Enochian: Book 2, Chapter 3

Story by Zerrex Narrius on SoFurry

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#21 of Enochian


The Drakkaren squeezed her hand quietly... and she squeezed back, and for a little while everything was okay as they curled up together, resting against one another until she finally murmured softly: "You have work detail, Lord Zerrex... I should take you there now."

"How the hell do you know what time it is?" The Drakkaren asked stupidly, and she shrugged and smiled a bit, the reptile making a face at her. "What? Don't give me that internal clock crap. I fell for that in the military and always ended up being about fifteen minutes early for everything."

"You get used to it... when you spend billions of years wandering around trying to figure out what time it is without casting a spell, you learn some tricks." She smiled slightly, then stretched an arm out and snapped her fingers, and a portal appeared on the other side of the room, the female nodding to this. "I'll join you in just a moment, Zerrex. I just need to grab one of my notebooks. Go ahead and meet your coworkers, so to speak."

Zerrex nodded, climbing up from the couch... then he smiled a bit as she shooed him towards the portal, the Drakkaren striding over to it and stepping through, bringing on that strange feeling of zooming through the darkness... and then he stepped out into a plain field, making a bit of a face as he glanced back and forth at the construction equipment that was scattered around the area, before a minotaur with a clipboard approached in a plain white uniform, glancing over him and asking mildly: "Name, please."

"Zerrex Narrius." The Drakkaren said... and immediately several of the demons chatting over by a half-constructed fence turned and gawked, one of them dropping whatever sort of beverage was available in Hell. "I was sent here by Inquisitor Selena."

"Yes, so take care of him, I want him back in one piece so I can have some more fun." Selena said mildly from behind the reptile, and then Zerrex twitched and coughed as she slapped his buttocks firmly, making him blush deeply as she grinned across at the minotaur and added: "Firm, tight ass on this one, I tell you that. I'm almost getting a hard-on just thinking about it."

"Take it somewhere else, bitch." The minotaur replied calmly, and Selena snorted before he asked dryly: "Does he require any special treatment or wear?"

Zerrex looked back and forth, feeling his masculinity rapidly draining away as Selena gazed over him thoughtfully... and then she smiled slightly and said softly: "Give him a full stone vest and some extra weights for those big arms and legs of his. I want this bitch toughened up, so..." A pause as he stared at her, before she added mildly: "I've got him for this entire year to settle him in, so let's say... force him to do an entire month's labor on his own or build five homes, whatever comes first. Permit him to rest one hour of the seventh day, during which time he can eat... what do you have on hand?"

The minotaur flipped through his clipboard, then said calmly: "Twenty loaves of bread, a hundred dry buns, three gallons of water for the entire month between the work crew of a dozen and my staff of three... but every week we get a fresh barrel of stew, most of which goes to my staff. How about we treat him to the stew?"

Selena made a face, but nodded, then she reached up and ran a hand through Zerrex's hair as he looked at her sourly, saying sweetly: "I'll see you in a month, darling... believe me, it'll just fly right on by. And when I come back, I look forwards to seeing how you've improved..." A pause, and a glance over to the minotaur with a grin, saying softly: "Better make that double weight halfway through the month... I want to make sure he gets good exercise."

"Got it all noted here." The minotaur grunted, then Selena gave Zerrex a last wink as he gazed after her sourly... and then the minotaur looked over at him and said casually: "You're the first person here she's taken such a liking to. You should be proud of yourself, Zerrex..."

"Yeah, don't worry. I'm really proud." Zerrex said morbidly, slumping his shoulders and then sighing as the minotaur turned and motioned for him to follow, glancing at the half-built structure behind him before saying mildly: "So like... these are basically snap-together homes you're building, huh?"

"Good eyes." The foreman nodded as he led Zerrex over to a huge pile of timbers and stone slabs, the minotaur patting the pile and saying clearly: "Since Hell is always expanding, construction is a very lucrative business. We're always building new homes, and they don't take very long to construct... flats for the most part, but with flat rooftops in case we need to build upwards at some point in the future. The hardest part is the interior, but a strong male like you should be able to snap together a home every few days... that is, if you weren't weighted down."

Zerrex made a face as the minotaur motioned for him to follow again... and twenty minutes later he waddled out from behind a strange, motorized carriage wearing a heavy vest made of strange, silvery grey stone, the reptile wincing as he strained to hold it up, his arms dangling and feet dragging from matching, heavy manacles locked around each. Several others who didn't look like demons pointed and laughed... and a minotaur standing nearby reached out and slapped the nearest easily over into the mud, looking down at him in distaste as he crossed his burly, massive arms.

Zerrex snorted at this, then glared over at the crew leader, asking dryly: "I realize this is a stupid question, but how the hell am I supposed to work in this? It feels like it weighs a ton."

"It does. One point two metric tons, in fact, which is something like... twenty-four hundred pounds?" The minotaur replied calmly, and Zerrex gaped stupidly at him as he wrote something on his clipboard. "I'm surprised you can move as well as you can... but get to work. My crew will be working on the left hand side, and you're on the right... you aren't permitted breaks, and Targin will be keeping a close eye on you."

A black-haired, massive minotaur stepped forwards, crossing his arms over a naked chest, and Zerrex stared at him before smiling dumbly and pointing at the swirling tattoo down one arm, asking stupidly: "So uh... where'd you get the tat?"

"The Southern Palace, where I used to work as a Royal Guard." Targin grunted, and then he stepped forwards, and Zerrex stared up at the sixteen foot colossus of muscle stupidly, taking in everything from the scars that covered his body to the huge golden hoop through his nose, along with the many smaller rings in his large ears as he nudged the Drakkaren with a grunt, ordering: "Get to work, don't make me break out the whip. If you start dragging too much ass, I'll have to beat the crap out of you."

"I could take you if I wasn't wearing a ton and some of armor." Zerrex muttered, and Targin grinned widely at this challenge, before the Drakkaren stuck out his tongue childishly. "But I have to work, so... maybe afterwards."

"This is gonna be real fun." Targin rumbled, and then he sat back on the ground as Zerrex strode over to grab one of the wooden supports before mumbling and glancing over his shoulder to see how the hell constructing one of these weird homes worked.

It was fairly simple, at least... but by the end of the first night â€" the Drakkaren learning that yes, even though nothing seemed to change in the sky above, things somehow got darker and weirder at night â€" the reptile had barely managed to get the supports in place, and was covered in bruises and a few nasty lashmarks from Targin's use of the whip, which he clearly enjoyed far too much in employing. The second day was the fun of attempting to drag the huge cement slabs over to set them up against the supports, his entire body aching... and across from him, three homes had already been constructed by the crew, and two of them were currently fitting the interior of the second home with the last finishing touches.

But by noon, Zerrex had managed to recognize what he could do with the weight on his body, and what he couldn't... and he frowned a bit as he managed to get the last slab in place before moving to grab another off the pile and licking his muzzle slowly. The cement slabs, once put into place in the pre-dug trenches, seemed to stay in place no matter what you did to them... but being some twenty feet tall, it required a large stepladder and several other people with ropes to haul one of the massive, heavy slabs up and into place on the roof.

It forced the Drakkaren to improvise by dragging one of the huge slabs over and laying it against the wall, a stepladder between the two huge concrete pieces... and then the lizard shoved with all his strength, lifting the slab as his muscles bulged, sweat running down his face as he snarled and then slowly forced it upwards, then pushed forwards as he climbed the stepladder before shoving it into place, and it automatically locked between the heavy concrete pieces as Zerrex toppled and fell onto his back with a cackle... before howling in pain as the whip snapped down across his muzzle and he mumbled as he got back to his feet.

At the end of his first week in Hell, Zerrex was miserable, beginning to understand the meaning of the word: sure, he was dead and thus didn't need sleep, rest, or food... but his entire body ached, and worse, it felt like his very spirit ached. But once that hour long break came, he felt like he was in paradise, sitting with Targin and glaring at him as the minotaur tried to shove him off the little stone bench, their backs to each other as the crew leader â€" Zerrex had learned his name was Feldstone â€" sighed and muttered about conflicting muscleheads.

Once he was done his stew â€" and it really did feel like just the act of eating had revived him â€" Zerrex sat down on the ground and took a deep breath, figuring he had around forty minutes before Targin started whipping him into getting back to work on the second home he had just started constructing. Although he'd thought putting on the roof was hard, doing the interior had absolutely wrecked his body: getting up, reaching up, stretching out, crawling around and setting the wooden tiles tight together, it was all made infinitely more difficult with the goddamn stone vest. So now he took the moments he had to try and draw away from all that, even as he felt Targin's eyes settle on him... but he did his best to ignore the giant for now.

He breathed softly, concentrating and drawing his energy into his chest as he closed his eyes and bowed his head forwards, hands resting on his knees as he focused on the first thing that came to mind: the memory of his family. It hurt to think about, and he felt like he had betrayed them by not taking the chance to leave when he'd been given it... but he pushed that away for now, instead keeping the image of his family firmly fixed in his mind as he tried to draw as much of his consciousness out of his body as he could.

The picture in his mind faded after some time... and instead other memories began to come to him, simple ones he had long forgotten. Cindy washing the dishes and singing quietly to herself in the early morning, her body naked... Cherry at one of the many fighting competitions she took part in, punching out a Dragokkaren to the yell of the crowd... Marina painting an exquisite sunrise as she looked out the window over the city... Mahihko doodling idly as he waited for the stove to heat up so he could do some baking. They were all so very special in their own way, and he missed each and every one of them...

Yeah, wonderful. Maybe you should concentrate on the moment, though. Ravenlight said in his head disgustedly, and Zerrex glanced up: he was enough outside of his mind to hear the voice of the being that represented his inner darkness in his head, but enough inside that he could see Ravenlight striding towards him from between shadowy memories that were flitting around his brain like ghosts. One week and you're homesick. Do you even remember the difference between mortal time and Hell time?

Yes, I do. And I hate these conversations with myself. Zerrex thought morbidly, tossing Ravenlight a glare in his own mind. Since when does meditation incur the wrath of a stupid-head like you, anyway? Usually you're busy sulking in a corner.

Fuck you. Ravenlight said irritably, and he sat down on a plush red chair that appeared beneath, him, the black-armored Drakkaren pulling one of his .52 magnums from the holster it was in and beginning to juggle it idly in one hand. A toss and a catch, a toss and a catch... and then he added finally: I'm only here because you invited me in.

Zerrex made a face... but before he could continue this argument, he felt a boot slam into the middle of his back and was knocked sprawling in the real world with a grunt of surprise and pain, rolling over immediately to see Targin glaring down at him. "Wake the hell up, you have to get back to work in ten minutes."

"I wasn't sleeping, I was meditating, you prick." Zerrex responded acidly, and then he rolled back over onto his stomach and slowly forced himself up to all fours, and from there managed to climb to his knees as Targin watched with dark amusement. The moment Zerrex got to his feet, however, the minotaur shoved him over again, and the reptile let out a snarl of outrage as he lay flat on his back. "I'm going to make you eat your own horns."

"We'll see about that." Targin grunted, and then he wandered away as Zerrex once more went across the process of forcing himself up to his feet before morbidly heading back to work, deciding it was pointless to spend the next few minutes trying to rest if the minotaur was just going to keep shoving him around.

The next week passed much the same as the first, other than the fact by the end of it Zerrex was beginning to pick up the pace, his body finally beginning to get used to the weight on it. He was just finishing up his third home now, and feeling rather proud of himself when Feldstone whistled for him, and the Drakkaren wandered out curiously from the small home he'd built as the minotaur said dryly: "Break time, Zerrex. But come around here, first, I have something for you."

At first Zerrex dared to think it was something good... and then ten minutes later he waddled out with a miserable look on his face, another set of stone bracelets and anklets on him now along with several heavy weights that had been latched onto his vest. The Drakkaren fell over... and spent half an hour picking himself up off the ground as Targin laughed and threw pebbles at him.

The entire week he worked was miserable. He barely managed to put together one home... and Targin, meanwhile, cheerfully followed behind him with the whip, snapping it every now and then to get the Drakkaren moving faster. But something happened around the end of the third week, as Zerrex frowned at himself and paused long enough to flex... and Targin halted in mid-draw of the whip, tilting his head and saying curiously: "Do that again."

"No." Zerrex said defiantly... then he stepped backwards out of the way of the whip as Targin lashed it at him, the minotaur snarling at him but not bothering to attempt to beat some sense into him. He'd already been reprimanded once for that... but on the other hand, when Zerrex turned back around to get a concrete piece after setting down the last of the timbers, Targin yelled at him to go faster and snapped him painfully across the muzzle again.

When his break rolled around, Zerrex ignored it and continued to work, to the amazement of the others... and moving without Targin's constant harrying, the reptile was able to finish off the interior of the fourth home he'd set up, going back to work on the fifth and trying to move a bit faster and push himself harder.

Targin, on the other hand, did everything he could to slow him down. The minotaur circled him as he worked, snapped the whip in his face â€" which never failed to knock Zerrex over, and then he'd kick him every few minutes as he tried to crawl to his feet, usually until Feldstone came over and shouted at Targin for being an idiot â€" and leaned on whatever piece the Drakkaren was coming to get next before the minotaur kicked the last cement wall, cracking it and saying mildly that now the Drakkaren would have to fix it.

Zerrex knew complaining was useless: Targin might get reprimanded, but then he'd take his fury out on Zerrex, and the sessions of ‘get-up-lay-down' with the minotaur were grueling and could go on for hours. Instead, the reptile approached Feldstone and said the roof piece for the last home was broken... and Feldstone nodded with a sigh before pointing across the road and replying mildly: "Then take one of the stone walls from down there."

It was at least fifteen homes away... and Zerrex made a face before striding over as Targin strolled behind him, snapping the whip over his shoulders and shouting for him to hurry up, calling him names, and looking for any opportunity to trip him. Zerrex kept his shoulders squared and his pace casual, however, just glad that he had so quickly and strangely adjusted to the weight he was wearing before glaring over at Targin as the minotaur grunted: "Don't think you're going to get halfway across the road with that, lizard."

"We'll see about that." Zerrex ducked a bit as he slid the concrete piece off the pile... then he snarled and flexed as he turned around, balancing it half on his back and half on his arms as the others stared, and the Drakkaren started at a brisk pace across the road as Targin followed behind him. A moment later, however, Zerrex felt the minotaur grab the back edge of the concrete wall and shove it violently upwards, the piece rising in Zerrex's hands... and the Drakkaren grunted as he tossed the twenty foot square of concrete up into the air before reaching up and catching it on the palms of his hands, his arms shuddering and giving away as he leaned forwards, but the piece landing squarely on his back.

Targin snarled loudly behind him... but then Feldstone shouted angrily: "Targin! You are not an Inquisitor, and if I see you damage property one more time here, I'm going to report you to the monarchs! As it is, I'm going to be giving a full report on your behavior to Inquisitor Selena when she returns, and I assure you it will not cast you in a good light!"

"Fuck." Targin groaned behind the Drakkaren, and Zerrex heard the minotaur turn to walk over to Feldstone as he continued to complain... and the reptile quickly took the time to half-jog down the row of empty lots to the home he had been working on, and at the last moment he let the heavy block fall backwards, wincing a bit as he almost struck the wall before it toppled back into the ground, the top falling forwards as Zerrex ducked to lean against the edge of the other concrete pieces safely anchored in the ground.

The Drakkaren managed to get the roof piece on before Targin could come back... and the rest of his time spent that week was mostly hiding inside the interior of the home, where Targin wasn't permitted to go, instead yelling and shouting at him uselessly outside as Zerrex relaxed a bit while putting down the flooring. On the other hand, Targin stole the bag of ‘lamps,' the glowing little orbs he was supposed to affix to each wall of the flat... and Zerrex wasted more than three hours looking for them before Feldstone asked him what the problem was, and before he could reply, Targin innocently held up the bag and said curiously: "Is this what you were looking for, oh Lord Zerrex?"

"Targin, what did I tell you about fucking with our supplies?" And Feldstone dragged Targin off to shout at him, leaving Zerrex to put the finishing touches on the home on the morning of his last day of work detail.

When he stepped outside, Targin had five sheets of concrete tied in a bundle and attached to a harness around his shoulders, and he was slowly striding down the road, the concrete sheets dragging through the dirt behind him as he panted hard, his eyes and muscles bulging at the effort. Feldstone, on the other hand, ducked into the home to inspect it... and then he nodded and stepped out, glancing down at Zerrex and checking over his clipboard before saying mildly, as the reptile headed back to the pile of concrete sheets. "You're done."

"What?" Zerrex turned around, then he counted the homes he'd made... and he stared stupidly at the minotaur. "You mean..."

"Yeah. Good work, kid. I'll put in a good word about you upstairs... and you're welcome to work here any time." A pause as Feldstone tapped his pencil against his clipboard, and then he put it aside and rested back against the side of the concrete home, crossing his arms and looking down over him curiously for a few moments. "You know... I'm not supposed to offer this job to newbies in Hell like yourself... but I'm looking for a permanent crew member to join the team. Unless your Inquisitor ordered it, you wouldn't have to wear the vest, and your combined salary would come out to about a hundred and twenty coins a month, give or take depending on the project. But you do some hard work, and honestly, you aren't gonna find a better offer in Hell."

Zerrex paused... then he nodded slowly and smiled a bit, rolling his shoulders as he glanced over the five homes... homes that he had built himself, even while wearing at least two metric tons of weight. "I think I'd be glad to be on the team."

"Alright. I'll add a note about that to my report to Selena, then." Feldstone paused, then jerked his head towards the transport carriage. "But come on, let's take that shit off you. No wonder you're marked down as half-Wrath on this profile sheet."

A few minutes later, and Zerrex strolled out from behind the carriage feeling like he was in Heaven, rolling his shoulders and stretching his body out, his feet seeming to barely touch the ground. Targin, meanwhile, glowered at him from where he was resting against the pile of concrete pieces... and as Zerrex strode by, the minotaur bad-temperedly brought out his whip and snapped the reptile across the face with it.

Zerrex staggered backwards with a series of curses that usually only Cherry used... and he spun to face the minotaur with a snarl before they both blanched as a female voice said irritably: "You. Stop it."

The Drakkaren peered to the side... and then he relaxed when he saw Selena glaring not at him, but at Targin, Feldstone standing beside her and looking furious. A moment later, however, Selena looked over at the reptile with a glare... but he saw the twinkle in her eyes as she said mock-seriously: "And you! Are you just going to stand there and take that from him?"

"I wasn't sure if I was permitted to hurt him or not." Zerrex responded with a bow to her, and Selena smiled contritely as he added: "Besides, I thought someone else was in charge of him."

"Oh no, minotaurs aren't demons... well, technically they are, but they're not..." Selena paused, looking sourly over Targin. "But that doesn't mean someone shouldn't be watching some of these brutes... Feldstone, this bastard has gone and hurt the face of my beautiful pet, and that's something reserved only for me. Furthermore, it seems that Zerrex exceeded expectations... if you don't mind, since I've still got some spare time, I'd like to allow my new toy there to teach him a lesson."

Feldstone winced a bit... but after a moment he finally nodded, as Targin grinned widely and threw off the ropes, wiping sweat from his eyes. "But no killing him, Targin, no matter what happens. I'll be watching closely, and if you show even a hint of leaning into a death strike..."

"Yeah, yeah." Targin muttered, waving him off, and then he glowered at Zerrex, smashing his fists together and towering over him before tossing aside the toolbelt looped around his waist, raising both hands out towards the Drakkaren. "I'm going to eat you up and spit you out, little lizard."

"That's not the first time I've heard that." Zerrex muttered, and then he made a face as the minotaur laced his fingers together and simply slammed his fists down towards him in a tomahawk, reaching his own hands up and then even looking surprised himself with the ease by which he halted the minotaur's hard swing down at him, his muscles bulging before he shoved hard backwards, sending Targin stumbling away as he said mildly: "This fight doesn't exactly seem fair on your end."

"Shut up!" Targin snarled, then he swung in with a hard one-two combo... and Zerrex slipped easily between his fists before swinging a hard upwards palm up into the underside of the minotaur's jaw as he slipped between his thick limbs, and the giant staggered backwards with a groan, his arms pinwheeling before the reptile dropped, fast as lighting, and caught his ankle in a pincer between two of his legs.

Targin fell heavily on his back, and then he yelped as Zerrex rolled and twisted his ankle savagely to the side, the minotaur forced to roll himself before Zerrex snagged his leg and shoved it forwards, the reptile who was half his size jerking it up to the center of his back and causing the minotaur to howl like a distraught child as his fists pummeled the ground, looking over his shoulder at him with horror as Zerrex looked back with a wide grin, saying playfully: "Come on, Targin! All this month you've been telling me how much you were looking forwards to kicking my ass, and here's your chance... aren't you going to take it?"

The minotaur snarled and flailed, and Zerrex leapt clear of his body, allowing the minotaur to roll onto his back... before he stepped forwards and snagged his nose ring, the bull-demon letting out a long, deep bray but not daring to move as the Drakkaren pulled on it with enough force to demonstrate that he could easily pull it out if he wanted, his other foot resting against his thick chest as he looked into his eyes with amusement. "You might be a big boy, but I've tangled with dudes twice your size and come out on top. Now either step up or step out... but you better choose fast before I-"

Zerrex suddenly jerked back as he shoved off the minotaur's chest, and Targin howled as he fell backwards and clutched at his bloody nose, his eyes watering as the others murmured to one another at the sight of the bloody ring in Zerrex's hand... and Feldstone made a bit of a face as Selena laughed, resting her head in one hand and waving the other at the Drakkaren. "Enough, enough, Zerrex! You did good, though... but come on, we have business to attend to."

Zerrex nodded a bit, then he glanced down at the golden ring before tossing it down into the dirt, giving a polite half-bow to Feldstone as he followed Selena down the road in quiet for a few minutes... and then he asked mildly: "So uh... am I going to be tortured now?"

"I'm a professional first, Zerrex. What, you didn't expect me to get all mushy on you, did you?" Selena asked dryly, and then she snorted... but leaned over and threw an arm around his shoulders companionably anyway, and the reptile smiled slightly as he reached down to slap her buttocks firmly, causing her to cough. "Don't touch me there or I'll end up doing something else to you. But yes... we have another torture session today for six hours, followed by at least eight hours of touring and classes on Hell."

"Oh wonderful." Zerrex mumbled, as Selena led him down a side road... and within thirty minutes he was nearly-crying, his teeth grit and his screams locked inside his chest as Selena slowly pulled out his claws, one-by-one, and then replaced them with metal screws, feeling his mind starting to go numb from sheer pain and the simple surreality of being trapped in Hell itself.

After that, Selena forced him down into an old wooden chair and nailed his arms down before strapping his legs in, the reptile moaning quietly in agony... and then she almost-tenderly placed an engraved collar around his neck before straddling him... and he could see in her eyes that lust growing...

He didn't know when or how it happened... but suddenly he had an erection, one of the hardest he'd ever had, with several cinched belts locked around the base of his penis tightly enough to dig into flesh and another set of belts encircling his testicles... and she was naked as she set herself over him with a cruel grin, lowering her sex to the bulging, enormous head of his shaft, and she whispered: "Do you want it?"

"Yes... yes... please..." he moaned, barely aware of himself... and she teased him for almost twenty minutes, her body flexing, brushing her breasts against his muzzle and kissing the end of his penis with the lips of her vagina... and then slowly she lowered herself onto him with a pleased groan, at first slipping just the head of his shaft inside of her body... but Zerrex arched his back, trying to pull his arms free with a shriek and attempting to pull away as it felt like handfuls of glass were being rubbed down his shaft... but pulling back hurt even more, and a tear slipped down his cheek as he attempted to rein himself back under control, his heart thudding like a hammer in his chest.

She grinned at his expression, then shoved herself down his length, and he hissed in agony, nothing else able to release from his horrified muzzle, his screams jamming in his throat... but they released when she slowly drew back up, blood spurting down his huge shaft from deep, terrible wounds all along his penis, the inside of her passage lined somehow with what felt like a hundred little barbs and hooks as she began to move herself slowly, teasingly up and down his huge penis, growling in pleasure as she drank in the agony on his features.

It went on for hours, the female gyrating her hips every so often, sometimes speeding up, at other times slowly to a crawl to cause him terrible, horrific amounts of agony... and finally, she moaned and released what felt like hot slag over his shaft, ebbing into every wound and filling him with a new level of pain before he heard a loud crunch, and his eyes bulged as she slowly drew away to leave nothing behind but a few inches of useless, torn flesh spurting bloody, a long, single vessel dangling down as the reptile moaned in shock and horror, and she grinned at him widely, opening her mouth as blood leaked out of her sex... before snorting as they both looked up at the sound of a gong, and Selena snapped her fingers at him before brushing herself off briskly, her clothes reappearing over her body as Zerrex looked down at himself stupidly, sitting in the chair without restraint or pain, his body completely restored even if he was still naked... and again, his pants and boxers were neatly folded on the dusty ground. He stood up... and Selena jumped into his lap, Zerrex squeaking in terror as she grinned down at him and said hungrily: "I want more, Lord Zerrex. Come on, play with me."

"Uh... I thought you were professional?" Zerrex replied dumbly, and that was enough to cause Selena to give him a consternated look and slip off him, the Drakkaren sighing in relief and relaxing as he added mildly: "My little friend might not be as terrified of you right now if you didn't just eat him with your vagina, by the way."

"Oh, come on! It's been a month and all I've had are bottom-of-the-barrel scum! Do you know how hard it is to find someone decently tough around here?" Selena paused, then glared at him as he began to get up, shoving him over again into the chair and grasping his shoulders, looking down at him hungrily as she murmured softly: "Don't you dare go soft on me now, Zerrex... I know you want my body... I can see it in your eyes, how hard you want to fuck me..."

"You just raped me!" Zerrex said in a strangled voice, carefully sidestepping the fact that she was right. Yeah, besides. Your vagina seems like it'd make a fair pencil sharpener. "I'm not going to... have casual sex with you right now, Selena!"

"Mistress Selena to you." she snapped, then she let out a grunt when Zerrex punched her lightly in the stomach, mumbling and sounding almost dejected: "Fine, just Selena, you assface. Then if you aren't going to fuck me, put your pants on. I don't want that big dick of yours flopping all over the place while we... hey, wait, stay... would you stop struggling, I'm not trying to rape you!"

Zerrex flailed a bit anyway, then mumbled and crossed his arms, glowering and holding still as Selena leaned over him, her breasts pressing against his muzzle... but he had to admit, since they hadn't been responsible for any serious injury to his body â€" Yet... he thought morbidly â€" he didn't exactly mind them being there. A few moments later, however, she drew back and smiled slightly at him, and Zerrex made a bit of a face at her expression. "What?"

"It looks like you're starting to become one of us, Lord Zerrex..." she said softly, and Zerrex winced before she poked a sensitive spot on the side of his skull, the reptile making a face and immediately leaning away from her finger. "There's a horn starting to develop there."

The Drakkaren stared at her... then he slowly reached up and touched the spot, wincing again at the pain and murmuring quietly: "So... but... I thought it took, like, a long time?"

Selena nodded thoughtfully, then she paused and leaned over to her notebook, flicking through it to the end and halting as she trailed her finger over a page before looking up at him mildly: "Except you've been exposed to a lot of Hell's influence already. A dimensional tear opened right next to you, you've been splattered with demon blood, you've been having sex with a demon of royal lineage, and you travelled through the corruption that was beginning to ebb out over Lunis as well as absorbed the powers of a Dark Bezoar. Plus you're a Drakkai... and since they're the ascendants of one of the first demonic races, they tend to be more easily corrupted."

Zerrex stared at this, then he tilted his head with a frown, leaning back in the chair and asking quietly: "So... it's true, those old stories about the Dragokkaren crawling up from the cracks of Hell in the Cradle of Life?"

"Not just from there... but other Gates of Hell all throughout the world." Selena smiled slightly, slipping forwards and stretching her graceful legs out easily over the sides of the chair, sitting half in his lap as her hands gripped his shoulders gently, gazing down into his eyes with entertainment. "Just like the minotaurs, they lived in Hell alongside true demons like ourselves... and yes, Lord Zerrex, that's what I meant earlier." she added gently, at his look. "Minotaurs and Drakkai are very similar... in an environment like Hell, they only develop into true demons when we take them out to the Tank..."

She paused and looked down at him thoughtfully, rubbing under her muzzle slowly... and Zerrex made a face, looking back at her with a wince. "Whenever you get that look in your eyes, you rape me."

"Shut up." Selena said absently, and she brushed the hair from his eyes as she said mildly: "I'm going to be watching your development, Lord Zerrex. For some people, such as Cherry, it takes a relatively short time for them to warp into a demon... but for others, such as yourself, it might take a million years or more. Just because you grow a set of horns doesn't make you a demon... it only means you're an Initiate, in the first stage of demonic transformation. If after a few thousand years or so you haven't improved noticeably at all... I'm going to see if I can get you moved to the Tank so we can skip those nasty in-between stages."

"I don't know if you're doing me a favor or not." Zerrex said dryly, and at the grin on her face, he soured a bit further. "Oh. I see. You're not."

She snorted, then climbed off him and crossed her arms, jerking her head at his clothes but continuing to look entertained. "Let's get going, Zerrex... we're losing time." A pause as she snapped her fingers at the air beside her, and a portal opened. "I've got a lot to show you today and discuss with you, and after that we have another quick torture session."

"Oh joy." Zerrex muttered, then he sighed and quickly slid into his clothes as she walked through the portal, before falling after her as he did up the buttons of his fly. "And here I was, thinking that after a month, you might miss me a bit."

As it turned out, she did indeed have a lot to show him... and Zerrex was almost glad when she opened another portal and informed them they had to go and complete a quick two hour torture session, with how tired he'd gotten.

Selena had shown him the Southern Cross, the largest metropolis in Hell's Southern Province... and Zerrex had been amazed to see it was a lot like some steampunk combination of modern day skyscrapers with medieval age markets and people riding around on the backs of strange pack animals, several of them with multiple heads and their muzzles bound shut so they didn't snap at passerby. Zerrex did notice one thing though, and it was that at least half the population of Hell seemed to be some sort of reptilian beast, which for once made him feel right at home.

They passed whorehouses and strip clubs placed right beside temples and book shops, and Selena held up a small cloth bag and rattled it, saying mildly to the Drakkaren that he had a hundred silver to spend however he liked. Zerrex took the bag and asked stupidly how much that was, and she'd replied dryly that it wasn't a whole hell of a lot. "Just don't waste it on food or shit like that, either... remember, eating is a comfort thing and a privilege down here in Hell."

"Hello, Zerrex!" a voice had said a moment later, and Zerrex had turned with surprise to see Lily stride out of the crowd towards him with a smile, accompanied by her two armored bodyguards. Today she was wearing a long black dress that matched the black band around her head, and a parasol was slung over one shoulder, a purse over the other as she glanced over him and then said in an embarrassed voice: "I see you're here with Inquisitor Selena... I hope she isn't being too rough on you."

Zerrex opened his muzzle... and then he stared when Selena winced and half-hid behind him, before looking immediately relieved when he said slowly: "No, not at all. She's definitely an effective torturer, I'll give her that... but on the other hand, today she's treated me to showing me around the metropolis. It seems far more peaceful than the ones on the mortal realm despite all the people walking around, I'll tell you that."

"Yes... I just wish all of Hell was like this. We're in the middle of a little civil matter right now, and the conflict has caused a lot of dispute around the smaller territories and borders." Lily paused, then blushed a bit and covered her muzzle. "But listen to me prattle. Zerrex, I know this is a bit forwards of me, but I was wondering if we could meet for dinner, perchance, sometime next week? I'm truly fascinated with what the other girls at the palace tell me, and I'd like to get to know you better."

"You're blunt... I like that." Zerrex said with a bit of a smile, and then he nodded, glancing over at Selena as she made a bit of a face. "When did you say I had free time?"

"You get four hours of free time next Kan." Selena said, and her tone was almost sulky as she looked over at Lily, some of her nastiness returning as she added: "And now you should run along, ma'am. I'll ensure Lord Zerrex picks you up around nine, near nightfall."

"I'll be looking forwards to it." Lily smiled to him, then she strode away, her two bodyguards following emotionlessly. Zerrex glanced after her for a moment... and then he let out a grunt as Selena shoved him in the opposite direction, almost running down a few passing imps, the group of yellow-skinned demons immediately chattering and waving their little fists after the pair.

Zerrex dug his feet in and managed to halt them as a Rakshasa passed in front of them, the mage stumbling to the side, the orange tiger-headed creature giving a wince... and then it sighed in relief and walked onwards, adjusting the robe it was wearing over its hairless body and giving Selena a glare as the Drakkaren tilted his head back towards the demoness, asking mildly: "If you're a shapeshifter, can you turn into Lily? Then I'll dunk you in an alley if you want."

Selena snarled at him and shook him violently, before spinning him around and glaring into his eyes, the reptile squeaking. "Listen, asshole! You don't even know who she is!" A pause, and then Selena let out a high-bitched bark before grabbing her throat and looking stupid, and she let out a series of yips and yelps before spinning around and hurling several fireballs at the giggling imps they had passed moments before, and immediately they screeched and fled as the blasts dug several craters in the earth.

The Drakkaren stared as Selena turned around and cleared her throat, tapping it as two of her fingers glowed blue, before she continued in a deadly serious voice: "Since you're retarded and clueless, I'll spell it out. She's royalty. High-royalty. As in princess-level royalty, and if you upset her, her parents are going to have the Court Mages come down here and turn you into a smoking crater." A pause as she grimaced and held up a hand. "Please don't ask me about magic right now, I'm really not in the mood to get into any in-depth explanations. Come on... I'll buy you something at the bazaar if you want."

An hour later, Zerrex was walking along holding Selena's hand as they strolled down the street, the mood of both considerably lighter. The Drakkaren now had a fair-sized sword sheathed on his back with an extended handle: it was only single edged, but he thought it would do nicely if Targin randomly leapt out of the shadows with a whip or something. Selena, on the other hand, he'd gotten talking again... and once he got her rambling, her mood always seemed to brighten, and she released all sorts of bits and pieces of information she probably shouldn't to such a newbie like him, as several people had called him.

For instance, she described how his schedule would be for the years ahead... and admittedly, the Drakkaren enjoyed being on a disciplined, strict schedule again. It helped him feel like he had more of a purpose in life, for one thing... or death, he supposed, now that he was here in Hell. It also helped knowing that his weeks â€" composed of seven days, Slae, Do, Mal, Lok, Kan, Tipet, and Lam â€" were designed with torture sessions in the morning, followed by lessons and training over the course of the day, and then he would have a few hours of freedom before work at night. Every second week or so he would have extended torture sessions and then a small ‘bonus' session as well before he went to work... but for whatever reason, that didn't bother him. Sure, every session was grueling, filled with more humiliation and pain than he thought possible... but here he was, smiling and holding hands with an Inquisitor, feeling remarkably... good about everything.

Sure, life wasn't pleasant... but looking around, he felt strangely like he had a chance at a good destiny in this strange, twisted world. He felt a bit homesick, but that was for his family... here, on the other hand, he felt like he fit in, and even as if maybe the daily tortures he underwent and the hard work he'd be doing instead of sleeping would make everything worthwhile. On the other hand, he knew he could grow bitter, too... but for now, the world had intoxicated him, and even though he felt a chill whenever he looked at Selena... at the same time, he felt almost like he could trust her with his life.

The other things he learned had to do mostly with the structure of Hell: with how large and expansive the provinces were, most of the settlements were small villages... and luxuries weren't afforded the damned or cursed or initiates like himself: they had to be earned, hence the little snap-together homes he had been building in long rows. She also mentioned that because of the special interests in him, she would remain as his Inquisitor and trainer for the main part of the next century or so... after this first hundred years, she would trade him off with several other Inquisitors, but she would be his main mentor and destroyer for between six to eight months of every year.

The entire day was spent walking around and exploring the metropolis as she talked about the few cities scattered throughout Hell, next: places were armies were massed and drafted, and where as high as the skyscrapers of steel and stone towered, one could always be sure of the cities looming twice as deep underground in a complex pattern of burrows and tunnels. When the reptile asked if the Plasmids or other such monstrosities lived down there, she made a face of disgust and nodded after a moment.

"Teams of demons are often sent down to exterminate them, usually armored soldiers and a few pyromancers, but ever since several swarms escaped the Circle of Gluttony, they've been breeding in every corner of Hell." Selena shook her head slowly, looking disgusted as they halted in front of a bookstore with a sign in the front that proudly stated it was a licensed alchemical supply shop. Zerrex, however, was busy staring at Selena. They... breed? "They've laid hatches of eggs everywhere that's dark and damp... from caverns in the wastelands to the Deep Forest, even in the Abyss... and you've seen how they move! They crawl on everything... and the bastards are vicious. It doesn't help we hear that the Warlord has been breeding several new types of Plasmid and that he has his soldiers train them as hunting beasts..."

Zerrex made a face, looking disgusted as he rubbed at his muzzle slowly... and then he rubbed a hand through his hair as Selena released his hand, glancing down at her own with something like embarrassment. "So... those things... wait, aren't people tossed into those circles or something?"

"Yes... I noted that you yourself were supposed to be thrown into the Circle of Lust or perhaps Wrath, but then the Princess took a special interest in you, and here you are." Selena shrugged, then the demoness rubbed at one of her horns, adding dryly: "Didn't you notice there's not a lot of lost souls wandering around?" A pause as she tilted her head to the other side, adding mildly as the Drakkaren frowned at the ground: "On the other hand, you've also been marked for Inquisitorial tortures, and those are always reserved for the worst of sinners.

"On that same hand, you certainly are one of the most bloodstained sinners I've ever met..." Selena continued, idly stepping aside so a skeleton in a robe could slip between them with an apology to push in through the shop doors. "So maybe you deserve it, from that angle. But speaking truthfully, and off the record? From what I've read of your history, you've worked hard to atone yourself in life... and you've gone through tortures in life I couldn't ever replicate here in Hell, no matter how much spiritual, physical, and emotional pain I can cause you. You saved the world... you killed your former mentor to ‘save' your daughter... and now you've allowed yourself to be defeated by Amiglion, one of the most mediocre fighters I have ever seen, in order to stay in Hell. And the question that comes to mind, Lord Zerrex, is why? Why are you here?"

She looked at him with a frown now, and Zerrex tapped a hand against the windowsill of the shop before shrugging a bit and meeting her eyes... and finally he sighed and said honestly at that imploring look: "Because I was useless and dying and getting old a lot faster than I should have. My body was breaking down from all the genetic tampering done to it over the years, despite the faulty immortality genes implanted in my body... and Cindy had quietly told me that I'd probably be dead in a decade, anyway." He smiled a bit and touched his chest quietly, murmuring softly: "My heart was damaged... probably a parting gift from when I shared my body with the dark nephilim, Drake.

"So... why not? I saw what happened to Cherry... I almost envied the abilities, the new strength she had." Zerrex paused, then he looked down, hating himself even as he murmured softly: "If I can become a demon... then I can ensure my victory against the Prince of Demons and his army. I can avenge Requiem... and most of all, I can save my family and my friends."

"Your compassion is your weakness." Selena said coldly, turning away and crossing her arms... but Zerrex saw the flash of pain on her face as he strode up behind her and gripped her shoulders quietly, and she rested back against him as she added in quiet murmur: "Revenge is a reason to go to Hell, Lord Zerrex... it ain't a reason to get out of it."

"No, but protecting my family and my loved ones is." Zerrex responded quietly... and they had been quiet as demons strode by down the street without a glance to them, until finally they had both turned and continued the little tour of the metropolis, Selena murmuring information about this place and that, and telling him about the domestic hydras that were commonly employed for travel and the self-propelled carriages that ran off a crystallized soul.

And now they were descending the steps to the catacombs once more, and Selena looked over him tiredly as he rested back in the chair... but she was quiet for almost ten minutes before Zerrex asked hesitantly: "Is there something wrong?"

"I can't decide what to do." Selena said lamely, and then she sighed, propping herself up on the bloody table and looking at him again with a frown. "I'd like to demonstrate something."

Zerrex watched as she picked up a knife, and then she quickly stabbed it into his body, the reptile jumping in the chair with a wince and a grunt of pain... and then he glared at her and snapped: "What, how much it hurts when someone pops your lungs?"

"You know as well as I do you don't need to actually breathe anymore..." Selena responded absently, waving a hand at him as the Drakkaren reached up to grasp the hilt of the knife... and then he watched her apprehensively for a few moments, but when she didn't say or do anything, he yanked it out and tossed it onto the bloody table, mumbling as he concentrated, his palm glowing blue over the wound as it slowly began to stitch itself closed. "See, when I stab a normal person, they start crying and bawling immediately. With you, it's a lot- what the hell are you doing?"

Selena was staring at him in shock, and Zerrex halted the healing process, the glow around his hand fading as she gaped at him, before spluttering: "You... you can heal yourself with energy like that?"

"Yeah... so?" Zerrex asked slowly... and then Selena pointed at him and dark energy shot over his body, the reptile cursing as he squirmed under the flow of darkness, before concentrating and simply shrugging, the bolts of energy immediately dissipating. "Are you trying to prove a point or just piss me off? Is this anger management torture or something?"

"Zerrex... manipulation of energy on one or two levels is one thing, but you're using your own body energy for everything... offensive purposes, defensive purposes, passive and aggressive." Selena replied slowly, then she frowned and crossed her arms. "Okay, fuck torture for tonight, I'll... come up with something fancy later, like tying you to the ceiling and wrapping steel wire around your dick and your muzzle or something.

"Instead, I want you to concentrate and create a ball of energy in your hand, alright? To form a sphere, just... oh." She stared as Zerrex glowered at her and held a hand out, a blue sphere about the size of a grapefruit immediately forming in his fingers, and her own hand went limp. "Can you... change the size of it?"

Zerrex responded by shrugging, concentrating and causing the sphere to grow to the size of a beachball, now mostly transparent with how thin his energy was spread out... before shrinking it down into a bright azure marble. A pause, and then he flicked this at Selena, and she covered her face before the automatic guard protecting her body came into play, the energy distorting into rippled waves that flowed harmlessly through the air. "I can do anything with my energy. Oh, let me show you this new trick I came up with a few years ago..."

Zerrex made a face, gritting his teeth and clenching his hands into fists, and Selena stared at him, about to ask if he was constipated before blue energy flickered over his face... and a moment later the Drakkaren reached up and slowly jiggled the energy free, leaving it in the shape of his head and hair before he rested it on one fist beside his head, the energy solidifying a bit as he said loudly: "Why hello there, sir. I must say, you are a handsome fellow.

"You don't look so bad yourself!" the reptile spoke in a squeaky voice out of the corner of his mouth, at the same time moving his fist slightly inside the head of energy, and the mouth opened and closed in semi-rhythm with the words.

"You... I don't know whether to congratulate you or call you a fucking moron." Selena said dumbly, and Zerrex glared at her as the head of energy vanished, the reptile slumping back a bit in the chair. "Energy is repressed here, Lord Zerrex..."

The reptile nodded, rubbing the back of his head. "Someone else told me that too... but I have no clue what that actually means." The Drakkaren made a face, shrugging a bit and crossing his arms. "So what, I'm putting some more effort into creating these things. It's not that hard to begin with, even if it does take a bite out of my own life force."

"Zerrex, you moron, it means you shouldn't be able to do it at all." Selena said flatly, and the Drakkaren stared at her, his jaw falling slightly open as she continued mildly: "Energy manipulation is an extremely-rare trait, especially on the level that you're performing it. Creating material objects out of energy, and using it to attack or defend is an ability that usually requires some sort of magical item or focus object... but you're on a level that takes many years for even the most talented magician to reach."

She shook her head a bit, then looked at him curiously as he only grunted, before the reptile crossed his arms and said sourly: "Magic is stupid. I prefer to beat on things with my big sword... do you know how much I miss Blackheart? I mean, that sword there you bought me is awesome, sure, and most of these weapons in Hell seem just... really great, but me and that sword... it's like a part of me, get it? I'd prefer using that any day over this stupid... I point at you and your get blown up stuff. It seems too... I dunno."

"You just grew up in a world based around brute force... you'll get used to magic and all its concepts soon enough." Selena said dismissively... although the face she made caused Zerrex to wonder if she really believed that herself. "But I wonder..."

Selena looked over him slowly, then she picked up the knife again and cut a wound in her own arm with a growl, before holding it out, Zerrex staring at the sluggishly-bleeding slash as she commanded: "Heal me."

"I... okay..." Zerrex said mildly, realizing it was probably better to not argue with her at this point, and he gently gripped her wrist before holding his hand out over her arm, concentrating on her wound and trying to push energy towards it, to close it and heal it.

At first, it seemed okay... blue energy sparked around the wound, and then it glowed for a few moments before Selena hissed and dragged her arm away, her scales singed as she barked: "What the fuck was that? Are you trying to cut it off?"

"Well, maybe if you'd actually paid attention to me like all the other demons, you'd know that I can't heal other people with my energy abilities. Cindy theorized that, and she's wrong about one percent of the time." Zerrex replied moodily, lacing his fingers together, and Selena glared at him before stepping over to him and shoving her arm against his muzzle, the reptile yelping.

"Put it in your mouth!" she ordered, and Zerrex winced as her forearm forced against his maw, the female apparently determined to get it in no matter what his reply was, so he opened his maw, and then gurgled when she added irritably: "Now suck on it, bitch!"

¬Zerrex made a face, but did so, lapping at the wound... and Selena looked down at him pleasedly as she reached her other hand out to play gently through his hair. The expression of enjoyment on her face was remarkably disturbing... and after almost five minutes, the Drakkaren's maw leaking a mix of saliva and blood that pattered down over his chest, she finally drew back, and he muttered: "You have serious problems, you know that? When most people say ‘suck on this, bitch,' it's not a goddamn self-inflicted knife wound they shove in someone else's mouth."

"It turned you on." she replied flatly, and Zerrex grunted in reply, making a face as he rubbed at his muzzle with the back of one hand. "Just be glad I didn't shove the knife into you... although the fact you obviously have a masochistic attitude means some sick part of you would probably take pleasure in that as well."

"I am not a masochist, I am a sadist." the Drakkaren replied proudly, and then he made a face as Selena gave him a look of mixed amusement and irritation. "Hey, at least I know what I am. I also know what you are, too."

The demoness rolled her eyes, then she idly tapped her arm, and the wound vanished as Zerrex stared... before he winced as the collar appeared around his neck and the chain clinked into being, the end in her hand as she looked over him slowly before murmuring softly: "You know, I quite like you like this... you look sexy."

Zerrex made a face at the impending rape thoughts obviously on her mind, as she leaned forwards with a grin... and then she paused and slid into his lap, her grin tuning down a contrite smile as she leaned over him, grasping the leash by the middle in one hand, the other settling over the Drakkaren's muzzle... and immediately he felt his jaws wrenched open before coughing violently and shaking his head as something invaded his maw and laced tightly around his head, before he realized he was wearing a ball gag. "Seems we won't be going without after all... but since I don't like to repeat myself, today I'm going to do something different in the short time together we have..."

Selena attached the chain to the ceiling somehow, and Zerrex was left dangling by it, choking as metal links formed around his arms and bound them tightly together, before his feet were locked into place as well by metal boots that attached into chains, keeping his legs together and his body stretched out. He couldn't even scream as she sandpapered all his scales off, leaving the raw flesh and muscle exposed over his chest... and then she cursed as a gong sounded, and Zerrex broke out into stupid laughter even through the pain and the ball-gag restraint... and Selena stared at him in shock as he managed to twist his head down enough to look at her with a wide grin... and immediately she winced and snapped her fingers, the reptile's wounds healing and the restraints vanishing.

Zerrex landed heavily on his ass, then continued to cackle stupidly, and Selena only stared in shock, wondering if his mind had ruptured under all the strain... but then he looked up at her and said stupidly: "You're a really bad artist."

He went back to giggling, as she only gaped, not understanding... but for the Drakkaren, he couldn't get the image of the time Marina had painstakingly used markers and paint to prepare an art project for one of her classes over his chest... and he had been dragged into the university for everyone to stare at the painted picture of their home over his muscular, scarred body... and somehow she'd worked every ridge and mark into the picture, including the natural pattern of his scales. It had been amazing... but Selena couldn't even get around to etching with how long she took to scrape this canvas clean.

Finally, the demoness kicked him hard in the side, and Zerrex flopped over, raising a hand and letting out a long sigh of relief, then he held up a hand and said easily: "Okay, I'm done. We can go now."

"You're a freak of nature." The demoness muttered, then she grabbed his hand and hauled him up to his feet, Zerrex grunting and swaying a bit on the spot before steadying himself, rubbing at his sides â€" more sore from laughter now than anything else, ironically. "And sorry for not laughing along, but unlike the other chicks here, I don't subscribe to your magazine."

She pointed to the side, creating a portal and motioning for him to follow... and Zerrex did so, asking stupidly as they walked through the portal and out of another into the demoness's home: "I have a magazine?"

"Do you not have metaphors in the physical world or something?" she asked irritably, then sighed and sat down on the couch, patting the cushion beside her... and the Drakkaren rolled his eyes, but sat down beside her anyway, before grunting as she pulled his head over in her lap and she idly began playing with his hair. "You know, I'm fascinated by this, though... there are so few mortal reptiles I've seen with hair like yours... and the fur-covered mortals are just so fluffy and unkempt. This is far neater, but just as pleasant to run my fingers through."

"You have a hair fetish, and a blood fetish. What's next, piss?" Zerrex asked dryly, and Selena glared at him as he paled. "Hey, like, I will hate you forever if you torture me with things like that..."

"Don't worry, I'm more into what we call the mechanical tortures... pure pain, humiliation, but no... mess or anything..." she flicked her wrist a few times, looking distasteful, and Zerrex tried to cover a smile, but she frowned at him anyway. "What?"

"You don't think the fact you enjoy raping me in every possible way is a little bit weird?" Zerrex asked mildly, and Selena snorted laughter before looking at him with entertainment, and he made a face before unconsciously copying her: "What?"

She shrugged and opened her arms, leaning back on the leather couch as she said in an entertained voice: "Just... look around, Lord Zerrex. Look where you are... laying peaceably against the torturer, the lion and the sheep, as some of those religious texts say. Except you're more of a demon already than I could ever be... oh, don't look like that, it's a compliment." The demoness added after a moment, looking at him with amusement as his features went sour. "But you could snap me like a twig, and we're both well aware of that by now, especially with how you handle energy and attacks against you with magic...

"Here we two are, resting together, relaxing, and perhaps even friends... here we are, two cruel, dominating assholes, motherfuckers, of the worst quality... and yet even though I torture you as my job and you seem to get a kick out of pissing me off because you've made it clear that you'll punch me in the face if I try anything, here we are. The brave warrior... and the foolish coward."

She glanced upwards, sighing a bit... and Zerrex looked after her quietly, this mostly-naked female demon in her leather straps and dominatrix gear that somehow looked so... lost and vulnerable, so alone. She closed her eyes, lowering her head and holding him a bit closer as she murmured: "Do I lust for you? Nah. Not more than a friendly fuck, anyway... and do I love you? No. Do I want to care about you? Hell no. You've got enough of that. But do I want to consider you a friend, or something like a pet? Of course..." A pause and a slight smile as she glanced down at him, adding softly: "But I know that because of your very nature, if I ever leaned on you too hard, treated you as if you were below me and failed to show you respect... then you'd rip my head off."

She halted... then murmured: "I'm scared of you, Lord Zerrex. You terrify me... and I feel exhilarated with you here, laying in my lap, letting me caress you. And I won't lie: I love torturing you, I like to hear you scream..." She squeezed him firmly for a moment, gritting her teeth before slowly relaxing, and adding softly: "But I'm a coward. Look at me here, too afraid to do more than touch your body when I'm not under the protection of the Academics, even though I'm supposed to be asserting my place as your mistress and mentor."

"There's nothing wrong with being submissive to some people, Selena." Zerrex responded quietly, and she grunted and looked away coldly, but he saw pain deep in her eyes, before he smiled a bit and nudged her gently, looking up at the ceiling. "The pain never really goes away, does it?"

"No matter how many eternities you spend being punished, or punishing others for the same sins... no, not ever." she answered quietly, following his gaze... and then the two sighed and closed their eyes, curling up a bit together for mutual comfort despite the way the fates had rolled them against one another.

Zerrex rubbed slowly at the pair of long horns that came up through his hair, the foot-long black bones only giving the slightest hint of curling forwards at the top as he asked Felstone mildly: "How the hell do you not hit these off everything? That's the fifth time today I've nearly broken one off on these stupid cement blocks!"

"Yeah, better question... who the hell decided we should be building this entire temple out of stone cubes that weigh a good five hundred pounds each?" Targin chipped in from the other side of the lizard, and the reptile grunted, nodding before quickly heading over to help him lift one of the enormous marble pillars to a standing position on the front deck they were building, locking it into place inside a hollow base as the lizard wheezed and Targin let out a loud groan. "Fuck, I hate building temples."

The Drakkaren had spent three months in Hell now: he had learned most of the ropes and rules, and now lived in his own little flat that had a small bed, a workout mattress, and a desk-shelf with some books in it on demon history and other junk... but most important of all, Selena had gifted him with a Northern Star, a small, magical black stone used for creating portals to locations back and forth between Hell. Zerrex could now teleport anywhere he could remember clearly and stepped foot in before... but of course he couldn't teleport to the mortal world or any of the other planes that lay beyond.

He had learned about the Astral and Ethereal planes, about pocket dimensions and the terrible Nothingness that was rumored to exist between all the worlds; he had learned about demonic wars, and how magic worked through exercising control over particles and natural elements in the air to rapidly generate certain reactions, and other scientific concepts that had been lost on him... and he had learned about the Plains of Despair that encircled Hell, and about the Beyond, where even stranger things were said to lay. Most important of all, however, he had learned about the current war that was taking place between the Warlord and the Princess.

Most of his information came secondhand through Lily, but she was an excellent source, since she was close with the higher-ranking monarchy, and always seemed glad to tell him whatever she knew. By now, the reptile had a calendar and a schedule pasted on his walls at home to tell him what he was doing when, and he met her as often as their schedules would allow, which was often several times a week, to talk and trade stories: he would tell her about the mortal world, and she would give him any information she could on the movements of the Warlord and the Princess's own army.

She was his first real friend... not that Selena didn't count, but she was also insane, the Inquisitor who was all-too-happy to punish him mercilessly, and simply put, generally acted like a bitch towards him. On the other hand, it wasn't like Selena was all bad, either...

Only a few weeks ago, he had been invited over to her home for dinner, and he had gone with a mix of curiosity and anxiety. Lately, she had gotten extra-cruel... she would rape him over and over again, hang him up on meathooks, throw him into grinders. His particularly-favorite torture was when she had chopped off his head, and he had been forced to watch as she had savagely torn apart his body, still spasming and screaming, hooked up on a thousand different metal wires. Finally, she'd forced his head between her legs, and he had screamed and cried and raved as she pleasured herself against his muzzle until she released all over him... and after that, the gong had thankfully sounded, and Zerrex had been left in a corner, feeling like jello and mumbling that if she came close, he was going to punch her right in the clitoris.

So his mood hadn't been the best, especially since he was still getting used to not sleeping... but then he had coughed when she'd opened the door, standing in a pair of jeans and a plain black bra, her scales gleaming from a recent bath and smelling faintly of lavender. She'd taken his hand, pulled him inside... and he had been amazed at the spread she'd prepared on the table in her small kitchen... and as Zerrex strolled off to take his break at the edge of the work site, the memory faded in for a moment to take over his reality completely.

"This is amazing." he said dumbly, rubbing the back of his head and gazing slowly over the salad, roast bjand â€" it was something like the mortal world's pigs, but bigger â€" and... "Oh my Gods. Is that... Frost cola?"

"I heard you had a liking to it." Selena muttered, shrugging and attempting not to mimic the Drakkaren's motion, but failing. She had picked up a few of his mannerisms over his short stay at her home... and then she coughed and strode into the kitchen, well lit by a glowing orb that quietly hovered about the table with a soft hum. "Well, come on. Let's dig in."

The meal had been exquisite, the meat delicious, the salad crunchy, and the caffeinated beverage like the elixir of life after spending the last few months drinking nothing but sour water and ciders produced from the twisted fruits that grew in Hell. Afterwards, Selena placed the dishes beside the sink and led Zerrex into her bedroom, the Drakkaren looking surprised as she pulled him gently onto her and murmured quietly, stroking a hand over his chest slowly: "I want dessert... do you have any cream for me?"

"That was bad..." Zerrex said softly, as her other hand curled up into his hair... and then they kissed slowly, the Drakkaren pushing down on her gently, exerting his strength, his power, his dominance over her as her hips bucked against him... and she reached down to pop open the fly of the plain cloth pants he was wearing as he simply tore off her bra with a grin, her breasts falling free, looking even larger than they did under the tight restraint of her usual bondage outfit.

He sat up as she murred quietly and grasped his hips, pulling him forwards... and the Drakkaren licked his muzzle slowly as he did so, the female's agile hands quickly opening the rest of his fly before sliding her hand into his pants and pulling down his boxers enough that she could grip his flaccid shaft, letting out a quiet moan as her hand settled on the black flesh. He could feel her excitement tickling over his scales, and the nervousness that went with it... and her body felt electric under his touch, as he groped one of her breasts teasingly before tugging on her nipple gently, as her other hand rubbed down the thick flesh of his twitching member, growling softly down to her: "You're going to have to work for your cream, bitch..."

She licked her muzzle slowly at the reversal of roles, however temporary, beginning to stroke his flaccid member faster as Zerrex tugged his pants and boxers down a bit more, letting his heavy, seed-laden navy blue testicles fall free of their restraining cloth as his huge shaft steadily grew upwards towards its full thirty-two inch erection. It left her staring over him in awe and surprise, as he leaned back with his thumbs still laced in the waistband of his boxers as he gazed down over her hungrily, and she looked up with terror and passion as she felt the steel of his enormous shaft in her hand, barely able to wrap her fingers around the girthy cock.

Slowly, so slowly, she pulled his member down, watching as she guided it between her large, voluptuous bosom, her other hand gripping the side of one breast as she let out a soft sound of surprise at the heat of his penis, guiding it deep between her breasts... and then she slid her hand out to grasp the side of her other firm swell as Zerrex pushed lightly forwards, then pulled slowly back, letting out a sound of pleasure at the feeling of her bust tightly squeezing either side of his thick shaft as he wiggled forwards a bit, his testicles dragging lightly against her scales. His huge body leaned over hers, and she moaned in quiet apprehension, looking down and watching as the head of his shaft approached and then ground lightly along the edge of her muzzle... before he slowly drew back with a grin and another growl of pleasure, his hands resting on either side of the bed as he said softly: "Yeah... yeah, that's just wonderful..."

"Yeah... yeah, it is..." Selena whispered beneath him, and then he slowly drew back as far as he could before thrusting forwards between his length, his back arched slightly as he let out another light groan of pleasure. He could feel the heat of her body, the thud of her heart, the roll of her breasts as she took nervous, long breaths... and he kept his thrusts slow and almost gentle as she tilted her head back to look up into his eyes, his emerald burning down into her own deep black that nonetheless portrayed so many of her emotions so clearly.

"I won't hurt you." Zerrex said softly... and she nodded as he drew back, before swallowing and lowering her muzzle, opening it almost hesitantly despite the sharp teeth that could â€" and had, on several occasions â€" torn through his shaft like it was a well-cooked sausage. Slowly, he felt the head of his member push into her jaws... and he groaned softly at the heat of her maw as she closed her mouth around it, beginning to suckle slowly back and bob her time in movement with his thrusts and the almost-unconscious rocking of her sumptuous bosom that had engulfed his huge member.

He slowly began to pick up speed, thrusting a bit harder and keeping that pace as he leaned over her, his muscular body flexing powerfully as his shaft slid wonderfully between her huge breasts, his testicles bumping against them gently at the end of every shove forwards as the bulging head of his obsidian member pushed to the back of her throat, before drawing back until only the tip of the black flesh remained in her jaws, then shoved back down her maw.

She shivered a bit beneath him, the two reptiles moving in perfect time with each other as Zerrex tried to keep his movements as gentle as possible... but soon enough he found himself picking up, his thrusts becoming harder and firmer, delving deeper towards the back of her throat as a growl began to rise in his own, his large muscles flexing as he leaned over her a bit further. The pleasure was rapidly mounting, and he could feel her losing whatever inhibitions she'd had, the demoness bobbing her head and rocking her body with rising excitement beneath him, her eyes closed and an expression of surprised pleasure on her face as she tasted not only the flesh of the reptile but now his strong, bittersweet pre.

She wanted more than that, though, as she bobbed harder and faster, her tongue slowly twisting around his member and pulling his thrusts deeper into her throat, before she drew back entirely and let the huge shaft pop out of her maw and grind against her muzzle and face instead, the female moaning in pleasure as she arched her back a bit beneath him, her hot breath washing over his thick penis as the male let out his own groan of pleasure as his thrusts increased in speed and power, crying out: "Oh Gods, Zerrex... I don't know why, but it just feels so good... please... I need your seed, I want to be drowned in it, then covered with it... oh please... oh-"

Her words cut off into a loud, muffled moan of pleasure as she opened her jaws wide and moved her mouth directly into the path of the oncoming thrusts, closing her maw tightly back around the thick cock and lapping and suckling at it with newfound fervor, and Zerrex let out an animal grunt of bliss as one of his hands slipped back to grasp one of her horns, putting more power into his thrusts now and shoving his waist tight against her huge bosom with every piston forwards as he began to pant roughly with the pleasure rising from his loins.

As he shoved himself forwards over and over again, she continued to bob hard and fast against him, feeling him stiffening up in her jaws, her hands digging into the sides of her own breasts as she sought to imprison his thick cock tighter between the swells, tasting his pre as more of it spurted into her muzzle... and soon afterwards the Drakkaren arched his back with a loud groan that rose into a masculine roar of bliss, as his member pounded into her muzzle over and over again, becoming stiffer than steel as her tongue wrapped tightly around it, her eyes clenched shut in anticipation before opening wide in surprise at the first few volleys that blasted straight down her throat with enough force to almost choke her, seed already threatening to leak out her jaws even as she gagged a bit and forced herself to swallow rapidly.

A moment later, however, the reptile jerked backwards, straightening and growling as one of his hands reached down to grasp his thick, gargantuan cock, stroking it rapidly as he arched his back and released another roar as his seed continued to spurt out over her features and dripped down onto her breasts, coating her face as volley after volley splattered over her body, the reptile grinning down at her as she moaned and squeezed her own huge bosom tightly, pinching one nipple between her fingers as he growled hungrily: "That's right, bitch! You love it, isn't that right, you whore?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Oh Gods, yes, Zerrex, I do, I do!" she cried out, arching her back as he continued to release over her... and then she opened her mouth wide for the last few volleys before he shoved forwards, his other hand reaching down to grasp the back of her head and jerk her forwards as he buried his huge cock down her maw, Selena immediately choking on his member as her eyes bulged... but at the same time, suckling back greedily even as she felt inch after long inch forcing its way down her throat, and tears of pain and surprise leaked from her eyes as Zerrex continued to grin cruelly down at her.

Finally, he groaned as he grasped the back of her head with both hands and made a final thrust, and she gagged, muscles of her throat contacting around his gargantuan cock as seed rolled slowly down her face and dripped onto the bed beneath her, her eyes wide as she felt his penis giving a last few twitches somewhere deep inside of her... and then he slowly pulled back, and she was almost shocked at the moan she gave out and the terrible longing that came with it, the Drakkaren's still-hard shaft springing free of her muzzle as he let out a few quiet pants, then he gazed over her with something like embarrassment as he murmured: "I'm sorry... I was a bit rougher than I should have been, probably."

"Fuck that..." Selena replied with a snort... and then her eyes gleamed as she cleared her throat, licking her own muzzle slowly with her long tongue as she slid one hand down into her pants, Zerrex sitting back and grinning slowly as she moaned quietly, and murmured up to him with her eyes half-lidded: "I'm all hot down there now... I need you to fill me up and put me out... if you think you're male enough, that is."

"Roll over, bitch." Zerrex grunted, and Selena grinned widely before doing as he had ordered immediately, and then she yelped in surprise and admittedly, excitement, when he simply grabbed either side of her jeans and tore them apart, a button flying across the room to bounce off a light orb and cause it to flicker.

She moaned softly as he leaned over her, trembling at the feel of his massive, slick shaft pressing against one of her buttocks... and then her moan grew louder as two of his fingers slid past the tight thong she was wearing and into the lips of her sex without any prompting or teasing, as she grunted quietly as he began to thrust them slowly back and forth, trembling a bit before he touched a sweet spot, and her back arched with a soft cry of pleasure as Zerrex murmured teasingly at the spurt of liquid that accompanied it: "Oh... oh, you're going to be fun indeed..."

He grasped the back of her thong with his other hand and snapped it easily, and it fell uselessly around her other leg to join her shredded jeans as his fingers continued to slowly and easily probe her sex, pushing deeper into her body for a moment before drawing back and tracing along her labia to her clitoris, flicking it gently and causing her to release a sharp breath of surprise before he drew his fingers back with a teasing growl... and then slowly but firmly pushed them into her anus, the female groaning and arching her back a bit, her eyes closing tightly as his thick fingers forced their way in all the way to the knuckle. "Oh God... oh God..."

The Drakkaren growled again as he began to move his fingers slowly in and out of her anus, feeling her reacting to him, trembling as he stroked a hand slowly along the curve of her buttock, her tail twitching and still raised high... and then he grasped his thick shaft with his other hand, drawing his hips back as he guided the head of his enormous penis against her sex, and she twitched against him in surprise before letting out a cry of shock, pain and bliss as he shoved forwards with a grunt and forced the head of his gargantuan member into her sex immediately, at the same time pushing his fingers to the hilt into her anus.

She moaned and fell forwards, her face grinding against the bed as Zerrex slowly buried his thick cock inch-by-agonizing-inch into her body, a wide grin on his face as he felt the trembles running through her body... and then he slowly drew his fingers free from her tender rosebud so he could slide his hands lightly along her body, grasping her hip with one hand and leaning over her so he could grasp her breast with the other, his thick penis just over halfway buried inside of her before he growled softly: "I hate suspense."

A moment later, he thrusted forwards as hard as he could, and her sex tore as his huge penis penetrated her passage completely, the female shrieking as her body rocked forwards before her jerked hard back on her, forcing the lips of her sex to kiss his waist as he tilted his head to the side to avoid being spiked on her horns, his eyes burning with pleasure as he leaned down beside her and watched tears roll down her cheeks, murmuring softly: "It's so much easier when you can move at your own pace and you're torturing the other person, isn't it? But that's fine... I'll be gentle, since you've been such a sweetheart tonight."

She let out a sob, arching her body forwards as blood flowed down her thighs, feeling like she'd just given birth in reverse as her legs trembled violently... but there was a dark pleasure there, as she trembled and whispered: "Bite me... taste my blood..."

"You have such a twisted fetish..." Zerrex slowly ground his huge member forwards into her, then gyrated his massive cock, causing her to cry out in pain and ecstasy as his shaft ground against her passage, the head of his enormous penis somewhere deep inside her body as she stiffened... and then howled, arching her back with a cry as Zerrex's jaws snapped down on her throat and his teeth sunk into her, before he pulled away with a hot, growling breath, licking slowly at the bloody, gaping teethmarks he'd left as he added hungrily: "But tonight that's okay by me..."

"Yes..." The last s turned into a long, sibilant hiss of ecstasy as she felt him settle his mouth against her neck, his tongue tracing against her throat as blood spilled into his mouth and rolled down his chin like wine... and Zerrex felt his muscles bulging as a feeling of raw power ran through him at the domination and control her was holding against the demoness who was in charge of torturing him. He settled his mouth gently against the wounds, suckling almost teasingly as one of his hands massaged and fondled a breast slowly, brushing over her hard, large nipples with one finger as he thrusted slowly, almost lazily in and out of her... and the feeling that went through him was one of dark romance as he took her.

She moaned, arching her back and shivering violently, rocking back against him slowly and out of time as her body moved sluggishly, refused to cooperate: it was an experience that through all her years in Hell, she'd never had with anyone else, not slave, Inquisitor, or random fuck, no matter how big or small they'd been. He filled her up with his cock and he sipped at her neck and tasted the demonic blood flowing through her body in a way that sent chills down her spine... and the hand on her breast felt hot and strong, and the one digging into her waist guided her movements like she was just a toy to him... and she knew with the strength the Drakkaren had gained, she truly was, and she had still dared to take him to bed.

He began to thrust harder in and out of her body, that animal growl rising in his throat again as his testicles lightly slapped her bloody thighs, his huge member moving easily in the mixture of her liquids, saliva, and the blood from her torn sex as he drew his muzzle away from her neck with a grunt of passion, his body filled with what felt like fire unmatched by any here in Hell as he she rocked back against him, guided by the hand on his waist. She responded to every movement, every flex of his muscular body, moaning and begging lustfully for more in a voice that was nearly inarticulate, and he gave her what she desired, moving harder and faster as he pushed his masculine, chiseled chest down against her taunt, flat back.

He ground into her, using his bulkier, heavier body to his advantage and pushing her down, forcing her legs to spread wider as she moaned in a mix of bliss and agony... and he felt her passage contracting against him as he grinned, shortening his thrusts but making them harder and far faster, and she pushed back against him with a loud cry of pleasure, her vagina clenching hard around his penis as he was rewarded with her orgasm, her hips bucking madly back against him and his claws sinking through the scales on her waist, growling hungrily as he continued his teasing, quick thrusts before suddenly slowing as her orgasm began to subside, and she moaned, shaking her head in denial as his thrusts became long and slow, her hips twitching violently back against his body as tears rolled down her cheeks in frustrated bliss, whispering: "Oh fuck... no, fuck me... fuck me, Zerrex... fuck me, please, I need it... I need it hard, I need it bad..."

Zerrex sank to the hilt in her with a growl, his shaft slick with their mix of fluids but the Drakkaren determined to keep her at his mercy as long as possible like this, his other hand twisting her breast painfully as she shrieked in ecstasy. "I'll give it to you as I like... after everything you've done to me, I think I deserve to take my time with this..."

The Drakkaren emphasized this by drawing back as far as he could... and then slowly pushing into her again, her entire body spasming as she let out a gasp and then a loud moan, her fluids still ebbing out with the blood, spilling onto the Drakkaren's testicles as they gently pushed against her inner thighs. He twisted his hips, grinding his member inside her against the walls of her vagina, and she grunted and pressed her back up against his massive chest... and then the Drakkaren brought his hand up from her breasts and slowly pushed her face down into the couch as he shifted to a kneel, her tail automatically twisting around his body as she gazed up at him with a moan into the bedspread, one of her hands sliding up to clutch into a pillow.

He looked back down at her, then grinned slowly before he began a firm, hard pumping in and out of her in the slightly-changed position, his huge shaft grinding against the walls of her sex as she moaned and squirmed, unable to raise her head or even arch her back much, her body spasming a bit as he thrusted with a loud squelch into hot sex over and over again. The Drakkaren's own muzzle was bloody, his eyes gleaming and his grin sharkish as he pounded in and out of her, beginning to rapidly pick up the pace as his other hand slid around her waist, hauling her ass a bit higher in the air as he continued to slam to the hilt over and over again into her vagina.

She began to spasm again beneath him as he held out for what felt like hours to her, still caught deep in the maze between pleasure and pain as tears continued to leak down her face, the Drakkaren male behind her using her, penetrating her, ripping into her made-vulnerable body... but when he began to pant hungrily behind her, his shaft starting to stiffen up like a massive steel pipe inside her sex, she moaned and trembled, whimpering: "I need more... I need more, I need more, oh please... give me everything..."

"You should be careful what you wish for..." Zerrex growled behind her, his grin widening and his eyes flashing with green fire... and he began to piston in and out of her body with his full strength as he leaned over her, growling like an animal as his massive shaft tore deep into her body with terrible speed and strength, his testicles smashing against her thighs and splattering the juices of a second â€" or had it been her third? â€" orgasm with the sound of wet flesh striking wet flesh in a vicious tattoo.

The pain and pleasure rose higher, the female screaming and trying to rise up, but completely unable to under his powerful grip as he drove his enormous member deep into her over and over, his pants roughening and his tempo seeming to increase even further as she felt him becoming harder and harder inside of her sex... and suddenly, he leaned forwards, sliding his other arm around her neck and jerking her back against him as he dropped back on his knees, sitting up and arching his back as she fell back against him, the muscular Drakkaren holding her like a toy as he roared and flexed, and she felt his body ripple against her with power even as she added her own scream into the chorus.

The reptile pumped hard upwards, using gravity to bounce her up and down as he released his thick seed into her body, blast after blast of it pouring into her as his shaft almost visibly caused her stomach to bulge, her eyes wide and staring and her jaws gaping as his load filled her up and spurted out between his shaft and the lips of her sex, his testicles throbbing. Over and over he released into her, making her feel full, stuffed, and bulging as he growled like an animal behind her, his arms still locked tightly around her body and holding her against his own, his muzzle still stained with her blood just as his crotch, thighs, and cock were... and then she went limp in his arms, and he relaxed slowly, the two of them panting hard as she moaned weakly: "Oh... oh fuck... oh my God..."

He remembered it so clearly it could have just happened... and then something nudged him... and Zerrex blinked as he fell out of the memory and back into reality, Targin looking down at him with dry amusement as he held out a small bowl of stew. "Come on, it's getting cold. What the fuck, dude, you spaced out there for like... five minutes."

"Sorry, I was remembering... something." Zerrex murmured, taking the stew and beginning to eat as he felt a bit of a flush rise at his collar... but Targin only grunted and nodded, turning away to talk with one of the other crew workers, a Swamp Spine lizard demon who was eating a sandwich. He felt very glad that no one had noticed the slight bulge in his pants... and was just praying that he could stop himself from getting a full erection. I don't feel like listening to Targin heehawing at me today because I tore a pair of pants with my penis...