by Logan Jacobs
“What do the incubi think of them?” Ashe checked.
“Couldn’t say,” the tabaxi admitted. “But they’re not too big on loyalty. Only thing the incubi care about is results. If you slip in there, and keep up with business as usual, you might just get by alright.”
“I like the sound of that,” I said, and my demon voice festered in my throat as a grin spread across my lips.
“Do you know where in the trees we’d find them?” Ashe questioned.
The tabaxi raised his giant paws in the air. “That is something I don’t know, I’m afraid. I heard the head elf of their organization ordered everyone to relocate out there a few months ago, but that’s all I can tell you, really.”
“That’s okay, we can try and find him,” I decided. “It’s a start, at least.”
“You might ask some of the trolls,” the tabaxi suggested. “Their kind usually converse with the imps, and since this new batch of slaves were dragged in recently, it’s likely the trolls will have heard a thing or two about the situation. They could probably tell you more than I can. You can find them all over the Shadow Quarters, but best to ask the trolls outside the Grimmway, just in case any prying ears are around.”
“Thank you,” Ashe said with a nod. “You’ve been a great help to us.”
“Does this mean you’ll scratch my back and kill a few incubi?” the tabaxi asked. “You look like a woman who could tear their fuckin’ faces off if you wanted to.”
The old cat-man’s sinister grin made the demon woman smirk, and she rolled her eyes playfully.
“I’m sure I could, but I’m not for hire,” she snorted. “We’ll pay you for the information, as we promised, though.”
Ashe got up and strolled over to me, and before I could dig the coins out myself, she slipped her hand deep into my pocket again. I grinned at her lusty pink eyes while she rifled around for a bit, but then she brought the twelve promised pieces over to the table and laid them out for the man.
“Here, hold on a moment,” the tabaxi muttered and stood from the seat with some effort. “For your kindness…”
Ashe and I exchanged questioning looks while the cat-man searched a few cupboards that lined one wall, found what he was looking for, and then closed the door. The ancient wood squeaked as the cupboard door closed, and when the tabaxi turned back to face us, he had a cudgel in his hand. The handle was made of thick, aged wood, and there was a large, wooden ball at the top. The ball, however, was coated in thick, rusty spikes.
“Take this. Much more common of a weapon for these parts than the blade at your side.”
I grasped the handle of the cudgel and felt the weight it held. It was an impressively sturdy weapon, and as I swung it around in the air a bit, an evil smile curled across my lips. I could already picture the skulls I could smash in with this thing, and the flesh that would drip from the ends of the rusty spikes.
I accepted the weapon even though I felt guilty for taking some of his items when he had so few. It had been a long fucking time since I felt guilty about anything, yet the dwarf, kobold, and the tabaxi had all been so helpful, and their meager offerings affected me more than I expected them to.
Maybe I’d been in this human form for too long.
We left the hut after bidding the tabaxi goodbye, and we were much less irritated about our situation as we headed up the lane again. We had to find the group of dark elves who worked beyond the Grimmway and figure out what exactly they were up to out there. The sooner we worked out their setup, the sooner we could knock them off their asses for smooth take over.
“They keep giving us gifts…” Ashe said.
“It’s strange,” I replied.
“Or not,” she snickered. “They intrinsically sense your power and the changes you are bringing.”
“I only want us to get out of here,” I said.
“Yes…” she purred. “But the small gift might earn them a greater reward later if you replace the incubi.”
“Perhaps.” I shrugged.
“Would you like me to track down some trolls?” Ashe asked as we went back through the avenues of the Shadow Quarters. “I can make quick work of the task, and I’m not sure you’ll be very popular among them. They might smell that stolen stash on you.”
I smirked at the notion as I came to a stop. “I don’t know if I like the idea of you strolling around this area alone.”
“Don’t you trust me to keep my claws in?” Ashe purred as she wiggled into my arms.
“I do,” I assured her. “It’s these incubi and the Blessed I don’t trust.”
“Atticus, I’ll be fine,” the demon said more seriously. “You don’t intend to keep me on a leash up here all the time, do you?”
“Only if you want me to,” I said with a grin.
“I want you to be happy with my servitude.” Ashe chuckled and left a hungry kiss on my lips, and I delved my tongue deep into her delicious mouth to make her go weak at the knees. Then I resurfaced, admired her pillowy cleavage, and nodded my approval.
“I’ll meet you back at the inn,” I told the demon woman. “I’m going to take a look around the Grimmway for a bit and see if I can’t catch a whiff of these elves. Then you can expect there to be all manner of tasty foods waiting for you, as well as my cock.”
“Then I’ll be back before you know it,” Ashe purred.
I watched as she jogged off in the opposite direction, and her silver-blue hair blew in the wind. Then she swore as she nearly tripped over her long dress, and I chuckled as she hauled the fabric up high above her silvery knees.
I didn’t continue walking until she was out of sight, and I made my way toward the grassy hill and into the Grimmway without really thinking about where I was heading. I hadn’t been on the surface world for a very long time, yet the map of Rengfri had quickly become lodged inside my head, and I was content knowing this place was becoming familiar already.
Now, I just needed to familiarize myself with the seedy underbelly of the Grimmway.
I came to a stop as I passed the fiery beacons that welcomed me into this part of town. To the left of me was the pathway that led to the inn and the eccentric marketplace, but there was also a path to the right which we were still to travel through. The dark trees towered high beside me, and even though the sun was still shining above, the area to my right was cast in deep shadows.
I reached the end of the right-side path and noticed a few more buildings like the ones that surrounded the marketplace, and some more loud music was coming from one of them. Mixed in with the music, I could make out sultry laughs and giggles nearby, but then I heard voices directly above me.
“Ooh, look at that one,” a woman called down. “He looks like a lot of fun.”
“I’ll fight you for him,” another replied, and both of them giggled at their childish taunting.
I looked up to see where the voices had come from, and I noticed two black fairies were sitting delicately on one of the thick tree branches. They were about Ashe’s size and dressed in scrappy black skirts and corsets, and their large, gauzy black wings fluttered slowly behind them. From this angle, I could almost see straight past their black-and-white striped stockings and up their skirts, but I could tell by their deep red pouts that this was intentional.
“Come and join us,” one of the black fairies suggested as she wrapped a lock of her dark hair around her finger.
“We’d love to get to know you,” the other giggled.
I couldn’t help but smirk at the seductive pair. Black fairies, like most fairies, had a reputation for being clever, but they were also known to love the attention of men, no matter what species they were. I eyed their striped stockings one more time, but then I offered them a polite nod.
“I’d love to, but I’m busy at the moment,” I replied, and my demon voice slipped out a bit despite my effort to keep it in check.
“Ohh, we won’t take long,” one black fairy purred.
“Speak for yourself,” the other
half-moaned while she eyed me with lusty eyes. “I’d love to take my time with this one.”
“Well, like I said, I’m busy right now.” I grinned and walked on.
“You know where to find us!” a black fairy called after me.
I kept walking and refused to look back at the sultry fairies.
The same string of lights had been placed high along the roofs of the buildings here, but one section wasn’t lit up like the others. Then I spotted what could only be a witch with stark orange eyes twirling her hands together as if to cast a spell, and all of a sudden, the darkened lights practically exploded as they were turned on.
I meandered through a few more fairies, witches, and orcs as I headed past the line of houses, through a small alleyway, and then into yet another section of the Grimmway. This area was somewhat like the main marketplace, with an old, moss-covered well in the center, and some shops and stalls around the circumference. A few more alleyways twisted their way between the structures, and one of them led into the surrounding grove of oaks. I stood at the foot of the alley and a distinct scent wafted over me.
It was a smell that was familiar to me, and one full of evil, but with a slight hint of iron and rust to it. There were vampires nearby, potentially only a few yards beyond where I stood, but given the time of day, there were none to be seen. I could imagine their coffins buried deep into the soil of the grove, with the undead beasts sleeping inside. Maybe I’d come back here later, once the sun had set, but that wasn’t at the top of my list.
I turned on my foot with the plan to leave this area when I noticed some dark elves buying something from a nearby stall. They were completely unaware that I was watching them, but they seemed determined to be discreet in their work.
I wondered if these elves were part of the group we were looking for, but their tattered red jackets, while made from velvet, didn’t give me the impression they were well off. This dark elf crime boss, whoever he was, wouldn’t be lacking in pieces, and this meant the majority of his band of elves would be dressed in only the finest garb available in these parts.
I brushed off the idea, but I made sure to keep my eyes alert as I sauntered through this part of the Grimmway for a while longer. I saw only a few more dark elves, and all of them poorer than the last, and twice, I heard the same pair of black fairies murmuring in the treetops above me.
I was in a completely different avenue, though, so I knew the sultry fairies had to be following me around.
I sighed and diverted from my path, and on my way to the dwarf’s inn, I stopped off at a food cart and purchased four legs of meat and some apples the half-goblin had in a wicker basket. The assorted apples were bright green and deep red, and I could already imagine their juices dripping down Ashe’s soft lips and chin.
And then I imagined licking all the sweetness off her skin.
I couldn’t stop my mind from running, and as I set out the food in the middle of the table, I kept thinking about what Ashe was doing, and if she was okay. I was comfortable with the thought that she’d be capable of taking on a group of trolls like I had, but the Blessed could have followed her through the streets, or the Lord Captains could have sent up an army of hunters. I knew we only had a limited amount of time to get to these dark elves and hopefully get out of Rengfri, but I kept wondering if there was enough time to complete all of that before more demons were sent in our direction.
I sat down on the bed and tried to focus on something else, but this was the only thing that circled around my mind. My body was telling me to go out there and find her, but I reminded myself that Ashe was a demon. Just because she was mine now, didn’t mean I had to go mad trying to look after her.
She was an Infernal Huntress, after all, and a vicious fiend on top of this, so I would just have to wait until she was back in the inn again.
Fortunately, I heard the sound of a door closing and then Ashe’s sultry voice before my impatience got the better of me.
“It smells delicious in here,” she giggled and sat down on the bed next to me. “The food smells almost as good as you do.”
I devoured the woman’s grinning lips while she hungrily returned the favor, and this one touch doused all my tension and replaced it with lust. I forced myself to stay on task, though.
“How did it go with the trolls?” I asked as I released Ashe’s lips.
“The ones I found weren’t up for saying much.” She shrugged. “But that all changed when I brought out this beauty.”
Ashe brought her glaive from her back and lovingly stroked the stock.
“You didn’t kill them, did you?” I chuckled.
“No, I only terrorized them a bit,” Ashe replied. “I knew you would need them alive if we had further questions in the future, so I refrained from gutting them or slicing them limb from limb.”
“Good girl,” I growled and kissed the demon, and she sighed contentedly.
Then I led her over to the table where our feast was laid out, and we began to devour the food without any hesitation.
“What information were you able to get?” I asked between bites from a juicy apple.
“They knew of the imps who were enslaved recently,” Ashe reported as she ripped some meat from a bone. “They also know of a man who works for the head elf.”
“A human?” I asked with a frown.
“That’s right.” Ashe nodded.
“Did they say any more about him?” I queried.
“Apparently, the elves use this human to pay someone off every couple of weeks,” she explained. “He’s incredibly hard to track down, but they’ve seen him lurking around the Shadow Quarters every so often for ages now. According to a troll I threatened to castrate, the next payment is due tomorrow.”
“This is fantastic news,” I said with a scheming grin. “We need to find out who this man is and track him down for ourselves.”
“And then what?” Ashe mumbled through her meat.
I thought over our options while I finished my apple and watched Ashe lick some greasy juices from her plump lips. We didn’t know anything about this group yet, apart from the scant bit of information we gained from the tabaxi and what the trolls gave Ashe. If we were to have any chance of taking over the dark elves’ organization, then we’d have to do it carefully while addressing every potential hole in the plan.
Finding out more about this human subordinate they hired would be one of those holes.
“We’ll find out exactly what this payment is, and who it’s being made to,” I decided. “This should give us a bit more of an insight into the organization. The worst thing we could do is conquer these elves and end up sold out to whoever they’re paying off.”
“Good idea,” Ashe agreed. “The trolls had some ideas of where the payment may take place, but they also offered some information on the dark elves’ manor as well.”
“Did they?” I asked. “I didn’t have much luck looking around, although I have a better lay of the land now.”
“Well, according to the trolls, the dark elves’ manor is located on the outskirts of the Grimmway, just near the area that’s encroached by the outer forest,” Ashe explained as she snatched an apple from the pile.
“That’s not an ideal location,” I pointed out.
“It might be alright,” the demon woman said before she took a large and juicy bite of her apple. I could hear her purring with pleasure from the sweet taste, and I smirked as her eyes rolled back in her head for a second. “The trolls said the forest is walled off from that side, which explains why my LC had me enter from another part of the city to reach you the night I arrived.”
“It might explain it,” I growled, and Ashe sobered as she looked me dead in the eye.
“We can’t do anything about whatever the Lord Captains are up to, Atticus,” the demon woman reasoned. “Right now, we can only take care of ourselves.”
“True,” I agreed and took a steadying breath. “We’ll have to locate this manor and scout the area as soon as po
ssible.”
“I’m sure we can sniff the place out,” Ashe replied. “I haven’t encountered these particular beings before, so it’s not like their scent is stored in my memory, but if they’re as evil as we hope, then it shouldn’t be too hard to track them based on a general location.”
“We can look for the scent of their slaves as well,” I pointed out. “Degradation and misery will stand out enough.”
“Precisely.” Ashe sent me a sinful grin, and then she moaned through another bite of her bright red apple.
“The payment tomorrow is when?” I asked.
“Around midday,” the demon replied. “The trolls said it’ll go down when the sun’s directly above us, at the only tavern on the northwest street beyond the bounds of the Shadow Quarters.”
“That gives us time to look for the manor all morning,” I decided. “We’ll start first thing tomorrow and then see about this tavern on the northwest street.”
The two of us finished feasting while the light dimmed outside the window of our room, and once I pulled the velvet curtains closed, I kicked off my boots, blew out the nearest candles, and then threw my jacket over the back of a chair. Ashe did the same with the candles on her side of the room, but when I turned around to face her, she was already completely naked with an obedient glint in her pink eyes.
“You mentioned something about your cock being at my disposal?” the demon purred.
“Get in bed,” I chuckled and undid my belt.
Then I ravaged the little fiend for the next few hours while the wavering music of the Grimmway drifted through the night. When I’d finally finished packing her tight pink tunnel with a gallon of my cum, Ashe was smiling like a saint, and she crawled into my arms with a shaky sigh.
“You fuck me so hard and deep,” Ashe mumbled sleepily. “I’m so happy I belong to you.”
