A Demon's Child

The old tower was overgrown with ivy and surrounded by knee high grass, indicating that its former occupant hadn't been too interested in gardening. He hadn't been too interested in repairing things, either, I noted as stepped over the remains of a wall. He was probably too busy studying whatever bit of esoteric bit of magic he'd been pursuing when he'd left the wizard's enclave.

I turned to my familiar, Saban, and paused briefly to admire the view. Leather armor, though unnecessary for any practical purpose, set off his heavily muscled body wonderfully. His black hair fell well past his shoulders, framing a face that was very handsome, in a rugged sort of way. Smooth cheeks, long lashes, and large, dark eyes lent a certain amount of sensitivity an otherwise hard expression. He was my ideal man, at least in outward appearance. Of course, I'd designed his current form to be just that when I'd summoned him from the nether hells. His natural demonic form was much less easy on the eyes.

Saban raised an eyebrow. "While I do enjoy acting as eye candy, wasn't there something we were suppose to do when we got here?"

I blinked. "Right. Just got lost in thought for a bit."

He smirked. "Of course."

"Search the tower for any wards," I told him, ignoring his superior smile. "Or any magic at all, for that matter, as well as more mundane traps." As a bound demon, he was, for the most part, immune to all magics but my own, as well as being hard to kill by any more traditional means. "Any methods he used to keep out intruders are bound to be near the entrances an intruder would use. When you are done, report what you find to me."

"What will you be doing in the mean time?" Saban asked. "Admiring his garden?"

I snorted. "Hardly. I'll be searching the tower with my psyche, looking for anything you might miss." Or deliberately leave out of your report.

"Make sure to put up wards," Saban told me, heading toward the tower. "There might be wild animals." He was a demon, but he did care about my well being, if only because I was his anchor to this reality and his source of power.

I sighed. "Of course."

Saban opened the tower's door. There was a swishing sound. "I found a trap," Saban said, looking with mild interest down at the arrow in his gut.

"Good for you," I said, rolling my eyes. "Try to find the rest without setting them off."

As Saban continued further into the tower, I settled myself under a tree and began to set up wards.

An hour later, I opened my eyes. There appeared to be nothing of interest in the old wizard's tower. There were a few wards to keep out unwelcome visitors, and a few interesting magical books, but nothing really worth bringing back to the enclave. Or, to put it another way, there was nothing to justify sending me all the way here. I sighed. Maybe Saban would find something I had missed. Or maybe I'd find something when I searched the tower in person.

I tried to stand, fully expecting to be stiff after sitting for so long. What I was not expecting was to find my wrists and ankles imprisoned by the tree.

The binding around my ankles was roots, I noted, while branches wrapped my wrists. Strange. I hadn't felt any magic from the tree. In fact, I still didn't. I moved my wrists experimentally. The branches didn't impede my movement much. They just bound my hands together, and tethered me to the tree. The binding on my ankles was much more confining. I could stand, with difficulty, but I couldn't move my feet more than an inch from the place they'd been bound to.

A large dollop of sap landed on my head. I tried to shake it off, but, instead, it dribbled its way down my spine, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake. Another drop landed between my breasts. Sap was also leaking out of the branches binding me, moving in rivulets down my arms.

Suddenly the branches binding my wrists surged upward, pulling my arms over my head before lifting me an inch off the ground. I struggled to move and found I couldn't. With my wrists pulled over my head and my ankles bound to the ground, I was stretched to my limit. A drop of sap landed on my nose. The tingling sensation increased. I began to panic. "Saban!"

The demon took his sweet time in coming to my aid. It felt like forever before he exited the tower, and then he walked nonchalantly over to where I hung, struggling, by the tree. By then I was absolutely covered in sap.

Saban looked me up and down. "Looks like you've got yourself into a bit of a sticky situation, mistress." He grinned.

"Stop messing around and get me- mmmph!" Suddenly there was a branch in my mouth, gagging me. "MMMPH!"

Saban cocked his head. "Sorry, mistress? I didn't quite catch that."

"MMMMPH!"

Saban smiled. "This looks like a arboris diabolicus, or demon tree. You see a lot of them where I come from."

That explained why I hadn't felt any magic. I looked at my familiar, silently telling him to get this thing off of me. Please?

"Of course, back home, there isn't much sunlight, so they can't survive using photosynthesis. They have to feed off magic, like everything else in the demonrealm," Saban explained, still smiling.

He'd suffer for letting me hang here later, I promised myself.

"Their usual modus operandi involves trapping their prey in their branches or roots." Saban gestured to me. "Like you are right now."

Despite the warm day, I began to feel cold. Why didn't he free me already? Surely...

"Like demons, they can only feed off the magical power or life force of their prey when it is feeling some sort of strong emotion. This is where their sap comes in. It contains substances that cause a burning sensation, in both demons and mortals. The prey is drained of magic and life force over the course of several incredibly painful days. After that, its body acts as fertilizer for the tree." Saban grinned. "Isn't nature wonderful?"

I struggled harder as the tingling sensation grew stronger. Would it eventually begin to burn, like Saban had said? Would he help me before then? Or would he just let the tree feed? Except the tingling... It wasn't getting painful. It almost felt like...

Saban continued grinning. "You know how I hate to see you in pain. You also know that my status as a demon lord lets me command lesser demons, like this tree. So I've told it that, instead of making its sap burn, it should put in something a bit more... Pleasurable."

I began to panic for entirely different reasons. The sap was soaking through my clothes, and dribbling under my shirt to coat my breasts, and run in rivulets around my nipples. I began to feel hot, especially in my nether regions.

"It's a type of aphrodisiac that can enter the blood stream through the skin. Of course, it will get absorbed even faster if you swallow it," Saban told me.

The branch in my mouth forced its way further in, and began to gush with sap. The sweet liquid poured into my mouth, forcing me to swallow, and swallow again, in order to breathe. Saban leaned down and undid my breeches. A branch eagerly tugged them down, leaving a smear of sap right over my pussy. My clit began to tingle, and then to burn. Another branch slathered sap all over my ass.

Oddly enough, Saban didn't move to touch me so he could feed off my magical power. He seemed content simply to grin and watch me writhe. I fought the growing pleasure, but I was helpless. Bound. With my wrists wrapped and my mouth stuffed full, I was unable to cast a spell. Not that I could have affected the tree anyways. Demons were, for the most part, immune to all magics save the ones of a wizard who bound them, or who held them in a circle.

I closed my eyes, and waited for the tree or Saban to shove something phallic up my exposed ass or pussy. The expected fucking never came. Saban was just standing there, grinning, and the demonic tree was just as immobile as its mortal relatives. What was he playing at, I wondered.

Sap was everywhere on me. It caressed my breasts, and hardened my nipples. It slowly ran down my back and stomach, over my nether regions, and down my legs. It stuck my shirt to my body, and my breeches to my thighs. It was even starting to soak into my cunt and asshole, and, of course, I was still being force fed the stuff. Everywhere it touched, my skin burned. I fought the growing heat, forced the burning in my belly back down, but, to my dismay, I began to whimper and moan.

Why wasn't Saban trying to fuck me? I had never wanted his cock in me so badly before in my life. In a pinch, a branch would do just fine. Or something. Anything. As long as the growing heat inside me got a release. But Saban just stood there, eyes glinting, smile broading.

I still fought to get free, but now I fought for entirely different reasons. I wanted, no, needed to cum. My own wetness ran down my thighs, mixing with the sap. I was slowly losing my mind. If I could only... Only...

A branch hung before me, reaching down to about mid thigh. I didn't know when it had shifted there, nor did I care. I fought to rub my pussy against it, or impale myself on it, but it was tantalizingly, infuriatingly, just out of my reach. I let out a muffled scream of frustration.

By now, Saban was naked, his clothes having vanished to wherever his clothing went when he wasn't wearing it. The sight of his huge erection was almost enough to send me over the edge into orgasmic bliss. Almost. Black tentacles sprouted from his back, reaching for my pussy. Then, to my fury, they withdrew.

"Maybe I'll wait just a bit longer," Saban said, grinning. "You don't want it badly enough." I glared at him, writhing in helpless, hopeless, passion.

I don't know how long I hung there, silently begging for release, but by the time Saban reached for me again, I could barely think. A vibrating tentacle lightly brushed my clit...

I came, screaming. Passion raced through me, tightening every muscle to the point of pain. Another tentacle thrust its way into my pussy, and a third took my ass, sending even more spiraling waves of pleasure through me. Finally, finally, I was being fucked.

But it wasn't over yet, not by a long shot. Tentacles caressed me all over, tweaking my nipples, stroking my spine, pressing their vibration hard against my clit. I had barely come out of the first orgasm when I came again. And again, and again, and again...

At some point in the continuous orgasm I must have passed out, because next thing I knew I was slowly opening my eyes. I felt rushing water, blessedly cold, against my skin, and gentle hands holding my head above the current as a washcloth moved slowly, almost reverently, over my skin.

Saban was smiling down at me. It wasn't the same self satisfied grin he wore while the tree had tormented me with its sap. It was a gentle smile that reminded me of the expression my dad wore in church.

"It's about time you woke up," he told me. "I've almost finished getting you clean." Nearby, my wet clothing hung from a branch.

"You," I told him, "Are going to suffer for what you just did to me."

His smile widened. "Oh, am I, mistress?"

I felt for my magical reserves. Normally almost limitless, they were down barely an ember of power. "You little shit. You drained me."

"Not me," he protested, and then grinned. "Well, I helped."

My eyes widened. "The tree?"

"Yes. I'll show you later," he promised, caressing a nipple clean with the washcloth. "Right now, let's get you cleaned up. And then a nap, I think, to help restore those magical reserves of yours."

I moaned softly as the washcloth moved lower down. Saban laughed. "Looks like the aphrodisiac isn't all out of your system yet."

I glared at him. "Yes, it is."

"Oh? Even if it do," Saban said as his fingers slid inside of me, "This?"

A short, sharp gasp escaped me. "Stop that," I ordered Saban, but was unable to summon up the conviction necessary to force him to obey.

Saban increased his tempo.

"Why," I gasped, "Are you doing this? I don't have any power left for you to take."

"Because you need it," Saban told me, looking into my eyes. "Besides, I can enjoy pleasuring you without taking your magic. It's not always about power, love."

That went against everything I thought I knew about demons, and my relationship with Saban. But, as Saban's thumb began to move in small circles around my clit, I put my wonderings aside and just enjoyed the moment.

A little while later, I stared up at the arboris diabolicus from a careful distance away. "Huh. That's certainly an interesting development," I said, moving carefully around the tree to get a look from a different angle, fireball ready in my hand. It wouldn't hurt the demonic tree, just discourage it a little. Saban, I knew, wouldn't warn me if I got too close, or rescue me if I got captured, and I didn't feel like going another round with the aphrodisiac. Not right now, anyways. Maybe later.

"There's thirteen pods in all," Saban told me. "Fully developed. In another few hours, the tree will throw them a good distance away, where they will sprout into little arboris diabolicus saplings."

"I'm not certain having more of those things is a good idea," I said doubtfully. Carefully, with a stick, I moved the coating of leaves on the ground around the tree. Beneath, there were a lot of small bones, as well as a few larger ones. "It seems to be wreaking havoc on the local wildlife." Including, I noted as I continued my investigation, a mountain lion, a family of wild pigs, and a couple of bears. This thing was dangerous. If Saban hadn't been here, would this thing have killed me? Suddenly, an hour of slowly building lust, followed by another hour of orgasm, didn't seem like such a bad outcome.

"I was thinking we could pick them," Saban said.

I raised an eyebrow. "If you think I'm getting near that thing again, you are mistaken."

Saban sighed. "Fine, I was thinking I could pick them."

"Better. And then burn them?" Non magical fire should do the trick, if we could get it hot enough. We might need a forge. Or a volcano. I sighed. Destroying demons, even young lesser demons, was tough. I knew how to make a demon lose its hold on this reality, if it didn't have a good anchor, but these were born in the mortal world. They were native, and, thus, unbanishable.

"I was actually thinking they'd be useful," Saban said. "If you ever wanted to build a tower of your own, they'd be a great way to keep out intruders. Or you could study them. And they make lovely flowers in the springtime, if they get enough light."

I looked thoughtfully up at the green, wrinkly pods the size of a newborn babe. "I suppose the masters back home would want a look at them."

Saban snorted. He had a low opinion of the master wizards back at the enclave.

"I think the thing to do would be for you to pick the pods, and for me to banish the tree," I said.

"Why banish it?" Saban asked.

"Because it could kill someone," I told him indignantly.

"So?" he responded.

"Shut up and get the damned seeds," I ordered, shaking my head.

It didn't take long for Saban to get the seeds. The tree didn't really want to give them up, but it couldn't disobey a demon lord, just like Saban couldn't disobey me. The only difference was that I had to speak to force Saban to obey, while he apparently could convey his desires telepathically.

Once Saban had the seeds, I focused my power on the tree, and said the required spell. Since the wizard's enclave had been set up primarily to keep demons from getting a foothold in this world, I had memorized that spell during my first year of apprenticeship.

However, the tree wasn't banished.

I frowned. That spell should have made the tree vanish back to the demon realm from whence it came. But it was still here. Why?

Saban frowned. "Maybe it's native."

"That's impossible!" I protested. Then I paused thoughtfully. "Unless the old wizard bred it."

"Isn't there an easy way of identifying the origins of a living thing?" Saban asked. "You know, a spell or something?"

"No," I told him.

"I've seen you use it," he responded.

I sighed. "In this case, it's not easy. I have to touch whatever I'm identifying."

"So? Then touch it," Saban said.

"What if it touches me back?" I retorted.

Saban shrugged. "I'll stop it."

I trusted Saban with my life, mainly because it was in his own best interests to keep me alive. However, I did not trust him with this. I felt my greatly diminished magical reserves. There wasn't much there for him to take. But what was it he had said by the river? It's not always about power... The idea that he had desires beyond his lust for my magic unnerved me a little. Still, I had to know why this thing was resisting being banished. And Saban had to obey my commands, so maybe...

"Don't let it touch me," I ordered, putting a great deal of force into the words.

He shrugged, not bothering to fight the compulsion. "Okay."

I had to keep focusing on the command. If I lost my focus, Saban would no longer be compelled to obey. Roots, unnervingly, moved away from me as I approached the trunk. I laid my hand on it. This would be the tricky bit. I would have to focus on the spell and the command at the same time. I said the words, and magic poured through me. I got a vague impression of a moonlit night... A virgin sacrifice, breasts as white as the moon heaving on her chest... An ancient parent-tree, life growing in its branches. As I strained to see more, my mental grip on the command binding Saban slipped. Shit! In my panic, I lost my grip on the identification spell. I frantically grabbed for both, and overextended my reach, sending a stabbing pain roaring through my head. Blackness.

The first thing I saw as I awoke was Saban. He was frowning. "You don't usually faint when you do spells."

I groaned. My head ached. Then my eyes focused on what was above Saban. Branches. Lots of branches. And a green, wrinkly pod. "Shit!" I was still under the tree. I tried to spring to my feet. Key word, tried.

Saban placed a hand firmly on my chest. "You're not going anywhere until we figure out what happened."

"Let me up!" I ordered. As I tried to infuse the words with power, the pain in my head increased.

"Don't worry," Saban soothed. "The tree is completely under my control."

"That's what I'm afraid of! Let me UP!" Pain shot through my head again, and I fell unconcious once more.

Once again I awoke to Saban's concerned face. This time, though, I didn't see branches behind him. I saw his own tentacles. Two arched out of his back to my arms, pressing them firmly against the ground. Another gagged me. A fourth wrapped my legs, while still more writhed through the air in obvious agitation. I fought for a moment, and then relaxed. I was trapped. There was nothing I could do. The sensation of helplessness was oddly peaceful.

Saban saw me stop fighting. "Good. Just relax. Now, I'm going to let you talk. If the first thing that comes out of your mouth is a command, I'm gagging you again. You don't have the mental strength to force me to do anything, and you'll hurt yourself trying. Got it?"

I nodded.

"Good. Good. Now, I want you to tell me what happened when you passed out. The first time, not the second, because it's pretty obvious why you passed out the second time. Oh, and, by the way, if you manage to make yourself pass out a third time, I will never, ever, let you go again. Ok?" Saban said.

I nodded again. The tentacle in my mouth slid smoothly to the side.

I sighed. "I made a beginner mistake. I tried to hold on to two things at once, mentally, and, when the first slipped, I panicked and let the second one slip. Then I tried to grab both at the same time. This overtaxed my mind, and I passed out."