Chapter 6: A Fleeting Moment

Ryan leaned back against Nahash, looking up at the stars as colorful butterflies flitted about her head. The sun was just beginning to set, painting the sky in beautiful hues of red, pink and orange. He had slept through most of the day, and the salve had done its job admirably, the scratches on his chest and the bruises on his hips now all but vanished. He felt refreshed, but he was apprehensive about the next summoning.

“Are you hungry?” Nahash asked, shifting her weight as he sat between her legs. Her heavy breasts were cascading over his shoulders and cushioning his head, his hands resting on her thighs like she was a living armchair.

“Sure,” he replied, “can you spare the energy?”

“You have kept us well fed,” she chuckled, bringing her fist up and opening her fingers to reveal a bunch of red grapes. He plucked one from her hand, popping it into his mouth. As expected it was ripe and succulent, bursting to flood his mouth with delicious juice. He watched her sisters as he ate, the Seirim going about their daily business now that the first summoning had concluded.

They frolicked and played, reminding him of oversized cats, some sleeping on piles of lavish cushions when they tired of their antics. They danced around the roaring bonfire, played mournful music on instruments that they conjured from thin air, indulging in food and drink that was similarly a product of their magick. They were earthly creatures, concerned only with the pleasures of the flesh, reveling in the joys of the material world. Not only were they that way by design, but they had been imprisoned in the immaterial demonic realm for so long, deprived of corporeal bodies. Now every sense was an adventure to them, sight and sound, smell and touch. Merely feeling the grass beneath their cloven hooves or tasting the fresh air on their tongues filled them with a kind of simple joy that made Ryan almost jealous of them.

He had lived in the physical realm for his whole life and only recently had he started to appreciate what that meant. Proportionally speaking, a mortal spent the majority of its existence either unborn or dead. He had but a tiny fraction of time to enjoy what this world had to offer, and it was much the same for the Seirim. Manifesting like this was not the norm for them, and they could only sustain this state of being as long as they had a source of energy. Seeing them so happy and free only cemented his conviction that he had done the right thing by freeing Azazel.

Even if he ended up dying as a result, at least he had positively impacted the lives of other people ... beings. That was worth something.

“So once we summon Gamori and figure out what’s going on,” Ryan began, chewing on a mouthful of grapes as he spoke. “What then?”

“Until we know who is trying to kill you and why,” Nahash replied, “it is hard to say. Perhaps the culprit can be appeased, convinced to call off their minions. If not, we may have to find a way to hide from them, perhaps even kill them before they can do the same to you.”

“Would that stop Haures?”

“It may,” she said, sounding unconvinced. “There are three ways to prevent a demon from carrying out its contract. The first is to contain the demon. I mean no offense Ryan, but you are not a skilled enough exorcist to attempt such a thing.”

“That goes without saying,” he chuckled, savoring another fat grape.

“The second is to deprive the demon of energy, massacring their followers for example or razing the city of a patron deity. Not useful in this scenario.”

“And the third?” Ryan asked.

“Kill the mortal who took out the contract. If the original summoner dies then the contract is void. There would be no good reason for the demon to continue to expend its energy.”

They sat in silence for a while, Ryan mulling over the day’s events in his head. Finally, he spoke up, unable to repress his morbid curiosity.

“What would happen to me ... if I were to die?”

Nahash looked down at him, her expression concerned.

“Ryan ... you should not dwell on such things.”

“But what if Haures got me? What happens? Do I go to the afterlife? Does my soul end up in the immaterium, just floating around all aimless and lost?”

“There are some aspects of life and death that even we do not understand,” Nahash said as Ryan plucked another grape from her palm. “But in the case that Haures succeeded in his mission and fulfilled his contract? Demons feed on energy, and a soul is a tremendous well of power. The legends of demons stealing the souls of mortals are no fabrication, yours would likely be consumed.”

“So I’d just ... stop existing?”

“Not exactly. Souls are energy and energy can never be destroyed, it merely changes form. A soul that is devoured by a demon such a Haures would become a part of him, serving as a kind of battery.”

“I thought that souls were immortal?”

“Souls are immortal in the sense that they cannot be destroyed through physical means,” she explained. “No matter what happens to your physical body, your soul will endure. But as for what would happen to you if your soul was consumed ... I cannot say. Demons too are metaphysical beings, but if our stores of energy are depleted, then we disappear. I don’t know what would happen to me if I were to vanish. Would my thoughts and memories live on in some form, would I be judged by a greater power, would I simply cease to exist? In many ways, death is as much a mystery to us as it is to you.”

“Death is so final from a human perspective,” Ryan muttered, “but it sounds like it’s just ... passing the buck. Exchanging one mystery for another.”

“Some believe that we return to God when we cease to exist,” she added, “that is what Azazel says at least. He created us, and our energy simply returns to its source.”

“Do you believe that?” Ryan asked.

“Well God did create the Watchers, and a Watcher created the Seirim. God claims to have created mortals too, but I cannot say if that is true or not. The entity that we call God predates the oldest of us, so it is very hard to say. There are fallen deities that might know the truth, entities who were roaming the earth even further back in time, but they have since faded from memory and likely existence. There are surely one or two still surviving amongst the legions of greater demons who recall the truth, but they would be nigh impossible to find. Perhaps you could ask Gamori to use her powers of prescience to find the answer, but I would not advise it.”

“Why not?”

“You must only ever ask of a demon what you need, not what you merely desire,” Nahash warned. “Using them to sate your curiosity may well invite a terrible retribution.”

He didn’t press the issue. After what had happened with Vapula, terrible retributions weren’t very high on his to-do list.

“Heed my advice Ryan,” she continued, “it is best not to let your mind dwell on such things. You’ll have your answer eventually, one way or another. Live in the moment and enjoy what the world has to offer,” she said as she gestured towards her sisters, the Seirim still indulging in their games and revelry.

Ryan finished the last of the grapes and watched as a monarch butterfly landed on Nahash’s knee, flapping its wings, the beautiful markings flashing in the light of the setting sun.

“It’ll be night soon,” he grumbled, “we’d best get moving.”