A Couple Million or so Years Ago - Somewhere a little less Deep in the Abyss
With Bloodletter on my belt, I turned to the dark forests and began to make my way through them. I didn't really know where I was going, but I felt confident enough to walk along in my human form. At this point, I was wearing the simple studded leather armor that Syl had given me yesterday. Every now and then, I would turn to my demon form and run to cover more ground faster. Sometimes, I would walk in human form just so I could play music to myself. I was learning on making the mental music while in human form. It was multi-tasking with my head. Which it turned out that I was very good at.
Only a few demons approached me on my travels. I killed most, questioned some more, and eventually found out that there was a demonic city on this layer of the Abyss, and I was headed right for it. I gorged myself on each victim, just for the pleasure of it. My journeys and killings lasted about ten to fifteen days. I didn't really know, for it was difficult to tell the time of day through the thick foliage of the trees. I could have flown up above the canopy, but then I would have had to deal with the arboreal and aerial demons that most likely inhabited that part of the forest.
So, I headed for the city of 'Meyliski' which was said to be ruled by the Mad'lian Mafia. I didn't think too much of this fact until I reached the city. Ten miles in every direction from the city, the great trees had been reduced to mear stumps. It was a terrible site of over-logging. The lifelessness of the ground, and the murdered trees filled me with a pleasant joy. It was hard not to enjoy death, for the last few days I had been revelling in its fruits and gorging myself on its becomings.
A smoke drifted over the grounds of the deforested areas, and the skies had above had turned to a smoky gray and black. It was obvious that my journeys would lead to a capital of industry. As I walked through the small path that divided field of cut trees from field of cut trees, I glimsped shadow demon after shadow demon drifting amongst the black smog that enveloped the harvest-lands.
I was stopped, about a mile outside the dark walls of the citadel, by a band of shadow demons. Shadow demons aren't just wraith-like beings. They come in many forms, usually aerated versions of another type of demon, but as shadow/smoke. The band of three (who had humanoid shapes) stopped me and drew black, glistening weapons.
The middle wraith carried a large staff, that glowed with a deep purple. I changed instantly back to my demon form, and flared my wings in defense. The wraiths did not seem amused, and the first one raised his staff to me.
I stepped back, and while on my toes the staff let out a sharp blast of energy. It hit me and sent me sprawling back. But I had been taught; I used the energy of the blast to bounce back up on my feet and into the air. Syl had taught me how to fly, and use my flaming wings to an even better advantage.
The two shadow demons armed with swords flew up into the air. It didn't concern me that they could fly. The only thing that worried me was the extent of power in that staff of theirs. The demons came at me from both sides, and I dropped from the sky to avoid them
I came down hard on the wraith with the staff. The demon thrust said staff into my chest, and as I was ripping at its shadows with my claws, it let loose another blast of energy and tossed me over the stumps of trees. I landed on one of the stumps and once again bounced to my feet. My chest hurt though, and when I looked down I could see burn marks from the energy over my flames.
I growled, and as the two demons with swords were coming down upon me, I sprayed fire at them. The fire caused the air to light up, and the shadow demons almost instantly scattered. I was surprised, but after a few thoughts it made sense. Fire made light. Light was the opposite of shadow demons.
I recovered quickly and made my way back to the road. The shadow demon with the staff still stood on the road though and blocked my path when I came to cross. "Beware Demon." It warned me with angry eyes. I laughed at him. He was joking, right? This little punk ass shit of a shadow demon with his little magic stick wasn't going to stop me!
I instantly attacked him. I turned into my human form and used my mental powers to fire flame at this shadow demon too. This demon used his staff, and teleported from my flames, but still close enough to battle. Behind me, he fired a blast of ice at my back. Fire demons and Ice attacks do not go over well.
The blast broke my concentration and sent me crashing back into my demon form. The ice instantly paralyzed my wings, and sent strings of pain through my body. I howled in anger and pain and threw myself at him. I made sure this time that the damn demon couldn't use that fucking staff against me. I caught the staff in my jaws and tore it from his hands. The shadow demon instantly dispersed.
I settled down, and tucked the staff under one my stunned wings. Then, I began my walk to the city once more. The walls of the city were made of a completely black stone, and stood twenty feet hight at every point. Every 2,500 feet of wall there was a great tower, with threatening ballistas pointing from the portholes.
Great gates stood at the end of the path I had been on. On each side, the gates where encompassed by one of the great towers. I could see the defensive demons inside, manning the giant crossbows and eyeing me with great suspicion. They probably thought that I was some sort of spy or informant of another hostile city-state.
I stopped in front of the gates and turned to my human form. I held the shadow demon's staff in my hands and waited to be hailed. Eventually, a portcullis opened in one of the towers and a demon poked its moderately human head out.
"Who are you?" It called in a male voice.
"I am a Regal Jarilith, in search of a civilized home beyond the forests. Am I welcome here?" I looked up and called back.
The demon in the window receded, and for a few minutes there was nothing. I was getting annoyed and impatient. I started to look for places for me to climb the wall and get in without their permission. Just as I had given up on the demon in the window, the grey doors creaked, and began to move. They only opened wide enough for me to fit through, but hey-- I'm in!
The city looked dark and rough, as a city of demons should look. Two great, demonic guards stopped me, and asked my name. I gave them a fake one. Actually, I gave them Syl'pierre's. They wrote down the name I gave them and let me past.
I passed them without much thought of the encounter. The city before me was more of a rough commune of shanties and shacks. That part must've been the poorer side of the city, and it seemed to snake its way all around the city's outskirts, like a second wall of filth and poverty. It took a good walk to get to the nicer parts of the city, which were just flooding with other demons. So were the slums, but there were more shadow demons and slime demons than anything. Slime demons were like oozes, except they could take humanoid shapes. Think giant jello-monsters.
The inner city though, which had buildings rising over fifty feet in the air, gave home to a diverse range of demons. Each demon had an element, and each element fell into about seven different domains. The natural four, earth, wind, fire, and water, plus a few others such as sound, shadow, and electricity. Many of the demonic species that dwelled in this town seemed to be of the Earth, Shadow, or Fire elements. I fell into that fire category.
In the center of the city there was a bustling market place, that had a air-ship dock right next to it. The air-port stood atop a few different buildings that surrounded the marketplace. As I neared, I could see abyssal blimps landing and leaving the ports with haste.
I found my way through the crowds of demons and demons in human forms not so easily. I was tossed about quite and bit from the larger demons that didn't care if I was in their way. Eventually, I got to a hotal that had a open room. I bartered with the hotel manager to pay for my room, for I had no demonic money to pay normally with. The manager, with a surly looking human-form, and a balor-like demon form, took the finely crafted sword that I took from Syl, in exchange for a cheap room for two weeks. Those two weeks would be enough for me to get some more money and be able to pay for more nights.
I went to my room and settled down for the night. It had been kind of a rough journey, with a few battles along the way. I threw my human form down on the human-sized bed and relaxed. It had been the first time I slept on a good bed. It took me less than half-an-hour to fall asleep, and sleep for about four hours.
I awoke around seven at night. At which point I took a walk around the city, in search of a good meal. I found it only a mile from my hotel, in the form of a weak looking electricity demon. We fought for about a minute, but my demon form overpowered her's and I feasted on the female demon's blood in glee. Once more I was in abyssal bliss, and continued my killings through the night. I returned to my room covered in blood around midnight.
As I was retuning, I found a advertisement on the wall that told of a great tournament. Be a King! It advertised a great tournament, occurring on the first layer of Hell in just under two years. The registration deadline was in about six months, and the pay to enter wasn't that big. The pamphlet told of how the tournament had been created by the ruling lords of Hell, in collaboration with the Evil gods. It almost angered me to think that there were other evil gods. I remembered only slightly now of what I once was, but it gave me reason to rage over this matter. My pride got the best of me, and I vowed to go to that tournament and get that crown. I would have to battle my way to the layer, then battle my way through the tournament. I had a very good idea about what'd I be facing: Demon lords, ancients, devils much more intelligent than the avergae demon. But I was no average demon. I was a god.
The next morning, I campaigned around the city, mugging and robbing whoever I could. Eventually, the pennies here and there added up to just enough money to enter the tournament. Because the entry price wasn't much, I was able to gather enough money very quickly. Around sunset the day after that, I had accumulated enough money to get in. At the city hall, I signed up on a list to reserve, a spot in the tournament for me and gave my entry money to them.
Once that was done, I took another walk around the inner city. This time I was just looking around and learning of my environment, in case I ever needed to slip under the radar of the city administration. There was no police force in this city. Demons needed no police force, nor cared for one. Selfish as they were, demons only cared for themselves and couldn't care less for those who were murdered around them.
In the market, with the money I had gained through my exploits earlier that day and the day before, I purchased a shoulder bag that I could carry money and other belongings in. I also purchased a whetstone for Bloodletter, and the other Dagger that Syl had given me.
I returned home after my small shopping spree. I didn't expect it, but there were two demons waiting for me. They were two balor-like demons, dressed in tailored suits that changed and morphed to fit both human and demon form. They attacked me as soon as I set foot in my room.
One charged me with a sword, the other stood back with a heavy crossbow. In my human form, I drew Bloodletter and ducked beneath the greater demon. His size was his downfall, and my nimble human form could evade his attacks with mostly ease. The second demon was my downfall. As I ducked and rolled under the larger demon and popped to my feet, the second demon (which I had mostly forgotten about due to tunnel vision) shot me in the back and caused me to collapse.
They tied my hands behind my back (to the crossbow bolt in my back) and knocked me out. Later I found that they had also gagged and blindfolded me. I awoke tied down to a chair, with a dark cloth over my head and eyes. My mouth was stuffed with another fabric, and tied around my head so I couldn't spit it out. I tried to shift into my demon form, but a shock resonated from glowing wrist cuffs and hindered my transformation. It was almost scary how I couldn't go back to my natural form, which I liked to be in whilst in strange situations.
The bag was suddenly take off my head, and a bright light was shone into my eyes. I winced and shut them tight.
"Syl'pierre. The Regal Jarilith Immigrant." A deep, male voice sounded out. It came from behind the great light, and with its brightness I couldn't see past it. "You probably don't know who we are, but you will soon." He warned in a dangerous tone. I heard a whip crack to my left and the sound made me jump. Once more the shock of the wrist cuffs shot through my body. I growled at whatever was in front of me, and tried to kick my feet. They too were tied to the chair.
The whip suddenly struck my chest. I cried out into my gag as the whip left a deep gash through my shirt. I was wearing the loose white shirt that I was to wear under my leather armor. I noticed then that my armor had been removed. So had my shoulder bag and my other belongings.
"You've murdered three of my associates, came to the city without asking first, and entered the King's tournament without paying your dues to me." The voice growled, stepping in front of the light. His silhouette was that of a broad shouldered man, with great demonic wings coming from his back. His eyes glowed a deep red, with the power of a demon's. "Time to pay up."
The whip once more struck me on my chest, and then one to my right struck me on my thigh. I shouted twice, the second being the loudest as the right whip stung at my crotch. It sucked to be a human for that reason. Demons could tuck away their genitals if in battle, like horses could. But a human? No, it just shrank a bit and the human had to position himself wherever his movements wouldn't crush his testicles. The whip payed no mind to the positioning, and next aimed closer to my genitalia.
"You owe me three thousand gold by the end of the week, or else we'll make sure that you are punished severely." The demon chuckled, and motioned towards me. "You'll be tortured far worse than the punishments of the Hell-prisons could ever create." He laughed. Nimble fingers reached from behind me and undid my gag. I inhaled the female demon's scent, and couldn't help the purr that rolled from my chest. My head was tied to the chair though, so I couldn't turn to see her.
"Who are you?" I asked once I could. My voice was shaky, but I tried to stay confident. It didn't seem like this man was going to kill me yet.
"Me? Oh yes. I'm Fabian Mad'lia. Don Juan of the Mad'lian mafia." He said, walking up to me and cracking his knuckles. Ah. Now everything made sense... The shadow demons, the guards asking my name, the odd look on the face of the woman at ther city hall when I applied. It all made sense now.
I nodded and relaxed my head back against the chair. I watched him attatch a pair of brass knuckles to his hands. "Before I let you go...I want you to remember my name. And Remember that there are always dues. You pay your dues before you do anything here. This is My city. You better pay up!" He growled, raising his fists and hammering me with a neck-snapping right hook. My head bounced to the left, and my neck cracked, but didn't break. I adjusted my head back to face forward, and closed my eyes.
Everything now hurt, and I could feel the blood trickling down my face and onto my shoulders. A whip cracked to my left, and a fist followed up from that direction. My face snapped to the right, and I felt my jaw break. I groaned, but kept my eyes and mouth shut. Blood soon filled my mouth, and it began to be hard to breathe.
I opened my eyes and searched for the Don Juan. He was still standing in front of me. I spat my blood onto his pants, and enraged him more. He punched me three more times before tipping over my chair and ordering for me to be untied.
At this point, I couldn't see. My eyes had been bathed in my own blood. I could barely breathe either. My mouth, when closed, filled with blood very quickly.
Nimble hands once more returned to me, and undid my bonds. I fell from the chair only an inch, but the fall sent ricochettes of pain through my already beaten body. Her hands were smooth gentle, and worked over my wounds with ease. "You're lucky to be alive." She whispered in my ear. He voice was so soft and gentle, it made the pain that much less of an issue. "The Don usually kills those who don't pay him. He's being nice to you because you're from the wild, and just got here." She said, her hands leaving me.
"Fix him." The Don commanded. His voice was much farther away this time.
Her hands returned to me, but this time they carried a cool air about them, that numbed my pain and closed my wounds. I could feel them closing, which was awfully disgusting. Soon though, my eyes drained of my blood and my breathing eased. I rolled onto my back and looked up to my healer.
She was very busty, as a succubus should be. Her hair fell in golden blonde curls. She was wearing a tight red and black corset, a loose red overshirt, and some black slacks that led down to her black and tan slippers. I smiled at her, and she and her burning bright green eyes smiled back at me.
She put a hand on my shoulder and helped lift myself to a sitting position. My muscles ached with pain, but my wounds were healed and my jaw wasn't shattered. I nodded loopily to her in thanks.
My daze lead to a fault in my memory, and before I knew it, I found myself being thrown from a doorway and out onto a muddy cobblestone street. I groaned, and from my hands and feet I crawled to the sidewalk and the wall of a building. I used this to pull myself to my feet.
Thankfully, from my adventures only days ago, I knew the general area of where I was. I limped back to my hotel without my weapons, or my shoulder bag. This sucked. I missed my armor, and my dagger Bloodletter with a burning passion. I vowed to get them back in the morning. Until then, I crawled back to my room and went to bed to heal.
The next morning was an ache-filled one. Though the female demon (colloquially called a succubus, no matter what her actually species was) had healed me, I still felt like my bones had been broken and my muscles had been torn. The hotel room I was in had a lovely bathroom though, and for my first shower ever, it felt like heaven.
After my shower, I dressed in my old clothes and went on my way back to the Don's establishment. I hammered on the door that I had been thrown out from, and waited impatiently to be let in. The door was opened by the young succubus that had healed me during my first encounter with Don Juan.
She seemed awfully surprised to see me. "Syl'Pierre?" She asked, a look of shock and curiosity on her face. "You've got the money already?" She asked, standing in the doorway.
"No." I growled, stepping up and shoving her back. I had no bias between men and women, and just because one gender had a vagina didn't mean I wasn't going to be demon towards them. I forced my way into the first room and kept walking.
She seemed even more surprised as she was shoved down to the floor. She shouted something after me, but I had already kicked down the next door. I wanted Bloodletter back. I wanted Don Juan Fabian Madlia's head. The next room that I came to was a lounge type area, and a few enforcer demons were waiting in there for me. I turned into my demon form and battled them all. I killed two with my fire blasts, slit one's throat with my tail's blade, and eviscerated the last of the four with my claws.
I turned into my human form and searched the demon's bodies. Off them, I picked up a sword and a small dagger, along with about twenty gold pieces. That would pay for my hotel if I stayed in it any longer. By the time I had finished looting, the healing succubus had caught up with me.
"Stop!" She called, her eyes wide with fear. "Stop right there or the Don will kill you! You're no match for him." She pleaded, approaching me slowly. I raised my sword towards her and growled, "And you've no match for me. Stop right there and I won't kill you." She stopped, and froze in her place. I almost took pity on the woman. It seemed that everyone bossed her around, especially that Don Juan figure.
I turned away from her and fled up the staircase to the second floor, where I expected the Don to be staying. The staircase was bleak and the gray color of concrete. The second floor door was a rich and deep colored wood. I kicked the masterpiece down with sword raised.
I had kicked my way into a fancier lounge, where the broad shouldered demon named Don Juan sat and was enjoying a exotic cigar. He looked at me and growled instantly. "So that's who's causing all the noise down stairs..." He growled, snuffing out his cigar on the table and standing up. He drew my Bloodletter from his belt, along with a demonic scimitar. "You made the wrong decision to come back here, Jarilith." He growled, kicking the couch over and charging me. I dodged to the left, and sprinted around the Don. He roared with anger and whipped Bloodletter at my face. Bloodletter was not a throwing knife, and it's not-throwing-style weighting made if flop and hit the ground by my feet.
I smiled and dropped the dagger that I had picked up downstairs. I let Bloodletter slip into my hands as my demonic wings sprouted from my human back. They ripped through my shirt, and allowed me to fly across the room in a charge. The Don held up his scimitar and swung at me, but at the last moment I tucked my wings in and front flipped onto the Don. We went crashing to the ground, with my on top of him. I set Bloodletter at his throat, but before I could kill him, the Don had thrusted a second scimitar through my chest.
The attack as shocking, and the magic within the blade sent me flying across the room, with the blade stuck in my chest. The pain was immobolizing, and caused me to seize up. Dammit! I could only think as the Don stood and walked over to me. I used one of my wings to pull out the blade. Even after it had been removed from my chest, it took me a long time to recover. I was stunned at the power within the blades the Don wielded, and just like I had vowed to kill this guy, I promised my greedy heart that those scimitars would be mine.
The Don began to laugh as I struggled to my feet. The whole in my had already began to heal, but it still hurt like a bitch. I picked up the scimitar and Bloodletter and faced him. The Don laughed, and from his mouth he exhaled a giant burst of flame.
I laughed as the flames simply flicked off my skin and clothes. Anything atoned to me (meaning it carries with me no matter what form I am in, like my clothes and weapons) was fireproof, just like myself. Syl'pierre had taught me how to atone things almost instantly. The Don growled at my inflammability and tried to rake me with his claws. Syl had also taught me a few things with my human form, one of those was hand-to-hand combat.
I deflected the Don's rakes as well as I could, but the elder, stronger demon overpowered my human form and raked his claws down my face and chest. I felt my blood spurt out from my chest. It carried the odd feeling of how a balloon deflated.
At that point, I landed a punch and kicked the Don in the stomach. It sent him stumbling back, and it that time I jumped to my feet and drew Bloodletter. The mafia boss recovered and charged at me. I held out Bloodletter and dodged to the best of my human form's abilities.
The Don roared, and tackled me against the wall once more, sending a huge crack up and down the heavy stone. The impact dazed me, but even in my daze I could feel the Don's hot blood runnng down my arm. As he had tackled me I had lodged Bloodletter into his chest.
The Don staggered off of me, and I soon realized why it was called 'The Letter of Blood'. Though the blade had fallen out, the blood seemed to drain from the Don at amazing speeds. It spewed from his chest and all over the room like it was coming from his arteries, or a high-powered pressure seal. In under ten seconds, the Don's red-black blood had almost fully drained from his body and out onto the room before him (including all over me). His face paled, and the fires in his eyes suddenly went out.
Soon, he fell to his knees, then onto his stomach. The Don was dead. I had killed him. Sweet! I held Bloodletter in my hands, a gleeful grin across my face. This blade was the saviour of my life, and without it, I surely would be dead soon, even if I had still stabbed the dead boss in the chest. He could've taken it and continued on.
I heard a gasp from across the room and looked up. The healig succubus stood in the doorway, her face written with horror and surprise. She seemed just as shocked as I was to see the great Don of the Madlia family dead. I started to laugh. Her face was hilarious, and she looked to me once I began chuckling. The blood, the body, the fight- all the recent factors had begun to send me into one of my famous blood rages.
She walked forward as I stood. "You killed him." She whispered obviously. "H-how?" She then asked, looking to me like I was some great power. I smirked, and wiggled Bloodletter in my right hand. "This." I responded softly, walking to the Don and beginning to empty his pockets. I was surprised as how subdued In felt at this point. Usually I would have been lolling around in the Don's bubbling blood by now.
I found a gold watch, a rare cigar, and a loaded wallet. I also took the two scimitars from the Don's belt. One glowed a bloody red, and the other a swirling, black and red. Each had sickly edges, and heavy curves and weighted tips. Both were powerful, and both were deadly. I tucked them into my belt (with their sheathes) for safe keeping. I would research them later.
I stood up and began to search the room without thought or regard for the succubus. I'd get to fucking her eventually. I found a safe in the wall, which was surprisingly unlocked. This day was just going great! I emptied the safe, which carried a total of at least over 400 gold. My shoulder-bag was almost completely full by the time I was done.
Then, I turned to the lovely blonde healer. "Hello there." I purred, after finding my sheathe and tucking away Bloodletter. I had a new respect for the weapon.
"H-hello." She said back, still frozen in front of the Don's body. Being a demon, the physical form was starting to melt and rot away into the floor. It was a gruesome sight to most, but it was so amusing to me.
"What is your name? I've been dying to know for quite a while." I responded, stepping over the melting body and grabbing her arms. I felt another one of those tricky demonic urges bubbling up inside me, along with the anger and power of the blood rage. This time though, my urge was for a different use of the flesh.
She fought my grasp but I was quite strong, even in my human form. "Lianna." She replied, trying to break free. "Let me go!" She cried out louder. I chuckled, and pulled her into a kiss; like I had tried with the angel Lorelei. She squeaked and kept trying to break from me. I kept her close to me and abused her as to keep her subdued. There was a plush couch nearby, and I used it to my current advantage.
The sex was great. It was the first time I had sex in my human form, or any form for that matter. It came to me only by instinct, but my instincts were spot on. By the end, I had the demon-ess screaming and crying out in pleasure and light pain. Her sounds only egged me on, and by the end of our multiple rounds (for I had a lot to give) we were both exhausted.
She had stopped fighting by that time, and I had had my fill with the woman. I slipped from her clutching arms and clothed myself, this time taking the Don's leftover shirt (after purging it of blood with fire), which was a nice dark red button-up dress shirt. I put on the tan cargo slacks that the angel Lorelei had given me, even with all the rips, tears, and blood stains in them. I was surpised that they had lasted this long.
I left the succubus with her not knowing who I was, or how I got to where I was, but with a new appreciation for strangers who don't pay up the first time.
Back at my hotel room, the signs of the stuggle between me and the two demon guards were evident. I fixed the knocked over furniture and cleaned up the floor. Then I went out to the market. I was cautious there, for I forsaw the Don's henchmen searching for my head. I purchased some new clothes, along with some better armor than the human set that Syl'pierre had given me. I put it on the first chance I got after purchasing.
Then I went looking for how to get to the First Layer of Hell, where the tournament would take place in little less than two years. I found my answer in the travel department of the City Hall. The succubus there referred me to a few blimp ferries, all who asked a considerable amount to get anywhere out of the town. I suspected that most of that money was going to the Madlian mafia that I had just cut the head off of earlier that day.
I wasn't planning on paying the full amount. I planned to sneak aboard a departing ship in the next few days, and start hitchhiking from layer of abyss to layer of abyss, until I finally got to a place where I could get a straight flight to Hell. Many mortals would have cringed at that last phrase, but Hell was where I wanted to be. To train, to learn, to become the most powerful being in all the lower planes.
To be King.