My body moved on its own.
I tucked my wings and dived, wind shrieking past me like a banshee's wail, my eyes narrowing as I honed in on the source of the scream. Below, scattered between jagged rocks and the decaying remnants of my old hunts, I spotted her.
A girl—human, half-naked, bleeding, her clothes torn to rags or they were rags. She was limping backward, clutching a makeshift spear while three ghouls closed in around her, saliva dripping from their ruined jaws.
"Move, bitch," I hissed, baring my fangs as I summoned both Cinder Wraiths with a snap of my fingers and a flex of my tail.
FUSHHH!
Twin trails of blue fire streaked across the sky as my undead minions leaped down like flaming meteors, crashing into the ground in a blaze of cold fury. The ghouls shrieked, recoiling as the wraiths tore into them with ethereal blades and frostbitten claws.
I landed seconds later, and I was about to check in on the human girl, when more ghouls showed up out of nowhere, six in total.
"Holy fuck, where did these guys come from?" I swore, glancing up toward the rocky hills. There had been nothing but rocks and twisted trees, but somehow these man-eating maniacs were popping out of every crevasse and crack in sight.
"Slay them all," I commanded my wraiths, wasting no more time with talk, two would be enough to slay all six of them as my Cinder Wraiths share a single mind, like a hive mind able to coordinate between each other and plan the next moves, like an intelligent squad.
As my summons slaughtered the ghouls with a brutal efficiency that rivaled my own, I stood in the back observing and ready for an emergency or a sneak attack.
Thud!
Yes, I was ready, alert, and prepared for any form of attack from the ghouls, but I truly forgot what kind of place I was.
"Ah!... I was truly naive and stupid," I said, slowly turning behind, "in hell no one is innocent."
My eyes locked with the human girl's brown ones, staring straight into her wide shocked eyes as she stabbed me with that spear she had in her hand, right in my abdomen.
The pain lanced through my belly like fire—hot, sharp, and all too real. I staggered back a step, blinking in disbelief as I looked down at the crude spear jutting out of my stomach. My blood oozed out, sizzling against the ground like acid.
"You... little bitch," I hissed, voice a blend of pain and fury at the human girl and also at my own stupidity.
I took another step, trying to shake off the disorientation, and a shock wave of pain rattled my system. I quickly yanked the blade out of my gut with a wet, sucking sound, only to find out that half of it somehow melted inside me.
"A cursed weapon…?" I growled, a trail of black and green blood dripped from the wound, my regeneration already kicked in starting to heal the damage, however, this cursed weapon was a poison type and its effect already kicked in.
Ding!
[A powerful sleeping toxin coursing your veins]
I bit down the pain and the hatred, my tail lashed behind me like a whip, eyes burning with cold fury as I turned my gaze back to the girl. She was shaking in her boots, and without hesitation, I punched her right in the guts.
"HUGHH!" She let out a choked gasp, her body folding over my fist like a broken rag doll. The air fled her lungs in a strangled wheeze as she dropped to her knees, immediately after that I kicked her hard on the chin, sending her tumbling a few feet away, knocking her out.
"Urrrghh..." A long groan escaped my throat as my eyelids grew heavy. I gritted my teeth, ignoring the growing numbness in my limbs I used my link to call Umbra, my big black feline responded instantly jumping out from my shadow.
"Umbra, take me home and bring this one with us," I pointed at the girl who was sprawled out on the ground, her nose leaking blood.
Umbra's luminous red eyes locked onto mine, tail flicking once in acknowledgment. The giant shadow cat didn't speak—didn't need to. We had a bond deeper than words. Without hesitation, he padded toward me, his body rippling like smoke and muscle. His fur brushed against my side, cool and comforting, grounding me as the toxin gnawed at my consciousness. I slumped against him, my wings dragging in the ash-covered dirt, breath coming in short, pained bursts.
"Fucking humans…" I muttered the words slurring at the edges. "Always so desperate… always lying…"
Umbra carefully lowered himself, allowing me to climb onto his back—though by now, "climb" was generous. I practically collapsed across him, my arms barely able to hold on as he rose with that unnatural grace of his, muscles coiling like springs beneath shadow-black fur.
Familiar memories tugged at the edge of my consciousness as the wind caressed my bare, naked form. Human memories of my old life as a man, the hero of mankind. The slayer of demon king... a young boy who never experienced love.
'I wonder what happened to my parents?' I asked myself, but I instantly erased those memories and questions out of my mind. The reason was simple—I never met them so why should I care about two unknown people?
Umbra kept a slow, loping pace through the rocky landscape, moving steadily across jagged stone and crumbling bone. The human girl dangled limply from his jaws, her body swaying with each of his powerful strides. My Cinder Wraiths trailed behind, their blue flames flickering like ghostly lanterns in the wasteland's haze.
The moment we set foot inside the cave I summoned all of my wraiths and ordered eight of them to guard the entrance. As for the remaining two, I entrusted them with keeping an eye on the human girl after I put some chains around her arms and feet.
"Umbra," I called softly, almost like a whisper.
"Grr," my lovely panther instantly knew what I wanted and immediately dropped on his side allowing me to crawl over and nuzzle into his strong chest.
"Ahh~" I pressed my face into Umbra's chest, inhaling his scent and letting his heartbeat drown out the world for a moment.
The sleeping toxin hadn't stopped. It coiled through my veins like a thousand tiny serpents, hissing as they burned away my strength. My regeneration fought back and the passive skill 'Ghoul's Resilience' also helped, but the cursed spear had done more than just pierce my flesh—it had punctured my pride.
I'd been ambushed.
By a half-naked, starving little thing barely holding a weapon together.
And I'd let it happen.
Now I was bleeding on the floor of my own hideout because of a ragged little girl who was more dangerous than I gave her credit for.
'Fuck,' I cursed, hugging Umbra tightly, my tail found its way to his spiky cock, swallowing it completely, so I could suck on it while I was sleeping. And with that I closed my eyes, drifting to an unpleasant slumber, waiting and wishing to regain my strength as the new day arrived.
....
My sleep was far from peaceful.
The dreams came quickly—no, not dreams. Memories. Whispers from a life I don't recognize, at least that's what it seems to me. I stood at the edge of a cliff, looking down into a valley bathed in crimson light. A village rested there. Smoke rises from chimneys. Laughter. Warmth.
"I finally found you, Azariel," suddenly the wind carried a voice to my ears. A voice I never heard before yet I sensed that it was familiar. "My lovely daughter."
That was all I could hear before the vision shattered.
Crack!
"!!!" My eyes snapped open. The faint crackle of the fireplace echoed through my empty head as I lay in the cave, my chest rising and falling in ragged motions.
"Ugh," a dull ache in my abdomen and when I looked down I saw that my wound was already healed. Not even a scar remained, but the weight of that moment clung to my soul like rot on bone.
The girl had stabbed me.
And for a second—just a second—I'd let my guard down.
"Hmm?" My gaze shifted across the cave, and there she was. Still bound. Still alive, but wide awake.
We locked eyes, and something sparked in hers—a spark of fear and dread, maybe? I can't tell. The sleeping toxin must've addled my brain more than I realized, but as I thought about it, that look sent a shiver down my spine. An excited shiver.
Yet I ignored the bitch and turned eager for my breakfast, and the yummy milk only a big cat can provide.
"Morning babe, thanks for your treatment." I smiled, planting a lazy kiss on the furry ball sack, before removing my tail, and ohhh damn... I probably milked the big cat multiple times during my sleep. The inside of my tail-pussy was all white and gooey, not that I minded or that I had never sucked out cum or blood from this slutty hole, but the view was really tempting and it made me super thirsty.
"Ahhh~ that hits the spot," I moaned, licking a thick streak of seed from the tip of my tail, the rich and nutritious fluid draining straight to my empty tummy as the taste of it rolled across my tongue.
'It's good,' I praised inside as I continued eating the milk like a pro, my other hands working Umbra's spiky, slippery shaft. It was big, thick, and perfect. Exactly the sort of toy a succubus would need in the morning.
Clink!
"Hm?" I heard the clanking of chains to my left, and it immediately drew my gaze, where I saw the human girl's eyes locked on us—me specifically.
Sniff. Sniff.
'Is she horny too?' I wondered, my succubus nose was able to smell her arousal. It was weird to be horny in that kind of place but then again I didn't really judge, plus, a hot show of a sexy red succubus sucking a spiky panther's cock might not be an everyday experience.
'I'll deal with her later after my breakfast'