The Road From Death

by Tobias Wade

  “Sorry, no need,” Noah said firmly. “I’m pretty sure about this one.”

  “So be it, so be it. How about you, Jamie? Maybe there’s a little fire in you from an efreet that never went out?” he asked, hopeful.

  “Just the cat, I think,” she replied. “They are happy here, aren’t they? Wouldn’t they prefer to be taking classes too?”

  “An excellent question! Just what I’d expect from my apprentice. Spiritual creatures who have no counterpart in the corporal world are not the same as spiritual animals who do. The beings who exist entirely in the spirit world often do not speak our language, although some like the harpy are sharp enough to learn a few words and phrases. Bestiary’s like this may be thought of like a conservatory. They exist all over the world to protect and study these marvelous creatures, as well as utilize their fantastic properties. Not to mention keeping them out of trouble, as many can interact directly with the corporal world.”

  “Do you have any gargoyles?” Noah asked.

  Humstrum’s face crinkled like he’d just witnessed clumps pour out of his milk carton. “You won’t find any of those in a bestiary. The T.D.D. has them all employed.”

  “But there must be wild ones. Or some that have gone rogue and attack people.”

  The Professor shrugged and his antelope head Hazel snorted loudly. “I wouldn’t think so, but anything is possible. You see gargoyles aren’t natural like the other animals are—the T.D.D. makes them from scratch. No one outside of the department knows exactly how it’s done, but I can’t imagine there’s anything wholesome about it.”

  A chittering snicker sounded from one of the jinn, which was swiftly followed by a series of protesting honks, growls, barks, hisses, and all manner of other sounds from the agitated spirits.

  An imp who had been stealthily clinging to the back of a tree dropped to the ground, likely realizing its cover had been blown. It looked around in a wild panic at all the protesting spirits.

  “What is a demon doing here?” Professor Humstrum asked sternly, his voice boiling with a barely contained rage that Noah had never heard from him before. “Unnatural creature—you do not belong in this sacred space!”

  The imp cast a quick glance at Noah before attempting to creep back toward the door, crouching and slinking despite being in plain sight. Noah scanned the surrounding trees, trying to spot if there were any more. He had the unnerving feeling that the imp had been sent to spy on him.

  “Did someone send you?” Noah asked, hurrying after the demon. “Was it Professor Salice?”

  The imp left all covert pretensions and leaped wildly for the door. Crawling up the wood to pull on the heavy metal handle, it struggled and gasped as it heaved against the indomitable door.

  “Hey—I’m asking you a question!” Noah demanded. He flung out a hand to seize the imp by its shoulder. A jolt of electricity shot through Noah’s hand, and scarlet sparks hissed and smoldered into the air. He withdrew his hand at once, and that was all the time the imp needed. With a last surge of strength the demon yanked the door open a crack—just enough for it to slip through and disappear. Noah was left nursing his scalded hand, staring at the smoldering sparks which continued to burn sporadically in the air like tiny fireworks.

  “You’ve found your affinity after all,” Professor Humstrum said with a tense, hushed voice. “You used to be a demon, boy.”

  “I didn’t know demons could even become human,” Noah said. The severity of Humstrum’s tone made him feel that he had done something wrong, although he couldn’t see what.

  “No,” Humstrum said after a pause. “Neither did I. Nor anyone else I’ve ever taught, and believe you me there’s enough of them to sink the island if they ever had a reunion.”

  “I bet that imp is going to run straight back to Professor Salice,” Jamie said. “He’s going to know too.”

  “Is that okay?” Noah asked. “I mean, does it matter? People have been loads of stuff.”

  “Elizabeth told me she used to be a slug before she was a rabbit,” Jamie said cheerfully. “She says now she finally knows why her nose is always runny, although I don’t think that’s really how it works, is it Professor—”

  But the Professor wasn’t listening. He was having a hurried and whispered conversation with the antelope head on his staff. The antelope kept glancing at Noah every few seconds.

  “Please excuse me,” Professor Humstrum said. “I’ve just forgotten that I was supposed to have tea with—never mind with whom, I’m already late. Jamie, please join me tomorrow evening for the rest of your bestiary instructions. Noah…” The Professor paused, chewing on his lip. The orangutang reached out a hesitant hand and patted Noah on his back, rather tentatively as though he was afraid the contact would burn him. Humstrum then turned suddenly and made for the door.

  “Professor?” Noah asked, his voice higher pitched and more strained than he’d intended. “Please don’t tell anyone.”

  Professor Humstrum forced a shallow smile over his shoulder, although the bird did not emerge from his beard as usual. “You’re human now, eh? Just the same as the rest of us. Our past is only our own burden to bear, and I won’t breathe a word.”

  Neither the Professor’s farewell nor his speedy departure did anything to reassure Noah, who was by now feeling a little nauseous. He meekly followed the Professor back toward the courtyard and the rest of the students who were still milling about the remainder of the apprenticeship stalls.

  “So nothing to worry about,” Jamie said meekly. “There’s nothing wrong with imps, and nothing for you to be ashamed of. Anyway, you got over the murderer thing pretty quickly, and I think that would have been much harder for me—”

  “You don’t think they’re related?” Noah asked glumly. “What if I was a rampaging, murderous demon?”

  “Oh,” Jamie said. “I hadn’t thought about that. Well even if you were, you aren’t now, right? Have you had any urges or anything… you haven’t, have you?”

  The more Noah heard about it, the more murder sounded like a perfectly practical solution to get everybody to shut up. Even his thoughts were only joking though, something to try to lighten the pit he felt in his stomach. He never would have…

  Couldn’t have…

  Could he?

  Qari Olandesca Illustrations

  Demonology

  Noah took his next chance to visit the library to search for more information about his affinity. The third tower marked by the camel reminded Noah of the Daymare because of all the floating platforms which contained reading tables both above and below. A spidery web of stairs branched haphazardly from one platform to the next, but none of the platforms were devoted to the actual bookshelves, which didn’t exist.

  The books themselves were spread open and glided through the air like flocks of fat, lazy birds. Whenever a book was needed, a student would simply announce what he was looking for and the book would sail over to land on his table. There was a rumor going around that one of the students made the mistake of simply asking for ‘books about reincarnation’, and his failure to be specific caused multiple flocks of books to swarm him from every direction and bury him completely.

  The librarian, a bespectacled vampire named Mrs. Vanderlooth, vehemently denied such a rumor. Her denial was hardly credible though, as she insisted that it’s best to be as specific as possible and warned that students should hide underneath the table when a vague statement was unavoidable. Mrs. Vanderlooth was an elegant creature with long purple robes and a prominent beauty mark at the corner of each of her voluptuous red lips.

  Noah vastly preferred spending time in the library to studying in the tight mausoleum quarters with Brandon. This suited Brandon just fine, who had responded by scattering his clothes and books across both sides of the room. Noah’s coffin now served as storage for Brandon’s maps, rope, life vest (the name stamped across the breast without the slightest sense of irony), and other equipment that Brandon had received from the supernautical man.<
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  None of the books Noah could find about affinity gave him the least resolution to his quandary. Some books didn’t even consider demons to have souls, while others spoke of them as having their own, distinct type of soul that allowed them to be reborn as another demon, but not as anything else. Noah couldn’t even ask Mrs. Vanderlooth for help, considering Humstrum’s reaction. He felt it was best to keep his affinity a secret, and her ability to amplify a rumor while pretending to deny it would only make matters worse.

  “It’s time to earn your keep,” Professor Salice’s voice spoke directly into Noah’s ear. Noah nearly fell backward from his chair, only catching himself just in time before he tumbled off the platform altogether.

  “Fourth floor, second room, ten minutes. Don’t be late.”

  Noah spun in circles trying to find the orator. It quickly became apparent that he was alone. He briefly considered ignoring the request and pretending he hadn’t heard, or perhaps even hiding here to avoid the meeting. There still existed the possibility that Salice had some leverage over his family though, and in any case even normal teachers couldn’t be disobeyed without repercussions. There’s no telling what kind of foul thing Salice could do to him, or how powerless Noah was to resist. Shivering involuntarily, Noah climbed down from the spidery stairway and headed for the main tower.

  Noah expected the demonology floor to be the most unpleasant of them all, and he felt somewhat dissatisfied in discovering he was incorrect. The railings on the bridge and around the pit were composed of thick red lines that looked more like beams of light than any solid material. They were arranged artfully into perfectly interlocking geometrical shapes and patterns. The floor itself was clean white tile, and the doors were iron portals engraved with the same dizzying array of patterns. Some of the shapes glowed with a soft red light, while others blinked or lit sporadically as though they were having a conversation with each other.

  Noah knocked upon the second room, which was distinguished by Roman numerals prominently embedded within the designs. Several of the other symbols flashed in silent unison as soon as his fist touched the iron, although there was no other discernible effect.

  Professor Salice opened the door to loom over Noah. If the imp really had told Professor Salice about Noah’s affinity, then the Professor showed no immediate sign of it.

  “The letter?” Salice asked immediately, his hand outstretched.

  “You said I had until our class,” Noah protested.

  “Ah. I would have thought you’d be eager to contact your relatives,” Salice replied, disappointed. “Or have you already found another way?”

  “I don’t know, Professor. Is there another way?” Noah asked.

  Salice gave a thin, lipless smile, then stepped aside to allow Noah to enter. “Do not touch anything that you have not been invited to touch. Do not say anything unless you are invited to speak. And if you are invited to speak,” Salice paused to glance pointedly at Noah, “you shall speak to me no lies. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Professor,” Noah replied.

  The room they were in looked a bit like a police lineup: a large transparent, frosted plane divided two spaces. The walls and ceiling of this side were tiled, while those of the other were overlapping slabs of corrugated iron. The side of the room Noah had entered contained half-a-dozen plain wooden chairs, as well as a filing cabinet and a desk. The other side was completely empty except for a large pentagram within a circle drawn onto the ground. The design seemed to radiate the same beams of light that comprised the railings. Salice’s demon, Visoloth, was lying on its back on a dog bed in the corner, revealing its strange, scaly underbelly.

  “The cost of your attendance is being covered by the labor of your work as my apprentice this semester,” Salice said. “Do you know what that means?”

  “No,” Noah replied, as much to be difficult as he was confused about the direction this was going.

  “Of course not,” Salice said. “It means that your presence at The Mortuary is conditional on my approval of your work. It means I have the power to dismiss you from this school if I ever find reason to do so.”

  “I could always get another apprenticeship,” Noah said. “The supernautical man offered—”

  “Did I ask you a question?” Salice snapped.

  “No, Professor,” Noah replied.

  “And yet you spoke,” he drawled.

  Noah bit his tongue to avoid agreeing with Salice out of pure stubbornness.

  “That’s better. I would like us to be friends, and that can only happen so long as you don’t fight me. I will have different tasks for you on different occasions, but you will be spending the majority of your time in my service in this room. Please stand against the glass.”

  Noah did as he was instructed.

  “Closer,” Salice prompted. “All the way. Feet against the glass, forehead against the glass.”

  As soon as Noah had done so, Professor Salice placed one hand against the back of Noah’s head and pressed him against the barrier. The cold flat surface immediately gave way to a freezing mist. Noah tumbled directly through the glass, barely catching himself on the other side. He spun around and tried to regain his previous position, only to smack head-first against the pane which had grown solid once more.

  “Demonic summoning requires at least two demonologists,” Professor Salice said, his voice distant and muffled from the other side. “One to sign the contract, and a second to serve as the vessel for the demon. Today I will be bringing…” the Professor produced a black leather notebook from his pocket and began to flip through it. “…two imps for The Matriarch, replacing gardeners who have expired. One Peruvian Blue Scale for cleaning the Daymare, one Lava Salamander to stoke the fires of Mrs. Thatcher’s witchery, and three Gobbler’s to polish Francisco Pintilo’s gemstones. That’s seven total, so you will be out of here before midnight.”

  Noah raised his hand to ask a question, feeling silly as he did so. The humiliation increased as Salice glanced up, then looked back to his notebook as though he’d seen nothing.

  “Sit in the center of the pentagram with your legs crossed and your eyes closed. All extremities should be within the innermost lines. Once you are seated, you are not to move until the ceremony is complete, or risk part of your body being banished to the netherworld during the exchange. That happened to one of my apprentices once—it only took him a few minutes to find his hand in the nether, but by then the demons had already stripped it to the bone.”

  The beams of light marking the pentagram were warm as Noah passed through them. The sensation might have been pleasant if it weren’t for the looming dread for what was about to occur. Surely it couldn’t be worse than risking his chance to come back to life though… could it?

  Professor Salice described the summoning process as three distinct steps. First Salice would read aloud one of the contracts which he had already prepared. That would bridge the connection between Noah, the “host”, and the demon in the netherworld. The second step was for the demon to be summoned here, and the third step was for the demon to be bound by the contract.

  The words Salice read were meaningless to Noah; they sounded more like the chittering, cackling sounds the imps made than any human tongue. As Salice read the image of the demon grew gradually clearer in Noah’s mind.

  The long snout appeared in his thoughts first, just as though he’d consciously conjured the image. Then two beady black eyes, then a lithe, thin body like a snake. Four legs ending in sharp claws gradually resolved themselves from the darkness, and then all at once the skin turned deep blue and cracked like dry mud under a blazing sun.

  Noah found it deeply unsettling that he was imagining this creature against his will, and that try as he might he could not force himself to stop thinking about it as the image continued to become more vivid and focused. The cracked skin continued hardening into distinct scales, and quite soon he was picturing what he could only assume to be the Peruvian Bluescale.

&n
bsp; “Genitus,” Professor Salice said at last. “Hold very still now. Take care not to cross any of the lines on the ground.”

  The image in Noah’s mind vanished, and at the same instant he felt sharp claws sinking into his shoulder. A high pitched screech blasted directly in his ear. Every instinct demanded that he flee. He opened his eyes to stare directly into the long blue snout and beady black eyes he’d imagined a moment before. It would have been bad enough for the demon to simply materialize on top of him, but it was far worse seeing that the full demon hadn’t arrived yet. The claws dug more deeply into Noah shoulder for support as the Peruvian Bluescale dragged itself directly out of Noah’s forehead.

  It didn’t feel like his head was being split in two, although he did feel an immense amount of pressure which didn’t relieve until the demon had completely pulled itself out of his body. It was only the size of a medium dog, and it didn’t take long before the demon had completely tumbled free to land in Noah’s lap. The demon tried to flee, but as soon as it began to cross the first beam of light in the pentagram, the light flared and red sparks flew into the air. The demon recoiled as though burned, prompting more high pitched, whistling screeches.

  Professor Salice slapped the contract he’d written against the glass and answered the demon with a similar screech, sounding all the more unnatural coming from his human lips. His other hand held a black stone which he also pressed against the glass. The whole pentagram flared once more, this time burning green. The colorful sparks bled from the air and drifted into the black stone which absorbed the light.

  “Sit,” Professor Salice ordered, and the demon did so at once, its long body curling several times beneath it.

  “Rise,” Salice said. The demon stood on its hind legs, lifting its head high into the air. “Dance; on my beat.” Salice began a rhythmic clap and the demon swayed, bouncing and hopping about on its hind legs in time with the clapping. After a few moments Professor Salice nodded, content.