Studies in Demonolgy: the complete series

by Nichols, TJ

  Pinpricks of light made their way through the weave of the cloth. He had to remember that nothing was ever totally black, not even the night sky. There was always hope.

  Destroying the Warlock College and bringing down those in power was the only way to rebalance both worlds. It was an impossible quest.

  Chapter Sixteen

  As they trekked toward Lifeblood, there was no denying the changes in the landscape. The red sand shimmered in the afternoon sun, and the demons cast long slanting shadows.

  Few trees were left to do the same.

  Where there had been plenty of the deep-rooted fingerfruits, now there were a few gnarled trunks and nothing more. Their roots couldn’t stretch deep enough to reach the ever-sinking rivers.

  No fingerfruits meant no smaller animals, and no smaller animals meant no big animals. The hunters had returned with very little after straying far. Soon they would be forced to eat their pack animals and leave their belongings in the desert.

  Saka sighed and walked on, searching for water and a place to camp.

  He could feel the tribe’s fear. They all knew the cause. Most campfire talk was now about how it had been. There had always been desert, but there had been oases and rivers cutting through it. It had once been filled with life, now there was only a harsh landscape where little thrived.

  If the whisperings he was hearing were right, he might not survive the next gathering. Some were now calling for drastic action.

  Action. Did they think that the void could be ripped open from this side? That he could do anything other than wait for a summons?

  Demonside had always been at the mercy of the humans. Being aggressive and stealing life wouldn’t help in the long-term, and the level approach was working. They just needed more time.

  He lifted his gaze to the sky and sighed.

  They might not have more time. He could feel the world dying every time he reached out. Behind him the tribe stretched out. He had to find water soon as they needed to stop. The water they carried with them would last through tomorrow, but making a camp without water was a bad sign.

  Footsteps behind him drew closer. He knew who it would be before he turned. He slowed out of respect and to allow Miniti to fall into step. She expected him to have the rivers in hand. If he faltered she would replace him. Usi was all about the short-term solution and wetting the sand with blood from Humanside.

  “Where is the water, Mage?” Miniti’s voice was sharp.

  “Deep.” They both knew that. “But beneath us. We have been following the river’s path since moving.” They had rested through the hottest part of the day.

  “No spring?”

  “There should be a rock formation that marks it. We are two days from Lifeblood.” The sand now contained rock fragments. There were signs of old riverbeds that they had crossed.

  Miniti narrowed her eyes. “There should be water and trees this close.”

  “I know.” Did she think that he didn’t realize how dire the situation was?

  “We should have kept that warlock. He could have bled our whole trek.”

  She had a point. But Saka was trying to think past a solution that would last only days. “He is more use returned.”

  Miniti growled. “I am running out of time and patience. We are running out of water.”

  He could tell. He didn’t need reminding. “I hear the talk. I share the same concern.”

  If he lost the support of his leader, he would lose status on the council of mages. The council contained many like him who had been working behind the scenes, but it also had plenty who wanted to drag every warlock through and bleed them out the way they were being bled out.

  He also shared their anger. “My warlock is now in the underground. Do not forget that there are humans working to discover who is taking and killing demons. They side with us.”

  “As if humans can be trusted.”

  “Their world is icing over. Not all seek power. The same as not every demon seeks to be leader.” He smiled, and she inclined her head in acknowledgment of the point scored.

  “Would you be averse to keeping a human for ritual? I think we may need to revert to the old ways to survive—to buy us the time you need.”

  “It has been discussed. But a formal vote will be cast during session.” Much of his time would be spent in meetings or rituals at Lifeblood. Some would see family; some would find a partner. Children would be reunited with parents. Those who were old enough to travel would join their tribe for the first time.

  Mages didn’t have families. Their family was the tribe—the smaller and the greater whole. That didn’t stop them from taking lovers. Despite being surrounded by people, he did get lonely. He had enjoyed Angus’s company.

  He almost looked forward to being summoned. It had been several days. He would need time with Angus to offer a rebalance soon and keep Miniti appeased.

  Miniti grunted. “Bet you would’ve liked to keep the warlock for ritual.”

  Saka smiled. It wouldn’t be blood getting spilled. Would Angus be happy here, his energy feeding Demonside? He might be for a while, but a human on this side of the void only had so much to give. Angus would wither and die. Much like a demon drained of magic on the other side.

  “I did enjoy using sex magic again. It is powerful.”

  “It is why you are stronger than Usi. You can draw more out. But without a human to lie with—” She gave an elegant flick of her bone-white fingers. “Your magic isn’t saving us, and neither is your warlock.”

  Saka stopped as a ripple went through him. He knelt and placed his hand on the warm sand. “The river is rising.”

  Miniti lifted her hand to shield her eyes. “There.”

  She pointed to a spot about two hundred paces away. He’d been looking for trees growing by the spring. All he saw were rocks.

  He swore under his breath.

  “Your warlock would come in handy now.” She turned and started walking away.

  “Next time I shall bring his blood.”

  Miniti glanced over her shoulder. “Just his blood?”

  Saka grinned. “Blood alone isn’t powerful. It’s all in the collection.”

  “Then collect away, Saka. Prove why I should back you when I meet with the other leaders. I will not appear weak before them because you have chosen the level approach.”

  She strode away, announcing to the tribe that water had been found.

  It hadn’t… but the river was rising, and if the spring still trickled, he’d be able to draw up more. He stood and walked on ahead to assess the spring, one hand resting on his machete, and singing to himself to dissuade a riverwyrm from rising with the water and dragging him under. Although getting eaten by a riverwyrm at this point in time would be the least of his worries.

  Energy shimmered over Saka’s skin like the call of a lover. A need. He had been resting under the communal canopy that had been erected. Most people were napping. The trek was hard… harder now. Even in their sleep, they looked anxious.

  Quietly he got up. At the edge of the shade, he studied his tribe. The people he had to protect. Angus’s reasons for helping were different, and while the result would be the same, they were not on the same side.

  Saka had to remember that.

  A few noticed him leaving, they watched. He ignored them. Angus would be working the ritual to open the void. It was in Saka’s best interest to be ready and to obey. At this point anyway because he had no idea if Angus would be alone or in class. It would be nice to know in advance if it was a class or a private meeting.

  A private meeting would be better, as then he’d be able to get what he needed.

  He took another step, and the void opened before him. It shimmered black like obsidian. He stepped into the cold before it could drag him through.

  He blinked. It was a class, but they weren’t in the forest anymore; they were in a field.

  Angus stood in front of him, something held in his hand. His lips twitched as though he
wanted to smile. Saka gave a flick of his tail in greeting. Something lower down also twitched. While not as bone white as a Vampry, Angus was pale, his red hair a contrast, and freckles covered his skin. Saka knew exactly how covered.

  Unlike a demon, his skin was buttery soft, making him seem fragile. Saka wanted to play with him again—in his tent, watching the glass orbs light up as the lust built.

  He could think about that later… alone.

  The teacher was talking about drawing magic and using it for something constructive. Creation must be learned before destruction.

  “Let us use our demons to grow this seed into a tree of your own height.”

  No one moved. A couple of demons yawned. They had their own lives to get on with. Were they already at Lifeblood or on their way? He wanted to ask, to talk to the few sentient ones here. Most were animals.

  However, he knew that wouldn’t be appreciated, and at the first sign of trouble, the teacher would make a report that would get Angus in trouble and put a target on Saka’s heart. He really didn’t need that.

  So he waited.

  At the students’ obvious hesitation, the teacher clapped his hands. “Come on. You all know how to draw up power, and I’m sure you all know how to plant a seed. This is about control. Those of you who want to go into healing will need to master your craft on plants before you move on to animals.”

  Angus squatted and made a small hole in the ground. He put the seed in and buried it; then he paused and glanced up at Saka as if wondering what to do next. There was only so much magic that could be taught. Ethics, the theory, even a step-by-step explanation of what to do, but the most important part was what the practitioner did. They had to find a way to connect with and feel the magic in order to be able to direct it, and no two people ever did that the same.

  The mages had spent plenty of time discussing their processes for drawing up water and comparing notes to try to be more effective, but what worked for one failed for another. Magic was as personal as a heart or mind. It could be educated or guided, but in the end, it did what it wanted. Maybe it was more like a penis, with a mind of its own.

  Angus placed one hand over the now-buried seed and then held out his other hand to the circle.

  Saka squatted too. Hesitated a moment, and then placed his palm near Angus’s.

  Magic began to trickle though Saka’s body from across the void. He lowered his head. While these kids practiced and planted trees, they were draining his world and trees were dying. He wanted to stop the flow, but that would mean making trouble, but he kept it to a trickle, barely all that was needed.

  Those warlocks with a demon animal had a harder time controlling what was going on.

  Someone yelped. Angus didn’t flinch. He lifted his hand as the seedling broke through the ground. Then he lifted his hand as though pulling the seedling up. It grew so easily in the cold ground. Saka shivered, not used to the chill. He’d need a cloak next time. He hadn’t needed one in Demonside for years.

  Together demon and warlock stood, and the seedling became a sapling, waist high, shoulder high. It was killing him to watch. This was why his world was dying and their world was freezing. Why were they so blind?

  Angus lifted his hand head height, then stopped. A small tree now stood as though it had been growing for years. Saka let his hand fall to his side. Angus had done a perfect, measured job. Saka had to admire that. He took a moment to glance around at how the others had fared. Some were still going. Someone had grown a tree that was over twice the required height. Others were struggling to get the tree to grow up and straight.

  “Nice work, Angus… a little risky to be so close to a demon. Maybe next time you could attempt to keep your hands to yourself.” The teacher lifted his eyebrows.

  “Yes, sir.” Angus’s cheeks turned pink.

  Saka kept his lips in a thin disgruntled line, as though he didn’t appreciate being here. It was a good thing that the teacher didn’t know exactly what Angus’s hands did out of class.

  “You may dismiss your demon.” The teacher made a couple of notes and moved on.

  Angus touched his chest. The place where Saka had carved his mark. He knew then that Angus would summon him later and pay for the magic he had used. Saka was looking forward to it. More than he should.

  His affection for Angus could be seen as a weakness when the council met. With tensions rising in the lead-up to the gathering, he couldn’t be seen as weak.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Angus had picked another cheap motel, and he knew that he wouldn’t be staying the night. Not this time. He suspected that the college and the underground were watching him, but what else could he do? Knowing what he did, he couldn’t take magic from Demonside and not rebalance.

  He summoned Saka as soon as he arrived, and the demon appeared. He had three glass orbs on strings in one hand and a vial in the other. Angus swallowed as he noticed the knives strapped to the demon’s forearm.

  For a moment his need to do the right thing faltered. But if he didn’t, he was only furthering the destruction of his world too. He pushed down his fear. He didn’t want to live in a world covered in ice—Saka probably felt the same way about living in a desert.

  “I can’t stay… I have to find a safer way of summoning you in private for this.” He tried really hard not to look at the knives.

  “But you took the risk anyway.”

  Angus nodded.

  “That took courage.”

  “Or stupidity. If the college catches me doing this without supervision, I’ll be in trouble.”

  “And how do your studies go?”

  “Fine.” He watched as Saka placed his things on the bed. “I met with the underground. There are other warlocks there. Working from the inside.” They really didn’t need him. No, but Saka did. They had been brought together for a reason. Maybe Angus’s doubts about the way demons were used had been enough. “You knew that already, though.”

  “Yes, I knew. But there are mages who want to drag humans through en mass every time the warlocks open the void. They want oceans of blood to bring our rivers back. They want humans too afraid to ever open the void.”

  “But it would still happen by accident.” Everyone knew the stories of a wizard who accidentally summoned a demon and was taken or killed. They were often blamed for the rampaging demons, reinforcing the notion that wizards were untrained and dangerous.

  Not half as dangerous as warlocks with a thirst for power.

  “And magic would still leak across and need to be rebalanced. I think they might gain enough support at the gathering.” He met Angus’s gaze, and for the first time Angus saw absolute fear in Saka’s eyes. “Things are dire, worse than I let you know. Your fellow warlocks, planting trees and playing, have no idea that every drop of magic they wasted was another drop of water gone. My trees are nothing but dried, twisted trunks.”

  “I’d gladly give a forest if I could. If the whole class could cross the void and learn and work magic over there. How fast would healers learn if they could see what they were doing? They could return and know and feel magic even if they couldn’t see it.” Angus sighed. “It’s because I saw it in Demonside that I was able to grow my tree. I could see it in my mind.”

  “No. It is because it is in you.” Saka tapped Angus’s chest over his heart. “You have it in your blood. You know in here. The others, they think they know. They want to play with power, but they don’t understand how to use it. But a knife in an unskilled hand is still a weapon.”

  “Maybe I should learn. I could leave you something.”

  Saka laughed. “It is more than making a cut and drawing blood. There is magic in the liquid, but it is the emotion that gives it true power.”

  Angus closed his eyes for a second and thought of the blood Saka had taken the first time.

  “But I do need blood. I need to take something back to show that I have you under control and that sending you home wasn’t a mistake,” Saka said.

&
nbsp; “I need to make regular donations to stay alive?”

  “Something like that. Miniti could force me to bring you across.”

  Angus stepped back, his blood cold. “If I go back, they won’t retrieve me a second time.”

  “There would be no chance of rescue. You would be sacrificed. There is a push to go back to taking human slaves. I am going to have to vote in favor. If I don’t, I will have no voice on the council, and that would be worse.”

  “You’d keep people to use. Like farm….” Angus stopped midway through his horrified objection. That is pretty much what warlocks were doing. Keeping a demon on call for when they needed magic.

  “We need more return of magic. The humans would be treated well. They would be free to move around, fed, and given what they wanted.”

  “Everything except returning home.”

  “Would it have been so bad, Angus?” Saka touched Angus’s cheek. His fingers were warm and smooth.

  Angus turned his head into the touch. No, it wouldn’t have been bad. He could see himself learning about magic and enjoying Saka’s company. “Humans don’t survive there. The same way demons can’t live here.”

  “That is true. They would weaken. But they would have a good few weeks, maybe even months.”

  “They wouldn’t all consent to sex magic, or blood magic.” Most humans wouldn’t consent to even going.

  “Then find some who would is my suggestion. Otherwise when it gets passed, and I’m sure that it will because we have no choice, people will be taken.”

  Angus saw the reluctance, but also the acceptance that Demonside had to be saved through any means. One person wouldn’t be enough, not when there were warlocks out there using magic all the time.

  For everything, for the highest bidder.

  Businesses needing additional security, the police needing to find a criminal, healing for the rich and dying, the college training warlocks. Magic was no longer a special thing to be revered, the way it had been two hundred years ago. It was a business, a commodity, and the mine they were digging was running dry. How many people would the mages need to raise the rivers?