Kalikekeztra was a blur of motion.

The half snake demoness weaved about Pasurendra even as his four massive cleavers rained downed after her. Keke was patient though, she knew she couldn't face her foe head on in a straight brawl, but needed to get in close and take the battle to the ground. One blade flashed over head, two narrowly missed her, rending the stone floor like an earthquake, while the fourth hacked a chunk from her tail. Keke felt the pain jolt through her body, but continued her evasive pattern. Even after her golden armored foe filled the air with a wall of spinning suspended blades it did not deter her. The demoness' sharp eyes simply scanned the barrier, timed their pattern, before hurtling herself straight as an arrow through them, crashing head first into her opponent's chest before bringing her own multi armed arsenal into the fray.

One of her spears jabbed downwards, causing her massive golden clad opponent to shuffle back, two scimitars parried her foe, blade for blade, while another arm twirled a poisonous censer at his head, blinding and choking him. With her larger opponent reeling and stunned, the demoness lunged again at him, punching his large square monstrous chin with her last remaining hand, all the while wrapping her powerful emerald coils around his barrel like torso.

Though Pasurendra was superior to her in strength and mass, the ferocity of Kalikekeztra's attack was too much. The much bigger golden clad demon weaved about drunkenly entwined from the knees up. He first attempted to swat her free with his cleavers, and when his breath began to run he dropped them, and then began futilely attempting to dislodge the lithe snake woman with his four clawed arms instead. It was all in vain though, as Kalikekeztra weathered his attacks, causing him to stumble back and crash heavily to the ground.

Keke could barely hear the howls and cheers from the crowd as her bloodlust overtook her. Though her sharpened teeth were the least of her physical tools, she took great pleasure as she began biting and tearing the leathery hide of Pasurendra's neck.

"Enough!" shouted nine voices in unison with such power that it shook the jungle arena. The Demon host, flinched and fell silent as a wave of power emanated from Taraksun, Awakener of Wrath.

While Kalikekeztra was seized in her rage, even she took pause at her lord's command. The half snake demoness, gave Pasurendra a baleful glare, before releasing her grip and slithered before her lord's throne, careful not to meet the direct gaze of any of his heads.

The Awakener of Wrath was slightly shorter than Pasurendra, and possessed none of his brutishness, but his presence cowed all before him. The nine headed, twelve armed, blue skinned Asura lord was nothing short of a god. A deity of death, that ruled the demons of the jungles of Vinraj with an iron claw. His rule and power was unquestionable in this domain.

"Kalikekeztra," said Taraksun in a voice that made the ground tremble. " Though you were shamefully defeated on Rahu's day, your skill at arms has spared your life."

Taraksun then turned his gazes towards Kalikekeztra's defeated foe. "Pasurendra, you were not only defeated by the armies of the mortals, but you were shamed in personal combat. I question the usefulness of a general of my horde which has no knowledge of tactics nor possess any degree of martial skill."

"Please my lord, " blubbered Pasurendra as the larger demon struggled to his knees amidst painful coughs, an aftereffect from Kalikekeztra's poisonous censer. "The human's priestess, she …she deployed the holy light of Puranas….we had no defense…."

"Silence!" shouted Taraksun with enough force that knocked the hulking Pasurendra to the ground and even made Kalikekeztra slither back. "You shall by tortured in the pits of Abaddon till you go mad with pain. Your body shall be slowly stripped and broken as lesser demons shall mock you while you writhe in your torment. You will be reduced till you are a shadow of your former self, but you will not be allowed to discorporate into the aether. No, you shall be constantly reminded of your former station as your former subordinates shall bid for the honor to extract their…."

With her head bowed, Keke rolled her eyes at her lord's tantrum and drowned his voice out with her own thoughts. Eternal punishment, mind blasting humiliation, blah, blah, blah. She had heard it all before. In fact, she suffered a similar fate a century ago. Sure, the torture, debasement, and utter degradation for several decades in a row wasn't exactly fun, but she was a demon, those type of things were expected. After a while, she actually got use to the boiling in oil, the breaking and resetting of her bones into twisted forms, and even being used as crossbow practice. The Shator concubine thing didn't suit her though, but luckily she was called back to the Prime when Taraksun needed generals for his armies. Though her mind was shattered, it wasn't exactly intact to begin with. She was a demon after all. Chaos and insanity went hand in hand for her people.

"…as you rot in the pits, your fall shall spur my generals for their next assault on Rahu's day," said Taraksun as he finished his long winded speech. "As for you Kalikekeztra, your prowess has spared you a similar fate, but you shall be stripped of your rank for your incompetence. I am merciful though, you shall be given a chance to regain your honor as you lead the shock troopers during the next arrival of Rahu's day."

WHAT?

Keke seethed at Taraksun's decree. He really was the Awakener of Wrath, because she was plenty angry right now. All she wanted to do was hurl a stream of expletives at him. It wasn't her plan that got his army defeated. She wasn't the one that underestimated the holy temple of Nashput. You'd think someone with nine heads would be better at planning. The demon hordes could be running amok in the lands of man if Taraksun had any brains at all. If anything, Taraksun should torture himself for his ill-conceived plan and instead of blaming it on her.

Instead of voicing her strong opinion however, Kalikekeztra simply bowed and slithered out of her lord's sight.

Keke slithered through the warrens and jungle paths of Taraksun's realm. More specifically, the area of Abaddon that was half materialized in the dark Jungles of Vinraj. It was a hellish realm, a vast wasteland under a foul sky, perpetually under the shadow of a distant impossibly tall dark spire, covered in patches of decaying jungle.

Lesser Asuras fled from her path, as she raged and screeched. A foreign vulture demon made the mistake of getting too close, but quickly realized his error; a severed wing being the price of his lesson.

Stripped of her rank? No armies to lead? Taraksun might as well throw her in the pit with Pasurendra.

Since returning from her 'exile', Keke was focused on nothing but making war on the enemies of her lord. She fought briefly in one of the many civil wars against the Asuras of Maeha, the False Father, had held the Legions of Bel at bay at the beaches of the Styx, and had crushed several marauding Balor led hordes. She even commanded a vast raiding party into Carceri to capture the slaves of the accursed Demodand, but that was all in the past now.

She was simply another demon now.

Sure she could partake in the torturing of souls, but that was such a pain. The 'Hunted' were the most wily of the lower plane petitioners and were considered much quicker game than the Larvae of the Abyss, or the Damned of Baator. Capturing the little buggers was tedious work, and she considered it beneath her station. She could pick random fights with Asuras and other demons. That appealed to her, but she wasn't exactly 'catch and release' type of gal. If she fought, that meant she would kill. She would have killed Pasurendra if Taraksun hadn't intervened. While killing in Abaddon wasn't exactly a crime, in fact it was encouraged behavior, Keke was sure that if she began to indiscriminately kill, the sheer numbers of her victims would attract Taraksun or some other Asura's lord attention. They had a war to wage, and that meant they probably won't take kindly to anyone decimating their armies. She considered striking out as a demonic mercenary, but she bristled at working under a Yugoloth or a daemon lord. She didn't exactly hate them, but she always found them pretty snooty.

She could do the 'tempt' the foolish mortal thing, but she wasn't even sure where to start in that regard. The whole thing was akin to an elaborate infernal marketing scheme. Typically, a powerful lower planar creature would discreetly slip his or her name in ancient texts and scrolls. Afterwards some foolish wizard or cleric would find it, and either spread the name further or if they were powerful enough try to summon the demon attached to the name. The demon does the trivial task, then the corruption thing, and of course the laugh at the caster's face part, before dragging the spell user back to their home plane into their personal torture pit. Some Asuras loved this stuff, but it was all way too slow for Keke, and the whole hoop jumping for mortals crap was just not for her. Also she lacked her own torture pit.

Other higher ranked Asuras entertained themselves by partaking in perverse hobbies. They were like a hobby version of the Taraksun's torture pits which again, she didn't have. Most involved mortals, but even adventurers didn't casually wander into Abaddon. Most of those types head to the more famous regions of the Abyss or Baator. She guess she could purchase slaves, but she wasn't exactly rich. Unlike most Asuras of her rank, she didn't have much of a stash of gold, astral diamonds, or Larvae built up over the years, and she was loathed to start collecting now. She just wanted an army to crush, an opponent to fight.

"Well there's a sassy little snake that I haven't seen in a while," purred a soft voice from overhead.

Keke twirled her long tail and snapped it overhead. She was rewarded with a pained yelp and some dark droplets of blood, as a black winged woman shot out of reach.

"Ouch! For shame Keke. Is that anyways to treat an old friend?" said the Succubus as she rubbed her creamy bleeding thigh.

Keke stopped and looked up. No one called her Keke but herself.

The creature was typical of her race: ample breasts, sensual curves, curled horns, dark mane, leather wings, and sinister tail. Besides her slightly larger horns and the ridiculous bronze undergarments she wore, she looked like every other demonic seducer demon that has ever crossed her path. Though she was tempted to simply throw her spear and impale the hovering creature, Keke felt something familiar about this Succubus.

"Do I know you? " asked Keke, her curiosity piqued.

The Succubus looked both shocked and hurt at this question. "Really? Has it been so long that you've forgotten your old sister in arms? "

Keke shrugged. "Sorry, is that supposed to mean anything?"

The Succubus pursed her lips and sighed. "Raiding Baaphomet's lair and stealing his wine? Capturing and abusing that poor Legion Archon till he was begging to be our slave? Fighting side by side at the base of Pazrael's tower? You don't remember any of that?"

Keke narrowed her eyes as flashes of memory triggered in her mind. She didn't recall any raid into the Minotaur lord's lair, but she did suddenly recall fighting in Torremor, and that Legion Archon. So strong, so brave, so handsome…..glimpses of memories of that fair golden haired boy that she thought long lost suddenly manifested.

"Wait….Selexia!" shouted Keke in glee. "I can't believe it's you. Err actually I can believe that I can't believe it's you. It's hard for me to remember things past a century or two."

Selexia frowned and tentatively flew down. She first came into range of Keke's tail, and hovered for a second. When satisfied she wasn't lured into an attack, the succubus flew down and landed a tail's length away from the multi armed snake demon.

"You can't remember me? I'm shocked. Have you been taking that midnight lotus powder? The red and violet stuff are fine, but the black stuff can rot even an outsider's brain," teased Selexia while out of reach.

Keke shook her head. "Nah I don't do drugs, much. It was the local torture pits. I spent like a century there. They're pretty good at breaking both body and mind, but other than that it wasn't too bad. "

Selexia sighed as she touched her dark hair away from her large curled horns. "One of the hazards of our particular lifestyle I suppose, but I'm glad to see you're well and whole. At least they didn't reform you into a disgusting toad demon or similar Asura equivalent."

Keke shrugged. "I almost wished they did, at least I would have something to occupy myself with. I just got booted from the army. What use is a Marilith like myself without a host of Asuras to command. I guess you can call me 'under-employed' right now. Imagine that? Me a general, now just some plebe waiting for the next mustering call to do another suicidal attack against the mortal realms. "

"Hrrmm, you sound bitter," laughed Selexia." But its not that bad. One's misfortune is another opportunity…this is good news for me."

"Eh? Whatcha mean by that?" asked Keke. Though she didn't exactly remember her exact relationship with Selexia, some deep part of her memory told her that she was a friend, or at least as much of a friend as a demon could have. Still, Selexia was a Succubus, and Keke knew enough not to trust those seducer demons completely.

Selexia extended and batted her wings. "I just regrew these. I was slain on the Prime about a decade ago, and it took all my will and hatred to keep my spirit from discorporating into the Abyss or worse reform back as a Dretch or some other lower demon. "

Keke nodded, the thought of returning back as a lower caste demon was truly cringe worthy for a high ranking Asura such as herself. "Who or what did this?"

"A human of all things. Not a wizard, or a cleric, or even a paladin. A so called demon hunter and his overly fancy crossbow," hissed Selexia.

"A demon hunter? What the hell is that? Some order of evil outsider killing knight?"

"Nothing so fancy as that. He's just a rogue with some specialized skills, a precise shot, and an over inflated opinion of himself. Actually, if I was slain by a wizard, cleric, or a paladin, I wouldn't be so worked up over it, but being banished by a mere rogue….well I have my honor and reputation to think of," explained Selexia.

"So, what do you want me to do? I'm kind of stuck here. I would loan you gold or Larvae to hire some Night hags to curse him or something, but I'm sort of low on funds," sighed Keke.

"Actually, I was hoping you would loan me a soldier or two, but since you've lost your command that's out of the question. However, since you are unoccupied at the moment, maybe I'll drag you along instead," purred Selexia.

While most denizens of the lower planes could not enter the juicy Prime worlds without being invited, Succubus were one of the few that could. While Succubus were not exactly the most powerful demons, their shapeshifting and their ability to travel freely was what made them useful. The sneaky demonesses were experts at gating into some Prime world village, disguising themselves as some busty bar maid, tricking some head strong lads to have wild sex with them, before surprising them with the sexy bite drain thing and dragging them back to the Abyss with their pants still around their feet. Or at least that's how Keke always imagined it.

"I would gladly go with you, but I'm kind a bound here unless you have a wizard on the other side able to summon me there," laughed Keke.

"Why don't I just cut out the middle man and just take you there myself," smiled the Succubus as she licked her crimson lips.

Keke laughed even louder, but then stopped when she saw Selexia still grinning. "Wait, you're serious? You can do that?"

Selexia nodded."While you were being tortured, I was a thrall to a powerful caster. I was feebleminded most of the time, but even then….I still picked up a trick or two. I figure the two of us could hop into the Prime, slay that offending rogue, and cause some havoc while we're at it. It'll be just like old times, like the fun we had in Nocticula's realm, the Midnight Isles. Just think or …"

"I'm in!" declared Keke as she lunged forward and wrapped her emerald coils around the surprised Succubus. Thoughts of the boredom she would have to endure while waiting for the next Rahu's day was banished as new thoughts of carving a swathe of bloody mayhem through the Prime replaced it.

Selexia mouth gasped for air and her perfect ivory skin turned slightly purple from the embrace, before Keke realized her plight and released her iron grip. "Oh…sorry bout that. I'm pretty strong, and well…you're pretty fragile. Anyways, I'm good to go. When are we plane jumping?"

Selexia nodded as she coughed some dark blood. After a few moments of hacking the Succubus straightened up and combed her black hair back into place with her long red claws. "I can freely shape shift, but I'll have some clothes and a magical disguise ready for you. We'll drop into Grom City and begin …."

"Wait…disguises? Clothes? " asked a puzzled Keke. "I thought we were just gonna drop in. I'll wrap my coils around this bum, and you'll just do the sexy bite drain thing on him."

Selexia sighed. "If it was only that simple. Though our prey is just a mortal, he is infuriatingly hard to track, even by magical means. I have a lead, but I don't want to discourage you. This might take weeks if not months."

Keke shrugged. The time frame was annoying, but it didn't mean much to her. She had lived so long, she had literally forgotten more of her life than she currently remembered, especially considering her relatively recent ordeals in Taraksun's torture pits. Besides, it wasn't like she had a busy schedule ahead with losing her command and being kicking out of the army. All because of a poorly planned invasion that was foiled by some Vinraji holy woman.

"Wait, " said Keke as a sudden thought came to her. "If it's gonna be awhile for you to track down this rogue of yours, do you mind if we go on a little side errand first?"

"Eh?" asked Selexia suspiciously.

"Just a small trip," explained Keke. "You're not the only one with a score to settle you know."