It was almost dawn when the Horde approached the abyssal caverns that marked the openings to Below, the stronghold of The Master. Gortelesque rode his fell wolf proudly, as if he were already rewarded for his work. The unconscious fury lay across his mount in front of him, blood still seeping from the wounds in her back where he had torn her wings off.
The horde scampered ahead of thos on the fell wolves, eager to get any morsels of food left from the feeding pit. The 8 fell wolves and their riders rode up to the Keeper of the Door. This demons was in charge of keeping anything unwanted out of the Below and for caring for the fell wolves while their riders were resting. The other Arch-Demons dismounted and passed their captives and mounts along.
"You got a good haul tonight." Croaked the Keeper as the captives filed by. Gortelesque knew he was taking mental stock of each one and marking the ones for The Master's share, the prettiest and the youngest.
"You have no idea." Said Gortelesque.
"What is so special about that one?" Asked the Keeper, pointing to the woman still laying prone across the wolf's back as the Horde-master dismounted.
"I am taking her to The Master on my own." Said the demon calmly.
"Like hell you are!" laughed the Keeper. "You are not of a rank to see The Master without a yearlong appointment! And even then he is as likely to fuck you and throw you in the pit!"
"He will see me once your runner tells him what I have for him."
The Keeper stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes. He muttered to himself as he moved forward to inspect the woman. That was when he noticed the wounds on her back. He looked at Gortelesque questionably. The demon just smiled. The Keeper's eyes widened as he grabbed the woman's head by her hair so he could see her face.
"That is Jolie! The Arch-Fury of metal!" Gasped the astonished Keeper.
"Oh is that her name?" Gortelesque said nonchalantly. "I had no idea."
"Hirk!" Yelled the Keeper as he glowered at Gortelesque. "Send word to the High Guardian that he should grant an audience to The Master for Gortelesque, the Horde-master of the order to Perversion of Women."
Hirk went pale as he heard this, for many runners had lost their heads when they brought tidings to the High Guardian. Nevertheless, the long-legged demon did as he was told and ran off to deliver the message.
"You should stay here with that." The Keeper told Gortelesque. "In case she wakes up and decides to do a suicide thing and try and kill all of us."
"Fair enough Keeper." Said Gortelesque, his chest puffed with importance.
The Horde-master took the naked woman and slung her over his shoulder, drawing several snarls from a gaggle of nearby demons as their appetites grew larger. Gortelesque ignored them. He knew that he could destroy any of them before they reached him or his prize.
As the minutes dragged on, watching the Keeper and his minions go about his business bored Gortelesque. He was a warrior at heart and staying in the caverns and looking after things was just not something that he could do.
In order to keep his mind occupied he began to imagine what he would do to the Fury if he was allowed to keep her. He could feel her breasts against his shoulder and that started to make the fire of desire run through him.
He imagined her tied down to a table completely naked, her eyes glaring hatred at him as he disrobed before her eyes. He imagined her shutting those eyes and looking away, but spying through her eyelashes at his dick. He thought he would caress her with his claws gently, but enough to draw blood and excite his nostrils at some point. He knew she would enjoy the slight pain and pleasure high that comes with that.
He growled in pleasure and he felt himself begin to rise. The other demons nearby began to look away uncomfortably, because to get between such a powerful demon and his desire was simply an invitation to return to the Pit.
His desire grew until he just couldn't take it any more and he grabbed the unconscious woman around her waist and was just about to shove inside of her, Hirk the demon runner returned. Gortelesque shot daggers from his eyes at the little creature, but inside he was more ashamed at his lack of control than anything else.
"Horde-master Gortelesque, The Master himself bade me that you make all speed possible and meet with him at once." The little demon was out of breath and collapsed as he said this.
Gortelesque's foul mood immediately vanished. He would get what he wanted, an attempt before the Master himself to claim his prize and pervert her to his own ends.
"Good, Hirk. Here." Gortelesque reached into a pouch and pulled out a bit of cow liver that he had saved from the raid and tossed it to the exhausted demon.
The little one wolfed it down and smiled gratefully at the larger demon. Gortelesque knew it was never a waste of resources to build his power base, especially among creatures that other powerful demons tended to ignore. It was not inconceivable that he could become the War-master at some point, and he knew he would need every demon he could get on his side when he made that claim.
Gortelesque made his way from the Gate to he common areas, all protected from the sun, which hurt demon eyes. He drew the attention of most of the creatures that he passed, all curious to know what a demon was doing walking in the Below with a woman over his shoulder.
He passed from there to the holding pens, where all of the captives were stored. The moans of the prisoners was pitiful, but the screams of those being devoured made Gortelesque smile. He had done his duty as first an imp and then a lower demon, always desperate for more food to grow strong and gain more rank and power. When he took over his Horde from the incredibly weak Jukaress, Gortelesque had been little more than a graduate of the Perversion of Women. He used his good looks and charm to beguile a female Captain of the Guard at a Paladin base.
The woman had let him and his Horde in, where they slaughtered the men in their sleep and feasted on their bones and flesh. She eventually became his favorite Harpie, Garesh. He smiled when he thought of what his Harpies would do when they saw he had a new project. Garesh might even try and kill the Fury woman. That would be a fight to see, thought Gortelesque.
After the slave pens, he made his way down to the Pit. It was a cavern straight down, with a circular staircase along the walls. The center was a miasma of glowing vapors, trapped souls that waited in agony to be called to by the Master to be made into whole creatures again. Every soul that had been wicked or called upon the Master's name to get something they wanted was trapped in there until they were called forth by the Master himself to be made into a lesser demon or imp.
Gortelesque descended for what seemed like an eternity but was more like thirty minutes, haunted by his memories of being trapped and body less within the vortex of the Pit. He reached the bottom, where the Pit vapors swirled and returned upward. He saw a magnificent stone door, made of marble and quartz so that it sparkled with the light of the Pit. This was the Master's Chamber.
Two enormous Arch-Demons stood to either side of the staircase, their bodies dwarfing even Gortelesque. They were Delezhar and Forezhar, the hand-picked Bodyguards, grown and fed to be the ultimate defenders of The Master. It was said that they were only allowed to feed upon the purest souls so that their power would rival even the greatest Arch-Anjel.
They sniffed deeply from beneath their cloaks covering their faces and seemed to consider who was standing before them as the demon approached, the unconscious woman still over his shoulder. They seemed to reach some sort of consensus and a low rumble echoed through the chamber as they each pushed the stone doors open with their enormous hands. Gortelesque felt a trembling in his body that he thought might be the sound of grinding stone, but could only be fear.
"Enter." said the Bodyguards in unison, their voices thin and wispy in the cool air of the Pit..
Gortelesque, gulped and shifted the weight of his burden as he strode forward. It was not dark and gloomy inside as he had expected. Instead it was lit by glow crystals and candles so that it seemed quite cheery, even though it was hundreds of feet from the light. Books were stacked everywhere, some sprawled open, some as thick as Gortelesque was tall and some sealed with twine.
