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** The Seeker, Chapter 24**

** By William W. Kelso**

*I was having a really nice dream, My Mistress and I were back at the Marque de Sades pleasure dungeon, only this time I didn't burn it down and sink Hell's navy. We were both chained up in his dungeon while being delightfully 'tortured' and roaring in ecstasy, when someone tickled my nose. With a snarl I pawed at my snout, but didn't wake up. My memorial mating with Samanthis had left me totally exhausted, and I was really out of it. I gave a moan of pleasure, and dived back into my dream, only to have something tickle my snout again. This time I DID wake up, and I was pissed! *

"RAAARRRGGGHHH!!! SNORT!" I bellowed, as I opened my eyes and sat up in the lava pool, "WHO DARES!?!" I roared, flames shooting from my nostrils.

*Then I felt something crawling around on my head, and freaked out. *

"Aaaaahh, get it off!" I squealed, dancing around. It's a bug, I just knew it was, and I HATE bugs! With a "Yipe!" I dived into the lava pool, if it was a bug that would fry the thing. Smart, huh?

When I surfaced I looked around expecting to see hordes of Hell roaches or something else nasty running around waiting to get me, but all I saw was a small form paddling around in the lave. With a curious snort I scooped up the lava in my paws and let it run off through my fingers, and found myself looking a little fire salamander. It looked back at me with its tiny little jewel like eyes, and asked,

"Are you my daddy Mr. Dragon?"

Well, talk about being caught with your fire out, I mean that was on Hell of a question!

"Well, I said, who's your mother little demoness?"

"I'm Ember, my mommy is Flicker." the little salamander piped.

"Is her mommy Samanthis?" I hissed.

"Yes, Samanthis is my grand-mommy. I heard her say you were here, and I wanted to meet you. Are you my daddy?"

"Well, it would appear so little one. It's nice to meet you." I replied.

"It's nice to meet you too. You don't look like a butt-head, Fernal said you were a butthead. What's a butthead?"

"Fernal is a butthead, I replied. Who is Fernal anyway?"

"He's a salamander demon, Flicker is always comparing you to him, I don't think he likes you."

"Same here kid, I said, I don't think I like him. Want me to eat him?"

She gave little amused hisses, and said "Oh no, please don't! He's really not that bad, he's nice to me and my siblings."

"OK, I agreed, but tell him if he wants to call names to do it in my snout from now on."

"OK daddy, she replied. Daddy, did you really beat up a behemoth?

"Yep, sure did kid" I said, preening a little bit.

"Wow, you must be strong!" she said in awe.

"Look, I said, does your mommy know where you are?"

"Umm, not really, she replied. I heard grand-mommy say she'd just met you at the lava pools, so I snuck away to meet you."

*Oh yeah, I thought, we certainly 'met' one another, what a demoness! I didn't say that bit out loud though, hissing from the memory. *

"Ember, I hissed, you really shouldn't sneak away like that! There are plenty of demonkind who are not as...nice as I am. You really should go home; your mommy will be worried."

"Will you tell me how you beat up the behemoth first?" she asked.

*Well, what the Hell could I say to that?? So I spent over an hour telling her stories about me and my Mistress, how I met her mother (leaving out the gang-rape bit), and we had a great time. A huge dragon holding a tiny little salamander in the pads of his paws while she listened enthralled, and when I looked up I found some other younger demonkind listening raptly, gathered in a semi-circle around the rock outcrop I was lying on. Then it was time for dragon rides, and I paddled around in the lava with a horde of shrieking little demonkind young on my back while older demonkind watched in bemusement at my antics. After awhile a couple adults joined in and I think they were surprised at how much fun they had with the youngsters. In Hell younger demonkind mostly get ignored by everything but their mothers, so maybe I started something. *

"Again, again!" Hissed Ember, and I was tempted, but knew I'd better go and find My Mistress. So I picked her up, and licking her little snout, I said,

"I have to go now; My Mistress is looking for me. You'd better go home for now. But I promise I'll come and visit soon, is that OK?"

*She was disappointed, but nodded her head. I made arrangements for a large fire lizard to escort her home, and he nodded solemnly and promised he'd make sure she got there. As they headed off I heard Ember call, "I love you daddy!" I was one happy dragon as I took flight and headed back for the main entertainment cavern complex. *

Varna quaffed some more beer, a fair amount leaking out past her impressive fangs. But since all vampire demonkind had that problem she didn't stand out in the middle of the hoard of carousing demonkind bats. She had a buzz on, but it was more from the unbelievable sex she'd had recently, and the taste of her lover's blood lingering on her fangs. Despite having once been a human male before having her soul trapped the body of a female vampire bat demi-demoness in Hell; via a rather unusual computer malfunction, she was having a pretty good time, actually enjoying herself immensely. She was subject to the needs of her 'new' body just as much as the original; now deceased, owner, and had wisely given in to those needs and instincts. But she decided to cut back on the booze, she did not want to get plastered and say something stupid that would give her situation away. There was no telling how the other demonkind might react, her friend Vulva had made that very clear. She leaned over and gave Krak; her lover, a big wet lick on his muzzle, and he 'kissed' her back, their tongues entwining for a minute or two. They liked each other, very much, and both were pretty sure this relationship would continue after the swarm party was over. It was rare for so many Hell bats to get together in one place at the same time, and it always resulted in a spontaneous mating swarm. The fact the Lord of the Bats had led this one made it even more special. But the party was far from over.

Vulva was very pleased with the way the party was going so far, it looked like most of the shops that had rented space in her new domain were turning out very nicely. Her place was definitely going to give the South Vent a run for its money. And so far Pet hadn't blown up anything yet, which was always a plus. Come to think of it, were WAS the little pyromaniac? Since the main party would be starting fairly soon she started wrapping up business and heading towards the main audience chamber.

'Pet, Vulva called in her mind, where are you? The VID's (Very Important Demonkind) will be arriving soon; we need to be there to meet them.'

'On my way Mistress, I replied via our mind link. Be there soon.'

'What have you been up to? Vulva asked, I didn't hear any explosions.'

'Oh, ha-ha Mistress, I replied, you know I never do that on purpose! If you really want to know I made a friend, a cute little fire salamander.'

'I'll bet, Vulva said, did you get her knocked up?'

'Mistress, I replied indignantly, she's my daughter!"

'Oh, my bad Pet, I'm sorry.' Vulva replied.

'She wants to meet you sometime, I said, I told her how marvelous you are.'

'Really?' Vulva asked, rather pleased, "Well, then you'll have to bring her to the office sometime. We'll have some tea and cookies.'

'Thank you Mistress.' I replied, looking forward to it.

Vulkrebs touched down and folded his wings with a loud snap, followed closely by Lisa and Lydia; and the rest of the entourage proper for a demi-demon. He presented his invitation to the rather impressive 'security' detail who snapped to attention, and lifted the barrier for him. Then a few seconds later every one prostrated themselves as two huge fire drakes landed and roared the imminent arrival of, "Great Lord Ba'al! All tremble before his might!"

*The huge Great Lord set down with loud flaps of his own wings, followed by his own entourage. He waited for a minute while he assumed a somewhat less imposing; and smaller, form before allowing the slaves to rise. A dapper lizard demon in a uniform snapped a crisp salute, and escorted him to the main audience chamber where he would preside over the proceedings. He approved of the security measures, the bunkers were a nice touch. As he went he graciously acknowledged the genuflecting and bowing of the various more notable demonkind. He ignored the lesser slaves, much to their delight. *

Vulva got to the audience chamber just in time, and Pet showed up a few seconds later. She smiled, he looked good, he was happy and his scales were shiny and sleek. She gave him a quick kiss, and he hissed as he rubbed his head against her legs.

"Oh Pet, hissed Vulva, I have a surprise for you."

Uh-oh, I thought. "What is it Mistress?" I asked somewhat leerily, surprises in Hell are usually fun for the surpriser, NOT the surprisee.

She held up a large gold ring, and said, "Isn't it lovely?"

I turned my head and took a closer look. "What IS it?" I asked.

It's a hornring! Vulva said, it will look so cute with your harness."

Oh, HELL no, I thought, I've been good! What did I do to deserve this?

"I don't want it!" I sniffed.

"And why not?" Vulva asked in her 'you really don't have any choice' tone of voice.

"Because I'll look like a great big sissy, all the other dragons will laugh at me!" I sniveled.

"They all laugh at you anyway, Vulva said, besides, they're just jealous."

No they're not, I thought, they just don't have mean Mistresses who dress them up like big sissies!

"DON'T want it!" I hissed.

"TOUGH! Vulva hissed back, now lower your head!"

"NO!" I replied, rearing back and lifting my head up as high as I could.

Then I saw Great Lord Ba'al coming down the tunnel; the hordes of screaming Imps and demonkind fleeing before him should have been a tip-off but I'd been distracted. With a squeal of terror I threw myself face down on the floor and prostrated myself.

"Good boy!" Vulva said as she slipped the hornring over one of Pets horns, then spoke the binding spell and the ring shrank to a perfect fit, irremovable. "And it's hellgold, it won't even melt, isn't that nice?"

Aw Crap, I thought.

*Then it was down to business as Great Lord Ba'al arrived. *

As Ba'al swept into the chamber everyone bowed; or prostrated themselves depending on their level, and his personal Vizier announced his arrival in a thunderous voice and booming taps from the base of his staff,

*"Make way for Great Lord Ba'al, Make way slaves! Tremble before his might lest his gaze fall upon you and you suffer his disapproval!" *

As that wasn't a threat, it was a promise, everyone and everything took the announcement very seriously indeed, and the Great Lord was pleased when he was paid the respect he was due. He noticed the red dragon was especially respectful as usual.

Vulva bowed low before Great Lord Ba'al, as it was her domain she was allowed to remain standing. Pet; on the other hand, had passed out as usual as Ba'al scared the crap out of him. But she knew Pet respected him as well. When Pet groveled it was sincere, and for a good reason. He didn't do that with most demonkind. Usually he just got his butt kicked for being a wiseass.

"Rise, Mistress Vulva, Ba'al said in his deep mellow voice, it looks like you've outdone yourself. I must say I certainly approve of your security measures, though they were maybe a tad overdone."

"Greetings and Welcome Great Lord, Vulva replied, please come with me; we have prepared a table for you and your vassals."

"Excellent, let us proceed, I am famished from the long flight. And bring your Pet dragon, I would like to see the two of you perform for us; you are always so...energetic."

Vulva gave Pet a kick, and tried to contact him, but he was still out, lying with his wings over his head. Great.

*"Uh, my pardons Great Lord, Vulva said, it appears your arrival has rendered him temporarily...out of it. But he will join us as soon as he can." *

Ba'al chuckled, "He is always SO respectful! Very well, when he has recovered he may join us. Now let us go, it would be rude and impolite to keep your other guests waiting. We have much to discuss."

I woke up a couple of minutes later, and peeking out from under my wings asked "Is he gone yet?" Not getting a reply I took a chance and looked up, and Great Lord Ba'al and My Mistress were already seated at the huge central table on the raised mound in the center of the cavern. Realizing I'd passed out again I thought, man I really need to stop doing that! I couldn't help it though; Ba'al is one of the real old school badass demons, one of the fire and brimstone type. But he's earned my respect; and devotion, and as far as Hell goes he's not a bad boss. Just never, ever, get him pissed off at you; you won't get a second chance. His idea of a minor punishment is to skin you alive and use your still living skin as a throw rug. Get the picture? So my respect is very real, and a being like him can tell. One thing about Hell, down here you earn respect, you don't inherit it, and you can't buy it.

I hung around near the entrance to see who else showed up; I didn't have anything else better to do, and it kept me out of trouble. Quite a few demondkind I knew; and a bunch I didn't, showed up. There was Lord Beelzebub (no, not big "L" though the two do get mixed up, stupid humans), Great Lord Vulcan to whom I prostrated myself as he is the Lord of fire demonkind, a huge hulking demon in full armor called Lord Mars-God of War to some, and many others. When Great Lady Quezatacoatle showed up I gave a happy hiss and we rubbed snouts, the large feathered dragon-serpent was one of my many mates, I had sired a clutch with her. She still had her pirate familiar with her, so I said,

*"Arrrr are you mate?" I couldn't help it. *

"Arrrm'fine, ow might you be, arrrrr?" He replied with a straight face.

*He laughed and I hissed, it was still funny, it never got old. *

*Next Emperor Caligula showed up, so I gave the old fist to the chest Roman salute and roared "Hail Caesar!" He had an escort of Praetorian Guards, and since I have the honorary rank of Tribune I felt obligated. He was wearing the purple and gold robe of his rank, and returned my salute with delight. He looked a little effeminate in his toga and laurel wreath crown, but I've seen his dark side and it scares me. But he treats his real friends with great kindness, the poor kid has so few he treasures them. He might be a jerk, but I liked the guy. His domain was an exact copy of 1st Century Rome, and talk about parties! I didn't much care for his taste in art though; he makes sculptures and paintings out of living creatures and souls. Eyuck to the max. *

I got bored after awhile after all the VID's had shown up, so when the lesser ones started straggling in I decided to have a look around. And raid the munchies. I don't each much; mainly just brimstone and sulfur to help stoke my furnace of a body and keep my fire plume ready. I do like to snack though. And if I could get a hold of some ammonia or chlorine I planned on getting plastered, after all that's what parties are for. We party hard in Hell.

Varna looked up as Lord Dracul swept overhead followed by his retainers in perfect formation, disappearing through the exit. As she watched other higher ranking Hell bats took flight as well, following their Master. She flicked her ears as she heard one squeak to another, 'Great Lord Ba'al has arrived, we need to pay our respects!' Varna remembered his name, Vulva had said she was his slave. Krak stood up, and said,

"I'll go with you Varna, after you pay your respects we can go clubbing!"

Pay my respects?? Varna thought, then, oh yeah, right! I'm a demi-demoness, guess I'm supposed to do that. I'll watch what the others do and do the same. She hopped up on the table, followed by Krak, and spreading their wings they launched themselves into the air, and with powerful strokes of their large wings they followed the other exiting bats through the cavern mouth and into the main cavern complex, the large swarm heading towards the audience hall.

I had just found (stole) a heaping plate of brimstone cookies, and as sneaking out the entrance when I saw Vulkrebs approaching, and Lydia!! With a loud happy roar I handed the plate of cookies to a rather surprised, but grateful, boar-demon, and ran to greet my mate. I bowed to Vulkrebs first, and he laughed when I grabbed Lydia and we both roared in delight. I held her close and rubbed my snout against hers, both of us hissing softly, and passing demonkind smiled at the scene, some couples giving one another a quick lick. We didn't notice, we had eyes only for our life mate.

*Lisa giggled as she passed the two hissing dragons, and her "Hi Pet!" was ignored, but she didn't mind. *

Everybody looked up as a swarm of bats entered the audience hall, and flying in a spiral landed at the base of the raised mound on which the main table sat. A large black bat landed first, the others landing behind him. There was a second of silence, and then all the bats prostrated themselves before Great Lord Ba'al.

"Welcome Lord Dracul! And your fellow bats! Rise, boomed the voice of Ba'al. Come Lord Dracul, join me at my table; I have a place for you."

"An honor Great Lord." Dracul replied. With a snap of his wings he flew up and landed next to the table, then took his seat. The other bats spread out into the crowd to join the party.

"Who's that?" Lisa asked Vulkrebs, looking at the handsome black bat Lord.

"That, Vulkrebs said, is Lord Dracul, or Vlad Tepes if you prefer. You'd probably know him better as Dracula."

"THE Dracula? Lisa hissed, I always thought he was fictional!"

Vulkrebs chuckled, "Oh no, he is very real. It is the Hollywood version that is made up. I need to introduce you to him since he is Lord of the Bats."

"He's beautiful." Lisa said softly.

Vulva tore into the raw 'leg of something' with gusto, she didn't care if it was lamb or not. She lathered on some more of Hell's version of tobacco sauce for a little more flavor; some dripping on the table and smoldering, and tore off a large dripping chunk, throwing her head back to swallow it. The caterer's had done well, she was pleased. The food was excellent, fresh, and there was plenty of it. From the sounds of the other diners she could tell they were enjoying it as well, the vampires feeding on the provided Imps. If they accidently drained one or two to death; oh well, fresh meat for the table.

*Varna and Krak found a seat fairly close to the main table, she being a demi-demoness meant any lesser demonkind already there had better move whether they liked it or not. But since there was room she told them to stay, to their appreciative delight. Food was brought, and she grabbed one of the server Imps and had a nice long drink. All the sex had made her hungry again, but she was careful not to over feed. The Imp would be a little wobbly for awhile, but otherwise be all right. Other Imps continuously hauled away the bloody bones and other remains of their less fortunate fellows, and brought more food for the feasting demonkind. *

Lydia and I found a nice perch on one of the many ledges carved out of the walls of the cavern for flying demonkind. We roared and called greetings to other fire drakes and demonkind we knew. It was sheer bedlam, but we had no problem understanding if a call was directed at us, it's an ability we all have. I looked out over the huge cavern seething with activity. To someone not a demonkind it would have been a terrifying sight, but to me it was just great. My Mistress really knows how to throw a party! A human would have lasted about ten seconds, but the ones who were slaves had been branded and were thus 'off limits', only their Masters or Mistress's could touch them.

Vulkrebs looked at Lisa, and said, "Well my dear, I've certainly enjoyed your company, and what you did for my computer system is fantastic. But I guess it's time for you and Lydia to rejoin your Mistress. So why don't you go and have fun for now. I'll introduce you; or get Vulva to, to Lord Dracul later."

Lisa gave the large demi-demon a great big hug and kiss, pressing her snout against his and they kissed for a minute. She'd become a lover of his while she was at his domain, and really liked the big imposing demon. Like his sister he scared the Hell out of most minions, except those who knew him better, but of course they never let on. She gave him one last slow lick, and then pushed her way into the crowd to have a look around.

Vulkrebs watched the pretty bat demoness as she disappeared into the crowd. He'd really miss her, but he'd miss Lydia the most. The dragoness was one of his 'pets' much like Vulva's own pets. He'd changed her from a frightened human female virgin into the lovely creature she was now. He'd sold her to Vulva, under duress, but also because it was best for Lydia. But he'd miss her so much because in his own way he loved her, at least as much as his kind was capable of love, and they are. He gave another sad smile; the domain would seem empty for awhile. He perked up a little when a goat demi-demoness he knew asked him if he felt like company. As he looked at her voluptuous body he realized he did indeed feel like company, and stood up to pull a chair back for her. A little politeness never hurt.

Lydia, I said, lets go look around. This is fun, but you should see the rest of the domain, it's awesome! Then I took her front paws in mine and licked her snout again.

"I really missed you." I said with a soft hiss.

Lydia gave her life mate a long slow lick; and he closed his eyes and gave a hiss of pleasure.

"I missed you too, my love. She said, more then you can imagine."

"How are your hatchlings?" I asked. I hadn't met them yet, but they'd be waiting for us back at Vulva's old domain. Lydia had dropped them off there on her way here.

"Oh, they're so sweet! Lydia hissed, your own babies were playing with them when we left. They really like each other. I can hardly wait for you to see them."

"I can hardly wait too." I answered truthfully. But frankly I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about having four baby demonkind running around. They're little monsters, and I don't mean that figuratively.

I dropped off the ledge, plunged for a few feet, then snapped my wings open and glided to the entrance of the great cavern, followed by Lydia. We landed and folded our wings, and set off to do some exploring.

*The bat messenger winged his way through the hot winds of Hell; they felt good as they ruffled through his fur. He was tired, he'd been winging his way at top speed for several hours. He wore a harness that identified him as an official courier of the Court of Hell, so none had better dare impede his progress. That harness could get him anywhere, to see anyone, no matter how high ranking. He had no idea what the message he carried in his pouch was as he was far too lowly to be trusted with that information, but it was sealed with the Great Seal of Dis, Duke of Hell, so he knew it was important as it had been labeled "Top Priority". He increased his speed as he found a tailwind. *

*Lydia and I ran into Lisa, and I apologized for ignoring her earlier, but she just gave my snout a kiss. I like her, she's nice to me. Hell, she's nice to everybody! The Imps absolutely adore her. We moved through the crowd fairly easily, and most other demonkind got out of our way as dragons usually have the right of way because we just step on you if you're too slow. Of course there were plenty of larger and/or higher ranking demonkind that we gave the right of way too ourselves or they'd step on us. Etiquette in Hell is very important, it's very complicated, but you get used to it and it becomes second nature. *

Then I saw someone I recognized, it was the lizard demoness Carl had a crush on. I'd forgotten about her, and the favor I'd promised Carl. That bugged me as I HAD promised after all, so I took Lydia and Lisa into a quick huddle and told them the situation. They gave soft amused hisses, and agreed to help me help out Carl. We walked over to near where the lizard demoness was looking at some jewelry. She was pretty, Carl has good taste.

"Isn't this great? I said; everyone who's anyone is here!"

"Oh yes, said Lydia, and what about that Carl Bruckmann? I overheard Vulva and Great Lord Ba'al talking about what a great job he did with security."

"He's going places, Lydia said, he's got the notice of the bigwigs, he'll probably make demi-demon someday, just you watch!"

"Yeah, I said, he really knows what he's doing. Great Lord Ba'al was admiring his security measures."

I watched as the lizard demoness's finned ears flicked towards us, her crest raised a little, and her tail began to flick back and forth like she was thinking. She put down the baubles she was looking at, and turned and pushed her way through the crowd.

Carl, I thought, you owe me one! Quite pleased with ourselves we headed for a strip of bars and restaurants. I wanted to see which bands were playing. Due to our longevity most bars or clubs cater to a specific time period as most demonkind have a period they prefer. For My Mistress it was kind of a weird blend of Victorian, Western Saloon, and Roman orgy, it was pretty tasteless but for her it worked.

We stuck our heads in "The Bunker", but the Om-pah-pah music wasn't much to our taste. We did stick around to listen to a slinky lizard demoness sing 'Wenn wir Marschieren" in the Marlene Dietrich version. She was really good, and some demons in uniform had tears in their eyes. When they all started singing "Die Fahne Hoch" we left.

*In one bar an old jukebox was playing "Shine on Harvest Moon" and some demonkind were slow dancing to it. It was a nice place, but not our style so we didn't hang around for long, as we left they started playing "The Charleston" and the 'flappers' were great. We decided to pay it another visit later; I kind of liked the 1920-30's stuff. *

*The next bar was mostly disco and rock & roll, so we evicted some lesser demonkind from one of the larger tables and got drinks and watched the show. The live band was great. They did requests as well as their own stuff. I requested "Low Rider" by War, "Walkn' on the Sun" by SmashMouth", and Lisa asked for "Smoke on the Water", the Six Feet Under version. Lydia asked for "Satisfaction" and "Strange Brew". I got them to do "The Joker" by Steve Miller, and someone requested "Party like a Rock Star". It was great! When they did "American Woman" the Lenny Kravitz version, I couldn't help it and got out on the dance floor and did my own dance, which got lots of laughs and applause and I won a prize! I had never had so much fun in my entire existence, as a human or a demon. *

*The next bar was called "The Happy Dragon" and was in a very large cavern, and was designed for larger fire demonkind such as the dragons, salamanders, and the great drakes. It was designed to look like an erupting volcano complete with lava flows, and was very realistic. The temperatures were kept down so regular demonkind could patronize it to if they wanted to. The music was great too, if a little loud for regular demonkind as dragons tend to like lots of really loud base. The troop of fire lizards lava dancing were great; and the crowd roared in appreciation. A really talented young fire drake got up and sang "You never can tell" by Chuck Berry, and most of the smaller drakes joined him on the dance floor and was amazing how graceful the large reptiles could be as the twined around one another as they danced. They had special drinks for fire demonkind only, and soon Lydia and I had a good buzz. Lisa passed out, I think from too many Flaming Luggies and the heat, so I picked her up and we left. I'd definitely be giving this place my regular patronage though as it was the only bar for fire demonkind I knew about. *

The bat messenger landed near the entrance to the domain, and folding his wings ran towards the portal. A lizard demon in a sharp looking uniform yelled,

"ffnen Sie das Hindernis schnell! Es ist Bote! Machen Sie Weg!"

Carl yelled for a security to detail to follow, including the Slayer, and started after the messenger as an escort.

We were winding our way; somewhat unsteadily, through the press of happy partying demonkind when there was a sudden commotion up ahead, and we heard,

"Machen Sie Weg, machen Sie Weg! A messenger from Duke Dis, Make way!"

Carl, I thought, what are you up to now? But when a bat demon wearing the harness of a messenger came running down the tunnel we joined everyone else as we pressed against the walls to give him room. The slow ones were helped along by jack boots to their rears; the Slayer threw even slower ones out of the way and was not gentle.

Varna looked up as there was a big commotion at the entrance to the audience cavern, and suddenly Great Lord Ba'al's vizier slammed his staff on the floor and the loud echoing booms brought the great chamber to silence except for a low babble of questioning voices. She and Krak jumped up on the table to get a better view.

"MAKE WAY! MAKE WAY! The vizier bellowed, "MAKE WAY, A MESSENGER FOR GREAT LORD BA'AL FROM DIS, DUKE OF HELL!! MAKE WAY!"

*"Come on Lydia, Lisa", I hissed, this is important! We fell in with Carl and followed the messenger, followed in turn by a growing crowd of demonkind. As word spread the bars and shops began to empty. A messenger from one of the Dukes of Hell was a big deal. *

*Great Lord Ba'al stood up and motioned for silence, and got it. Everyone else remained seated as they had not been given permission to stand. *

The messenger took flight to clear the packed floor of the chamber, and landed in front of the great chamber. He bowed, but did not prostrate himself as messengers are not bound by regular protocol. Gasping for breath he handed the sealed pouch to Great Lord Ba'al, and said,

"Great Lord, I bear a message from Dis, Duke of Hell, for your immediate attention. I shall wait for your reply."

"Rest and await my reply" Ba'al said, and the messenger bowed again as he backed away from the table.

Ba'al chanted a short spell to break the Great Seal of Dis, anyone else who tried would have been blasted into oblivion. The message was fairly short, but he read it twice. The spoke a word of power and the message disappeared in a puff of flame. He looked at the messenger and said,

"My reply is simple, tell My Master we hear and obey."

The bat messenger bowed, and taking flight again left the chamber.

Great Lord Ba'al suddenly transformed, taking on another much larger form, and bellowed,

"Vulva, and all who have Seekers or Slayers as slaves, and all unbound Seekers and Slayers, attend me at once!!" Turning to Vulva, he said, "Mistress Vulva, we need a place to meet."

Vulva jumped up, and said, "I know the perfect place My Lord, it is not far."

PET! Vulva yelled in her mind, you and Lydia, attend me NOW!'

YES MISTRISS, I answered, Lydia and I already forcing our way through the milling crowd of confused demonkind, our way helped by the Slayer who was not gentle.

There was a fairly large unfinished cavern that connected directly to the main audience cavern, it was going to be a bath grotto, but was unfinished. As Great Lord Ba'al and those summoned filed inside Carl stationed his security detail at the entrance, and they discouraged any curious onlookers in a most efficient manner.

*In the end the large chamber contained Great Lord Ba'al, Lord Dracul, Vulva, and four other Lords or demi-demonkind who had Seekers or Slayers in their service. I felt a little proud as My Mistress had two Seekers AND a Slayer, pretty impressive. There were a total of six Seekers and one other Slayer present. *

"Lord Dracul, rumbled Ba'al, I asked you here because I need you to send your fastest bats to summon as many Seekers and Slayers as they can find! Tell them they do so on my authority, we do not have time for written messages. We need as many as possible. Any who hinder their way, or dismiss their messages, will feel the wrath of myself and Dis. They are to meet us at the great pentagram."

Whoa, I thought, that will open any portal wide!

"Yes Great Lord!" hissed Dracul, and he turned and left the chamber, shrieking and squeaking for his retainers.

Ba'al looked at the assembled demonkind, who looked back at him expectantly. He felt a surge of pride; they were the best of their kind, their powers rare and unique. Each had proven themselves to be more then capable. His eyes glowing he said in his deep cultured voice.

"We had received word from Dis, Duke of Hell; that a coven of the Order of Chaos is meeting in a determined location at this time. This is rare as they cover their movements so well. I have received orders to dispatch every available demonkind who can leave Hell without being summoned to attack and destroy this coven. And do not worry about 'collateral damage', any and all mortals you find at this location are to be destroyed, the Seekers will collect their souls. If you encounter any serious opposition; and you very well might as they are capable of wielding great magic that can affect even our kind, then the Slayers will deal with it. This will not be easy, you are all we have available on short notice even though others will hopefully receive word in time to join you. Are you ready?"

The watching demonkind didn't bother to answer, and as Ba'al looked at the fires of Hell flickering in their eyes and the flaming drool dripping from their fangs he actually felt something he rarely did, he felt sorry for their targets.

"Good, Ba'al said, I expected no less. Now we fly, to the great pentagram at the old temple!"

As we followed Great Lord Ba'al at a fast trot all made way before us, nothing was stupid enough to stand in our way, Carl's security troops clearing the way ahead of us.

'Mistress, I asked via our mind link, what's the Order of Chaos?' I'd never heard of them before in all the years I'd been here.

'The Order of Chaos is almost mythical Pet, Vulva replied, but they are very real. They owe allegiance to neither Hell nor Heaven, but worship the Old Ones, those that were here before anything else.'

"Old Ones?' I asked.

'Yes Pet, Vulva said, they are beings of disorder and chaos; hence the name of their Order. Some call them remnants or the Outer Gods. Some say they have no intelligence, are just things of mindless emotion and destroy all they touch for they are not truly alive. But we know better, we and those of Heaven, we have fought them on occasion, sometimes as Allies. If they ever break loose from the place they dwell then there is a good chance both Hell and Heaven, and the mortal realm, would be destroyed. Those who worship them are fools; they had no idea what they are really dealing with. The Old Ones can offer great power, but the price can be horrible.'

'Mistress, I said, no offense, but I drag souls down to Hell to be tormented for eternity. That's pretty horrible.'

'Yes, and you do it so well, Vulva said. But believe me Pet, compared to what they would do we are nothing. We can torment a soul, but never destroy it. They destroy all, body, mind, and soul. Or absorb it and make it part of themselves.'

If these Old Ones can scare the Lords of Hell and Heaven, I thought; then they must really be something nasty. But then again, we're not exactly cuddly puppies either. I slurped some flaming drool back into my mouth, I was entering into a kind of 'fighting mode', and was stoking my fire plume and my body temperature was rising. Flames were starting to flicker across the backs of the other Seekers as well, our eyes burning brightly. I rubbed my tail against Lydia, and she gave me a fang filled smile. This was the first time we were going 'hunting' together. In fact, it was the first time I'd ever gone on a mission with company.

'Mistress, if they're so bad why does anyone worship them?' I asked.

'Well, they worship and deal with us, don't they? But be that as it may, Vulva said, they truly have no idea what they are dealing with. Many of the members of the Order of Chaos once dealt with us, and by joining the Order can receive protection against paying their dues to Hell. But they are dangerous in that they seek ways to free the Old Ones, bring them back into our realities. This cannot be allowed, so we destroy them whenever we can. It is rare we have a chance to destroy a whole coven.'

'Who are these Old Ones, I asked, I mean WHAT are they?"

'Mortals know little about them, you might have heard them called Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, Proteus, Leviathan, among other names. They have no true form as they change constantly. Those who treat with them have no idea what they are doing.'

'Mistress, I said, I thought those creatures were just stories and legends.'

'On no my Pet, Vulva replied, they are quite real. Many consider us to be legends and myths; or the stuff of nightmares, as well. But we are real, are we not?'

*Oh yes, I thought, we are most definitely real. Before I became what I am now I hadn't really believed in Hell either. But like they say, you may not believe in Heaven or Hell, but we believe in you. At this point it wouldn't surprise me if the Easter Bunny was real. *

We stopped at the domain's arsenal to equip us with whatever armament was available. I was little surprised as I'd never taken any additional weapons on a mission before, except a magically ensorcelled shield against other weapons of Hell. Sometimes mortals get a hold of power lances or other demonic weapons, so we sometimes use precautions. A blast from a power lance can't kill us, but it hurts like an SOB and enough of them can incapacitate us. We lucked out as Carl had gone over budget buying 'toys', so pretty soon all the Seekers were well equipped with shield harnesses and heavy duty power lances. The Slayers just grinned; and it scared even us, and flexed their claws. They had no need of other weapons. Myself and my fellow Seekers felt a little insulted ourselves, but if our Master and Mistress wanted us to carry the addition firepower then so be it. We even got bandoliers of what we call "Nullification Balls", a kind of hand grenade that nullifies magic within a certain range. They're used mainly to breech magical shields. They look something like black crystal balls, and bounce like they're made out of rubber. They're not very loud or impressive when the go off, but they blow huge holes in shields, or cause them to collapse. It would turn out we'd need everything, and then some.

*Locked and loaded we headed for the domain portal, and as we exited we took to the air one by one; forming up on Great Lord Ball, and flapped our way towards the great pentagram. It was a beautiful day, and we roared at one another, eager for the coming battle. It was what we did, what we had been created for. We trailed fire like meteors as we followed the Great Lord, and everything got out of our way. As we neared the pentagram we were joined by three more Seekers who had been sent by their Master or Mistress to join us. One more Slayer waited for us at the pentagram, perched on top of one of the shattered temples pillars like a terrible vulture. He was twice the size of the other two Slayers, and we could tell he was incredibly old. The other two paid him homage acknowledging him as their leader. He would be in charge of our 'expeditionary' force; no one doubted that, we just instinctively knew it. Turns out he was Hell's oldest Slayer, bound to Duke Dis himself. *

*Ba'al looked at the 'army' he was about to send into battle. Nine Seekers and three Slayers. Not much, but they were the best. He had confidence in them, he knew they would succeed, or die. Demonkind never gave up, never. It was one of the main things that make them so feared. He wished he could go with them, but he could only leave Hell under very certain conditions, but if they ran into extreme difficulty, well that was different. *

Vulva took Pet's large head between her hands and looked into his flaming eyes, and as she did the flames died down and she could see his love for her in them. At one time such feelings would have angered and confused her, but no longer. Gently she licked his snout, and said,

"You be careful my little jelly bean, and take good care of your lovely mate. If anything happened to you my life would be...lonely."

With a soft hiss I pressed my head against My Mistress's lovely breasts and she scratched the base of my horns. I didn't say anything, I didn't have too. And then it was time to go.

With a crackle of power the ancient pentagram; carved into the bedrock of Hell so long ago no one could remember when it hadn't existed, glowed into life. The glow was faint as first, then the deeply chiseled lines and glyphs began to pulse steadily brighter, and with a final loud crackle the pentagram activated, darkness opening in its center, a darkness that swallowed even the light of Hell. With a bellow Great Lord Ba'al thundered,

"GO! All of Hell will be watching you! Make us PROUD!"

The Slayers led the way, leaping into the air with claps of their wings, followed closely by the Seekers. They spiraled high into the sky, and then one by one stood on their heads, closed their wings, and dived through the pentagram with roars of exultation.

"What now, Great Lord?" Vulva asked as the pentagram snapped shut.

"We wait old friend, we wait." Ba'al replied.

Dracul finished dispatching the last of his messengers; hopefully they would reach their destinations in time to summon additional assistance. As he reentered the audience cavern he was just in time to watch as Great Lord Ba'al led his forces out of the main entrance. He wished them luck; he knew what they were facing. During his time on earth; first as man then demon, he had battled the Order of Chaos. It was why he had been given his powers, why had had become what he was, why he had been sent to the mortal realm on several occasions. He felt a longing for the mountains and forests of Wallachia and Carpathia, they had been so beautiful. He ran his glowing eyes over the assembled demonkind watching the combatants exit and they narrowed as he found what he was looking for. The large vampire demoness was standing on a table watching along with everyone else. He had known Varna for a long time, and there was something...different about her now. He had noticed it during their mating at the great swarm. She looked and smelled the same, but she wasn't as...feral as usual. Instinct told him something was wrong, and he had relied on that instinct for thousands of years. Turning, he beckoned to one of his attendants, and gave her orders.

Things were finally settling back down and the party resumed, but at much more somber pace. Everybody and everything was clearly worried. A few who knew about the Order of Chaos were really worried, but that knowledge was not wide spread among the lesser demonkind. All the rest knew at this time was that there was going to be some serious kick ass somewhere. For all they knew another Great Lord had made a power grab, and was about to reminded of his place. Seekers and Slayers, uggh, they were Hell's Gestapo and enforcers for the bigwigs, and anyone they were let loose on always regretted it, if they survived. But none could remember when so many had been assembled for one battle.

Varna hopped back down off the table along with Krak, and they resumed drinking, but much slower and stuck mainly to sulfur tea for now. The whole atmosphere in the cavern was somber and it was amazingly quiet. A few bands in some of the clubs started playing again, but already some demonkind were leaving to head back to their own domains. Lords and demi's passed by with their slaves heading for the domains main portal, as did single demonkind. Lord Mars had already left to put the Army of Hell on alert, just as a precaution, until they found out what was going on. Varna was taking another sip of tea; and spilling some as usual-damn fangs, when she felt a tap on her wing. As she looked up a small bat demon said,

"Mistress Varna, please come with me, Lord Dracul requests you attend him."

Wha...? Varna/Eddie thought. What should she do? The demon waited patiently, and she knew she had no choice. Vulva had told her to be very deferential to higher ranking demonkind, and she knew to refuse such a summons would not be a good idea. She wished Vulva was here, or Pet. So she said,

"Of course." And got up to follow the bat demon. When Krak started to follow the demon hissed at him, and said,

"Not you, the Mistress only!"

Krak hissed back, so Varna said, "It's OK Krak, I'll find you again later." He didn't like it, but backed down and gave her hand a quick lick.

Lisa huddled next to the wall of the great audience cavern. She was lonely and scared. Vulva, Pet, and Lydia were all gone. She hadn't been a demoness for that long, and they were about the only other demonkind she knew. She'd met a few others, but only in passing. She wished the plant was here, she missed the gentle demon who was her main lover. She fingered the ring he'd given her, he was so sweet. She watched as things calmed down, and seeing Vulkrebs sitting alone at a table and looking as forlorn as she felt she took flight, and landed on the table, and then sat down next to him. He seemed to cheer up some when she arrived, and he gave her a hug, which she returned.

"I'm so worried about them all." Lisa said as she hugged Vulkrebs.

"I too, my dear." He replied.

I excited the pentagram, which had opened fairly high up in the air for a change. Usually it was in a secluded place such as woods or abandoned buildings as the powers of Hell preferred us to keep a low profile, but not this time. I flapped my wings for altitude and joined the others circling overhead as we waited for the rest to join us. The last Seeker passed through, and the pentagram closed. We were on our own for now. The senior Slayer was in charge, which had been a no brainer, it was just natural. We fell in on him in a "V" formation with him in the lead, and the other two Slayers on the trailing edges of the "V". Our attack plan was simple and straight forward, tear them up. The initial wave would consist of six Seekers and two Slayers, with three Seekers and one Slayer as backup and second wave if needed, plus they would make sure no one escaped. The more experienced of us were in the first wave, so Lydia and Mistress's new Slayer were in the second, which was fine with me. I knew she was every bit as mean and tough as I was, but still I worried about her. I loved her. Soon we were approaching our destination, but this time there was no beacon, it would have warned them. But we knew where we were going, and we preferred surprise in this instance.

Varna followed the bat demon into an area off the main hall where some construction was evidently still going on. They came to an opening to a smaller chamber and entered. She immediately recognized the large black bat sitting at a crude workers table.

"Lord Dracul, you desired to...." Varna started to say.

"Take her!" Dracul said, and two large vampire bats grabbed Varna's arms while another grabbed her wings so she couldn't open them.

"What!!" Varna screeched, and then passed out as one of the vampires pressed a wand against her neck, there was a tingle, then nothing.

Varna woke up with a moan, and realized she was hanging upside down. That really didn't bother her that much though, what bothered her was she was securely bound, and raising her head a little she could see she had a kind of silver net wrapped around her, and it gave a faint glow of power.

"Who are you?" asked a deep voice.

Squirming, Varna turned her head and realized she was still in the same room where she'd been ambushed, but was suspended from the ceiling. Lord Dracul was still sitting, perched really, behind the table, his glowing eyes staring at her intently. Two large vampire bats flanked him, and another stood near her holding a wand; actually it looked more like a poker, in his hand.

"Lord, Lord Dracul! What? I'm Varna!" Varna/Eddie squeaked. Then screamed as the silver net glowed and it felt like 20,000 volts were shooting through her body. She writhed and squealed for several seconds, then the agony stopped, and she panted in relief.

"Who are you?" the voice repeated.

"I'm Varna!" she said, and then screamed as the pain started again, twice as bad as before.

Lord Dracul looked at the bucking writhing demoness before him as she screeched in agony, and with a sigh deactivated the web again. This was a waste of time. He stood up and approached the gasping vampires.

"Please, please...no more, please." Varna/Eddie gasped, she'd never felt such pain.

Dracul crouched down next to the demoness's head, and leaning forward looked into her terrified eyes. Softly, he said,

"It only gets worse, but I have no desire to hurt you, whoever you are. You look like Varna, smell like Varna, but you are NOT Varna. Did you not think I wouldn't recognize a change in one of my many mates, whom I have known for thousands of years? If you were Varna you would be struggling and screaming obscenities at me."

"But, but I AM Varna!" Varna/Eddie gasped.

With a snarl Dracul grabbed the back of the demoness's head and pulled her closer to his face, his muzzle next to hers, and fixed her with his gaze.

"WHO ARE YOU!! He snarled in a loud roar, "AND WHERE IS VARNA!?!"

That horrible gaze was more than Varna/Eddie could take; it looked into her very soul, so he/she screamed, "I AM Varna, at least her body, but I DON'T want to be like this! I want to go HOME!" and started crying. "Please don't hurt me anymore!"

Dracul leaned back and looked at the wailing demoness. Of all the things that could have shocked him the most, to see the large imposing vampiress crying was one. She should have been snapping and spitting at him, her fangs trying to rip his flesh.

He had initially thought that she might be an agent of Heaven, or even a spy sent by another Lord or Lady. It was rare, but had happened. But he knew that this was not the case, an agent or spy would not act in such a manner. They would deny everything until destroyed. And it was Varna's body, he had mated with her often enough that he knew this; even a perfect copy could not hide that from him.

"Leave us!" Dracul ordered his retainers, and bowing first they left without question. He had no doubts as to their loyalty, but some things were best kept secret ever from those you trusted most, for their own protection. This was true everywhere, not just in Hell. "Tell me everything, and leave out nothing." Dracul said to the sobbing demoness.

And Varna/Eddie did, she had no choice. As she sobbed and told the story of what had happened to him/her the black bat just listened without expression, those glowing eyes pinning her in their gaze. That part of the legend was true, anyone or anything pinned in that gaze was helpless to do anything but what Dracul desired.

But inside Dracul was shaken. How was this possible, a MORTAL soul possessing a demoness? And what of Varna? Was she truly gone, dissipated into nothingness. He felt a great sadness, he had not loved her, but she had served him well. And what a mate, she had always fought so. Part of him grieved. But what of the one now in her body, what was to be done with him? If his story was true; and Dracul believed it was, then he as an innocent who had done no wrong. This was a fine mess indeed.

"Please, sobbed Varna/Eddie, I didn't do anything! I didn't want to be like this!"

"So, Dracul said, Mistress Vulva knew of this, did she? And Varna is truly gone forever? What did Vulva think she could gain by this deception?"

"Please, Varna gasped, she was just helping me because Varna was her cousin. She was going to help me learn to run the domain, she didn't want anything!"

Yes, thought Dracul, that does sound like Vulva. She was a bit strange for a demoness as times, but like all her kind was fiercely loyal to relatives. But still I must confront her about this matter of deception, it is very serious. But for now I will keep it quiet. Standing up he walked to the where the rope suspending the demoness was secured, and gently lowered her to the ground.

*As we neared our destination we dropped to a lower altitude, barely skimming above a thick forest of pines and conifers. From the looks of things we were in the middle of nowhere, and I had no idea of what country; or even continent, we were in. We crested a ridge and I saw our target, it was a large genuine castle. Europe, I thought, we're in Europe. Turns out we were somewhere in the former Soviet Union, but that meant nothing. *

Evidently someone down there was on their toes as a siren started to wail, and I saw a flash of light from one of the castles towers, and what looked like large soap bubbles came drifting up, and towards us. They've to be kidding, I thought. The head Slayer shrieked,

"Avoid the bubbles!"

And the flight broke up as we peeled off in pairs. One Seeker who reacted a little slow ran into one of the bubbles and there was a bright flash, and wrapped in a glowing mesh of lightening he fell screaming and crashed into the trees below. I started to follow, but the Slayer screeched,

"No, hold your position, he will recover! Attack! Don't give them time to organize their defenses!"

*So I obediently stayed in formation next to my wingdragon, and soon we were over the castle, dodging more bubbles on the way. And now anti-aircraft fire was lazily reaching out for us, the glowing traces moving deceptively slowly, but then speeding up as they neared and passed with loud zipping noises, or exploded nearby; or against, our bodies. A direct hit might shred a wing or stun us for a moment, but otherwise it was more of a nuisance. But it had another unintended effect, it really pissed us off. I watched as one of the Slayers lifted an AAA gun into the air even as it fired into his chest, the gunner still in the seat, and dropped it down the steep ravine on one side of the castle. A Seeker followed the screaming gunner to collect his soul. More of the bubbles came drifting up and another Seeker flew into one and crashed to the ground, but he recovered and started tearing any humans he could catch apart. But now we were using our power lances, and the rest of the AAA battery fell silent, and those launching the bubbles ceased to exist, and I swooped down and mangled a survivor and reaped his soul, flinging it through the vortex that opened to receive it. I suddenly realized that the enemy was using power lances of some kind as well, and twisted to avoid a blast, but my return fire didn't miss and another soul was flung screaming into the vortex. *

Great Lord Ba'al and Vulva watched as a vortex opened and a screaming soul fell through.

"So it starts." Ba'al said. He seized the soul, and threw it into a holding pen he had prepared; the web of power would confine them until they could be sorted to decide who might have useful information. Soon he and Vulva were quite busy.

Lord Dracul removed the silver net from the demoness, after first deactivating its magic. He helped her to stand up, and when she suddenly hugged him didn't know how to respond at first, but then carefully wrapped his wings around her.

Varna/Eddie was still sobbing as she was lowered to the ground. She had almost started to like it here, but the agonizing pain and the terrible gaze of the demon's eyes had shocked her back to the reality of just where he/she was, and she was terrified again. As the demon helped her to her feet something in her responded to the nearness of a strong male; and before she even realized it she hugged the large demon and buried her tear streaked muzzle in his soft warm fur. She remembered his scent from when he had mated with her, remembered the incredible pleasure he had given her, and felt strangely safe.

Lisa looked at Vulkrebs and could see the large demon was disturbed about something. Taking his large hand, she said,

"Master, don't worry, they'll be OK. Pet would never let anything happen to Lydia, and Mistress Vulva would never let anything happen to Pet."

"That is true, Vulkrebs chuckled, my sister does indeed care for that strange dragon of hers, and for that matter I like him too. But it's not only that. I'll miss having you and Lydia at my domain. I'll miss the babies too. It will be lonely."

Lisa took the demons hand and licked it, "Master Vulkrebs, I'll miss you too, and I know Lydia will as well. You have been good to us. But we will come to visit as often as we can, I promise. Your computer will need regular...upgrades."

"Why you devious little demoness." Vulkrebs said as he leaned over and nuzzled her ear. She licked his muzzle and soon they had their fang filled jaws locked together as they kissed in the way of their kind, his hands fondling her full firm breasts as she gave soft squeals of pleasure. Yes, he thought, I will miss you very much indeed, but we are together now.

Geez there are a lot of them! I thought, as I dodged another blast from a power lance. Whatever they were using weren't stand Hell's arsenal issue either, the bolts they shot were green tinted, ours were blue or red. But they were just as powerful, maybe more so. But we could survive numerous hits, hit a human with one and they kind of exploded into goo. Nasty. I fired a blast and hit my target, and while there was the usual bright flash the guy was still alive when the smoke cleared, and I realized some them were wearing shielded harnesses as well.

"Some are shielded!" I screeched, and diving took a blast that flared against my own shield, but his shield wasn't any good against fangs and claws. I picked him up, bit his head off, and hooking out his soul threw it into a waiting vortex with a roar of victory, and dove to look for my next prey. Most of the battle outside the castle was winding down, we'd pretty much wiped out any resistance and wrecked the joint; we're good at that. Had to give it to them though, these guys weren't wieners. No groveling or whining here. As I watched an armored car suddenly drove out of a shed and took off out the gate, over the drawbridge, and down the narrow road. The lead Slayer landed on the top, tore a hatch open, and disappeared inside. The car swerved and went off the edge of the road, done into the ravine, followed shortly by a fireball. The Slayer came flapping up from the ravine a minute later, and a Seeker passed him on the way to collect the souls. I gave an appreciative screech, and he just smiled. Uggh. I followed him as he dove through a large window in the main castle keep, and we crashed through into a large sumptuously furnished dining hall. At least it was until we got through with it. Now it was time to root them out of their nest.

Dracul held the terrified demoness gently, he knew she was no threat to him. He still wasn't sure as to what to do; he had never encountered such a situation before. She seemed to have surrendered herself completely to his will, not that she had much choice. The real Varna would have fought fang and claw, but he would have subdued her anyway. So the complete abdication; and seeming trust, of the large vampiress was a little unnerving. But having once been human himself he felt what most demonkind would; or could, not feel, genuine sympathy. He remembered what his own introduction to Hell had been like, and while he had been prepared it was still traumatizing. But he had no idea of what it must have felt like to suddenly wake up here in a body not your own. He hugged the female; his wings wrapped protectively around her, and would so long as she sought his comfort. He knew part of it was the instinct of his animal instincts to protect a female, but it didn't bother him. He nuzzled her ears and top of her head, she smelled the same and he remembered the glorious couplings with Varna, and grieved.

Desiring what privacy they could find Lisa and Vulkrebs left the main audience hall and found a fairly isolated room in a storage area. There were other mating couples scattered around, so they wouldn't be entirely alone. Mating in public didn't bother them, but the mood in the man cavern had been somber and downright depressing. Once they were 'alone' Lisa crouched down in front of the demon and gently fondled his large testicles, his penis already rampant, and snaked her tongue out to daintily lick a large drop of pre from its head. Then she wrapped her tongue around his cock, stroking and licking his shaft as she took him into her mouth, Vulkrebs giving deep bestial grunts of please as she swallowed him. She smiled around the large cock in her mouth, she so loved doing this, loved to pleasure her mates.

I looked around the castles dining hall trying to come up with my next move. The Slayer started for some large double doors, so I followed. I'd reap the souls he left behind. The castle had that typical castle décor; there were heads of animals on the wall, old shields and swords, big banners, and along the wall were suits of armor. And as we neared the doors the Slayer suddenly halted and hissed, the suits of armor were moving! As I watched they stepped down off their stands, lowering polearms and halberds, or drawing swords and starting towards us. They weren't very fast, but they looked determined. At first I thought it was kind of funny, that ancient armor might be of some use against a 'normal' dragon, but a fire dragon from Hell? Not a chance! With a roar I swung around lashing out with my tail, and a couple suits of armor flew apart. There, I thought, that'll teach them! Then I blinked and roared in surprise as the suits of armor reassembled themselves and started advancing again! The Slayer had dismembered several as well, and they too were reassembling and rising again! What the fu...'Owwwww, DAMN IT TO HELL!!' I roared, and whirled around and found that they were coming up behind us as well, and one had stuck a spear in my butt and it hurt! In fact it CUT me, which should have been impossible. I mean, bullets and artillery shells just bounce off, so how could a spear penetrate my hide!?! The cut was already closing and soon there would be no trace, but that was NOT a good sign.

"Beware! I hissed at the Slayer, their weapons are effective!"

"Magic, the Slayer hissed back, use the Null Balls!"

*Right, I thought, I'd forgotten about those! The Slayer was busy fending off several attackers with his power lance, blasting one or two, but they just grew back together again. I hopped up on the huge dining table and to my surprise it supported my weight, though I left the charred imprints of my paws in the hard wood. Hey batter, batter! I thought, and threw a Null Ball at a nearby knight with a fancy pitch. It hit him in the chest and there was a soft snapping sound like an electric static spark, and the suit of armor just fell apart. The Slayer joined me on the table and he had some rips in his wing membranes, but was otherwise OK. We had ten Null Balls each, and soon the sounds of clattering armor hitting the flagstone floor echoed in the hall as one by one we 'deactivated' the homicidal suits of armor. The only problem was there was more the twenty of the things. I took off to avoid the thrusting spears and other longarms and perched on a large beam, and the Slayer soon joined me. The hall was just big enough for us to hover in and fly around a little bit, and exposed support beams that made perfect roosts for us. We sat there like a couple of big scaly buzzards, and the suits of armor just stood there waiting for us. I gave them the rigid digit, but they didn't react. Suddenly I got an idea. *

*"Draw their attention, distract them!" I hissed at the Slayer, and he nodded and swooped down to one side of the room and landed in a clear spot. *

The remaining suits of armor turned and started towards him. Good, perfect, they're not very bright, I thought. With a hiss I dropped down and grabbed one from behind, and holding its shoulders in my claws I lifted it up, flew to the large window, and chucked it through. Then I perched on the sill hissing and watched as it shattered on the courtyard cobbles far below. A couple pieces twitched, but it didn't reassemble. It worked! Soon the Slayer and I were having a ball taking out the garbage, we got a few nicks, but soon the hall was clear. Just as we were finishing two more Seekers joined us, they'd seen the suits of armor as we rudely evicted them, and were curious. It would appear the battle outside was completely over, and now we were trying to find means of entry. One of the other Slayers had kicked in the main doors and he and some Seekers were busy on the lower levels, so we decided to clear the upper levels. As an afterthought I picked up one of the broadswords a suit of armor had been wielding. I didn't know what kind of magic it had, but if it cut me it should cut anything. The other two Seekers looked at me, looked at one another, and picked up a weapon as well. Good idea. The Slayer was happy with his own natural weapons as usual.

*Great Lord Ba'al paced back and forth. The flow of souls had slowed to almost a halt, but as far as he could tell those reaped so far were mere hirelings, there was no one of importance. Evidently the battle was winding down, but what were the results so far? Had his forces been beaten back? He snarled, and the souls all cringed in terror. *

Varna found herself becoming aroused as her terror faded; the great demon holding her was being surprisingly gentle. His claws, which could have easily torn her flesh, were instead combing through the fur on her back, and his moist hot breath on the back of her neck was...erotic. She felt her nipples hardening against his muscular chest, and her fading sobs slowly became soft moans of arousal as her lust increased. She remembered how he had taken her before, how strong he was, and the pleasure he had given her as he and Krak had serviced her at the same time. And there were other faint faded memories of bestial couplings in which she had fought him until he had subdued her, and it had been incredible. She ran her hands across his chest and raised her head and looked into his glowing eyes, and opening her muzzle pressed it against his and they ground their fangs together, screeching softy as they 'kissed'. She smelled; and felt, his growing erection, and reaching down with one hand gripped his swelling penis and gently squeezed it, and he growled deep in his throat.

Dracul sensed; and scented, Varna's growing arousal, and responded to her pheromones as would have any other male demon, and to a fellow vampire it was irresistible. It was the scent of a female that had completely submitted to his dominance, and was offering herself to him. There was still fear, but her desire for him was even greater, and he in turn wanted her. He ran his hands through her soft fur, nuzzling the back of her neck and taking in her increasingly spicy musk. She pulled back a little and looked into his face, her beautiful eyes; eyes he knew well-but with a different soul looking out of them now, looking into his, eyes burning with lust, and he locked muzzles with her as they kissed, and he gave a grunt of pleasure as she found his growing erection and gently squeezed and stroked his shaft. No, this was not the Varna he had known for so long, that vampiress would have fought him and he would have had to pin; and literally, rape her. Only when he had mounted her would the old Varna have submitted, and even then he had to be careful. But this was nice, very nice.

Vulkrebs moaned in pleasure as Lisa licked and tongued his cock, in between sucking gently on its head. The little bat demoness was much gentler then most of his mates, and he liked that very much. Roaring bestial combative sex was great, but sometimes he preferred gentler bestial sex. He was almost twice her size, but in Hell that didn't count for much. Finally he could stand it no longer, and bending over he lifted her up and pulled her to his chest and kissed her long and hard, and she wrapped her arms around his thick neck and kissed him back just as hard, hissing in arousal. Holding her in the small of her back under her wings with one hand he reached down and guided his aching cock into her sex with the other, grunting in pleasure as her soft velvety smooth lips swallowed the head of his penis, then gripping her by her rump with both hands he slowly pushed her down onto his penis, and she threw her head back and gave a screech so high pitched most couldn't hear it, but every bat within hearing distance knew what that meant and smiled. Then she gave a guttural snarl, and locking her legs around his waist began to grind down on him, writhing in ecstasy as he impaled her ever further onto his throbbing erection.

Lisa fondled Vulkrebs large balls and gently sucked and licked his cock, the large demon quivering in pleasure. Had anyone told her a few years ago she would one day be a demoness in Hell doing stuff like this she would have laughed in their faces. But she was; and she loved it, her days of innocence long gone. For such fearsome creatures; including her now, they could be so gentle at times. She was so intent on what she was doing she was a little disappointed when he picked her up, but as they kissed and he lowered her onto to his rampant hardness she screeched like the beast she was as her lover joined with her. Her humanity faded leaving an animal that only knew the male was giving her such incredible pleasure, and she wanted more. She squirmed and gyrated to help make his penetration easier and more enjoyable for both of them. She writhed and grunted in pleasure as inch after inch pushed into her demanding sex.

Vulva grunted in pleasure as Ba'al mounted her, both his large cocks sliding into her easily with a few powerful lunges. It hadn't been hard to interest him in servicing her; after all it was what she did best, the scent of her growing lust had been enough by itself. He may be a Great Lord, but he was as male as any lesser demon, and by Hell's standards she was a real beauty. The excitement; and worry, had aroused her until she couldn't stand it, and from the way he took her he was equally aroused. The souls in the pen looked on in horrified wonder at the two large coupling beasts as they roared their pleasure into the burning skies of Hell, and more than one of the men got an erection of their own, and a few women felt a growing moistness between their legs as their own lust grew, aroused even more by the powerful musk of the two mating beasts. Soon several pairs of souls were fucking as well, their pleasure made incredibly intense by the terror of their current situation.

*The combat raged on inside the keep of the castle as demonkind and humans battled. The humans were well armed and downright fearless, and they fought with a ferocity that we had to admire. Two other Seekers were rendered temporarily useless, one blasted by a spell, the other severely hacked by more animated suits of armor. The lesser Slayer had a broken wing, but fought on as if it didn't feel any pain, and maybe it didn't. I kicked in a door and was blown back by blasts from three power lances, and man did that hurt like a SOB, one blast was bad enough, but three left me lying on my back wondering where all the pretty lights had come from. I was temporarily out of it, but the battle moved past me as the defenders in the room were overrun by roaring demonkind. Since three Seekers (yours truly included) were out of it for an undetermined period, and the battle was far from over, the lead Slayer called in the second wave. Lydia found me and crouched down next to me worriedly licking my snout, but I told her I was OK and would be back in the thick of things shortly, so she rejoined the others while I slowly recuperated. Man that had HURT! It was like getting hit with 100,000 volts; my whole body tingled and was sore. I was getting up when I suddenly froze, I'd heard something. It was someone trying to be very quiet, and it was behind me somewhere in the area I thought we'd cleaned out. We very seldom overlook anyone; even if they're hiding, as our sense of smell is so very acute. But in the incredible mayhem I guess someone had sneaked by. *

*So I decided to check it out, NO one was going to get away, the boss had ordered it. *

Varna broke her kiss with Dracul, and as he folded his wings she dropped to all fours and presented herself for him, lifting her stubby tail up and to one side, and folding her wings tightly and moving them to the sides and forward to give him better access. She gave a soft hiss as she felt his tongue briefly lick across her swollen sex, then squeaked as his weight settled on her back as he positioned himself to mount her. He grasped the leading edge of her wings with his own wing claws as he partially spread his wings to cover them, and mounted her with a loud snarl of pleasure, and she squealed as he slid into her. Oh, she thought, he was so big, so hard! She squealed again as he hilted, and then started servicing her with steady powerful thrusts. She stared out through half closed eyes and clawed at the floor as the male serviced her, squealing and shrieking softy from the sexual ecstasy. When he gently bit her neck to pin her she gave a deep moan of pure bliss.

Dracul watched as Varna dropped to all fours; and crouching he ran his tongue over her beautiful sex to taste her readiness, and as he already knew she was ripe, her need full blown. There are many levels of arousal for demonkind, just as there are different kinds of mating. Her arousal was as full blown and intense as he could remember scenting or tasting and he was proud and pleased she found him so desirable as a mate, and knew he would have to work hard to pleasure her. For a demon to leave a demoness wanting was a personal disgrace. Fortunately he had never had that problem, and he was looking forward to pleasuring this female very much. As he mounted her he gave a deep squeal of pleasure, she was so hot, even for a demoness of Hell. Her magnificent sex sucked him in and he knew she wouldn't release him until she had been satisfied, and with a growl of lust he bit her gently on the back of her neck to pin her as he knew once they got started she would be increasingly hard to hold onto. This type of mating was incredibly intense and the pleasure sometimes bordered on pain, for both of them. It was as good as it got. Her soft cries of pleasure excited him even more, and he humped her with increasingly fast strokes, the feeling of her hot slick sex enveloping his aching hardness was incredible.

Lisa clamped her legs around Vulkrebs waist as he fucked her, her muzzle buried in his chest fur muffling her cries of pleasure. He dug his powerful hands into her rump as he lifted her up and drove her down, and she writhed from side to side, digging her claws into shoulders to help him lift, and then and drag her back down onto his hardness again and again, and when her orgasm came it was like a tidal wave and she screamed into his chest and clawed at him as he bellowed his release, his hot cum pumping into her, and not a drop escaped their joining was so tight.

Vulkrebs gasped and panted as Lisa rode him, she was doing as much to ride herself up and down on his aching cock as he was. She clawed and bit at his chest in her frenzy, but not hard enough to do more than scratch, but still a few small rivulets of blood ran down his chest, but that only served to add even more pleasure to their coupling. By Dis, he thought, what a demoness! Few gave him this much pleasure. He knew he couldn't hold back much longer, she was so tight, so wet, her vaginal muscles caressing and clenching around his head and shaft delightfully. He ground her down on him to the hilt and exploded, his roaring bellow of ecstasy mingling with her own muffled screams as they climaxed.

*Quietly; and I can be very quiet for a dragon; I get lots of practice hiding from My Mistress when I've been bad, I crept back down the hallway, stopping to flick my finned ears back and forth every few seconds to listen. Cautiously I stuck my head in one room, and not seeing anything had started to leave when I saw movement out of the corner of one eye, and turning my head almost blasted...a cage full of finches. I walked over to the cage and turned my head to one side to take a closer look. They fascinated me; they were so small and pretty. In Hell most things that fly have bat wings, fangs, and want to eat you, we have nothing like birds. The poor birds were freaking out, not that I blamed them. I remembered the only pets I'd ever had when I was human, a couple of parakeets named Beavis & Butthead. They used to sit on my shoulder and nibble my ears while I watched TV. Picking up the cage I took it to the window and opened the door, and the birds split in a great big hurry. What the heck, I thought, they hadn't done anything wrong. Hope nobody saw me do that though, I had a rep to keep up. Feeling rather pleased for some reason I moved back out into the hallway and started searching again. *

And yes, coming from that room! I carefully stuck my head in the doorway; the door had been blown off, just in time to see a wardrobe slide back into place. Aha! A secret entrance! Cool, should have thought of that, every castle has them, I think it's some kind of law or something. Build a castle or big ugly mansion and you have to put in secret passages. Just in case they might try to escape that way; or launch a sneak attack on our rear, I jammed a heavy dresser up against it, and added the bed just to make sure. Then I went to rejoin the main battle. Turns out it was pretty much over by the time I got there. Bodies; or more correctly pieces of bodies, were strewn around all over the place. It was very bloody, just the way we like it. We are not gentle with our enemies. As I stepped on limbs and intestines I would have been horrified at one time, but that was long ago in a fading dream of another life before My Mistress made me hers and gave me a purpose and a home, and her love.

*I came to one junction of tunnels where a really desperate fight had taken place. Several humans were pinned to the walls by spines the Slayers could fling by flicking their tails. The spines are deadly poisonous, first they cause instant paralysis so you can't pull them out; they're barbed too, and then your body literally rots while you're still alive. In about an hour you completely dissolve into a puddle of black slime, and I've been told that the slime is still alive and aware until its destroyed or a Seeker claims its soul. I guess the ones that are never destroyed continue to live indefinitely as pools of slime. As I walked through that horrible abattoir I heard a low gurgling moan, and stopped. A woman was lying on her back with several spines stuck in her, and was still alive. I stood and looked at the horrible thing she'd become. Her body had bloated to the point her clothes had split and mostly torn off as they rotted too. She was spread eagle in a obscene parody of offering herself for sex, her swollen skin black, blue, green, and splits were opening in places, maggots pouring out, her immensely swollen breasts oozed black slime from the nipples that flowed down to join the growing seething puddle under her. Her tongue had rotted and her gaping mouth teemed with more maggots, as did one eye socket. A thick sludge of bodily fluids mixed with still more maggots was oozing from her widely stretched vagina to join the pool under her. Her one remaining eye; a pretty blue color, looked at me, pleading. I may be a creature of Hell, but even I can show mercy. Many would have left her to devolve and rot into a pool of intelligent black slime, but I wasn't one of those. I can be cruel, but am not a sadist, as with My Mistress we both find mindless useless suffering abhorrent, it serves no purpose. So I gently hooked her soul out of her body and threw it through the waiting vortex. She actually had gratitude in her eyes. Sometimes I really hate what I am now; if not for My Mistress's love I would have gone insane long ago. I never get entirely used to it, never. *

Varna snarled and bucked, trying to open her wings, the still growing pleasure unbearable. She couldn't stand it anymore, he had brought her to the brink of orgasm again and again, only to deny her the release she so desperately needed, the agonizing ecstasy exquisite, it was delicious torture. But his fangs around her neck and his weight kept her pinned as he lunged into her, his wings keeping hers from unfolding and battering him. She was incapable of intelligent speech; of begging him to let her cum, her frenzied squeals and screeches those of an animal. But at the same time she screamed and fought she wanted him to go on, to never stop, the sexual euphoria greater than anything she had experienced before, or thought possible. But finally he sped up again, his thrusts coming quicker and quicker and then he suddenly let her neck go and roared, and she gave an earsplitting screech as an incredibly intense and powerful orgasm washed over her, its sheer power causing her to clench her eyes tightly shut as she rode wave after wave of incredible pleasure as she came for over a minute, and it took much longer for the pleasure to finally fade as she slumped to the ground.

Dracul bit even harder as he held onto the frantic female, maybe there is a little of the old Varna left in her after all, he thought. He had dragged out the coupling as long as he was capable, which was quite some time, but even he had his limits and could no longer withstand his own aching need for release. He shifted his stance to give him a better hold on her, and increased the speed of his thrusts, his vision clouding from the building pleasure, and as he came he couldn't help but release her neck, and throwing his head back roared and screeched in ecstasy as his cock throbbed and pulsed as her vaginal muscles sucked and gripped it trying to suck him dry. He managed to keep thrusting the whole time they were coming, and finally he had to dismount and stagger back against the table to keep from passing out and falling over on top of her, his cock still dribbling cum. As he slide free Varna gave a final wail and collapsed. Dracul leaned against the table to catch his breath, his erection starting to fade. It was rare a female satisfied him after only one coupling, but he was truly spent, at least for now.

Lisa leaned against the wall bracing herself, her head hanging, tongue lolling out of her mouth, panting as Vulkrebs took her from the rear. Four times, she thought, what a male! He suddenly lunged into her and started thrusting faster, and she squealed in delight. Four times!

Vulkrebs grunted and humped Lisa as she braced herself against the wall, as with most demonkind he did not sweat, but his own muzzle gaped as he panted. By Orobas, she was such a fantastic lover! He leaned over and licked her large veined ears gently, growling softly as she gave soft squeaks and squeals of pleasure. So soft, so warm, so beautiful.

Ba'al watched in amusement as Vulva raped some of the souls who had become aroused watching him mount and service her, and several pairs of souls were energetically fucking as well as the holding pen degenerated into an orgy. As there were more males then females most of the females soon had more than one partner, some not willingly. By Big 'L' she was insatiable. He'd wished to fuck her awhile longer, but the vortex had begun to spit out souls again, so they had to stop after a couple had gotten away, for now, the sand hydras or desert rats would get those, and he hoped they enjoyed the snack. But when she'd seen the aroused souls she'd said "No sense in letting a good hard-on go to waste!" and had entered the pen and thrown herself on one of the aroused souls, and from the sounds he wasn't exactly being tortured. As soon as she was finished with one she grabbed another. Ba'al chuckled again, what a demoness! Then he grabbed another soul and threw it into the pen. His minions were doing one HELL of a job.

*As I moved downward in the castle I passed through several doors that would have done Ft. Knox proud. They were either ripped open or had large dragon sized holes melted in them, and each one had been defended. They slowed us down, a little. The deeper we penetrated into the bowels of the castle the more frantic the resistance, but like the Borg say, 'Resistance is futile'. But the others had come up against a huge set of double doors, mere wood reinforced with bands of iron, but so far they had resisted all efforts to break them down. It was obvious they had one Hell of a powerful warding spell on them. Our few remaining Null Balls had no effect at all, other than an impressive light show every time we threw one against the doors. Of course we tried to go around, but the solid rock surrounding the doors was warded as well. No doubt the whole place was. We couldn't melt or dig our way through. The Slayers were getting really pissed, screaming and tearing at the door and rock, but the only response was showers of sparks. I went to Lydia and we rubbed snouts, relieved we were both OK. This was by far the hairiest mission I'd been on in a long time, and I know it was Lydia's biggest so far. She had done really well; been entirely fearless and unmerciful, and I was so proud of her. My mate rocks! *

I got the lead Slayers attention by stepping on his tail, and told him about the secret passage I'd found, and he gave a truly evil smile. It was worth checking out, so he dispatched the smallest Slayer, myself and Lydia, and one other of the smaller Seekers. That split our remaining forces in half as three other Seekers were still recovering from wounds, and the Slayer with the broken wing had been ordered to take a rest 'before you hurt yourself'. But the remaining Slayer and Seekers were more than a match for anything that might come through that door. I led our little 'commando team' back to the blocked passage, we unblocked it, and fortunately the tunnel was large enough to admit us, despite being a tight squeeze. It went down in a spiral and we wound down the stairwell like snakes, the Slayer leading the way with me right behind him. I couldn't see his head due to the turning of the stairwell, but he paused and I heard some wet tearing sounds and there was one flash from a power lance, and then we started moving again. I reaped a half dozen startled looking souls as I followed him; evidently they hadn't expected to find us running around in their cute little secret passage. There were a few other tunnels leading off the stairwell, but we kept going down. Finally we reached a door, the Slayer kicked it open, we burst through roaring, and it hit the fan.

Varna grasped the edge of the table, her claws digging in to the hilt as Dracul thrust between her legs, his muzzle pressed against hers as they snarled and kissed, their tongues entwined. His strong hands on her breasts, his claws rubbing against her nipples, felt wonderful. She had her legs spread as wide as she could as he pushed between them, and wished she could wrap her legs around his waist, but their kind could not because of their wings. As her orgasm approached she grabbed him around his shoulders, pulling him as far into her as she could, and screamed into his gaping mouth, his own roar deafening her.

Dracul had been surprised; but very pleased, to find he was able to perform again so soon. He had helped her up, and as he held her against him, his wings wrapped around them, her scent and the feel of her body had aroused him again, and her own scent had told that she too was also ready to mate again. He had pushed her back on the table so her rump was hanging off the edge, and this time their mating was slower and much more tender, at least as tender as they could be, and glorious.

*Lisa sat in Vulkrebs lap, the large demon cradling her gently as she slept. They were both sexually exhausted, and had gone back to their table and ordered drinks, but she'd nodded off before they arrived. He'd picked her up and she'd snuggled against him without waking up, so he was perfectly content to just hold her. She was so warm, so soft, so beautiful. He buried his muzzle in her fur and smelled her musk. Yes, he was quite content. *

*Unholy crap! I thought as I dove and twisted through the air, dodging power bolts and trying to avoid grappling with more than one gargoyle at the same time. We'd entered into a huge cavern, about a hundred feet up one side on a large platform. The cavern wasn't natural; it looked like it had been chewed out of the solid rock. There was a huge pentagram in the center of the floor, but it didn't look like any pentagram I'd ever seen it, it didn't look; or feel, right. The borders and arcane symbols surrounding it glowed with a sickly green light like the luminescence given off by corpses rotting in a swamp, and three ornately robed figures on a raised dais were reading from books or tomes of some kind. We thought we'd thinned them out quite a bit, but there were still over a hundred humans in the cavern, most of them armed and we were the targets! And then there were the damn gargoyles, but they weren't real gargoyles, they were instead animated statues, what I later found out were called 'constructs'. They had been perched on ledges scattered around the huge cavern, dozens of them, but we just ignored them at first, that is until they took flight and attacked us. I dodged another diving gargoyle and a blast meant for me hit the gargoyle and it exploded. Thanks asshole, I thought. But suddenly a heavy weight landed on my back, and shrieking I twisted to try and reach the gargoyle, and fell from the air as it was grapping my wings and I couldn't get enough lift to support both our weight. I managed to twist as we hit the floor and felt something shatter and something else squish. When I got up there was a gooey smear of people parts and pulverized statue stuck to the floor and my back. Ewww, gross! I grabbed the soul and threw it into a vortex, then with a roar attacked the crowd of panicking humans. I cut loose with my fire plum, I'd been saving it for a special occasion, and this was it. A dozen burning torches twisted and writhed until they collapsed, and any that weren't already dead I showed mercy too by reaping their souls. It may have seemed cruel, but I knew that they were suffering horribly so ended it for them. The Slayer landed next to me, and with a blur of his tail sprayed the panicking crowd of people with spines, and several fell writhing with screams of agony. I had discarded my power lance as its magical charge was exhausted, but the sword I'd picked up was great. It went right through body armor and magical shields like they weren't even there. It was also effective against the stone gargoyles. Look at me, I thought, I'm Zorro! Ha! En garde! *

Dracul sat on the ground, his wings wrapped around Varna, as they rested and recovered from their incredible mating. He licked her ears and she chrred happily. Finally she raised her head and asked,

"What are you going to do to me?"

"Do? Dracul said, nothing my love. You are no danger to Hell, but we will have to have a talk with Mistress Vulva. There is still a mystery here that must be solved. But fear not, none will harm you."

*Dracul held Varna closer as she started to cry again. No, he thought, you are the innocent in this case, trapped here through no fault of your own. *

Ba'al grabbed two souls and threw them into the pen, which was almost full to overcrowding with busily fucking souls, and the new female soul was soon the unwilling partner of three rampant males, and yelled at Vulva,

"We will need a bigger pen soon! And more help has arrived!"

*Vulva looked up from an ornery soul she was grappling with just as two Seekers and a Slayer landed nearby, and they immediately set out in pursuit of other souls. She had not seen such a reaping in hundreds of years, the battle in the mortal realm must be terrible and bloody. It was. *

I roared a challenge at a couple of gargoyles who landed between me and the rest of the humans. They weren't especially tough, but there were lots of them, and they could hurt us. I had a nasty bite on one arm and my wings were shredded, I was grounded for now. My protective harness was torn and no longer working, but of course the gay harness My Mistress makes me wear had survived intact, which was my kind of luck. I ran one gargoyle through with my sword, and the other took flight. Coward! I hissed. I looked up as Lydia demolished a gargoyle, then dove to attack another who was giving the Slayer a hard time. The glow from the pentagram was increasing, the three figures on the dais ignoring what was going on and still chanting. The words sounded foul, and it hurt just to hear them. The Slayer shrieked,

"Stop them! They are trying to open a portal for the Old Ones!"

The other Seeker stopped chasing gargoyles, and closing her wings dived at the figures on the dais. One stopped chanting, lifted a pendant and pointed it at her, and said something. A bolt of green lightening hit the diving Seeker and she screamed in agony, her scream climbing higher and higher and then ending abruptly. When the afterglow faded all that was left of the Seeker was a cloud of dust, and even was fading. She had been totally destroyed, dissipated, her screams ones of utter terror as she felt herself ceasing to exist as there was no place for her soul to go. We all froze in horror, then we threw our heads back and roared in grief and anguish as one our own died the final death, and the demonkind on the other side of the door felt it as well and added their lament to our own. At the sound of our wails even the humans froze, mouths gaping.

Ba'al staggered as he felt one of his own cease to exist. FUCK protocol he thought, and with a roar of rage he opened a pentagram and went to the aid of those he had sent and who were suffering in his service. The other two Seekers and Slayer followed him roaring their own rage. Vulva wanted to go too, but knew someone needed to stay and watch the souls and collect the new ones. Please, she thought, not Lydia! Pet would be devastated; he'd never be the same.

There was a crack of thunder, a pentagram opened, and Great Lord Ba'al followed by two Seekers and another Slayer appeared. It was no longer just business now, it was very personal, and what we did to the remaining humans was truly horrible. There are many ways to kill; both fast and slow. We took our time, and were very, very slow. As I advanced on the last remaining human; other then the one's on the dais, he begged and gibbered, finally saying,

"Please, spare me! I can open the doors for you!"

I looked at Great Lord Ba'al, and he nodded. I looked back at the human and pointed at the door, my drool burning little holes in his clothes, and with a shriek he got up, ran to the doors, chanted something, and as they crashed open and the first Slayer through tore him into little pieces. Oh well, I thought, as a following Seeker grabbed his soul. Life's a bitch.

As the other Seekers entered one looked around frantically, and not seeing his life mate; and realizing what had happened, he collapsed giving a wail of anguish that tore at every demonic heart that heard it. More than one flaming eye shed tears of molten blood. We may be damned wretched things, but we love as hard as we live.

*Now only the three humans on the dais remained, and it was shielded as every Slayer or Seeker who threw themselves at the humans in demonic rage were blasted back by the power of that shield. The humans kept chanting, and the green glow from the pentagram was beginning to pulse, and the whole chamber smelled of ozone and the air was charged with expectation. Something was coming from very far away in space and time. *

Ba'al strode to the dais and probed the shield, it was very strong. He could break it, but there wasn't enough time. He looked at the humans, and said,

"Stop, in the name of Heaven and Hell, you do not know what you're doing! If you stop now I will spare you! If you open this portal you; all of us, will be destroyed! You cannot control that which you will unleash upon the world!"

"Foolish beast, one of the humans; a woman, replied, your time is over, our time is coming! We will rule at the side of the Old Ones and those who do not submit and become our slaves will die!"

"FOOLS! roared Ba'al, the Old Ones cannot be controlled, you will be the first they devour, both your bodies and your souls! Stop this insanity, if you desire power and riches I will give them to you beyond your wildest imaginations!"

But they ignored the Great Demon Lord, and the one who had spoken added her own chants to the two others.

Ba'al turned to the watching demonkind and pointed at the pentagram, "GO!, I will hold them as long as possible!" Then he smiled as not a demonkind moved, but instead arrayed themselves at his side. I looked at Lydia, she looked at me, and we joined the rest. If our Master needed us, we would die at his side. I knew My Mistress would understand, and at least I would live on in her memories.

*Then something happened no one had counted on. The Seeker whose mate had been destroyed charged past us roaring in pure undiluted hatred, and threw himself on the warding barrier around the dais. He screamed as the powerful energy crackled over; and through, his body, but held on as he used his own body to ground the magic, absorbing it into his body even as he began to dissipate. He glowed brighter and brighter; his roars defiant and filled with hate, until we couldn't look at him any longer, even our eyes blinded by the brilliance. The three humans on the dais cowered and stopped their chanting, shielding their eyes. Then there was a loud explosion, and when the smoke cleared the Seeker was gone, and so was the barrier. Unable to live without his live mate he had knowingly sacrificed himself to avenge his mate and give his fellows a chance. He did it not only out of hate, but most of all out of love, unable to face eternity alone. *

With a slow tread Ba'al mounted the dais. The pleading and begging didn't last long, and when he came down his belly was bulging with three new souls and he carried their books under his arm. Once their bodies had been digested their souls would remain inside Ba'al for eternity, their life forces adding to his power. For them it was like being slowly digested forever, but I think they got off lightly. The glow from the pentagram slowly faded as the spell of summoning was broken and left incomplete, and from somewhere far away came the horrible squeal of someTHING that had been denied what it sought. As we left the cavern through the pentagram one by one the last to leave was Ba'al, and as he did he brought the cavern down. That place would never be used again, the castle collapsing into the huge sinkhole that formed under it. It made the news.

The hot winds of Hell had never felt so good, and I hugged both Lydia and My Mistress as we grieved for two Seekers we'd never see again. It was so unfair I thought, they died for everyone, demonkind, Angel, and human, but only we would know. Their only legacy was our memories, but we never forget. At least in that way they live on. Even Ba'al was subdued, and moved off to stand alone on a small hill some distance away, and on one disturbed him as he grieved. When he returned he was back to his old self, and we all prostrated ourselves to him, but he just said,

"None of you need bow to me this day, not here. We have fought together and you have made me proud. We have lost friends who will be missed, but they will never be forgotten, not for so long as Hell exists. And now, let us tend to those souls you have reaped."

We 'sorted' the souls. A few more joined their friends in Ba'als belly, some others were picked out for 'special questioning' which meant they'd have the choice of talking or having the Hell tortured out of them. If they were smart they'd talk, if not some demonkind would have a lot of fun and they'd talk anyway. The others would be sent to Level #1, Receiving and Sorting, with instructions to give them 'special treatment', which I guarantee they wouldn't like. We can be pretty vindictive; even more the usual, when we're pissed off. And believe me we were.

We were a somber crew when we touched down back at Mistress Vulva's new domain. Carl and his guards gave us a quiet salute as we passed. Great Lord Ba'al had returned to his Citadel of Doom; we call it the Fortress of Despair too, to report to his own superiors as to exactly what had happened and explain the loss of two Seekers that Hell would miss, and to destroy the books he had brought with him. Their knowledge was too dangerous to be allowed to exist even in Hell as there are fools even here who might attempt to us it. Mistress Vulva still had the party to supervise, but it just wasn't the same anymore, at least for us. She told Lydia and me to 'go have fun', so we headed for the lava cavern as we both were bruised and torn, and we still have scars from that battle, both physical and mental. I'll never forget the screams of the two Seekers as they felt themselves fading into nothingness. As we passed 'The Bunker' club some demonkind were singing "Ich hatt' einen Kameraden", and I felt molten tears running down my muzzle. It hit the fire demondkind especially hard, we are not as numerous as the others and everyone had known them to some degree. There were; were, twenty Seekers in Hell; full grown ones that is, so we had lost a great portion of our kind as we are few and rare. But at least there would be two new ones to take their places in a few years, my son and Lydia's daughter. We decided to name them after the fallen Seekers; we thought they would have appreciated that.

As we lay in the lava baths hugging one another and resting I watched as some small forms swam through the lava towards us, and Ember and some of her sibling crawled out of the lava to lie down next to us. Ember looked at me with her bright eyes, and asked,

"Daddy, why is everyone so sad? Mommy was crying."

They were too young to understand, so I said, "Let me tell you a story about two brave Seekers who saved Hell and Heaven". And they listened raptly as the legend began.

** The End of Chapter 24**

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