To Hell and Back Again Ch. 13

Author's Note

Long before it was an officially published first novel in an ongoing series, this story started as an idea born right here on Literotica and arisen from a single question. Namely being, can erotica be treated and written as a legitimate story element in a "serious" novel? It has been a long road getting here but it is my opinion that the answer is yes. I hope you think so too.

What began here on Literotica should also end here. That is only right and proper. Watch in the next few days for the final closing chapter. I apologize for the long hiatus between postings and thank you all for the support and priceless feedback you have provided to bring this story to life.

The great hall had been transformed for the celebration into a paradise for hedonists. Half of the immense chambered had been cordoned off with portable walls. The chair on the platform had been replaced by a plush, backless couch, raised on one end, and sitting on a thick carpet. More couches, carpets, and a mountain of scattered pillows lay about the massive room. Every chandelier held new candles shedding a halo of golden light.

Half-naked bodies lounged around the room in a loose circle, each to their own comfort but close enough to chat. Three were demons, two females, and one male with the usual variety of color and demonic features but no wings. He recalled that the Baroness had also not been winged and wondered if they possessed some ability to retract them as Beauty did with her claws. All three were, of course, beautiful, but only the male had a brand on his cheek declaring him as Harem. The females bore no neck tattoos at all.

Guests of the Baroness perhaps?

Five humans were also present. Two were the man and woman who had been guarding the Baroness earlier. The other two were unknown to Logan, also a man and woman, equaling as attractive and marked as Harem. The last was de Sade who smiled at him in a way that made Logan want to reach for a weapon.

If I still had one, he thought with regret.

"Ah, the guest of honor had finally arrived," de Sade stood and offered a graceful bow. "And just in time," he added as a bell rang and everyone stood.

The Baroness Graveek strolled in through a door at the back of the hall. She wore a black, translucent drape from her shoulders that floated around her legs. The same diaphanous material billowed around her arms from wrist to shoulders. Thigh-high, black leather stiletto boots sheathed her long legs. A black leather corset magnified the deep hourglass of hips and waist. Her hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders. Silver jewelry glittered on ears and black clawed fingers. Two magnificent, plum-colored breasts and her sex brushed with midnight pubes were on full display. Every graceful movement of her perfect body silently screamed danger and sexuality in equal measure.

She stepped in front of the couch and her eyes swept across each person in the room, settling on Logan. A wicked smile played at the corners of her full lips as she seemed to look through him.

"My pets... let us play."

She clapped her hands together once and the hall came alive with movement and music. On an overhead balcony, three servants began to fill the room with the soft melody of drums and flutes. Two males and two females, dressed only in translucent veils, moved to the center of the room and began to dance in a very suggestive way, caressing each other and themselves in graceful, slow motion.

Servants dressed in silver chains and flowing scraps of white cloth, both male and female, and each more beautiful than the one before, spread out through the hall in pairs. One carried a silver tray heaped with delicate bowls of food or polished cups of drink. The other trailed behind carrying... a bucket.

Logan settled onto an empty couch and cautiously accepted a drink that tasted like some kind of dark, smoky wine yet burned going down like whiskey. He made a mental note to consume very little of the strong drink. Soon enough the mystery of the buckets was revealed. He watched the demons in the room sample the many delicacies on offer. The "wine" they drank with great enthusiasm. The food, however, was another matter. He watched them chew, savor the taste, then spit the remains into a nearby bucket.

For the taste, he realized. Not for sustenance. I wonder where the wine goes? He had never known Beauty to need to eat food nor rid herself of bodily waste. Like her, their hunger could only be satisfied with the sexual life force of human souls. A chill of foreboding crawled over his skin at the thought.

Movement drew his attention. He looked up to see humans and demons were beginning to gather into smaller groups, many gravitating to the pillows around the Baroness. Two of the human women were approaching him. They were wearing smiles and not much else.

"Hi, I'm Anna," offered a statuesque brunette as she draped herself on the couch beside him. She had been the woman standing guard earlier. Her dusky complexion hinted at a Hispanic or Mediterranean heritage. Delicate chains of brass secured translucent veils of hot pink to the curves of her body. The veils draped artfully over the swell of her breasts and down between smooth thighs to lay over the shadowed V of her sex.

"My name is Lily," murmured a striking redhead with deep brown eyes and pale, lightly freckled skin. She settled in at his other hip. A satin corset of black and scarlet lifted her naked breasts like an offering. Matching panties and fishnet hose sheathed her lower body in sensual promise.

"You have been the topic of much debate today," Lily smiled.

"I have, huh?" Logan smirked and leaned back to keep them both in his peripheral vision. "Why is that?"

"Well, for one we get too few visitors this far from the city," Anna laughed. "New blood is always welcome."

"Especially when they are so handsome," Lily purred and brushed a finger down his naked bicep.

Uh oh, Logan thought.

A high squeal of surprise saved him from a reply. They all looked over to see the four-eyed demon laughing and pawing at a blonde servant girl now draped across his lap, even as she struggled to keep the platter in her hand from tipping over onto the floor. Another served rushed over and smoothly took the platter away just as she was pulled down into his arms.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Tycus is such a brute!" she giggled. Logan could feel her gaze traveling slowly over his shoulders and chest. "Not that I don't appreciate an energetic male."

Anna settled in closer to his other side. He was now sandwiched between the two gorgeous women and his body began to react in the normal fashion. Anna's dark eyes noticed. Her eyebrows rose in appreciation as her hand slid up the inside of his thigh. "Very energetic, I suspect."

Logan knew there was no way he could allow this to play out to its inevitable conclusion for fear it would almost certainly reveal his unique nature and blow his cover wide open. Fortunately, this was a possibility they had planned for.

"Ladies, I am honored by your interest but I can't."

Anna pulled back and looked at him. "If you prefer men..."

"No," Logan quickly replied. "Not at all. In better circumstances I would savor the both of you like candy," he replied truthfully. "However, my Master forbids me from any form of physical pleasure until I have successfully returned from a hunt." Logan shrugged. "He calls it motivation."

"You are not joking?" Lily asked as both women slid to their feet in a soft jiggle of feminine wonder.

He shook his head. "Unfortunately, no."

For a moment, both women just looked at him. As one, they turned to walk away, any interest in him utterly vanished as if a switch had been turned off. The Baroness looked up at them curiously from where she had one of the servants between her legs tending to her pleasure.

"His Master allows him no pleasures of the flesh!" Anna said loud enough for everyone in the hall to hear. There was a pause in the activity and then everyone burst into mocking laughter.

Logan felt his face flame. In a blink, he had gone from an honored guest to public ridicule. Though it was based on a lie, the mockery was real and it cut deep.

"How very delicious." Graveek sneered as the laughter died down. "Poor pet. You will just have to watch and appreciate all that you cannot have."

A moment later Logan learned how demons dealt with alcohol. The four-eyed one leaned into a bucket and proceeded to purge the contents of his stomach before reaching for a fresh cup. Suddenly, any lingering desires he felt were purged as well, leaving his mind clear.

Bulimic demons. Who would have thought?

Logan, who had been with more women than he could honestly recall, had never imagined he would be a spectator to an orgy. As the night wound on, so too did the growing tangle of bodies. One by one, the dancers and many of the serving staff were pulled down into the writhing festivities.

The demon called Tycus sat on the carpets floor, each clawed hand wrapped in the hair of a different woman kneeling on either side of his massive cock. One or the other, and sometimes both at once, were forced down to swallow and lick for his amusement.

Ana and Lily had long since abandoned themselves to carnal pleasure. The redhead thrashed and wailed in the corner as two men held her up between them, double penetrating her from the front and the back. Of the veiled brunette, all Logan could see was a pair of dark-complected legs waving in the air beneath the bulk of a human male pumping away between them and a demonic female writhing on her face.

And from her throne-like couch, the Baroness watched it all as one man knelt between her legs to lick and pleasure her naked sex. Another stood suffering in silence at her side, his cock only inches from her face. Occasionally, she would reach out to tug at it or suck the head, only to give his balls a hard, painful squeeze if the man seemed too close to climax.

Sounds of pleasure and pain floated with the music on the humid air. Cries of orgasmic release and the sharp crack of a hand or whip on bare flesh rose and fell. Bodies writhed across the floor and furniture in a shifting mass of flesh and fluid, lust and fear.

And, of course, the demons fed. This, not food, not even alcohol, was the main course of the evening. Sharp teeth pierced whatever soft flesh happened to be within reach at the moment.

A steady stream of mundane dishes continued to be circulated by carefully stepping servants. More than once, Amber stopped by to offer one delicacy or another. Each time, he made a point to smile and thank her. Yet, for all the rich foods available, it was the alcohol that the assembled revelers were far more interested in, to the point of excess. Drunken laughter, squeals of delight, and cries of pain rebounded around the hall.

Drunk. A thrill of comprehension sliced through the faint haze of alcohol in his brain. They are all shit-faced! Barely able to stand, much less fight.

It was time. But how? However distracted the Baroness seemed with her erotic amusements, Logan felt certain she was keeping a close eye on him. Any attempt to sneak away would only rouse suspicion.

That left only one alternative. If I cannot be quiet then I will have to be loud.

He waited until he could wait no longer. When Amber made her next appearance, Logan rolled the dice.

He stood to accept another cup of wine and stumbled into her. They fell together in a tangle of limbs, cups, and a wash of dark wine.

Everything stopped.

Bodies stopped writhing together. Servants ceased moving around the room. Even the music stopped. Abrupt silence fell across the hall.

"Apologies!" Logan cackled laughter and tried to climb to his unsteady feet while helping Amber up at the same time, and failing at both in a sad comedy of drunken lack of coordination. He reached for the serving tray, "accidentally" banging it against the edge of a table in a bright, jarring crash of metal and nearly falling again.

A glance around confirmed a sea of shocked and angry faces. None more so than the Baroness Graveek. Fury twisted her lovely face into something brutal.

"Get. Him. Out!"

Logan mumbled apologies and threw an arm around Amber's shoulder. She staggered under his weight. Both of them were soaked in spilled wine. Humiliation colored her cheeks the color of a ripe berry.

They exited the hall with no small amount of difficulty. He didn't make it easy for her, staggering and letting his weight drag on her much smaller frame in a show of drunken incompetence.

"Oh, Mr. Denke!" she whispered in a terrified voice. "Why did you do that? The Mistress will be furious with me!"

It hurt him to hear the terror in her voice but he said nothing as they struggled up the winding stairs to the guest quarters. He did at least find his feet and cease to torture her so much with his weight. Eventually, she managed to maneuver him into his room. Logan kicked the door closed as they staggered to the bed. She tried to drop him onto the covers and only succeeded in falling with him.

"Mr. Denke," she gasped. "Sir, you're crushing me..."

Logan eased his weight off of her even as his arms circled tighter around her. His lips nuzzled against her ear.

Amber began to struggle against him. "Sir, please. I can't."

"Amber, listen to me very carefully because I don't think we have long before someone discovers that I have filled the spy holes in this room with candle wax," he whispered into her ear. "I'm not drunk and I am not trying to seduce you."

He felt her freeze against him.

"Do you understand?"

After a long moment, she whispered, "Please don't hurt me."

"I would never do that, Amber. I want to help you. Are you listening?"

"Yes."

"My name is not Karl Denke. It is Logan. My companions and I ended Karl Denke when he was sent to hunt us. Just like we are going to do to Baroness Graveek and every one of the sick bastards that follow her."

Amber moaned in terror and began to quake against him.

"You and every other soul in this castle can be forever free of her cruelty. You don't ever have to be a slave again. Would you want that?"

"I can't..." she whimpered. "It's not..."

"Amber, listen to me. Eternity in the afterlife means forever. This will be your fate until the end of time, if you let it. Together we can change that. I can set you free... but I need your help to do it."

"Why me?" she softly pleaded. "I'm no one."

"Not true but they think you are and that is exactly why you are the perfect person to make this possible. We can do this, Amber, but you have to brave enough to take a chance! If you want to be free, truly free, you will have to take a leap of faith and trust me."

When she did not respond, Logan sighed against her ear. "I said I won't hurt you and I meant it. If you want, I will let you go. If you return to your Mistress and tell her everything I have told you, she might even forgive you and let you go back to being a mindless pet to be used and abused for the sick pleasure of her Harem... forever. Is that what you want?"

"... no," she finally whispered.

"Atta girl." Logan tenderly kissed her cheek. "I just need you to be brave for one night. Can you do that?"

"I don't know. What do want me to do?"

Logan climbed off of her, careful to watch for any sign of panic or a scream for help. He retrieved a drinking skin from his backpack. "Only what you always do."

*****

Logan found the servant's entrance Amber had directed him too and staggered out into the warm night air of the courtyard with the bucket of meat she had acquired from the kitchen. He did not attempt stealth. The guards at the first gatehouse watched, amused, as Logan staggered and mumbled his way closer.

"Where you going?" one of them asked.

"Check on m' beast." Logan slurred.

"He's fine," the guard replied. "Go on back inside... sir."

Logan looked at the man. "You ever saw what happens when a Hell Hound gets stir crazy? You want to?"

The guards looked at each other and shook their heads. Logan held up the bucket and grinned. "The secret is to mix booze in with the meat."

They all laughed and let him pass through. Logan made his way to the cage where Coyote was being held.

"Is it time?"

"Almost," Logan responded as he dumped the meat slurry into a trough and reached down to ease open the deadbolt on the cage door. "Everything hinges on the ladies now."

"Ladies, plural?" Coyote asked. "Cousin, what have you been up to?"

Logan shrugged. "To borrow a phrase from my Marine brothers and sisters, improvise, adapt, and overcome."

"And hope," Coyote added.

"Yeah, that too." Logan sighed.

*****

Amber watched the cups rattle on the platter she held in her trembling hands. Her feet felt like blocks of stone. Every step forward was a monumental act of will as she approached the door.

Logan's words ran circles in her mind. Speak slowly when you have to speak at all. Stick to the truth whenever possible. Remember to breathe, and, most of all, remember that you are fighting for your freedom. You can do this!

"I can do this," she breathed, too quickly. Amber tried to slow her racing pulse but it was too much. Panic made her knees weak and she sank to the floor.

I can't do it!

The sheer madness of what they were trying to do was overwhelming. She wasn't brave. She wasn't anything or anyone that mattered. Even in life, she had been nothing more than a party girl living day-to-day for the next good time. A failure, then and now. This mad plan could only end in failure and the Baroness would punish her in ways too horrible to imagine for Amber's part in it.

She bit down on her knuckle to stifle a sob. The pain helped drive back the darkness closing in around her vision. Behind and all around her was the yawning, bottomless pit that had become the endless cycle of her existence since her death.

And yet, just ahead there was a light, the merest whisper of hope. It was faint in the darkness of her mind and as gossamer and fragile as spun glass. The smallest pressure would shatter it into broken, glittering shards.

It would be so easy to let go and embrace her weakness and cowardice. To just be the worthless serving girl the Baroness had forged her into. To just be...

A mindless pet to be used and abused for the sick pleasure of her Harem... forever.

I'm no one, she had told him.

Not true, Logan had replied with a gentle smile.

Amber took a deep breath and stood up on shaky legs. I am not "no one", she told the frightened serving girl that lived in her mind. I am not worthless. And I would rather return to mist than be a slave for one motherfucking minute longer!

She was still terrified but her hands stopped shaking. It was enough. Taking a deep breath, she steadied the platter in one hand, gripped the wine pitcher in the other, and stepped through the door onto the bridge spanning across to the roof of the slave tower.

The guard patrolling the roof watched her approach. Amber offered a shy smile and glanced up from the floor. She held the platter of cups out.

"The Baroness is feeling generous and bade me offer a taste of the celebration."

The man leered at her. "Just the wine or something else?"

"Just wine, sir." She replied in a soft voice. And nothing else ever again! The sudden surge of righteous anger, fierce and hot, caught her by surprise, but she welcomed it. It gave her strength Amber would not have even imagined herself capable of only ten minutes ago.

Her hand was perfectly steady as she poured the wine. "Enjoy the wine, sir," she said with a steady smile and an ice-cold calm.