Summoning

She had looked at me disbelief through most of the telling, obviously fearful that I had lost my mind. That look faded when she saw Steven slumped in his chair, Ramon lying on the ground, and the apparition that glowed above ring. It disappeared completely when I stretched out my hand, and the ring flew from the floor to land in my palm.

“That’s everything in a nutshell, Sara. Olympias said that she put the book in your hands, even showed you which spell to use to summon Ornias, but…that still leaves one question unresolved.

“Why did you want to summon a demon in the first place?”

She looked at me a moment, shaking her head. And then, to my amazement, she began to laugh. Harsh, bitter laughter that juxtaposed oddly with the tears that began to leak from her eyes. But, to her credit, she managed to look straight into my eyes as she delivered her knockout punch of an explanation.

“Because, no matter how many times you said you loved me, it wasn’t enough. No matter how much you used me, spanked me, beat me…it wasn’t enough. Because no matter how well suited we were for each other, no matter how much we enjoyed being around each other…it wasn’t enough.

“When I looked at you, I saw someone I liked and cared for and needed…but it wasn’t enough. If I cried out, you would hasten to comfort me, instead of pushing me further. As much as you gave me as a friend, you never gave me enough as a dominant. In too many ways, you cared too much about me to hurt me and use me the way I wanted, the way I needed to be used.” She raised her hand to touch my face.

“You were just too nice to be the man I wanted to spend my life with. I think I really believed that there was no man out there who could be everything I wanted, but I wouldn’t accept not having the one thing I did want – someone who would use me the way I needed to be used.

“So I went to the occult shop, and I got the book, and I came home that very night and began preparing for the ritual. I drew the pentagram in blood, chanted the words of the ritual, and then the demon came to me. And even with its back turned, I can still recognize it from here.” She looked at the light coming from my ring. “Isn’t that right, Ornias?”

The demon never moved, but its hissing voice was very clear. “Go fuck yourself, bitch!”

She smiled at his words, and then continued. “I told the demon what I wanted. A powerful man, dark and handsome, but with the presence of a feudal lord…indulgent to those in his power, but menacing and vengeful to those who threatened either him or those he protected. A dominant man, a sadist, one who knew when a cry meant “Enough!” or when it actually meant, “Give me more!” And Ornias promised to do just what I asked, saying that if I placed a drop of blood on a piece of paper and slid it into the pentagram, he would make his mark, and our deal would be complete.”

I looked at her in horror. “Sara, you didn’t!! You let the demon make his mark in your blood, on a blank sheet of paper?”

“Yes, just as the book from the occult shop said to do.”

I let out a sharp cry of dismay as I realized what she had done. No matter what the situation, a contract is intended to spell out both the responsibilities of the two parties involved…and the limitations of those responsibilities. Giving a demon a blank contract was like giving a Beverly Hill’s girl a platinum credit card with a $25 thousand dollar limit and then turning her loose in an upscale mall…you can’t expect her not to shop! And you can’t expect a demon with a blank but signed contract not to anything he damn well pleased with the fool who would enter into such an agreement.

And Olympias, in her manipulative scheming, had put into Sara’s hands the book that had prompted that horrible outcome.

“So you gave Ornias this blank contract…”

“Oh, no. I told him before I gave him the blank paper that I wanted the contract back, so that if I didn’t like what was happening, I could tear it up.”

I looked at her, incredulous. Once a demon has signed a piece of paper like that, he wouldn’t give it back…unless he thought it wouldn’t make any difference? “And did he give it back?”

“Yes, he did…along with the rest of my journal.”

I couldn’t help it. I really didn’t want my face to break into a grin like a barracuda smelling blood. But I felt it settle there anyway. I looked down at Ornias, who had turned to face me. And my grin got wider.

“And did you ever try to find your journal, so you could tear up that page?”

“Well, no, I didn’t. I mean, why should I? Ornias did everything he promised to do, except for putting that other woman in my body. I haven’t really liked riding along and experiencing everything second-hand.

“But, other than that…I wouldn’t want anything to change.”

I was still looking at Ornias when she said that, and suddenly I saw him grinning at me around his mouthful of fangs. The expression on my own face was more like open-mouthed astonishment. I quickly looked up at her. “But, Sara…?”

“No, Daniel. You’ve made it quite clear that you came here out of some misplaced desire to ‘save’ me, as if I had been kidnapped and forced to love somebody else. But you’re wrong. I made my choice, and I’ve lived with the consequences, and, truth be told, I’ve been damn happy with them! I’ve been used and used well, at the whim of a man – or demon – that pushes me over the edge every single time we play. And, even if I’m getting the pain and pleasure of those experiences from a distance, because of the way the demon inside him is punishing someone else…I’ve never felt anything like it.

“And I don’t want it to stop.”

She looked at me defiantly, confidently…every inch the woman I had fallen for so quickly and completely. A mass of contradictions, she was, but also someone who wouldn’t settle for anything less than living her vision, no matter what the consequence.

In that moment, I loved her more than ever…even as I realized that she could never feel the same for me.

It was time to let her go.

With a slight exertion of my mind, I reached out to her with my power, and, as I had with Steven, simply stopped her mind, freezing her firmly in place. Then I looked down at my ring, and at the demon looking back at me.

“Orny, we need to talk.”

“There is nothing we need to talk about, whelp. You heard the cunt; she likes it and wants it, and wants to continue getting it, and as long as there’s a signed contract, that’s what’s going to happen.”

“Perhaps,” I said easily, pulling something from my pocket to show to it. “Perhaps not.”

I showed the demon the piece of paper with his symbol on it, the one that it had made in Sara’s blood on the blank page in her journal. As it watched, I concentrated on the paper, regenerating it, until a whole unbroken sheet had reformed around its mark.

Ornias eyed me warily from inside its cage.

“You know, Orny, I read a lot. Different types of things, a mixed bag really. And I’ve read my share of “deal with the devil” stories. You know what interests me? Its how, when the demon and its victim agree on the terms of the contract, its signed by them both, and, if the unfortunate victim hasn’t nailed down all the stipulations and limitations, then said person might find themselves richer than any other person alive, but buried in some unknown tomb and unable to spend any of it. So the victim gets his wish, but also gets the short end of the stick while he’s alive, and soon his soul is claimed too. Nasty stuff, that.

“But I also find it interesting that, because you and Sara left this little contract so open-ended, I was able to take this little symbol right here and use it to bend you to my will by, in a sense, sticking you in a freezer until you cried “uncle.” So I just wonder what might happen if I were to take this,” a Sharpie marker with a thin writing head appeared in my hand, “and were to start writing certain things down on this sheet of paper.

“What if we start with “The demon Ornias is banned from the mortal plane of Earth…” Hmmmm…what do you think, Orny? Is forever too long? I like forever, myself, though it seems a little vague. Let’s try it out for feel.” I took the Sharpie’s cap off and began to write in my sloppy print, “The demon Ornias is hereby banned from the mortal plane of…”

“STOP!!” Ornias was literally clawing at the sides of its prison. “DON’T WRITE ANYTHING ELSE!!”

“Why, Orny? We don’t have anything to discuss, do we? I mean, banning you from Earth won’t disrupt your activities, will it? I mean, other than being unable to keep your bargain with Sara, and being totally unable to wreak any more havoc on Olympias, that is? I just don’t see why I shouldn’t just write Earth here and get it over with.” I dipped the Sharpie downward toward the paper…

“DAMNABLE HUMAN!! WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANT??”

“Well, first of all, you can stop shouting,” I said, relaxing my reflex cringe at the volume of its last verbal barrage. “And second…my name is Daniel, not whelp. Use it.”

I put the cap on the marker, content for the moment that my threat to bar the demon in all ways from the Earth was clear, and that it understood I could carry it out at any time.

“Now, Ornias…let us talk about all the things that have happened and a few of the things that are going to happen, through the good graces of you, I, and the piece of paper I’m holding in my hand.”

END PART SIX

PART SEVEN

In the end, Ornias was forced to accede to everything that I wanted. However, the little sacrifices the demon made at the point of my Sharpie marker were, in the end, compensated by one request of its own that I did grant.

I finished that first sentence with the words “Joe’s Bar and Grill in Hoboken, New Jersey, weekdays from 9 AM to midnight and weekends from 6 AM to 1 AM.” Even Ornias laughed slightly at that.

The next sentence on the page was easy for him to digest, as well. “I, Ornias, vow to fulfill Sara’s wishes, including to be used and taken by a dominant male to the end of her natural life.” Seeing it written on the sheet, he flapped his hand at me dismissively. “I had never intended to go back on my word on that, whe…Daniel. It has been great fun to have Olympias locked in the front of the woman’s mind, hating what was happening, even as the cunt was screaming in pleasure at my efforts.”

“Well, I’m afraid you’re going to like the next part a bit less, Orny.”

On the paper I wrote, “I, Ornias, will let Sara be in control of her own body, and will not permit another presence to take control or inhabit her body for the rest of her natural life.” Followed quickly by, “I, Ornias, will release the woman Olympias from her amended agreement with me, allowing her spirit to wander free, without restriction, when she is without the power of the ring.”

Ornias, who had seemed to be relaxing, shot to attention as if he’d been goosed. “NO! You cannot do this to me!!!”

I shook my head at him. “Yes, I can do this, Orny. You have held on to Olympias for 10 cycles of the ring, punishing her in different ways, different bodies, as ringwielders have come and gone. This time, she ensnared Sara in her attempt to break free of your grip, and who knows what lengths she might go to next time? No, Ornias…enough is enough. Release her. Besides…I think that, if you need a companion once Sara has lived out her natural life as your contracted sub, she might be willing to work out an extension of some sort. She’s always been the adventurous type. Besides,” I added with a wink, “there are only going to be three more ringwielders, so it’s not like you haven’t already had most of your fun with Olympias.”

He mulled the idea silently, and then nodded. “I have grown a bit tired of Olympias these past 400 years or so. Perhaps I will have to follow your example, and let her go…despite my wishes to the contrary.” It mulled a moment more…not that such hesitation made any difference, since each line was written in permanent marker on the contract and would not be coming off. Of course, out of prudence, I didn’t voice that fact. Finally it said, “Very well. I agree.”

“Good. Then we’re nearly done.” I wrote another quick line, “I, Ornias, agree that, once Olympias reaches the last ringwielder and gives him the ring, she will still be tied to it, in body and in spirit, until the last becomes the first and frees them both.”

When Ornias read what I had written, it looked at me in puzzlement for a moment. Then, a wolfish grin crossed its face. “You seek to punish her even more? By keeping her from being free even at the last?” It looked at me in admiration. “Perhaps I underestimated your capacity for revenge after all. By all means, add that to the contract. I shall make sure of it!”

I smiled at it, glad the demon could not fathom the real reason behind what I had written.

I added one last line for myself. “I, Ornias, agree to let Daniel have sole possession of Sara to do with what he will until 6 AM on the morning this is written, in order to finish any business he might have with her.”

Its grin grew even wider. “Unfinished business, is it? Yes, I think this will be a truly interesting dawn! I will enjoy seeing what you do with the cunt!”

‘Or perhaps you won’t,’ I thought to myself, glad to be nearly finished. “I have nothing else to add, Ornias.”

It cleared its throat. “I would like to ask you to add something for me. A small request, and one I think that you will agree is not so much to ask. Could you…” His voice got much quieter, adopting a pleading tone. “Would you write down that I could no longer be summoned by the ring? Make it so that Olympias shows the ringwielder she picks how to use the ring. I am tired of being the one always at the disposal of those who should never have power in the first place.”

“Very well, Orny.” I quickly added, “I, Ornias, can never be summoned by the ring of Solomon ever again, and in return pledge never to plague or harm in any way the ringwielder or any of his family or friends.” In truth, that last bit was my own insurance that Ornias would never seek to avenge this little contract session by hurting anyone I liked or loved. “Anything else?”

It shook its head “no,” and so I rolled up our little contract and mentally conjured a ribbon to tie it shut with. Then, closing my eyes, I imagined the contract fading from my own hand, and reappearing in the demon’s claw inside the ring. When I opened my eyes, it was clutching the contract to its chest as if afraid it might disappear again.

“Very well, Ornias. Our business is done. You can no longer be summoned by the ring, though your power is still bound, as is that of your brethren. You may reclaim what is yours at 6 AM. Until then…be gone!”

And with that command, Ornias slowly faded from view. My last solid picture of the demon was the mixture of relief and happiness on his features, knowing the ring would never summon him again.

Its relief at that state of affairs had to be almost as strong as my own.

However, I had less than two hours before the 6 AM deadline, and there was still one piece of business I had to conduct with Sara, and another I needed to conduct in a place out-of-time.

Closing my eyes, I let my mind call out to all those I had touched tonight, bound in one way or another by the power of the ring. ‘Come to me,’ I thought. ‘I summon you to my side.’ As they stirred and began coming toward the dungeon, I found one mind in particular in their midst, and issued special instructions to it, so that when I returned, all would be ready.

Then I again imagined a place – my place – outside of time and space, the place where two spirits awaited me. I could feel it there in the back of mind, solid and reachable, imbued with the power of Merlin. Much more quickly this time, the sense of being in the “real world” faded away.

When I opened my eyes, I was again in the living room of my modest apartment, the fire still roaring in the fireplace just as it had been when I left.

However, Merlin and Olympias were nowhere to be seen.

I couldn’t believe it! I could feel Merlin’s power here, holding the room together, but both he and Olympias were gone! I felt a bit cheated, as if I had rushed home from school with a great report card, only to find my parents had left town without a forwarding address! Where could they be?

That’s when I heard a faint noise from the door that lead to the master bedroom.

A squeaking noise.

I followed the sound down the hallway until I stood in front of the closed door.

“Squeak…squeak…squeak.”

The kind of a sound a mattress spring makes when it’s being used…

Holy Mother of God!!

“Squeaksqueaksqueaksqueaksqueaksqueaks qUEAKSQUEAKSQUEAKSQUEAK…”

One voice from inside the room went “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

The other went “Ah…AHHH…AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

And then there was silence.

I went back into the living room and sat on the couch, preoccupied with the thought of having sex without a physical body.

When the door opened, I watched with great interest to see who would emerge first from the bedroom. The answer was neither, as they walked arm in arm, looking deeply into each other’s eyes, the way lovers do.

Olympias noticed me first, and she literally screamed when she saw me, and then she threw herself at me. I braced myself for an attack.

Instead, she wrapped her arms around me and began kissing my face!!

Between kisses I could make out words that sounded like “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou….” You get the idea.

Merlin came over and rescued me from these rather enthusiastic thanks, pulling Olympias back up into his arms and holding her there while I regained my senses. Still, as he gazed down at me, I could see he was adding his own silent thanks to the much more expressive thanks of…

I think I might have gaped, just then, because Olympias had changed completely in her appearance. Where the woman I had left here looked just like Sara, the woman who stood before me now was thin, with virtually no breasts to speak of. She seemed delicate, yet immensely regal, with raven black hair and deep green eyes that reminded me of a Siren. I looked from Merlin to Olympias then back again, seeking an explanation for all that I saw…and all I had heard.

Merlin obliged me, after sitting on the couch beside me and seating Olympias on his lap. “Daniel, I don’t know if you knew what you were doing when you wrote what you did on that sheet of demon signed paper, but, even if you didn’t, we are both in your debt until the end of time…and back,” he added with a grin.

My mind was reeling with the implication that my long shot of a wish for Merlin and Olympias may actually have paid off. “Just tell me in small words what happened, please?”

“Well, my boy, several things happened at once. When you bound Ornias to release Olympias from her torment, her spirit had to have somewhere to go each time it disappeared from Earth. Of course, since I disappeared during the same time period, my own spirit had to go somewhere. Therefore, it was no great surprise that, since we were both incorporeal, and since she was bound to the ring and I was wearing it, that we were drawn to each other in the limbo realm we were forced to inhabit. So, using my power, I was able to create for both of us a place to go, and thus we were able to forge a unique companionship. Remember how I told you she looked at me so fondly in our first “real” meeting in Antarctica? It was not an illusion! As she progressed closer to the end of the world where she would present me with the ring, we were already cultivating a relationship, and by the time she reached me with the ring, she desperately hoped that there might be a way she would stay with me…which is why she was so upset when I refused the ring the first time.” He turned to look fondly to Olympias, who stuck her tongue out at him in response. “Of course, I’ve had to remind her since that she had been warned I would do so…by my doppelganger, the Merlin of Camelot.”