Five robed figures make their way through the dense vegetation. What was once a lush forest now seeps of darkness and death. The living creatures have either left the forest or become part of the dark creations mutated from the presence of Nether energy seeping from the center of the forest. The robed figure passes by the living carcass of a moonwurm, which once had a lustrous scale, now a mild vestige of what it once was, full of boils and seeping pus, as it seeks out a meal from the living.

The wurm looks towards the congregation of figures walking through the forest and unleashes black tendrils to pull them in. One of the figures snaps his fingers and immediately the wurm disintegrates into dust.

“It seems that the artefact is causing more change than we thought, it seems that this could be the best chance we have of successfully summoning a new Prince of Darkness” the robed figure mutters.

“It is yet too early to tell, these are just the first few of the effects from overexposure to Nether energy, we do not yet know if it can sustain a deep summon like that which we did 10 years ago,” said another robed figure.

As they continue making their way to the forest, they meet up with another group, each member looking more sinister than the next. They have bandoliers of skulls which protrude Nether energy and they are currently standing in formation as if preparing for something.

As the two groups meet, a sinister presence is felt around the area, and immediately all of them knelt. Moments after, the presence disappears and the two groups disband.

“Our Lord speaks of meddlers in the great chain of Destiny, do you think it could be?” a robed figure spoke out.

“That group of fools disbanded years ago, it could just be another waylaid adventurer who thinks they can meet a greater Destiny, fools to which we have dealt with before. It’s about time we go to the Bounded Lands, our plans must not be delayed” spoke an authoritative voice within the group.

Back in Kylem…

Dawn breaks onto the town, and activity within pick up. You wake up to find yourself in a feather bed, but still in shackles albeit without being impaled upon. If it was any other mortal being, they would have perished long ago, but as a Bloodcursed, you can control your flow of blood as naturally as one can walk. You groggily look at the ceiling while fidgeting around, you feel unable to move the lower half of your body.

Zelinas appears to be rapaciously enjoying the lower half of you before she realises that you were awake. She looks up greedily towards you with a grin on her face that says it all.

“Um Zelinas, it is nice to reconnect literally, but we need your help for the trouble brewing up north,” you say to her.

She continues her tempestuous appetite before sliding up your chest.

“I know what you came here to ask of me, and this is the price for such an arduous request, you should know that my magic comes at a high cost especially for my race.” she slyly replies

Zelinas is one of the rare Succubi in Dwendil. She comes from an old race of demons that stayed on Bandolia after the Strife. Other demon races like the Maledicts, Inccubi and Zerlyths are also one of the few demonic races that remain in Dwendil. Zelinas has been alive for countless millennia and she has seen all that comes with the rise and fall of empires.

She created the Zealots Nine partly due to immortal boredom and also she wanted to experiment with strong individuals from different races, which is why no one zealot is from the same race. Succubi also have the innate Changeling ability allowing her to change her form once a day at any time, but doing so consumes a lot of Willpower.

Succubi despite their wide range of affinities to magic have one glaring weakness, and that is in order to improve their magical prowess they require a partner of whom she can absorb Willpower when required and this energy can only be attained through leyline coupling which for humans that means sex. Which is where you come in, as you only knew her true nature after falling too deep into her trap. But by then you really didn’t care considering the outcome.

If there is one thing about Succubi you know best is that they are not a race you can betray without dire consequences. Considering they are nearly immortals like most demons usually are, any forms of betrayals are not to be forgotten easily and grudges can grow to cataclysmic levels within a few decades. Hence, you do your best to appease Zelinas whenever possible.

“Zelinas, do you know if the trouble up north has anything to do with the same daemon we fought back during our fighting days,” you ask.

“Mmm….The Prince from the past was just a fledgeling, he had no real power on this side of our realm, but the darkness coming from up north seems to be coming not from a Prince, but rather a Lord, possibly a Mistress, but that's less likely. Mistresses usually manifest after a plane is utterly corrupted once the King comes through. “ Zelinas lectures as she releases you from your bondage.

Rubbing your wrists after being captured for hours, you prepare to get your things which had been laid out on the floor with none worse for wear.

“So do you think you can help us locate the source of Darkness in the valley up north this time?”

Zelinas comes up behind pulling you into her embrace ad she whispers into your ears

“Yet another human comes into contract with me, do you humans not tire of being in debt?”

You shudder a little at the reminder of the Contract you signed with Zelinas a decade ago. Succubi are contractual demons, in which case they usually grant certain favours to debtees in return for servitude of a sort. The scale of the servitude can range from menial tasks or to an eternal partnership, which unfortunately you signed when you were more naive. You are lucky that Zelinas is not as corrupted as most demons and she mostly chooses to do things out of pleasure rather than for purpose.

“Well milady, I believe you are rather curious about who is causing trouble this time up north, wouldn’t you want to find some excitement in the meantime?”

You put on your best poker face in an attempt to woo her to your side. She glances at you from the side as she gets up to dress.

“ You are still 200 years too early to persuade me with such gullible lines” mused Zelinas.

“But nonetheless, I do indeed have business up north and I have already agreed with Boborygos earlier this morning, so I would have come along for the trip regardless”.

You stand there with your mouth agape and realised that you are still dancing on her palm even after all these years.