***The Infernal Planes of Gluttony***

***Demonling***

“Roaarrr!!” I let out my inner demon as I chased a group of lizard-things over the rocky terrain, enjoying the fact that I was the hunter and they the hunted. There was nothing they could do against me, except for fleeing for their lives.

But life outside the hatchery wasn’t all roses.

For the first time in my existence, I had to catch my food myself, which wasn’t that bad. Over two dozen sleeping-cycles had passed since I killed my first lizard-thing and my hunting efforts were just fruitful enough so that I didn’t have to go hungry.

The wild hunt led me and my prey beneath a large overhanging rock which lent some shade and protection against the ever violet sky.

As soon as I realized that my prey had chosen to flee into a dead-end, I brandished my bloody toothpicks which had already pierced the brains of several lizard-things. Aside from getting swallowed, which wasn’t very sanitary, sticking a bone-dagger through a lizard-thing’s eye was the best way I had discovered to kill them quickly. “Come back and fight me like real... real…”

My voice trailed off as my eyes adjusted to what lay in the shade beneath the large rock. The group of lizard-things I had chased into the little overhang was perched on the back of another lizard-thing – and it was looking at me with its big, slimy eyes.

A whole group of lizard-things was sitting on one, big lizard-thing.

“By the Planar Lord-” I instinctively ducked as a large tongue shot out, barely missing me. After days of fighting my prey, I had gotten very good at predicting their attacks by watching their throats which would bloat slightly right before the tongue shot out.

This wasn’t a foe I wanted to mess with! I wasn’t even sure if I could drain the life out of a creature that was so much bigger than me. At best it would be a pitched battle between the beast trying to digest me and my life-drain keeping me barely alive.

“Iiieeeee!” My powerful battle-cry turned into an undignified shriek as I made a one-hundred-eighty and dashed back the way I had come. That monster wouldn’t even have to swallow in order to get me into is stomach!

Its thunderous footfalls fell behind me as it followed. I didn’t dare to look back and tried my best dodging left and right while running towards a rocky area which I remembered from my previous hunts.

The mother of all lizard-things quickly fell behind, and by the time I reached the rocks, the monster was out of reach. That didn’t stop me from increasing the distance though.

I furthermore chose my path of retreat very carefully to give the creature as many obstacles as possible. Thankfully, it seemed like only the young lizard-things were quick and agile while the adults relied on prey wandering close enough to be caught with the long tongue.

And what a tongue it was. At least nine times as long as the ones of the little lizard-things.

I wondered what the large one would taste like. “Just wait, I will be back! And then I’ll have a feast!”

When it was clear that the mother-thing had given up, I slowed down and headed back to my camp-site. Given the presence of such a predator in the vicinity, it was time I relocated somewhere else. Somewhere where the monster couldn’t get to me while I was sleeping. It wasn't as if I had much that was of value anyway. Some cured meat, sharp rocks, and whatever useful body-parts were leftovers from my feasts, that was the extent of my wealth.

My return trip went without a problem and I was in the process of relocating my meagre belongings to a spot which I deemed safe enough when I noticed that the spindly demon had returned to harass the caretaker. From my new camp-site, I could oversee quite a bit of the valley which included the caretaker's cave.

In the time I had lived on my own, I had noticed that the caretaker was a well-visited personage.

There were various different demons who brought him eggs and a dangerous-looking demon who brought food on a regular basis. Then there was the 'nuisance', as I heard the caretaker call him.

It was the demon who had harassed him on the day of my escape; the large, red-skinned demon who looked emaciated.

I had paid attention to the comings and goings within the valley, so it hadn't evaded my notice that he visited regularly, trying to woo the caretaker with various payments, although it was quite clear that the guy wouldn’t accept anything except for souls. Which was the spindly one’s problem? Apparently he wasn’t willing to pay, or what I guessed, was so low on souls that he didn’t want to take the risk of losing even one. Not to speak of the ten that an educated demonling was worth.

There he went again after his likely unsuccessful attempts at negotiation with the caretaker. He was coming up the trail towards the valley’s exit and in my direction.

While scratching my chin with one of my bone-daggers, I pondered whether this would be an opportunity to escape the valley. There was a certain amount of risk involved, but time had shown me that even though I was registered by the Anima Stone Network, being called upon randomly was a rare affair.

I hadn’t gotten another chance to gather a soul since the caretaker had somehow activated the Anima Stone. And it wasn’t as if I hadn’t tried to repeat the process by sneaking up to the Anima Stone and touching it. Except for the risk of being caught again, I had gotten nothing from that affair.

This individual had something I lacked, and that was knowledge about demon-kind. Meditation exercises and some soul-searching had provided me a fair share of arcane knowledge, but there was nothing about demons. If I wanted to improve my status, I would have to learn how to grow and experience first-hand how demon-society worked.

I was on a ledge above the cliff, while the emaciated demon was on the trail below. He wouldn't be able to get to me instantly. There were also enough rocks and crevices nearby in which I could hide, should the negotiations go poorly. It was a calculated risk, but one that was worth taking in my opinion.

When the large demon was right below me, I called out to him, hoping that my tiny voice would carry far enough to garner his attention.

“Why do you need a demonling?”

The grumbling demon below me startled and looked around, then up, finding me on the ledge. His eyes widened for a second as if he didn't believe what he was seeing.

“What the... what are you? Some undead messenger puppet?”

I looked down at myself, realizing the problem. Decked out in the hide of lizard-things, I was barely recognizable as a demonling, so I took off my improvised helmet which I had fashioned out of the bone-cavity of a lizard-thing's eyeball. “I am a mighty demonling with armour and far above my inferior brethren who run around in the nude!”

The spindly demon stared at me, his mouth half-open, and then his eyes searched the cliff. There was no doubt that he was trying to figure out a way to get to me.

“What is a lonely demonling with a soul doing out here? I thought the ones who are left in the open to fend for themselves are mere vermin.”

Some demons don't take their eggs to the hatcheries and prefer to leave them in the open – without a soul? The caretaker had mentioned something like that, but it was good to have confirmation.

I point towards the hatchery. “I originally lived with the caretaker, but he wasn't nice and I didn't like my hatchmates. So I left. You haven't answered my question.”

The large demon tilted his head. “You escaped from the hatchery?”

“Indeed. Do you have a problem with that?” I raised my chin and rested my bone-dagger on my shoulder.

He grinned. “No. In fact, this seems like a fateful encounter.”

“I am beginning to doubt that.” I edge away from the ledge. “If you keep avoiding my questions, I might just leave. Surviving out here on your own takes time and effort.”

“W- wait!” The large demon raises his hand. “I have a task with special requirements which only a demonling can fulfil.”

I narrow my eyes. “What kind of task? Would you be willing to swear a contract if I help you?”

“A formal contract!? With a demonling!?” The large demon gasps, apparently affronted at my suggestion.

I retreat further from the ledge and out of his direct line of sight, deciding to play my knowledge of his desperation to its full advantage.

“Wait! I will do it! Curse the Infernum!”

Peeking back out, I point my bone-dagger at him. “Swear that you won't hurt me, that you will answer any of my questions as long as we are together, and that you won't put me knowingly in unnecessary danger. Should this deed you want me to perform be unduly difficult, I will be viable for further payment. Ah, and you have to slay one of my enemies!”

The corner of the large demon’s left eye twitched in annoyance. “You… do you actually have any clue how contracts between two demons are made?”

“The caretaker taught us how to deal with humans,” I point out.

“Nonono. That won’t fly. Verbal contracts are dangerous and they always require a price! Has that idiot taught you nothing?” The large demon rummages through his leather armour and brings forth a scroll. “Look, we will do this correctly, written in blood and with our names on paper so that there can be no mistakes about each side’s responsibilities.”

I take a step away from the ledge. “That would require me to get within your reach.”

“No, wait.” The large demon raises his hand. “I will write everything down and toss the contract up to you. That should be fine, right?”

I hesitate and purse my lips.

“What?”

“I don’t have a name,” I admit after a moment of hesitation.

The adult groans and stores his contract back in his pocket. “Fine, a verbal agreement then. Wouldn’t be like a little demonling could ask the impossible of me. I swear not to harm you, or to cause you undue danger, to answer all your questions as long as you are working for me. In return, you will perform the task which I cannot accomplish without betraying me.”

“You forgot that you would kill that foe of mine!”

The large demon rolls his eyes. “And to slay that enemy of yours if it is within my power.”

“Deal!” I brandish my bone-dagger and gesture for him to come up the ledge by pointing out a narrow trail of footsteps that could be used to easily get to the top. “Come up, come up! We have to restore my superiority within the valley.”

“Your superiority?” The larger demon’s voice turns worried. “Listen, there is a reason why I didn’t already kill the caretaker and-”

“Not him!” I interrupt and jump onto the larger demon’s shoulder as soon as he climbed high enough. “My foe is a foul beast that prevents me from hunting my prey. It has to be gone once I return to the valley. Now, the enemy is that way.” I pointed towards where I had last seen the mother of all lizard-things as soon as my new ally had reached the upper edge of the cliff. With him, it would be easy to restore the rightful order.

He grumbled something unintelligible, but climbed the last few steps and walked in the direction which I had indicated.

“So, what is your name?” I asked when the silence got uncomfortable.

“My name is Sozuddon. I am a warrior demon, a tengu, to be exact,” he explains. “How exactly did you escape the caretaker? I saw how he keeps his flock, and there are several large boulders on a long corridor which have to be removed in order to get to the hatchery. It works like a double door system. Almost impossible to get something in or out. The buffoon may not have strong magic, but he isn’t a complete fool and his brawns are almost as good.”

So it’s that hard to escape the hatchery? I clear my throat. “I may have taken an unorthodox method.”

“Which is?”

Oh, what the hey. “I died and the Anima Stone revived me in front of the hatchery. It isn’t like you could replicate the method to get one of my hatchmates in order to replace me.”

“You are very astute for a demonling. Astute and naive at the same time.” Sozzudon nods. “And how did you get that second soul? I doubt that the caretaker would be so generous to gift his cattle additional souls for free.”

He may be right!

Shut up! I am already trying to learn. How else could I get rid of my inexperience?

I shake my head and return my attention to the demon. “I overheard you two talking. No wonder that he doesn’t care about losing half his demonlings. With an increase in value by five, he still comes out ahead at the end of the day. And I don’t know how exactly I got my second soul.”

“Humour me.”

I shrug and tell him the story of my first dimensional trip, not seeing the harm in it.

Sozzudon grunts his understanding once I am finished. “You didn’t kill any of the humans, but you made a verbal deal with the succubus and kept it. Whether intentionally or not, she was the contractor and you had the burden of fulfilling a task. That’s why you got a soul from her in return, however meagre the part you had to play was.”

“Hey, being squished to death wasn’t fun. But that’s good to know. I suppose that’s why you didn’t want to make a verbal contract? It makes me wonder which task you need me for.” I shift on my perch on top of his shoulder and point towards the overhanging rock. “We are almost there.”

He nods. “The payment for a verbal contract between two demons is always souls. It’s a law of the Infernum.”

“So you wanted to cheat me with worldly goods by using a scroll!”

He grins. “Not necessarily. Heed my warning, little demonling. Verbal contracts are to be avoided not only because they always require a soul as payment, but because the Infernum itself weighs the contract. If a Planar Lord gave you the task of slaying a god and you somehow succeeded against all odds, the Infernum could decide to gift you all the Planar Lord’s souls, even if he did specify the amount which would be paid.”

I suck in a breath. “So this… this… Infernum is unpredictable? What exactly is it?”

“It’s just how we demons call the Infernal Planes. Different dimensions can have different rules to play by. Other laws of physics, some all-powerful concept; it’s the laws the world plays by. The Infernum ensures that deals are upheld, just as written magical contracts do. The big difference is that what’s written is less likely to be twisted by the Infernum.”

I nod in understanding. “I see. Thank you for sharing this with me. Careful now, the enemy must be beneath that rock. At least that seemed to be its lair.”

Sozzudon actually takes me seriously and crouches down, slowly sneaking closer until he can see beneath the overhang. He stiffens when he sees the mother of all lizard-things – and then relaxes. “Are you serious? That’s a licker. They are harmless. When you brought me out here I thought that some young devil-hound had made his lair in the vicinity, or some other predator. Lickers are the lowest animals you can find in the food-chain. They eat insects and they are slow.”

In that case, I am glad that I haven’t met any of these insects. “Anyway, slay the monster!”

Sozzudon shook his head and pointed a finger at the ‘licker’, splitting it in twain with a ray of blue light. The ‘licker’ hadn’t moved at all, apparently trusting its ability to blend in with the rocks by staying as still as possible.

I cheered when my enemy fell apart in two meaty chunks and hopped from Sozzudon’s shoulder. Within moments, I had pried the tongue out of its mouth and was chewing with all the gusto a demonling could summon.

My new friend was aghast at the sight. “What are you doing!?”

“Eatn...” With effort, I raised the tongue which was heavier than myself. “Want some?”

Sozzudon shook his head. “I prefer real food and if that’s all, we will be going now. You can take the tongue with you.”

“Aw…” I looked at the corpse, wondering whether there was any chance to secure so much useful hide and bone which would certainly go to waste if the body lay out here in the open for any length of time. But a deal was a deal, and Sozzudon had just warned me about the Infernum’s fickleness. “Fine…”

Sozzudon quickly cut out the tongue with a knife and allowed me to sit on his shoulder while he headed back to the valley’s exit. I was happily eating the tongue and started asking all kinds of questions, not wanting to waste a single second of our deal.

“So, how can I become an imp?” was the first that came to mind. “My education was cut short when I left the hatchery. I was hunting and eating out here for who knows how long and I never got any larger. At least not much.”

“Well, that’s not a tough one. Demons only evolve once they have gathered enough souls to start their transformation. Our bodies in this dimension aren’t exactly flesh and blood, but energy constructs that hold the souls we claim. Once certain thresholds are reached, you will automatically change to hold more souls. What you become won’t be necessarily an imp, though it is the most common metamorphosis for a demonling. Things like various types of spirits or an aithôn - an imp with wings - are also possible. The outcome is influenced by the types of souls you have gathered and your mindset. Let’s say that if you gather a lot of warrior’s souls. That will make it more likely to evolve into something that relies on brute force, a warrior demon like myself for example. Mages will force you onto a magical route.”

He shrugs. “But don’t worry your little head over such things. Such choices are only for the offspring of demonlords who are fed by their parents. We common grunts just take what souls we get our claws on and run with it. The first metamorphosis will happen at ten souls, then one hundred, ad infinitum, you get the idea. Would you really take the risk of spurning a soul, however weak it is, and power when it is not only knowledge but a second lease on life in case you die?”

I started nodding, hanging on every of Sozzudon’s words as he kept talking.