warlock paused. “We serve the same master. Fighting amongst ourselves benefits no one.”

The demon shook and after a moment Connor realized the monster was laughing. “Stupid human. Fighting, killing, consuming: it’s what we do. What we are. Demons have no allies. Only those more powerful that we serve to avoid being devoured and those weaker that we destroy to grow stronger. That is our essence. The pure meaning of being a demon.”

Connor nodded, absently clenching his fist and tightening the bindings around the demon, drawing a snarl of pain. What the guardian said was true and it explained why the princes of hell, like his master, sought mortal agents. Humans understood what it meant to have allies and how to work with others. Demons would never be more than slave soldiers, constantly seeking enough power to challenge their master and take his place.

Though he desired ever greater power and immortality, Connor had no interest in taking the Horned One’s place. No being in all existence had more enemies than a prince of hell. Better to stay in the mighty one’s shadow. Accumulate power by providing good service. If the time came that the Horned One fell from his throne, Connor would offer his services to whoever took the master’s place or, failing that, flee.

The ambitious sought mastery over all, but the wise sought survival above all.