The smell of smoke is in the air and the night is overcast, obscuring the moon. A haze of it lies over the smoldering village where most of the fires have already died and are just coals, glowing in the night. From a hill overlooking the village the demon Gortelesque admires his handiwork. The imps, demons and other grotesques of his horde race about, chattering and laughing as they explore the wreckage of the village. A few of the slower eaters are still gnawing on bones of dead villagers and livestock.

For once, Gortelesque is pleased with himself. His tactics of luring away the Paladin defenders with a few mounted Arch-Demons worked so well that his horde was able to completely subdue the village before they gave up the chase and came home. Of course at that time his forces were waiting, and even though every last one of the Paladins met a glorious end at the hands of his creatures, not a single one of his horde was killed.

The demon in command stretched his arms above his head, hearing the sinews pop in his shoulders as his muscles strained. Unlike most demons who commanded a horde, Gortelesque much preferred to be in the fray, breaking skulls with his bare hands and feeling the enemy flesh between his teeth.

His physical form was definitely a sight to behold and unique among the demons of the Below. His body was tall, with each well muscled leg ending in feet with claws. His chest was defined and hairless with the muscles twitching when he wanted them to. His arms were large and strong and each of his fingers was tipped in a claw as sharp as steel. His face was handsome to many, with his shredding teeth hidden behind his lips instead of poking out like some creatures. His horns curved out from his head and pulsed with a red light. His eyes were the deepest blue, captivating even the most stalwart maiden.

His wings were folded behind him, leathery and black and twitching in anticipation. He wore only a leather kilt that left most of him bare, some metal bracers on his forearms that concealed hidden daggers and a scabbard that held his sword, forged from the heat of The Master himself.

Gortelesque finished stretching and looked to where his Arch-Demons were herding along his captives. The lesser creatures could not be trusted to not take preemptive bites from the captives before they returned to Below. The men and women were chained together in a line with bonds of demon-thorn, which would tighten if they tried to free themselves, the sharp thorns cutting into their wrists and necks. The children had already been carried off ahead by his harpies, destined to be fed to the hordes there.

The demon saw a creeping creature making it’s way up the hill to him, the pitiful Imp shaking with fear. Gortelesque smiled to himself. He already knew what the little beast was going to ask of him, and he relished the fear radiating off of it.

“Lord Gortelesque, he who despoils maidens and corrupts the hearts of women, I the meager Fildes come to you with a request from a devoted Horde.” Squeaked the creature.

Gortelesque gave the little thing the slightest f nods.

“Your greatness, we have been so successful here tonight that there were too few injured to sate our appetites. We request of your powerfulness a few of the live prisoners to share among us as a reward for a good job on the field of battle.”

“You will get your reward.” Spoke Gortelesque in a booming voice that reverberated in the air.

“Oh thank you Lord I-”

The pathetic creature did not have a chance to finish his thought as Gortelesque grabbed the thing by its neck, slowly choking the life out of it. All of the Horde was watching now except for the guards of the prisoners, they had seen this all before.

“You are my Horde!” Yelled Gortelesque, his voice carrying to all of the creatures of the Below that he commanded. “You are mine and you do not make requests of me. I will distribute your rewards as I see fit, when I deem it necessary.”

“This little thing, this Fildes, had the audacity to come before me and make a demand of me. Who of you would care to repeat his mistake?”

At this the Horde said nothing as Gortelesque squeezed Fildes neck until the things head popped off of his neck. A chatter arose from the ranks of the Horde as glowing green Demon blood ran down Gortelesque’s fist and the remains of Fildes. The demon threw the tiny body away and spread his wings, and half jumped, half glided down to where the Horde had assembled.

“I am nothing if not merciful!” He roared at them.

A chorus of yips and “Yes!” answered him.

“As your Horde-master, I am entitled to give you all a reward for your efforts.” The demons licked their lips at this.

Gortelesque walked to the line of prisoners, most of them shrank away in terror, but a few were too jaded to do so. These prisoners eyes were blank from watching their friends and family get torn to pieces and devoured before their eyes.

He marked the pretty young girls in his mind, of which there were only 4. Those would go to The Master as his share, that left a few matronly women and one old crone. He stopped at one woman, her eyes with crows feet at the edges and her hips wide from giving birth. He gazed into her eyes, his blue ones capturing her brown ones as he leaned in close to her neck and breathed deep, sending a shiver of anticipation through the woman’s body. From that moment, Gortelesque knew he had her.

He nodded as if satisfied and unsheathed his sword and cut the demon-thorn from around her hands, careful not to nick her skin. The people around her started whimpering in terror and drawing away from her as far as they could up to the point where the demon-thorn began to tighten.

“Come with me child.” His voice boomed as he put one clawed finger under her chin and backed away from the line of people. She followed, completely under the spell of his blue eyes.

“What is your name madam?” He asked in his gentlest voice, which was almost like the purr of a cat.

“I am Aven, sir.” She bowed slightly as her mother had no doubt told her to.

“Do you know who I am?”

“I am sure you are Gortelesque my lord.” She answered, her tongue licking her lips as she said it.

“That I am, and do you know what I do to women whom I think are worthy?” said Gortelesque, his face melting into a warm smile.

“You take care of them.”

“Yes I do child.” He said, stroking her cheek with his claws. “But you must ask yourself a question, are you worthy enough for me to take care of you?”

“Oh yes milord,” A smile spread across her face as she dropped to her knees and exposed her breasts, ripping the already torn fabric. “I can sew, and cook and clean and I can bear children, anything for you.”

The woman began to weep, unaware that more than a few Imps and lesser demons had moved closer to her and were now arranged in a circle around her.

“I already have many harpies who can do all that, what can you do differently?” asked the demon.

“I can please you sir, I have had many men other than my husband. I know what to do!”

She crawled on her hands and knees toward the demon, her hands fumbling with his kilt when she reached him. She eventually got it off, revealing Gortelesque’s pride and joy. His dick was long and thick and it seemed to pulse with power. Aven marveled at it, moving her hand up and down its shaft as it hardened under her attention.

Gortelesque growled in pleasure as she stuck the tip of it into her mouth, moving her tongue around it and stimulating all of the nerves. She began to move her head back and forth, both of her hands now pumping down the shaft as she pleasured the demons penis. She could not fit all of it in her mouth, but she was able to get a good portion of it in there, much to Gortelesque’s surprise.

She made gurgling noises as she worked, her spit running down her hands and to the grass and all over the demons cock. The pulsing dick in her mouth began to twitch and Gortelesque groaned in pleasure as he came in her mouth, his seed spilling out of her mouth as he withdrew his dick and soaking her clothes and coating her chest.

“Was that not good lord? Was that not what you wanted?” She asked, a small tremor of fear entering her voice as she saw the other demons around her for the first time.

Gortelesque reached down and pulled up his kilt, relishing the growing fear in the woman’s eyes. When he was finished, he reached down and caressed her cheek again and slowly the fear faded from her face.

“You are not special Aven. I have had far better than you.” And with a cruel smile Gortelesque turned and walked away.

With this the demon Horde set upon the woman Aven. They stroked their long and forked tongues all over her body, ripping the clothes from her until she was naked. The larger demons came first, as the imps held her to the grass. Two demons at a time shared her, their cocks gurgling in her mouth or slapping into her vagina. When one demon would finish, they would add their seed to her body so that she was sticky with it. At these times she would scream, begging for them to take her children, her parents, anyone but her. That just goaded the demons on and the fact that she moaned in pleasure as the orgasms came only made them more pleased.

The other women in the prisoner line screamed and hid their faces as the men moaned and cried at the torture the poor woman was put through. At one point she was held aloft by two demons, her ass and pussy filled with their cocks as she gagged on the dick of a flying demon all three pulsing in and out of her as she orgasmed almost painfully, the choking sounds causing even more fear among the captives.

After all of the demons shared her she was swarmed with imps, the child sized demons licked all over her, slurping up the larger creatures mess. Aven was too tired to scream at this point, only giving pathetic moans as the barbed tongues of the imps dug into her skin. Then the imps started to bite, the smell of the blood driving them into a frenzy and the woman found the strength to scream again.

The little imps penetrated her flesh with their cocks, seeking out any orifice through which to satisfy themselves and all the while biting and chewing her meat. When the imps were done, she was blind, deaf and bleeding from a hundred bites.

“Please kill me,” she said in a voice thick with both blood and semen.

At this the demons swarmed her again, tearing off her flesh and limbs and gobbling down as much as they could hold. When they were done a few bloody bones were all that was left of Aven.

Gortelesque had watched the whole thing with disgust. The Horde usually raped and ate their prizes, but Gortelesque was one of the few that took the time to seduce his women. He had a stable full of them back in the Below, each one willing to do almost anything for a night with him, and the chance to be made into a harpie.

The mounted demon party returned, riding fell wolves, their stringy fur sticky with gobbets of human flesh and blood. Yertrung, the leader of the scouting party and his second, walked up to Gortelesque after handing the reins of his beast to another Arch-Demon.

“They all fed?” said Yertrung in revulsion.

“Yes. How was the patrol.” Asked Gortelesque

“No sign of Paladins or Furies, or even a local patrol. This village was almost completely unprotected.”

“They are either getting sloppy or desperate to leave themselves so open to our attacks, protecting only the cities and forts.” Gortelesque smiled, his mind already wandering to the gory glory that he would be able to wreak upon the outlying villages of the Above.

Then, everything happened at once. With a sound like thunder and the wind of a hurricane, a figure plummeted to the ground from the sky near the Horde-master. There a woman crouched, her armor gleaming with what seemed to be an internal light and inlaid with diamonds. The armor curved to her body, following the outline of her breasts and butt and accentuating the shape of her hips. Gortelesque was entranced. The weight of the steel and gems seemed to not affect the woman as she rose. That was when Gortelesque saw the wings. Her wings were made of feathers of sharpened metal, like swords that caught the light from her armor. She was the most beautiful thing the demon had ever seen, and he knew that even at the cost of his own wretched life, he had to try and have her.

“A Fury!” Breathed Yertrung, his hand going to his sword.

The Fury surveyed the assembled demons and then with a war cry drew her own sword that was as bright as a sunburst and drove it into the nearest demons heart. The bright green blood pouring out of his chest as the flesh around it smoked and turned black.

The demon Horde snarled as if it were one beast and attacked. The imps attacking at her calves and ankles while the demons drew their swords and engaged the Fury. Her bright blade was everywhere, blocking the other swords of the demons and and impaling flesh as she whirled. Her wings sung through the air, slicing into demon flesh and bone. She kicked and stepped on imps, crushing their bodies. Still, the Horde came at her.

A few demons got in lucky blows, stabbing at her where the diamond studded armor did not protect her. One imp attached itself to her helmet and tore it off before her wings sliced it in two. Her dark hair fell out, whispering around her head as she roared battle cry. Her face was delicate, with large cheeks and brown eyes that seemed to have an internal flame.

With a roar, Gortelesque sprung into the air, using his wings to give him a powerful jump. His knees knocking into her chest as he came down perfectly between her defenses. Her sword was knocked aside as he drove her to the ground, pinning her wings beneath her The whoosh of breath that was driven from her lungs was the sweetest thing that Gortelesque had ever smelled.

While she was still stunned, Gortelesque grabbed one wing, his hands curling around the metal of the leading edge. With a huge effort that bulged his muscles and with a roar, he ripped away the left wing, the Fury screaming as blood spurted from it. With another effort, the right wing came off and the Fury screamed louder, not in pain but in rage.

Her eyes glowed with fire and fury as Gortelesque stared into them, trying to hypnotize them with his own. To his surprise, she did not fall under his spell like countless women before him. Instead she slammed her head into Gortelesque’s forehead and with a crack her head slammed back to the ground where she lay moaning.

The demon reeled for a moment, regaining his head just as the woman’s eyes fluttered open again. He took his muscled fist and slammed it down on the side of her head. She slumped against the ground, unconscious.

“You are mine now.” Whispered the demon into her ear.

He began to rip the armor off of her, tearing at the chinks in it and tossing aside the beautiful stones and metal-craft. Then the Fury lay naked before the demon, her back bleeding from where he had torn her wings off. Her body was curvy, her legs well toned and her breasts exquisitely formed. Her breath was shallow and somehow this heightened the demon’s lust to the point where he could feel his blood boiling. He reached out a hand to grab her tit and it was the most wonderful thing he had ever felt, the perfect size and weight for a breast.

Gortelesque breathed heavily, his desire for the Fury showing even through his heavy leather kilt. He could have her at this very moment, the first demon to ever penetrate a Fury. He snarled as a hand touched his shoulder.

“You know The master will demand to have her.” Whispered Yertrung. “You had best not despoil her or you could be thrown into the pit yourself.”

Gortelesque growled in displeasure, but he knew that his second was right. The Master would be the one to have this one, not Gortelesque. His mind raced at the thought of defying the Father of all Demons, but in the end, his own wretched life was worth more to him than his loins.

He hefted the unconscious woman over his shoulder and carried her back to the fell wolves, where his own beast was tearing at the carcass of a cow that the demons had missed. He slung her over the back of his mount and climbed on. When he rode back to the Horde and prisoners, he saw that several of the demons were picking at the armor plates and gems.

“Leave it all. Leave the gems, the blood and the armor. Let the Furies, the Paladins and all the people of the privileged Above know that we have taken one of their own and peeled the goodness from her flesh. Let them know that none are above the wrath of the Master and that when she returns it will be as a terror upon this land!” He roared.

A chorus of cheers and laughs from the Horde answered him. Gortelesque looked to his second, who would then give the orders to get the Horde back to the safety of Below before dawn.

“Move out with the prisoners.” Shouted Yertrung.

Imps and demons cracked whips and and nipped at the prisoners heels to get them moving. One old man at the back could not stand and was dragged along.

“Come on old man.” Yelled the man in front of him. “I know Aven was your daughter but if you don’t stand up, you are going to kill us all if we have to drag you!”

The old man just stared blankly at the spot where his daughters bones had been crushed by the descending Fury. Gortelesque saw this and rode up beside him, his wolf growling and snarling as if a being possessed by fire. With one swift motion, Gortelesque drew his sword and separated the old man’s hands from his arms.

People in the line screamed in terror, afraid they would be next. Instead the body of the headless man just lay in the dirt behind them. Already vultures were circling, aware of the odor of carnage. The old man’s hands lay dragging in the dirt, still punctured by the thorns, the weight and sound of them serving to remind the people ahead that there were consequences to giving up.

THE END OF CHAPTER ONE