***The Infernal Plane of Lust***

***Amon***

“Oooh...” I made a pained grunt and rubbed my temples as I got up from the floor. Once I was somewhat lucid, I checked my surroundings, finding that when Janice released me from her summoning the Infernum returned me straight back to my room in the warband's headquarters.

A look at the room's clock told me that it was late afternoon back home, which meant that I had spent at least a few days in Janice's dimension, caught in her wards while satisfying the mortal's curiosity. Demons were durable, but even we could only go so long without water. And after getting a glimpse of my knowledge the necromancer bitch was too afraid to let me out of her wards. Which was admittedly a wise decision on her part. After the second day, I was ready to strangle her when I had to give more explanations than necessary on certain topics.

Mortals were so slow when it came to learning new stuff. A demon who didn't get something on the first attempt rarely lived to try a second time.

Also, kneeling for that long in her summoning circle hadn't been fun, and I had now a serious case of back-pains combined with a migraine. But what else could a demon do other than to endure certain things in order to get paid?

On the positive side was the fact that my newest contractor had taken her dear time to make notes of everything I decided to share from the multitude of souls in my possession. So it was unlikely that I had to repeat myself in future summonings. Sadly, without preparations, all I could do to share knowledge was verbal communication. And that took its time.

The next time, I had to make sure that I had some other educational materials than my memories at hand. Did this city have a library? I shook my head, deciding that it could wait.

My dehydration made it hard to think, so I headed for my room's adjacent shower, drinking my fill of sulphuric water and making sure that some of my storage space was filled with water instead of only field rations. What a stupid mistake. When I bought a set of basic survival items like food and other things that made life so much more convenient, I completely forgot about the water.

Freshly washed up and revitalized, I returned from the shower.

At least Janice was a worthwhile investment. It had taken some time to negotiate terms with her and she was a hard bone to crack – for a mortal. Though, in the end, we had struck a bargain after many, many clarifications and questions.

It would have been so much easier if these mortals just bothered to read the damned contracts.

Janice wouldn't sacrifice any of her own people, but she had no moral qualms about her enemies. I would gain the souls of all her people's enemies that she could reasonably sacrifice in my name. Meaning, that I had now a steady income of souls! In a sense, it was my first steady job as a real demon.

Normally, I wouldn't have taken such a deal if there was just a single mortal involved. The few souls I would have gained in return for sharing centuries of knowledge wouldn't have been worth the headache. But Janice had an entire nation behind her and she was a capable magic-user to boot.

Which meant that I was now liable to any prisoner of war her people would take for the next hundred years. Sadly, the little necromancer princess wasn't stupid and had put a time restriction on our contract, after which we would be required to renegotiate the terms.

It still didn't feel like I had made a bad deal, and maybe she would even summon me again for some additional clarifications. Which I was sure would come up in such esoteric fields as necromancy and soul magic.

I teetered on my feet. The room was swimming for a moment, telling me that I wasn't back to full performance yet. Maybe I should have taken a day of sleep, but I was too giddy about the unexpectedly good contract. Originally, I had just planned to be generous and get rid of my predecessor’s artifacts, but this was an unexpected bonus. A real boon which had to be celebrated.

Steadying myself, I headed for the door, intending to celebrate the contract with a few experiments in my personal workshop. New instruments of death had to be created in order to make up for the stuff which I had given away.

But as soon as I stepped foot out of my room, a chill ran down my neck. Something was up! My senses told me that something was wrong, but I couldn't put my claw on it.

I looked up and down the corridor, unable to shake off the feeling that someone was watching me. Even straining my senses didn't help. As far as I could tell, I was the only one in the nearby vicinity.

Frowning, I decided to eliminate the problem with logic. There weren't that many people who had reason for stalking me – or who knew of my current living circumstances. First of all was Isabella, so I tugged on the connection which she had created between us, and looked up!

“That's just creepy!” I complained once I spotted the succubus who was lounging on the corridor's roof beam. The high ceiling, combined with the ancient style of architecture allowed her to do so.

“Aw...” Isabella looked down on me. “No using the connection. That's cheating.”

“Why are you out here anyway? Have you been guarding my door the entire time since I left for business?” There was still the time dilatation between the Infernum and the mortal realms which I had been visiting. I spent a few days with my contractors, meaning that Isabella had been waiting out here for several hours.

The succubus laughed. “You have no idea what it means to be ridden by a succubus. Believe me, compared to my sisters I am considerate. With me, you have way more privacy and free space than they would ever give you. Or at least you believe you do as long as you don’t get too paranoid.”

“That again.” I turned, deciding to head towards my workshop, since Isabella would follow me anyways. “Just what does this 'being ridden' mean?”

She dropped down from the roof beam and quickly followed me. “It's just what most demons call it when a succubus bonds to her 'victim'. Though, I would rather call it a 'lover’s-bond'. Many succubi can get so enamoured with their bond that they even follow them into their dreams. Sadly, not many demons are strong enough to withstand the full love of a succubus. So, being ridden has a rather negative meaning among the other demons.”

I rolled my eyes. “So you are saying that I am basically fucked since you bonded to me. What you mean is this connection which you placed in my mind-space? And that it isn't as bad as everyone thinks it is, because you succubi are basically just misunderstood beings, and that it's your bonded's fault for not being strong enough to withstand your affections.”

Isabella crooned with satisfaction. “I couldn't have said it any better. So, have you made a decision on my previous offer? About the two of us being-”

“No,” I replied without a second thought.

“But-”

“Not happening. I am a free demon, and happy as I am,” I added, not willing to give her even a centimetre. If I offered her the tip of my tail in friendship, I was sure I would have to regenerate the entire thing afterwards.

“There you are!” Thankfully, we were interrupted by Philomena's hulking form coming down the corridor. “Have you heard? Ebandon called for a big gathering of the entire warband. Everyone who is in headquarters has to show up at the main dining hall.”

“But I wanted to go to my workshop!” I complained. “Do you at least know what this is about?”

She shrugged. “Don't know, but I don't think he would bother with a large announcement if it didn't affect the whole warband. Have you seen Shax, by the way? He also wasn't at our table when I went to fetch you.”

Isabella lazily pointed a thumb over her shoulder. “Saw him heading to his room while I was guarding Amon.”

“I don't need guarding!” I rebuked.

She rolled her eyes. “You just gave away a lot of powerful artefacts, which was stupid by the way.” Then she made a show of studying her fingers and polishing a ring which she had suspiciously placed on her ring finger.

The action drew my attention to it, and my demonic memory made itself known. “Wait, isn't that? That's the ring from Sozzudon's collection! The one on that manikin which you studied so intensely! You stole something from his collection!”

“Isn't it pretty? And so useful!” She gave it a kiss. “A storage ring, just like yours. Given how similar the enchantments on the artefacts are, I think it's one of your predecessor's earlier works. And it fits my ring finger perfectly! Don't you think that's a sign?”

“Give me that!” I reached out for Isabella, but the succubus somehow dove under my grasp and came back up within my personal space.

She gave me a light kiss on the cheek and danced away before I could do anything to her. “Nonono. It's mine, Mr. Grumpy. I took it fair and square while you were busy with old memories.”

I considered taking severe measures to get that ring and destroy it, but doing so would likely mean laying waste to a large part of the warband's headquarters. Underestimating Isabella was the last thing on my list of horrible mistakes. “Grrr... fine...”

What doom could come from an item that I didn’t even carry? At least I hoped so.

“Just get a room!” Philomena sighed in an aggravated manner and strode past us towards Shax's room while Isabella and I stared daggers at each other.

Our contest was interrupted when the warrior demoness laid an ear at Shax's door and stepped back, placing a hand on the large sword which she preferred as her main weapon nowadays. “Someone is being murdered in there!”

That quickly ended my concern with Isabella's stolen artefact and I headed the few steps to Philomena's side. I then pushed her aside in order to listen myself.

The pained squeaking and moaning honestly sounded like someone was stabbing a pig behind that door... or eating it alive bit by tiny bit. The sounds also reminded me of harvesting fae.

Slowly, I reached for the door handle and pushed it down, making sure that it wouldn't alert whoever had gotten the jump on our silent guy. After taking a deep breath I took a look at the others to ensure that they had my back.

Isabella nodded and Philomena drew her sword, showing me that she was ready for carnage.

Then I ripped the door open and-

“Holy Fuck!” Philomena cursed and almost dropped her sword! Then she quickly made a sign which I didn't know, like she was trying to ward away evil, with her eyes wide in terror.

Isabella squealed and covered her mouth, but her succubus nature didn't allow her to take her eyes away from the unnatural scene.

I screamed in dismay and slammed the door shut and tried to banish the picture out of my head, which was a futile effort thanks to my demonic memory. The sight was burned permanently into my brain! Life would never be as innocent as it was before!

How could they do this to me!? I would carry this image around for the rest of my immortal life! “Shax and Jada, Jada and Shax... how is that even possible!? Isabella! How? Can you do that too?” I was too horrified to put it into words.

“I honestly don't know...” The succubus replied, looking bewildered and slightly sick. “I have seen her take big ones, but Shax is in another league! There is Mandy, one of my sisters who has a thing for horses, but Shax puts those easily to shame. I suppose it's possible if there is shapeshifting involved, but I have no clue where she put her organs for that! There has to be spacial magic involved, though I have no clue how to apply it to a living body. The lungs would certainly be a problem...”

I blinked, not wanting to process that Isabella had just implied that one of her sisters had a thing for animals. Well, with forty sisters, there was bound to be a black sheep in the family.

Isabella's face took on a contemplative expression as she tried to bring in line what she knew about body manipulation with what we had just witnessed. It wasn't so much that us demons could be offended by merely witnessing a sexual act, but what had gone on between Shax and Jada defied the Infernum. It wasn't... natural…

It horrified me that, as a demon, I would think such a thing.

I turned to face Isabella. “Did… did we escape the Primal Chaos? Or are we still caught there?”

The succubus slapped my shoulder. “Don’t even joke about that!”

“It wasn’t really a joke,” I mumbled.

“Now I know at least why Shax always wears a kilt,” Philomena philosophized. “I doubt that there is armour which would... fit him.”

“Why did you have to say that?” I complained. “Now I can't stop imagining Shax in specially fitted armour on a battlefield, protecting that 'thing'!” It certainly would draw the attention of anyone who happened to be close enough to make out the details. Would Shax have to change his fighting style around such a special piece of equipment?

“There is actually a precedent for such a thing in the mortal realms, though they are doing it just for the attention, I imagine,” Isabella pointed out in a matter of fact tone. “I once knew a king who had a specially fitted codpiece that followed the curve of his erect…” the succubus went silent when even Philomena sent a murderous glare her way.

Then the screaming from within the room finally stopped and a ragged, but satisfied looking Jada opened the door, not caring about her nakedness in the slightest... or that her belly looked like she was four months pregnant... or that she was a dripping mess.

I sniffed.

She also stank.

“Can I help you guys?” she asked with a tone and expression of someone who didn't give two shits about what others thought about her appearance. When she noticed that we were uncomfortable with her, she gave us a predatory smile. “Guess what, that damned chastity belt is finally off!”

I looked over her shoulder, finding Shax spread-eagled on the ground in his room. At least his thing was a more managable size when it was limp. Could he actually use it as a third leg? “Are you still breathing, big guy?”

“Hnn... aarrrgh...” The demon who was 'big' in more than one sense gave us a thumbs up.

“Uhm... okay... we just wanted to tell you that there is a gathering. The whole warband is supposed to be present,” Philomena said, and added after a moment of thought, “If you can walk!”

Shax gave off a positive grunt, meaning that he would be up soon enough.

“Shouldn't you rather ask me whether 'I' can walk?” Jada asked with a miffed expression. “We will be there as soon as Shaxy-baby is able to carry me.” She looked down at herself. “And I need a quick shower.” Then she slammed the door shut, almost flattening my face.

“That's one imagery I could have lived without,” Philomena commented dryly and returned her sword to its scabbard.

“Oh, I have seen worse from my sisters,” Isabella added, already unbothered by the situation aside from the initial shock. “Though, I have to ask her how she did that. It might be a valuable skill to have.”

I pressed my lips together, not wanting her to try 'that'. The mere thought made me feel a slight twinge in my chest. “You don't need that skill!”

“Aaaw. I won't. Promise.” Isabella offered me her pinky which I studiously ignored, not wanting to admit that the thought of her being with another demon had bothered me.

She pouted, but couldn't say any more because Jada and Shax stepped out of his room at that moment. Isabella's sister looked like she had taken a punch to the guts, but looked otherwise fine while her target of affection looked weathered.

“That was fast,” Philomena commented.

Jada smiled. “It's all about training.” Then she looked us over. “So, why the interruption?”

“Ebandon called for a gathering,” Isabella explained, gaining a non-committal grunt from Shax.

The large demon strode past us and down the corridor, granting us an acknowledging grunt.

I had learned to accept the Shax's peculiarity, so I simply followed without questions, knowing that grunts and simple answers would be the only things I would get in reply. If Shax didn't bother to speak full sentences, it meant that he was fine.

Meanwhile, Jada slipped up to her sister. “Did you see that? I knew that Shax is special. Do you want a ride sometime? I don’t mind sharing.”

It was the first time that I had ever seen Isabella looking uncomfortable with something sex-related. “Uuh, no thanks. I think I will pass on that.”