"Demon (Updated)" by James ´Jimbo Fett ´ Inwood

Beyond time, beyond sanity and beyond this world lies the Nether realm; the destination of life and the beginning of eternity. It is the dwelling place of spirits waging war against each other in the cosmic battle of good and evil.

So it is no coincidence that mortal souls just happen to be the most valuable resource in this never ending conflict.

The demon stared up at the ceiling from his iron throne. His two heads: one with fanged human features, the other a drooling horned cat; both scowled at the long wait that he was forced to endure before his underlings returned.

Hopefully they would have some good news; it would be most unfortunate for them if they hadn’t followed his orders.

Looking around his ornate throne room; complete with tapestries of flayed cherubim hide; depicting scenes which pleased the demon incredibly: the destruction of his enemies.

In the Nether realm evil fights amongst itself with as much hatred as it battles the forces of good. As a result the forces of darkness rarely work amongst each other without the promise of something in return other than intimidation and threats.

The demon Arazzg had already made hundreds of enemies (most of them he had already dispatched) in his millennia long advancement through the ranks of evil. Since his ascension to the coveted position of a major demon he had grown more paranoid and ruthless.

With a new and more terrifying visage and his own little corner of the Nether World that was complete with lesser demons to rule over; he had already conceived notions of grandeur. Now if only he could find some sort of tool or weakness that he could exploit his enemies with?

Ironically the answer lied within the mortal world.

Deep within a warm tropical region lived an immensely powerful being that had somehow managed to enter the mortal world without the means of magic, it seemed as if this being did not need it to cross the gap between the Nether and the Mortal world.

Despite all it’s power the creature was strangely fond of a particular medicine man that lived alone in the jungle. Arazzg knew all this because at that time he was forced to serve the very same medicine man, which though he was a frail old man, he was also an extremely powerful spell caster.

Much too powerful for Arazzg to disagree with he remembered with a shudder, demons do not like servitude especially towards a mortal human.

What happened next to the old man took Arazzg by surprise: during a particularly challenging spell that Arazzg was forced to watch; the old man failed to prepare the correct safety measures that protected him from the dangers of the Nether World.

A mistake that cost the man his life and sent Arazzg hurtling back to the deepest pit of the Nether World.

He never did found out what happened to his old master (not that he cared) but it was obvious, that the fool lost control of the inter dimensional portal and was slain by one of its inhabitants. One that wasn’t too keen on being summoned by a human.

But what concerned Arazzg the most was the location of the spirit that he had worked alongside with, it was some sort of spectre that had chosen to reside within a piece of bamboo cane that was studded with emeralds on each hollowed end. A peculiar place for such a being to live in Arazzg reasoned; but nonetheless the thing must possess power to cross unaided by magic to the Nether world.

It could make a useful ally Arazzg mused.

Being banished back to the Nether World after his master lost control of the portal threw a snag in his plans for conquest. He could not gain access to the mortal world were the spirit dwelled without a master to conjure him.

A familiar rattle rang in Arazzg sensitive hearing which his feline features granted him. It was his minions scuttling across the black carpet leading to Arazzg’s iron throne.

The five imps stood in front Arazzg eyeing him with a mixture of fear and excitement.

“Well?” Arazzg hissed.

“We hash da location of the sspirit mashtar!” Exclaimed one of the imps.

“Yesh but…wesh…couldn’t get there lord.” muttered another imp.

“Imbeciles! Of course I know you couldn’t get there” growled Arazzg. “Any way, the spirit does not have a master so hopefully we can convince the esteemed one to join our cause and travel to my domain.”

“Yesh mashtar! Fantashhtic plan! But…but only one ssshlight problem…” it stuttered. The poor little imp which had obviously been tricked into breaking the bad news by the other devious imps.

“What….Speak up!” Roared Arazzg foreseeing yet another snag caused by his incompetent minions.

“Da…duh…sshpirit has a new mashter…ah a…mortal….”

The imp never got the chance to finish, as Arazzg in a fit of rage had torn the poor little creature in half using his own two heads.