4

I sat on the ground next to the demon, leaning on the open mouth of the cave and asked, "You are the strongest... 'being' that I have ever met. No one could have survived the pressure I put on your neck and I don't think anyone can resist you, man OR woman. So why do you hide in this cave?"

She responded with a disbelieving grunt, saying, "You really know nothing, do you? Do you even know exactly what I am?" I shook my head to answer her; and, with a sigh, she started to tell me her tale.

"I am what you humans call a 'succubus'. I was summoned into this world by a Wizard I'm supposed to call my 'Master' to be his familiar. He always intended to summon a demon, but he knew nothing of what type of demon I am or ow our powers work." He tried to control me, knowing that he had to have my real name; but the old fool thought that I would just give it to him if he asked. In fact, he was so eager to have sex with me that, by the time he realized something was wrong, it was too late. He kept shouting out the fake I'd given him as if it would help him somehow while I continued to slowly drain his life **** away. The old bastard had one trick up his sleeve though, with his last breath he placed a curse on me; making it so that I could only be freed from my contract of servitude in this realm if a new master took me in and released me of his own free will. I have been stuck in this cave ever since. At first, people sought me out to try and claim me as theirs; but as you have seen, that never happened. Then they just started trying to kill me. Honestly, it was fun in the beginning and helped me stave off my hunger; but it just got so monotonous. I don't know that there's anything I wouldn't give to be free from this damn cave, and be able to explore the world. Or even just go back to the underworld! I've heard about a great many things in the outside world and I honestly get excited thinking about what I could do out there with my abilities and appearance; but, for now, here I sit in this cave."

I sit in a comprehending silence, taking in what I heard and weighing my options. I then stood up to extend a hand to her, helping the demon up off of the ground. Asking, "So... if I'm the first person to not die from fucking you, do you belong to me now?"

She shook her head no and responded, "Nah. Nothing is official until we complete the pact officially. Though, if you want to, I can't say no at this point."

I nodded my head and again considered my options. "Well then, let's begin the pact."

The demon got a genuine smile on her face and began to chant in a language that I didn't recognize, my mind barely identified them as words at all and I could clearly make out more than one voice in the air. Spears of colored lights seem to stab up from the ground all around us. The demon then walked up to me and gave me a sloppy kiss on the mouth, then was suddenly a few feet away again as though she had never moved and everything is back to as it had been moments ago. She then kneeled on the floor and gave a long and flowery speech about that she was now mine to use as I see fit, to serve, protect and obey and all numbe of oaths and ritual quotes that I tuned out of my mind, waiting for her to finish. In between declarations of her servitude, she retrieved a piece of parchment from a nearby corpse to make an envelope, placed a lock of inside of it and magically sealed it with a drop of blood from her thumb that she pushed onto the folds of the paper and offered it to me, stating her name was Selene as she did. When I took it, the blood-print shifted on the paper to become her signature. I raised my eyebrow at this, not believing for one second that Selene was her real name, but I honestly couldn't give a shit.

I looked back to Selene and asked if she had anything she wanted to grab before we left but she merely shook her head 'no'. We then began to walk away from the cave but only made it about a dozen paces before Selene paused at the edge of the tree line. "This is the edge of where I have been cursed to stay. Every time that I have tried to pass this mark, I get this surge of excruciating pain." I could see her trying to summon the courage to cross the invisible line but didn't move for a good minute or so. Seeing she needed help, and Being the gentleman that I am, I placed my hand on her back and gave her a rough shove that caused her to fall to the forest floor floor well beyond the previous boundary. She quickly sprang to her feet in fear and turned to angrily protest but froze when she realized that she was over the tree line and finally truly free. With the realization, her face lit up and she began to run around with her arms spread wide like a child's first trip to the par., I watch her run for some time, honestly enjoying watching her display of joy a bit; then started to walk away with no destination in mind.

Soon enough I heard her fall in line behind me. "So, where to first, Master?" she inquired.

"There is no 'we'," I explained to her without looking back. "You're free now, just like you wanted."

She paused for a moment, thinking I was joking and expecting me to admit the deception any moment; but I just kept walking. Suddenly, I heard a giant sound like a strong breeze and Selene was standing in front of me with two giant wings seemingly made of white leather sticking out of her back. With a serious expression, she approached until she was less than an inch away and began to yell, "You mean I went through all of that pact nonsense and now you don't even care?!"

"You told me you needed someone to becoming your master and willfully letting you go was the only way you might get free. I gave you exactly what you wanted, so why are you upset?" was my factual and dispassionate reply.

Selene paused for a long time, then stated quietly, "I mean, I have wanted freedom for a long time; but, now that I have met you, why can't we travel together for a while. You know, explore together? You don't seem to share the same values as others, so think about what we could accomplish together. Plus you seem to have an impossibly huge life ****. One that I'm sure I won't find anywhere else."

I paused, trying to think of what I wanted beyond **** and seeing 13 again. On one hand, I felt like she could only slow me down; but, on the other hand, I wouldn't just be looking for trouble anymore. It would follow along behind me at all times. Making up my mind, I slid past her to start the walk back towards the capital and yelled over my shoulder "If you want to have fun, then you better be sure you can keep up." I heard Selene's wings flap only once and suddenly she appeared next to me, she then turned to me and and asked "What is 'your' name, master?"

I pause for a second, then simply replied,"200."