***The Infernal Planes***

***Demonling***

My first memory was of a warm place. It was comfortable and – most importantly – it felt safe.

Had I known that it would be the only time I ever felt safe, I would have stayed inside my egg, consequences be damned.

My second memory was of a dark place with the shells of many eggs littering the ground. They were just like the one I came out of, and for a long time, I just stared, my mind reeling at the new sensations that hammered at my consciousness.

Sight, smell, sensation, for a time my newborn mind was overwhelmed.

It took some time before I could take conscious note of my surroundings. There were many red people with tails surrounding me. Like me, they were exploring this new but limited space they found themselves in.

Little, red and fragile bodies scrabbled to gain control over their limbs, their physique more lizard than a bipedal creature. Many didn’t do much better than I in my first minute of life.

Weak! I shook myself at the foreign thought that had entered my mind.

Shaking my head, I studied the heaving mass of – presumably – brothers and sisters, wondering right away from where I was drawing my knowledge. Nobody had taught me anything up until now, yet I knew things.

More disturbingly, I was the only one among the mass of bodies who appeared to govern a shred of self-awareness.

A brief moment of horror filled me at the sight of my siblings' animalistic expressions. That, and the sight of a few of my brothers eating the insides of a broken egg. The yolk was oozing down its broken shell, and a slightly larger member of my kind was pulling a half-developed embryo into the dim light of the cave.

I almost vomited right then and there at the sight when I realized the implications.

Forcibly, I dragged my gaze away when a giant entered the dark place of the cave. The huge demon was carrying something that smelled delicious – and then stepped on one of us who had wandered into its path. A young life ended with a ‘squeak’ and a soft ‘squish’ of smushed tissue and the soft snapping of a newborn's bones.

That was when I realized that this place wasn't safe and that if this life of mine shouldn't end prematurely I would have to become stronger. The decision was already made for me by the world I found myself in, disoriented as I was.

The large demon stumbled and cursed as it almost slipped on the goo, barely avoiding to step onto more of its... children?

Unable to wait and to judge the dangers of rushing between and around the large demon's legs, the swarm, for that was what my siblings were, immediately converged on the squished little one, scrabbling to pick the sorry remains out of the dirt.

That gave me the chance to be one of the first at the bowl with the delicious smelling stuff which the large one had brought for us and placed on the ground. Somehow knowing that this was my only chance, I stuffed my cheeks, inhaling the food which clearly wasn't enough for all of us. Seeing that the swarm was already redirecting its attention to the bowl, I darted away with some of the bigger pieces of meat, finding a rocky crevice in the cave's wall to slide inside and hide.

Huddling inside my shelter, I ate my food and slept, already too tired to make sense of my circumstances.

The days came and went, and the giant kept visiting, bringing us food. As the others grew, it got harder to get my share of the food and I stayed always a little smaller than the others, a little weaker. Their size allowed them to get more of the delicious stuff while I went away hungry more often than not.

At least my scrawny figure allowed me to hide in the deepest corners of the crevice which I had found on the first day. But I kept to my daily routine of snatching food from the bowl and then returning to my hideout, simply because the others couldn't follow me there.

Our caretaker never increased the amount of food with our size, which directly resulted in culling our numbers drastically, the weakest of us becoming just another source of food for the strong.

Then, one day, the big one came and instead of bringing food it started making noise. It took a while, but even the dumbest of the little ones finally realized that the big one was teaching us to talk in some guttural language while pointing out images of basic things in some book.

The big demon never repeated itself, expecting us to learn and remember its teachings on the first attempt. When our teacher pointed out an image he would gesture at one of us and either get a correct answer or strike out and reduce the number of his charges. If the target was fast enough to evade, it might get another chance to answer, but that was a rare occurrence.

This method of teaching quickly took care of the really stupid ones among us, and while I didn't like it, I had to admit that it worked really well as a motivation to pay attention.

A few days passed as the lessons touched on all kinds of subjects until all of us had enough knowledge of the language to venture on towards more complicated topics.

I learned that I was born on the Infernal Plane of Gluttony, ruled by the great Planelord Gargroth, and that my home was hatching cave number 34-96-85, a safe haven compared to the rest of the Infernal Planes.

As for my current circumstances, most demons didn't care for their offspring. They would simply drop off their eggs at one of the hatcheries and return to their own business. Only the eggs of powerful demons, old bloodlines, and royalty could – maybe – expect different treatment.

But almost all of the young would end up in a hatchery, receiving only the minimum of care which would ensure that only the strongest and smartest, or more likely the most ruthless, specimen emerged from the hatchery, ready to be drafted into one of the countless Infernal Plane’s demonic legions where their lives would be used up in one of the many wars the Planar Lords were fighting against each other.

I would have to learn and learn quickly because after one year I would either have to join one of the local Lord's warbands or be thrown out to survive on my own if judged unworthy. According to the caretaker, most of the little demonlings would be left to fend on their own if they hadn't at least morphed into an imp by that point in time – which was the first natural development step for a young demonling.

So I learned what the caretaker was willing to teach, which I also quickly had to admit wasn't much.

At least the caretaker saw to it that we would learn the basics of being demons.

Demons would be born into the world with only one soul bestowed on them by their parents. As mere amalgamations of energy, and power, newborn demons wouldn't gain a soul of their own, as souls were naturally rejected by the high background energy of the Infernal Planes, and so it would have to be given to them. Without one, they would forever remain nothing more than beasts. That was a great disadvantage, but also the reason why old demons were so powerful.

A demon could naturally access the memories of any number of souls in their possession as if they were their own, including any souls they may acquire later on.

This made souls a natural currency among demons. The Planar Lords in their boundless kindness even offered revivals from death at the Anima Stones, for the small fee of a soul of course. I saw it for what it was, nothing more than a way to take a tithe from the weaker demons without having to hunt them down.

The Anima Stones were the central pieces around which demon society revolved. They allowed demons to take 'contracts' with mortals from other dimensions in the hope of acquiring more souls. The central pieces, the Lode Stones, would even allow Demons to travel between the seven Infernal Planes.

For that very reason, the one thing that our caretaker insisted on teaching us properly was the basics of contractual soul magic and dimensional shifting of the consciousness.

When a demon got to connect with the Anima Stones, he would be able to send out a part of his form into the physical planes which were inhabited by mortals. There, he would be able to gather the necessary souls in order to increase his power and rank.

I sucked up those lessons like a sponge, still hoping that I would be one of the few who didn't waste away in the fires of war that the Demon Lords of this plane waged against each other. Or, hell forbid, being thrown out to fend for myself.

We were also warned of the threat of giving in to the memories of our souls. Mortal personalities just weren’t made up for an existence on the Infernal Planes. Our world was brutal and deadly and most mortals were too weak to deal with the facts of a demonic lifestyle. A demon who allowed himself to be overtaken by the memories of other lives would soon find himself incapable of action and become easy prey for others of his kind.

So I tried not to listen to the cynical thoughts which came out of nowhere, dismissing them as mere echoes of my soul’s past. I steeled my resolve and did my very best to avoid the memories of another life, fearing that they would be of a better and unachievable place.

And so I bided my time and waited for a chance to better my circumstances.

The day of truth came when the caretaker decided to bestow one spellscroll upon each of the surviving demonlings in a rather... disinterested manner. It was a magical item that allowed its user to learn one spell without instruction.

One day, the red demon with his flaming horns entered the cave with a cart of scrolls, told us what they were, and then started tossing them out like unwanted candy, all the while curling his lips in disgust at the little creatures in his care.

There was no question that this immediately caused a fight as little demonlings ignored everything just to get to one of the scrolls.

Seeing a chance to increase my power, I was right among them. Having completely forgotten about my policy of safety, I was risking my life in a most unusual manner as the demonlings left and right of me fought and bled to get at least one of the oversized scrolls.

Right in front of me, a scroll dissolved into ash as one of my hatchmates got its dirty claws on it. He shuddered with the ecstasy of arcane knowledge flooding into him, just to be tackled to the ground by a whole group of other hatchlings.

Caught up in the mad melee, I screamed as I saw the very last scroll leave the caretaker’s hand and tumble towards one of my larger siblings, the one who I had done everything to avoid so far because I saw him eat another demonling after breaking open its egg.

He was at least three times larger than any of his fellows and already holding onto two scrolls, which would make this last one his third!

Without thinking, I threw myself bodily at him, causing a wild tumble among the group as scrolls and demonlings went flying or tried to evade injury. Scratching and biting, I drew my claws over the larger demonling’s eyes and ran off with one of the scrolls. Knowing that there was no time to wait for better circumstances, I invoked it as I ran with the scroll pressed to my chest and an enraged brother right on my heels.

The scroll turned to dust in my claws and as the arcane knowledge flooded my conduits, causing me to seize up for a split second. A little too long, because that gave my opponent time to act.

I heard the larger demonling chanting the beginning of a spell, so I turned in order to face the threat, intending to assert my magical dominance now that I had power. Thanks to my clearly superior intellect, my spell finished first and I blasted my enemy with everything I got.

A ray of bright light shot out of my palm and burned everything in its path, hitting my brother right in his chest. He screamed as the scratches in his face… mended?

Having expended all of my energy, I fell to my knees and stared in horror at what I had done.

My brother stood there, fully healed from the injuries which I had risked my life to inflict. There was a moment of curious silence as the whole hatchery which was a madhouse just seconds ago held its breath.

Then the caretaker chuckled with dark humour and spoke, “Basic Ray of Healing.”

My opponent who had held onto his spell up until now laughed with mad glee and let loose, blasting me with a gust of wind that picked me bodily up from the ground and flung the weakened me into the wall of the cave.

Something inside me broke and I screamed in pain as I fell back to the ground.

Unable to take a moment of reprieve, I hobbled back into my crevice, followed by the laughter of my siblings and some opportunistic ones who sensed the chance of an easy meal. They didn’t even bother to hunt down a demon who could only heal others.

And all the while, the unbidden thoughts from within me had nothing but scorn for my actions.

Weak! Overconfident, and stupid! The unbidden thoughts from within chided, adding to my failure at gaining power. How could a weakling like me benefit from something as undemonlike as healing?

Thankfully, it turned out that demons heal pretty quickly on their own if an injury wasn’t deadly right away. A few days later, I was as good as new, albeit as weak as before and hungry since my injury hadn’t allowed me to get even close to enough food for myself.

That was when fate decided to throw me another bone. One day, I awoke to the sound of the caretaker entering the cave. My mind had been trained to awaken to the sound of the large boulder which blocked the exit being dragged aside.

It wasn’t time for food, so it meant that something new was going to happen.

The caretaker entered the cave with a large slab of black stone, a little black monolith that was covered in red glowing runes. They twisted and connected in ways that felt like they would draw my mind into them.

Straining visibly, the caretaker put the heavy object on the ground right in the middle of the cave and patted it like some loved pet.

“This here is an Anima Stone. They are all over the Infernal Planes and will allow you to regather your animus, your physical form, should you have a soul to pay the fee.” He studied us, trying to impress the importance of this lesson. “It also allows you to send out a part of your animus to the mortal planes where you can make deals and contracts with mortals.”

He continued to give us the essentials of how the Anima Stone worked and how it was to be used until he came to the important points.

“Once you are summoned, your body and animus will be shifted into an ethereal plane. What will be manifested in the mortal plane will just be an energy construct of yourself, so you don't have to be afraid of dying while you are on a mission. While you are out there, you have the chance to get your name known, which will make it more likely for other mortals to summon you. You will find out that other dimensions have vastly different rules from this one. Keep in mind that things like gravity and time differ vastly from plane to plane.”

And then a sinister smile crept onto his face, giving me the shivers even from my faraway vantage point in the crevice.

“But there is no better way to learn than to do.” He gestures for one of the demonlings in the front row, which was always a bad spot to be in.

The demonling inched forward, wary of our caretaker.

Which was a perfectly normal reaction in my book. Had I been in his spot, I would have run for the hills, only not to be the first test subject. But I soon learned differently.

Fed up with waiting, the caretaker grabbed the demonling and pushed him against the Anima Stone which automatically reacted to the touch of an unregistered user.

The demonling was added to the network and shunted into another dimension with a flash of light, leaving the caretaker's claws empty. Presumably, my hatchmate was now in a waiting queue for new demons to be summoned by some hapless mortal who intended to bargain away his soul for one reason or the other.

For a moment, the assembled demonlings held their breaths.

Then our brother reappeared and flopped to the ground, limbs flailing it let out a cry of outrage and dashed back into the relative safety of the swarm while the caretaker grinned.

“Come on. I haven't got all day and for that reason, I even chose a dimension that's running on a faster timeline than this one. From my point of view, you should reappear almost right away.”

So, was there any reason to wait?

I appeared inside a circle – on what my soul's memories classified as a table – in a classroom, with fleshy humans gaping at me as if I were the pinnacle of creation. It was highly doubtful that their reaction towards my appearance was justified, but who was I to dispute them.

“Good work, Elron! Not a big one, but the smaller they are, the easier it is to control them.” An older human slapped one of the younger ones on his back, complimenting his success in summoning me.

I counted four of the younger ones, each at their own table with a summoning circle in front of them. Aside from myself, there was only one other demon in the room. Standing on the table next to me was the largest demonling I had ever seen.

The other demon only looked at me and rolled his eyes. “You are new.”

“How did you get so big?” I asked in my naivety.

“I am an imp, you fool. Do they teach nothing at the hatcheries nowadays?”

I shut up, embarrassed over my lack of knowledge.

The larger demon sniffed and sighed when he realized that he cowed me. “Look, I suppose it's your first time?”

I nod.

“And I suppose they didn't explain half as much as they should.”

I shrug.

“Okay, listen.” The imp gestures at the humans who are still fawning over us and scribbling in their notebooks. “Your caretaker did you no favour by choosing this dimension. Those guys are summoners and warlocks, and while humans are generally weaklings, those guys can force us to do shit without actually making a contract.”

“That means...” My voice trails off as I realize the implications.

“Yep, no souls for us. Unless we get to kill someone, although that's unlikely.” The imp snarls at one of the younger humans who came too close, causing him to shrink back. “See? Not one courageous bone in their bodies. This is some sort of teaching facility. Doubtful that there will be any murdering today.”

He glances sideways, noticing my incredulous expression. “That's how they do things. Unlike us, they protect their protégés. Now that I think about it, that's probably the reason why they are so weak.”

I raise a claw to ask a question. “Shouldn't we talk to them and explain-”

“Infernals forbid, don't do that!” the imp interrupts me. “Those guys seem to think that we are dumb animals. Never talk in their tongue or they might get the idea that we can be used for other things than menial labour. Would you like to sit forever at a desk and calculate the mandalas for arcane summoning circles? That would be hell and the perfect task. They could even keep us inside their containment barriers without the risk of letting us out.” He kicks against some invisible wall which seems to overlap with the summoning circle to his feet.

As long as it doesn't get me killed or hurt. “Actually, that wouldn't be so-”

“Without payment!” The imp spits.

I quickly reconsider. “How do we escape?”

“Not at all.” He shrugs. “Those guys will keep fawning over us for an hour, but then they will simply release us. No win, but no loss either. Just make sure not to tell them your name. This isn't the best dimension for contracts.”

Oh yeah, a name. I still have to come up with one.

“Now, let me show you how a real Summoner does it!” The older human waddles over to a summoning mandala on the floor, fighting his considerable physique with every step.

We watch in silence as the human gives his students a detailed lesson about the basics of summoning creatures from other dimensions. It takes some time, but finally the human channels magical energy into the mandala, causing it to glow with a faint, pink hue.

I watch in awe as the energies converge in the centre, bringing forth motes of power until they coalesce into the form of a demoness with wings, horns, and a tail. Although, the rest of her lascivious body is like a human's. She looks weak and small compared to the fat teacher but carries herself with an air of superiority.

“Fuck me sideways,” the imp comments from next to me. “That fool managed to call upon a succubus!”

My eyes wander between the attractive demoness and the imp until they stay stuck on the female’s assets. I try to look away, but there is something about her form that's pulling me in.

Then I pinch myself, trying to remember everything I learned about the various types of demons. Succubi are female demons who live on life-energy. They gather power and souls by seducing their victims and sucking them dry, which makes them essentially energy vampires. But unlike these lesser creatures, a succubus is far more dangerous.

Even male demons prefer to run from these predators, if they can.

Smiling, the naked female gestures with her finger, begging her human audience to come closer.

When the stunned humans, equally surprised about their catch, only watch her in shocked silence, she bends forwards, displaying her boobs in a far more assertive manner.

One of the students takes an involuntary step, crossing the barrier before being pulled into her waiting arms and receiving a kiss. Seeing that, the other humans followed one by one, unable to resist the seductress whose aura made even me want to touch her.

My imp-friend had only one comment before his eyes glazed over, “We are in deep shit. That’s not the average succubus...”

What followed probably wasn't meant for a young demonling's eyes.

The succubus took the humans from above, beneath, and behind, involuntarily giving my innocent mind a forced sex-education. It didn't help that I tried to cover my ears and look away. The female's aura grew stronger with every second she fed on her prey until I was unable to avert my eyes.

First to go was the human teacher-warlock who turned into a withered husk between her thighs while she was rubbing off two students with her hands and simultaneously using her mouth and tail on the other two. Student number one expired while humping her feet. Number two got to squirt his last life-essence onto her ass before he was done in, and the third got a blow-job that made me blush. Right until his shrunken thing broke off, too dry to withstand the applied pressure.

Having your life-essence sucked out of your body apparently included any liquids.

The last one gave up the ghost on his belly as a famished skeleton of a man, moaning while the demoness' tail enthusiastically ravaged his behind with her standing above him, a hand on her hip and looking bored of all things.

Not even ten minutes had passed for the deed to be done. Finished and looking livelier than before, the succubus skipped over to the windowfront which was taking up one side of the room. The barrier that was holding her made a short shriek and broke as she passed through without so much as a second thought.

I was still staring at the mess she had made, trying my best not to the shocked. Some tiny part of me wanted to be serviced by this female, while a larger, more pragmatic one was in favour of running for the hills, screaming like a hunted demonling all the while.

A stranger to death and brutal violence – I was certainly no such thing, but seeing someone willingly jump into their predator's arms and expire with a creepy smile on their face?

That was new.

For once, the unbidden thoughts which often sprung into my head were silent.

Having seen what there was to see, the demoness returned her attention to the classroom and sauntered over to us with her lustful eyes fixated on the imp next to me. She licked her lips and reached out with both hands. There was a quiet snap as the barrier broke, which was clearly not much of a hindrance to her.

“Time for dessert!” She pulled the nice imp who had equally ended up in her thrall against her chest and squeezed him. Then she kissed him right on the mouth, causing me to groan in envy.

My mind returned to a hazy lucidity when the imp's body shrunk in on itself until it disappeared with a 'pop', causing the seductress to click her tongue in displeasure. “It's no fun when they can just bail out like that. Doesn’t even get me a soul.”

Her eyes landed on me and my heart sank when she reached out, breaking the barrier and snatching me up with one hand.

“I am not tasty!” I screeched.

It was unlikely, but my outraged scream indeed caused her to pause.

She sucked in her lips and blew them out as she studied me. “How wondrous, you aren't in my thrall, despite being so young... and cute.” The succubus pulled on my tail, turning me this way and that as she proceeded with her shameless inspection.

That only added insult to what little pride I had to injure. “Let me go.” I tried to pinch her finger, but that wasn't very effective.

The demoness only squeezed her hand tighter, showing me that she could squish me like a bug if she wanted to. “Mh, don't worry. You are not even enough energy to make you worth the effort,” she explained with her haughty, alluring voice. And then a lascivious smile touched her lips. “But we could still have some innocent fun.”

I wasn't sure what kind of fun a grown succubus could realistically have with a demonling who was barely the size of her hand.

Until she kissed me right on the face.

I was too baffled and inexperienced with her kind to prevent her from sucking my entire head into her mouth. My muffled screams probably couldn't be heard outside the room, but I was still frightened as hell as her tongue lathered me, thinking her perfectly capable of eating me for real.

It wasn't like my hatchmates were above such things, so why should she be any different? The real question was whether she would chew first or swallow me wholesale! Or only take a bite.

And then my head popped out of her mouth, leaving me gasping for air.

“There, there.” She bit her lower lip, apparently bemused by what she had done. “That wasn't so bad, right? Now you are nicely wet and you should be just the right size...”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I returned feverishly, still a little too green behind the ears to catch on to what she was up to.

Slowly, she lowered me to her navel, and then even lower as my eyes widened in horror. I had seen where the humans had stuck their… it was… size…

“Oh, no. No. No. No. You don't! By all the Infernal Lords! That’s fucked up!”

“Aah, I like fucking. Make sure to struggle a lot. If you get me off-” She was interrupted by frantic knocking on the door and screams. A moment later, someone was trying his best to bring the door down.

The succubus shuddered and pulled me back up to her face. “Too bad, you would have liked it. I promise.”

“No, I would have not!” I am certain that I wouldn't have liked suffocating inside... that! Or maybe I would have? The humans didn’t seem to dislike their deaths.

“Certainly.” She smiled, showing me large canines. “Now I have a deal for you. Buy me a minute while I get away, and you won’t owe me for freeing you from that summoning circle.”

“Y- y- y- ou o- only f-freed me t-to use m-me!” My voice shook with the indignation of what had almost happened to me.

“Take the deal or leave it.” She gave me a wink. “If you succeed, you may visit me on the Plane of Pleasure. I would make some time for you.”

“Fine! I take the deal if you don’t kill me. Although I have no idea how to stop them.”

“Oh, you just have to be here so that they don’t go hunting for the escapee immediately,” she explained before dropping me. Then she picked up one of the corpses, her body turning translucent before shimmering out of existence. And then the corpse seemingly flung itself out of the window.

And there was I, a little demonling with nothing more than a healing ray. How in the Infernal Planes would the humans ever believe that I was responsible for this mess!?

That woman had a perfect body as far as I was concerned, but something went definitively wrong with her brain. She was nuts, totally nuts.

Then someone took an axe to the door and I had my mind immediately back in the game. There wasn’t much I could do against the humans, aside from pissing them off and having them chase me – hmm, pissing them off – which brought on an idea.

Quickly, I jumped down the table I was on and scrambled towards the door which was the sole entrance to the room. Climbing the wall with my small claws, I was already on the doorframe when the door broke down, welcoming two humans in.

“Lord Almighty! What happened here!?” one exclaimed while the other had the sense to scan the room for threats before some instinct told him to look up.

Right as a small trickle of some fluid hit his face with a soft hiss.

I sighed in relief, letting it all out.

“It burrrns!” He stumbled and within seconds, he was on the ground, writhing in pain. “My eyes! It burrrns!”

“Unbound devil!”

I was still wondering what had happened when the other humans shot some sparkling lights at me, forcing me to jump back to the ground. Apparently my piss was some kind of acid in this dimension. The caretaker really could have told me that.

“Kill it! Kill it with ice!”

I dodged a boot and then had to play a game of tag with the humans who flooded into the room. They must have been alarmed by the succubus’ loud exit. But even with all my agility, evading forever wasn’t in the cards and it came like it had to. A foot was flung out, kicking me through half the room and leaving me in a daze.

The last thing I saw was the sole of a shoe coming down on me.