The Demon King of the Desert

Chapter 3

The thought made you nervous, but now that the demon had you, how could you decline? He kept you in his bedroom that was to be both of yours now. The covers still continued to surprise you had how comfortable they were. Maybe it was all those stories either spoken by mouth or written down in books, but you assumed he would be living in a literal hell palace. This felt vastly different than that.

The bellowing curtains that danced to the grace of the wind near the open archway of the bedroom were peeled back. Demiurge and a nameless female demon entered the room once more.

The woman looked almost like any other person you had seen on the streets had it not been for the antelope like horns upon her head that were black at the base before slowly turning to a deep brown. She was carrying a box of some type with her as she followed behind Demiurge.

The devil made it to the bedside, sitting down on the covers and encouraging you to lie on your back. He moved his bare palm across your forehead, trying to soothe you for some reason.

"Now, this may hurt a bit. I warn you of that now," said Demiurge with a smile that tried to be quite genuine. He obviously never really smiled outside of being malicious or destructive towards creatures he saw as lesser than him.

"Hurt...?" Your whole body tensed as you watched as the female demon opened the box and brought out what looked like an actual branding iron that was used on cattle. The moment your eyes laid sight on such a thing, you tried to get up and run only to have Demiurge's claws grab your shoulders and urge you back down.

"Shh, shh," he whispered, trying to block the sight of the thing as it was heated. "You'll be all right. I promise, my dear."

"You're going to actually brand me!" you screeched, not sure how to even feel about this. You were thankful for him rescuing you, but this—this felt too far.

"This is for your own safety," Demiurge insisted, moving a bit more in the way so you couldn't actively see what was about to happen.

"It is ready, Lord Demiurge," spoke the woman.

Demiurge moved one of his hands away, grabbing at the clothing you were wearing to expose your left thigh. "Go ahead. Here should be fine."

You felt him tap on the center of your outer thigh, making your eyes tear up as you didn't want to endure this. It was going to be horrific. The demon moved his hand near your mouth, urging you to open it. Just as you had, he ushered it inside, placing his palm down in your mouth for some reason.

"Bite down on my hand if you need to. You won't harm me," Demiurge requested as you felt his tail thump the covers of the bed.

It was then the hot metal burned into your skin. Screaming, on reflex you bit down on his hand as he ordered you to. Tears streamed from your eyes as you tried to get away but the demon used his entire body weight to keep you still.

"Don't move so much!" he demanded through clenched teeth. "It'll hurt worse if you do!"

Your flesh was tearing, peeling apart as the metal made a mark of some sort on your body. The few minutes this took might as well have been hours. It was hard for you to even think. You almost blacked out from the pain.

"It's over."

Those words were salvation as you felt the pain slowly ebbing away. Tears still blinded your vision as you quivered there upon the bed.

Demiurge removed his hand from your mouth, grabbing a tissue from his nearby nightstand to wipe away the tears upon your face. "Shh, it's over now," he cooed. "The worst part, anyways."

The worst part...There was more? You were terrified to ask as your body still shook from the spasms of pain that were still fresh on your body.

The sound of the box closing emanated about the room before the female demon took to her feet. "I'll take my leave now, my Lord."