The Lair of the Demon Prince

She was falling, as she had before, right across the clearing. This time, however, she didn't crash or break her wing. She guided herself safely to the ground and covered her naked body. Here, in her Pure Land, she could feel herself grow in power by small increments. She lingered for a while, until the crashing noises in her head became too much to bear and she entered her domain to confront the beast.

Melanoche was waiting for her, as she'd expected. 'I get what you were trying to do but you're down to nine lives, so it really was a bit of a waste.'

'I wanted to see how hard it would be,' she said, absently, as she searched for the thing causing so much tumult.

'Oh, no, I get it. Just, maybe think things through a bit better next time.'

Callisto didn't bother responding to that as she honed in on the beast's location. He was in the cellars, running amok. She called on her constructs to detain him and they did their best. They were no match for him but they kept him in one place long enough for her to arrive. She'd visualised him before but really seeing him for the first time gave her chills.

He was a tremendous werelion, at least seven feet tall, with rippling muscles beneath a fine black coat of fur. His eyes were silvery blue, like ice, and his fangs were hideously long and razor sharp. When he saw her, his member came out of its furry sheath and stood erect, an angry mast of red flesh. He did not say a word but lunged for her.

If she'd been even a few inches closer, he'd have caught her in her shocked state but she was able to respond at the last second, conjuring her blade and slashing him across the chest. He reeled back from the pain but threw himself back towards her before she could follow up. He got her by the throat and pinned her to the ground and for just a moment she feared the worst. As quickly as it had happened, however, her constructs swarmed over him and pulled him back. She conjured more emanations to help until he was restrained and they dragged him to his cell.

He writhed and growled and occasionally managed to smash one of her guards but it did him no good and soon enough he was back in his shackles and his muzzle. She visualised stronger bindings, stronger bars and stronger guards and soon it was so. Melanoche greeted her as she ascended to the ground floor. Constructs rushed all around her, some to put things in order but most to aimlessly wander. 'If you despise him so much, why don't you just kill him?' It was a question she knew the answer to, she likely just wanted to hear Callisto say it.

'If I kill him, some of my powers would die with him. My final form, my resurrection.'

'At least you understand how important he is. But, you know, you wouldn't have to become a mindless beast. Back when he felt more contended with you, he could speak coherently. If you merged yourself with him, you could retain your intelligence, even some of your restraint. You could still have your favourites, your little girlfriends you treated gently, even some of those lines you won't cross. You'd just be free, to take what you want without all this guilt and anxiety. Wouldn't that feel good?'

'It would,' she admitted, 'but it doesn't matter. You're wrong about me. I'll keep him trapped here forever. I will never ever give in.'

'Your determination is vaguely admirable but you know, deep down, that it's not true. You'll be ours sooner or later, even if takes my sister sticking her tongue up your ass.'

'Leave,' she commanded, and the goddess was gone. She, herself, left her domain shortly after and flew up to survey the area. Far off to the west, the orcs were massing another ****, larger than the one she'd fought before but not by much. She could tell, however, that its troops were tougher, veteran orcs, some gnolls and werewolves mixed in, and even a contingent of devils. To the east, a large human **** had arrived, likely having followed the Archduke. It was comparable in size but not in strength and she raced to meet it.

Amidst the tents and wagons, she found Mel and her group. The girl waved for her, smiled and gave her hug. 'Hey,' she beamed.

'Hey,' Callisto said, returning her smile, 'I thought your party was planning to leave.'

'Well, they wouldn't let anyone out of the town unless they going with this army, and Samrud's been itching for a fight. The others think that there might be some decent loot in it and, that with you around, we'll probably win.'

'Probably,' she replied, happily.

'The army's actually been waiting on you, by the way. The plan is to get moving as soon as you show up.'

'If only someone had told me.'

'Well, no one could find you,' Mel laughed.

Callisto hummed at that, wondering whether she should try to integrate herself more formally into the military. She ultimately dismissed the notion, not wanting to be bound by provincial concerns. 'Well, I guess we're moving, then,' she said as she noticed the soldiers begin to organise themselves.

It took a while for the army to get going and, once it was marching, getting everyone through the woods was its own ordeal. There was minor action against goblins which made her feel a little guilty, both for allowing a few men to die as a result of her not destroying the dungeon and for whatever was done to the little ones when the army sent a detachment to do what she was supposed to have done. She dwelled on that broken woman and what might've become of her.

There was yet more cause for guilt when the army crossed into her Pure Land. She hoped for an attack, that would allow her to fight at full strength, but regretted it when a raiding party charged into the army. These were veteran orc warriors, writhing with dark magic. They were no match for her but they put up more of a fight, occasionally managing to anticipate her lightspeed attacks, and slowed her down. Whilst she was occupied, they chewed through the southern flank of the army. Her God's Eye revealed to her the deaths of many young men and the lives that had flashed before their eyes.

She was applauded, of course, for dispatching so many dozens of them but it felt hollow and she only just kept herself from crying when the army stopped to camp and bury its dead.

Deciding to sleep amongst the tents of Mel and her companions, she was complimented by Samrud as he cleaned his axe by the fire. 'You're a great warrior. Those sons of bitches were tough,' he chuckled. He'd been one of the few soldiers able to go one-on-one with them.

'If only I'd been faster, stronger. Fewer of the men would've had to die.'

'Used to working alone, I take it? One of the hard lessons you learn as an adventurer is that you can't save everyone.' That line seemed to upset Mel and she fled to her tent.

'I suppose,' she said, forlorn.

'Many more would've died if you hadn't been here. Add all those orcs you killed before and it could've been a complete rout. More likely, this army wouldn't even exist. They'd have taken the town, killed every almost every man, woman and child inside its walls, even the cats and dogs, and burned it to the ground. Then, they'd have ran back to their fortress with however many women they wanted and **** them every night for the rest of their short lives.'

The image hurt her heart. 'You're right.'

'Of course I am,' he said, plainly, 'and you are a glimmer of hope in the darkness. The Emperor has known about this demon prince for five years, and not a single hero has bothered to investigate. You've saved tens of thousands of lives just by showing up when you did.'

She slept alone that night and felt the effects of her Pure Land in the morning. She could feel her form having grown in power and, disturbingly, she could also picture the beast's own evolution. Samrud's words echoed through her mind, however. It was a risk worth taking, to continue being the saviour these people had hoped for. She lingered there until the rear guard had moved on, soaking up the increments of power. It was then an easy thing to get back to the front, soaring above the army and occasionally blinking forward at lightspeed. She dove around, swooping and spinning, as much to entertain the troops as to amuse herself. The exhilaration, the feel of the wind beneath her wings, almost turning her to delirium, made everything else worth it.

She came upon the enemy army soon enough, arrayed for a pitched battle with powerful orc archers in the back, a horde of ravenous demons - some barely even humanoid - right up front; human, orc and half-orc spearmen serving as the bulk of the ****, and devils on fine warhorses on the southern flank. Her God's Eye revealed much and more, and she reported this back to the army's commanders.

Sir Thomas Huntly was the most prominent of them, a handsome man except for the scar across his bottom lip and the permanent grimace affixed to his face, he had a crop of blonde hair and dark brown eyes. 'The devils will quit the field soon after the battle begins, if they have not already decided to leave after seeing you,' he reasoned, apparently familiar with their kind, 'and I shall leave the demons to you. They are strong, much too strong for my men, but stupid, almost mindless, and they will be unable to keep up with you or anticipate your movements. Five hundred is a lot but you told me you've taken on far larger numbers.'

'Correct,' she had not given him the specifics of her escapades in hell, 'consider it done.'

'Right, once you've taken care of the problem and we have confirmation that the devils have abandoned their allies, we shall meet the main ****. I will spread my men thin to cover the cavalry, who will sweep around the back and cause chaos for the archers. If the devils choose to stick around, we'll have to be more cautious but we will still be there to relieve you.'

Another commander, Lord John of Goodshire, a skinny old man with watery grey eyes and patches of long white hair, then spoke up, 'and if this Demon Prince makes an appearance, what then?'

'I consider it unlikely. If the reports are to be believed, he only ever joins a battle when he is sure that it has been won. With Callisto on our side, he will remain in his castle.'

She had seen the thing, a disturbing dark fortress that stank of evil even from half a mile away, made of some grotesque mix of black stone and pulsing flesh, its three spires that pierced the sky with ugly jagged spikes. 'But if he does decide to leave, I will confront him myself.' She was a little unsure of the idea, having never even met a demon prince, but she was happy to see that it lifted Lord John's spirits to hear her say it.

With the plan decided, she took to the air once again. As she approached the enemy for the second time, she knew that her biggest problem would be a hail of arrows, as the orc archers were unlikely to be concerned about friendly fire. To that end, she put up her hair with a hard light hairclip and shielded herself in a thin layer of armour that covered every inch of her body. If it shattered or she otherwise felt in danger, she would activate her final form. Once she got into the thick of it, however, she realised that she had made herself invulnerable. The claws and teeth of the demons did little more than occasionally push her around and the few steel arrows that found their mark, bounced harmlessly away.

Five hundred demons was still a lot to kill, however, and she was only half done by the time she heard the war horns of her allies. Unwilling to see a repeat of the previous day's events, she spent almost half of her mana reserves on emanations to speed up the fight. At a fraction of her own power, they often shattered against demonic strength or under orc arrows but each one still managed to score three or more kills before falling. Once she'd killed her last demon she took off, receiving a good bird's eye view of the battlefield. The spearmen had not yet clashed and, as predicted, the devils had begun their orderly retreat without so much as a scratch.

She used her God's Eye when she was much closer to the castle, and discovered that the gnolls were inside, along with orcs and a few devils, but the werewolves were not. She scanned back across the terrain in search of them, cursing herself for not mentioning them to any of the commanders. She searched far and wide, through layers of earth, and eventually found them. They were hiding in the woods, in a crude network of tunnels. A dungeon, she realised, one with a core that couldn't have been more than a few hours old. Once the spearmen were engaged, the beasts scrambled up to the surface, intending to devastate them from the rear. The cavalry had already crossed and were sweeping around to the archers.

She was her army's only hope, she realised, as she raced back across. She deactivated her hard light armour, leaving only the metal plate beneath, and poured every last drop of her mana into an army of emanations to meet the threat. The werewolves, hideous furry black beasts, that reminded her too much of the thing trapped inside her heart, crashed against her constructs and she focused on dispatching the ones that got through. Unable to blink away and feeling every scrape and blow, she was in the fight of her life but she focused her mind.

This was who she was meant to be, a hero. In the end, she was covered in bloody gashes, bitemarks and bruises, but she managed to slay them, half a hundred raging beasts, and not a single one managed to make it through. She directed her emanations, the few that remained, to join up with rest of the army and turned to do the same. Fighting in ranks was a new experience but not an unpleasant one as she could feel the morale rise among the men that could feel her Warmth. The humans were the first to surrender but very few enemies fought to the **** and the battle was over after only another hour of fighting.

She met with Sir Tom when it was all over and he exclaimed, 'good heavens, you need a healer!'

Before he could call for one, she waved him off, 'I just need to rest. I have my own healing magic.'

'Those werewolves carry a curse! You could be infected!'

She knew that it was not true. There was already an accursed beast lurking within. 'If you have tonics or potions, I shall taken them, but I wish to return to the clearing. The pool there will purify and restore me.'

'Of course, you are free to come and go as you please. It will take time to construct siege engines, anyway.'

She nodded at that and swigged a flask of nasty liquid that was hastily brought to her and then took off, flying straight to the pool. She undressed herself and entered its waters. It was much deeper than she'd imagined and, without any fear of suffocation, she let herself drift ever downward. She felt her Pure Land soothe her and empower her and she cast her healing spells, wordlessly, as her mana reserves came flooding back.

Once she was back to full strength she swam up to the surface, cleaned her armour and sword and dried herself with a thought. After she returned, she used her God's Eye against a number of the prisoners. She saw a lot of terrible things but gleamed at least a few important details, such as the layout of the castle and, much more importantly, the intricacies of orc culture.

Armed with such knowledge, she approached the commanders once again. 'I have learned that if I issue a direct challenge to this Demon Prince, his bodyguard, elite orc warriors, will expect him to oblige me and turn on him if he refuses. It would be trivial for me to gain entrance to the fortress through a window on one of the towers or even by blasting a small hole. With your permission, I would like to try.'

The commanders all looked nervously at one another and only Sir Tom spoke, 'you do not need our permission, though we would dearly hope that you don't end up killed or captured. If you are taken prisoner and Agronak threatens to kill you unless we break the siege, please understand that we will not agree to his terms.'

That made her trepidatious but she kept a straight face, 'I understand.'

Then, after steeling herself and reapplying her hard light layer, she flew up to the nearest tower and easily gained entrance. However foreboding it had been from the outside, the inside of the fortress was much worse. The dark power that ran through the castle, like blood through veins, seemingly literally in some cases, made her feel anxious, even as she killed the demonic minions that attacked her during her long march to the throne room.

When she finally entered, she got her first look at a demon prince. Orc warriors, veterans of his initial campaigns and those of their own tribes before his arrival, each skilled and strong beyond anything she'd faced, lined the room, alongside the gnolls. The man himself sat lazily on his throne. His bare chest exposed his demonic heart that pulsed and puffed, beating much too fast. His green skin appeared translucent just above it, and smoke rose from the unhealed scars. His face was twisted and contorted, somehow reminding of her own when she let the beast surface, though she had never actually seen herself in such a state. Whereas most orcs had full heads of long black hair, Agronak was bald.

His eyes were bright red, matching the ruby on the pommel of his great sword. He was flanked by six human women, three on either side, naked and kneeling. Some were bloodied and one was heavily pregnant. She saw none of their faces as they hung their heads down. At one end of the room, there were devils, men and women in roughly equal number, dressed in finery. As she walked towards him, everyone, except for his concubines, turned their heads to look at her, though none made a move for their weapons.

'Prince Agronak, of the House of Xagreth, I hereby challenge you to single combat.'

Many of the gnolls snickered and the devils appeared equally amused but the orcs were all stony-faced. The prince himself took a while to speak, and her God's Eye told her that he was annoyed, knowing that his bodyguards were expecting him to accept. He snarled and exhaled bitterly but eventually said, 'fine, but don't think I will be merciful enough to kill you. Once I've broken your wings, I will give you to my men.'

Her God's Eye showed her the sickening excitement that had stirred in them. 'I will kill you as slowly and painfully as you killed your own mother,' she returned. That enraged him, as she'd hoped it would, and he charged her. His monstrous blade pulsed with dark magic and would've ended the fight right then if it had struck true, but instead it met only thin air and the black stone floor. She'd blinked behind him and before he could react, she thrust her sword up through his back.

It would've killed anyone else, without a doubt, but, though he screamed in agony, he did not go down. Instead, he turned to face her, ripping her sword from her hands as it remained stuck inside his back. She let the genuine shock show on her face, encouraging him to go for a slow overhead strike. She met this with a conjured blade, which she slashed across his chest. He roared in pain once again but still followed through his strike. This time, when she blinked to the other side, he anticipated her move and swung his blade around in one fluid motion. In response, she flew up and kicked him hard in the face.

When he swung his sword upwards in an awkward motion, she blinked back down and stabbed him in the belly. His guts began to spill out but, despite his agony, he kept going. She challenged his next strike, with her light blade and got her first real sense of his strength. His sword shattered hers and continued to travel, smashing against her armour and almost crushing her against the floor. She cried out in pain as her knee bent too far and too suddenly. Blinking away from his follow up strike, she struggled to her feet, casting healing spells to keep the worst of the pain at bay.

The gnolls had not stopped laughing and by now it was echoing through her head, making it hard to think. The whole room seemed to close around her as he bounded towards her for his final strike. She blinked away and he turned around. His almighty swing caught nothing, however, as she'd come back to her original position. With a freshly conjured sword, she let the beast surface for just a moment and swung hard against his left leg, armoured only in furs, and cleaved it in twain. He stumbled and she pinned him to the ground. With his sword arm under her knee and her sword still stuck in his back, she brought her light blade down slowly, piercing his chest at an agonising pace, right through his heart. He sputtered and screamed with demonic fury and grabbed her throat with his free hand but she simply allowed him to uselessly **** her.

He managed to shatter the armour around her neck but by the then it was much too late him as the demonic wails were now coming from his heart alone, his own mouth having fallen silent. Within moments, the heart had been severed and his body went limp. She looked up and growled at the devils, who cried with fear. The laughing of the gnolls did not cease, however, and the expressions of his bodyguards were unreadable. His concubines had finally looked up though, some were afraid, a few were happy, and one had that awful deadened emotionless look.

'The castle is yours,' one of the devils finally spoke, prostrating himself.

After calming herself down, she replied, 'open the gates,' and someone went off to do just that. The orcs, the gnolls and the devils were permitted to leave safely but the demons that infested the whole place had to be exterminated, being little more than mindless automatons, and she knew that, unlike the goblin cave, she could not permit herself to leave the dungeon core alive. Eventually, therefore, she had to take a contingent of soldiers down into the bowels of the castle. Surprisingly, Xalyth came with her and helped explain exactly what the process entailed.

But first, they had to enter the breeding chamber. It was much worse than before, and it stank. Several soldiers threw up and she came close, except for the lack of food in her belly. Most of the women were human, including the Archduke's daughter, though a few were elves and a handful belonged to other races. Many were dead or dying and others were still being **** by demons when they entered. Her God's Eye told her that they were all pregnant and she offered her purging fire to anyone who asked, though very few were in a fit state to talk. They came to the nursery after that and, though the more feral of the demon-spawn had to be put down, she ordered the soldiers not to harm the half-orc babes.

Xalyth then led her deeper, as the men took the children away. 'It was good of you to spare them,' the dark elf said, in the softest tone she'd heard from the woman.

Callisto did not know how to respond so she simply returned a soft smile and they continued on. Eventually, the found the core, a fleshy mass of dark magic. It squirmed and screamed before she'd so much as raised her sword. 'What do I do?'

The elf flipped through one of her books, 'one this size, you must sever its tendrils and burn away its shell.'

With that, she got to work, cutting it wherever it connected to the walls. It screamed each time, trying to drive her mad and Xalyth said prayers or spells to ward away its influence. After that, she burned away its fleshy outer shell. It spat and sputtered, flecks of burning flesh sizzling against her armour. When that was done, she discovered what hid inside. It was a girl, or a demon in the shape of girl. It had nasty, spiked, red skin but otherwise held the buxom and inviting form of a woman.

Xalyth spoke up, as Callisto stood idle, slightly mesmerised, 'kill it!'

The thing turned violent at that and lunged for the elf, stopping when Callisto plunged her blade through its back. Unable to shriek, it simply burned away into nothingness, and she felt its spirit enter her. The beast shivered with power as she felt the core fuse into her own.

'Thanks,' Xalyth said, plainly, and they returned to the throne room, where the army's commanders had gathered. She felt the **** of the dungeon's core, as the dark power has ceased pulsing. Plans were drawn up to linger in the castle for only a day and a night and leave it with a garrison of five hundred men. The fortress had been built by Agronak but, legally, the land was considered to be imperial territory so who exactly it should be passed to was not something anyone could say. Callisto was, however, allowed to sleep in the prince's bedroom, which she considered a dubious honour.

The bedroom was full of awful memories that caused her to deactivate her God's Eye, but otherwise looked nice, suiting neither an orc nor a demon, with a king sized bed that had red covers and soft pillows. The room was decorated with gold and the black stone was concealed as much as possible. She would've preferred to sleep in her own bed in her domain but felt that she had to be reachable, in case the castle was attacked or some other calamity befell the men. Just as she was about to lay herself to rest, she heard a knock on the door.

Crossing the room naked, she decided to test her powers and managed to conjure a nightgown made of hard light that folded and flowed, though it was not soft to the touch. In time, she hoped she would be able to conjure more intricate designs. She opened the door to find Xalyth standing there, looking as frosty as ever.

'Can I help you?'

The elf woman chewed a little, on nothing, before answering her. 'I was pleased by your conduct today and being so close to you made me appreciate you a little more.' That would be the Warmth, she intuited. 'Mel also made me feel a little bad for interrupting her attempts to pleasure you, so,' she lingered, 'I was wondering if you'd like me to spend the night with you.'

That floored her a little and her eyes immediately began to wander over Xalyth's body. Her bluish grey skin was intriguing and her face was certainly handsome, with a long nose and an angular jawline, but her layered robes gave little else away. Ultimately, however, she had a woman's body, all else be damned, and Callisto could not resist. 'Okay,' she said, meekly, and she was immediately pulled into a kiss.

Xalyth's mouth was strong against hers and a little clumsy but the sensation still drove her wild. She disrobed with a thought and let her breasts brush against layers of cloth. The cold air against her bare arse made her whimper with delight, which encouraged Xalyth to pull her closer, grabbing her cheeks with both hands and squeezing hard. Callisto squeaked and soon found fingers in her holes. She gasped as Xalyth worked her way inside, and scrambled to remove the woman's clothing. Being careful not to tear anything, she let the anticipation and the pleasure of Xalyth's penetration drive her to ecstasy.

Once the dark elf was naked, she got her first good look at her. Her breasts were not large but still granted her purchase and her nipples were a lovely shade of black. Exploring elsewhere, she was pleased to feel a tuft of silvery pubic hair before slipping her own fingers inside. She enjoyed the aching moan that elicited from the woman and followed it up by sucking on one of her tits. They fingered each other eagerly for a good long while before eventually stumbling towards the bed. They briefly wrestled for control, but Callisto was much too strong for Xalyth to fairly beat her.

She put the grey-skinned beauty on her back and began trailing kisses down her body. Xalyth parted in legs in anticipation as Callisto slowed her pace, kissing one inch down her stomach and then another. The elf grabbed her head and tried to **** it down, groaning in protest. Callisto giggled at that but gave in, and put her lips around the girl's quivering pussy. That got her a delicious moan and she got to work, drawing out squeals and exasperations as she tongued, nipped and kissed at her sex.

Using one hand to rub furiously at her clit and the other to hold her hip firmly against the mattress, Callisto kept going through the first orgasm, as Xalyth's hips tried desperately to buck against her with mad delight and she screamed at the top of her lungs, 'gods above!' She kept her pinned down and kept going, tonguing and rubbing her as she arched her back and slapped uselessly at her shoulders. Once she had seen her through the second climax, she finally removed herself and clambered atop her bed partner. They kissed and Xalyth got a good taste of her own juices.

After caressing the elf woman's breasts, Callisto parted her legs to allow Xalyth's fingers another entrance. She moaned against the woman's lips and her neck as she kissed it, even deciding to leave a love bite. Her own orgasm came a while later, as they pressed themselves against one another and Xalyth's fingers began to work like pistons, hard and fast, whilst her thumb rubbed against her clitoris. 'Fuck, God, fuck,' she managed to say, practically **** her words out.

They lingered for a while in that state, kissing and caressing one another, sweaty and nude atop the covers, until they fell asleep in each other's arms.