Second Time's a Charm (MxM)✔

Chapter 19 - Demon Summoning

Cain wasn't sure what to expect. He'd never summoned a demon before but had heard a great deal about the process. For one, the summoning may fail. Or it could work, but the demon may choose not to obey him. Either way, he felt now was the best time to use the over-priced piece of paper.

The first thing he did was clear a space. Demons came in all sizes, so there was a good chance something would get knocked to the floor, and the last thing he wanted was to draw attention to his room. Next, he read the back of the sigil where the basic instructions were written out. From the looks of it, all he needed to do was set it on the ground with a drop of blood and recite some sort of spell.

That seemed easy enough, so he set it down and cut his finger, squeezing it till a drop finally fell. As soon as it made contact with the paper, the markings began to glow.

"Ego te voco" He chanted, then took a step back and waited.

At first, nothing happened. He grew concerned, thinking he'd gotten a dud, and folded his arms in irritation before the paper started spinning in place, levitating above the ground.

He watched as it burst into flames, which grew larger and larger until it took on a bipedal form.

It had worked! But something seemed off about this shape. It was growing much larger than any demon he'd seen walking around in the underground. 

He watched intensely as the flames died down around the being's form, revealing a woman with glowing yellow eyes, smokey white hair, and a pair of rams horns on her head. Her skin was dark grey, and behind her flicked an elongated tail. Behind her were two bat-like wings, with reddish membranes. Her body was adorned with a mixture of bones and metal armor, with skulls on her chest, claws on her shoulders, and femurs hanging from her neck. In total, she was nearly nine feet tall.

She glared down at Cain, her high cheekbones and sharp nose drawing the Marquess in as he stared in awe. "You summoned me?" She asked in a feathery voice.

Cain recollected his thoughts, tearing his eyes away from the creature and shifting his stance. "Yes, that's correct. I wish to make a contract."

"And what is the task?"

"I need someone to collect information for me."

The demon flit her wings angrily. "You summoned me to help with a minor errand? Are you daft? Do I look like the kind of demon that does simple chores?"

Cain wasn't sure where to go with that. The simple answer was 'yes' because he had thought all demons would do whatever task you assigned them. Yet, as the summoner, he could not just apologize and act like this was some sort of mistake. He only had one sigil and wasn't sure when his next opportunity to buy another would be. Luckily, she didn't know that, so he'd have to fib a little if  he were to toy with her ego. "With all due respect...I was hoping to summon a demon that could perform this task for me. If that's not you, I'll find another."

"Well, aren't you audacious?" She leaned down to get a closer look at the Marquess. "Standing before someone like me and you dare speak in such a tone?"

"As I said, if you are incapable of doing something as simple as gathering information, I will find someone more able than you," Cain said, only slightly nervous.

He'd been surrounded by a horde of demons before. It was during one of his boss's raids that he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. As intimidating as this demon was, she still wasn't as terrifying as the three hundred he'd once had running right at him.

Oddly, the demon pouted at his words. "I didn't say I wasn't able to."

"Whether you're able to or not, I need someone willing. And if that's not you, I'd rather not waste my time."