Hasty clicking, whipping the camera around a vast field, huffing as his plan goes array. “Damn cheesy doomstacking bastard.” Muttering curses, the military commander looked enraged. Understandably, as his most important piece to recovering the field was lost, again. “Noooooooooo!” He whispered, clasping his hands to his face.

  With that unit, the rest of his forces clashed with the enemy but it was no use. Not willing to sound retreat, he just allowed them to fight until they routed. “It’s no use anyway, he caught me in a retreat. It’ll be such a pain but I have to slow him down next weekend I guess.” He thought as he watched his men perish to the enemy forces, some units still fought but they were so egregiously surrounded that the opposing forces took measures to reduce his own losses now that the battlefield was under his control. The final blows wrought felt physical, sending the disgraced commander reeling backward into his chair.

  Of course, this was just a videogame. A fun one, with a battle that lasted almost their entire game session. His cousin was a master of the game’s turn based side rather than real time portion. And that work paid off, three veritable doomstacks catching him in a retreat. Though it was just close enough to receive reinforcements the battle truly fell apart when his cousin’s second doomstack avoided severe casualties.

  Looking back, he was wondering if he could have won it at all. “Instead of panicking when I saw he was being reinforced with the freaking trifecta of high medieval armies I should’ve continued fighting his second forces and used my reinforcements to at least attempt to destroy them if not hold them while I rested my remaining elites.”

  Shrugging, he leaned toward the computer and typed into the chat. “Good one dude :D !!! I’ll make sure dat warpath thru South France is hell next weekend tho!” He chuckled, imagining the plan already, he’ll probably churn out jinetes expecting to lose a lot of them.

  “Aww, bowing out already ;3c, better not be ragequittin’!” He was probably giggling on the other side of the computer, not that he could do a thing about it.

  Grunting, he replied. “Nuh uh! Can’t stay up :P. Midterm tmrw.”

  “A monday midterm… they’re freaking raping you !!!”

  Despite being insulted a moment ago, he was chuckling. “Yeah, they’re gonna crucify me too. Well, such is life. Anyway, that WAS fun! Okay? xD You’re gettin like way better so I gotta watch the campaign map more.”

  “Yeah yeah, that’ll prevent your total obliteration at my German hands. But yeah, goodnight then. Guess we gotta save after the battle, but mind if I make a few more moves my turn? So that we’re ready for next time.”

  “Of course!” Leaning back in his chair, the loser of the recent battle near Metz took notes on what he wanted to do next time. “I should try distracting him with getting the Turks to attack? That way I can retract my Prince - Well, King now. He’s just got to take a few more places and surely I can negotiate…” The potential for the future excited him, he was glad his cousin took to the game so much so that they could play campaigns together.

  His friends never liked the game too much, which made it difficult to talk about games with them. He knew of no one to play it with, then his older cousin took interest and that was the beginning of the short road to an excellent rivalry.

  “Goodnight bro, can’t wait to play more.” The running stream of thoughts entered his mind, warriors engaging in battle in their old year of two thousand and six ass graphical fidelity glory. Raging shouts, sweat, exhaustion. The fear, the macabre cleaving of flesh…

  Too specifically, how it must have felt to feel the reverberating impact of an axehead lodging into a shoulder and hearing the opponent grunt as he fights through the shock and pain. Returning a shout of his own and flailing against the longaxe.

  Awake now, in a cold sweat he could feel his heart beat faster than a racehorses’ again. Another dream like this, it appeared whenever he played these games and had intense battles he imagined himself as one of the soldiers. “I couldn’t feel guilty or anything, they’re just NPCs.” He laughed at the silly notion, they couldn’t be alive.

  “Eddy, are you awake yet?” Mom called out from the corner of the hallway, making him flinch. Wrestling out of bed he could see the alarm clock on his phone had went off several times already.

  “Oh shit.” Worming out of bed, he made great haste now that there were only so many minutes between seven fifteen and seven thirty. “Sorry mom, I’ll be a moment!” Whipping himself with his school clothes, he did not have much time, luckily he was not terribly far from school. As he was rapidly dressing himself he ran off. “Sorry again mom, thanks for saying something! I’ll make it!”

  Sat on the couch, she plainly called out; “Get breakfast!”

  “Where? Which shelf ma?” He knew to ask, it could be anywhere.

  “First shelf.” That either meant the bottom or the top, and sure enough a half sandwich was on the bottom.

  “Thanks! See ya later!” He said as he reached for the door, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

  “Have a good one!” She responded and waved her hand, watching whatever morning or rather pre-sleep show she was getting up to before she’d head off back to bed.

  And so… the start of a normal day. Except, Eddy never made it to his normal day. Within a few minutes of sprinting his way to school, he was slammed into by a speedy out-of-the-hood driver who was testing how loud his engine could get.

  Ending his life as he knew it, the scene following the slowed down sky was a black void. Like the darkness of night with mites of the sky running all underneath the eyelids. Feeling an eye pulled back, not sure which one, a burst of white light filled the void.

  Before him, laid not quite bare but certainly sexily; a girl. A girl who could be described as perfectly petite in every way and in none of the wrong ways, from a certain point of view. She sat on air, her butt and thighs pressing softly atop a puddle of blood and the non-existent hard surface she was sitting upon.

  “Disgusting.” She said, her voice was haughty in a way only a highly controversial love interest could have. “Stop looking at me like that, you little worm.” She gripped herself, but weirdly she kept smiling and even giggled.

  The mesmerizing visage kept his eyes locked onto her face. A very exotic specimen, doe-like ears twitched out to the sides with everything she regarded with her eyes. Disturbingly, she was severely marked in open scars with white that contrasted against her odd purple hued skin and unhealthy looking black-red blood, nonetheless her light brown eyes looked down at him gleefully. “Well, pervert, when will you acquiesce to the pleas of a poor girl? Huh?” She kept holding herself, smirking.

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  “Ah… ah!” He blushed, sitting up and nearly falling onto his butt. He hadn’t meant to stare, though he also did not mind what he saw. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to!” He looked away, but as he regained his bearings he saw her tapping foot in front of him as if he never turned away. “Whuh?”

  She giggled, clearly amused the entire time. She almost began squirming, but instead she sighed. “Okay, okay. I can’t be too careless with this. You’re confused, assuredly but I lack the time, you see.”

  “The time? That’s…” He recalled how he had been late, so he sprinted, and then suddenly he was thrown into the air. “I… what happened? Am I dead?”

  “Oh? Good, yes! You are dead, I mean that’s bad.” She sighed in relief, clutching her fist. “I don’t have to explain it!” A few droplets of blood forced themselves out of her open wounds.

  “That’s… so we’re in Heaven or something?”

  “Uh, well. I’m a Demon, so not quite.” She smiled, her toothy grin convincing him immediately despite her lack of the typical demon traits. Though, there wasn’t much reason to argue enough was there. “Normally, this’d be it. But I got an offer. And that’ll be to go to another world! Where you’ll fight the forces of evil and save the world! It’s God’s directive, you see.” Stroking her chin, she seemed satisfied with the delivery. “What say you?”

  “Can I go back?” The idea wasn’t exactly unattractive, but he didn’t really want to be dead in general.

  “Sorry, but no. You’ve accumulated sins-”

  “But I’m just fourteen? Wh-what sins?”

  “Oh you know…” Crossing her arms, the bounce of her foot intensified. “... the original one. Anyway, does that really matter? I don’t decide these things! But you can atone!" She dramatically posed again, making him squirm with discomfort.

  “Understood…” He decided there was no use arguing, if he was dead. This was just one of those things where it was better to go with the flow. “What do I do if I accept?”

  “Well, I’ll handle the bulk of it. Just know, that when you get to the other world you’ll probably have to fight a lot of people. But you’ll have my guidance wherever you end up.”

  “Is it like a medieval fantasy?” He lit up a bit, letting the potential for grief and panic subside for now.

  She tried to remember. “Hm… yes. Yes, it is. Very medieval and magic. If we’re partners you’ll be very strong too.”

  “Very strong…? I guess I can’t say no to that. Guess… I accept?”

  “Oh come on, put some heart into it!” She stomped as she stood up. “Whatever, this is good. Just know, you’ll have a sort of curse… or rather a binding contract. If you break it, with my power you’ll die and be cursed to an eternity of suffering. Got it?”

  “I got it, what’s this yerm… binding contract?” Curious now, he anticipated whatever the demoness was offering him.

  She outstretched her hand delicately. “You cannot betray me for another, neither in heart nor soul for your bindings to me are sovereign over all others.” Her voice is stern, practiced, and smooth as she speaks these binding words. “And so, do you promise to obey your duty as a sovereign consort to me?”

  Without hesitation, he nods. “I accept.” Clasping her hand out of instinct, he feels searing pain as his heart tears through his chest as if he were squeezing a blackhead out of his cheek. Grunting all the while, he looks down as the beating heart peaks out of his chest.

  “Healthy!” She reaches out with her foot, beneath painted toenails long serpentine tongues protrude from them, he can only look on in terror as his mouth has been taken. “And so, I accept in kind. Let us one day become one, little consort.” Her sultry smile disappears with a blinding flash of light as before unto darkness.

  The darkness gradually lightens, until it is clear that his eyes are closed. As he awakes, he sees a small amount of light bleed through the curtains. “This is…” He looks around, taking his surroundings. It was about as medieval of a bedchamber one can expect, when looking at it, but instead of very rustic it was very fancy. “This is a rather nice room! Am I a noble?” The thought delighted him, it was probably the best lot in life he could hope for with the thousands of peasants and serfs more likely than this.

  Attempting to rise out of bed was met with painful discomfort. “Ow!” As he tried, he plopped down again, then coughed. “What the heck? Am I sickly?” Looking at his clothes and hands, he was rather sickly looking. Like, from the perspective of images he had seen of sickly individuals. “Dang, so I must be in the body of someone who died… died too.”

  A torrent of tears burst from his eyes, the memory of dying in his old life coming back to him. It was so quick that it was not particularly nasty or otherwise horrific as far as he knew. But he had grief over the entire life he had lost with friends and families, potential. And at that, knowing that his death could be so quick once means it could be quick a second time.

  “And I have to atone for my sins? Was I a bad person?” He couldn’t help but speak out as he cried. “I didn’t think I was but… that demon…!” Unconsoleable for a few minutes, a man opened the door to the awkward scene.

  Despite it, his face lit up. “Your skin is well? How? By what sorcery…?” He smiled, very genuinely as he approached the end of the bed and collapsed beside it. By now, the disturbance had confused the formerly deceased.

  “What do you mean? And…” He shook his head. “Play it safe.” He reached out and the man flinched slightly, but as he looked at his clean hand, he took it in his own. “What’s wrong?”

  “Young Master, what do you mean? Nothing is wrong, it is just your body… you’re well again. So unnaturally well! It’s… it could only mean you’re a warlock now.”

  “Warlock.” He muttered. “The demoness mentioned that.” He looked at the man, he seemed genuinely happy despite the connotation he himself has of the term “warlock”. “Oh, yeah. I’m a warlock now.” Saying so felt ridiculous, but the man took it completely seriously, further confirming his new situation.

  “Congratulations Young Master, within a few weeks you should be beyond whatever I hoped for in health. Would you like some food? You had not been eating for the last few days, was it to prepare for this contract?” He dramatically covered his mouth. “Oh! I suppose I shouldn’t even ask?”

  “It’s okay, and yes I would like some food. I’m starving.”

  Standing up, the older gentleman let go of the young man’s hand and bowed slightly. “Right away sir.” Practically bolting out the door he was gone as soon as he came.

  “How’d I even understand any of that? I don’t think I’m actually speaking English or anything.” The thought hit him as he no longer had to pay attention to the conversation. Now, his face was red as well. “It sucks to be taken out of a mood like that, I feel a bit better but not so bad…” Slouching back down into bed and closing his eyes, he sighed, there were surely many things he’d have to do in the following weeks. “Learning my name and everything else, hopefully I can read whatever this language is. Please be normal letters.”

  A quick look around his surroundings and a weightless entity sat upon his lap. The girl from before, making him flinch and sit up. “Oh… that’s right.” The pain made itself relevant again, making him wince.

  She giggled. “Scaredy cat. Feeling better?” The question made him blush more, causing an aversion of gaze. “You turn so red in this body, it’s cute.” If it were cold enough, he’d be near evaporating at the moment.

  “Stop.” He weakly protested. “What are you doing here anyway?”

  “Making sure that my contractor is getting situated. Luckily it does not seem there will be anyone threatening around here if they realize your contract is with someone such as myself.” She seemed satisfied. “That’s a good start, and you’ll be recovering in only three days rather than “a few weeks”, know why?”

  The way she searched his face expectantly told him the right answer. “I have you?” This time, she seemed to blush though it was hard to tell, she hugged herself and sighed.

  “You’re so sweet.”

  “What’s next then? Know anything about my situation?” He ignored her and pressed on.

  Humming, she tapped her chin. “The power of foresight, here in a sense. Soon enough, the world will be thrown off balance. Not sure what they’ll call it but we need to purchase it, these Elves will come and sell huge pieces of armor to aristocrats. You need to make sure you get your hands on one, doesn’t matter what quality. But that’ll be your first mission, do you understand?”

  “Uh, yeah that makes sense. It should take time though, right? I wonder how much I’ll need to make.” And now, he had something to do when he recovered, which fit well with the information gathering he had to do.