The Pleasures of Hell 03.049

~~Day 70~~

~~David~~

Everyone and everything was trying to kill him, and here he was, resting on Dao's tits and imagining all the things he wanted to do to said tits.

Jes was back, and she, the Las, and Acelina all slept in the mausoleum basement. Caera had left and come back already, and lay next to David; Dao had gone with her for her first shift. Now, Laoko and Moriah were the ones missing.

Still no sign of Timaeus. The girls all said he remained upstairs at the mausoleum entrance. Maybe he didn't feel comfortable around them, yet?

A worry for another time. For just a minute, he wanted to forget all the crap happening, all the death and trouble, all the battles they'd inevitably fight. Right now, all that mattered, was boobs. He sighed into Dao's chest, shifted his head enough his face planted against her right breast, and nuzzled into the softness. Not as soft as when aroused, Dao's skin currently a dark red, but still a thousand times softer than stone floor.

Dao chirped down at him, stroked his hair and combed it with her claws, and guided his mouth down a little lower. Nipple against his mouth, she chirped again, pressed on the back of his head, and he parted his lips. She shivered, chirped quietly, and hugged him tighter.

"Dao," Caera said. "Are you trying to start something?"

She chirped and shook her head.

"Because it looks to me like you are."

Dao chirped again.

Caera sighed, sat up on her butt in the corner beside Dao, and yanked David right out of Dao's arms. Clicking up a storm, Dao pursued, sat on Caera's leg, and gave her several gentle shoves in the shoulder as Caera put David between the tiger's giant thighs.

It was way too cute the way Caera now sat, like a cat sitting on a couch human style, with legs spread. She smiled down at him, turned him to face her, and poked him in the forehead with a claw.

"What is it with you and tits?"

"I uh..." He shrugged.

Dao laughed, got between Caera's legs too, directly behind David, and pushed him toward Caera. More clicks followed, and Caera laughed.

"Never really been a fan," Caera said. "But... we got some time." Nodding, the tiger reached behind her, undid the straps of her breastplate, and set it aside. David gulped. The tiger smiled, lifted him up, sat him on her lap with his legs around her, and guided his head toward her breasts.

Who was he to argue? With her leaning back into the corner, he was free to lie across her body, and bury his face into one of her large breasts. Mouth open, he devoured her nipple, and buried it in heavy suckles.

This was the best distraction he could ask for.

Caera laughed and scratched his back. Big claws.

"That tickles," she said, grinning at him.

Dao giggled, scooted in beside the much bigger demon, and gently poked Caera's free breast.

Caera shook her head. "Not really. I don't have sensitive nipples."

The clop of hooves announced Acelina's approach. "Perhaps because you crawl on your belly all day."

"Crawl?"

David lifted his head, got ready to defend Caera, but the tiger guided his head back to her breast and buried it there. Unlike Daoka, she wasn't gentle, and he squirmed and tilted his head so he could breathe.

"Only softer, more majestic creatures like us," Acelina said, "can truly enjoy the bliss of lips caressing our breasts." She squatted down beside Caera and gestured to her. "You are a battle-hardened warrior, but any volara could easily defeat you in bed."

Caera rolled her eye, but her tail went still. She didn't like what Acelina said.

It was like that time when Caera lost her eye. In the most uncharacteristic move from Caera David could have ever expected, Caera had actually been concerned about the way losing an eye made her look. She didn't like the idea of looking ugly. So, of course, Acelina went for that weak spot and twisted.

Daoka got up, clicked at her fellow eyeless demoness, loudly at that, and folded her arms across her breasts. Whatever she said, it got a groan from Acelina, and the spire mother stood up and paced.

"I am... agitated, at the moment," she said. "Three days ago, I was once again in the embrace of a spire, with demons doting on me and kin who understood me. Now I am here, once again forced to hunt with my own claws. I... do not mean what I say, Caera."

Longest, most round-about apology David had ever heard.

Caera's tail wagged, barely, and she nodded and turned David around.

"I'm cool with some arguing," Jes said, getting up. "But let's at least argue about something good, not catty shit."

Acelina showed her shark smile for half a second and gestured to the door and spiraling stairs with a wing.

"If you think I am catty, how do you think you will fare in the Scar?"

Jes shrugged. "No idea. It's all volas, right?"

"Untold volaras and volarins, exploiting each other, twisting each other's words, insulting each other where it would hurt such creatures the most: their sex appeal."

Laughing, Jes marched up to Acelina and poked her in the breastplate. "Then I guess it's a good thing you're coming. We'll need a bitch to handle the bitches."

"And besides," David said, "we might find a spire for you yet, Acelina. Is there one you think you'd like?"

Acelina tilted her head. "What?"

"Is there a spire you'd like? I know it's hard to get information about the other provinces, but you've been around a long time. You've heard things about the other spires, right?"

"I... have."

"Then, if you could pick a spire, which one would you pick?"

Someone apparently blindsided Acelina with a snowball because she stood there, silent, head tilted. Eventually, she put her hands on her wide hips and looked down.

"I never thought about it, young soul."

"Really? Never daydreamed about it?"

"No."

His turn to tilt his head. "Really?"

"I... suppose if I could choose a spire, I would be interested in the Forgotten Place's spire."

Caera chuckled. "Of course. Queen supreme would love to have a position inside the biggest, baddest spire in Hell?"

"Of course." Acelina shrugged, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You have seen other spire mothers. Did they have my zeal? My presence?" She stretched out her wings, enormous, long, cape-like, and ran the back of her hands down her sides. Even with the armor, her curves were absurd. "I imagine the spire in the Forgotten Place is dead, or sleeping. If it could be woken, I believe the strongest demons could be born there, and all spire mothers strive to raise the greatest demons."

"Gonna try and take over Hell," Jes said, "aren't ya?"

"I am a spire mother. It is not my place to conquer. That is the duty of lower demons, who then bestow their treasures upon me, all for the hope of a single kiss upon my breasts, and a taste of my wonderful milk."

Jes groaned. "I was sucking on your tits not even a week ago."

Acelina reached down over the much smaller woman and flicked her in one of her much smaller horns. "And you should thank me for the honor."

"Oh please."

David put up a hand. "You saved my life, Acelina. Least I can do is make sure you get the spire you want. And I mean, who knows what sort of condition the Forgotten Place's spire is in? If it's possible, yeah sure, I'll help you become a spire mother there."

Acelina froze again, folded her wings over her shoulders like a cloak, and brushed off her armor.

"Yes. Well, if that happens, then you may call us even."

Daoka chirped and crawled onto David's lap. Squish, he melted back against Caera, and Daoka smiled and pressed her breasts against him. With her on his lap, she literally buried his face in breasts, and pinned his head between Caera's. More chirps.

"Yes, I suppose," Acelina said. "If we succeed, riiva, and the boy fulfils his promise, then yes, you could visit. And I suppose the rest of you, as well."

Jes chuckled. David couldn't see, though, dying by boobage, and Jes's voice half drowned behind two heartbeats pressed to his ears by red skin.

"Acelina, you've cum your fucking brains out each time you've fucked David and us. Stop acting like you don't like it."

Ever on the warpath. David didn't need Mia to know Acelina didn't like being vulnerable, and admitting she liked something was basically admitting a vulnerability, at least to a demon, especially with someone like Acelina, and especially if it was regarding a little guy like David. Which just made it all the sweeter.

If he was someone else, he'd have teased Acelina about it. Maybe even flirted with her about it. But he wasn't that guy. He sucked at playful teasing. He sucked at playful flirting.

Daoka sat up, kissed his forehead, and chirped at him.

"No time," Moriah said.

The group looked to the stairs. The angel came down to join them, silent in her sandals, until the clop clop of hooves behind her joined in. Laoko.

"We have fed," Laoko said. "Barely."

"Slim pickings out there," Jes said, joining them. "Barely any remnants, either."

The tetrad nodded and sat on the stairway. "At least it is quiet. We will hear the rider coming, when he inevitably finds us."

"Don't remind me," David said. The girls got up, him too, and they put on their breastplates. "You know, not even three months ago, I would have said 'fuck this' to a journey to save the world, especially if some asshole in armor was chasing me like the fucking Terminator." The demons looked at each other. "Seriously, you haven't seen those movies?"

Daoka clicked at him, shook her head, and shooed him toward the staircase.

"No, we haven't," Jes said, following him.

Groaning, he adjusted his red toga, his gladiator sandals, and took a deep breath. Another day on the run. Another day, dodging the Terminator, dodging angel armies they couldn't even see, dodging demons who had unknown intentions, or that just wanted to eat him.

Another day, potentially driving his body into a fucking coma because of his powers.

Another day, with awesome ladies -- ludicrously hot ladies -- on a magical journey. Okay, maybe not magical. Really fucking scary and awful. It was Hell.

He counted the problems on his fingers, and the girls looked at him, those with eyebrows raising them. He counted the good things on his other hand and smiled. Maybe it was his stupid horny teenager brain, but the journey didn't seem all that bad with the girls along.

"Terminator is an interesting title," Laoko said. "It does fit his aura."

"About that," David said. "When we came back, you and Timaeus stuck around to fight him."

"Yes. We could not resist his aura for long. It is unending. A demon's aura crashes but does not last forever. His was a storm that tore down our defenses with time. As the minutes went by, I felt my mind get pulled into the wind of his aura, and I... regressed."

"Regressed?"

"Yes. You have seen demons who give into their most primal urges. Mindless. Addicted to violence. Blood drunk."

He winced. "Yeah." Had the girls ever done that? Probably. Caera had, when she'd been summoned in a horde.

"I felt like that," Laoko said. "Timaeus, Silvain, Cullius, we couldn't resist. As the moments went by, his presence beat us down into primitive creatures." Eyes aimed down, Laoko set two hands on her knees, rubbed at the small spikes on her kneecaps, and set two other hands on her thighs and rubbed them. It was weird, seeing a gigantic creature look distraught, especially Laoko. "I have never fought the rider before."

"Never?" Jes asked. "You've been around for a long fucking time. And a lot of demons throw themselves at him, looking to eat his heart, maybe get his power, or at least get his weapons. Head as a trophy would be nice." The gargoyle smiled and looked up. No doubt, she'd fantasized about it, too.

"I am no fool. I plan to live for a long time, and demons stronger than I have died to the rider. I have seen him, though, once, during the Spires War. He had a companion with him, then, a child of the Old Ones known as Vinicius."

David froze. "Wait, the rider and Vinicius are buddies? But, I saw Vinicius try to kill the rider."

Laoko tilted her head. "What?"

"I don't know. I just know Vinicius is helping my sister."

"That... is strange. But regardless, they used to be companions, and killed hundreds per battle, the two of them against swarms of demons lost to their auras. Some tetrads battled them, hoping to claim the kill. Some angels fought them, hoping to stop them before they perhaps united the spires; not that they ever would want to, in hindsight. And yet, those two always survived."

"Sounds like Mia's in good hands," Caera said, single eye locked on Laoko like she was afraid to look Acelina's way and give up the secret. "She'll reach the Forgotten Place way before we do, at this rate."

"Yes, perhaps. But we should make the effort regardless, correct? Let us go." Sighing, Laoko got up and started up the stairs, an invisible weight hooked to her legs, and the group followed.

David followed last. Wait, not last. He took a step, turned, and squatted in front of the Las. The little ladies had been sitting and listening, but it was clear they hadn't absorbed and internalized what any of the conversations meant.

"You girls," he said. "Be careful, okay? The rider is gonna keep following me, unless he finds some other unmarked to kill. Even then, he's gonna be a pain in our asses."

"We avoid," Lasca said. "Did last time, too. Dodged."

"Yeah, you did. But you felt his aura, right?"

Laria shivered and rubbed her arms. "Felt... deadly. Violent, and... and..."

"Kill," Laara said. "Aura felt like killing. Murder. In Laara's bones."

David sighed. So much for imps and grems being really stupid. Sure, they wouldn't have done well in school, and they had short memories, but they knew what was going on at the most essential level. They weren't children. They were demons, little ones, but still demons.

"Yeah," he said. "And that aura was enough to break four tetrads."

The little ladies trembled.

He stood up. "So stay away from him. He's pretty much the embodiment of murder."

"Murder," Latia whispered, frowning. "It's... different, than killing, right? Imps and grems kill, all the time. Kill for food. Kill to stop other demons from killing us. But murder different."

Way smarter than they seemed.

"Yeah, I agree," he said. "Murder is different. And the rider is... murder personified."

"Personified?" They asked, as a choir.

"It means to give human... stuff, to something not human. Like if I said a rock was happy I was sitting on it, that's personification."

"But rider isn't rock," Lasca said.

Good god, him giving a school lesson. He sucked at teaching.

"Exactly. But murder is kinda like a rock in this example, and the human stuff we're giving it is the rider, and..." Face, meet palms. "Never mind. But you're right. There's something weird about the rider, about his aura. It's different. Stay away from him."

Laara tugged on his arm. "But, what if everyone else is dead, and rider comes for David? Las shouldn't protect David?"

He froze and met the little lady's big eyes.

"I..." He squatted down again and took Laara's hands. "If everyone else is dead, and the rider catches up to me, just run."

Laria shook her head. "But Las can help, and--"

He slid his fingers through Laria's hair, and Laara's. Shoulder-length tendrils, black, and he combed them and got some smiles from the ladies.

"You four have been very helpful. But the rider is different. You can't kill him. I can't kill him. So if there's no other choice, just run. I'd rather you girls live than die pointlessly."

The Las traded glances.

"Like in scrying pool," Lasca said. "Like in movies? Hero tells others to run."

He half choked on a laugh. "I mean, I guess? That's not me, though. I'm not--"

The four ladies circled him and hugged him. Four sets of wings buried him, and they rubbed their faces and horns against him.

"David hero!" Lasca said. "We protect."

Oh no. "No no. I want you to run if something happens. You can't--"

"Las strong," Latia said. "Live long time, many years, longer than other imps and grems. We protect."

God help him, if the Las died on this journey, he'd break.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back on the road, as close to a road the Grave Valley had, winding patches of dirt, sometimes black, sometimes white. Gravel, bits of blackstone and white tombstone bits, and some regular good ole brown dirt. The fog hid everything, and all that came before them was more rigid, black, dead trees, and big tombstones.

"Ahead," Laoko said, holding her wounded arm, "are the Dead Lands. Beyond them, the Amisius Forest."

Timaeus walked in front of the group. That far ahead, his body was almost a silhouette against the fog. Either he wasn't happy with Laoko, or David, or he didn't want them to see how injured he was.

"I never did learn who Amisius is," David said. He rode Caera's back and did his best to ignore the hunger. If playing the music drained a well, a single human heart only put a few buckets of water back in. He needed way more.

"I've read a few things," Caera said. "A demon who lived in the forest, and killed many demons alone, surviving alone."

"Indeed," Laoko said. "A child of the Old Ones who died in the Second War. Killed by Cain, supposedly."

Caera perked up. "You know?"

"I have lived in this province most of my life, tregeera. I know a thing or two of its history."

Caera looked up and back at David, smiling. He knew that look. Learning about history scratched an itch in her brain.

"And the Dead Lands?" David asked.

"Dead," Laoko said, shrugging. "All we will find there are remnants. Millions. There is no bailiff, but portals do not open there, either. With little reason to go there, it is unlikely we will run into other demons; they go around. But we must cross it directly if we wish to make good time."

David frowned, looking down. "That'll make getting food difficult."

"You ate recently."

"Yeah but... It's weird. Playing the music doesn't really... it's..." He threw up his hands. "I don't know. I can eat, and eat, and eat, and I never get full. At best, I just stop being hungry. But when I play the music, loudly anyway, it sucks it all right out of me."

"Then we will have trouble, because there will be no souls or demons where we cross."

He groaned and rubbed his stomach. "I'll have to take another stab at growing a forbidden tree, then, and see how it goes."

Laoko looked back at him, eyebrow raised, but didn't question.

"Perhaps," Moriah said, "you could use the horde call?"

Everyone looked her way.

"Whatcha mean?" David asked.

"Your sister used the horde call, when battling us in Death's Grip. A thousand demons flooded us. A paltry amount compared to the power of five hundred angels, but when combined with her firestorm, the results were... devastating." She looked back into the endless fog. "Can you do such a thing?"

Holy shit. Just how messed up had that battle been, to push Mia that far?

"I think so? I know the rune for it. I could play a song, using the rune as a lyric." He scratched his scalp. "But I don't think I can do anything very specific with it. It'll just summon a bunch of demons to swarm a target. Maybe if I knew more runes. Really knew them, like, touched them and knew them, I could make spire auras that did different things. All I got now, though, is the horde." Which he hadn't even considered using. "It'd hit everyone here, too, though."

"I can resist the horde call," Laoko said, "and its effect will be weak on the impas and gremlas. But the others will be lost to it."

Hissing, Jes flared her wings and glared back at David. "Don't you dare."

He put up his hands. "I won't."

"Better not."

"I won't!"

"Fucking right." She flared her wings and walked beside the tetrad.