Jason moaned and opened his eyes. The first thing that he noticed was wrong was the fact that the room around him seemed to be lit by a dull red glow. With a moan, Jason tried to reach up and rub his throbbing forehead. That's when he noticed something else that wasn't right. He couldn't move.

"What the fuck?" Jason glanced down to where his hands where stuck at his side, unchained by any visible force, but still unable to move. He then noticed a third thing that was wrong with him. He appeared to be stuck to a wall of some sort. "What the hell is going on here?"

"My my, such a mouth on this boy." A quiet female voice spoke up, startling Jason and he scanned the room for the voice's owner.

"Who the fuck said that?" Jason could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead, although why he wasn't sure. He continued to scan the room around him.

He appeared to be in some sort of a cave, rock formations making up the walls, ceiling and floor of the whole room. The red glow that filled the room seemed to be coming from large boiling red pools that spotted the floor of the area. Jason wondered briefly about what the thick pools of liquid were before he called out again, demanding to know who had spoken to him. "I said who the fuck is in here?"

A woman's chuckle could be heard echoing through the room, and suddenly a pale form faded into view before Jason. "My, you are a demanding boy aren't you?" The form, a woman who sat with her legs crossed hovering in mid air just in front of Jason studied the windian with amusement. As her figure faded fully into view, Jason could just start to make out the details of the woman.

She had long black hair that fell in rivers down her back, probably reaching to about her ankles if she had been standing instead of sitting. Her skin was deathly pale, with a slight gray tint to it. She had long, claw-like fingernails, and her eyes were golden and pupil-less. Outfit-wise, she wore a black cloth wrapped around her torso, and another one that hung off of her waist, falling down about half the length of her legs, and knee-high black leather boots with tall heels. On either side of her head, just above her short, pointed ears, protruded large golden horns, like ram horns that wrapped back around her head as a type of organic head dress, and Jason caught sight of a long, black reptilian tail that hung down behind the woman, waving lazily back and forth as she hovered in the air. Jason gave her a wide-eyed stare.

"Who the fuck are you?"

The pale woman grinning, flashing her pointed fangs as she chuckled again to herself. "That doesn't concern you. What I'm really interested in knowing is who you are and why are you out here?"

Jason stared at her in wonder. The woman sighed and shook her head.

"Oh please, don't be difficult. I've waited much to long to have to put up with this." The woman stood up and began to pace through the air around the room, her tail dragging along behind her. "When you have to wait so long, your patience is usually spent in the actual waiting part." The woman turned to stare at Jason with her empty golden eyes. "I'm not as patient now as I used to be." She gave the windian another fanged grin and hover back over to him. "So why don't you be a good little bird and tell me what I want to know? Let's start with why you're out here."

There was something like a mental nudge in his head, and Jason suddenly felt all of his willpower drain as the woman gazed at him. She flashed another grin and began pacing the room again. "I see, so you were out here with some friends. More birds and a dragon. Hm... not what I had expected but I suppose it will do." She continued to pace about the room, musing out loud to herself and Jason could feel her inside his mind as she continued to root around. "You came from Windia? Really? How amusing... And I see you've run into my little creations during your journey here." The woman paused to grin at Jason. "What did you think of them?"

Jason felt the essence leave his mind and suddenly he was able to speak for himself again. "I think you're a sadistic bitch for creating them." Jason growled out weakly. The woman sighed and shook her head.

"You sound so much better when you're not talking. Oh well, you're not the first smart mouth I've had to put up with." The woman hovered towards Jason once more and placed her finger under his chin, tipping his head up to get a better look at him. "You are, however, the most recent one I've had to deal with."

"What do you want from me?" Jason's lips pulled back into a snarl as he glared up at the woman.

"Well now that's a thought." She smiled at him once more as she removed her finger from under his chin. "What do I want from you? How nice of you to consider the offer that I may use you! Not like I would need your cooperation anyway." The demon backed off a foot or two to get a good look at her prize. "Now then... yes..." She grinned, baring her sharp fangs once more at the windian. "You are a catch aren't you. I can sense your emotions, my how you keep them so unstable." She let out a light tsk and shook her head. "That's just perfect... and then the added plus that you're born under fire..."

"What?" Jason gave her a wondering look. The woman laughed.

"Silly bird, I'm talking about your element. Don't you know?"

"I know I'm fire... so what the fuck are you rambling about?"

The woman just grinned at him again. "I knew another bird once, another one who was of fire. She was different though, she didn't have your powers."

Jason continued to stare at the woman blankly. My powers? What the fuck is she talking about? As if reading his mind, the woman chuckled and went on to explain.

"You're powers... your inability to sense heat." She motioned to the room around them. "You're inside a volcano right now actually. You can't tell because you can't feel it." She grinned. "ItŐs a very special case when you're affected by your element like this. But of course, it brings more to you then just protection from heat. It gives you more power with fire." The woman's golden eyes danced as she gazed at Jason. "You're just the one I've been looking for then..."

"Looking... for what?" An uneasy feeling filled Jason as he gazed at the woman in front of him. It wasn't helped any as she laughed loudly and grinned at him again.

"For my new pet, of course."

"WHAT?" Jason couldn't believe his ears. "I am no FUCKING pet!"

"Oh, I didn't say you would be." The woman shook her head. "I just said you'd be perfect for its host." She stepped up to the windian, gazing at him with her empty golden eyes again. Jason was about to respond when again he felt some essence appear in his mind, and his willpower drained again. The woman smiled as she reached out and took a hold of Jason's left hand, bringing it up to her, palm facing down. Jason watched in wonder as she lowered her head and planted a kiss on the back of his hand. A light tingling feeling started up where her lips touched, spreading out to his fingers and then down to his wrist. Suddenly the sensation changed and Jason let out a loud scream of pain as the feeling of daggers seemed to shoot through his arm, traveling through his body until the sensation filled every vein. As the woman pulled away, she watched with an amused grin as the windian, no longer supported by his unseen holds that had kept him to the wall, doubled over and fell to the ground. With a whimper Jason grabbed at his left hand, gazing at it in fear and surprise as the skin on the back of his hand seemed to split open and tongues of fire spilled out like blood, covering his hand. Soon the fire moved up his arm and Jason screamed again as the sensation of being torn apart from the inside started up once more in his blood. The woman watched him, chuckling at the little scene that played out in front of her by the windian and his invisible opponent.

"Don't try to fight it bird, you'll just wear yourself out."

With another pitiful whimper, Jason collapsed into a heap on the floor, finally succumbing to the fire and daggers. The last thing he saw was one more glimpse of the pale form hovering over him, then a feeling of drowning overtook him and everything went black.