***The Infernal Plane of Lust***

***Amon***

‘Waking up next to Isabella certainly seemed like something I could get used to,’ I thought darkly and immediately admonished myself for even considering going down such a path. Waking up right next to the sexbomb of my dreams was truly the best thing that ever happened in my short life. Unfortunately, seeking to make Isabella my own would inevitably set me on a collision course with Khorne... and I wasn’t certain if such a thing was worth the hassle.

I shook my head and huffed. On the other side, I was also deluding myself if I thought for a second that I wouldn’t immediately take any chance to make Isa mine in every sense of the word.

The demoness in my arms stirred, woken by my antics. She looked up at me and smiled without opening her eyes. “Don’t worry, you big oaf. I already have a plan on how to deal with Khorne.”

I checked my mental link with Isabella and realized that she had snuck into my thoughts once again, but this time it only caused me to sigh at my own inability to protect myself. She was just too sneaky to keep her out all the time, and keeping my guard up permanently just wasn't possible. At least it looked like my special mental state was sufficient protection against a succubus's influence.

Being gentle, I pushed her out of my thoughts and decided to play along for now. At least until I came up with a better idea on how to resolve my current issues. “Why do I have a feeling that this plan of yours involves me? Any intention to share the details?”

“I wouldn’t be a succubus if I simply laid open all of my machinations. Haven’t you learned anything from meeting my sisters?” Isabella replied, sounding slightly offended. “That would go against everything my family taught me. The fewer people are in the know, the better. Especially when it comes to keeping it away from my mother. It's not that I don't trust you to keep your mouth shut, but the less you know the better in case that Ashley decides to pick your brains. Though, I certainly wouldn’t be opposed if you set a few plots of your own into motion. The more attempts on Khorne’s life are made, the likelier it is for one of them to succeed.”

I groaned but considered Isa's reasoning. If her mother was inclined to just go along with Khorne, then there was little we could do about it. Isa was capable enough at invading my thoughts. Ashley wouldn't have the advantage of a mental link, but the succubus in my arms was a neophyte compared to her. That, and there was no reason not to suspect that the owner of this castle had sufficient methods to learn everything she wished to about its inhabitants. Only the Infernum itself could tell how many of the artworks were actually hidden spying devices. “So, you do intend to pit me against him! Please, reconsider that. There must be a better option.”

Isa looked at me with a hurt expression, but I didn't fall for it and held her gaze. It may look like I wasn't paying much attention to other people's goals, but Isa had been with me for long enough that I could tell that she hadn't just fallen for me like some romantic teenager. Maybe her feelings played a part, but she had definitely seen something more in me on that day in the forest.

I looked at the ceiling while I indulged myself in the memory. It felt like that encounter had been aeons ago.

She used a finger to draw a few circles on my chest. “If you have one, I am all ears. But unless it's a really good one I won't risk my opportunity to thwart whatever deal Khorne decides to make with my mother.”

“Let me think on it,” I grumbled. “There must be a way of getting rid of him without dealing with all the fallout.”

She nodded and laid her head onto my chest. It was clear that she didn’t believe me to be capable of subtlety. “Just don't forget about the Átahsaia while you are at it.”

I found myself to not care overly much about stopping something that was after Khorne. If this Átahsaia got lucky, all my troubles might evaporate on their own. “Why don't Khorne and Ashley just have everyone swear that they aren't the Átahsaia? The first one who experiences a tribulation from the Infernum gets thrown out of the castle.”

Isabella sighed. “I am afraid that it doesn't work that way. The Infernum grants us a mighty tool by upholding our contracts, verbal or otherwise, but it does only so much. A demon might swear a simple oath on something which they are absolutely certain about. There is no problem with that. You yourself used it to convince others of your intentions often enough. Like, I am not the Átahsaia. But the more complicated we make the oath, the more of the castle's inhabitants will simply refuse to swear on it. With increasing complexity comes the impossibility of upholding a contract. Would you swear that you have no knowledge of interacting with the Átahsaia?”

I pursed my lips. “Maybe. Though, what happens if I realize later on that I had the knowledge, but didn't realize it. And what does that have to do with properly identifying the thing by using the Infernum? People swear to the Infernum all the time.”

“Well, then you are most likely fucked big time. The oaths you are referring to were simple things. Like a statement they were absolutely certain of. Nobody would ever verbally swear on something overly complicated, and using a contract also doesn't guarantee results. The problem here is that Átahsaia are parasites in every sense of the word. They aren't their host, they subvert and control another person like a puppeteer. Which allows them to circumvent most oaths the Infernum might uphold. If Ashley went up to the person who is the Átahsaia right now and had him swear, 'I am not the Átahsaia,' nothing would happen.”

“Because the Átahsaia would simply instruct the host to answer in its stead. And the host would be perfectly correct,” I huffed. “But what if we have them swear that they aren't controlled by the Átahsaia?”

“Yeah, that's been tried before, and it turns out that most hosts aren't even aware that the Átahsaia is riding them. The mind flayer ability allows it to edit the host's memories,” Isabella explained. “Just trust me. I have read up on the subject since you told me about it, and the whole puppet-thing allows the Átahsaia to play around most oaths as long as you aren't talking to it directly. Mom has some reports in her library of Átahsaia who were supposedly identified by having the host swear, 'I am certain that nobody tampered with my memories and that the Átahsaia never had an opportunity to take me over.' ”

“Then let's just do that,” I said.

Isa sighed. “Problem is that nobody can swear such an oath and be absolutely certain about it. Of the test group, there were just as many false positives as there were negatives. They identified the Átahsaia in the end, but it might as well have been pure chance. We might as well start walking around pointing claws in hopes that the Átahsaia isn't very experienced at his craft and might lose his cool.”

I nodded to myself, seeing the problem. “If I had such an ability, I might just edit my host's memories after taking him over and then stay dormant for the rest of the ride until I see the opportunity to switch hosts once more. I might take more active control at one point or the other in order to achieve the desired outcome, but otherwise, I would let the host be until it’s time to get rid of him or her. I guess we can't even identify it by simply killing everyone once?”

Isabella shook her head. “They supposedly reform together with their host. The only assured method of identifying them is catching them in the process of switching hosts.”

“Bugger.” The Átahsaia seemed like a troublesome conundrum.

It didn't help that this creature seemed so very much like a certain other entity that shared my body with me.

Hey, I am not some parasite that pulls your strings from your subconsciousness!

But how do you manage to hide from Isabella's probing? If she could identify you, then couldn't she eventually do so with an Átahsaia too?

Look, I don't know why she or anyone else for that matter can't detect me. I am not even a hundred percent certain how 'we' came to be. It doesn't happen often that some ingenious and certainly mad soul mage decides to reincarnate by shoving his soul and personality down an unhatched demonling's throat, thereby almost frying the few brain cells it has.

I don't even have all of our progenitor's memories – which means that something about his plan went completely haywire. It's a wonder that we weren't hatched as a gibbering mess that would have instantly been eaten by the nearest hatchmate.

Just be glad that things are as they are. I am firmly against telling anyone about 'us'. Not only am I your biggest trump card in a fight, but the risk of being seen by others as insane is just too high. Do I really have to remind you that our society doesn't have mental asylums?

I unwillingly had to admit that the other had a point there. I had my doubts about demons being 'sane' as a species, given that most of my memories came from mortals, but I certainly had never seen a genuinely insane demon.

Isabella stirred and slipped a leg over me. “Now that we are awake, what do you think about some action?”

I grunted and held my desires in check. “Not now. If we start now neither of us will get out of bed by the evening, and I still have something to work on in Kasdeya’s laboratory. I am close to the final product, I am sure.”

“Aw…” Isabella pouted. “I don’t like that you are preferring her over me.”

“It’s not like that.” I gently pried myself loose. “We are working on an artifact that could immensely increase my powers. Even my old gear would pale in comparison to such an object.”

“That sounds wonderful, but are you sure that you don’t even have the time for a quick one?” She rolled herself around alluringly, but I held my impulses in check.

Are you mad!? Do her! Now!

“I am sorry, but I have to go!” I blurted out quickly before the other would make more of a fuss. “Just remembered that I shouldn’t miss training with my people!”

Grabbing my clothes, I fled the scene while trying to get into my pants. I would simply have to find a shower somewhere else before I got to Kasdeya. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to take Isa right then and there, but I also imagined that it would be so much more fun if I didn’t keel over at some point.

I somehow managed to sneak my way back to my crew’s quarters where I entered the room that Jada had assigned to me the day before. After I had washed up, I went to training with my minions. Thankfully, everything went down without interruptions this time around and I finally arrived back at Kasdeya’s workshop.

***The Infernal Plane of Lust***

***Ashley***

I sighed inwardly while I followed Khorne to our next suspect. We had been at it for the better part of the day, even missing out on dinner. Wasn’t it already time for supper? When would Khorne finally give up and wait for the Átahsaia to make a mistake?

The man was a working machine.

Trying to be inconspicuous, I stole a glance at the time-piece which was hidden inside my bracelet and grimaced. If we went on like this, I would have to think about the next breakfast.

It was annoying to waste all my time by looking after the pretentious man, but it was the only way to keep him somewhat in check. As long as I was present, he restrained himself at least a little in flaunting his powers. I didn’t want him to get the idea that he could make any of my daughters his plaything. Luckily, my children were more than capable of taking care of themselves when it came to Khorne’s minions.

I probably shouldn’t complain too much. Ever since he became distracted by the assassin, he also forgot about furthering our negotiations and that was fine with me. Bar any other options, he had decided to take things into his own hands and investigate any and everyone who displayed suspicious behaviour.

Just like I had planned. I was in no hurry to sign a contract that would seal my family’s fate.

Khorne went around another bend in the corridor and for a moment I lost sight of him.

Cursing, I quickened my steps to a pace that I personally deemed to be indignant and caught up with my charge.

He was already knocking onto the door that led to a certain Zuebin’s suite – one of Khorne’s lesser underlings. Half an hour earlier, Zuebin had been reported missing after he had left the rest of his group, supposedly in order to retreat to his quarters.

“I can’t believe that any of these lesser creatures would underestimate the threat of a mind flayer,” Khorne grumbled to himself and knocked again, this time strong enough to rattle the door.

I secretly hid a gleeful smirk behind a hand. Seriously, what did he expect from a bunch of demons who generally only looked out for their own benefit or satisfaction? My family of supportive succubi was the exception to the rule in the Infernum.

Other leaders of warbands or demon lords had to rule with their fists. Which meant constant worrying about one of your subordinates stabbing you in the back while you chased down the next deserter from among an endless chain of less than trustworthy minions. All just so that they could demonstrate their might in order to frighten their lessers into submission – at least as long as those frightened into submission thought themselves to be within their tormentor’s reach.

How did the mortals say it? A herd of cats?

Yes. A Demon Lord’s job was worse than keeping track of a herd of cats.

I genuinely wondered how Khorne and others of his sort did it. Never in my long life would the thought of conquering all of Lust have entered my mind. Conquering one region and hand it to a trusted minion, then go on to the next just to find out that one of your commanders found a way to side with the enemy despite all the contracts you had him swear upon. Then to backtrack five steps in order to take care of another inevitable betrayal before you could return your attention to the great task at hand.

It was mindboggling and would take someone with a masochistic streak to even make the attempt. Alas, every few millennia a demon insane and powerful enough to make the attempt rose from the endless and nameless multitudes that inhabited the Infernum.

But unlike many others who had inevitably failed, it had taken Khorne just a few centuries to get to this point. He already ruled a sizeable portion of Lust and bar any unexpected throwbacks, it was unlikely that the loose coalition of his remaining competitors would hold him back for much more than another decade. If it hadn’t been for my intervention and my daughters facilitating their relationships, they would have already caused their own downfall.

Khorne finally lost his patience and kicked down the door with his foot, then dashed into the room.

I stepped sideways, taking a peek into the room. What I found wasn’t an encouraging scene. One of Khorne’s men was holding the head of another in his arms. It would have looked like they had been caught when they were about to kiss each other, but the pulsing, worm-like appendages that connected their mouths made that unlikely.

“Vile Pest!” Khorne screamed and materialized a sword out of nowhere in his hand. The ghostly energies materialized into an ethereal blade within a second. Then he drove it through the chest of the closest target. The demon seized up and squealed in delightful agony.

When Khorne twisted his blade inside the wound, his target changed its cadence and let out a high pitched scream that didn’t sound natural while chains of ethereal energy ripped out of his body and anchored the target of the spell to the ground and the walls.

Khorne didn’t waste any time and pulled his weapon out of his victim sideways in an attempt to get the second demon too. It was actually commendable that he hadn’t frozen up in indecision at all and had instead opted to capture both of his underlings before attempting to ask any questions.

Unfortunately, the first strike had forewarned the true Átahsaia.

It ripped its tentacles loose, spurting yellowish goo everywhere while it bent backwards in an unnatural way, thereby avoiding Khorne’s ghostly sword.

Scrambling backwards on all fours, the Átahsaia made for the exit like some twisted animal.

I didn't fail to notice that it had changed its host in certain ways now that it had been caught. The demon's claws had lengthened unnaturally, and tentacle-like worms with a lamprey's maw had emerged from all of the creature's orifices.

Making sure to let out a shriek of surprise and disgust, I parried the flaying tentacles with my favourite spell while I jumped to avoid the creature – accidentally freeing the Átahsaia’s escape route. A purple barrier sprung up around me and the Átahsaia quickly changed course when its tentacles found nothing to latch onto. It dashed down the corridor, wailing all the way like some insane maniac.

Then Khorne was also past me and on the creature’s trail.

I took a glance back into the room where Khorne’s man was still bound in magical chains and then followed the Demon Lord and his prey.

The chase led us in a straight line through half the castle. The Átahsaia attacked everything in his path without discrimination and even got lucky in one case, where it beheaded one of Khorne’s men with a swipe of its claws. The unfortunate fellow had turned around a corner and met his end before he could take in the situation.

Then the creature found the stairway that led down towards Kasdeya’s basement.

By then, several of Khorne’s men and some of my daughters had joined the chase, alarmed by the noisy creature.

Khorne and I were right behind our target when the creature barged into the large laboratory, vaulting itself over Kasdeya’s machine park and landing right on a workbench.

My daughter had been working at the very same spot and was caught off-guard.

I reached out, readying another barrier to protect her. “Kas! It’s the Átahsaia!”

Thankfully, Kasdeya made my intervention unnecessary. It would have been troublesome for me to display a skill that could have stopped our prey at any time.

Shrieking in surprise, Kas darted away to hide behind Amon who was holding a tray with various freshly cleaned instruments. He had been approaching the workbench, so he was closer to Kas, but not right at the workplace.

Something that looked like an oversized gyrocompass wobbled while the Átahsaia was looking for another escape route, rattling the table it was standing on. Then the artefact fell and shattered with a puff of smoke in a small explosion, together with what looked like a small disc that had been held in its centre.

There was a moment of complete silence while the warped metal crackled with arcane energies and then went dormant. All that could be heard was the intake of a sharp breath while Amon dropped the tray with the instruments, letting out a cry of dismay mixed with unimaginable fury.

“What did YOU DO!?”

The raw emotion behind his fit of rage was enough to push everyone back and I couldn't fail to notice the change of tone in his voice. The innocent naiveness he usually wore like a mask was suddenly gone.

Then I felt it. The mana, all the energy in the room was suddenly sucked towards Amon and formed into runic enchantments all over his skin. It coalesced into an armour of energy that encased his body and the horns on his head ignited, forming a crown of flame. Suddenly, the normally completely inconspicuous demon seemed larger, his aura weighing heavily on the entire room.

It was then that I realized that Amon wasn't some naive child at all. It had been just a mask he had shown to Khorne and even fooled me.

The Átahsaia stared into Amon’s golden eyes, apparently torn between seeing him as just another prey or an actual challenge.

Kasdeya scrambled away from behind Amon to search for a better place to hide.

Before I thought to interfere, the Átahsaia howled at Amon and Amon howled right back without showing a hint of being intimidated, charging and bringing up both fists.

“I will end you, you worm!”

The Átahsaia’s scream of challenge turned into a squeal of existential terror and instead of charging its prey, the creature fled. It must have seen something in its opponent's eyes that made it change its mind.

Amon’s fists came down on the place where his prey stood just a moment ago and blew the workbench to smithereens.

“Run, whoever you are, you won’t get away!”

Amon had only eyes for his enemy and followed the Átahsaia with single minded determination. He threw a complicated spell array after the creature that had unfortunately decided to flee right back towards us.

Khorne ducked just in time, causing me to click my tongue in dismay.

I used my previously prepared barrier to deflect Amon’s spell just at the right angle for it to hit one of Khorne’s men right behind me. If anyone asked later, it was an unfortunate accident of course.

The squeal that emerged a moment later confirmed that Amon’s hex was a far from pleasant experience, but I had other things to consider.

The Átahsaia was charging right at Khorne and myself – though that wasn’t what had me concerned. The enraged soul mage with powers that clearly rivalled a Demon Lord was of far more concern. Especially since there was no question that Amon had lost his composure over whatever experiment the Átahsaia had destroyed.

Khorne seemed indecisive, but then he dodged out of the pair’s way.

Letting out a breath, I did the same.

The Átahsaia squirrelled its way through between our people and Amon followed right behind it like a wrecking ball. His flaming tail caught one of Khorne’s minions and sent the man flying like a toy while the magically enhanced soul mage simply trampled over another in his single-minded goal to get his hands on the Átahsaia.

I sucked in a sharp breath and shared a meaningful look with Khorne, then we followed in destruction’s wake.