~~Author's Note~~
Welcome. "A Taste of Hell" is a mini series of small novelettes, each told from a unique point of view of side characters in my upcoming main series "The Pleasures of Hell", a fantasy adventure set in Hell. While the main series will have two PoVs, both human (brother and sister) and not featured in this series, these prologue/bonus chapters will give curious readers a taste of this setting from the view of the various angels and demons that populate it, and a taste of the erotic elements.
These chapters are entirely optional. No need to read them if you'd prefer to go into the main series blind.
Erotically, "A Taste of Hell", and "The Pleasures of Hell", will focus largely on monster girls and monster boys, usually paired with someone not monster-y. Expect lots of kinks to be explored, with exaggerated proportions, size difference, deep/large penetration, harems and/or reverse harems, and plenty of others. There'll be fantasies for dominant and submissive readers alike. Erotic scenes that are particularly long and descriptive will be bracketed with ♥♥♥ /♥♥♥. If you're not looking for a juicy scene, skim the dialog in these sections so you don't miss anything important.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This chapter is a fun, carefree read. If you'd prefer to not get spoiled about setting details, no need to read, or read this after having read a decent chunk of the main series. I'll avoid spoiling anything major in these novelettes, but I know some readers prefer going into a series as a blank slate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Fifty years before the Arrival~~
~~Galon~~
Panting, sweating, barely standing, Galon stood his ground as the tregeera demon slowly circled him. He still had his batlam rune, still wore his armor, but a gabriem angel like him wasn't exactly a juggernaut of metal. His helmet left his face exposed, and his armor had gaps at the joints where white silk flowed out. Gabriem weren't meant for the front lines.
And yet, just on the other side of a wall of fallen rocks, he'd slaughtered a dozen demons. Some small ones, imps and grems, and a few of the medium ones, a vratorin and a gorgala, the classics. All of them were filled with his arrows.
The problem now was he was bleeding, exhausted, and he'd been herded into a dark cave. And the even bigger problem, was the cave had collapsed behind him in the ruckus. A big wall of rocks that'd take ages to move, if he even could. The only light source he had, was a few amber veins overhead, and his bow's string.
The tiger demon circling him wouldn't go down to one arrow, and he only had one. Spend grace to make more? Bad idea. It took time to do that, and it'd probably leave him with one shot before he ran on empty. And the tregeera had armor, too, very unfashionable bits of bent black metal slapped onto her limbs and torso, and held down with dirty straps of leather. She had more than a few skulls hanging off those straps, demons, and humans. Galon was as tall as any angel, seven feet, but tregeera were taller, usually by a foot, and this one was no different.
A scary situation to be in, but he smiled at her, white and gold bow in hand, and strafed the same way, slowly circling her in turn, arrow knocked and ready to fire.
Whoever this tiger demon was, she walked on all fours, giant spiky tail waving slowly behind her. No helmet. Her dark hair-like tendrils dangled over her shoulders, and her two horns curved up and back. Big horns. Demons didn't grow old, no more than angels did, but unlike angels, they did get some physical changes: bigger horns, usually. Whoever this demon was, she had some pretty nice ones.
"I can't help but notice," he said, smiling at the only other being in the cave with him, "that you haven't attacked."
The demon laughed as she stopped prowling, and stood up straight. Her tail was almost as long as her whole body, and gently brushed the dirt left and right as it wagged. She was excited.
"You're an angel? I've seen devorjin stronger than you."
"Well, yeah. Devorjin are huge!"
She raised a brow, and eyed him with her black and red eyes. "You're admitting to be being weaker than a devorjin."
"Big brutes? No horns or tail? Tall as all get-out?"
"Not much taller than me."
"You're tall!"
She laughed again. "You're ridiculous, and weak. What is a pathetic angel like you doing down here?"
"Visiting. Heaven can get pretty boring, you know."
"No, I wouldn't know." She got down on all fours again, and came closer, her huge claws gripping the stone. He aimed his arrow and eyed her, but couldn't help but smile more. She laughed. "You're gabriem, aren't you?"
"What gave it away?"
She laughed again. She liked doing that.
"Rapholem use spears, halberds, and enormous shields. Mikalim use swords and shields. I've never seen a Gabriem's weapon."
He waved the bow a bit. "Well, now you have."
"Not the best weapon for melee."
"You're telling me. I mean sure, I could smack your ass with it, and it might even hurt. But I'm definitely not meant for in-your-face fighting."
Again she laughed, and came closer. He hopped to the side a bit and kept her at a distance, arrow still aimed at her, but if she charged him he wouldn't be able to do shit.
"Why would a gabriem leave Heaven? Is being spoon fed resonance that boring?"
"Nope."
"Is it the sex? Are humans"--she licked her lips--"not satisfying your lust? I bet you fuck a few women every day."
"Sometimes men, too."
She purred, and prowled closer. "Then why are you here? You might as well tell me. I might even let you live."
"Let me live? You don't have a choice. We're stuck down here unless we help each other, or are you so strong you can lift those rocks on your own?"
How quickly her purr turned into a snarl. "I don't need your help."
"I think you do. I think we're both going to suffocate unless we start digging our way out of here pretty soon."
She growled and stood up again, a little closer now, more toward the center of the room so he couldn't just back off without pinning his back and wings to a wall. No death charge came, thankfully.
Tregeera demons had interesting faces. Humans called them tigers, but it wasn't really a good fit. They had mostly human faces, ish. They had the biggest, most sharp-teeth-filled smiles, and their mouths stuck out slightly along with their nose, almost like a very short snout, almost unnoticeable. And this one, whoever she was, had a bit of that mature vibe going with her very deadly, oddly attractive face. Compared to other tregeera, her tendrils were long, and her face had a narrow sharpness to it.
"Why are you staring at me?"
He shrugged. "Trapped in a cave with a pretty lady? Might as well stare a bit before she eats me."
Chuckling, she thudded her huge tail on the ground a couple times. "I could eat you. That'd give me strength."
"Not sure how much strength you expect to get from a depleted angel. Think it'll be enough to break down that wall?"
"Maybe."
Eep. So much for that bluff.
"Or, how about this. Let's work together first to remove at least enough rocks so we don't suffocate? I think we'd both be much happier if we didn't die gasping. Then you can decide if you should eat me." Having to worry about air was not fun, and he was very much looking forward to getting back to Heaven where he didn't have to worry about any of that.
She came closer. "I think you'll need to do better than that."
"Better?"
"Tell me why you came to Death's Grip, for one."
