Ell slowed her horse to a trot, bringing it into a clear piece of land. A good enough place to make camp. Another cold night under the stars. Bloody assassins. She could have been passed out drunk in a bed by now.

“Fuck off stars. You too, moon.”

Bal and Cas soon entered the clearing. Cas looked as uncomfortable as one would expect a faithful knight would be in the presence of a demon, if that was what Bal was. Bal prattled on about how to play a certain card game invented in Hell, unheeding of his companion’s discomfort. As soon as Cas spotted Ell in the dim moonlight, he jumped off his horse and marched straight up to her.

“My Lady, that abomination has performed it’s duty. It is about time for you to send it away.”

Ell’s eye twitched at Cas’s commanding tone. Seems like Bal had fried a few of his nerves as well. She agreed with him though, it was about time to send this irritating pest away. Even now, he was standing, staring at them, an innocent smile on his lips. Ell ignored him for now, ordering Cas to set about building a camp fire. Her protector fell back into his usual obedient self, going about the task with gusto.

Ell took a short log out from her bag and placed it into the centre of the circle of stones Cas had set down. Channelling some of her mana into the enchanter engravings on it, the log began to spit out a small fire. When she looked up from her task, she found Bal still staring at her, a glimmer in his eyes; as though he was laughing at some unspoken joke.

She stood up straight and addressed him with all the authority a princess could manage.

“Bal the demon, you have performed the act we called you here for. You are herby banished by from whence you came!”

That sounded regal enough, didn’t it? Bal’s innocent smile died on his face and he slid onto his knees before Ell, pleading.

“Oh no, Mistress! Please don’t send me back great one! I can still be of some small use, I’m sure!”

Despite his begging, that damn glimmer was still dancing in his eyes. The bastard was mocking her. Ell’s temper exploded, and she screamed

“BEGONE YOU BASTARD!”

An unholy screech blasted from Bal’s throat. Ell clamped her ears as he fell to the ground, wailing and flailing, kicking up great clouds of dust. His scream echoed far into the dark wasteland. Ell turned to see Cas standing in shock, looking as bewildered as she felt. Unsure what to do, Cas carefully approached the convulsing demon.

Bal’s screaming faded into hoarse wails. His spasms stopped and soon he lay there quietly, unmoving. The night went deadly quiet. Cas had frozen where he stood.

Bal was supposed to be banished, not murdered.

“Hehe”

Did Cas just giggle? Bal was an irritating bastard but, she didn’t feel like laughing at that. Ell looked at him, just to find him staring back at her, a question hanging in the air. If he hadn’t laughed then-

“Pfffth hahaha ahhhh I’m sorry friends; that was far too good an opportunity.”

Bal rolled over, laughing. It seemed he was both alive and still here to annoy her. What the sweet fuck was going on?

“Ah, you look very confused Miss. Have you not read the contract?”

“The contract?”

“Yes, the contract.”

They stared at each other for a few moments, Bal not seeing to fit to continue his explanation and Ell not willing to ask again. Cas snapped out of his daze and came to her rescue.

“What contract do you speak of demon? I do not believe my Lady agreed to anything upon your summoning.”

“Sure she did.”

“And what, pray tell, might have that been?”

“What would’ve what have been?”

Veins popped on Cas’s forehead as he roared in frustration. He charged at Bal, throwing wild swings with his fists.

“You are going to wish you had died there, demon!”

Bal nimbly ducked and swerved around Cas’s uncoordinated swings, laughing all the while.

“I wouldn’t try and kill me, friend, lest you want harm to befall the lovely Miss Ell.”

That snapped Cas out of his rage, but he still tried to grab the dancing demon.

“Speak demon! What do you mean ‘harm’! You can do nothing if you are dead.”

Ell was quite curious about this harm part as well. She liked not being harmed. It’s why she ran away in the first place. Being unharmed was most definitely preferable.

“Oh, but that is in the contract friends. Surely you have read it?”

Ell felt tears of frustration build up behind her eyes and she finally caved.

“Damn it Bal, what contract? Why would harm befall me if Cas killed you?”

“It’s quite simple really. Part of the standard contract us demons drew up contains a short but really quite important clause: ‘The summoner shall not willingly let harm befall the demon.’”

Bal pranced over to her, leaving a panting Cas behind.

“And what that means, my Lady, is that if you let the big fella over there strangle me, I’m afraid something very nasty is going to happen to you. He is under your command, isn’t he? Then order him to stop.”

Bal was smiling sweetly, just inches from her face. Those damn glimmering eyes. Reluctantly, she barked a command at Cas.

“Cas stop it. We can’t kill him. Not yet, anyway. Cas is right though, I didn’t agree to any contract when I summoned you.”

Bal danced away, his grin growing wider.

“Ah but you did. As you still seem confused, I shall explain it slowly for you. The contract comes in two parts; the first part is the standard terms that us demons drew up eons ago. They are the codes of conduct as such. It has all the basics, like that little clause I just told you about. The summoner agrees to all this the instant they summon a demon.”

Bal went over to Cas’s horse and began shifting through his saddle bags. He grabbed some biscuits and Cas’s bedroll, laying it out close to the fire.

“Now the other part, that is the summoners part of the contract. They can write up any terms they like, like what task they want the demon to perform and how they should behave while here. Now, the summoner needs to be pretty specific here; demons have a nasty habit of finding loopholes in contracts and causing all sorts of misery.”

Bal laughed as he scoffed down a biscuit, inviting a glare from Cas. Ell had a shit feeling that she knew where this was going.

“The summoner also has to state clearly as to how the demon can be banished back to hell, be it when they finish their task or when the summoner demands it.”

The pit in Ell’s stomach grew wider and wider.

“Fun little titbit; did you know that a verbal contract is just as binding as a written one?”

Oh no.

“And I believe all you said was ‘Please, help us’.”

She was a damn fool.