FFM 2016 Day 11: An Evening Chat

The candles were lit, the circle was closed, there was really only one thing left to do. God I was really going through with this, wasn't I? It was one thing to know that I'd followed the correct procedure down to the letter, and that I had the full backing of the council in an endeavor that was generally forbidden by the Code of Magi, it was something else entirely to actually call forth a demon. And not just any demon, one of the original Fallen; a being that had celestial power coursing through its system along with the infernal. Put simply, this was entirely out of my league.  But this was my city, I'd made it my job to protect it, and near as I could tell this was the only way I had a snoball's chance in hell of doing it.  

That didn't mean I had to be comfortable with it. If this went bad, there was a decent chance that I'd be able to make it out alive; I had a few tricks up my sleeve, and I'd have plenty of space to take advantage of, on account of the summoning circle taking up my entire workshop. That put all kinds of valuable materials and texts at risk if it came to a brawl, but a circle that was too small would likely fail, resulting in the energy involved being released as an explosion or possibly just releasing the entity contained with in. In this case both would be equally bad, so I was willing to risk a little property damage.  

Time to get to work. I began the ritual, chanting in Enochian, infusing each word of the angelic tongue with the force of my will. The chant was on the lengthy side, but at least there wasn't any silly dance I had to do along with it. My voice grew to a crescendo as I completed the spell and the candles scattered about flared along with it. Silence followed, eventually broken by a gruff voice behind me. "I answer your call, mortal."

I turned around and saw him sitting casually in my deskchair. He looked much like any other human, but with slightly stretched limbs, and an almost rail-thin body. Oh, and he had feathered, bird-like wings. He had originally been an angel, after all. "Engral," I greeted him cautiously. Demons were supposed to angry when you summoned them, not kill-the-puny-mortal-on-sight angry, but I-demand-to-know-why-you've-disturbed-me angry at the very least. Engral looked decidedly more relaxed, but that could easily change in the blink of an eye.

"I must confess, you're not who I was expecting to greet me this evening." So he knew. That wasn't really a surprise, when someone wanted to call forth an entity from the pits, it had ways of getting advance notice. Unless someone does it with absolutely no forethought or planning, apparently.

"It seems you already know about the Coven, they were going to call you tonight to destroy the city. I called you first so I could stop them."

The demon chuckled at me. "You're would have me lay waste to your enemies in a preemptive assault that would likely confuse their puny minds and shake the very core of their beings? How delightful."

I shook my head, that plan was a disaster waiting to happen. I had something much simpler in mind. "Not at all. I just want to keep them from being able to summon you. The members of the Coven are already paranoid and worried one member will attept to use you to destroy the others along with the city, if their ritual fails, they'll all take care of each other for me. All you're going to do is stick around here until dawn, at wich point the circle will allow you to return home."

Out of all the possible outcomes and eventualities I had prepared for in summoning a nearly legendary demon, what happened next was nowhere on the list. "Even better." I simply stared at him, speechless as a grin split across his eerily human face. "It's been so long since I've gotten to simply talk with a mortal, this will make for a nice change of pace." He gestured with one hand to the fireplace on the wall opposite him. "Is that a kettle, by any chance? Come, brew some up and let's enjoy a nice chat, shall we?"