Jaston could feel the cold nip of the Sacred Adorned Blade on his palm and the faint leaps of blood into the ritual altar below. Blue fire danced from the altar as it greedily consumed the raining blood. The pain was unbearable, but he didn't dare show it to his classmates around him. Sweat fled from his light brown hair as he tried to remember the incantation. Once he completed the ritual, he would find himself in the demon world.
His quest was to find a familiar, he wanted to become a Warlock; a powerful magician that casted great fire spells and could use their power to bolster familiars that they bring from the demon world. At age 16, he was finally able to venture to the demon world and claim his own demon. He took a deep breath and looked into the blue flame.
"By the power of Gallus Galleous, I call forth Vicenious the Blue Snake! I shall go to Telradra and claim one of its citizens as my own! Denar'eh!" Jaston chanted.
Silence blanketed the air and the blue fire below was still lapping up his blood. He looked around and saw the other students giggling to themselves. Jaston could feel sweat creeping down his face as the blue light reflected off his glasses.
"Leave it to Jaston," a female classmate uttered.
"D-Denar'eh!" Jaston retried louder.
He heard whispering from the classmates around him as they became restless. His knees began to wobble and his heart began to clench. He had come too far to fail, especially in front of his classmates. More blood dripped from his hand as he clenched it.
"Jaston, it's time to move away from the altar. We can always try again at a later time after we've reviewed the transportation magic material."He heard his instructor Mr. Gatsui call out to him in a calm deep voice.
"Dena-!"
"Did you hear about that new band? They released a new-" He heard a classmate talk loudly.
"Why don't you come on down Jaston, you're wasting our time." A male classmate called out.
Jaston's classmates started talking and he could see the faint reflection of smart phones on the faces of some of them. If he wasn't going to get to the demon world, he was going to pass out trying. The Summoner took in a deep breath, closed his eyes, and called out defiantly "Denar'eh!"
The blue flame reaching from the altar suddenly vanished into smoke. A forked tongue pierced the smoke and a slender blue head emerged. A bright blue serpent emerged from the altar. It found interest in Jaston's eyes and stared at him as if it was caught in a trance. He felt himself trembling before the gaze of the blue serpent.
"M-my name is Jaston Halmsly, and I-"
"Silence!" The blue serpent called out in a thunderously deep voice. All of his classmates stopped talking and not a sound could be heard.
"Why do you call me?"
"I ask you to lend me your power to go into the world of Telradra so I may claim a familiar of my choosing."
The snake looked at Jaston in the eyes, and he desperately tried to avoid looking away. He didn't want to offend the large blue serpent. The snake looked deep into his eyes as if searching for something. The snake moved in closer and invaded his space.
"You seem troubled, young Summoner. I shall take you to the world of Telradra, and there you will find many demon's that could be used as familiars. I normally wouldn't take weaklings, but I find you interesting."
The Blue Snake's tongue flicked out and kissed Jaston on the cheek and it began to circle him. Each revolution of his body took the snake higher until it was at the top of his head. The blue snake wrapped itself around his entire body, and everything went black.
Light crept into Jaston's eyes and stung, his hearing resumed from slight ringing, and he began to feel again. His skin was delicate to the touch and he found it hard to stand. The pain in his palm had disappeared and there was no evidence of the wound that had provided the blood to bring him there. He turned his head to look at his surroundings and found himself in some sort of room. He found a door and went to turn the handle.
He stepped into a bright redness and discovered he was in some sort of castle or fortress. The bricks were a drab grey and red light peeked from the windows. His feet took him to a window and looked into a blood red sky. A smile stretched across his face. He reached into his jeans and found his smart phone and turned on the iMagic App. He tapped his finger on the button "What World am I On?". The bright screen displayed:
"World: Telradras"
"Description: A world full of demons often visited by Summoner's and Magicians"
Jaston could barely contain his laughter. There was always danger of the Blue Snake being sidetracked and taking magicians to other worlds. If that happened, Jaston would need to wait two more years before he could visit again. He pressed the button on his smart phone that said "Citizens".
"Citizens: Grout, Doom Slayer, Succubus, Lich, Imp, Ele-kin, Dragon-kin..."
All of them could be suitable for a familiar, but it had to look cool. It also needed to be powerful. He was determined to find something that would impress the girls at school, and maybe help him win over a girlfriend.
A scream echoed throughout the castle. Jaston thought to himself if it might be another Summoner. According to his courses and books in high school, it wasn't unusual to find other people in Telradra trying to find a familiar, or trying to test their strength fighting the various demons.
Another scream echoed throughout the halls, and Jaston found himself walking towards it with curiosity as his guide. Then, cries for help that could only come from a woman raced down the halls. He charged toward the origin of the sound and came to a room.
Jaston opened the door and she immediately caught his eye. She had dark blue skin that gleamed like the night sky. Black ram horns climbed desperately out of her raven hair that rested faintly on her shoulders. Her eyes were bright like the color of the full moon. Her body was curved in all the right places, with hoofs for feet, a slender tail, and elegant bat wings reached from her back. There was no question about it, she was a Succubus. He looked across from her and saw a skeletal figure with two glowing hands.
It's head was a skull with two large fangs, bullhorns pushing forth from his head, his eyes were icy beads, claws took the place of fingers, and it's body was like a human skeleton, but the spine was long enough to be a tail and legs were missing. It was a Lich, and it was casting a spell.
The blue woman asked Jaston for help, and in a hurry he called out "Ignis Unum!" and red flame poured from his hands and devoured the monster. It was the first time he was able to completely control the spell. The red flame stopped and he could see nothing left but scorched bricks, some ash, and a phylactery. It was strangely easy he thought to himself. He turned to blue woman and she was staring at Jaston with watery eyes.
"Thank you! I thought I was going to die!" She said as she ran toward Jaston.
Jaston turned bright red as she wrapped her arms around him. He could feel her warmness and she pressed her chest against him. His mind lost purpose.
"My name is Ananiel. What's your's?"
"M-my name is Jaston Halmsly, I'm a magician." Jaston shyly said.
Jaston turned his head downwards avoiding her gaze. She asked him why he was there, and he explained his quest to find a familiar. Each time he spoke she quietly listened and didn't attempt to feign interest, like other girls did. He was enjoying himself with the Succubus.
"I know my way around this place! I can help you!" She pleaded to Jaston.
Jaston accepted her offer, but as they were leaving he could see scars on her back. They looked like they were from painful wounds. He felt a strain at his heart and he clenched his fist, he knew what he needed to do.
"I-I can take you as my familiar." Jaston said.
She looked at him surprised. Her eyes sparkled and he soon felt confident in his decision. He was a man, and a man never leaves a vulnerable girl or woman alone.
"But I'm not that powerful. Wouldn't you want something stronger. I mean, wouldn't you need something that can protect you as you cast powerful spells?"
"Well, that only means I need to work harder for the both of us." Jaston smiled and scratched his head.
Jaston clumsily reached for her hands and when he finally found them he was trembling. It was the first time he had held hands with a girl. He looked at her but found it too difficult to look her in the eyes. Nervously, Jaston began the ritual to return to his world.
"B-by Gallus Galleous, first of the Summoners, first of the travelers of Telradras, and the caller of the Blue Snake will you join me by my side?" Jaston asked.
"Yes."
"Then say the ancient word of binding! Destranihim!"
"Destraniharah!"
The young summoner was surprised, the wrong words were said. Suddenly, a large red snake lifted its head from the ground in front of him but behind Ananiel. The snake struck out for him and everything went black.
"Look, Jaston couldn't get a girlfriend in our world so he got one from the demon world instead!" a voice called out.
Laughter erupted from around Jaston as he found himself laying on the ritual altar surrounded by his other classmates. He got up and looked in front of him and could no longer see scars on the back of Ananiel. She turned toward him and had a large wicked grin on her face. She looked at his hand and he looked down.
There was a black marking like a ring around his middle finger. It was a thorn design with some markings woven in. He turned his head up to see that her finger shared the same marking. Thoughts rushed to Jaston's head as he tried to figure out what happened.
"Have you figured it out yet?" The smiling Succubus asked him.
"W-What happened?" Jaston murmured.
"You're married! I didn't think I would like the life of a slave working for her master, so I discovered a different spell that was more powerful than the one that Summoner's use to bind" Ananiel announced.
"I was sick of the demon world. The red sky, the red clouds, the ugly monsters, and the boredom was killing me. I figured I could join a Summoner or another magician into another world. So, I devised of a way to bring one right to me. I discovered that Liches could attract the Blue Snake when weakened, so I found one and he didn't disappoint. The scars on my back were a glamour spell, an easy one at that. You took the damsel in distress bait."
Jaston's shoulders fell and mist gathered in his eyes as the laughter grew louder. He turned his back defeated and started walking from the altar. His proud thoughts of doing the manly thing soon fell to thoughts of embarrassment and foolishness. Years were spent trying to get to this point for him to fail. A warm touch graced his shoulder and he turned around to see the Succubus grabbing him.
"The Summoner being cute was a bonus."
Jaston looked at her confused. She smiled at him and took him by firmly by the arm. Her gaze melted his sadness, and her smile lifted his heart. He felt her pull him in and felt a warm softness that felt like a warm marshmallow on his lips. Her warm breathing brushed against his face and nothing else mattered. His heart fluttered and he couldn't help but feel something amazing was going to happen. He may not have come home with a familiar, but he did have a new wife.
"Now, why don't you show me around, husband?"