NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7 – A Strange Summons
As I walked through the hidden, dimly lit, stone passage way connecting the royal palace to the military wing’s experimentation chambers, I was having difficulties collecting my thoughts on how best to please King Solar.
Simply put, all my past research and tests had proven to be ineffective, and the constant stream of failures was starting to not only disappoint myself, but greatly displease his majesty as well.
“Failure is not an option Daemonium, if you can’t even manage this, then I will have you replaced as my advisor with someone more competent.”
Ahh yes, the threat of replacement. The words rang out over and over again in my head. I was not the first advisor, nor the last that the king would so hastily discard at the slightest inconvenience. But that fate wouldn’t befall me, for today was the day the fruits of my labour would be recognized by this nation!
I continued to listen to the rhythmic echo of my footsteps as I traveled down the hallway. At the other end was a door I was all so familiar with, the summoning chambers. I confidently pressed forward and opened the doors with authority. Today was the day I would make history and complete the lost magic of “Hero Summoning!”
My actions startled some of the palace sorcerers as the door flung open, slamming into the wall with a loud bang. They always were the jumpy sort, or maybe they finally started to learn fearing me was for the best. The threat of death was a rather strong motivator after all. As expected, sitting at the end of the room, seated in a large, regal, wooden chair adorned with jewels and gold trimming, was his majesty. King Solar.
Even from this distance, his cold, prying eyes, and long, white, bearded hair radiated a conflicting aura of authority and oppression. He held a stern, angry expression as I entered the room and walked towards the summoning circle, with runes etched into the cold, stone flooring.
“Daemonium, I hope you realize the consequences of calling me here for another failure of yours. If this wastes my time further, I won’t hesitate to execute you on the spot.”
The royal guard members adjacent to the king unsheathed their swords. I could also hear the cocking sound of crossbows being primed to fire at moments notice. Taking the hint, I kneeled before the king.
“Why of course, your majesty, I would never dare waste a moment of your precious time. I humbly offer my sincerest regrets for failing to satisfy you in my previous experimentation results. After all, this is a lost magic that no other kingdom has managed to recover since the lost ages. There are bound to be some failures along the way, surely your wiseness would understand this much.”
“Enough from your tongue Daemonium. Will you succeed this time?”
“Why of course, that is the very reason why I so humbly called upon your presence to see history in the making. This is a moment that should be seen by the eyes of our nation’s glorious ruler, and not kept only for subjects unworthy such as myself.”
That’s right, the “Heroes Summoning” was an ancient, lost magic to the ages. Scholars and researchers have scoured their heads over how this was accomplished for millennia, with none turning up anything even remotely useful. Many had claimed to have restored the lost art of “summoning” but when each was checked and verified through appraisal, they were all nothing more than falsehoods and scams perpetrated by unsavoury folk trying to amass vast wealth quickly.
There were many an example of poor villagers seeking an audience with the king, only for it to be revealed they simply had placed an “Invisibility” spell on the supposed “summoned” individual, and merely dispelled it while casting an impressive “Illuminate!” spell to make what visually seemed like a successful summoning. But all of these were shown to be false with the palaces skilled sorcerers, and summarily, each and every perpetrator of these acts was executed and publicly displayed.
However, the explanation for my confidence came for an entirely different reason. The Daemonium before, and the Daemonium now, are different people. That’s right, I had come across the previous owner of this body while looking for how to best infiltrate the Kingdom of Solara. My true lord is obsessed with intelligence gathering, and I was simply the trusted individual gifted this responsibility. It was all so easy winning over Daemonium’s trust. Honestly, I was quite shocked that the man was even willing to sell his soul to a demon just to see his wish come true. So how could I refuse the offer?
Us demons have long known about summoning magic and how to perform it. In fact, Diablos was amongst the first of the gods to bring about summoned heroes to this world! But after the fall of the gods, we lost our ability to command magic to the level we once could. That didn’t mean we’d forgotten its secrets though.
And so, I bargained with the man known as Daemonium, and agreed to share the lost knowledge of Hero Summoning with him, all for the cost of his soul and body. While I was a bit taken back by how quickly he had agreed, I wasted no time in fulfilling his wish. There was a slight problem though with how this all played out. The individual’s body was unable to withstand the magic power of a demon inside.
As a result, my demon wings were visible, tail partially exposed, and a portion of my horn poked through the forehead. Clearly, this wouldn’t fool anyone. Any human looking at me would instantly know I was a demon!
Thus, I had to maintain the illusion of this body with my own magic. A small price to pay for a human soul I might add. As for honouring the agreement? Why, us demons are always true to our word you know, especially when souls are involved.
But I digress, I could see the king was getting impatient and wanted to see the summoning happen now.
“Sorcerers, at the ready, begin flowing mana into the runes at the described rates, 1/8 fire, 3/4 water, and 1/8 thunder.”
At my command, the ancient writings began to glow in the correct golden hue. I guess those in the royal palace had some competence about them. Now all that remained was for the incantation.
“Oh great world of Terra, heed my calls for guidance and justice, bend the cosmos to your will and deliver onto thee an answer in our darkest times. Brength fourth the great champions of legend to enact your will for all, HERO SUMMONING!”
Yes, I could feel the spell working! A brilliant ball of white light rose above the circle. It twist and turned, with black light crackling all throughout. The very air within the chambers howled and revenged around, knocking over decretive ornaments, and forcing some of the royal guard to cover their faces to shield themselves from the slicing blades of wind. The orb opened, revealing a deep, endless void within. Then, a column of golden light shot out of the darkness. Finally, Daemonium would have his wish granted!
Then suddenly, the orb imploded on itself and shattered, leaving behind faint specs of mana particles floating to the floor.
“AGHHH, You useless, Incompetent mages!”
I kicked the sorcerer beside me in rage. The spell had failed, and I knew the reason why. Of the five sorcerers used for the summoning, two of them had withered into nothing more than dried, human skin, thinly stretched over a brittle skeleton, ready to crack at the slightest disturbance. Based on their positioning in the circle, they were the deemed “water experts”.
“My liege, the spell would have worked had I been given the proper mages for this task! I specifically asked for five sorcerers, three of which blessed with water affinity, then one each of fire and thunder affinity! Clearly two of the attendants had lied about their capabilities in an attempt to be a part of history. Give me more mages and I will see this through!”
The king’s face remained the same cold, judgemental stare.
“Granted, I too, could feel a different sort of power coming from this spell. You would not have failed had the proper casters been utilized. Daemonium, which appraisal expert vetted thes...”
Before the king could finish his decree, the man at the entrance to the summoning chambers, bolted and ran towards the door in a desperate attempt to escape. Without any hesitation, King Solar swiftly drew his sword and flung it across the room into the man’s back. The blade’s union with the body happened with such force, he was split clean along the waistline into two equal parts. Blood and organs poured out onto the stone flooring, while the upper half of the man continued trying to crawl towards the wooden doors as the last bits of life faded from his torso.
“See that this man’s family is also made an example of. I will not tolerate any deceit or trickery amongst the royal guard. And clean up this mess.”
I smiled to myself at the king’s words. Though the summoning spell ought to have still worked based on the visual progress I observed, I had a strange feeling something else had caused it to collapse, but couldn’t deduce what it was.
Pushing those thoughts aside, I drew comfort in the fact I would be given another round of sorcerers to complete the summoning. All that remained was to clean up the chambers and prepare again. Soon, I would be able to feast on Daemonium’s soul, but not until I saw this through. After all, a bargain is a bargain, and demons are always true to their word.