Chapter 4: Lioness

“ ... and make all spirits subject unto me so that every spirit of the firmament, and of the ether, upon the Earth and under the Earth, on dry land, or in the water, of whirling air or of rushing fire, and every spell and scourge of God may be obedient unto me!”

Finally, the Preliminary Invocation was complete, and Ryan was able to take a breather for a few moments. He had been chanting for at least twenty or thirty minutes. He knelt and took a quick drink of water that had been conjured for him by the Seirim, the liquid soothing his mouth and throat as he swallowed. He couldn’t wait for too long, however, he had to keep the momentum going. As the name suggested, the Preliminary Invocation was only the first of several steps.

He flipped through the pages of the book, locating the next invocation in the series. Now it was time to call the demon out by name, compelling it to appear inside the circle. He brandished his wand, a simple stick with the branches and leaves shaved off with a penknife, and pointed it at the center of the pentagram.

“I Evoke and conjure you Vapula, and being with power armed from your supreme majesty, I thoroughly command you by Beralanensis, Baldachiensis, Paumachae and Apologiae-Sedes and your most powerful princes Genio Liachidi, ministers of your Tartarean seat, chief princes of your seat of Apologia, in your Ninth Region. I exorcise and powerfully command you Vapula in and by him that said your word, and it was done, and by all the holy and most glorious names of the most holy and true God...”

As he read through the lengthy and drawn-out evocation, he started to notice changes in the environment. The shadows cast by the flickering light of the candles was moving in strange and illogical ways, as if being drawn to the circle like it was a magnet. It was always in the corner of his eyes, just out of reach, almost intentionally evasive. The air too was becoming thicker, colder. Vapors that resembled wisps of smoke were rising from the ground, the mist at the edge of the clearing seeming to close in on him.

This was how it had been when he had summoned Orobas, subtle at first, almost imperceptible. As the ritual progressed, the presence of the entity would become more overt.

“ ... I conjure you by the special and true name of your God that you owe obedience unto, and by the name of your king, which beareth rule over you, that forthwith you come without tarrying and fulfill my desires...”

Something fluttered down from the sky to land on his head, and he brushed it away reflexively, watching the object as it landed on the grass. It was ... a large, black feather? He looked up at the sky, but there were no birds in sight.

“Do not become distracted Ryan!” he heard Nahash shout, and he resumed his incantation immediately as he cursed himself for his stupidity. Even such a minor lapse in attention could be deadly. He had seen as much for himself when his distraction had allowed Nahash to break free of the spell that was being cast over her back in the apartment. It hadn’t ended well for the man who had been trying to seal her.

More feathers fell from the sky, appearing seemingly from nowhere, landing about his feet as he proceeded with the ritual. Why feathers? Was the demon already making an attempt to disrupt the summoning, or was it something else? They were very large, as black as charcoal, like they had fallen from some giant raven.

Soon there were hundreds of plumes raining down around him, creating such a thick blanket on the ground that they rose almost to his knees, obscuring his vision as he frantically brushed them off the pages of his grimoire. The demon was fucking with him, trying to break his concentration and make him slip up, but Ryan persevered.

“Therefore come ye in the name Adonay, Saday, Zebeoth, Adonay, Amiorent, come, come, why delay? Hasten, Adonay, Saday, the king of kings commandeth you!”

He pointed his wand at the center of the circle, willing the being to appear there. The rain of feathers stopped, and those that were scattered about his feet began to tremble as if the ground beneath them was vibrating violently. They rose from the grass as if carried by a gust of wind, concentrating in the summoning circle and forming a violent maelstrom. It looked like a small tornado had ravaged a chicken farm, the feathers swirling round and round, growing faster and faster as he watched.

They coalesced to form a ball, which then grew more defined, a pair of folded wings appearing to hover a few inches above the ground. It looked like a giant bird, its black wings wrapped around itself in a protective cocoon. He saw it with his eyes, but also with his mind, the demon projecting its chosen appearance into his brain like a psychic hologram. If he concentrated hard enough, it became fuzzy and hazy, like a mirage that wasn’t quite there.

He had succeeded, the demon had manifested itself. It had already attempted to sabotage his summoning once, however, likely due to the liberties that had been taken with their preparations. He had to confine it to the triangle and force it to take a more humanoid form before it had a chance to act again.

Brandishing his wand, he gestured to the containment triangle and spoke, taking the pendant that was hanging around his neck and waving it at the ball of feathers.

“Behold your conclusion if you be disobedient. Behold the Pentacle of Solomon which I have brought here before thy presence. Behold the person of the exorcist who is called Octinomos, in the midst of the exorcism, who is armed by God and without fear, who potently evoked you and called you to appear! I bind you that you remain affably and visibly here before this circle, so constrained and so long as I have occasion for you, do not to depart without my license until you have faithfully and truly performed my will without any falsity! Now, into the triangle and take no form intended to offend or repulse!”

The ball of feathers shuddered, then hovered into the triangle, silent and eerie. It hung in the air for a moment, and then the great wings unfurled. A huge beast dropped down heavily into the triangle, the mass of black fur impacting the ground with an audible thud. It flapped its dark wings, then stowed them across its back like a dragon, a mane of black hair rising to glare at Ryan with a pair of ruby red eyes that glowed in the night.

It was a gigantic, winged lion.

Ryan gestured to the Sexangle that was hanging from his belt, keeping his wand trained on the beast as it watched him with eyes like laser pointers.

“Take human form, Vapula, so that we might treat amicably.”

It ignored him, lying down in the triangle like it was basking on the Serengeti as it examined the clearing around it. Its body was actually larger than the triangle, but it did not disturb the pieces of bark upon which the runes and sigils were drawn, as if it lacked enough mass to interact with them. The demon could probe for weaknesses in the ritual, exploit them, but it couldn’t directly interfere as long as the wards were sound.

Ryan rummaged in the pocket of his jacket and withdrew the Secret Seal of Solomon that the policeman had used when he had attempted to seal Nahash in their apartment. Vapula’s eyes were drawn to the lavishly decorated badge, its brow furrowing as it bared its pearly teeth.

“Take human form and be cooperative, or by God, I’ll seal you.”

He had no brazen vessel, but Vapula didn’t know that. The great beast cowered, lowering its head as it kept its glowing eyes fixed on him. The black fur became as smoke, shifting and roiling like a cloud of smog as its four-legged form rose to a bipedal stance. It rose to five feet, then six, then seven. When its body finally came back into focus, it was undeniably feminine, the giant wings unchanged as they flapped idly.

She had the frame of a large and intimidating woman, broad-shouldered and with wide hips to match, taut muscles protruding from beneath her dark skin. No, what he had initially assumed to be jet black, shining skin was actually a layer of thin fur that clung to her figure. It was like volcanic glass, reflecting the candlelight to make her shine, clinging to her body such that it looked like she was wearing a velvet catsuit. The flickering light accentuated the mounds of her large breasts and the rows of defined abdominal muscles that lay below them, veins visible here and there, like the hide of a prize racehorse.

There were some animal features still present, and Ryan could not be sure if the demon was willfully defying him or whether this was her true humanoid form. Her legs were digitigrade, jointed like those of a lion standing on its hind legs, ending in large paws that were tipped with sharp claws. The fur on her arms ended at the elbow where it gave way to the scaly, taloned limbs of a bird of prey. There was a golden band around the bicep of her right arm too, glinting under the starlight, an ornament of ancient design.

There was a ruff of fluffy fur around her neck, framing her head like the mane of a lion. A pair of small, round ears protruded from her hair, along with two black horns that curved in on themselves to fashion a shape that very much resembled the heart symbol depicted in her sigil. The demon’s face was more cat-like than that of a person. Her feline nose had a flat bridge with a dull snout, and her eyes were spaced far apart, red and piercing as they glared at him.

Ryan recited an incantation of welcome, but Vapula seemed unswayed, peering about the clearing suspiciously as if she wasn’t sure what was going on. She finally spoke, her voice coarse and gruff, but undeniably female.

“Why have you summoned me here? Who are you?”

Not this again ... it had been the same with Orobas. The demons seemed unable to understand how he was able to summon them using such unrefined methods, as if they expected to appear under the most ideal conditions every time that a human had need of them. Was he really the only person in the world who ever did these makeshift summonings? Granted, he had skipped over many of the steps, and he treated the ritual with far less reverence than most magicians would, but it wasn’t by choice.

He noted that her speech patterns were less archaic than some of the other entities that he had interacted with. Perhaps she had been summoned frequently and recently enough that she had been able to modernize her dialect. Some of these demons might not have seen the light of day for hundreds or even thousands of years, he had to keep that fact in mind when interacting with them.

“I have summoned you here because I want to make a contract with you,” he explained, and Vapula gave him a skeptical look.

“You? You are no magician. You have no robe, I smell no incense...” She looked to the sky, narrowing her eyes. “Venus is not aligned, nor is the constellation Scorpius in sight. What is this slapdash ritual that you have prepared? Do you seek to mock me, mortal? How have you accomplished this?”

“I’m kind of in a bind here,” he explained, dropping the pretense of formality. She was properly contained, and she seemed to be obeying him for the moment at least. He had no time to feign reverence. “I apologize for the conditions, my resources are very limited right now, and I have grave need of your counsel.”

“You show me no courtesy, you flaunt Solomonic tradition, and still you deign to ask for my help? Explain to me why I should hear another word of this, novice. I might at least glean some entertainment from this sorry spectacle if nothing else...”

“Trust me, if I had a choice I would have laid out the red carpet,” Ryan grumbled. “It is written in the Lesser Key that you can make men knowledgeable in all crafts and professions, is that accurate?”

“Yes, that is within my purview,” she replied in her gravelly voice. “What knowledge do you have such great need of that you would attempt this summoning?”

“I want to learn martial skills. I need to be able to protect myself, I need to know how to shoot and fight. My life is in danger, I have already been forced from my home by armed intruders, and I will undoubtedly have to face them again soon. Is that something that you can teach?”

“I ... may be able to teach this, yes. But what can you offer me in exchange, neophyte? What favors have you prepared, or are you so arrogant that you dare to come before me empty-handed?”

This was where things got even more sketchy. There was no guarantee that Vapula would accept his proposition to trade sexual energy for her assistance. Demons seemed to gravitate towards whichever means of extracting energy best suited them, and such a suggestion may very well be tantamount to walking up to a stranger in the street and asking them for sex.

“As I said ... my resources are limited,” he began, enduring her angry stare. The words caught in his throat, shame and embarrassment getting the better of him as he struggled to get his proposition out. “Under more ... favorable circumstances I would offer to engrave copper plates with your sigil and spread them about, but I’m confined to this clearing. If I leave it, I’m likely to be killed immediately.”

She kept her red eyes trained on him, her disdain evident as she stood in the triangle with her bird-like arms crossed beneath her bare breasts.

“Would you be willing to ... accept sexual energy in exchange for your assistance?”

He waited with bated breath, his heart pounding in his chest. He had all of his wards and banishment incantations available should she become violent, but even the most well-prepared exorcist was in for a struggle if they faced off against a demon. Her reaction, however, was unexpected. She began to laugh, quietly at first, but it soon became riotous. He grimaced, waiting for the derisive laughter to abate.

“Who are you?” Vapula asked. “You are either the bravest mortal that I have ever met, or you have completely lost your mind.”

“My name is Ryan Cutter,” he replied defiantly, “and someone thinks that I’m important enough to set Haures on me.”

“Haures?” Vapula repeated, her glowing eyes widening. “If you speak the truth, then your situation is indeed a dire one. But tell me, neophyte, why do you presume to make such a repugnant request of me? Are your sexual proclivities as deviant as your senses seem to be?”

“I have no other option,” he replied through gritted teeth. The demon seemed to notice the Seirim who were clustered near the border of the grove, and she cocked her head at them like a giant dog.

“I thought that I sensed another presence here. Are those ... Seirim? The plot thickens, Ryan Cutter. How came you by such strange companions?”

“One of them is bound to me, a familiar,” he replied as he showed her the onyx ring on his finger. He heard her inhale sharply, her eyes narrowing as she examined the artifact.

“This, you could not have achieved by yourself. I refuse to accept it. A powerful magickal aura emanates from this trinket, more potent than even I could fashion. Put it away, Ryan Cutter, its dark energies disturb me.”

He covered it with his sleeve, confused by her reaction. Haures had seemed terrified of Azazel, and now Vapula was perturbed by the mere presence of his ring.

The demon seemed to consider for a few moments, her large, black wings fluttering idly and her lion-like tail waving back and forth. The presence of the familiars and the strange ring had given her pause for thought, perhaps she no longer saw him as such a hopeless novice.

Despite his pleas, Ryan had no real desire to have sex with this ... thing. Nahash had some animal features too, but she was soft and welcoming, with smooth skin and a voluptuous figure. He had a close relationship with her, he loved her, they had been through so much together.

Vapula was hard and sharp, with hands like giant raven claws and the face of a lion, her lean body comprised of muscle and sinew. Besides her torso, she had no familiar features, and even then what scant traces of humanity she had left were covered in black fur. He had no other choice, however. It was either that, or submit to those wicked talons and let her feast on his pain. Who knew what tortures a creature like her might subject him to.

“Very well,” she said, apparently having come to a conclusion. “The knowledge that you seek, assuming that it is in my power to give, in exchange for my fill of energy. What are your terms?”

“Be careful Ryan.” He heard Nahash’s voice in his ear, glancing to his right to see the Seirim standing beside him. “Do not let her loose. If you should disrobe, keep the pendant about your neck. She still presents a danger to you. Think carefully about your terms, specify that you are not to be harmed.”

The two demons had a little bit of a standoff for a moment, and then Vapula chuckled to herself, covering her feline mouth with a clawed hand.

“You are uncommonly dutiful for a bound familiar. One would expect you to seek your freedom from this mortal, rather than feed him unsolicited advice.”

The implication was obvious, Vapula was offering to free Nahash from Ryan’s control if she allowed him to make mistakes that might give the demon power over him. Were most bound familiars imprisoned against their will?

“I am bound to him by choice,” Nahash replied, “and no harm will come to him as long as I am present.” The Satyr turned her attention to Ryan, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I will assist if it pleases you.”

Vapula bared her sharp teeth, the bridge of her flat nose furrowing as she snarled her protest.

“No! His contract is with me, and me alone. Let him learn from his folly, I have more than one way of teaching mortals respect.”

“As the exorcist, it is up to Ryan to determine the terms of the contract,” Nahash shot back. “Once he has made his proposition you have the right to refuse, but you may not dictate the terms.”

“Silence,” Vapula replied angrily. “If I am to take my fill of energy from the mortal, I will not share him.”

“You needn’t share him with me, the energy is yours. I wish only to assist and advise.”

Ryan looked between the two demons as they faced off, Vapula looked like she wanted to tear off Nahash’s head by the horns. A part of him wanted to let Vapula have her way, to diffuse the tension and get this over with as quickly as possible, but he knew that the demon would try to betray him the first chance that she got. He had to be assertive, he was the exorcist, he had control over this entity as long as she was under contract.

“Nahash will assist,” Ryan said, Vapula glaring at him with her glowing eyes. “In exchange for any knowledge concerning the use of weapons and self-defense, I offer you your fill of energy, to be extracted through ... sexual means. But you may not injure me, I must be safe and intact by the end of it. You mustn’t hurt Nahash either, nor any of her sisters, and it has to be done immediately.”

The demon pondered for a moment, clearly unhappy with Nahash’s involvement and with her reminder to include terms that would save Ryan from being subjected to tortures that only barely qualified as sex. It seemed that her thirst of energy was stronger than her displeasure, however.

“You are fortunate indeed to have such a loyal servant,” she spat. “Fine, I accept your terms. Let us begin.”

She raised her clawed hand, the dark scales of her avian forearm reflecting the candlelight. Before Ryan’s eyes, a white tube materialized. It was a long, ivory container about the size and shape of a tennis ball saver, with a golden band around one end that matched the adornment on her upper arm. A silver chain hung from it, obviously designed for carrying.

The demon reached out and handed it to him, Ryan taking a tentative step forward to grab it. It should be safe to leave the triangle now that the contract had been agreed upon by both parties, but he was still wary. Her intent was clear, if she could act on it or not was another matter.

It was heavy, and he turned it over in his hands, examining it. It was ivory alright, it looked like a chunk of elephant tusk perhaps, and there was a flat lid on the end with the golden band.

“Open it and read from the scrolls,” Vapula explained.

So it was a container designed for carrying scrolls? That made sense. Was this how the demon imparted knowledge? He had expected her to psychically implant the information into his brain or something, or that she would convey it through magickal means. If he actually had to study, then this might take longer than he had anticipated...

He popped the cap, turning the container upside down. A piece of rolled-up paper slid out, and he caught it, placing the container on the grass and then opening up the document. It wasn’t paper, it was something older, yellowed parchment that was faded and cracked in places. It was covered in undecipherable runes that seemed to have been drawn haphazardly across the page. It was a jumbled mess, he couldn’t make out a single Latin character, never mind anything that he could actually read.

“Whatever language this is, I can’t read it,” he complained.

“Do not read with your eyes, fool.”

He gave it another look, concentrating on the strange runes. There was an odd iridescence to them, as if they had been drawn with pearlescent paint, like the finish on a tricked-out sports car. The longer he focused on them, the more they seemed to shine, reflecting a light that had no obvious source. The shine became a glow, the ghostly light emanating from the characters themselves, Ryan finding himself transfixed. He couldn’t look away, he couldn’t blink, the stained page was consuming all of his focus.

His head began to throb, his eyes stinging like he had been staring at a computer monitor for hours without a break. Images flashed in his mind, intrusive sensations that seemed to be projected from somewhere else, memories that were not his own taking root in his brain. It came so thick and fast that he could scarcely differentiate them, dazing him, an aura of pain spreading through his skull like a migraine. He tried to shut his eyes but found that he was unable, a mild panic gripping him as his hands refused to let go of the parchment.

As quickly as it had come, the sensation abated, leaving him gasping for breath as he doubled over. He had control of his body again, blinking stinging tears out of his eyes and cradling his head. The painful throbbing became a dull ache, then faded, Ryan shaking his head in an attempt to dispel the lingering dizziness.

He looked to Nahash, but she seemed unconcerned.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“No different,” he replied. “Was that ... is it done?”

“It is done,” Vapula confirmed, gesturing to the rucksack that was lying on the grass a few feet behind him. “See for yourself.”

Ryan hesitated for a moment, keeping his eye on the demon as he walked over to the bag. He reached inside and retrieved the Glock, holding the pistol in his hand. Wait, he knew that it was a Glock 22, a .40 caliber polymer handgun manufactured in Austria. How did he know that? He struggled to recall where he had learned the information, but the memories weren’t associated with any events, they were just ... there.

He hit the thumb catch on the grip, and the magazine fell into his hand. He counted the rounds, there were thirteen left. He pulled back the slide and locked it, ensuring that there was no round chambered, then dropped it back into position with a loud click.

He knew how to use the gun, he knew how to field strip it, he had a mental blueprint of every moving part from the hammer to the recoil spring. More than simple knowledge, he handled the weapon like it was second nature, as if he had developed muscle memory from thousands of hours of practice. Could it really be this simple?

“It worked, I know how to handle the gun, and I feel ... confident. Like I’ll know what to do in a crisis.”

“I have fulfilled my end of the bargain,” Vapula said, “now it is your turn.”

He briefly considered trying to banish her without payment, but a contract with a demon was no trivial matter. If he tried to stiff her or weasel out of the agreement, she would make it her mission to extract the resources that she had been promised through other means. He already had one demon gunning for him, he didn’t need two.

He clutched at the pendant that hung around his neck, the ward would soon be his only protection against the demon. He had stipulated that he was not to be harmed, but who knew what was about to happen. Did demons make love in the same way that humans did? Would this take ten minutes, an hour, all night? At least he had Nahash to support him, that was some small comfort.

“What should I do?” he asked apprehensively, the demon looking him up and down like he was a juicy steak about to be devoured.

“I want you on the grass,” she said, gesturing to the greenery beneath her feet.

“On the grass? I could have the Seirim conjure a pile of cushions for us, a bed ... something.”

“Oh no,” she replied, exposing her sharp teeth in a sardonic grin. “This will not be comfortable for you, you will not enjoy this. I’m going to take you in the dirt and teach you some respect. You deserve no less for summoning me under such irreverent conditions.”

“Hang on,” he protested, a spark of fear running through him. “You agreed not to hurt me.”

“The contract stipulated that I was not to injure you or your familiars,” she replied, taking a step towards him. “Injury, stupid boy, does not equate to hurt. I can do a great many things that will hurt’ you without leaving lasting damage that would constitute an injury.”

Ryan took a step back, the expression on her face turning wild and predatory, those red eyes piercing him as if they could see into his soul.

“When I’m through with you, you’ll be groveling and begging for a moment of respite. I’ll have you on a leash like the lowly dog that you are, and your loyal familiar will have to watch you kiss my feet. I am as a God to you, mortal, and you will be punished for your blasphemy.”

He tripped as he backed away from her, falling on his ass, and in a second the demon had pounced on him like a hungry lioness. Her black wings blotted out the stars, her warm breath washing over him as she leaned down, a rumbling snarl emanating from her throat as she opened her jaws to drag her rough tongue across his jugular.

She took his wrists in her clawed hands, driving her long talons deep into the earth and pinning him down, keeping him from wriggling loose as she sniffed him intently.

“A beating heart, warm blood coursing through living veins, the stink of fear oozing from your pores. Yes, this will do nicely. Did you know that energy has a flavor to it, boy? It satisfies us in the way that food, drink or sex would. You have an aura about you, radiating naivety and youth, as sweet as honey...”

She dragged her warm tongue across his cheek, leaving a trail of thick saliva, its surface as rough as sandpaper. He felt like she could have licked the skin from his flesh if she had been so inclined. He felt her thrust her thigh between his legs, and she glanced down, noticing that he wasn’t hard.

“Poor dear,” she whispered with mock concern in her raspy voice. “Do I not please you? Perhaps you like your partners more ... servile,” she said, looking pointedly at Nahash who was standing nearby. Would the Seirim not help him? Surely she wasn’t going to just stand there and let this happen to him, she must have some kind of plan?

“I’ll have to warm you up a little,” Vapula hissed, “get you in a more favorable mood.”

He gasped as she straddled him with her steely thighs, gripping tightly enough that it almost hurt, and she sat upright as she loomed over him. She closed her massive wings around them, trapping him in a dark cocoon, the only light coming from the red glow of her eyes. He felt like they were in a darkroom used for developing photographs.

She brought her frightening claws towards his chest, and for a moment he feared that she was about to tear into him. Instead, she ripped his jacket open and sent the buttons flying, then did the same with his shirt to expose his naked chest. Vapula wet her lips with her tongue in anticipation as she gazed down at him. They too were jet black, it looked like she was wearing shiny lipstick the color of charcoal.

The demon ran her pointed claws across his skin, applying enough pressure that they left red welts, but not enough to draw blood.

“So sensitive,” she chuckled, “has nobody ever touched you in this way before? Would you prefer the soft and gentle attentions of your Seirim consort instead?”

He declined to answer, glaring up at her defiantly. She laughed again, and he saw a flash of genuine arousal in her eyes, almost adoration. Somehow that was more frightening than all of the claws and teeth that she could bring to bear.

“Yes ... hate me. I can feel it, I can taste it, as bitter as a dry wine. If only I could chase it with a taste of your warm, sweet blood. Alas, I must adhere to the terms of our contract.”

Vapula reached up and plucked a large feather from her wing. It was long, bigger than that of any living bird, as if it had come from a raven of monumental proportions. She brought it down to his chest, holding it between two of her fingers and brushing it ever so lightly against his nipple.