Chapter 1

     It was an especially cold night tonight. As was evident by the frigid winds blowing into the almost completely bare room through its open window.

     At first glance, this room would actually seem more like a dungeon cell in an ancient castle or a fantasy novel. Cold stone floors with a bed of straw on the floor in one of the corners. Calling it a bed was being generous though. It was really nothing more than just a pile of straw that had been spread out to slightly resemble a mattress and hand a ratty old blanket atop it. It’s pillow was also a worn out old cloth pillow case that had also been filled with straw. And top bring it all together, another blanket to serve as the only thing close to a comforter.

     Needless to say, this was not a comfortable thing to sleep on. Not even in the least. Nevertheless, someone was indeed sleeping on it. And shockingly having a pleasant dream.

     The figure occupying the bed was an Incubus at the age of fifty, which would be equivalent to twenty in normal human years. Like all incubi, his skin was an abnormal color, his being a form of hot pink. Adorning his head were two white horns that stuck out through his short, darker pink hair. His tail was pressed against his legs, and his wings, which were currently in their small form, were compacted against his back.

     The young a Incubus, despite the cold air penetrating the room, actually felt warm and happy in his slumber. He was currently dreaming that he was far away from his current position, frolicking on the beach with what looked like two women in tiny swimsuits. All three of them were having a fantastic time, and the Incubus felt true happiness. Especially so when both women decided to shed their swimsuits’ tops right in front of him, playfully daring him to come catch them.

     This dream was similar to many others he had been having lately. Every night, each dream featured two women, seemingly human, in a myriad of different locations and situations. While it was hard to tell, both women appeared to be the same in each dream, but he always found it impossible to remember any details about them when he woke. Only that they were gorgeous, and cared about him.

     This dream though, when he was close enough to them both, he leapt forward. Grabbing both of them and softly bringing them to the ground, all of them laughing and having fun. But very quickly, the two of them flipped him over on his back, and got on top of him. Both of them started to kiss the sides of his face, making their way downward to his neck as their hands went to his groin that was concealed behind a pair of tight swim trunks, and their other hands felt up his chest.

     The Incubus in his dream closed his eyes, as the women told him they loved him, right before-

     “KYLEROTH!!! Wake up you useless fuckwit!” a male voice, accompanied by aggressive banging on and old wooden door that closed off the room came booming in, startling the youth Incbus awake, terrified, and saddened.

     Kyleroth Larnil, the youngest of three siblings, was awake and scrambling to get dressed. However, using the term “dressed” is a very generous way to put it. In a different corner of the room was a pile of cloths and rags. Most of them were filthy, or damaged, or both. But they were unfortunately all he had to wear. Fishing through the pile, Kyleroth eventually found a loincloth like article that would cover his groin and posterior. He quickly slipped it on before bolting to the door and opening it. Taking a step out.

     “Sorry for the wa-“ right as Kyleroth took a step outside his room, he found himself falling to the ground. He was quick thinking enough though to prepare himself for the impact so that he would not fall face first, thus saving his nose and mouth from any damage.

     From the ground, he could hear the same male voice laughing, accompanied by two female voices. He looked up to see another incubus, this one with dark purple skin and black hair, and two succubi near him. One succubus had dark blue skin and purple hair, while the other had pink skin and blue hair. The pink one was wearing a tight, black leather suit that exposed her toned midriff and highlighted her large breasts, while the blue one was wearing a school girl outfit like one would find in Japanese schools, which fit her petite and deceptively young looking body. The incubus with them was also wearing a black leather outfit that exposed his well sculpted abs, but covered his pectorals and arms, which he was now crossing over his chest as all three of them looked down at him with cruel joy at him falling.

     “Guess we didn’t have to wait too long for you to come out after all,” the blue Succubus said, her voice sound much older than her appearance suggested, gesturing to the pink succubus, “Meznessa was worried she’d have to keep her tail in front of the door for much longer.”

     “Yeah I did. But thankfully, Azervyn’s yelling scared you into being quick,” she added, bending down slightly to look down at Kyleroth even more condescendingly.

     “Alright Mezzy, Catlienne, get back and let the little bastard pick himself up,” the incubus known as Azervyn said as the three of them stepped back a bit. Kyleroth sighed, getting up slowly from his prone position. He should have known this was a prank. These three, along with the others in their group, did this all the time to him.

     “Are you guys done? I was sleeping,” Kyleroth told them, a faint scent of meekness in his voice. He was never very good at standing up for himself.

     “Oh, this wasn’t just a prank you moron,” Catlienne said rudely, hands on her hips, “We were actually asked to come get you.”

     “By who?” Kyleroth asked, surprised someone wanted to speak to him.

     “Your dear older brother, of course,” Meznessa said with a dreamy smile at the mention of Kyleroth’s older sibling. Kyleroth himself though, was more shocked than anything else. Zaelon rarely ever requested to see him these days, unless it was to scold him on a failed hunt. And Kyleroth had not been on a hunt since his last reprimanding.

     “Y-You’re serious?” Kyleroth asked sheepishly. Azervyn growled to himself as he stepped forward and grabbed Kyleroth by one of his horns, pulling him with him as he walked down the ancient looking hallway. Kyleroth let loose with a torrent of light “ows” as the older incubus pulled him roughly by the horn. The two succubi were doing their best to avoid bursting into laughing at the sight as they followed the incubi.

     “While messing with you is fun, we wouldn’t waste the effort on coming to get you, especially when we could be with Lady Jynsya, if it wasn’t for something important!” Azervyn said angrily. Kyleroth inwardly cringed, hearing the name of his cruel older sister. That combined with the pulling on his horns, made it even harder for him to hold back whining like a hurt child.

     “Though on the bright side, we do get to see you talk to her first before you see your brother,” Catlienne said with a sort of sadistic glee. Kyleroth felt a stinging sensation in his heart, learning that she was actually at her post tonight outside Zaelon’s throne room. But he didn’t have long to worry about that. As soon after Catlienne said that, Kyleroth felt himself being thrown onto the hard stone floor in a large, open room.

     Once again able to save his face from suffering the brunt of damage, he immediately heard laughing from around him. Most of them male laugher, but a some female as well. Kyleroth looked up slightly to see a pair of feet before him. They were elegant feet with the same skin color as his, but with dark purple toenails that were long and sharp. Almost like claws. And while the feet were bare, he could see the bottoms of metal greaves that, if he looked up, would run from the ankles to the upper thighs of the owner. Not that he needed to look further up, as he knew who it was.

     The laughter continued for a couple more seconds until it came to a dead silence. That is when Kyleroth looked up. Standing above him and looking down at him was a succubus. Again, with the same skin color as him, but her long, braided pony-tail hair as well as her eyes were blood-red. Her body was almost like lust incarnate, curvy in all the right places and with a generous pair of breasts that were not too large. She was wearing what looked like a chainmail bikini, black iron vambraces and greaves that left her hands and feet bare, and a bronze tiara around her forehead. The way she was currently standing, she was holding up both hands with her pointer fingers extended upward, as if point to the ceiling. Obviously the signal that silenced her retinue.

     In addition to Azervyn, Meznessa and Catlienne, the retinue consisted of three other incubi and one other succubus, all with their own attire and features. And all lookin at Kyleroth with either cruel amusement or bitter contempt.

     After Kyleroth made eye contact with the succubus before him, she lowered her arms and crouched down to get closer to his lever, a smirk on her face.

     “Good evening, my sleepyhead little brother,” she said, in a deceptively sweet tone. Kyleroth broke eye contact and looked back down at the floor before meekly answering.

     “H-Hello, L-Lady Jynsya,” he replied softly. Jynsya giggled as she grabbed Kyleroth by his left arm and lifted him up into a standing position.

     “You know, I should correct you on your state of dress, but that would be kinda hypocritical of me. Wouldn’t it boys and girls?!” She said to her retinue, all of them agreeing in humor. Kyleroth continued to look at the ground, clenching fists, but saying and doing nothing.

     “But then again, it’s not my fault you can’t hunt properly,” she said, starting to circle him slowly.

     “Yeah! If you could actually get the dick that’s wasted on you into a human, maybe you could get yourself a nice little frilly skirt to actually wear!” One of the Incubi in her retinue yelled at him, earning laughter from the others, and a chuckle from Jynsya as she still circled him.

     “L-Look, sister,” Kyleroth finally spoke up timidly, shocking everyone in the room and causing Jynsya to stop pacing right behind him, “I’m sorry, but Zaelon wants to talk to me. C-Could we please continue this later-“

     Before Kyleroth could finish his sentence though, Jynsya stomped with her heel onto his tail. Hard. Causing Kyleroth to cry out in pain. But right after that, with Jynsya still standing on his tail, she swept his legs out from under him, making him fall yet again. This time though, on his back. The instant he was on the ground though, Jynsya removed her foot from his tail and placed it on his upper chest. In a position so that her claw-like toenails were pressing against his chin, drawing blood slightly.

     “C’mon! Beat him senseless Honorable Lady!” One of the succubi yelled.

     “Yes! Show him how to be respectful to those who are better than him!” one of her incubi added. More jeers and calls for a brutal punishment for Kyleroth rang out from his sister’s retinue, all while she just stared down at him with a contemptuous look, as if he had said the greatest insult to her.

     And in fact, to her, he actually did.

     Holding up a hand for her retinue to stop, causing them to once again fall into dead silence, she leaned forward slightly closer to the currently terrified Kyleroth, who was doing his best to keep himself from panicking. For the last time he was in a situation like this, he left with a broken wrist and his tail painfully tied in an extremely tight knot.

     “Listen here you little fucker,” she said emotionlessly, but still threateningly as well, “We’ve been over this. You, are NEVER to call me sister. And you better be thankful that Zaelon is expecting you because if he wasn’t, I’d probably fracture your empty little skull and rupture your useless balls to get that to finally sink in.”

     “Y-Yes! I’m sorry si- I mean Lady Jynsya!” He said with a trembling voice, trying not to nod so as to avoid impaling his chin on her toenails any further. For a few seconds more, Jynsya just stood there looking down at him hatefully.

     When that small amount of time passed though, she applied a little more pressure to his chest before speaking.

     “I think we’ve kept you from Zaelon long enough. His time is valuable after all. But don’t worry. We’ll be sure to play with you more later,” she said before finally removing her foot from Kyleroth’s chest. Kyleroth quickly and skittishly tried to back away from her. Most of her retinue expressed disappointment in letting him go for now, clearly wanting to torment him some more.

     “And remember, to keep your mouth shut about this,” she threatened before turning around to her retinue, “Okay my friends, let’s head out. We have bigger fish to fry right now.”

     As she said that, she turned and walked away from her brother towards the large doorway that lead out of the room. Her whole retinue was quick to follow her.

     “Way to put the little shit in his place great Lady,” Azervyn said, to which virtually all the others agreed, calling Kyleroth various other horrible names as they left. And when they were finally out of sight and hearing distance, Kyleroth finally broke.

     Still sitting his bare posterior on the cold stone, he brought both hands to his face and silently wept. Yes, this was not a new occurrence in his life, but he still never got used to the emotional, physical, and psychological abuse he received from just about every other member of his kind. All he wanted to do was go back to his room, lay in bed, and dream again. That was his only respite.

     After letting it all out to himself for a while, Kyleroth finally stood up, wiping his face of any excess tears and trying to make it seem like he had not been crying. When he was sure he was more presentable, he approached the ornate door that was opposite the one his sister and her retinue had left out of. This door was made of bronze, and one panel had a very artistic carving of an Incubus on one side, and an equally artistic one of a Succubus on the other. He knocked a couple of times, and the door slowly opened just enough to allow him entrance to the room.

     Kyleroth took a few steps into the massive room, which was revealed to be a throne room. Much like the rest of the structure, it was mostly stone, but also included a dark red carpet that led from the throne at the back to the entrance. It was large enough to hold at least fifty people at once, and along the sides were openings akin to panels of medieval era windows. The room was light on decorations, save for a few wall mounted torches and wall banners featuring famous artists’ depictions of both Succubi and Incubi, and two other banners that flanked the throne held the symbol of the community that made their home here on Ripper’s Reef.

     The throne itself was expertly carved from obsidian into a masterpiece, in a style akin to ancient kings of Eastern Europe, but with more spikes around the edges. Furthermore, the area around the throne was elevated slightly, allowing whoever sat in it to see everyone if a crowd was present.

     The most intimidating sight in the room though, was the one occupying the throne.

     “Kyleroth… what kept you?” A masculine voice echoed through the hall. Kyleroth gulped before stepping forward and answering.

     “I-I-I’m sorry, brother. I was asleep when you summoned me, and I got held up on the way h-here,” he answered. The figure, Zaelon Larnil, Incubus Prime of Ripper’s Reef, stood up from his throne. Standing at seven feet in height, he made Kyleroth’s six foot five inches seem much smaller than it was. On top of that, he was extremely well built, having the muscles and body any man would desire, and fear the strength of. Much like Kyleroth, his skin tone was a dark pink, but his long hair was jet black, eyes were blue, and four horns adorned his head. His chest and arms were completely bare, save for his forearms that were encased in black metal vambraces. He wore armored leggings, made from the same material as his vambraces, and with a cloth covering his codpiece thar also adorned the Ripper’s Reef symbol. His tail was shorter than Kyleroth’s, but unlike most other of his kind, his dragon-like wings were always present, and so large that it made him seem more like her was nine feet tall instead of seven.

     Making eye contact with Kyleroth, Zaelon sighed as he stepped forward, approaching his brother. Kyleroth looked down at the ground, trembling as he was approached. And when Zaelon was within arm’s length of Kyleroth, he stopped and stood before him with his hands behind his back.

     “Stop trembling and man up Kyleroth,” he said bluntly, “And look at me when I’m talking to you.”

     Kyleroth hesitantly did so, wrenching his gaze away from the floor and re-made eye contact with Zaelon. Zaelon did not look angry, but rather disappointed.

     “You know I am a busy man, little brother. So you should not keep me waiting,” he said calmly, but still in a slightly-scolding manner. Kyleroth nodded, and that’s when Zaelon noticed the small wounds from Jynsya’s toenails on his chin.

     “What happened to you there?” He asked, pointing to Kyleroth’s chin. That was also when Kyleroth remembered that he even had those wounds, to begin with.

     “I, um… I fell. On my way here, I tripped,” Kyleroth lied. Zaelon sighed in annoyance, stepping forward and gripping his brother’s chin with one of his hands. Zaelon breathed deeply, and the palm of his hand began to glow purple. Kyleroth felt a slight burning sensation on his chin, but when it stopped and Zaelon pulled his hand away, the wounds on his chin were gone completely.

     “Th… Thank you Zaelon,” Kyleroth said.

     “Do not thank me. Instead, try to be less clumsy in the future,” he said.

     “Of course brother…” Kyleroth replied, “But, didn’t you have need of me?

     Zaelon nodded slowly once before placing a hand on Kyleroth’s shoulder.

     “I have a hunt for you tonight,” he told him. Kyleroth’s eyes widened at hearing this. Never before had his brother set up a hunt for him, as this was highly uncommon amongst Incubi and Succubi alike. But Kyleroth knew his brother. He had no sense of humor, so of course he was dead serious.

     “You what?!”

     “You heard me. I had one of our own scout out a woman who I think will be easy prey for you out in San Antonio. A wild card who enjoys spending time with many men. The only problem is that she has a roommate, who actually chased away my scout. As long as you are stealthy about it, you will be fine,” Zaelon briefed him as if he was a teacher talking to his student. But Kyleroth was not sure how to handle this.

     “Zaelon, why would you do this?” Kyleroth asked, to which Zaelon finally sighed in annoyance, removing his hand from Kyleroth’s shoulder.

     “Because it’s clear you need this much help!” He said, “For goodness sake Kyleroth, look at you! You are fifty and you have NEVER lain with a woman! As a result, you have not gained any more magic since you were twenty, and it is embarrassing to our family!”

     Kyleroth looked down at the floor again, feeling embarrassed and ashamed of himself right now. But he could not help it. Zaelon, Jynsya, and most of their community knew that Kyleroth was not like other Incubi or Succubi. Whenever he tried to seduce women, or take advantage of them while they slept, or anything akin to his kind, he could never bring himself to do it. He did not want to force the women to sleep with him, even if he ultimately made them want it through seduction or convincing them. To him, that was just the same thing as forcing them, but with extra steps. And he did not like the idea of taking them when they slept either.

     Zaelon saw the way Kyleroth was looking back down again, and sighed.

     “Look Kyleroth, think of it this way,” he said, stepping next to him and wrapping an arm around his shoulder, “The woman we chose, like I said, is very active sexually. So of course she would want to lay with you. All you would have to do is make sure she does not wake up, or her roommate. And if she does wake up, simply show her what you have, and she will cooperate,” he explained emotionlessly.

     That was another thing Kyleroth was unsure about. Despite having never been with anyone sexually, his package was very well endowed. So much so that many of his kind resented him for it, thinking it was waste on him.

     “I-I still do not know Zaelon…” Kyleroth said. Zaelon stopped him though.

     “Kyleroth… as your brother, and the oldest of our family, I am merely trying to help you do what’s best for you,” Zaelon told him, “Even if that means I have to make you do this. Because in addition to not allowing you to refill your magic, you need to think about what kind of image this sets for our family.”

     “I know…” Kyleroth said, knowing he had no other choice, “Where is she?”

     Zaelon finally cracked a small smirk at hearing Kyleroth say that.

     “She is at a high-quality apartment building called Prescott Towers in downtown San Antonio. Apartment 703W,” he said.

     “How, um… how will I get there?” Kyleroth asked, feeling more nervous that saddened now. Zaelon did not answer, and instead placed both hands on Kyleroth’s shoulders as his palms started to glow again. Doing this, he granted Kyleroth just enough magic to allow him to summon his own wings, which he did.

     “Thank you, brother,” Kyleroth said, about ready to take off when Zaelon grabbed his hand and stopped him quickly, the both of them locking gazes again.

     “Remember, try it silently. And if that fails, just present yourself to her. She will want you,” Zaelon told him. Kyleroth nodded.

     “I will. And I will try not to let you down again,” Kyleroth said. With that Zaelon let go, and Kyleroth took off, flying out through one of the open windows into the night sky.

     Zaelon watched as his brother disappeared into the distance, sighing once more. He knew he was hard on him. But he needed to do it. He did care about his little brother, just like he cared for his little sister. But he also needed to keep his family’s reputation and name unsullied, and he also knew that this would ultimately be good for Kyleroth.

     And he was right… just not for the reasons he thought.

     Kyleroth continued to fly through the sky, enjoying the cool air on his mostly bare body, and the feeling of freedom this gave him, even if it was temporary.

     At the speed he was flying, it only took Kyleroth ten minutes of transit to for the coastal city of Corpus Christi to come into view. From Corpus Christi, he knew exactly where to go to get to his destination in San Antonio. Especially since the location was sent to his head by his brother.

     The flight to San Antonio was a little bit longer than to one from Ripper’s Reef to Corpus Christi, lasting twelve minutes instead of ten. San Antonio, even at this hour of night, was as bright and bustling as ever. In truth, Kyleroth had envied the human way of life at night more than he did his own kind. It was far more lively, as opposed to the quiet he had back home. But then again, that probably had more to do with the fact that he preferred to be alone at home, as Zaelon was often busy and he never wanted to be with Jynsya and her retinue.

     Kyleroth was lucky to avoid flying into any especially bright areas as he searched for Prescott Towers. Eventually though, he did find it. Like Zaelon said, it was in downtown, and it was fairly hard to miss. The complex consisted of two identical structures that were connected by a series of sky bridges ever five floors. The buildings themselves had cylindrical shapes with silver and white design on the exteriors and were fifteen stories in height each. Where every apartment was, with the exception of the first floor, a small balcony housed various different items for the occupants. Many had furniture, some had plants, others had grills. And while he could not see it right now, atop the west building was a pool, and the east’s roof held a recreational center.

     Kyleroth knew his target was on the seventh floor and in the third apartment. So he flew down until he was at the seventh floor, and quickly found the one he was looking for. He carefully landed on the balcony, his wings shrinking to a much smaller size as he touched down. Being as quiet as possible, he stepped to the sliding glass door that led inside, pleasantly surprised to find it unlocked. Though at the same time, he found it odd. Given what Zaelon told him, he would expect the two women who occupied this apartment to be more careful. But then again, they probably did not consider that the creatures they scared off would return. So Kyleroth brushed the doubts aside and stepped in, slowly closing the door behind him.

     He found himself in the living room and kitchen. The place was quite lovely. The floor was laminated white oak, and the entertainment area held a large rug and an even larger sectioned sofa that looked extremely comfortable. All of it was centered around a wall-mounted flat screen HD television that was easily forty-eight inches. The living room area was sectioned off from the kitchen area by a counter top that formed a connecting U with another one that was against the wall, cabinets and cupboards across them all.

     There were some abstract art pieces on the white walls, but what stood out mostly was a map of the world on one of them. The map was designed to look like an old explorer’s map, and had blue markings on various locations around upon it.

     Kyleroth wondered what that was about, but more importantly to his purpose of even being here, he saw a hallway that he assumed lead to the bedrooms. Silently making his way over there, he saw a total of five doors down the hallway. Two on each side, and one at the end. The first doors on both sides though were the ones that stood out, as unlike the other three doors which where bare, each one had decorations and a small sign on each of them. Kyleroth approached the doors and looked them both over. The one of his right was decorated with images of books and pens, and an ornate crucifix cross while the sign on it read “Paige” written in cursive. The one on his left had decorations consisting of stars, hearts, and a small poster of the band Nine Inch Nails. Its sign read “Stella” in normal print. Given the decoration on the door, Kyleroth assumed the target was this Stella woman.

     With a thundering heartbeat and a shaking hand, Kyleroth reached for the door knob, slowly turned it, and even more slowly opened the door. He stepped inside and quietly closed the door behind him. Because of his natural night vision, he was able to seem almost perfectly in the dark of the room. All around were posters of movies, bands, video games, and something he had never seen before of cartoon characters with strange designs. There was a sliding door inside that led to the closet, and in one corner was a desk that housed a device he had heard of called a computer. It was turned off at the moment though, so it did not illuminate any light. On a nearby dresser, there was a digital clock that displayed 12:18am.

     Near the closet was the bed. And laying in it, a beautiful young woman in her early to middle twenties. Kyleroth immediately noticed that she was not covered by the sheets of the bed except her legs up to her thigh. This allowed Kyleroth to see her better. She had an athletic, curvy body, with brown hair that reached her shoulders. She was currently wearing a tight, sleeveless tank top that highlighted her large breasts and showed off some of her stomach, and a pair of light blue panties that hid very little.

     Kyleroth gulped. This woman was indeed very beautiful… and he was there to lay with her… Needless to say, the thundering in his chest picked up in speed as he stepped closer to her.

     “I… I’m so sorry about this…” Kyleroth whispered with a nervous frown as he reached for the waist of his loincloth, ready to disrobe.

     He would not get the chance though.

     Right before he could remove his clothes, the girl in bed swiftly sat up, a devious smile on her face, looking right at Kyleroth. This also allowed him to see that this Stella had striking hetrochromia, with her left eye being blue and her right eye being green.

     “Now Paige!” She yelled.

     The closet door slid open quickly, revealing another woman around the same age as the other. She had the same body type as Stella, but while she also had large breasts, they were still slightly smaller. Her hair was also jet black and reach down to her back, and she was wearing far more conservative night time clothes, consisting of a loose t-shirt and a pair of silk shorts. She also was wearing a pair of glasses that shielded a pair of brown eyes. In her hand, this woman held a small, white book.

     The new woman, Paige, spoke loudly in Latin.

     “Sanctus Deus, da mihi virtutem capere hic foedus cum bestia!”

     Kyleroth was already stunned by Stella being awake and Paige emerging from the closet. His shock only intensified when a bright, almost blinding light burst from the book Paige was holding. Light so powerful that Kyleroth had to shield his eyes. As he did though, he felt something forming around his neck. Along with it, a light burning sensation.

     He could not see it right now, but at that moment, a silver collar with a few chain links was forming around his neck.

     Kyleroth was terrified, but felt unable to move, even after the light dissipated after the collar finished forming.

     “Tradite!” Paige yelled. The next think Kyleroth knew, he was pulled own to his hands and knees. Stella reached over and turned on a lamp she had sitting on a night stand as she got out of bed and stood next to Paige.

     ‘No… what is happening?! Why can’t I move?!’ Kyleroth thought to himself as he looked down at the carpeted floor. He heard the two women approach him and stop. When they did, Kyleroth looked up to them, making eye contact with both.

     Stella had an amused and smug smirk on her face as she crossed her arms underneath her chest, while Paige looked down at him with an expression of anger and mild disgust while holding the book to her own chest.