“Why do you call?”
“I need protection.”
“I offer no protection enslaver.”
“Then I will be forced to rend your essence until you are no more.”
“Return me to the void.” The Voidling replies.
“First I would know your name, this makes the process less painful.” I lie.
“I...am...” the smoking torso slumps down and loses some of its form, indication of deep thought. “Alfred.”
“A brand new demon?”
“New?”
“You have never been summoned before?”
The voidling stops smoking before answering “no.”
“Very well, I offer you a contract. You may feed on my enemies, in exchange you must protect myself and anyone near me.”
“Feeding is good...yes.”
I mutter the binding spell using his name where appropriate, the final tether in the circle breaks and joins with me releasing the voidling from the circle and closing the contract.
“it is done?”
“it is done.” I reply.
that was a lot less painful than I thought it would be for the voidling.
He’s a new one, normally I would have had to rend his essence into submission. Old demons tend to be like frank or like...ugh, Alfred. Why do i get the demons with silly names? I want to choose the silly name!
“Tina, we still have some bread, shall we split that and head off?” Eurn yells
“I shall destroy...” Alfred whispers floating past me.
“Hold, he’s a friend.”
Alfred stops mutely hovering back besides me.
“Not going to lie, you look horrifying Alfred.”
“That’s the idea with a voidling or void walker, absence of features is often scary or uncomfortable. That’s also why the binding spell encourages the demon to stay behind the summoner.”
“fair enough. We should set off.” Eurn says shouldering his pack and offering me my own....
15 years later.
The mountain cave made for a good home, high up and hard to access so that common thieves and explorers would think twice before entering, even if they saw the entrance. To one side of the flattened cave was a farm producing a variety of plants, mostly for feeding us or the few animals that share this cave. To the back carved by demon hands is the house, smooth stone walls heated by the volcanic earth below and consisting of several rooms: kitchen, leisure room, bedroom, laboratory and training room. In the fields four small children run around the vegetation under the watchfully eye of a Frank Inhabiting a gorilla.
thump
Looking out over the arcane orbs that light the vast main cavern I see a shadow block out the little natural light that would drift down into the cave.
“EURN! I remember your smell!”
We remember that voice. Back when we were separate...back when we...it doesn’t matter.
“you cannot hide in your hole Eurn! I smell the necromancer whore!”
From the hole a large dragon head snakes down with a rider clad in their characteristic armour.
“We stopped hiding years ago, this is our home.” Eurn’s replies standing up.
“So you revelled in your sacrilege. I will burn this cave and force the mountain to bleed!” Numira yells as the rider leaps down to land on the cave floor.
“We won’t let that happen.” Tina says calmly rolling up her sleeves, her pale skin marked by two tattoos sparking with arcane energy.
“You will press your might against a dragon.”
“To protect the soul I love yes.” Tina replies waving her hand unleashing her accumulated power. Into the cave.
“Bah your magic won’t scare me.” Numira says snaking into the cave, in front of him the rider has almost reached Eurn.
“I don’t intend to scare you.” Tina says as the floor explodes from under the rider a molten metal dragon clawing its way out from below. “I intend to protect the one I love.” She says as the dragon roars its challenge. Fuelled by the bond between the two.