Part (2/2)

 

We woke from our slumber to the sound of voices in the distance, dozens if not more of them, yet barely audible. Seeing as it was still dark, we had no interest in getting up. Instead, we just twisted in the soft embrace of pillows and luscious blond locks. ‘Ha... This is true bliss. No annoying lackeys or cots filled with straw. Simply pillows, finery, and soft silks. And... somebody is pulling on our hair!?’

“What do you think you are doing?”

“Uhm...” The voice of our current annoyance was... surprisingly familiar. We could have sworn to have met that knight before. Sadly she was less than talkative all of a sudden.

“Must we really repeat ourselves? What, pray tell, do you think you are doing?”

“We... uhm... we were just wondering where all that hair came from!”

Again that idiot pulled on our hair! If she continued with that, we would make sure to punish her for it. Such audacity! Even back in the army camp nobody had dared to touch us like that. And that was before we had become perfection! Now utterly annoyed by the constant pestering we opened a single eye and balefully glared at the offender.  And of course, it was the muscle-bound simpleton that was bothering our great self.

“So.” We began. “Is there any other reason for you to be such a pest or is it just general stupidity?”

“He- Hey! Don’t be an asshole!” She actually seemed offended.

“Come on...” We drawled amusedly. “We both know that we’re not an asshole, you’re just a complete idiot.”

“You bitch!”

We saw the punch coming long before it hit. It didn’t even take effort to shift to the side. Before the brute could go for a second one, We grabbed her arm with inhuman ease, pulled, and twisted until the joint popped and her skin creaked under the pressure. We could have just kept to the simple demonstration of superior reflexes but that didn’t go far enough. Instead, We moved out of the bed and pushed her on it.

“Now, you simpleton. We could just break your arm and twist enough for even one of us to scream... or We could do something far more entertaining and humiliating. Though if you apologize We might just overlook your transgressions. So, what will it be?”

“Screw you, fancy piece of shit!”

“Humiliation it is.” This time our face split apart in a lecherous grin. We would enjoy this.

Slowly, so that even the idiot beneath us managed to realize it, we gathered our hair into a single long appendage and let it snake into the other Knight’s mouth. We twisted her head enough that she could see the next step. All eight chains from our back wrapped around a ceiling beam before descending towards her. Her quickly panicking eyes and feeble attempts at resistance made this all the more alluring. Painfully slow the chains moved around her frame, hugging her curves and trapping her limbs. By now her muffled screaming was starting to sound more like perverted moaning. Just as We could notice her starting to enjoy it, We pulled the chains tight in a single harsh motion. The spread eagle look suited her, no matter how painful it must have been. After all, this wasn’t about pleasure, this was punishment.

“Now, let’s proceed shall...”

“Knights!” The mental assault almost made us lose our grip. “The mercenaries are starting their assault! The ritual isn’t finished! Go buy me time!”

Beneath the ridged mask of our face our teeth ground against another. We had almost forgotten about her, the Witch, the Devil, the Whore that had forced us into service! The fact that We couldn’t disobey her commands irked us a lot more than it seemed to do the others. That We didn’t like the so-called Mistress would have been an understatement, in fact, we would have rather rammed a sword down her gullet. A wicked smile crossed our lips at that moment. Sure, We couldn’t go against her commands but We could sabotage them. With a single motion, We connected the chains to one another and separated them from our back. We were a little surprised to still being able to feel them but that still came in handy. Retracting our hair from the idiot's mouth, We gave her exposed clit a single painful flick.

“Tata, little imbecile. Go take a nap while We enjoy ourselves~.”

“You Bitch! You won’t get away with this! We will tell the Mistress about this!”

“Oh, choke on a cock, loser.” Before stepping out, We separated a bit of our hair and inserted a twenty-inch metallic cock into both her ends. “Be nice or they’ll start vibrating.”

.  .  .  .

Upon stepping outside of the bedroom We could already hear the distant noise of men and horses marching to their destiny... or their doom, depending on who you asked. We didn’t know what purpose the Devil Witch was working towards but as We were now, bound to her command, We couldn’t choose a side. Additionally, We doubted that our former comrades would ever entertain the idea of working alongside us. But despite the fact that We were now a demonic Knight, We didn’t like the idea of casually slaughtering the mercenaries. Were demons in the end no less moral than humans?

The order this keep had belonged to, before the witch had come along, had always tended to be ruthless bastards simply out to exert power and terror among the region. That they had no qualms with killing and devouring humans now that they were demons didn’t surprise me. We, on the other hand, had only ever killed in self-defense. Sure tormenting that idiot above didn’t phase us but cutting a bloody swathe into our father’s men, that made us want to vomit. The sudden noise of a cannonball smashing into the keep ripped us out of our thoughts. But as We jumped down the flight of stairs We had an idea.

“She only said to buy her time... there was no mention of killing. We still have to hurry though, before that other maniac starts getting twitchy.”

It didn’t take long to find the Knight with daggers for nails. Whoever they had been in as a human, We could have sworn it to be someone nasty. Nobody in their right mind would torture and flay a person alive, while giddily fingering themselves. We cut that disgusting sort of entertainment short as soon as We laid eyes upon it, a simple stab to the brain released the unfortunate victim from his torment. Having metal hair was truly useful, even if it was to euthanize poor souls caught in that bladed bitch's claws.

“What do you think you were doing!?” We called out in anger.

The monster simply cocked her head to the side, apparently confused.

“We don’t understand... we... don’t... We were simply entertaining ourselves... so entertaining...” Her claws were constantly scratching across the ground in an irksome manner.

“Just... stop it!” We couldn’t hide the repulsion from our voice, and she apparently noticed.

“You... you’re different from Brick and Shiv... different from the Mistress... very... very... different.”

From the way she was eyeing us, We knew her to just wait for an excuse to attack us. Probably the only thing that stopped her was the fact that We too were a demon now. Even if she managed to discorporate us... We could still come back. To permanently kill that monster We would need angelic steel. And the only blade in the vicinity that was actually made from it was our father’s. We had to play our cards differently, fighting her was not the solution, at least not yet.

“Ha!” I called out haughtily. “Of course We are different than you lot! We are of noble blood. Our form is much more pleasing to the eye and our skill surpasses anything you could ever achieve! Anyhow, we shall stall the attackers as our Mistress has commanded. You remained here and guard the gates, while our glorious self will destroy their ranks from within!”

The words felt like ash in our mouth but the other Knight seemed to have bought them. Instead of rushing towards us, her perfect stillness was replaced by the resumption of that annoying scratching of hers. Once We had the blade We would enjoy ripping of those ludicrous nails! ‘Hmmm... that was a bit more visceral than usual. Most likely just a stress response. Yes, let’s chalk it up to that.’ Shaking our head in confusion we walked off.

At first, We had thought for it to already be a full-blown assault but once We stepped onto the battlements a different scene played out before us. The devil must have summoned a small army herself because our father’s battalions were beset by imps, quasits, and all manner of demonic creatures. A few handfuls were still constantly spawning out of circles around the keep. To our surprise the mercenaries were actually faring rather well, all things considered. The few troops that had tried penetrating the walls though had all been ripped to shreds by the dagger-wielding Knight.

After watching the spectacle for a few minutes something else caught our eye, namely that the mercenaries had also spotted us. The increasing number of arrows flying our way was less of a problem. The two magically enhanced canons slowly turning our way were more of a hassle. While We were rather sure that they couldn’t kill us anymore, they would leave nasty scratches and bumps. By now most of the lesser demons had been successfully contained, leading to most if not all of the commanders focusing their attention on us. While We had to admit that We liked the attention, We really hadn’t done anything to deserve it. When We had still been human nobody had cared about us other than making fun of us. ‘Ah. Our thoughts are going in a bad direction again. Let’s hope it is just the devil influencing us. No matter, her time will come.’

Not wasting another breath we vaulted over the crenulations and jumped. We barely even noticed the impact; while certainly, it would have been nice to be given a choice on the matter, We did like being how we were now. Eternal beauty and superhuman strength were really nice but actually being female was much more of a plus point. It simply felt right. Now We only had to explain it to our father... though us being a demon was probably going to irk him more.

It was still a few meters towards the quickly collapsing front line but even from here, We could see that our appearance had been noted. Almost every archer was now firing our way and the foot soldiers were steadily retreating. We didn’t like the look of the situation, maybe they had planned a trap? No matter, we weren’t here to fight them. It did make us self-conscious though. We should try and appear non-threatening. We ran a few fingers through our ponytail to make sure it was in order and quickly straightened our skirts. Hands splayed to the side we walked closer... Only to have several ballista bolts shoot towards us!

Out of instinct and panic, We immediately jumped towards the nearby moat, while our hair flicked forward. The first bolt sailed right past our face, it would have almost ripped off our head! Thankfully We just managed to catch the second as the third buried right into our side! The pain was less of an issue than the simple fact that they had shot us! We hadn’t even drawn our sword! When we got our breath back we were rightfully peeved.

“What the hells? We aren’t even armed!!! Stop shooting us!” Outraged at their behavior We snapped the bolt and ripped out the spear tip. Just as we could hear someone yell back at us.

“Ay! Yer a devil! Wadda ye expect us ta do? Invite ye out fer cookies a’ cream?”

“Wait...” Our mind blanked for a second. “Beth, is that you? Why are you shooting ballista at us!?”

“Huh? How do ye know my name?!”

“Soldier! Stop talking to the enemy! This isn’t a tea party!”

“Sure yer right Sir, but the tall sexy monster just called out my name! How am I supposed ta react?”

“You shoot it!”

“No!” We quickly yelled out of our cover. “We just want to talk to our fa... to the Highest Commander of your army! We have a proposition to make! We can help each other against the Witch in the castle!”

“Who is "we"? Are there more of you?”

“What?” We were confused for a second. “We mean... yes, there are two other Knights and a Devil in there. But we don’t understand what you’re getting at? We’re currently all alone!”

“Then what's with you talking in we and us?”

“Uhm...” We hadn’t even noticed that we were doing that. “We... I! I are trying to fix that!”

By the hells! Sure, We technically had done it unconsciously but it was still really silly. Why would we... I speak of ou- myself in plural just because we became a demon?

“Okay! You still there Demon?”

 “Yeah?”

“Good. The boss wants to meet you! No idea why.”

“Really? And that is not a trick? You won’t shoot u- me again?”

“Unless you attack us we have orders to stand down.”

We couldn’t help but smile, maybe this was going to end without bloodshed?

The way too the commanders tend was awkward, to say the least. We had never been the tallest of people before but now We towered of almost everyone. Not only that but that fact that We technically naked except for our skirts. Embarrassed we covered our free-hanging breasts while we fashioned a rudimentary top from our hair. With the claws on our toes, We couldn’t really wear shoes anymore, so instead, We just let some hair grow down far enough so that we could fashion stirrups out of it. Having magic hair was truly a blessing in disguise. Thankfully it didn’t take long to reach the commanders' tent.

“Hammond! Where is the demon wench? You said she had news, no? I will not have anyone of my children rotting in some backwater shit! We’ll take this castle and if it is simply to retrieve my son’s corpse!”

“Ah, Sir? She is standing right outside of the tent!”

“Wait... wha-”

We couldn’t help but gasp in surprise when our father came out of the tent. He had washed and cleaned himself. No longer was he breaking of alcohol and even his glassy look was gone. Instead, it was grief that was eating at him.

“We... oh, Gods. We are so sorry father!”

In a smooth motion, we went down to kneel in front of him. He was looking at us as if he had seen a ghost but we couldn’t help but keep going.

“We didn’t know what to expect in the keep. We went in cocky and sure of victory. The possibility of proving our mettle... we just couldn’t resist. And now... now we got turned into a demon ourselves. Oh and we also became a woman like we always wished to be.”

“Lizzander?” Our father took a step back. “Is it really you? Are you truly still alive?”

“We- I... yes, it is u- me! We are sorry for being a disappointment to the family and to country and church.”

“Fuck the church! Yer bloody alive! That is all that matters! Come here you!”

Tears dripped down my cheeks as for the first time in years my father embraced me.

“We’ll find a way to make ye human again. And if ye have to stay a wench I don’t mind. Always were better at fancy duels and court stuff anyway!”

We were still smiling when the command reached my head.

“Princess? You’re in the midst of them? Perfect! Go kill 'em all now!”

A barely audible “Run!” left out mouth before we snapped our father's neck. In horror, we had to watch as our body did things to people we had never wanted to envision. At some point, our mind just left. Hours later we stood in the keep, alone and bleeding from dozens of wounds. The angelic sword burned our hand but we no longer cared. The witch was dead, the Knights were dead, the mercenaries were slaughtered and our father murdered. We simply sat down and cried. That was when you found us.

The End.

.  .  .  .  .  .  .

Addendum:

A short words about mental health:

The circumstances during which I met Lizzy were more than just unfortunate. For her, they were deeply traumatizing. For several days she was simply catatonic. I myself was during that time still a freshly turned demon. I barely had knowledge about myself or the world around me, yet I still gave my best to aid Lizzy as best I could. In hindsight, there are many things that I could have done better and several that I should have done but entirely neglected. But despite it all, despite my sheer incompetence and most of all despite the trauma she had suffered through, she managed to get back on her feet. Her emotional wounds may never heal but she is slowly learning to live with them. Lizzy was barely nineteen when we met.

Simply because someone isn’t the same as you, that doesn’t mean they can not suffer from the same pain. Demons and other demi-humans are not monsters, they are people just like everyone else.

Aliina's Notes:

• Upon hearing about my publishing deal Lizzy did something amazing! She proposed to me! To me! Yes! I can barely believe that this half-baked mess of emotions and anxiety that I am is actually getting married! We still have to find someone to do the ceremony and shit and we still have no idea if we want one in the custom of her people or mine. But it’s okay... after all, we have an infinity to figure it out!
• So it turns out Lizzy is really good at drawing. She drew the Devil – as she calls her – that changed her and this is the most terrifying thing... I could have sworn to know her. I simply can’t recall from where... we decided to never again bring her up. Shit got creepy real fast.
• Mlep! Mlep! Mlep! Imma go try and find a cat demon one day!