Ultimate Assassin Saga: Tundra

Greetings to those who may be reading this. I'm genuinely new to this entire writing scene, having only been reading stories on Literotica. Most stories are all the same, so I thought I'd try adding something fresh into the mix. All significant input is invited. Much obliged to you for taking the time to peruse this.

In this story, the world and every one of its tenants have all been invoked in my psyche. Any likenesses to any spots or individuals, living or expired, are incidents. That likewise applies to my made up world. In the event that it in any capacity looks like that of whatever other, which is in some other stories you have read, is likewise a happenstance. As always, everyone in this story is eighteen years or older.

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The wind blew across the land, making the grass of the plain sway from side to side. There weren't any animals above ground, but beneath the earth there were moles that burrowed deep under the ground, remaining warm when so close to the frozen land of the Tundra. There was only one person above ground in the plain and he was on his knees, using his magic to dig deeply under the earth to find a mole for his dinner. Acheron worked hard for his meals and this one wasn't going to be any easier than the others. Then again, he was very good at finding food and successfully feeding himself, even though Demons didn't really need any sustenance at all to survive. He could go without, but he couldn't allow his strength to wane at this critical time.

The Chaos Demon straightened from his work and looked off in the distance, searching for any enemy, but there was no one anywhere near them. He was huge, well over seven foot tall, and hugely muscled. He had long midnight black hair that fell to the middle of his back in a single, thick braid and emerald green eyes set in a bronzed face. He wore a short sleeve black shirt, black pants, knee high black boots, a black leather breastplate with silver embroidery over the chest area, and a black leather belt with a broadsword sheathed at his left hip.

Being a Demon, he was a great warrior and was capable of many things, even surviving death. He had actually died many times and had revived once his body healed. That was all because of his heritage of a Chaos Demon and his ability to survive even death. The way one could kill a Chaos Demon would have to know the way to do it of course. They would have to cut off his head and burn his body. Any less that that would lead to him merely reviving and coming after the one that had attempted to kill him. He'd done it before and he'd died many times because of that.

The Command Assassin sat back from the hole that he'd dug to rest and to think back on the past six months. It had all started with his brother, the Emperor of the Demon Empire of Dalkia, ordering him to do target and assassinate the Fallen Angel Queen as well as as the Fallen Angel Prince. He had known the Angel Queen a century before, before she'd been married and before she'd had her son. They'd had an intimate relationship and he'd grown to love her in the short month that they'd spent with one another. Then, she'd disappeared back to Paradise, her Realm and he'd never expected to see her again. Now however he was getting his chance.

Acheron had been unable to even consider targeting Trissieal, and in the end, he'd chosen to betray the very Empire that he'd helped to carve out. In lieu of coming out and telling his brother that right then and there inside of the capitol of the Demon Empire, he'd decided to pretend to do the job. He'd gone off to the Wilds where Azrieal had told him that they had been spotted in, and in the process, he'd run across the Amazons. The Wilds was a land of pure anarchy with no centralized government, but there were several different societies within the Wilds that did create small government-like industries. Like the Amazons.

The Amazons had been plagued by the Minions which were beings of the Abyss and were only able to be controlled by Upper Flight Demons. He'd only known of them because he'd been born of the Abyss himself and he'd seen many Demons using Minions as front line cannon fodder in the constant wars going on in the fiery realm known as the Abyss. At first, the Amazons hadn't trusted him and he couldn't blame them. After all, Demons were evil beings and a good Demon had never been heard of before. After a battle in which he'd helped greatly to win, the Amazons had grown to trust him and he was even allowed out with the Forest Guard which was their military force.

The head of that military force, Tide, had become a good and close friend who he was sure he could call on at any time. It had been Tide who'd been at his side, along with a Wood Elf named Gareth from the Wood Elf village, when they'd gone against and killed the one responsible for the Minions. Much to the Chaos Demon's surprise, the leader of the Minions had actually been a Human who had been near death and had been taken over by a near death Demon. They had taken on a symbiotic relationship, and even though the former High Shaman - or the most powerful Mage of the Amazons - had believed that he could control it, he'd been wrong. The Demon essence had taken him over and used his body to summon the Minions to send them against his former people.

Because of Tide, Gareth, and Acheron himself, the Demon hadn't been successful. They'd stopped the man in his tracks and sent the Demon into the void. It would be thousands of more years before that tortured spirit could become a Demon once again and come back to the Mortal Plane, if ever. By then, things would've changed greatly and he probably wouldn't even be around anymore, having fallen in some battle. However, he didn't concern himself with worrying about some Demon from the past coming back from the Abyss and searching for him to have its revenge.

No, what he was concerning himself with right now was finding Trissieal and her son so he could protect them. No matter how powerful her son might be, the Command Assassin didn't think he would mind the help in protecting and caring for his mother. Granted, he was someone who loved the boy's mother very much and he might take affront to that, but that didn't really matter. What did matter was protecting Trissieal from all that would try to kill her and the most pressing threat was the Dalkian Empire as well as his older brother, Azrieal. He had to find Trissieal before Azrieal did or it could mean her death.

Being the Emperor of a nation, Azrieal had many resources and there was no way that two people could fight that off without being killed or captured. Even Acheron himself wouldn't be able to handle an entire army and come out unscathed if he came out at all. That was why he had to find Trissieal and put into place the plans he needed to form to protect her. The only way that he could think to do that was to gather the races of the Wilds together and unite them in a common cause: to fight back the forces of Dalkia which were certainly to come soon enough, in search of destroying him.

Acheron sighed and brought himself from his reverie. Before he did that, he had to find Trissieal and survive all the trials that would come before even that. He would have to meet the other races of the five provinces of the Wilds and be able to befriend them. That was if they were able to be befriend of course. After all, this was a land of anarchy and it was quite possible that rogues from other nations had created societies of their own. In fact, he would bet on that fact. What better way to escape the laws of your country than to come to a country that was without laws and that everyone was too afraid to travel into?

Using his senses, the Chaos Demon reached into the hole of where he had the mole cornered. It was all alone and he was glad for that. If it had had a family, he would've left it alone, but it didn't have a family with it and that made it prime for a meal. He already had the necessary gathering of wood piled behind him to make his campfire so he could cook his food. All he had to do was catch the creature, kill it, and cook it so he could eat the animal.

The Command Assassin drew magic into his left palm as he dug deeper into the earth using his magic and a razor sharp dagger manifested in his hand. Then, he reached deeper with his other hand and grabbed the warm, thick neck of the mole. The creature squeaked in surprise and fear even as he pulled the creature from its hiding hole. With no hesitation, he plunged the dagger into the mole's stomach and cut widely, silencing its screams. The creature squirmed for a few more moments, and then, it grew still in death. He laid the mole down on the ground and he placed his hand over the mole's face, saying a prayer to the Gods of Nature, asking them to accept the soul of the mole.

That done, Acheron set the mole down next to the hole and he walked over to the woodpile that he'd stacked up. He began to work, stacking the wood in a tight circle so he could start a flame and it not catch any of the grass on fire. Then, he stacked some wood in the middle of the circle, being careful to leave one sturdy enough stick free for skewering the mole when he carved it up. That last job done, he got up and walked back over to the hole, grabbing up the mole before walking back over to the yet to be lit fire.

Using the knife that he'd used to kill the mole, the Chaos Demon used that same knife to slice first fur from skin and then skin from meat only to carve the meat from the bone as well. Once done, he penetrated the flesh of the mole with a single stick and held it above the fire to cook. He watched orange and yellow flames, lost deep in thought. Lost in the thoughts of his past and thoughts of his future.

After Dalkia had grown far enough through military campaigns into other nations, he had retired from being a General and had become the first Command Assassin of Dalkia. Being the Command Assassin was the highest ranked individual in the Empire, next to the Emperor himself. The only person that he had to answer to was the Emperor and many believed that because the Emperor was his brother that he got special treatment and was allowed anything he wanted, but that was the furthest thing from the truth.

Azrieal held no special love for him just because they were of the same mother. Both being Upper Flight Demons meant that they'd been born of a mother, but they had different fathers. However, both brothers were Chaos Demons, though both of their conceptions had been different. Azrieal's conception had been a peaceful one through consent between the two parties that would be his mother and father. Acheron's father however had raped his mother, and instead of killing her child in the womb, she'd allowed it to come to full term. It was this that had ended her life and sent her Abysmal soul to the Chaos Gods of the Abyss.

The Dalkian Emperor himself was a Mage, and because of that, he didn't use blades, though he did have skills with the blade. He didn't choose to use blades like his brother though, but his magic and his magic alone. Acheron himself was most skilled with his blades, but he was also skilled in magic. He was better with a blade, but he wasn't a total novice with magic. He knew different styles of magic from Nature magic to Necromancer magic which was the ability to animate the dead to use them as your own personal cannon fodder.

As the Command Assassin, he was the still most powerful and most feared Demon in all of Dalkia, next to the Emperor himself. Most of the Demons who thought that he didn't deserve his place as Command Assassin were upstarts who'd come to the Mortal Plane long after the war campaigns that had cut out the borders of Dalkia that he had himself had carved out. Each one of them had challenged him and each one of them was proven wrong when they lay on the floor, dead through many different ways.

Acheron's thoughts then turned to the future and what he hoped for in the future. Of course, he hoped to be free of his brother, no matter what he had to do to break his chains. He would hope that he would be with Trissieal, but he didn't know that she would even remember him, much less want to be with him as his Mate. Also, there was her son to take into account. He wouldn't be his child and he might try to sabotage his efforts to grow closer to her. However, he would never tell her son to stay out of it because it wasn't his business. No, this was his mother and it most definitely was his business. After all, if they ended up as Mates, he would be the Angel Prince's new father.

While he would like to get along with the Angel Prince - he didn't know his name and had never heard it mentioned by anyone ever before - he knew that it probably wasn't likely. After all, he was an Angel, Fallen he might be and Angels all held contempt for Demons. Then again, Trissieal herself hadn't judged him and had trusted him from the beginning. Maybe her son would've learned from her and would accept him as long as she did. Of course, it could be a bad situation if she didn't remember him and even worse if she didn't want him with her anymore.

Stuffing those negative thoughts back into the back of his mind, the Chaos Demon sniffed at the meat and he noted that it was done. He took the meat away from the flames and he pulled a chunk of the mole meat off of the stick. Then, he popped the meat into his mouth and he chewed. It tasted good and was quite juicy in fact. He swallowed the chewed meat and popped another piece of meat into his mouth, chewing that one just as fast as the one before that.

When he was finished with the meat, the Command Assassin dropped the stick on the ground and he laid down in the grass. The sun had already sunk low below the horizon and the silvery full moon was above him as he stared up at it as well as the twinkling silver stars in the purple night. He laced his fingers behind his head and he decided that now would be a good time to sleep. He would continue his journey north tomorrow morning before the sun came up and he would enter the Tundra of the northern part of the Wilds just as the light of day would begin.

That was the plan at least, and with that in his mind, Acheron closed his eyes before he drifted off to sleep, his dreams filled with the Fallen Angel Queen.

Azrieal stood outside on the balcony to his room and stared out at the capitol city of his Empire. The black spires of the buildings below were smaller than the palace itself, but they were no small buildings. All of them rose high into the blood red sky which was streaked with black lightning at different times. The night air was dry and without moisture. The Empire of Dalkia was much like the Abyss in the stature of the dry air, save for the actual flames. He enjoyed the atmosphere of what he'd built and what he ruled over, but he knew that rogues such as the Elves or the Human cutthroats had a hard time with the atmosphere. It was harsh after all and not many could stand to live in such conditions, unless they were born of the Abyss, but those that wanted to be a part of the Dalkian Empire had to deal with it.

As the Empire had grown, the Emperor had made sure that the Demon Mages continued to spread their sky as they took over each and every village or country. In doing so, he'd created an atmosphere much like his home and he enjoyed it greatly. He knew that other Demons felt the same way because they were stepping out of a Realm of Hell and into hell on the Mortal Plane. It was a comforting thing for Demons and comfort was needed to serve loyally which was what the Emperor needed above all else: the loyalty of his subjects.

He was tall, over six foot tall, and slender though not without his muscle. He had long golden blonde hair that fell to the small of his back in a high ponytail and emerald green eyes set in a bronzed face. He wore a long sleeve white tunic with gold fastenings up the front, white pants with a gold stripe up the legs, knee high black leather boots, and a black leather belt. On his right middle finger was a ruby ring with a silver band and that ring was what magnified his magic.

The Chaos Demon sighed as he stared down at the marble streets and he saw many of his people walking the streets to and fro. By tomorrow, three out of ten people on the street right now would be found dead and most likely by someone else that was on the street. He smiled at that thought. He fostered and encouraged backstabbing among his people so that his people would always be on edge. If they were always on edge, then they would be prepared for anything, including an invasion from outside forces. That was the one thing that they had never experienced since they'd gotten as large as they were was an invasion and it wasn't likely to happen anytime soon.

The Emperor held out the hand with the ruby on it and he manifested a glass in his hand. Inside of the glass was amber liquid that he knew to be fire whiskey. After all, he'd summoned it and of course he would know what it was. Fire whiskey was the only thing that he could drink that would give him even the slightest bit of a buzz because of his high metabolism, but he would have to drink a lot of it to actually get drunk. He brought the glass to his lips and he swallowed some of the whiskey, relishing in the burning sensation that washed through his chest.

Azrieal brought the glass from his lips and he sat it down on the railing. Then, he gripped the railing and leaned forward, lost in thought. He had learned only a few weeks ago that his brother had gone rogue after he'd sent him off on a job. The job had been to track down and kill the Fallen Angel Queen and her son. When he'd given his brother the job, he'd noticed something weird about how his brother was acting, and to make sure nothing was wrong, he'd sent an Imp along to spy on his brother without him knowing that it was there. However, the Imp had gotten killed and he'd been forced to send a Shade to do the same.

His suspicions had been confirmed when he'd seen through the eyes of the Shade that his brother was willingly working with a Human and a Wood Elf. Of course he knew that the Shade wouldn't be able to take his brother, so instead he'd ordered the Shade to take out the Human and the Elf so the symbiotic Demon could take the battle to his brother. Unfortunately, the other Demon hadn't been strong enough to handle Acheron and had failed to defeat him. Then again, he had expected nothing less from his little brother than resistance and to defeat the symbiotic Demon. It was official now.

Acheron had betrayed the Empire and him.

The Emperor had been trying to think of a way to deal with his brother, but anything short of war wasn't going to work. Then again, he could undermine what he was obviously doing. His brother was in the Wilds, a land of anarchy, and he'd already made two powerful allies in the Amazons and the Wood Elves of the High Forest. He knew that there were several more races within the Wilds that would come in handy to his brother, and knowing the Command Assassin, he could easily draw them under his wing. He would simply have to disrupt his brother's idea, but who to use?

The Chaos Demon knew that his little brother was heading north to the Tundra. The Tundra was a land of snow and ice all around the year. Their summer was a cool twenty degrees, but the inhabitants of the Tundra weren't bothered by that. He knew of only one race of people that lived in the Tundra, but he was certain that there were others. After all, the Tundra was a huge land, and despite its icy exterior, it could foster a lot of life, especially sentient life. The only one's that he knew to live in the Tundra for fact though were the different Barbarian tribes and he knew the tribes were constantly at war with one another for some reason or another.