Author's Message: The following contains non-consensual sex with demonic monsters. So if you're not into that read no further. If you are, forge on, because I know I am ;)
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II. Honeypot
Twenty years ago, the Artifact tore the sky asunder. Creatures humanity couldn't have ever conceived entered through the void. Monsters hellish, pelagic, alien, devious, and lascivious. All bent on exploiting the souls of humanity through nefarious means. Where did they come from? What is their ultimate goal? Was there an intelligent design behind the nightmare invasion or was it cosmic chaos?
From, The History of the Artifact, by Rift Walker Matriarch
***
"A pit fiend? Don't be ridiculous," the Captain of the Guard of Bale said. Opposite of him, a tavern keeper pleaded for the guards of the town to do something about the pit fiend who'd become territorial in the region around his tavern.
"Please, it ripped apart all of my patrons in a single evening! I just escaped with my life!" Distraught, the tavern keeper threw his hands in the air, beckoning toward his tavern, "it's only a day's walk from here. It could attack the town," he added.
The Captain of the Guard crossed his arms and shifted his weight. A small crowd had gathered in the town square. A hooded figure watched from horseback in the background as the stead drank.
"Even if what you say is true, it would take an army to destroy a pit fiend, not this miserable lot," the Captain said and waved his hand over the few guards standing behind him, "either an army or some kind of magic user. Do you see any sorceresses around?" A few in the crowd laughed. The innkeeper's shoulders fell, defeated.
"A sorceress has never set foot in this town, and neither has such an infernal monster as a pit fiend, if such a creature even exists. Now, if you come to your senses and there are some bandits or a bear to hunt, come back and talk to me." With that, the Captain of the Guard pushed the man aside and strode away.
The crowd dispersed. Hopeless, the innkeeper stood with his head down for a minute before stepping over to the fountain at the center of the town square. He reached into his pocket and produced a silver coin. The man whispered to himself, closed his eyes, and flicked the coin into the fountain. He sighed, shoved his hands in his pockets and headed for the town tavern. The hooded horseman watched him enter before she dismounted and tied up her horse. She approached the side entrance of the tavern where a barmaid leaned against a wall outside, on a smoke break.
"Miss, a man just walked inside the tavern, the one who caused a commotion in the town square. Make sure he has a bottomless drink for the rest of the night?"
The barmaid's eyes went wide as saucers,
"That's enough money for him to drink the entire bar."
"Then perhaps he can build his own. Either way, tell him that even though demons are real, sometimes wishes come true."
***
Ariana's horse, Whoreson, trotted along a dirt path through thick forestry. Barrel sized trunks and tangled branches provided a canopy that almost covered the entire path. A river of sky and sunlight etched through the canopy above and illuminated Ariana's afternoon trek through the woods. The innkeeper had said it was a day's walk north, towards the mountains and the pass. She would reach it by nightfall, if what he said was true.
The rift walker kept herself aware, if not alert. After landing in Pirate's Rest, she'd journeyed to the mainland and then inland, looking for work and finding none. Because of this, she optioned to head towards the forested mountains in the center of the continent which proved more remote than expected. Only small city-states and the villages that subsisted off of them called this place home. The wilderness dominated here and who knew what lurked in the depths of it.
But a pit fiend? She thought to herself. It was hard to believe, even for a rift walker. Ariana cracked open her bestiary while balancing masterfully atop her horse. Turning to the demonic genus of her catalog, she found the beast decorated the first page.
Colloquially described as "King of the Demons," the pit fiend was an impressive beast. Horned, with the face of a dragon, but with a shorter snout and flaming red eyes. It's hulking, muscular body stood at least twenty feet tall and boasted two enormous, scaly wings that could envelop its entire body. Of all the demonic monsters, the pit fiend was the battering ram, the gate crasher, the heavy vanguard.
Ariana had never heard of a rift walker who'd killed one. The only reason she had it in her bestiary was because one night she'd broken into the forbidden section of the Guild archives to learn about them. She put away her bestiary, refolded the map, and tucked both into her saddlebags. A stream gurgled within earshot.
"Let's get you a drink," she said and patted Whoreson on the neck. Ariana found a break in the foliage and turned onto the undergrowth. Sunlight glistened off the crystal mountain water. Smooth, rounded stones, some covered in emerald moss filled the stream. Birds chirped in the trees above as Whoreson lowered his head to drink.
"This is nice," Ariana said to herself admiring the surrounding nature.
"It is," a voice replied. Startled, Ariana's hand found the hilt of her sword. Her eyes darted towards the source. Upstream stood an elegant, nude woman who tied her golden white hair into a ponytail.
"Who are you?" Ariana said. The woman had a narrow face and a slender figure with peach sized breasts. The woman's crystal blue eyes gazed at Ariana with amusement.
"Doesn't my beauty give me away? I can see you admire it," she said. Ariana looked down and relaxed a little, her honeyed cheeks red.
"Oh, don't be embarrassed, I know what you are."
"And what am I?" Ariana asked.
"No blushing maid, that's for sure." Ariana said nothing. The woman laced herself up in a navy blue corset, followed by a long, fluid, sapphire robe. She sat down to tie up her thigh high black boots.
"That's enough being coy, I am Helena, a sorceress, here for what I assume is the same reason you are," she said as she finished dressing. Ariana raised an eyebrow at Helena. She didn't know what she thought about sorceresses. In the past, she'd met a few at the Guild as the two organizations, the Rift Walker's Guild and the Sorceress Enclave, often worked together to deal with monsters. However, infamous for deception and acting in their own self-interest, sorceresses' motives always revolved around power, influence, or knowledge.
"Stoic suspicion doesn't suit you," Helena said. She approached Ariana and looked up at her.
"I'm willing to collaborate on this one if you are. It's no small feat to take down a party of demons, much less a pit fiend." Ariana's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"So much for stoicism." Helena laughed, "bet you didn't know there were more than one demon. Come on, tie up the horse somewhere so he doesn't become Midsummer's roast for the pit fiend."
***
The sun went down and under the cover of darkness, Ariana and Helena crept through the forest.
"I have a man on the inside," Helena said as they approached a downed tree. The sorceress held up her hand after peeking over an entangled trunk.
"He's an incubus, but I've bewitched him."