New Guard

"-And why didn't you just summon me!? Our bond should work through any barrier, regardless of that pitiful skeleton's magic!" Kali grouses while throwing her hands up into the air.

Harry lets out a tired sigh and looks up tearily at Kali, she'd been chewing him out for around ten minutes now, primarily on his stupid decision to explore the obviously magical ruins without alerting her first. "K-Kali... Please... My head's ringing. I-... I understand my mistakes, so please..."

Kali sniffs contemptuously at him, "Oh no! I haven't even gotten started! If a headache is what it takes for you to get my words into your skull then so be it." she announces while pulling a scroll from her pouch, "I've been compiling my anger at your idiocy since I rescued you." she says, unfurling it and causing Harry's brows to rise into his hair as it hits the floor and continues extending...

"Kali... I-I'm your master... Can we hold this off for a couple hours at least?" Harry pitifully asks, but the succubus just shakes her head and taps the scroll, beginning on the first line.

"*Ahem!* Let's start with this... You're an idiot for not bringing any emergency items! Even a demon rune bomb would have at least stalled the Lich! Yet you brought almost nothing actually useful with you, even as you searched for an ancient magic user-"

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One hour later.

"And finally, That pathetic familiar of yours!" she growls, drawing a suspicious squeak from behind the door of the room.

Harry perks up at her words, happy to hear something that wasn't just harsh criticisms of him and his actions. "I mean... Nanthisk probably should have stopped me..." he says, not just throwing his familiar under the bus, but in the path of an enraged succubus...

Fortunately for the snake, Kali didn't take the bait, "Indeed, but I've already punished him. You were unconscious so you couldn't hear Nanthisk's screams, but I assure you, he did scream for his failure." she lets out a sigh, "He failed in his task to protect you Master, while persuading you away from the Palace would have been a monumental task, he should have died before any harm came to you. The fact that he is still alive and that you're in bed is his failure."

"No... Nanthisk is too young and immature to be at fault. You said before that he's only just started his true growth. Blaming him now is like blaming a baby for not knowing how to walk!" Harry protests, knowing that Nanthisk had risked his life to protect him.

"That's simply not how the world works master, you don't reward someone who comes fourth in a race 'because they tried', I am at fault too, putting my trust and your safety in the grasp of that pitiful reptile. Which is why I decided to upgrade your protection while you were unconscious."

...

"How...?" Harry tentatively asks, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Kali reaches into her pouch and retrieves what looks like a miniature figure, like one of those small Warhammer models. This one looked kind of like Kali in anatomy, but that's where the resemblance ended. It was tall, broad-shouldered, and would have looked like the Minotaur of legends if you added wings and replaced the bullhead with a handsome yet brutish face of a demon.

"Now, don't go thinking that this is a reward because I am still VERY mad at you. This is just a precaution to prevent something like this from happening again." she states before casually tossing the figure to the floor, causing smoke to explode out of it.

Once the smoke clears, the creature the figurine looked like is revealed... Only, it is now ten feet tall with rock hard-looking muscles, and a large menacing two-handed axe in its hands. "Mistress, uh, did's you need something?" it asks, its voice sounding as you'd expect, brutish yet kind of oblivious and dull...

Kali gestures a hand at Harry, "This will be-"

"Chop's it?" the large incubus asks, interrupting her.

"W-what...?" Harry mutters in surprise, only for Kali to float up and smack the incubus on the back of its head, hard, almost causing it to instantly drop to the floor unconscious.

"Fool, I told you before! You serve me, but I too serve a master! My servant is his servant, do you understand!?" she waits for an answer but growls at the incubus' blank look, she materialises her whip and wields it menacingly, "Do. You. Understand?" she asks while the whip audibly strains from her strength.

"E-er, y-yes mistress! I's got it mistress!..." the incubus looks to Harry, "I got's it boss!"

...

"Are you sure this is fine, Kali? And isn't it dangerous for you to be able to summon your own familiars in the first place?" he questions, wondering if demons could just spawn their own army without any word from their summoner.

Kali shakes her head, "I am still bound by the limits of our contract, the contract also affects any creature I summon. Had this idiot actually tried to attack you, he would have been banished back to his realm with a mangled soul for the attempt. Don't worry master, I'll always have your best interests at heart." she sincerely? says.

Harry can't do anything but nod, the idea of Kali actually doing anything to harm him not even striking his mind. "What's your name?" he asks the incubus, wanting to get acquainted with his new protector.

"I is Trorgonnos, boss-"

*Smack!*

"Damn cretin! What did I tell you before about revealing your true name!" Kali snaps, striking the incubus again.

"S-sorry..." he says while rubbing his head before turning to Harry, "I's Trorg, boss!"

...

"Do you two know each other?... I mean, before this." Harry asks after a moment of thought.

Kali gives an exasperated shrug, "He's a distant cousin... He never fit in with the others of our race, only really good for fighting. He's the equivalent of what an ape would be to humans... Just, underdeveloped... But he doesn't need a brain to protect you, so it saves us from having to worry about any schemes... Isn't that right?" she states, sending a look at Trorg which causes the incubus to hunch over submissively.

"Y-yes mistress..."

"Good, now be on your way. Our master and I have other things to discuss." she says, holding her palm out which has Trorg disappear into another cloud of smoke, the figure from earlier telekinetically flying into her grasp.