Contract

I'm glad it was raining, because it hid the tears that slid down my face as the sun sank down over the horizon. The battlefield around me was full of the dying and the dead, forgotten as the battle progressed, leaving us, the fallen, for the mercy of the crows. I'd done the same before, even to my best friends as they lay there, dying from horrific wounds.

Much the same as my own position.

I couldn't describe the pain I felt as my lifeblood leaked from the wound in my abdomen, caused by the viscous swing of the barbarian's axe. It's funny that I should have lived from that, only to be subjected to the slow, ah agonizing death, lying in a pool of my own blood and filth.

Ah, oh well, at least I got to see one last sunset. Not everyone can say that I suppose.

As I pondered what lay beyond, the soft sound of footsteps in the muddy earth came to me with a slow, careful, "shluck, shluck, shluck."

I didn't even have the energy to look at the newcomer, nor great them in anyway. If they were here to loot a corpse, well they could either finish the job or wait. It was undignified to loot a living body, of course. That's stealing.

I weakly began to laugh, no real sound coming out, but my body convulsed, giving the illusion of laughing. Really all that happened was that I felt incredibly painful, but that hardly mattered, I was already painful.

"Shhhh, hush now. There is no need for such things."

I blinked, trying to piece together the words i just heard. The voice was smooth and sensual, that of a woman, and I couldn't get past the confusion of why a woman would be on the field. A medica? No... No they didn't go to the field, they stayed behind. Too dangerous otherwise.

With effort, I strained against the pain and lifted my head, my eyes barely able to comprehend the sight before me. As the rain bore down, a bolt of lightning split the sky, lighting my visitor. At my feet stood a tall, gorgeous woman with skin the color of the night sky. She wore baroque armor which barely covered her skin, and accentuated her lovely features, making her breasts seem more full, her hips more round and lascivious. From her back sprouted a pair of dark, bat-like wings which were held close  to her body, and upon her head sat a glorious rack of horns which curved up through her long, black hair and caressed her beautiful face, who's dark, red eyes shone in the flash of light.

"Do you wish to live?"

I... What? What was that? Of course I wanted to live, what a stupid question. I would have scoffed, but it was taking all my quickly draining energy to stay conscious.

"I've watched you, you know. The way you swing your sword, the conviction you show on the battlefield. And yet here you are, broken and forgotten in some pathetic little skirmish."

She giggled then and I felt a deeper pain than even the one in my abdomen. I cannot say why I felt this way, but it seemed someone how that everything I'd done had just been made meaningless by one careless mistake in the battlefield and I felt small, alone.

Scared.

"But if you wish to change your fate, then here...."

A burst of light appears in the night air, and in her hand sat a piece of parchment, which does not wrinkle in the rain, nor does the faintly glowing ink run. I stared in confusion as she spoke again.

"Here... All you must do is sign this contract, and you will be saved, and more."

She smiled wickedly, "Much, much more."

I knew the letters printed were those of my own script, but to me they appeared a meaningless jumble. I hesitated, remembering stories of these... Demons, which came to men and offered them power or pleasure in return for signing contracts. I was warned to never trust them, and or any other monster for that matter.

But that was when I was not dying in the rain. She leaned close, her breasts glistening as the rain slid down them, her eyes alight in anticipation. I closed my eyes and she seemed to understand, taking my hand and dipping it in my own blood before pressing  it to the parchment, the red fluid seeming to be absorbed into the paper as if it was imprinted.

As she began to cackle, I was glad that it was raining, for I knew that I was still crying.



The head of the bandit king hit the ground with a disgusting noise of impact, and his body staggered, then fell limply to the ground, blood pumping from the stump of a neck.

I checked around and saw there were no other bandits before leaning down and wiping my sword upon the earth, freeing it from the blood of the five men I had just slain. Viscous men, the lot of them, who preyed upon humans and mamano alike, killing them was not merely necessary, but in it's own way, a form of justice.

The now familiar sound of heels on bare earth filled my ears and I turned to behold the form of my contractor, the Demon. She smiled at with that all too familiar smile, and I felt my body quake at the sight. Three years since I had been rebuilt from the broken man in the mud into this stronger, faster man and I still felt that way at her smile.

"Well done! My mistress will be most pleased with your actions here today."

"I didn't do it for her."

"Hahaha... Is that so?"

She smiled even wider and laid a hand upon the baroque armor I wore, adorned with spikes and painted a series of red and black, much a match to her own, although it actually afforded me protection. It was a gift from her,  when I had signed the contract, and it has served me well over these years taking on these tasks for her and her mistress.

Even through the armor, I could feel the warmth of her touch, and see her cheeks heat up as she studied the blood that covered my form. Her wings twitched up slightly and I could guess what was to happen next. Her eyes glowed brilliant red and my armor seemed to melt off me, as if it was never there, leaving my body bare to the elements, without a scrap of clothing.

She pressed up against me, her own armor seeming to melt away, and I could feel her soft breasts and smooth skin against my solid muscles, the sweat of our bodies mixing as she guided me downwards. My body was already aching for her and she grinned wickedly, malicious glee in her eyes as she whispered,

"It's time to fulfill your contractual duties, my Husband."