Kayla could barely contain her excitement as she hid behind a small mound of rocks, waiting for her target to show up. She risked a glance over at her work partner's direction, seeing that Ayla had hid behind one of the many rock pillars that lined the throne room of the Satan. She had expected that the most powerful demon of Infirium to live in a grand, medieval castle yet the throne room was nothing but a flat surface upon a mountain, lined with pillars that eventually led up to a huge, crude throne that seemed to have been carved from the mountain-wall itself. Sighing the 26yr old human reporter and photographer slid her back against the rocks and brushed a bang of short, raven-black hair from her eyesight. The teleportation spell, preformed by an ex-warlock had cost her more than a small fortune, yet around her neck, hanging from a strap she was carrying an even greater fortune, her holocam, loaded with pictures and short movie clips of their trip into the demon's homeworld. No one had ever before managed to document their habitat and in truth, Kayla had never seen a more harsh, yet beauitiful landscape. Wide stretches of savannah, huge towering, black mountains and the harsh, orange sky all seemed to say one thing "Grow strong or die!". However, all of that would pale in comparison to her crowning achievement, bringing back pictures of the most powerful demon ever known to Man, the Greater Hellbeast, Zuul Grimtooth in his natural surroundings. Although there existed tons of pictures of the Hellbeast terrorizing cities of Pangea no one had ever managed to snap off a few shots of the monstrosity in his homeworld. Kayla adjusted her holocam strap and raised her arms above her head, stretching a few muscles before she smoothed out out the black tanktop, which hugged her chest like a silent lover. A small smile spread across her lips, she knew she were beautiful and that beauty had been a small cog in her career, giving her access to exclusive interviews and stories other reporters only could dream about. The name Wrathbane appeared in Kayla's mind and her smile grew. She had played the male dragon as a violin, giving him a mixture of attention, trust and care. During their days together, back on the mega-planet known as Gaia, where The Erruption happened, reintroducing magic back into the universe, the fresh-out-of-school, 18yr old reporter had finally caved in the reptilian giant. Apparently he had not always been a dragon but a strike team soldier, sent in to retreive crucial data sought after by his employers, the Terra Corporation, before The Erruption devastated their mining activities in the Deathfall Mine, owned by a Terra Corps subsidairy, Orestrike Mining Operations. Wrathbane had managed to secure the data but not before being swallowed whole by a raging stream of magical energy that surged through the underground mining facility, obliterating his human form and molding it into something new. Afterwards, fuelled with a need to feed upon flesh and souls, a desire rivalling the need to search for his girlfriend, he had attacked countless cities, the reptilian brain locked in a battle of survival against the strong urge to find and protect his woman. Kayla chuckled at the memories. After several days he had been a hot mess of sobbing, an emotional sponge begging for attention. Coming to think of it, she couldn't even name a single reporter that had gotten such an extensive interview with any living dragon, less alone close-up photage of one's junk. She idly wondered if the huge reptilian ever found his mate. The sound of rocks moving and the ground shaking beneath her feet brought the human reporter back to the present. Like an earthquake it began with subtle ripples that soon enough became ear-splitting explosions as huge chasms began to appear in the mountain's surface. Just as it felt like Kayla's eardrums were about to split wide open and her hands reached for her head the beast appeared on the horizon. If her mouth dropped open by the Grimtooth's entrance she wouldn't even have noticed it, instead her gaze was drawn to the terrified braying of a Hell Plains mammoth caught in the clutches of one massive, furred handpaw. As the demon made it's way to it's throne severe dust storms followed in the trail of it's massive, spiked hooves, causing Kayla to take cover from the onslaught of wind and dust. She managed to snag a couple of photos as the massive beast turned and sat down on it's crude throne, raising the terrified animal to it's muzzle, exposing a drooling maw filled with yellowed, razor-sharp fangs. The next scene caused Kayla's stomach to wrench in disgust as the Hellbeast bit the mammoth's head clean off, the sound of it's neck and skull being crushed sounding like the immense strike of a lightning bolt striking the ground. An involuntary shrug travelled down the human's spine, it was like she was watching a kid tearing of the legs of a house spider, the mammoth's frame seemed like a struggling fly compared to the mountain-like form of the Hellbeast. Kayla was just about to snap off another slew of pictures when she heard the beating of wings and just as quickly she dived down beneath the rock mound, only risking to raise her face slightly to see a gargoyle-like, grey demon land close to the chiselled-out, long stairway she and Ayla a couple of moments before just had traversed. Although the demon's appearance reminded her of a gargoyle it's head seemed to resemble that of an hammerhead shark. The beast kneeled low, touching it's hideous head to the rocks before rising up and announcing. "The Duchess Kalima is here to see you, as requested, my Lord!", without another word the beast took off in flight, sending up a huge cloud of dust as it ascended to the skies again. Kayla covered her mouth in her right arm and coughed silently as the dust cloud reached her rock mound. As the dust slowly settled the reporter spotted the shadow of a feminine form emerging from the dust. At first the reporter mistook creature to be a Ferrian, white wolf but then Kayla saw the creature had only one, huge bulging, cat-like eye in it's forehead and her maw, which were slightly open revealed rows upon rows of needle-sharp teeth along with a black, slick tongue. Her attire, if one could call it that, seemed to be nothing more than black leatherstraps, chains, fishnets and a plethora of spiked bracelets. Kayla guessed this was what demons considered to be "clothing fashion". "I've answered your summons, my master!", proclaimed the demon. Kayla noticed that the demoness didn't bow and she guessed that the cyclopean demon-wolf was several ranks above the lowly servant that had announced her prescense. Back at his throne the immense Greater Hellbeast perked up the long, bat-like ears before tossing in the remains of mamooth in his maw, then Grimtooth rose and narrowed his eyes at the tiny, white form standing in the entrance to his domain, before the huge, spiked hooves begun to ponderously move forward. Kayla dove down into her hiding spot as the ground began to tremble again, slowly growing in strength to earthquake-like magnitudes again as the Hellbeast approached. She noticed that the demon wolf seemed unphased by the approaching monstrosity, standing their waiting patiently as Grimtooth's shadow engulfed them like a slow-moving lake of tar. A couple of rocks dislodged themselves from the mound causing the human reporter to look up, and just in time Kayla threw herself back as a boulder, the size of a bus, came roaring down to land where she had hid heartbeats earlier. "Forget Wrathbane, this is way more dangerous!", she thought as she picked herself up from the rubble, quickly dusting off her clothes before hugging the mound once again. Above came the sounds of a snout, sniffing heavily, and Kayla risked a glance at the scene before her. Grimtooth had stopped a couple of feet before the white-furred demoness, causing the dust to slowly settle around them as the beast than focused it's gaze upon it's servant. What happened next was something the human reporter found difficult to describe and even then, knowing that Grimtooth possessed the ability of simple speech, nothing had prepared her for the rumbling that followed. "Call of your servants off from Erbu...", rumbled the titan, part of the words maimed by overgrown fangs, a thick tongue and a throat not made for intelligent speech. "But my Lord, I thought you enjoyed Chaos. Is it not that which we strife for?", questioned the demoness, still standing her ground against the Hellbeast's monstrous form. Kayla noted a satisfied smirk on the one-eyed wolf's features. The Greater Hellbeast snorted in return before taking a step which carried him behind the demoness, then without notice the enormous beast lowered it's muzzle to the ground above the one-eyed demon, flinging up huge clouds of dust in the process. "We don't bring Chaos. We end it", snarled the drooling maw. The action was enough to cause the demoness to cower beneath the mountainous maw as huge strings of drool splashed down upon the surface, causing huge plumes of smoke to ascend to the skies as the Greater Hellbeast's sickly-sweet canivorious breath filled the surroundings. Kayla was close to puking when she risked another glance beyond the mound, just in time to catch the Hellbeast's maw close in on the demoness with a chop that left nothing but her legs twitching visible, previously followed by a plea, "I'll call them off, I promise!". A scream of terror followed as the Greater Hellbeast flung it's prey into the air before a hungry maw cut off the noise, mid-scream. Kayla managed a gasp as she retreated among the rubble of the mound, her holocam momentarily forgotten. Not wasting any time Grimtooth flung the hapless demoness into the air, right before his cavernous maw opened to swallow her whole. The silence that followed was complete, nothing but the howling of the wind was heard, and that of a gigantic esaphougus pulling down it's prey to it's digestive tract in one, noisy pull. Kayla remained silent, her terror was complete. Never before had she encountered such a beast with such a lack of remorse or mercy, Grimtooth seemingly ate and devoured his prey as they were nothing but soulless husks, origami figures without a soul or heart. Loud, huffing sniffs caused her body to shrink together even further as she supressed a series of sobs threatening to leave her mouth. Grimtooth tasted the air around him, huge nostrils flaring wide as he tried to locate the odd scent he had tasted earlier. The demon Duchess was dead, so was her scent and aura yet another, sweeter scent lingered in the back of his nostrils. It was fragile, tiny and ingsificant, yet oh so sweet. Raising himself to his full height the Greater Hellbeast yet again tasted the air, stretching his muzzle far into the sky to absorb any trace of the mysterious scent. Then a concentration of scent particles hit his snout, leading his gaze to a lone pillar in the open hall. Driven by pure instinct he stomped towards the stone pillar, crounched down and shot forward a clawed handpaw behind the stone structure. He was rewarded by tiny, whimpering screams as his thumb- and index-claw locked themselves around the ankle of a terrified, human female. Her screams of terror hit him like a physical wall of pleasure as he drew her closer to his enormous muzzle. "Kayla! Save me!!!", cried the human just before Zuul raised her above his open muzzle and released his hold. She slid down his throat without a notice although the Hellbeast had observed one thing about his prey. She had stared with wide eyes at the rubble of rocks nearby. A toothy grin slowly spread itself across drool-drenched fangs as the Greater Hellbeast shifted himself to crounch over the rock rubble far below. Rather than precision-work, this time Zuul opted to raise the entire mound of rocks in one huge handpaw, digging deep under the ground to be able to lift the entire mound in his clawed paw. The earth groaned as he tore it free, closing his fist around it as it was brought closer to his muzzle. The terrified screams from Ayla caused Kayla to tear herself from her self-inflicted paralyzis. Risking a glance from behind the dusty boulders she immediately drew in a sharp gasp of air as she watched the Hellbeast, now crounched with his back turned against her, searching behind the pillar Ayla had remained hidden. She was pulled clear with a scream only to be haplessly raised towards a fanged, drooling muzzle. A couple of heartbeats was all it took for their eyes to meet, Ayla's terrified, tearful gaze locked to Kayla's own gaze of pure, terrifying fear and wonder. Ayla's lips opened to shriek out her last words; "Kayla! Save me!!!", just before the Hellbeast's maw shut close with the sound of a thunderstrike. The human reporter crounched down behind her hiding spot again, fear making her hug her knees in desperation as she hoped the Greater Hellbeast wouldn't pick up her scent. Kayla had been told that Greater Hellbeasts, as apex predator demons possessed an excellent sense of smell, yet she had found it difficult to believe that such huge, monstrous creatures would be able to sniff the mere scent of a tiny human. Tears began to roll down her cheeks, both for her lost companion but also because Ayla had been in possession of their second holocam, a holocam that was now on it's way through a Greater Hellbeast's digestive tract. Although Kayla still had her own holocam filled with photos and short movie clips worth millions she had essentially just lost half of her work. So engrossed was she in her grief that she failed to notice that her surroundings were as quite as the grave. She listened for a couple of heartbeats before slowly standing up, her eyes set on the flight of stone stairs that would take her away from this terrible place. She was just about to make a run for it when the ground beneath her feet began to tremble violently. Surprised and caught unaware Kayla fell backwards as a shadow suddenly engulfed the mound, suffocating any traces of light and sound in the process. At first she thought she had died but then the shadow disappeared only to be replaced with a snarling, drooling maw with fangs rising to the height of skyscrapers. A couple of heavy sniffs followed with winds so strong that Kayla fell face-first among the rubble, her body sliding closer towards the cavernous maw, then the Hellbeast snorted which in turn caused her to fly backwards. She hit her back hard on the rocks and gritted her teeth in pain just as the Greater Hellbeast took a breath and exhaled. Warm, stomach-revolting air swamped Kayla's nostrils, causing her to dry-heave violently. Then the rubble around her began to move, at first only a few, small rocks tumbled past the human but as the tilt grew larger boulders began to fall past her, onwards into the huge Hellbeast's gapping maw. Cursing and crying at the same time Kayla maniacally scrambled for holds as more and more rocks came tumbling down as she desperately tried to climb higher, away from the terrifying, foul-smelling maw, away from danger. Just as Kayla was about to lose her grip the holocam slammed into her right hip, causing it to take a snapshot with full lightning. The roar the followed almost dislodged her but with grim determination she clung on. Blinded by the vicious flash the Greater Hellbeast lowered it's paw, low enough for Kayla to spot another pile of boulders beneath her. There was no time to think and with a scream Kayla launched herself from the Hellbeast's clutches to land and roll upon the small mound of rocks. Pain immediately followed upon her landing as she tumbled down the mound of rocks which ended with Kayla slamming into the volcanic rock-floor with a grunt, sending up a huge cloud of dust in the process. "No time to lose!", she thought and with that the human reporter quickly got up on her feet and ran for the huge, roughly cut-out stairs. Far behind the Hellbeast shook it's head violently, roaring and snarling as he tried to clear the stars that littered his vision. Kayla's feet carried her fast towards the huge stairs and behind her the huge Hellbeast began to grow more distant, which caused the small glimmer of hope in her chest to swell into a magnificant, glowing sun. Safety beckoned and with that a life-insurance which would see her fit to throughout her whole life. She had encountered Grimtooth and lived to tell the tale! Just a few more steps... Behind her the Hellbeast let out an ear-piercing, guttural roar as he spotted the escaping prey. Ponderously the monstrosity set chase after Kayla, quickly gaining on her as the massive hooves carried him closer and closer. Every time a hoof slammed down a small shockwave followed, kicking up dust, dirt and loose rocks from the surface. Calves burning with fatigue Kayla pushed on, tears streamed down her cheeks from the pain in her legs, but the ledge was so close now! A couple of hundred feet was all that were left on her path to safety when a huge shadow fell on the human reporter, coupled with the explosion-like footsteps of the Hellbeast's hooves. Not daring to look behind her Kayla powered on just as a shaggy mountain of a hoof landed before her, the shockwave causing her to be thrown through the air along with a hail of dust and loose rocks. Landing on her back in an awkward position she heard and felt the sharp sound of her right arm breaking. The razor-edge like pain cut through all her defenses and she screamed out in pain, eyes firmly closed shut in a feeble attempt to block out the cold fire that was now searing through her right arm. Rapidly blinking away tears and dust Kayla finally managed to open her eyes only to be greeted with the vision of a gigantic, snarling and drooling muzzle edging towards her. At the same time she opened her mouth to scream the monstrous muzzle parted to drown out the reporter's own screams with an ear-piercing roar. The force of the Hellbeast's warm, sickening breath was strong enough to cause her to skid across the rocky surface, scrapping arms, legs and torso while trying to block out the foul, gut-wrenching air from reaching her nostrils. When the roar finally died out Kayla, dazed, hurting and with ears ringing lifted her head from the ground to stare back at the monstrosity, yet a muffled hissing and a shower of sparks stole her attention. Laying on her stomach, scratched, dented and destroyed beyond repair was her holocam, the cracked LED screen cycling through an endless loop of photos, sound files and short video clips of Greater Hellbeasts observed in the wild. The broken holocam settled on a looping video clip of a Greater Hellbeast female crawling on top of a rock and howling out her song across the orange-clad sky and golden savannah. In the same moment the snarling muzzle of Grimtooth retreated back as the Hellbeast drew himself to his full height, his expression, perplexed and the huge ears flicking back and forth while observing Kayla. Barely beleving what had occured Kayla stared back at the Hellbeast in amazement, had she managed to call off the monster's attack? Then the heavy force of realisation dawned upon her, she had lost her life's work. Her life's work that was now a smouldering pile of scrap metal sitting upon her stomach and spewing sparks and defunct' video material, yet her second realisation was even more terrifying as she observed how the Hellbeast's sheath began to twitch and stir before the monstrous demon's malehood slowly began to climb out of it's protective sheath, strings of muccus highlighting mile-long veins that fuelled the growing monstrosity. "NO NO NO... God no!", screamed Kayla as she struggled to her feet and limped back in the direction of the mountain and the rock throne. Perhaps she could hide in a crevice somewhere. She had to hide! Pain like she had never felt before threatened to swamp her body, it was like immersing oneself in a hot bath, except the hot bath was filled with heated razorblades and needles. Risking a glance backwards she saw the Hellbeast still standing where she had left him, ears still twitching back and forth while it's malehood continued to climb out of the sheath as it grew larger and fatter with every heartbeat. Frantically, Kayla reached for the broken holocam and desperately begun pressing various buttons as she ran on, although to no avail, and the melodic braying of the Hellbeast female still rang on, it's echo bouncing of the rocks and mountains surrounding the human reporter. "Dammit, work you son of a whore!", screamed Kayla in desperation as her fingers quickly punched all available buttons on the broken holocam, hoping that something would happen that could silence the looping videoclip playing. Risking a glance backwards she saw that Grimtooth's malehood had managed to fully escape from the Hellbeast's sheath and now stood, fully erect upwards into the sky, it's height surpassing even Zuul's chin as it flared out to it's full length, much like a blooming flower. "NOOOOOOOO....!!!", a pure scream of terror ripped through the human reporter's throat as she saw Grimtooth beginning to move towards her across the desolate, rocky grounds. Blinking away tears Kayla focused her eyes on a crevice in the mountainside ahead of her, hoping she would have enough time to slide into the hollows and away from the gigantic demon. The pounding of the Hellbeast's immense hooves began to grow closer as Kayla was nearing safety, it was literally whitin an arm's reach and just when she was about to throw herself into the hollow a portion of a shaggy hoof suddenly blocked her path, the impact alone being strong enough to knock the human reporter off from her path. Kayla tumbled backwards in a rain of dust and rocks, stricking her neck against a jutting boulder and with that came the horrible realisation of numbness that instantly spread across her body. Whimpering, Kayla tried to reach her holocam yet the only motion that came from her fingers were broken signals, causing spasms that twitched throughout her body. As she lay there, defensless and crying a shadow appeared above her, blocking out all light, besides a tiny sliver that revealed the Greater Hellbeast's face. Mere heartbeats passed and for a second Kayla managed to utter a single word from her broken body; "Please.....", she managed, just before a trillion tonnes of Hellbeast meat descended upon her. A single scream rent through the air, before the silence followed. Death came mercifully swift. Grimtooth roared out in anger at his tiny prey that had escaped his clutches. Never before had he been so humiliated in not managing to catch such a minor pest invading his territory. The tiny human rolled backwards from the power of his roar and just when he was about to devour her and the surrounding landscape she begun to bray. It was not a bray of fear, neither did it speak of desperation, instead it spoke of longing and belonging, something that left the gigantic demon confused as Grimtooth momentarily paused his attack. The call spoke of mating, to belong to a life-long partner, yet the Hellbeast found it hard to believe that a mere human could possess such feelings for a demon, or was it merely a trick to fool him? Nevertheless, the melodic braying was enough for the gigantic Hellbeast to reach an aroused state of mind. Being a lone, alpha male without no mate in a Hellbeast society meant he often would be viewed with suspicion by other Hellbeasts. By now he should had a harem of willing females circling around him, eager for the chance to mate with an alpha male, eager to carry on his legacy. Yet, as of right now the only one that proved willing to such a deed was the tiny, human female below him. Wasting no time Grimtooth allowed his supressed feelings to show as his malehood began to climb out of his sheath, hoping it somehow would appeal to the miniscule creature down below. Rather then being impressed by his show of virility the human seemed determined to escape his territory to Grimtooth's dissapointment. Still, the braying confirmed that she was willing to mate and the Hellbeast would not let this opportunity go to waste as he pounderously began to close in on the tiny being below him. A stomp of his huge, shaggy hoof saw her flying through the air only to land in the shadow his monstrous, quivering malehood. Grimtooth could almost taste the anticipation upon his tongue, the thought of warm , moist flesh embracing his own member was almost too much to bear. There was no hesitation as his huge form slammed down his immense malehood upon the female below. Grinding, grunting and growling the Hellbeast reached into his deepest desires as his malehood rubbed the ground below him with powerful thrusts. Close to his climax Grimtooth's malehood flared out, doubling in size in preperation for the coming flood, that was until he realised that the braying had suddenly stopped. A grunt followed as the Hellbeast heaved his massive member from the ground below only to see a tiny, miniscule smear of red streaked across the surface of the rocks. There was no sign of the human female. An annoyed grunt followed as the Hellbeast bent down and sniffed around the red smear. Somehow, the human had managed to escape only to leaving a red spot of paint in her place. Slowly, his arousal begun to drain itself as the Hellbeast rose from his supposed mating spot, his malehood suddenly beginning to hang slank as it begun it's climb back into his sheath. Snorting, Grimtooth turned around and walked towards his throne. He had never liked humans, if anything they always managed to sneak away when cornered, much like a Hell Plains mouse..... THE END