by Randi Darren
“Stop!” Sam commanded, losing control of himself for a second. All the Cambion directly across from him finally did just that.
Deciding to take the opportunity for what it was, Sam held up a hand.
“I have an offer for you. You can take it, or I can close the portal up after I toss my dear dead friend Zach in,” said Sam.
None of the Cambion said anything. Though he did see eyes flash as they turned their head to speak with one another.
Eventually, there was a shifting in the crowd.
A face without a helmet appeared.
A woman who looked to be in her twenties glared at Sam. Her eyes weren’t glowing and she looked rather concerned.
She had short black hair, dark brown eyes that almost seemed red, and a sweet if mature look to her face.
“Are… you a Demon?” she asked.
Sam immediately started to respond that he wasn’t.
Then he realized that might actually help here.
Leaning into his heritage, he pushed on his wings and willed his horns to appear.
Both snapped into reality at the first twitch of thought.
He was in his natural form and fully committed to looking demonic. Skin, horns, eyes, and all.
“I am indeed. I’m a Planar Lord,” Sam said with a wide smile. “An Incubus. I take it you’re the… elder?”
“War-leader. I’ve killed everyone who stood against me,” answered the woman.
“Great. My offer is simple. Come to my plane. I need soldiers and people to work for me,” Sam said holding his arms out at his sides. “You’re welcome to leave after a period of ten years if you so choose. Or you can remain.”
“And what do we get?” asked the War-leader.
“You get to leave that,” Sam said, pointing at a hand at the very dark and gloomy sky behind the Cambion. “And I’ll pay you for your work.”
“Pay?” the War-leader asked, her tone confused.
“Ah… I’ll give you food, weapons, equipment, tools, shelter, water, protection, training,” Sam said, trying to switch gears as quickly as he could. It was quite likely all these Cambion were living more of a primitive lifestyle just to stay alive. “And in return you’d fight my wars for me.”
The War-leader pursed her mouth as she thought about that.
“And what about breeding?” the War-leader demanded.
Ah. Given what’s been done to them, I can certainly understand that question.
“No breeding,” Sam agreed quickly.
“What?” asked the War-leader, her tone growing angry. “Why not? How else are we supposed to bring up the next generation? Cambion don’t grow on trees you idiot. We’ll need new soldiers for those who fall.”
“Err… right. Sure. As much breeding as you can handle then,” Sam said, feeling extremely off balance.
“Hm. Fine. We’ll be your soldiers,” said the War-leader with a shake of her head. “You’ll breed with me and my council first. Then you can work your way down the ranks as we have time. Do we have a deal?”
She… wants me to breed with her?
Ah.
Ah, I see.
I’m a Demon. They’re Cambion.
Bred for battle and to make more Cambion.
All they’ve been doing for as long as they’ve been in there is battle and… wait for more children to be given to them from outside.
That’s all they know.
“I don’t think that’d really be possible,” Sam tried. “I—”
“You’ll breed with me first, then my council, then everyone else as you have time,” said the War-leader again. “We’ll be your soldiers, you give us weapons and training. That’s the deal.”
Right.
They never said anything about children so… I’ll just pretend that I’m not in control of that.
“Fine,” Sam said. “Now, get your things ready. I want you all on my plane today.”
Moving partly into their own plane, Sam opened up a portal to his plane. Out into the fields far, far away from where he kept his residence with his harem.
And he did it all from inside the Cambion plane. It was likely the only place in the facility that he could open one.
Because it wasn’t technically in the facility.
The shield and spear bearers slowly lowered their equipment. Giving Sam a better view of the Cambion plane.
Spread out in a vast wave below, across the plane, were thousands of Cambion. Thousands and thousands of them.
Damn, Jena, how long have you been making Cambion? Since the day you got rid of me?
“After I’m done destroying this facility, I’ll visit and start the breeding,” Sam said casually.
“That’s well. We’ll be ready,” said the War-leader. Nodding her head at him, she left, eyeing the portal Sam had opened the entire time.
Well. I know where to go for a buffet of Essence if I’m ever bored or have nothing to do.
That or I don’t want to bother anyone.
Reaching down, Sam grabbed Zach by the arm and dragged him across to the other side of the Cambion plane.
“Well, looks like you’ll be helpful in death as well, Zach. We’ll report your departure as a security concern,” Sam murmured and looking back to the Cambion portal entrance. It was slowly starting to close on itself. He considered everything he’d learned in this side trip. He’d come out ahead in this case. “Hm.”
Back we go. Maybe they finally figured out how to get Abigail free.
Should check in with Eugenia as well.
***
Having settled the vast majority of the Cambion into their new world, he’d been surprised to find they demanded that he leave a portal open to their old plane.
Or a new one where they could hunt.
That surprise lasted all of about two seconds.
Cambion lived to fight, kill, and breed.
If he was breeding with them, that solved one need, but the other two still needed to be met.
They weren’t going to get that any time soon from Sam and certainly not from his ever so docile plane.
Zipping off to his own personal portal room, Sam found no one there.
It was empty.
The mech where Abigail had been confined was also nearby, though the cockpit was open. A horde of electrical equipment was all around it and tapped into various points.
Everyone is still waiting for Hillary, Jes, and I to get back. That means I can sneak around for a bit.
Let’s go see Eugenia and make sure she’s alright.
Popping open the portal to the plane where Eugenia kept her army, he found it was barren.
Devoid of everyone and everything. There was nothing there.
Except flames, corpses, and smoke.
A battle had definitely occurred here and had left as well. Though there was no telling how long ago it’d happened.
Looking at the corpses, Sam realized it was a very large number of Imps and some Weres amongst their number.
And now we know where a lot of those Male Imps went to.
Jena’s… working with the Silent One. Or at the very least… assisting him.
Damn.
That’s the very last thing we need.
Nervous, and not feeling too great about the situation, Sam closed the portal and opened a new one to Retribution’s home plane. Neither of the two portals he’d opened were ones he kept open, or wanted kept open.
Given what’d happened on Eugenia’s plane, it now seemed to have been a very wise choice.
Peering into the bedroom where he normally met Eugenia, he found it was empty as well. Moving through the portal, he opened the door and looked out into the hallway.
No one was there.
Moving back inside, he walked to the window and peered out.
There was nothing there either. Nor were there the black monsters that typically waited outside the moment anything living was here.
Clicking his tongue, Sam walked back into his portal room a
nd dismissed the portal.
Huh. Okay.
She must still be… on the retreat? On the move? Fighting?
No idea.
Not much I can do for her either so that—
“Sam,” Wren said, walking into the portal room. “I knew I felt you here.”
“Felt me?” Sam asked, looking over to the Cambion with a smile.
“Yes. I can feel you. At all times now. I know when you’re close and where you are if you’re close enough,” Wren said, walking up to him.
“I’m glad you’re… not chewed up anymore,” Sam said, giving her a quick once over. Everything appeared to be where it was supposed to.
“Yes. I think being eaten was… the singular most painful experience I’ve ever had,” Wren said with some actual discomfort on her face. Her eyes also drifted to one side as she contemplated that statement.
Sam noticed in that moment that it looked like Wren had done something with her clothes.
Or is it her bra? I’m not… sure.
Somethings different though. I swear she’s gained an entire cup size in the chest.
Darting his eyes back up to Wren’s face as her head turned back his way, he really wasn’t sure what to think of the change in her.
“Tiffany’s looking for you. She said she wants to collect on that raincheck, with interest,” Wren said with a smirk. “Stacia’s with her. Betting you’re going to get tag-teamed.”
“Oh. Probably. I’d invite you to come but I promised Tiffany I’d never pair you up with her,” Sam said with a grin.
“Oh! Yeah. Please, no. Not… not with Tiff,” Wren said, shaking her head quickly. She looked actually distressed at the very idea of it. “She’s my best friend. No, thanks. I don’t mind getting paired with you and Jes, but… please not Tiff.”
“Oh? Only Jes?” Sam asked with some amusement.
“I mean… she’s a Demon… you’re a Demon… I like it,” Wren said. “I guess I wouldn’t mind Aster joining. Since she’s wearing your brand and Jes’ brand, she kinda smells like a Demon now.”
“Mm. How about… you and I go have a little fun by ourselves,” Sam said, nodding his head. He’d felt pretty shocked when Wren got chomped and his heart had quailed at the sight. “I have some news about Cambion I want to talk to you about. And honestly, I think I’d just really like to feel you against me.”
After he was done with Wren, he’d go find Tiffany and Stacia.
Wren let out a slow breath, red mist starting to appear already.
“Yeah?” Wren asked.
“Yeah. Got a whole army of Cambion. Their War-leader seems pretty tough, too,” said with a smile.
“Oh?” Wren asked, her eyes starting to glow faintly now as well. “Sex and then a fight? Sounds amazing.”
Thirty-Three - Nobody Expects -
Watching the Cambion, Sam was rather pleased to see how quickly they were changing.
A race bred and born for war, they were masters of adapting to anything thrown at them.
They weren’t as intellectually gifted as some races, and didn’t have a lick of proficiency for magic, but they were cunning.
Cunning and incredibly gifted in war.
And part of that was being able to build out fortifications and encampments.
Spread out on the plane below, the Cambion army had rapidly built out a massive sprawling compound.
Small houses made from locally harvested lumber. A trench dug out around the entirety of the massive complex. Filled with a cut from a stream nearby and spiked on both sides.
The whole thing had the look of something Sam had often seen from Roman Legionnaires on the move.
“Romulus would approve,” muttered Aster from beside him.
“I was just thinking the same,” Sam agreed. “And speaking of the past. Anything I need to know about your old pantheon? I’ve left it alone but… I got a message from Eugenia that she’d be dropping in sometime today.”
“Oh?” Aster asked, folding her arms in front of herself. Then she slowly leaned into Sam’s side.
“Indeed. Given the brevity of the note, I think there’s the distinct possibility she could ask for shelter. And that’d mean letting some of your old… acquaintances closer than you might want.”
Sighing heavily, Aster groaned.
Sam didn’t say anything. He was letting her decide if she wanted to talk about it, and if she did, how much she wanted to talk about.
“They sold me off,” Aster said finally. “Betrayed me, captured me, and sold me off. At the same time they cut down Julius Caesar. I’d invested a great deal in him. Even forsaking Pompeii, though he made sacrifices to me in his triumphs.”
“Sold you?” Sam asked, unable to help himself.
“Mmhmm. Sold me. To another plane as a power plant. Could have been worse I guess,” Aster grumbled. “I didn’t know it at the time, but it was probably a plane with a tech level similar to the current prime. I was locked in a room and… and… they just… drained me. All day. Every day. Never talked to me. Never bothered me. Never harmed me. Just… treated me like a piece of furniture.”
“Ah,” Sam said. He was somewhat curious about what plane she’d ended up at, but he wasn’t sure she’d even know.
“Eventually, Jenaphila captured me there. Or bought me? Hm. No idea how she managed it but… I was still turned into nothing more than a battery,” Aster said. “So… no. I would really dislike having my old pantheon anywhere near me. The Fates risked my displeasure by not warning me of my looming fate but they were also the least involved with my betrayal as they didn’t assist the others.”
“Got it. I’ll be sure to tell Eugenia that anyone from your old pantheon isn’t welcome then,” Sam said. “She can take it or leave it.”
“You don’t have to do that for me. It’d probably just anger Eug—”
“I don’t care if it does anger her. Because yes, I do have to do this,” said Sam, cutting her off. “Because what they did is likely the one thing that the Originator himself wouldn’t forgive. That’s probably why they lost all their powers, too.”
Aster didn’t say anything for several seconds.
“Thank you, Branded,” Aster murmured, turning her face into his shoulder.
“Of course, my dearest Aster,” Sam replied, laying an arm around Aster’s shoulders. “Of course.”
She wasn’t who she used to be back when he knew her before this. The Torment she’d used to be was long gone.
Though a Torment she still was. Just one that wasn’t the same anymore.
Just like me, I guess.
And Reixhitz, too.
***
A small white portal began to tear open through the middle of the thin air. Right out onto the courtyard of Retribution’s fort.
Sam shifted his weight around feeling slightly odd about this.
Or at least given what he knew was going on with Eugenia. There was a possibility of her simply ripping open a portal and coming across with an army chasing after her.
Especially since he was alone.
Aster had remained on Sam’s plane, working on rebuilding the new one she’d formed. Apparently being the only one amongst the three of them without a fully functioning plane had finally spurred her on.
Jes was assisting her, and everyone else was working on their own projects or duties.
Before the portal had fully formed, Eugenia stepped through and shut it behind herself.
She looked a mess.
Wearing what appeared to be angelic armor while holding a spear and a shield, she looked like something out of a novel.
Except everything was covered in blood, dirt, and grime. There wasn’t a part of her that didn’t look like it’d been dragged through a butcher’s shop or a ditch.
“Judge,” Sam said mildly.
With a grunt, she turned her head toward him, her helmet’s visor already raised.
“Sam,” rasped Eugenia.
“What can I do for you? Are you here
to collect everything from the armory?” Sam asked while holding out the pocket dimension. It was in its dormant state and looked more like a black folded cloth right now.
Everything had been transferred over successfully, except for the Mech Abigail had piloted. The “Fist of the Legion” as she called it.
“Huh? Oh. Yes,” Eugenia said, taking the dimension from Sam. Then she negligently stuffed it into a belt-pouch she had behind her hip. “Thank you. Though I’m afraid it was mostly for naught.”
“Oh?” Sam asked. He wasn’t about to push or ask for anything. She’d asked him to be here, so he was here.
He was also hoping to get her to pay up on what she owed him of her body. She was in debt to him at this point.
Considerably so.
“We’ve won several rather large battles. Good victories. But the war itself is becoming somewhat pyrrhic,” muttered Eugenia. “We make gains, we take from them, but it doesn’t bother them in the least. They don’t even respond to those losses. As if it was hardly an inconvenience.
“The Silent One remains silent. Even Seville ignores us. Only Leena bothers to engage us and even then it doesn’t matter. We’ve killed her six or seven times.”
“You… killed her?” Sam inquired. That was something out of the ordinary.
“She’s died so many times, it isn’t even a wonder anymore,” Eugenia grumbled. “I’ve killed her twice myself. She just… comes back. New body, old memories, same nasty personality.”
Strange.
“So I’m putting a pin in this,” Eugenia said with a shake of her head. “We’re pulling out and taking what we’ve gained so far with us. We’ll begin to build a much larger force and… go from there.
“No sense in losing people in battles that don’t matter. Wasting resources on something that doesn’t even seem to concern them in the least. Because that’s the truth of it. The Silent One doesn’t care. Not until my Father returns.”
Sam had to nod his head at that.
It made sense to him.
They called him the Silent One because he was exactly that. Whenever he’d acted, it’d been because of some type of direct correlation to the Originator or something he left behind.
