Incubus Inc. 3

by Randi Darren

  “Yala and Abrah are… well… they’ve split up the lands between themselves. They’re your two Dukes if you’re their King.”

  Sam nodded his head, steadily pushing in and out of Aster. His hands and fingers gripped her quite tightly.

  “Harder,” whimpered Aster from under the map.

  “Later,” Erv said and casually patted Aster on the back of her head. Then she lifted her hand and pointed down toward near the bottom of Aster’s back “Now… this is where Luke made his final push. These were the last lands he took in Hell. The last holdouts had all gathered there.

  “Amusingly, it’s also where you started your own territory conquest when you weren’t a Planar Lord. So it’s quite possible you already have tread upon Luke’s own steps at some point.

  “Luke’s starting point was the Annulus fort. It’s likely why Skipper wanted to concentrate everything there. To be fair, it did give her some legitimacy.

  “So the first place that we’ll be taking over is where she finished. Which I find amusing in a weird way. She never got the chance to keep taking territory beyond the towers. She was forced to end things just as she solidified her holdings. The portal closures and all.”

  “Pet me, Erv,” groaned Aster. Her hands were on the other Elemental’s hips and hanging on tight. “Please?”

  Erv smirked at that and then began to gently smooth back Aster’s hair, watching Sam at the same time.

  “I’m afraid beyond that, there isn’t really any information,” Erv said. “Luke conquered it all, vanished, and that was it. What do you want to do next?”

  “After Aster, Wren, then you, and finish with Yala,” Sam said, starting to thrust a bit harder into Aster now. He pulled back on her hips to get a good clap out of her flesh hitting his. “Then we’ll go take back the tower lands, including mine.”

  “Nnnn, harder, Sammy,” moaned Aster in a loud voice. “Really pump it into me and fill me up.”

  ***

  “Are we expecting much in the way of resistance?” Sam asked while looking out at the troops assembled by Yala and Abrah. There were a great many of them now. As far as the eye could see, in fact.

  “No,” Abrah stated. “They’ll melt away as we strike. It’ll be a drawn out and ugly war. With them fighting our supply line troops more than our actual forces.”

  “Guerrilla warfare,” Sam said and nodded his head. It made sense. Most forces wouldn’t be bonded together under a single entity as his own forces were.

  “I’ll use the Cambion,” Wren said in a growl. Behind her, her wings spread out to their full reach. She was a very impressive Devil now who looked to be built and ready for war at all times.

  She also had begun to view the Cambion as a separate race from herself. While she didn’t shed her Cambion instincts—wanting to be bedded by Sam, Jes, and Aster constantly, to get pregnant, to fight and kill—she simply saw herself as something more than what she had been.

  Sam couldn’t disagree.

  “We’ll clear out the would-be fighters as quickly as they show up. It won’t be much of an issue,” continued Wren, her wings settling back down upon her back. “I’ll just insert a few of them into each supply run until we formalize a dump here. That’ll increase security and make it almost more costly for our enemies to go for the lines, rather than the army.”

  “That’s… true. Thank you,” Abrah said, looking out upon her army. “I’m going to go write a report to Yala and determine our needs before the battle begins. I think they’ll hesitate for a few more hours before they realize we’re flanking them at the same time.”

  Yala had ceded control to Abrah within seconds of turning over her soldiers to her. Then Abrah had instantly turned over running their collective lands while she was out on campaign.

  Abrah remained with the now double-sized army and Yala returned to the cities.

  Between the two of them, they were arranging themselves into a very effective partnership.

  One to govern, one to war. Both bound by mutual cooperation through their brand.

  “They remind me of Stacia and Tiffany,” Aster said, watching Abrah head back towards the tent where they’d slept the prior night. “Maybe they’ll start dating, too. They seem like a fun match.”

  “They’re attracted to one another,” confirmed Wren. “Though I think they’ll not act on it unless Sam deliberately pairs them together. Just like he did Tiff and Stace.”

  “Good point,” Aster murmured, then leaned into Sam. “So, this whole little campaign will get us back to your old stomping grounds. Going to show me around? Introduce me to your parents?”

  “I’ll show you what I can, that’s for certain,” he replied and then frowned, his thoughts going backward. “Erv, did any of my old lieutenants make it out of Annulus? I never thought to ask but… that explosion probably killed them, didn’t it?”

  “No. It didn’t,” Erv said in a casual tone, her eyes moving across the soldiers as they stood in front of the opposing force. “Once we reopened the portals to Annulus after the explosion was over, no corpses were found for any of them. One way or another, they all made it out. None of them came to report in, though, so… they survived, but don’t wish to see you.”

  Sam grimaced at that. He could imagine that they would be very unwell mentally given what was done to them. Seeing Sam wouldn’t help that at all since they could very easily blame their association with him as the reason for what happened to them.

  “That’s not exactly surprising,” he replied with a heavy sigh he couldn’t help. “I’m sure they blame me. I probably would blame me, if I were them.”

  “I wouldn’t,” Aster said with a huff. “If I was foolish enough to be caught by someone like Balahtus. In Hell, one could easily expect the outcome. For those who would prefer death, they could have taken that route.

  “For those who didn’t kill themselves and were captured, they got exactly what one would expect. Extremely unpleasant treatment at the hands of Balahtus.

  “I would’ve killed myself, personally. The only reason I didn’t kill myself during captivity was that while I was a giant starving battery, I wasn’t physically abused. If they’d tried to assault me or rape me, I would have offed myself immediately.”

  Unable to quite see the reasoning behind her words, Sam didn’t say anything. There was no point in arguing with her about such a thing and it would likely just upset her. There was no reason to go into the ugly history of being a prisoner at the hands of others.

  Something that had nearly broken Aster.

  “Glad to hear they at least made it out. I hope they can find a life for themselves. Are… Yala and Abrah making changes?” Sam asked, turning to look at Erv directly. He didn’t want to put too fine a point on his question and was hoping Erv would catch what he meant.

  “They are,” she said and met his eyes directly. “They went around and asked for information. About what’s expected in the worlds that you live in and maintain.

  “Irma was more than willing to assist. She gave them a crash course on the current prime plane. It’ll take a generation or three to fully be adopted by the populous, but the changes are starting now. I look forward to a… modern Hell.”

  Sam grinned at that and found he was rather pleased to hear Erv’s response. The idea that Yala and Abrah would work to bring Hell around into something better was good news.

  Just because something was a certain way, doesn’t mean it can’t be changed.

  No different than me, really.

  The grin on Sam’s face froze as his thoughts coiled up one on top of the other.

  We’re no different than Skipper. We’re doing the same thing she did by searching for the Hub. It’s the exact same, in fact. She pushed into other territories, just as we are now.

  Our plan doesn’t differ at all from hers. We’re just repeating the same steps.

  How could we expect any different answer? She searched high and low for the Hub, I imagine.

  Tore everyth
ing apart and likely didn’t put anything back together at all.

  Why would I succeed where she didn’t? How could I?

  No, the Hub isn’t down there. Of course, it isn’t.

  With a gaze focused on nothing at all, Sam felt his thoughts spinning endlessly in circles. Running around and around without any true end. He was only repeating the same things that Skipper had done.

  And if he was being honest, he didn’t even have the same resources on hand that she did.

  With the backing of the Silent One, she would have been able to absolutely break down anything and everything that even had the potential of hiding or holding the Hub. If it was a physical location in Hell, she would have already found it and carried through with her plan.

  “Oh,” murmured Sam aloud as his thoughts came to that final conclusion.

  “Oh?” asked Aster, sounding very confused. “Oh what?”

  “Oh… we’re doing the same thing Skipper did. To expect better or different results would be—” Sam stopped talking and made a vague hand gesture. “Optimistic and unrealistic. Wouldn’t it? If the Hub were a physical location in Hell… she would have found it.

  “There’s no way she wouldn’t have. Not with the Silent One backing her up. She’d have most certainly found it. So… we’re just… wasting time. We’re going about this in a pointless way.”

  “I— no— that’s… that’s fair,” Erv said in a subdued voice. “You’re right. We’re not doing anything different than what she did, so how can we actually expect it to be different?”

  Shaking his head, Sam really didn’t know how to proceed. It all came back to the exact same thing. Nothing had changed.

  “Back to the drawing board, I guess,” Wren said, sounding frustrated. “Start from nothing, go from there. Luke found it, so can we.”

  Yeah. Start from nothing.

  After all, even in the beginning, there was only the Void.

  The thought crashed down through his senses and left Sam stunned. Stunned and unable to move in the least.

  The… Hub was there at the time of creation. It was created to help monitor the world. That… that means it would have been one of the first things created, if not the first.

  And… what came after that… was the Void.

  The space between all things that binds it all together. The Void.

  So… to get to the Hub… I have to go through the Void.

  Huh.

  Thirty-Two - Back to the Beginning -

  Standing in the crater that had once been the Annulus fort, Sam stared up at the open sky above him.

  “And this was his home base? Where he started everything?” Sam asked.

  “Right here,” Yala said from his left. She’d joined them when they entered the portal system and traveled to the ruins of Annulus. “We’re standing at what had originally been the heart of his domain. The stronghold was put down right atop where his castle had been. At least, that’s what I was able to find out.”

  “It sounds like something she’d do,” Erv agreed. “I wasn’t privy to the reasoning why, but there were some ruins before the stronghold was built here. But… what does that even mean? And why were you so eager to get back here?

  “Should we really have left Abrah and Wren to deal with that mess?”

  “They’ll be fine. Winning the war was never a question or even a concern,” replied Sam, still staring up at the sky above him. “The Hub is the goal and I think this is it. I think… I think the answer was something we all overlooked.

  “Something that Skipper herself overlooked. Everyone was so focused on it existing as a physical place, or on a plane of its own, that we never considered it in a different way.

  “What if the Hub is a physical point in the Void? It exists inside the Void and nowhere else.”

  “In… the Void?” Erv asked slowly.

  “Everyone always says the Void is endless and empty. That there’s absolutely nothing in it across the entire expanse of it,” Sam continued. “Except that isn’t true. Anything one brings into the Void, will remain in the Void. That means you could theoretically put a location into the Void. Provided that you could include self-sustaining power, water, and oxygen, as well as food, you could theoretically treat the Void as if it were outer space.

  “On top of that, a portal into the Void will open up in a different spot depending on where you are when you open it. Not just from a given plane, but from where you are in that plane. And as any religion will tell you, in the beginning, there was nothing.”

  “Okay, I’m following,” said Aster. “And you think the Void is literally right here? Or somewhere near here? At this point in Hell?”

  “What if Luke was attempting to become a Planar Lord? Perhaps the first, even,” Sam said, finally lowering his eyes from the heavens above to look at Aster. “What if, in his desire to open a portal to another world, he instead opened a portal to the Void?

  “What if Hell was a barricade to stop others from finding the Hub. A final measure that someone would have to go into, just to have the chance to find the Hub. That Hell was never meant to connect to the other planes.

  “Nicodimus made it seem like the fabric of Hell had always been rather thin. Not to mention, originally Demons could only be summoned out of Hell, no one could travel via portal into or out of Hell.

  “Where better to hide something like the Hub? In a hole somewhere in Hell that wouldn’t do anyone any good. On a plane that outsiders couldn’t really get to.”

  “Until Luke,” said Erv, nodding her head. “By luck, coincidence, or otherwise, he found something in the Void that happened to be the Hub. From there, he gained enough power to become a Planar Lord and move himself to the prime material plane. Where he never looked back.”

  “Mm. So… let’s open a portal to the Void and take a peek,” said Sam in a flat voice.

  Grasping hold of his Essence, he began to pool it together. Channeling it into a single point.

  He wanted to do this as carefully and as gently as he could manage. His previous actions had already damaged, ruined, and bent the fabric of the planes across all existence. The last thing he needed right now was to make it worse.

  Just… ease it open. Ease it in.

  Like breaking virginity.

  Take it slow, move easy with it, and let it give way all on its own. There’s no need to force it or rush it.

  With far more patience than most people could devote to a single action, Sam worked at the portal to the Void. Smoothing it out as he opened it, easing back the space of the plane, Sam continued to slowly open it.

  Millimeter by millimeter, he peeled back the fabric of Hell’s reality to open a space into the Void itself. It was a chaotic and wild place where nothing could technically survive, but it wasn’t actually a vacuum either.

  It was extremely similar to outer space, but also very much not outer space.

  The Void wasn’t pulling in a torrential amount of oxygen or Essence as he opened the portal. It was simply existing on the other side as if it were a window pane of glass.

  Nudge after nudge, Sam worked at the portal until it was roughly a five foot circle.

  Letting out a sudden breath, Sam felt weary from the strain of opening the portal in the way he had. He’d been able to do it without it feeling like he’d torn, ripped, or damaged the fabric of the planar space.

  “Whew,” he huffed with a shake of his head.

  “Well done,” Erv said, clearing her voice. “Here, you should have a drink. Maybe a seat. Take a moment to gather some Essence for yourself.”

  “Wh—”

  Before Sam could even finish his question, he nearly fell over backward and collapsed on his rear end on the dirt beneath him.

  “You were at that for two hours or so,” said Erv, holding up her palm in front of his mouth. Inside it was a ball of Water rotating on itself.

  Even without looking, he could tell it was elemental water because it was loaded with Essence.

&nb
sp; It wasn’t Essence he could easily hold onto, but it was Essence that would be more than enough to stabilize his racing heartbeat.

  “I’m also more than willing to… be a snack, if you like, Sammy,” Erv said in a purring tone. The smile she was giving him was quite warm. She was clearly growing very fond of him and Sam saw no reason to discourage that.

  Considering her offer, Sam was tempted to say yes if only to bed Erv. Sex with her was extremely reminiscent of sex with Irma.

  Or Jes when she was feeling tender.

  I miss Jes. Far more than I thought I would.

  Hillary… Tiff, Stace, I miss them all.

  This sucks. No more away missions for any of them. We can work through others.

  Time to hunker down and consolidate our wins.

  “Maybe in a bit,” Sam said, then drank the strange ball of water as an ant would. It was quite odd, but did help him feel better.

  Letting out a breath as he finished, Sam looked at the portal. It was an open window into a dark, empty space that was wholly without light.

  “Need to see if I can’t make this happen first and foremost,” said Sam. “Afterward, I’d be more than happy to have you, my beautiful and lovely Erv.

  “In fact, you can be my reward. How’s that?”

  “That sounds perfectly fine to me. Though, I’d argue that I’m not exactly a reward,” Erv replied, generating another ball of water in her palm. “Are… are you going in now?”

  “Yeah,” Sam said, then drank the second ball of water just as he had the first. Sitting there, he processed the Essence she’d given him and contemplated what he was about to do. “I want to at least go in there and see what I can see. I mean, with any luck, this would be where Luke found it.

  “Otherwise… it’s going to be a lot of exploring the Void without any possibility of map markers. I can’t even begin to imagine how one would explore that.”

  “Nor can I,” agreed Erv, watching him with concern. “Please be careful. Without you this would all… fall apart. I can’t imagine anyone being able to pick up the pieces from what you’ve built.”