Asari dismissed his notifications. No new achievements, no new levels, but that was okay. He had enjoyed this encounter more than any other and was feeling quite satisfied...until he glanced at the Sorcerer. Lying motionless upon his ragged robes, the young man had his eyes closed, his face bearing the weight of resigned despair. Now, normally, any one else’s problems were not any of Asari’s concern, but this time was different. He owed his very existence to this man.

After taking a moment to check his map and make sure no other monsters or Delvers were in the area, Asari slithered up to the man’s side and lay down against him, pressing his long, scaly body against the Sorcerer’s warm flesh. He felt the man draw a startled breath and saw his eyes open.

“What...are you...doing?” the Sorcerer asked, as if it took every ounce of willpower he had to drag the words out. The hypnotic trance must be wearing off if he was able to do that much. Asari glanced at his Menu, discovering that the skill had a three hour cooldown. Damn.

“You looked sssad,” Asari hissed. “Why?”

“My life is ruined,” the Sorcerer said. “I did something foolish and got caught, and then I got punished for something I didn’t do, and now I’m here in this stinking Dungeon, about to be killed by a monster.”

“I’m not going to kill you,” Asari said, snuggling closer. He trailed his fingertips through the pearly splatters on the man’s chest and slowly licked them clean. “This foolish thing you did, you sssummoned an incubus, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” the Sorcerer said, looking startled. “H- how did...you know...that?”

“My name is Asari. I am that incubus.” The man listened silently as Asari described the events of that night, appearing in the dungeon, taking possession of the slime, the jumper, and finally the Nagara. “And now, here we are. Perhaps it was always meant to be.”

“That’s...quite a...story,” the Sorcerer said, one foot twitching. “It’s hard to...believe, but...I don’t know how you could be making it up. And you certainly don’t act like any monster I’ve ever heard of.” He was speaking almost normally. Asari was running out of time.

“Ssso, you believe me?” If he didn’t, Asari would have precious little time to put a safe distance between them. He did not want to have to use his bite attacks—he’d depleted …