Droplets from the Inkwell

Writing Quickie: Infernal Spirit Bested

Shantir the infernal spirit slunk down the corridor, invisible to most. He could sense the person who summoned him - though his kind could not truly be summoned; only invited - in the far chamber. He glided through the doors and saw a man in his forties, dressed in robes of dark red satin. The man was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed. He held his hands in front of him cupped together, the fingers of each hand touching the heel of the other. The man appeared to be meditating.

Shantir approached him slowly, taking on physical substance. He could feel the man's life force and hungered for it. This one would feed him for days, if not a full week. He raised his serpent head prepared to strike.

At that moment, the man parted his hands, revealing a brilliant blue stone, which began glowing almost instantly. Shantir shrieked, his mind filling with blazing pain from the light. It was an angel stone! The pain quickly overwhelmed all thought and senses. The spirit knew he was being destroyed.

Just as suddenly, the pain began to subside. Shantir struggled to regain his senses. His vision cleared and he could see that the man had covered the angel stone with his hands again and was now staring at him expectantly. Finally, the man spoke. "Foolish creature! Did you not realize that it was not some ignorant apprentice that sent that call out to you, but a master of one of the mystic orders? We masters are not one to request an audience with your kind without having a means of defending ourselves."

"You almost destroyed me, mortal," the spirit hissed.

"Indeed, I did. We both know that I cannot actually control you, so I felt it best to make it perfectly clear why you should still agree to do my bidding."

"And why should I not simply leave this very instant?"

"Because you are still weak from exposure to the angel stone. In your current state, you cannot teleport. You will have to slither out of here. And I am willing to bet you cannot do so fast enough to escape the effects of the angel stone, should I expose you to it again."

Shantir snarled. "Very well. You have me at a disadvantage for now. Tell me what it is that you want. But remember, mortal, you have made a powerful enemy today."

JarredH

Give me pen and paper and I shall create entire worlds and fill them with adventures.