《A Demon's Gift》


 Chapter 1 - Friday Morning Spellwork

    ¡°Good morning Erin, you currently have nothing on your calendar,¡± the gentle, almost ethereal voice of my mirror, greeted me as I was preparing to sit at my desk.


    I paused half way to my chair. My mage assistant was instructed to tell me what I had planned for the day when I first sat down in the morning. I found it a good way to get ready for the day. I would get a cup of coffee, pull up my chair, and my assistant would tell me all about my plans for the day as I put away my briefcase and pulled out my rune tablet.


    ¡°Mirror, I had things on my calendar yesterday evening, who cleared my day?¡±


    I was hoping this was a mistake or someone needed me to run a new apprentice through company enrollment or something else common. A cleared calendar wasn¡¯t a good sign, though. If it had been something benign I probably would have been told something earlier in the week, worse, only someone with higher security would be allowed to reset someone else''s calendar. Today was Friday, ''companies like to fire people on Friday'' flew through my head though I considered that they usually like to get a full day of work out of people before they did it.


    ¡°Office Manager Michael Calmick cleared your calendar at 6:35 pm yesterday, Ma''am.¡±


    Calmick, I couldn¡¯t stand the guy. Spellwork by the book, precise in his every action, and one of the worst mages I had ever been forced to work with. The guy could cast spells just fine, but his spellwork had no soul. It was all memorized formulas and strict adherence to processes which had worked before. That¡¯s fine if you want to just build something, but part of our job was to streamline, improve, to create.


    He was also a sleaze. I didn¡¯t like sexual harassment, no one did, but if I had to put out for my career, I wanted it to move me ahead, not just to keep my job. A job I was good enough on my own merits to have earned thank you very much. I had turned him down twice before, with more than a little hands action by him on the last request. Already a violation of the human resource guidelines, but then I didn¡¯t have a scrying of his actions recorded either so it¡¯s not like I could really report him.


    ¡°Miss Weisz? Erin Weisz?¡±


    A jumped sharply in surprise then turned around and frowned when I noticed the security people behind me. Three of them.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Come with us please, Mister Calmick needs to have a word with you in his office,¡± the large one said as he gestured me towards the office at the end of the open floor plan. I could see the shorter one in the back holding a wand unobtrusively by his side but pointed in my direction. Shortly after walking with the two thugs I glanced back and noticed the third thug was just standing next to my desk and watching me walk away.


    It was early, I made a habit of arriving early since I was a morning person. I found myself getting the most work done in that early morning hour before the rest of the floor started to fill up. The off white cubicles barely suppressed the sounds of magicians and spirit assistants. FMI, Fendales Magitech Incorporated, was too cheap to spring for sound suppression in the mage section though it was all throughout the display floor, marketing, and sales.


    I was unhappy that I took some relief that no one else was going to see me be fired. I had met all my production marks, nothing I had designed was failing, I had even built at least one A+ spell last year which was better than the market leader. I wasn¡¯t the best mage here, but I was far from the worst either. If I had known Calmick was going to push things this far I would have just slept with him. I would have felt disgusting afterward, but it wouldn¡¯t have been the first time I had to do something disgusting to survive.


    At least it would have been my choice.


    The slow walk to Calmick¡¯s office was torture. I couldn¡¯t see him behind his desk, the one-way spell on his office wide window precluded that, but I could imagine him sitting back in his leather executive chair arms behind his head watching me as I was marched to his door. Calmick¡¯s window said everything that needed to be said about the man and his management style. He could watch you, you couldn¡¯t see if he was watching.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Once we entered his office he smiled his smarmy grin and then he gestured the two thugs out. Sometime since yesterday, he had removed the hard uncomfortable chair which left you with your chin just above the line of the desk. Apparently, his ¡®discussion¡¯ chair wasn¡¯t humiliating enough for this, no, he wanted me to stand in front of him like a scolded child.


    Calmick leaned forward and smiled, I think he was trying for a sweet tone as he asked, ¡°Do you know why you are here?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re firing me because I said ¡®no¡¯ when you asked me out,¡± I said, upset that I hadn¡¯t thought to set up some kind of recording spell.


    Just last week I had considered putting up a recording spell that would run non-stop while I was at work, technically against policy, but it¡¯s hard to complain when an employee is caught harassing another. HR would be rung out to dry and a nice fat settlement might come from it. Of course, I would also be blacklisted with every magitech fab shop on the West coast.


    Calmick slapped his hand on the desk and pointed at me as he exclaimed, ¡°That never happened.¡±


    I smirked a bit, it was all I really had. I was going to make the little prick squirm if I could, I was able to see the color of the writing on the magical writ, it was pink and I was being fired. The only question now was what this asshole was going to say I had done and why he was doing it.


    ¡°No, you are being fired because of your non-compete clause,¡± the smile that spread across his face then would have looked right at home on a shark. All flashing teeth and gums, not so much a smile as a barring of teeth.


    ¡°That¡¯s crazy, I¡¯m not working for anyone else,¡± I protested.


    With a theatrical wave of his hand he declared, ¡°During a routine security sweep of your work rune tablet, this was found.¡±


    The spell which formed in the mirror that he swung from its adjustable ceiling mount was complex and deeply interconnected. It had taken me two years of effort, with every trick and tweak I could think of, everything I had learned from every single project we had worked on. It was five percent more efficient than the next closest competitor while also outputting fifteen percent more power, more importantly, the user''s body heat was the main feedstock to the engine.


    It was my spell for a luxury transport construct. It was supposed to be my ticket to leading a team. The spell required an expensive platinum and rubies base for the ring, nothing less would be capable of holding the complex rune form, but just wearing the ring for a few hours would be enough to recharge the device for a day''s worth of travel.


    I had spent weeks just working on the shape of the constructs illusion as it formed. It was my greatest work.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t working on that for anyone else! I was going to...,¡± I began before Calmick cut me off.


    ¡°You were going to sell it to the highest bidder and take FMI proprietary spell forms with you when you did.¡±


    I could feel the walls around me press in and I was working to keep from throwing up on his desk as I muttered, ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Yes! but I caught you before you could do it. Since you created this on work resources, your company assigned rune tablet, this spell is the property of FMI. Your things should be gathered in the box outside. Good day.¡±


    I walked out of the room in a daze. Thug number three pushed a cardboard box with some scrap paper and a picture of my Aunt in a little silver frame, into my arms. All that work, gone. Just, gone.


    I could see it now, the little weasel presenting my work on Monday to upper management and the raise that would come with it. He would present it as his work and since I did everything in the hours before anyone else arrived, I had no proof that I created it. He would have all weekend to figure out how my spell worked and he would claim all the credit.


    Legal wrangling would probably take years if the court would even be willing to hear me out. I wouldn¡¯t be able to afford the legal bills to fight even if I had a chance and a lawyer willing to try.


    No one would take a chance on hiring me since I was fired for a violation of my contract with FMI. I had a few articles and press releases to my name, but I mostly worked behind the scenes. While I was a master of transformation and transportation spells and my rune design work was top tier, I hadn¡¯t done any direct enchanting in years. I mostly designed spells, I didn¡¯t do the work of actually enchanting things. If I ended up blacklisted I might have to go back to charging mana stones or direct casting of cosmetic spells in the mall.


    Maybe I could move to the East coast and try for a design shop there or try and find a job in one of the quick fab design shops. One of those companies which pop out thousands of designs a year for custom requests. I couldn¡¯t imagine spending day after day designing yet another animated sex doll, though.


    My Aunt¡¯s face just stared up at me with her quirky smile among the remnants of my career. She always told me that with a bit more effort, if I kept trying, I would succeed, I couldn¡¯t help but succeed. I stared at her smile the entire train ride back home to my empty apartment. I knew what I was planning to do. I knew it was a violation of everything she had taught me, an acceptance that what my parents had done to me was right, that power was what made things right, but I just couldn¡¯t take it anymore. The most I could hope for was to be a small cog in a big world, one where all the possibilities, all the power, was spoken for.


    I wanted that power.


    Slowly I turned over the frame and hid the smile of the woman who had raised me and prepared to do something she would have been horrified by.


    I was going to bargain with a demon.

 Chapter 2 - Blue Eyed Devil.

    The headgear was holding the sweat to my head as I repeatedly slammed my right elbow into the practice bag. I was focusing on trying to improve my right side strikes since I was left handed. The illusion I had cast of Calmick¡¯s face on the side of the bag provided a little extra focus to the practice.


    I had spent twenty minutes in my empty apartment trying to avoid thinking about the past even as I had started the work on a protection circle on the worn kitchen linoleum. The apartment was cheap, most of my income went to paying back my student loans, so the circle was in the corner of the kitchen away from the large crack that went through the middle of the floor. Laying out a circle over that crack would symbolically open the circle and would be the equivalent of freeing the demon. I could think of more pleasant ways to commit suicide.


    It wasn¡¯t until I had finished the circle that I had started to hyperventilate and have small flashbacks to my teen years. I was still convinced I had to make a deal, but I had to be focused and precise as well. Since these would be my last days in this world, either way, I was planning to go out in style. Exercise at my martial arts gym to calm my nerves, a fancy lunch, and then time to prepare a bag of supplies for my new world.


    Lisa was watching me from the bag two over from mine casting concerned glances in the mirror. I caught glimpses of her focusing on me as I pounded out my stress. Lisa hadn¡¯t done more with her interest than to make small talk, she was subtle enough that it wasn¡¯t definite she was interested, but my constant refusals of the guys had her moving in. It wasn¡¯t that I was interested, I wasn¡¯t disinterested either when it came to that. I just had a ten-year plan and a relationship distraction wasn¡¯t in it. My past made it hard to even think about that kind of thing, man or woman. A relationship meant I would have to think about my problems and deal with them, I wasn¡¯t ready for that.


    I could tell Lisa was curious, I wasn¡¯t here at my usual lunch time, I wasn¡¯t practicing my normal combos, I was beating up the image of a man that I had cast onto the bag. All signs that something was up, but since I was avoiding catching her eye and didn¡¯t seem to be interested in talking, she let me be. That was the nice thing about Lisa, no pushing.


    I spent three hours beating on the bag in alternating combinations, far more than I probably should have. The feel of the sweat sticking to my body everywhere and then the warm shower to clean off was delightful. I had that nice light feeling where your body felt bouncy after a hard workout, that feeling that told you that the next day you would be sore and regretful but until then it was nice.


    Apparently, Lisa had decided to stop being nice since she was standing outside of the shower stall, leaning against the wall not crowding me. I had changed inside the stall so I was clean and fresh wearing dry clothes while she was still soaked and messy.


    All she got out was a polite and concerned sounding ¡°How you doing Erin?¡± before my ¡°Fine.¡± and escape.


    I didn¡¯t want to be rude to her, but I wasn¡¯t going to see her again and I wasn¡¯t looking for a one night stand before I left. Too many ways I could grasp on and try to stay or freak out from what I was planning. That¡¯s when it hit me. I wasn¡¯t staying. I really was leaving. I wasn¡¯t letting anything hold me here, not even a chance of it.


    I was going to deal with another one of those things.


    It should have sent me hyperventilating again, it was probably a sign that I was as unhealthy as my therapist insisted I was, but it instead calmed me down. One thing I had learned from my experiences was that if you were going to deal with things, a big if, then head on and full steam was usually the best way. It had worked for my magical education, it had worked for getting in shape, and it had worked for my self-defense courses. Hit hard and fast and keep on hitting.


    I drove back to my apartment skipping the fancy lunch entirely. I was keyed up and I was going to do this, any delay could have me procrastinating and quitting. The entire ride a tiny voice in my head screamed wordlessly about the possibility of seeing it again.


    The circle was still where I had left it, white chalk infused with a small percent of salt. The start of the focusing runes around the edge.


    The real horror of demonology is how simple it is to summon the things outside the worlds into the world. It took power, but nothing that any decent mage couldn¡¯t produce, with a mana stone even a weak mage could handle it. A circle for containment, a few runes to focus the power into a point in the center of the circle until it breached the fabric of the world, and you have yourself a demon. Well, if one wants to come that is. But then, they always do.Stolen novel; please report.


    Like most theoretical magic, the explanations for the less well-understood processes are, well, strange. Demons are creatures which live between the worlds, in the not-space and non-time between the worlds, the void. They see all that has been, all that is, and all that could be. The important part is that they can¡¯t see it all at once, like an eagle''s eyes which focused forward to hunt for prey, demons focused on the probable. They can be tricked, it¡¯s even been documented that it has been done, it¡¯s just so unlikely that counting on it would be insane.


    Demon''s always won. The gain was never worth the cost, it¡¯s how they feed.


    The chaos, destruction, and strife they cause is always the point of their actions. They may be vastly powerful beings of concentrated magic, but they feed like parasites on the mana generated from the chaos they cause within the worlds. The shells that we invite in with a summoning are the most they can manifest inside the world and the destruction throughout history has been horrific when those avatars have escaped their circles.


    Deals, bargains, exchanges, some type of link is needed before a demon can affect the world. A summoning circle misconstructed would be an implicit agreement of freedom for the avatar and the destruction then caused was a smorgasbord for the demon.


    Demonology is banned everywhere in the world. Even countries at war have joined together to stop a demon summoner. It¡¯s a death sentence to summon a demon. Sentence to be carried out within twenty-four hours. Even family members of demonologists are shunned and in some places killed as well. I had been lucky when my Aunt had taken me in after my parents had died. I owed her more than I could say, she had reported her own sister and hadn¡¯t even flinched at the news of her death during the raid. She had protected me, raised me from the age of fifteen, and now I was about to do something she found abhorrent, something she would probably be further shunned over as she had been shunned when she took me in.


    I found myself just staring at the finished circle, the chalk rolling back and forth in my hand. All I would have to do was focus my magic into the circle and a demon¡¯s avatar would appear. Possibly it.


    I thought of all the possible alternatives. I couldn¡¯t go back to school, my magical affinity wasn¡¯t high enough to climb the ladder and my current bills would eat me alive. I didn¡¯t have friends or family with access to any of the restricted grimoires or permission to use them. Nepotism ran rampant at the highest levels of magic and it was the only real way to reach those arena¡¯s of power unless you were so powerful you could just force them to acknowledge you.


    I wasn¡¯t that powerful. I was creative, I was even pretty decent with rune construction, but I lacked the massive power reserves of an archmage. With mana batteries and enough time I could do anything an archmage could do, but an archmage could form a complex spell completely in their mind and do so faster than I could mark out a single rune.


    No, going back to school wasn¡¯t the answer. I had planned to move up at FMI, prove out my spell and lead a magitech team, pay off my loans and work on a spell to force my magical reserves to grow. It would have been expensive, insanely so, the protective structure alone would have taken half a pound of gold, but I could have done it eventually. All I had to do was gain enough money, enough power, to reach for more. But now I would be lucky to be able to work as a lackey for less I was making now, with a wince, I realized, had been making. I would be lucky enough just to pay back my current loans.


    The scent of the chalk in my hands brought me back to the moment. I was procrastinating, fighting to not think about what I was planning. I couldn¡¯t put it off anymore. It didn¡¯t matter if the same demon which had hurt me before answered the call. It wouldn¡¯t ask for the same thing it had asked for before. I couldn¡¯t bear children anymore, the government had seen to that, so that avenue of chaos and destruction into the world was closed to it now.


    Focusing hard on the task at hand I checked each rune, taking care to be sure each was perfect. Two of the runes were slightly jagged in their construction, probably fine, but I carefully removed them and spent the time to make them perfect.


    The clean feeling from earlier had left and I was starting to sweat. I could feel my stomach knot and growl, I would need to eat soon but the thought of food made me want to throw up.


    I would summon the demon, find out what it wanted to transport me to a safe place in a world where I could gather power, then I would dismiss it and prepare for my new world. I would gather copies of all the common grimoires, blow through what savings I had left buying rare materials, use my last paycheck as collateral for a loan and gather everything I could need.


    Compared to the debt I owed my Aunt, what was leaving a few bills behind?


    Sitting back on my knees I looked toward the finished circle and took a deep breath and began. I forced my mana into the activation rune, the mana spiraled around in a glowing pulse collecting on the surface of the containment circle. The single direction rune allowing the mana into the circle but not letting it push back out. The chaotic nature of the magic bounced around within the circle, without instructions for how to form the mana returned to its natural state. It coalesced into a high potential of chaos which had to go somewhere, but there was nowhere for it to leave, nothing for it to do.


    Slowly over the better part of an hour the four-foot circle pulsed and waivered as space inside distorted and rippled. When the breach into the void happened it was sudden, a pinprick hole so small it could barely be seen formed and then smoke billowed into the circle. Claws, teeth, slime, and tentacles slapped against the inside of the circle forming from within the smoke, from the smoke.


    Gently, almost daintily the smoke started to coalesce into the center of the circle leaving the form of a woman casually glancing around at the construction of the runes. Suddenly light blue glowing eyes were staring back at me.


    ¡°Hello, Erin Ara Weisz.¡±

 Chapter 3 - Without Harm.

    ¡°Oh, come now. Is that any way to look at me? I dressed up special just for you.¡±


    Since I had decided on summoning the demon, I had been dreading what my reaction would be to seeing the demon in one of the two forms I had seen before. Would it be the swarthy muscular male with tight muscles who terrorized my dreams in equal part horror and pleasure? Would it be the smooth skinned ice princess with blue eyes who forced me to see more about myself than I had been ready to?


    I should have expected something else instead.


    My government assigned therapist had largely gotten me through the issues with my sexuality and the trauma I had experienced from the sacrifices to the demon. She disagreed, but from my point of view, I accepted my sexuality and that I was abused and it wasn¡¯t my fault. Anything else about how I dealt with it was about how I felt like dealing with it and none of her business.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you just love this teddy? I think it¡¯s just delightful,¡± the short and curvy, slightly older female form in the circle said as she ran her hands over her body with a lascivious lear.


    It took a few moments, but I finally stopped my shuddering in disgust and dredged up some of my feelings of courage and defiance. The same off center quirky smile. The same arms that had held me when I woke in horror or shame at night. Far more body on display than I had ever seen before.


    This was how every demon worked; corruption, chaos, destruction. I would never look at my aunt''s face again, but my thoughts of her will forever be tainted by this creature wearing a likeness of her skin.


    I closed my eyes and tried to draw up my short frame and control my shaking. With a slow breath, I locked away my emotions to try and focus on my deal. I couldn¡¯t let this demon trick me, I couldn¡¯t let it get more of the upper hand. Letting this unbalance me would be handing this demon my life.


    Finally, my breath slowed and I gained control of my breathing. After I opened my eyes and prepared to speak the demon spoke, throwing me off balance yet again.


    ¡°Fine, would this be better for you dear?¡± The demon asked as it¡¯s teddy was replaced with my aunts favorite t-shirt. The t-shirt replicated my aunts exactly, down to the slight discoloration on the collar were I had smudged my makeup crying after my disastrous attempt at a first date.


    Even the word ¡®dear¡¯ was said with the exact tone and the tilt of the head my aunt would use.


    ¡°Now, officially, what would you like to have? What deal can we make dear? Perhaps the same deal your parents made? Greater magical power? For you, perhaps enough to become an archmage?¡±


    The idea of an archmage in debt to a demon was stomach churning, though I¡¯m sure it had happened before. For a brief moment, the idea flickered through my mind. Power, enough to force my way into the higher strata of magic. Enough power that I couldn¡¯t be forced to do as others wanted.


    I let that phantasm of power fade away, and I could see the smile on the demon¡¯s face fade slightly with it. No, no matter how much power you have, either someone has more, or those below you could group together and bring you down. No archmage could stand against ten of their own peers. If I suddenly became an archmage then the hunt for how I gained my power would start and it wouldn¡¯t be long until my demon summoning would be discovered.


    My original idea was the only one that made sense. I would travel to another world, one where I could gain power and become stronger. If I run from this world, then my demon summoning won¡¯t matter.


    ¡°I want to be transported to a new world, one where I can earn magical power for myself, become strong and powerful, somewhere that my demon summoning will never be discovered,¡± I said forcefully.


    The demon hesitated briefly. The illusion that my aunt was the one inside the circle failed. The body still looked like her, nothing had physically changed, but the mannerisms I knew so well all stopped. The body slowly shifted until a young beautiful Asian woman stood in the circle, dressed in a formal robe of silk, the light blue glowing eyes shifting to a rich brown.


    The demon started to walk slowly inside the circle in a casual stroll around the perimeter while tapping her chin with one delicate black painted fingernail. Reaching out her other hand the demon trailed her finger along the inner surface of the barrier, the appendage burning and smoking as it ran around the surface, blue sparks jumping along the edge.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    It was taking everything to contain my breathing. I could see the barrier distort slightly from the pressure of the single finger within. If the warping became too great I would banish the demon and try again after reinforcing the construct.


    ¡°Do you know why humans always provide their side of a bargain first?¡±


    The sneer to the word ¡®human¡¯ was full of disdain and disgust. It was so full of loathing that I found my eyes locked to the demons without being aware I had stopped looking at it¡¯s trailing finger. Shaking myself I looked back at the structure of the spell to be sure it wasn¡¯t failing. It was still holding fine, in fact, it looked like it would take much greater effort to cause a breakdown. The finger was probably just to disturb me.


    I tried not to let my discomfort show and said, ¡°It¡¯s a link. Until you are provided your part of the bargain your magic can¡¯t escape the barrier and affect the summoner.¡±


    Again with the smile. The demon had stopped testing the inside of the barrier and was now stopped in front of me smiling. I was reminded of a tiger I had seen at the zoo when I was a child, one of the few pleasant memories before my parents abused my trust. The tiger had watched me with eyes that said if the bars had disappeared, I was a possible snack. The demon could have taught lessons to the tiger.


    ¡°Oh no, dear. I can cast spells on you right now. I¡¯m just bound by the Laws, and they are clear. No direct harm to mortals through spells.¡±


    I blanched and felt light headed as I readied a protective cantrip. My shield was weak, I had no illusions about how effective it would be. The mana shield spell was designed to stop only spells, it would suck up any magic that touched it and would try to use it to fuel the shield itself, the problem was the efficiency of the conversion, the weakness of its structure, and the need to conserve personal energy until it was needed. With it being just a spoken spell effect my efforts would stop a barrage of prank spells but nothing like what a demon could produce.


    Waiting, tense, I watched the demon while it simple stood with its angelic face unperturbed. Smiling.


    ¡°As I said dear, we can¡¯t harm you. A bargain is an exchange, and you get exactly what you ask for, it¡¯s not my fault that what humans ask for is harmful. But you, oh you dear, you are something precious Erin Ara Weisz, you have created a confluence of possibilities which have never happened since the accords.¡±


    The rapturous smile and the use of my full name were starting to freak me out more than a bit. Anything that made a demon that cheerful made me want to wet myself.


    ¡°There is a world, that by its very nature makes demon summoning impossible. The chaos of this world is unclaimed. It¡¯s virgin, unspoiled.¡±


    The smirk that the demon used at that moment while staring into my eyes made me feel soiled and unclean in my own skin. The archmages insist that magic is morally neutral and that what determines the evil or righteousness of a spell is its use and not in its nature but that smirk at my discomfort said otherwise.


    Demons were evil or at least malevolent.


    ¡°None could send a summoner since that would be harmful. Naughty naughty, not allowed,¡± the demon said in a sing-song voice made all the more frightening by its childlike crystal tones.


    The smile started to spread beyond the limits of human anatomy, the angelic face distorting into the realms of a nightmare, the lips stretching back towards the ears. The head distorted as the eyes grew, shifting from a rich brown to a full pitch black.


    ¡°Others demanded power directly, something I couldn¡¯t supply once they had been transported beyond the world, the link effectively severed at their passage.¡±


    The demon¡¯s voice split and warped, becoming the sound of multiple voices but clear and without distortion.


    ¡°But you Erin Ara Weisz, you asked only for the right to earn your power and wanted only transport. This allows for something unheard of. Something oh so wonderful dear. For the first time since the accords, a demon will provide a gift to a human. Free transport to a new world, no sacrifice required.¡±


    By the end, the demon''s lips had peeled back from the razor shark teeth, I could see row upon row of teeth as her tongue darted out during her speech. Her last words pulled me back from my shock and terror but by then it was too late.


    The light blues and purples of the intricate braids and lines of a spell were already forming around me. The spellwork flowing from within the point in the center of the containment circle behind the demons avatar.


    I could feel the world around me shiver and distort, bending and wavering as the lines of a spell tightened around me. Far more powerful and complex than anything I had ever conceived. The mastery to create such a spell without gathering power or the forming of runes for focus was terrifying.


    ¡°You will be my entry to this world, the chink in the armor of protection it has enjoyed for so long. I will never journey to this world, but you will be my lever there. The chaos you cause will ripple through the world forever and all of that chaos will be mine, I won¡¯t be forced to share it with any other demon. You, dear little one, will be my greatest triumph, and it all comes from giving a human a gift. A gift!¡±


    Even as the world distorted and faded, I could hear the demon laughing clearly. The demons form warped then boiled into a black smoke even as the rest of the world faded away. The spell seemed to close in on me until it hugged my body tightly, the press of the strange magic forcing my magical aura to hug my body as closely as a second skin.


    It was likely moments, but in my fear, it felt like hours. The first hint I had of my new situation was the brightening of the world. The spell protecting my passage ripped itself to tatters, a jumble of spell fragments slamming into each other as lines of force tangled and broke. The glimpse through my terror of the formation of the world travel spell had been beyond anything I had conceived of. Even studying just it¡¯s fading remains would have made me an expert in my world on dimensional theory. The demon had torn the spell apart and taken even that chance from me.

 Chapter 4 - Blowing Bubbles.

    I spent minutes laying on the ground, trying to gather myself and staunch my tears. I had been under the complete control of a demon again. I couldn¡¯t do anything, it had me and could do anything it wanted with me. I was without power or control, forced to do as the demon wanted and nothing more. I could still feel the lingering brush of its overpowering magic humming against my skin.


    Around me, a green forest sat silent. The only sound the wind which brushed against my light summer clothing. It was slightly damp but not the frost of winter, it was still clear that this was no longer summer and the wind was biting into my body. A light drizzle started then and I started to shiver. It didn¡¯t matter if it wasn¡¯t winter in this place, if I didn¡¯t find shelter soon, I wouldn¡¯t make it long.


    It took longer than I wanted to admit for me to stand up and brush myself off. Part of it was the rebound from the effects of the world travel spell, but more was the shaken state of my mind from the casual show of power over my life.


    The trees surrounding me were pine, standard, normal, everyday pine trees. The smell of the trees was overwhelming. The fact that I was surrounded by normal pine trees provided some comfort both with the idea that the world was similar to my old one and the sticky scent which reminded me of Christmas with my Aunt.


    The thought of my Aunt and what I gave up hit me harder at that moment. I had been avoiding thinking about how my summoning circle would hurt her when she found out. I would be leaving a mystery behind as well, I would be presumed dead from a botched summoning, but then, no demon would be running wild which would counter that idea. I couldn''t imagine how many problems this would cause for her.


    Another shiver wracked my body as the wind blew through and the drizzle started to increase into an actual downpour. Every direction I looked seemed just as good as any other for the chance to find shelter. There was nothing for it but to start walking so for lack of options, I just aimed myself roughly downhill and started walking.


    I had been walking for less than five minutes when a pile of rocks on the slope forced me to divert to one side. The pile of rocks turned out to be a granite overhang. On my first examination, I thought that the little cave at the back was shallow, but the back wall dipped to the right side and around the corner the tunnel actually extended back beyond. I was only looking for shelter so I had no intention of stepping into a nice dark cave in a new and mysterious world. A peek around the corner of the wall to discover that it did in fact continue was my only reason for looking.


    My first mistake was going any distance into that cave.


    I had turned back, with the intent of scurrying away from the dark cave entrance when a sickly yellow -something- fell onto me. The impact of this disgusting ball of goo with the consistency of snot slamming into the back of my head and shoulders knocked me to my hands and knees. The jolt of the small rocks slamming into my knee caps shot through my already abused senses.


    My second mistake was my gasped shout of pain.


    The heavy gooey mass riding my shoulders quickly squirmed around and covered my head. The sudden weight shift threw me forward though my new goo helmet protected me from the small fall. My world turned yellow and distorted even as I tried to pull the now hardening mass from my face. I had an almost full breath even given my small gasp of pain, but the goo had sealed around my face keeping the pine scented air from me.


    Flopping on my back I tore at my face trying to pull the mass, now with the consistency of taffy, from my face. In my terror, I was heedless to the pain of the uneven rocks bruising my body. Pulling as hard as I could, I gained a small amount of air from a hole that quickly sealed itself. My terror induced strength was quickly ebbing and soon I wouldn''t be able to pull the mass away and breath.


    My last gasp helped me focus and form a mental spell construct, my reflexive action was to focus a small amount of my mana into a kinetic spell and try to rip the slime from my face. Forming the spell then pulling my hands away I released the spell. The moment the spell structure passed beyond my aura the spell tore apart and failed. I gained only the width of my aura between my new face mask and my skin.


    Slapping at my face I flailed, screaming as I bit at the rubbery gag that was suffocating me. I wasn¡¯t striking just at the thing on my face, but everything around me in a wild flare of panic. Slapping, biting, snarling, screaming, as everything started to go darker. I could see a ring of black around my vision, my limbs slowing and my panic starting to fade away into impotence.


    A little voice in my mind which sounded like my fourteen year old self wimpered even as the black started to cover my vision. The wierd visual effects of dying started to take on a sick fascination for me even as I began to drift into an odd detached sensation.


    Lightly glowing bubbles drifted past.


    No, a single glowing bubble.


    A glowing pearl of white floated inside the slime. With a sudden burst of clarity I expelled all my mana at that glowing pearl of white, so far gone I couldn¡¯t do more than direct the mana, the form of the spell was uncontrolled.


    The pearl flickered brightly for a moment, then the light dimmed until it was almost gone, the hardened plastic like material around my face suddenly bursting into a thin liquid which ran down my face.


    Through giant gasps of air I tried to spit out the slime in my mouth even as I felt some of it passing down my throat. Retched, moist, heaving coughs barely cleared my lungs as I could feel the disgusting remains of the creature thick in my stomach. I was barely able to roll out of the puddle of slime and into the sunlight in the back of the cave before I passed out from exhaustion and mana depletion.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    <hr>


    Te Don never raised his eyes from my feet as he passed on the message from the martial master. I was to meet the master in the central practice square as quickly as possible. Te Don¡¯s eyes steadily focused on my feet, but I could see the slight uptick on his lips. I¡¯ve seen that same subtle smirk for years, that or the praise and simmering as someone attempts to gain my favor.


    I sharply gestured Te Don away as I started towards the central practice square. In the back of my mind I forced my Qi to circulate through my body and into the carved marble amulet that I carried on a rough braid loop around my neck. The comfort of the familiar swirling pull through the resistant stone and back into my body calming my nerves.


    I could hear the rhythmic practice of Fang Fa as he moved through the pattern of his Lo, his personal practice form which blended with his reinforcement. Few had a personal practice form, a true Lo, even fewer had successfully completed a reinforcement and started on the path to another. Fang Fa was renouned for his completion of two reinforcements; marble and quartz. The necklace around his neck held two well worn stones one of marble and one of quartz, the third was a polished bead of iron.


    No one from the clan had ever successfully created a reinforcement from iron, it was rumored that it wasn¡¯t possible though no one could explain why it would be so. The Kur stone clan had always focused on stone and had perfected many practices which helped in the reinforcement of stone. To form a new reinforcement from iron or one of the other metals would expand the possibilities for the sect.


    Fang Fa had spent the last ten years in careful practice in his attempts instead of strengthening his current reinforcements. The other sect leaders focused on strengthening their own reinforcements, their aging being repressed by careful focus and practice, their bodies strengthened by their practice. Only Fa¡¯s face showed the lines and wrinkles of his age. The others were far older but appeared far younger.


    I didn¡¯t bother to wait for Fa¡¯s movements to reach a termination. I was supposed to wait, poised for his halt like a dog straining at the leash, but I refused to play his games.


    ¡°You called for me father,¡± I said.


    Fa¡¯s movements never hesitated, I doubt he was even aware I had arrived. His focus on his Lo was legendary. Slowly his leading leg slid forward and planted, his torso always in line over his body. Fa¡¯s arms bent and held in front of him almost gently then an arm would snap out and downward almost driven by a shart twist of his hips. His movements reminiscent of the slow shift of a mountain then the sharp crack of a landslide. While his movements appeared controled and without effort, the rictus smile of pain on his face denied the seeming ease of his movements.


    Clenching and unclenching my fists I waited until Fa¡¯s movements seemed to slow and then rest. Blinking and looking around Fa shivered slightly like he was shaking off a dream then turned. Fa stared at me, faced composed and without movements. The lines of his face a topographic map of strain and pain.


    It took effort but I stopped fidgeting and let the push and strained pull of my Qi through my stone focus my poise.


    ¡°Why is Si Lu¡¯s leg broken?¡±


    I kept my eyes locked on my fathers feet even as I strained to keep my expression calm and stoic. I knew this was going to be a problem, but I hadn¡¯t thought my father would be the one to provide the rebuke. Nothing I could say would change the outcome but I refused to let this be presented as my fault.


    Bowing slightly I answered, ¡°Combat training is dangerous, Si Lu was unprepared and tried to strike above her skill level and was so injured.¡±


    ¡°Her leg has been broken in five places. Twice above the knee, twice below it, and the knee joint itself has been struck so greatly that the cap has shattered.¡±


    Fa just stared, waiting for my comment. My actions had been far beyond a simple practice duel. My blows had been intended to injure her so badly that she would be forced into convelescence. Injuries such as those required strict focus to heal and would leave none for her reinforcement. The injury would heal, but she would be left even further behind those of our age group. Si Lu had been the weakest of our group and now would be left even further behind.


    I found I couldn¡¯t resist and said, ¡°Punching a Telda tree is an excelent way to injure your hand.¡±


    While my tone was polite, the use of an old proverb Fa prefered and the quoting of it to him was unlikely to help me. My stomach roiled as I tried to keep my stoic face. My actions had been right on the edge of what was allowed, in truth, possibly beyond what was allowed.


    The first snap of Si Lu¡¯s leg as I had struck it would have been enough of a rebuke for her challenge. The last of the group challenging the first was consider a great insult. I know that she didn¡¯t actually desire the challenge, she had been forced into it by the rest of the training group. She chose a single battle with injury rather than multiple battles with the entire team. My hope with my severe action was to keep the rest from repeating these taunts to my standing.


    My subsequent strikes, coming faster than Lu could signal her loss of the duel, were as much about my wounded pride as it was about dissuading challengers.


    ¡°A single straw can be easily broken, a bundle less so.¡±


    Fa¡¯s words snapped me back to the present. As always my father loved his proverbs and parables. Most of the conversations I had with him were of rebukes and parables instructing me to work harder.


    ¡°Your actions have harmed the sect. You will make efforts to repay your actions.¡±


    So saying Fa returned to the practice square and began his movements again. The sound of gentle shuffling behind me made me aware of Si Ka, Si Lu¡¯s brother. Si Ka was in the middle ranks of the combat group, but his selection to direct me from Fa¡¯s presence was a silent rebuke. It wasn¡¯t until I was passing through the carved wooden door of the practice room that Si Ka spoke.


    ¡°Fang Dao, your master has instructed me to inform you that you will be performing the chores of the foundation group; all of them.¡±


    It was only Si Ka¡¯s reflexive recoil that made me aware that I had started to lunge at him for his words. Clearing the grounds of the sect of Fild rats, beating the bushes to disuade flying snakes from nesting this close to the compound, all of these were daily chores. This month though the foundation group would be required to enter the forest and harvest weak reinforcement supplies that they would use during the month. Berries from Pild bushes, killing large Fild rats for their musk glands, and of course the two day hike to the slime cave to farm for monster cores.


    Forcing me to harvest resources for the foundation group, the team below my own, and gaining nothing from it, along with the loss of practice days, this rebuke was greater than any father had ever used before. I could see Si Ka¡¯s small smile in my mind as I stomped towards my quarters in preperation for tomorrows hike.