by John Hansen
The Lord then turned to Caelan and then enfolded him in a tight embrace that filled him with the power of light that he had been drained of when he raised Autreo.
“I am sorry I failed you Lord,” Caelan whispered in shame as tears fell from his eyes.
The Lord released Caelan and stood back looking at him with a dazzling smile, “You did not fail my son. You have brought me the best gift of all, for the worth of a soul is great in my sight.”
Dementria’s Task
by
Amanda R. Browning
Chapter 1
The portal room of the Academy of Infernal Avocation was crowded with the demon students and their families, the instructors, and the two massive hellhounds guarding the portal. Today was a graduation of sorts for thirteen fledgling demon students. Each student had just completed the academic portion of their demonic studies, and the time for their final test had arrived. They would all begin their Proving today, as soon as they stepped through the portal and onto Earth. During the Proving, each fledgling demon would be given temporary full reign of their powers in order to complete their individual assignments. The air in the room was heavy with nerves and desperation; to fail this test was not an option.
Dementria waited along with her classmates. Her tall, slim body shifted anxiously. Her five foot nine frame allowed her a decent view over the shorter occupants here. Her violet eyes looked around the room restlessly, trying to remember every detail to recall while she was in the unfamiliar Earth dimension. The walls, floor, and vaulted ceiling were made from smooth black marble. The polish was so intense that the room was reflected in the glasslike surface. There were intricate designs made of interlocking demonic symbols ringing the edge of the portal in an arch, and the portal itself looked like shimmering purple water, lit from behind. The edges of the portal looked like black ink had been dumped into the incandescent lilac fluid. Black tendrils spread out from the fringes, writhing against each other like snakes. The two gigantic hellhounds stood to the sides of the portal, black fur gleaming in the light from the torches mounted on the wall. The hound closest to Dementria swiveled its glowing red eyes and focused on her. She quickly looked away, knowing better than to challenge the dominance of a hellhound, and her long black hair slid forward to cover her face. After a moment, she glanced up, appreciating the sight and smell of the deadly nightshade sprigs in the black vases on the wall, above and behind the hellhounds.
Dementria was nervous and scared about the mission she was to complete. Her power was the ability to alter the reality of her target to cause insanity. Dementria fed on the energy given off by a broken psyche. She could easily get this energy from an asylum, but she had to earn the right. As a fledgling demon, she currently had only partial use of her powers, and therefore did not need to feed on human energy to survive yet. For her initiation, she was assigned a mentally sound person, and she was to take that sane person and turn them into a demented lunatic. If she were successful, she would have a career finding humans who were already unstable and pushing them over the edge. However, if she failed, she would be stripped of all but the most basic demonic powers and forced to work in the slave dens. The slave dens were a nightmare, even to a demon. They were slums built in one of the more depressing sections of hell and there, the best she could hope for was to become a whore. The alternatives were much less pleasant to imagine.
Continuing to try to memorize this moment, Dementria looked around her at the other people in the room. Her parents were closest to her. Her father was tall and terrifying in his demon form, while her mother looked small and demure in her human form next to him. It was an odd contrast, and Dementria had to smile fondly at them. They were good parents. They treated each other and her well. She wasn’t sure she would say they loved each other, but as much as demons can love, they did. They were fond of each other, at least. Grinning again at her mother, Dementria turned and ran into her best friend, Averia.
“Oops, sorry Tria. I’m just so excited and nervous! This is it, if we do well, we will land the important, respected positions. I am SO not meant to work in the slave dens. It’s dirty and hot, and there are never any attractive men, or women for that matter.” Averia said, finishing with a lewd wink.
Averia, and the twelve other students, were all in their human disguises. They had been forced to maintain them constantly for the entire school year, in preparation for their quests on Earth. Averia was five foot six inches of walking sex. Her long straight blonde hair had blue streaks that accented her cerulean blue eyes. Her body was literally built for sin, and her aura oozed sexual energy.
Tria laughed, “I certainly don’t have to worry about you failing. As a Succubus, all you have to do is get laid and steal the sexual energy from whatever human is lucky enough to be chosen by you. Pssshh, not even an evil demon talent, Avery. So sad.” She said with mock disapproval. Tria loved to tease her friend, not all demons were pure evil, but one’s malice was like a mark of respect in hell.
Avery smiled wickedly, “Oh, honey, you know I have all kinds of evil up here.” She tapped her temple, “I just haven’t had a chance to let it out yet. You will be fine, Tria. No one knows how to mess with a mind like you. You will have that human raving mad in no time at all. Not as fast as I will meet my quota, but still fast, I’m sure.” Avery said with a teasing laugh.
“You’re right. I know what I’m doing. Breaking one puny human mind should be no trouble at all for me. Besides, there is no way in heaven I’m working in the slave dens!” Dementria said, her moment of uncertainty gone. “Now, where is Lelia? We won’t see each other until we come back; I want to tell her bye. Although, as a dream thief, I guess she could always come see me.”
“Let’s go find her. She’s tiny, but the bright red hair should make her easy to spot. We can split up and circle the room, meet back here in ten minutes. The portal will open soon.” Lelia was the third member of their trio. All three women had known each other since birth, and remained close as they grew over the last twenty-five years.
Tria nodded and turned away from Avery, scanning the crowd for the short mass of curly red hair and green eyes that her friend possessed in human form. Lelia was a dream thief demon. She was able to enter and control the dreams of humans, and she fed from their dreamed reactions to the worlds she created. Lelia had been given several emotions that she was to create and steal from human victims. Lelia’s human body was just over five feet tall, and sported some healthy curves. Tria found her by the wall opposite the portal, flirting with full-demon older brother of one of their classmates.
Tria tapped her on the shoulder, and said, “I see where you’ve been. “With a wink, she glanced at the demon Lelia had been flirting with, “I’m sorry, we are about to leave and I need to say goodbye.”
The girls made their way across the crowded room to meet Avery. They wanted to say a private goodbye before they bid their parents farewell and stepped across dimensions to earn their powers. Lelia was the first to speak, “You two better let me in your dreams! I can be the go between for all of us. We will all be on the same continent, but I doubt we will end up together. At least we don’t have to find places to live; the Council took care of that for us.” Lelia rambled nervously.
Avery smiled widely, “Have no doubt, little one, they will be the crappiest places they could find. And that’s crappy by hell standards, my dear.” She laughed, and several heads turned at the sensual sound. “You are welcome to walk my dreams whenever you like, but I take no responsibility for whatever depravity you may find there.” Averia declared with a wink.
Tria looked at her friends, “I’ll miss these talks of ours, you know. Avery, you won’t be there with a dirty comment when I need one-”
“That’s what she said.” Avery interrupted. At their blank stares she continued, “Well, humans find it funny anyway.”
“And you, Lelia, I know I will need your calm deviousness and you won’t be there. You two better meet your quotas, because I don�
��t even want to visit the slave dens.” Tria stated.
“We will, I think we are all too stubborn to be slaves.” Lelia replied.
“I have sex for my pleasure. I’d be a terrible whore.” Avery said.
“And we all know I would go crazy if I was stuck there.” Tria added.
Tria’s mother tapped her on the shoulder and all the girls turned to see their parents had gathered together and come for a last goodbye. A glance at the portal showed the color deepening and the light within the liquid surface glowing brighter; it was almost time to go. The girls said goodbye to their parents and lined up with their classmates to go earn their futures.
Tria watched Leila and Averia go ahead of her. When it was her turn, Tria looked back at her parents, gave a small wave, and stepped through the portal. The slick tendrils of dark energy powering the portal caressed her. She had a strong coppery taste in her mouth and the hairs all over her body began standing on end. But the sensation quickly faded and was replaced with much more unpleasant feelings. She felt like she had been dunked in ice water, and then electrified. Her whole body felt as if it had been skewered by a thousand needles and she felt the world spin around her. After a few agonizing moments, the world righted itself and the pain faded away. Tria cautiously opened her eyes and look around her.
She was clearly not in hell any longer. There were trees on either side of her and no houses in the immediate area. Tria appeared to be next to an empty road outside of a city. She could see the lights in the distance, and having no better option, she began walking toward the only civilization in sight. She was to wait for her demonic contact to find her and brief her on the details of her mission as well as show her the living quarters she had been given.
Tria’s walk was uneventful; she’d scared a pair of raccoons, but that was it. She spent most of the time studying the night sky, so very different from the one she knew. She made her way to the edge of the woods she’d arrived in, and saw the city about a mile ahead of her. There was a sign next to the road here that said, “Welcome to Evansville, Indiana! Please enjoy your stay!”
Tria had no idea how her contact would find her, but she continued walking, wondering about the human whose mind she would soon destroy.
Chapter 2
Tria had no idea where to go to meet her contact. She was lost and alone in this world. She wandered through the streets, looking for something to catch her interest. After several minutes of exploring, she found a park and decided to sit for a while and watch the humans. Tria found that she enjoyed watching them, as there was such variety! Some seemed driven and in a rush to get where they were going, and some were relaxed as if they had no plans to move at all anytime soon. Tria felt lost without an immediate objective, she’d been training her entire life for this, but had never really learned to sit idly.
As a demon, she had been trained to use her powers since she was old enough to understand. Tria’s power was different than most demons’ powers. Her ability to cause insanity worked on any species, even other demons. When she began training to use her abilities, her powers were bound so that she could only use them on assigned targets. Only the Demon Council had the authority to choose her victims. Tria didn’t particularly like the restriction, but she did understand the reason for it.
For lack of anything more productive to do, she studied the humans and their behaviors. After about an hour, a tall man approached Tria from the shadows. “Dementria?” A rough, gravelly voice asked.
“Yes, that would be me. I assume you are my contact? I am glad you found me; I was not told where to go. I’m ready to hear the details of my mission.” Tria responded eagerly.
“I am. Follow me.” He said briskly before he turned and walked away. Tria followed quickly behind.
“What is your name?” She asked.
“Pfadfinder’ but you may call me Thad” He said with an accent that I knew from my studies.
“That is German for ‘pathfinder’ isn’t it?” I asked, curious if my memory was correct. German was a popular language among demons because the guttural sounds lent themselves well to demon tongues.
As they walked, they stepped into the pool of light cast by a streetlight and Tria was able to see him better. He was very tall, towering over her five foot nine inch frame. His shoulders were broad and muscled and his hair was a light ash blonde. He turned to face her at her question, surprise widening his light blue eyes. “Indeed, it is. My parents knew what I would be, and wanted me to have a fitting name.”
The pair continued walking at a brisk pace, until Thad led her into a dingy, depressing apartment building. Tria followed him up two flights of stairs and into the apartment he opened. Thad handed her the keys as she walked through. Avery had been right; this was a crappy apartment, even by hell standards. The bare light bulbs illuminated the paint that peeled from the walls and the ceiling that was stained and sagging. The floor creaked uneasily under their weight, and the air smelled of fear and desperation. Though she was a demon, Tria enjoyed her material comforts and she hoped she would be able to complete this mission quickly.
They sat down at the dilapidated kitchen table and Thad turned to her and said, “This will be your living quarters during your quest. You have one month to complete your task.” Thad stood and grabbed a file from the counter. “Everything you need to know to find your target is in this folder. I must be leaving now, but should you be truly lost, I will know and arrive to lead you back to your path. Know this, I expect you to succeed, Dementria. I will not take kindly to failure.” Without another word, Thad handed Tria the folder and left, quietly closing the door behind him.
Tria set the file on the table and opened it. Inside was just one sheet of information. Well, they were certainly going to make her work for it:
Proving Assignment for Dementria Azanon
Target name: Sabine Brise
Age 21
5’ 7”
Brown hair
Brown eyes
Single
Student at USI
Lives in dorm, no roommate
Studying meteorology
“Seriously?” Tria thought. “This is all I get? How am I supposed to know who she is, there must be at least a hundred medium tall, brown haired, brown eyed girls living on campus!! Aggghhh! Well, Tria, you better get to work. This apartment smells bad and the sooner you get home the better.”
Looking around the dingy apartment, Tria tried to think of what she could do to make it more comfortable. Her powers could change reality for her victims, but she had never tried to use them for her own benefit. This seemed like an opportune time to test the theory, anyway. Closing her eyes, Tria focused her mind, concentrating on the way she wanted the room to look. When she opened her eyes, her vision was filled with bright reds, yellows, and oranges. It had worked! Tria spun around happily, and then circled the room touching everything. She knew it was not real, and yet that did not hamper her enjoyment. Swiftly reimagining the rest of the rooms, Tria smiled at the new apartment before her. She tried to relax, anxiously passing the time until the next day when she could begin her search.
Tria changed her clothes with a thought. That part was a handy little skill every demon possessed. Demons were taught from childhood how to perfect and maintain their human glamours. The glamour spell included clothing, and was an old magic imbedded into her demon blood. Because her kind fed on the emotional energies of humans, they must be able to seamlessly blend in and not be remembered.
Dressed to emulate the females she’d seen in the park earlier, in a hoodie and jeans, Tria left the apartment and headed toward the college campus. She went to the geology department, hoping to pose as a student and possibly meet Sabine. The building wasn’t terribly busy and Tria easily charmed her way into one of the classes. There were about thirty students present, six of which were women who fit her target’s description. Tria chose a seat near the back, next to a slim brunette. As she sat, the woman turned and when violet eyes met brown eyes, Tr
ia jerked in shock. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she did; this was Sabine. Tria hadn’t wanted to force a meeting so soon. She’d wanted an opportunity to study Sabine first.
Tria realized that she was still staring and muttered a quick hello. Sabine smiled shyly and turned her attention to the teacher at the front of the room. Tria wanted to observe her quarry directly, but to do so this close to her would set off every mental alarm the human possessed. Tria settled for occasional sidelong glances, composing a flawless mental image to be used later. Her hair was thick and glossy, a bright mahogany color, and her eyes were a beautiful dark chocolate brown that seemed to have hidden depths. Sabine took meticulous notes and appeared to be absorbed in the lecture. She also had the habit of tapping her pen when she wasn’t writing.
When the class was over, Tria watched Sabine leave and followed the girl’s scent at a discreet pace. Tria followed her to the rest of her classes and back to her dorm. Knowing what a typical day was like for Sabine, Tria was now compelled to see what the woman did on a typical night. Sitting in the hall waiting for her to come out the door was hardly an option, but there was a tall tree outside that should offer both a view of Sabine’s window and the dorm door.
Tria managed to make it up the tree unseen and hid herself among the foliage. Through the window, Tria watched Sabine finish her homework and curl up on the bed with a book. She memorized the way Sabine held her book, the angle she tilted her head, even the way she held her drink. To find the weak links in the girl’s mind would require intense observation. Satisfied that Sabine was not going anywhere tonight, Tria returned to her apartment and got some rest.
Every day for a week, Tria kept up the same routine. She knew Sabine’s class schedule now, and sat in the back of every class, watching her. She memorized her facial expressions and mannerisms; now Tria was confident she could emulate her successfully. She decided it was time to force an actual meeting between the two of them. Tria needed to move to the next phase of her plan.
