The Master of Dragons

Chapter 24

      Daniella's eyes flew open as she bolted from her bed. She clutched the front of her clothes as she tried to take calm, steady breaths. She let one hand take hold of her forehead as she closed her eyes and tried to think. There had to be a way for her to purge the demon from her Spirit World without banishing it to the Underworld. She ran her fingers through her falling hair and turned to look in the mirror. She could see the strain of her new training as well as the other emotions that the demon kept pulling up from whatever hole she buried it in. Daniella wondered what the others would think if they were here to see her in such a state.

"No. Don't think about them," she muttered to herself, rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands. She raised her head and looked right into the eyes of her reflection.

"And don't you dig anything else up either. I can't kill you, but I will make you hurt," Daniella murmured to the Shurandian. She felt a small shudder in her head, knowing that the demon had heard her.

      Daniella got up and made her way to the journal room. Surely there would be answers to her questions there. She made it halfway to the room before she stopped in the middle of the hall. If the demon in her head could see what she did, she didn't want it to see more. Daniella turned and walked the opposite way in hopes to find another means of finding answers.

"Oh, come on, it's not like I haven't seen that room before!" the Shurandian whined quietly. Daniella closed her eyes and sighed as she kept going.

      It didn't take long for Daniella to reach the training dojo. She looked around the room as she walked to the center. She could feel the demon in her head grow restless inside its cage. Daniella had a feeling it didn't have the ability to read her current thoughts, it could only glean information from her memories. It didn't take Daniella long to figure out a plan to rid herself of this nuisance.

"I wouldn't be a nuisance if you would let me out! Are we going to train again?" the demon asked.

      Oops. Daniella hadn't meant to project that into her Spirit Realm, but it confirmed her suspicions on what the demon could do in her head. She sat down cross-legged on the mats below her and knocked three times on the floor. Her grandmother appeared almost instantly with the last knock. Liu floated into a sitting position in front of her.

"I thought you needed rest after our last training session?" her grandmother asked.

"I did. But I figured something out and I would like to show you!" Daniella beamed, stretching out her hands out of her own sight. She felt the coolness of her grandmother's spirit on her palms as she closed her eyes.

~

      She opened her eyes, still facing her grandmother. Daniella had positioned the two in front of the cage where the demon stood, still trapped in the cage that she had put it in. Liu looked over Daniella's shoulder and took in the sight before letting go of her granddaughter's hands.

"I see we are dealing with your first possession," Liu said, walking towards the cage.

"To be fair, I only learned about it like two hours ago. I didn't mean to bring it in," Daniella replied.

"I assume you are here through her lungs?" Liu asked the demon. The Shurandian stood shocked, looking between the two women that were standing in front of him.

"So, you just bring anyone in here huh?" the Shurandian asked, leaning on the bars.

"How do I get rid of it? It's really annoying," Daniella asked Liu, ignoring the demon.

"I'm surprised you haven't banished it already," Liu replied.

"It dug through my memories before I found it. It knows too much and will use the information to buy its safety. But I was curious if there was a way to contain it in the Library somehow so that it was out of my head," Daniella answered.

"There are ways to do so, but the extraction might be unpleasant," Liu said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

"I think I want to stay here," the Shurandian said, pointing to the ground and backing away from the bars. Daniella and Liu looked at the demon simultaneously. The look identical to each other was enough to make the demon gulp.

"Or we can do things your way."

      Daniella rubbed her own chin as she thought of anything that she had seen in the Library so far to hold a demon. The demon would be made of smoke when in the mortal realm, therefore she would need something airtight to hold it. That threw out rooms and cells that she had found while exploring.

"How much of the smoke did I inhale for you to be here?" Daniella asked, turning around to face the demon once more.

"Not much. It only takes half a milligram of condensed smoke for a Shurandian possession. Of course, there are some that take even less. Not to toot my own horn, but I am working with only a quarter of one milligram," the demon gloated.

"Lao Lao, do we have any jars that have warding on them?" Daniella asked.

"We do. We use them to hold any poisonous fumes that we pump out of rooms or pockets," she answered,

"Can we attach a pump to a face mask to pull air from my lungs?" she asked. Liu hesitated before answering.

"Surely you don't think that you can hold your breath that long, you stupid child," the demon spat.

"The Shurandian is right. It is a huge risk to pull the air from your lungs long enough to pull a half milligram of demon," Liu agreed.

"But what about a quarter?"

"A quarter will be uncomfortable, but it is possible," Liu answered, a smile slowly spreading on her face.

"I can have Ozir bring the jar and the pump to the training room. It has the most warding's and the easiest to cut off from the rest of the Library just in case," Liu continued before vanishing back to the mortal plane.

"Wait. Look, I can be useful here!" the demon pleaded.

"And you can be useful in a jar too. Sorry, but this is your eviction notice," Daniella grinned before leaving her Spirit World.