The Rift Walker Ch. 02: Honeypot

Author's Message: The following contains non-consensual sex with demonic monsters. So if you're not into that read no further. If you are, forge on, because I know I am ;)

*****

II. Honeypot

Twenty years ago, the Artifact tore the sky asunder. Creatures humanity couldn't have ever conceived entered through the void. Monsters hellish, pelagic, unctuous, alien, devious, and lascivious. All bent on exploiting the souls of humanity through nefarious means. Where did they come from? What is their ultimate goal? Was there an intelligent design behind the nightmare invasion or was it cosmic chaos?

From, The History of the Artifact, by Rift Walker Matriarch

***

"A pit fiend? Don't be ridiculous," the Captain of the Guard of Bale said. Opposite of him, a tavern keeper pleaded for the guards of the town to do something about the pit fiend who'd become territorial in the region around his tavern.

"Please, it ripped apart all of my patrons in a single evening! I just escaped with my life!" Distraught, the tavern keeper threw his hands in the air, beckoning toward his tavern, "it's only a day's walk from here. It could attack the town," he added.

The Captain of the Guard crossed his arms and shifted his weight. A small crowd had gathered in the town square. A hooded figure watched from horseback in the background as the stead drank.

"Even if what you say is true, it would take an army to destroy a pit fiend, not this miserable lot," the Captain said and waved his hand over the few guards standing behind him, "either an army or some kind of magic user. Do you see any sorceresses around?" A few in the crowd laughed. The innkeeper's shoulders fell, defeated.

"A sorceress has never set foot in this town, and neither has such an infernal monster as a pit fiend, if such a creature even exists. Now, if you come to your senses and there are some bandits or a bear to hunt, come back and talk to me."

With that, the Captain of the Guard pushed the man aside and strode away.

The crowd dispersed. Hopeless, the innkeeper stood with his head down for a minute before stepping over to the fountain at the center of the town square. He reached into his pocket and produced a silver coin. The man whispered to himself, closed his eyes, and flicked the coin into the fountain. He sighed, shoved his hands in his pockets and headed for the town tavern. The hooded horseman watched him enter before she dismounted and tied up her horse. She approached the side entrance of the tavern where a barmaid leaned against a wall outside, on a smoke break.

"Miss, a man just walked inside the tavern, the one who caused a commotion in the town square. Make sure he has a bottomless drink for the rest of the night?"

The barmaid's eyes went wide as saucers,

"That's enough money for him to drink the entire bar."

"Then perhaps he can build his own. Either way, tell him that even though demons are real, sometimes wishes come true."

***

Ariana's horse, Whoreson, trotted along a dirt path through thick forestry. Barrel sized trunks and tangled branches provided a canopy that almost covered the entire path. A river of sky and sunlight etched through the canopy above and illuminated Ariana's afternoon trek through the woods. The innkeeper had said it was a day's walk north, towards the mountains and the pass. She would reach it by nightfall, if what he said was true.

The Rift Walker kept herself aware, if not alert. After landing in Pirate's Rest, she'd journeyed to the mainland and then inland, looking for work and finding none. Because of this, she optioned to head towards the forested mountains in the center of the continent which proved more remote than expected. Only small city-states and the villages that subsisted off of them called this place home. The wilderness dominated here and who knew what lurked in the depths of it.

But a pit fiend? She thought to herself. It was hard to believe, even for a Rift Walker. Ariana cracked open her Bestiary while balancing masterfully atop her horse. Turning to the demonic genus of her catalog, she found the beast decorated the first page.

Colloquially described as "King of the Demons," the pit fiend was an impressive beast. Horned, with the face of a dragon, but with a shorter snout and flaming red eyes. It's hulking, muscular body stood at least twenty feet tall and boasted two enormous, scaly wings that could envelop its entire body. Of all the demonic monsters, the pit fiend was the battering ram, the gate crasher, the heavy vanguard.

Ariana had never heard of a Rift Walker who'd killed one. One night in the secret archives of the Guild library, she'd discovered that everything the rift walkers knew of their existence was from observing the Battle of Tyrida, where a demonic army had laid waste to the metropolis in a single night. Since, the kingdom of Tyriadon had been abandoned. It was said that the old city was home to legions of demons now. No kingdom, city-state, or otherwise thought it was worth it to purge the ruins of Tyrida of demons as they kept to themselves, or so the rumor went. Nobody really knew.

Until today it seems, Ariana thought to herself. She unfolded her map and found Tyrida only three hundred miles north on her map, though only as the crow flies. Between her and the demonic capital stood both the largest mountain range and forest on the continent.

She put away her Bestiary, refolded the map, and tucked both into her saddlebags. A stream gurgled within earshot.

"Let's get you a drink," she said and patted Whoreson on the neck. Ariana found a break in the foliage and turned onto the undergrowth. Sunlight glistened off the crystal mountain water. Smooth, rounded stones, some covered in emerald moss filled the stream. Birds chirped in the trees above as Whoreson lowered his head to drink.

"This is nice," Ariana said, admiring the surrounding nature.

"It is," a voice replied. Startled, Ariana's hand found the hilt of her sword. Her eyes darted towards the source. Upstream stood an elegant, nude woman who tied her golden white hair into a ponytail.

"Who are you?" Ariana said. The woman had a narrow face and a slender figure with peach sized breasts. The woman's crystal blue eyes gazed at Ariana with amusement.

"Doesn't my beauty give me away? I can see you admire it," she said. Ariana looked down and relaxed a little, her honeyed cheeks red.

"Oh, don't be embarrassed, I know what you are."

"And what am I?" Ariana asked.

"No blushing maid, that's for sure." Ariana said nothing. The woman laced herself up in a navy blue corset, followed by a long, fluid, sapphire robe. She sat down to tie up her thigh high black boots.

"That's enough being coy, I am Helena, a sorceress, here for what I assume is the same reason you are," she said as she finished dressing. Ariana raised an eyebrow at Helena. She didn't know what she thought about sorceresses. In the past, she'd met a few at the Guild as the two organizations, the Rift Walker's Guild and the Sorceress Enclave, often worked together to deal with monsters. However, infamous for deception and acting in their own self-interest, sorceresses motives always revolved around power, influence, or knowledge.

"Stoic suspicion doesn't suit you," Helena said. She approached Ariana and looked up at her.

"I'm willing to collaborate on this one if you are. It's no small feat to take down a party of demons, much less a pit fiend." Ariana's eyebrows shot up.

"So much for stoicism." Helena laughed, "bet you didn't know there were more than one. Come on, tie up the horse somewhere so he doesn't become Midsummer's roast for the pit fiend."

***

The sun went down and under the cover of darkness, Ariana and Helena crept through the forest.

"I have a man on the inside," Helena said as they approached a downed tree. The sorceress held up her hand after peeking over an entangled trunk.

"He's an incubus, but I've bewitched him."

"Is that even possible? Are you sure he's not the one playing you?" Ariana said.

"It's an elaborate game of cat and mouse, but he can't resist me, so he does what I say."

"For now," Ariana added. Helena rolled her eyes before she stood up to scout the wilderness ahead.

"Rift Walkers, always so cautious. Trust me. I've manipulated him to lead me to this misfit band of demons so I can study them. They're quite the diverse bunch. Makes for interesting anatomy lessons." With that, Helena winked and vaulted over the downed trunk. Ariana had her doubts.

Within the hour, they spotted the tavern through the trees. The windows glowed with a welcoming light. The tavern was untouched.

"Alluring," Helena said with a smirk. Both of them crouched behind a boulder covered in ferns.

"Where is the pit fiend? They're hard to miss," Ariana asked.

"If my demon hunter is to be trusted, the Pit Fiend is passed out drunk somewhere in the forest."

"You've hired a demon hunter as well?" Ariana said.

"He was in the area."

"Include me in any future additions to the plan please," Ariana said defiantly.

"You will, you will. Come on, let's head in."

"Wait," Ariana snatched Helena's arm, "where is the demon hunter now?"

"He's inside posing as my incubus, he's wearing a disguise amulet I enchanted to throw off their scent."

"Then where's your incubus lover?"

"Probably knocked out with the Pit Fiend."

"This plan seems unnecessarily convoluted and poorly thought out," Ariana said. Helena stood up and straightened her clothes.

"Look you persnickety monster hunter, I used the incubus to get to them and maybe I don't entirely trust the incubus to give the pit fiend alcohol poisoning, thus the demon hunter," Helena said with a hint of doubt.

Ariana crossed her arms.

"Yes, I know you said so, don't worry about it. Let's go."

Ariana couldn't believe Helena talked her into this. Then, a thought struck her dumb. She felt like she was fresh out of the Guild again.

The rift walker whispered to herself as her right hand signed a gesture. Tiny, colorful wisps sparked from her fingertips. When the spell completed, Ariana opened her hand and read her palm.

"And I'm not a succubus if that's what you're thinking, incubi are a good fuck if you didn't know. It's worth all this melodrama," Helena shouted back over her shoulder and chuckled all the way to the tavern, leaving Ariana a little bashful.

She didn't need to be reminded.

***

A warm atmosphere met Ariana's face when she opened the door. Inside resembled a classic tavern with wooden tables, a bar, and a hearth. The tavern wasn't destroyed as the innkeeper from Bale had claimed. Instead, there sat the most unusual set of drinkers Ariana had ever seen in her life.

"Good evening boys," Helena said and sauntered up to the bar. Behind it, smirked an incubus. Incubi could take the form of any human male to disguise the more demonic features of their natural state, such as skin tone and horns. However, they were naturally handsome and adonic. This one looked like he'd come straight out of the definitive illustration of an incubus guise: A handsome, olive skinned man with a trimmed beard and long black hair. His tunic was unlaced just enough to reveal his athletic figure and a tasteful amount of chest hair. He wore a leather vest and was pouring something brown into a shot glass.

"Welcome Helena, right on time. Who's your guest?" Helena leaned on the bar and gestured for Ariana to join them.

"Isn't she a beauty? The maroon hair really does it for me. This, my devils, is Ariana, a rift walker."

The room tensed. A hellion sitting at a wooden table away from the bar, dealing cards, looked at the incubus, Ryzlian, with anger.

"What the fuck, Ryzlian?" he said. Ryzlian threw up his hands.

"What, Vapula? I thought you were used to dealing with fire?" The incubus chuckled while the hellion in the booth spit and took a drink from his mug. Hellions were easy to spot because of their obvious physical appearance: human except with impish horns and varying red skin tones. Unlike incubi, hellions had no powers of disguise. Because of their averageness, the job of footsoldier fell to them. The Bestiary made note of their importance as cannon fodder.

Ariana paid him no mind. She could dispatch of him in an instant.

"Why did you bring them here?" Another demon said to Gael. Ariana recognized him as an ifrit immediately.

Ifreet stood ten feet tall in most cases. Made of pure muscle and more animal than human, ifreet were related to minotaurs. However, ifreet took on a more humanoid form, especially in the face. That was if you ignored the three foot long horns that burst from their forehead and curved down their back. But, the most distinguishing feature of ifreet was that their body hair was, literally, on fire. This one had a full beard, and a long thick mane. Ariana spotted groomed patches on its chest and arms, and could also see a glow illuminating the wood of the bar in front of the ifrit which made it clear that the candles matched the candelabra.

"Akarasu, my old friend, to have a drink with us. You don't enjoy the company of beautiful women? And, of course, to get rid of our Pit Fiend problem," Gael said.

"What?" Ariana said without thinking.

"You see Ariana? Not all demons are bad. In fact, this lot is on the run from their overlords in Tyrida. As a result, their betters sent a Pit Fiend after them," Helena explained as she sipped a glass of vodka on the rocks Ryzlian had poured for her. Ariana couldn't believe it.

"So what did you do again? Rob the demonic reserve?" Helena chuckled at her own joke.

"Maybe we just have something against authority. You know for being demons, the hierarchy is quite strict," Ryzlian said. He slid a glass of whiskey towards Ariana and nodded to her.

"Take a load off." Ariana took the glass and sat in a chair away from the group so she could keep an eye on all of them. Although, based on their body language, they seemed to have relaxed since her initial appearance.

In her time as a rift walker, Ariana had killed more than a few hellions. She'd also bedded, and then killed a few incubi. She knew demons well. The difficulty in dealing with them ranged based on the genus and class. Some used cunning and seduction, like incubi, others, like the ifrit, were powerful and fast, besides the fire. If it caught her off guard, that ifrit could tear the arm out of her socket and if she had one too many, the incubus would certainly be inside of her by the end of the night.

"So then, where's our little Pit Fiend, sleeping off a few barrels?" Helena asked as Ryzlian made her another drink.

"He is, in fact. Right outside," Ryzlian said. The hair stood on the back of Ariana's neck.

"What?" Helena said, a hint of fear in her voice.

"He's not knocking on the door, but he's not far," Gael said and laughed.

"Babe, relax, we've got this under control," Gael said and went for a kiss from Helena. She recoiled at first, but gave in. The ifrit, Akarasu, grunted in either disapproval or suspicion. Ryzlian was a hired demon hunter in disguise after all and not Helena's lover. Ariana hoped she wouldn't balk again.

"You cheeky bastard," Helena said with a little more sharpness than she should have.

"Maybe you'll have a bounce on my cock later," Ryzlian said to her with a wicked smile. Was blowing their cover worth this? Ariana thought and let her hand rest by the hilt of her sword.

"Maybe I will," Helena said, parting her lips, now playing the part.

"Or maybe you'd fancy a bounce on the Pit Fiend's cock?" Ryzlian said. Ariana put her drink down when she saw the look in Helena's glacial blue eyes change.

"Oh, don't be lewd," Helena said.

"You know, because he's right outside," Ryzlian said. The nefarious smirk still painted on his face.

"You said that already," Helena replied putting down her drink. Ariana gripped the hilt of her sword.

"Oh my sweet, sweet Helena. I know I did. There is no better honeypot than the honeypot of an incubus, and to be honest with you, all this deception has given me both a thirst and a raging hard-on." Ryzlian popped open the cork on a bottle of wine and drank deep. As he gulped, his body transformed. Horns sprouted from his forehead and his skin turned the color of the wine he chugged.

Empty, the bottle clattered to the ground and behind the bar stood an incubus in its natural form.

"It's me, honey, Ryzlian, didn't you recognize me? Your idiot accomplice is bound upstairs, and you've brought the rift walker right into our trap. Both of you are ours now." He'd been the incubus all along, Ariana thought. Shit.

"Now," Ryzlian said, clapping his hands together, "there's one more guest joining the party!"

The windows shattered.

The roar of a gargantuan rocked the walls of the tavern like an earthquake. Glasses broke and chairs fell over. Ariana's stomach dropped as she watched the wooden chandelier in the center of the tavern swing from wall to wall.

In one fell swoop, the entire front facade of the tavern ripped away. It sounded like a galleon being dashed against the rocks in a storm and in the wall's place, stood a pit fiend, sober and awake.

"Oh, fuck," Helena cried. Ariana leapt to action. The rift walker outstretched her hand, palm flat, and muttered a spell as she darted towards the bar. She saw the reds of the ifrit's eyes just before an invisible force blasted from Ariana's runic palm and doubled him over the bar and onto Ryzlian. The two of them tumbled behind the bar in a heap and brought down a cascade of bottles on top of them.

Ariana reached for Helena, but heard the tremendous crack of a whip. One moment, Helena's teary eyes begged for help in front of Ariana, the next, she was gone. Ariana was moving too fast and didn't have time to turn around as she reached the booth the hellion was sitting in. Before he could react, Ariana cleaved his head from his neck and buried her sword in the booth wood behind him. His head held for a moment before toppling over.

"Nooooooo!" Helena's screech made Ariana turn to face the pit fiend. Helena flew through the air, dragged by the flaming whip around her ankles, and into the enormous grasp of the pit fiend.

Ariana turned back to her sword, lodged in the booth's wood. She pulled with all her might, but it wouldn't budge.

The pit fiend opened its jaws to reveal fangs the size of Ariana's forearm. Its tongue fluttered as it produced a hellish, bestial cackle.

I have to do something, Ariana thought. She signed a glyph with her hand and pulled again, this time with enchanted strength. Her sword ripped from the wood and threw her off balance. The rift walker steadied herself and raised her sword in a battle stance, ready to charge.

"Time to send you back to hell," she said and charged, except her sword didn't charge with her. A new force yanked her backwards and spun her around.

The ifrit roared in her face with his grip on her blade. Akarasu ripped the blade from her hand and threw it away. The blur of a fiery fist appeared out of the corner of her eye and sent her flying into the wreckage that had once been the chairs and tables of the tavern. Pain reverberated through her entire skull. Her face sizzled with pain.

Before she could react, a great fist took her by the throat and pulled her off the floor. Its thick fingers touched at the base of her neck. Ariana's feet dangled as she tried to loosen the grip with both hands, but it was no use. The ifrit had her.

"You fucking bitch, I didn't think you could burn an ifrit, but somehow you did by dropping all that alcohol on my flame. So now, you will watch your friend get fucked by a pit fiend. I'll be surprised if he doesn't split her in half," Akarasu said in a deep, ferocious voice. Ariana struggled to respond, but she could hardly breathe.