Everyone froze as a presence overtook the room, including the hounds, their ravenous fangs being less than an arm’s length away from me. The room changed temperature in a single second, the heat becoming unbearable. On the floor in the center of the salt circle opened a red and black vortex, like a gateway.

On the other side I saw fire. Fire on the ground and crimson in the sky. A never-ending rain of blood, the drops doing nothing to quench the heat of the everlasting inferno that roared across the sulfuric rivers. Imps covered the sky, more numerous than even the rain drops, the flutter of their wings being both nearly impossible to hear and deafening in its numbers. On the ground walked a thousand different demons, more infernals than I ever feared to be real, each of them horned and clawed in no discernable pattern, not one of them looking quite unique, but not of them being the same either.

I would have seen more, but I my view was interrupted, as a giant yellow eye with the pupil of a reptilian blocked my view.

“You seek my presence, warlock?” asked a voice, impossibly powerful. I could feel the thunder of its tone, the sound ringing through the very center of my bones. “Yet you do not even spare enough space for me appear fully. Pitiful.”

“I am Jacob, son of James,” I started, the very first chapter telling me to introduce myself with the name of myself and my father. “I seek a contract with you, Ascalon; bane of Silene.”

“Jacob,” it spoke the word, as if tasting it. The name seemed to have left a bitter taste in its mouth. “A weak name. I remember the first Jacob, and he was a follower. Yet you seek to lead me? Why should I accept such a pact? What do you offer, son of James?”

“Exactly!” Interrupted Anthony with a shout, apparently having enough power to move through the pressure. “He is weak! I will show your conquest like never before. You and I can rule the world together. Join me, mighty one.”

“Silence, Sjaelbinder!” Roared Ascalon, his voice causing multiple of the officers still alive to collapse. “It is not your power that called me! It was the child who summoned me, so with the child I will speak. You will remain quiet.”

The word caused the demon to freeze once more, the weight that submerged the room doubling upon him, his knees shaking as he threatened to fall to the ground.

“Jacob, what will you give me?” he hurriedly asked while his eye looked briefly away from the portal, scanning the surroundings. Almost like something was after him. It caused me to realize something. This demon didn’t care what I offered. That was why its price was so low, compared to the other named ones. He just needed me to offer something, anything. It made me think of what #72 had said. “I was an empress,” she had told me.

Demons weren’t born in hell. They were sinners. To escape to earth, was for some to revel in their sins. But, for others, it was an escape. An escape from the life that had led them to become a citizen of hell in the first place. An escape from the torture of that pervaded every inch of the hellish plane.

I started speaking, certain of my words.

“I offer a life above living lands, rather than burning brimstone. I offer salvation from your punishment, for as long as I live. In exchange, I seek your subservience, from now, until the day I die. You will not seek to harm me, nor will you attempt to inhibit my goals. Your body and power shall appear in full at my expense, but your goals shall only be my victory. Your actions shall only lead to my success. That is my offer.”

It instantly responded, confirming my suspicions.

“Very well, Jacob, it is a lucrative contract indeed, compared to my current situation. I accept your contract.” I couldn’t quite contain my relief, a small smile forming on my lips.

“My soul is yours to guard-,” Ascalon started, his voice having a different clang to it this time, sounding almost… celestial. As if he was doing more than simply speaking. He was commanding the very reality we stood in.

“No!” Shouted Anthony in panic and outrage. “Someone stop him!”

He tried to re-take control of the hounds, but it was futile. No one could move, the infernal’s power still smothering the room.

I lost control of my body once more, but this time, it was not the seductive voice of a demon who seized it, but something greater. A force of some kind. A constant of the universe.

“My body is yours to shield-,” I continued, my voice empowered by the nature of the contract. It sounded as if a thousand spirits sang my words throughout the room with incredible authority, the offer being no offer at all anymore, but a command.

“-Our wills are united,” We finished.

From the portal rushed yellow mist, not yellow like the sickly eyes of the demons, but the glinting amber of a kingly crown. It coalesced into the vague shape of four-legged creature, its shoulder my full height. Its hind legs bent in the signature shape of a canine, but unfurred. At the end of its legs were the 4-pronged shape of an avian claw, one claw pointing backwards and three forward. From its back was two great wings, but not furred like that of an imp, but feathered, like that of an eagle. Its neck was long, ending in a circular head.

Its shape was now fully formed, and it started filling out, a magnificent dragon with the head of an owl, everything covered in white feathers or glistening silver skin. Its talons and beak seemed to be made of dull steel, dark but still reflecting the light of the brimstone portal.

As it appeared, the mayor started shriveling inwards, his strength leaving him. I watched in horrid fascination as the mayor was sacrificed, though something else drew my attention quickly. The reptilian eyes of the feathered dragon turned to me, and the most beautiful voice I have ever heard spoke to me, every word resonating within my heart. It sounded like the bells of a church, but lighter. Purer.

“greetings, Jacob.”

“Ascalon,” I slowly responded, my voice filled with awe. “You are beautiful.”

“I am aware,” He responded, though I could sense a mild amount of smugness at my unconscious compliment. “though this is but a sliver of my form. You have chosen a terribly tiny place to perform my summoning.”

A cry rang out, a screech of sorrow, followed by Alia running for her father. I looked at her in pity, but something else tore my eyes away from her sorrowful form. Somehow, Anthony had freed himself entirely and was moving towards the door.

“Where are you going, unnamed one? I don’t believe I excused you,” Ascalon asked him. His feathers glowed slightly, causing the green demon to fall flat on his stomach. “That seems more appropriate. In fact, why are any of you standing? Do you not realize you are in the presence of your betters?” This time his feathers flared brightly, like a star, making it impossible to look at for anyone but me. Apparently, blinding me went under the definition of harm. Instead, the light was almost soothing, like the far away light of the moon.

I could not feel any pressure at all anymore, but everyone else fell to their knees. Those who were cognizant of Ascalon looking at him in reverence, while the humans merely looked incredibly fearful, unsure of what was happening. I rushed to Alia’s side, the light having forced her down as well. I grabbed her by her upper arm and pulled her to her feet. The pressure seemed to lift from her immediately as Ascalon realized my intentions, the dragon easily freeing her from his grasp. As soon as she could move on her own, she slapped my hand away.

“Get away from me” She shouted at me, tears still running down her face. “You killed him…”

I decided to say nothing. My apology would not be accepted, rather, I think she would take it as an insult. She knelt over the in-shrunken body of her father, her tears raining against the untouched clothes of the former mayor, the image seeming almost poetical as the fluid battered the dried corpse, a perverse sort of way.

“More will come, young one. Your power is great, and few will be able to resist it,” Ascalon told me in a comforting voice.

It wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear, but I appreciated the attempt nonetheless. I stared at her crying form for a while, content at simply torturing myself with my actions, even if I knew they were necessary for my freedom.

A groan followed by movement pulled my attention from my acquaintance’ sobs. Anthony was trying, and failing, to get up. One thing I had to give him, he was dedicated. If only he hadn’t forced me into slavery, he might have made it out of here alive just for that. I slowly walked over to his prone form, where he had rolled unto his back. He looked up at me, before giving me his textbook smile, though it was strained. For once, it didn’t bring any fear in me. I gave him a small one back.

“Your eyes…” He spoke, his mind not fully functioning, his pupils glazed over. “If only my master could have had you…”

“That was never an option,” I responded coldly.

“I don’t want to go back…” he continued rambling, Ascalon’s power seemingly having taken a toll on his psyche. “What about my house? Who will clean it? Will you do it, dear student?” He asked me.

“I would never help you,” I denied harshly.

“I would expect nothing less from such a good apprentice,” he continued, as if my answer had been in the positive. “Maybe next time, we’ll be happy together. Just you and me, against the world…”

I reached out with my magic, the blue smoke leaving my hand and entering through his nose and mouth. He started to struggle against it on instinct, his own magic futilely clashing with mine. His yellow eyes started to turn red as my smoke turned solid inside his lungs, still moving around, shredding everything it touched, like a sandstorm. Blood started to run from his mouth and nose, and he started coughing wildly. He laid like that, in misery, for a while. I made sure to watch every moment. It was weird, to know that he bled the same color as me. Unsettling. I started shaking slightly, but persevered nonetheless, only stopping once his eyes lost color and his attempts at breathing stopped entirely.

“Jacob,” came the voice of Ascalon, something in I couldn’t quite define. Satisfaction, maybe? “Perhaps I misjudged its meaning. Or perhaps, you will be the one who redefines it.”

I watched Anthony’s corpse for a moment, waiting for him to move. When he didn’t, I knelt down next to him and grabbed his wrist. I waited for there for a bit, focusing on the veins beneath my hand. Nothing.

I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh. A sob almost escaped with it, but I held it down. It was finally over. I was free.

I stood back up and looked around, observing the imps and Sjaelbinders, checking if they were trying to escape. None of them were, to my surprise, all of them seeming almost content with kneeling before us. There must have been fifty demons, at the very least. Were they really so scared of Ascalon? I shot a glance at the feathered dragon standing a bit away from me but, no matter how I tried, I could not find any fear for him. Maybe it was part of the contract?

I felt something cold slink into my lower back.

I froze, my limbs unwilling to move at all. I looked to Ascalon for answers, trying to move my mouth to form a question. His beak opened and closed, but I couldn’t hear anything. No, that wasn’t true. There was something. A drumming. A rhythmic beating, like the drums of a festival. Deep and powerful, it overpowered all other sounds. I could feel it throughout my entire body, but especially at a single spot in my back, seeming to be made of ice with how cold it was.

Ascalon flared once more, and something was launched away from me, slamming against a wooden wall. Suddenly, I could move again. I turned around and saw Anthony leant against a wall, his limbs broken but a smile still playing upon his lips, wide and unstrained, even as blood ran from between his teeth. At first, I could only stare in confusion at the sight. Then horror overtook me. He was dead. Why was he smiling? What did he do? Why is it so cold? a mildly painful throbbing started in my back around the icy point, steady and slow, as the room started losing its color.

All except for one color, that was. The red on the knife laid across Anthony’s lap was glaring at me from the gray-scaled room. The blood was all I could see. Just his dreadful smile highlighted in red and the instrument of my demise.

Why had I been so sure he had a heart?