Summoning

Two cousins, one curious and one very annoyed right about now, go meddling in arts they probably should stay away from.

The sing-song chirping of morning birds rang out from the tall forest trees, warm golden sunlight filtering through the dark green leaves and spilling over the ground, illuminating the dark shells of beetles and red matted fur of furry creatures with its holy light, breathing in the cool fresh air, the cousins , Coal and Betty Scarlet, marched through the tangled mess of roots and dead plant life, the satisfying crunch of the broken and dead leaves warning away near-by wildlife to stay out of their way as they made their way towards the old run down hut.

Coal and Betty Scarlet, friends and foes since birth. They seemed quite an unusual and mismatched pair, Coal was almost freakishly tall, Scarlet was squat, Coal lithe and thin, Scarlet curvy and chubby,  Coal (as Scarlet called him) an egghead, and Scarlet’s mind wandered off so much you’d expect it to run off and never come back, but one thing they had in common was their special little talent, magic. Coal (after figuring out his talent after a dramatic incident where he made the windows explode in while trying to perform a “harmless” magic trick in his middle school talent show) dedicated every jiffy of free time he had to discovering the occult, from buying nonsense named herbs, to learning ancient latin to understand those long monotonous chanting he did, joined an underground club for said magic fanatics(even though they didn't have any real power) and insists on being called “Coal” all the time that Betty almost forgot his real name, however the good thing that came out of this is that he honed his skills, becoming an exponential spell-caster. While Betty was more or less along for just the ride, joining in for summonings but refused to more than a few simple illusions.

A few more peaceful minutes of walking later they reached the wooden hut, its mold covered, damp wooden walls were a sharp contrast to the vibrant and green life of the forest, then again so were the cousins. Coal dressed in the usual black zipped up jacket and jeans to fit in with the trendy witch stereotype, and Betty standing out from the brown and green with her blinding pink clothes, from her hair clips to her shoes there had to be something in pink, a stereotype Betty was proud to flaunt despite her cousin’s numerous attempts to make her stop. ¨So, is this it?”, Betty’s approving gaze washed over the house, examining everything there was to examine, “Doesn't look like much, I bet dirty hippies live in there or something.”, Coal oblivious to her complaints as he dragged her behind a bush and crouched down low, and dragged down Betty with him.

“Wha-” Betty got caught off as she fell down with a thump and glared at Coal with her brilliant chocolate brown eyes.

“Shhh” Coal placed a thin, pale, finger to his lips and stared intently at a far away into the thickening bushes. Betty squinted into the emerald green of the lush bushes before she saw a what Coal was so afraid of. A friendly looking couple on a hike.

Betty never understood why Coal kept his powers a closely guarded secret, she’d always urge him to publicize his secret and gain million, while Coal used the counter argument that it was too dangerous, people would react negatively, but Betty with plug her fingers into her ears and wave him off, usually telling him that he’s been reading too much Witch and Wizard.

Betty groaned and pushed him off, shooting him a death glare as she brushed off bits of dirts from her flower pattern and muttered something under her breath about paranoia and magic.

After the couple walked off without a single glance at them. After their lengthening shadows disappeared between a pair of towering forests Coal tried the door and swung it open, gesturing dramatically into the damp smelling room. “Welcome to new hang out!” exclaimed Coal as Betty peered in disgust.

The room was walled and had floors of the same damp smelling wood, clumps of fuzzy white mold grew along the dark wet corner of the hut, sweet and strange smelling candles filled the table to the brim, along with many other magical related items. Tomes, (hopefully) fake realistic-looking skulls, slender wants and chalks, and a single carved-out window that spilled in the golden light, flooding the room with its warm embrace. “It’s a dump!” Betty lifted her chin to give her a plastic air of superiority, “I don’t know how you find these places,” she shook her head and lifted a finger” No, I don’t want to know, but come on, let’s just go home and you can stay in the closet pretending to be Harry Potter” She sneered at Coal as she noticed his ears turning pink.

“Oh shut up, before I turn you into a toad” said Coal as he strided towards the table and ruffled through chalks and tomes.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

Coal looked back and slapped on a grin, baring his white teeth and started chanting nonsense words in a sing-song voice, “Bibbity Bobbity, hocus pocus timidly do-”

Betty, slightly shaken, pointed her finger him, “Stop that, or I’ll turn you a toad!”, Coal replied with a light-hearted chuckle and picked up chalks stained a deep menacing red, “Silence already and help me.”, snatching a piece of chalk off Coal’s hands,Betty obeyed. she got on her knees along with Coal, the floorboards creaking as they designed symbols and shapes painstakingly on the damp floor.

Coal’s jet-black hair plastered on his pale skin, the sun dipping towards the horizon as fluffy clouds rolled along the pinking sky, the pale light that filtered through the leaves and dirt-caked single window cast ghastly shadows across Betty’s plump cheeks and Coal’s thin face but his sapphire blue eyes shined as brightly as ever.

Once finished they stood up and admired their hard work, a pentagram was fitted and centered inside a perfect square, black candles on every one of the star’s five points, whiffs of pleasant smelling herbs wafting off them as a gentle breeze blew, and shimmering silver protection runes gleamed with their own super natural light around the necromantic circle.

“So summon demon, trap it, and use its power for our selfish gains, right?” Betty asked as she swept back a strand of misplaced hair.

Coal shook his head, and spoke in his purred, the self evident excitement in his voice was almost unbearable obvious, “Not exactly, we use him, or it, more as a way to understand more about the demonic underworld-”, Betty waved her hand and spoke in a clear, powerful tone, “Kuyish”, the candles flared to life as torrents of flame shot out like fiery fingers and quickly sputtered out of existence, the deafening boom it created successfully silenced Coal’s rambling, “Alright then, let’s get this over with”.

After a tiny argument about respect for the occult erupted between them, silencing as quick as it came. Coal sat cross legged in front of the boxed pentagram, the black candles dripping their oily wax on the Coal as Betty watch from a safe distance in a mix of fear and excitement while squeezing the left over chalk to calm her , Coal taking in deep breaths to calm himself as the effects of his cat-like curiosity flared up again,after sending a reassuring look towards Betty, he began to cast the spell.

“Ego vocabo ostia forth-”

Coal’s voice seemed to boom and echo all around them,

“Aperire januas ad inferos-”

His voice gained a demonic feel to it as she started sounding like a recording watched backwards,

“Et pariet daemonium eiceret de manu vestra feralia o scelesti patris”

The candles’ flames fluttered in and out of existence as the little hut seemed to shake,

“I, Carbo, imperium et teneat te ad meum arbitrium daemonis!”

Coal threw his head back and let out a pained moan, a chorus of other bodiless wails joined in, the blood red pentagram flared and darkened to an unholy black. The wailing grew only louder and mid air, in the middle of the black mark on the ground, a spark of flames appeared and only grew larger, soon turning into a ball of green inferno.

“Bagabi laca bachabe

Lamc cahi achababe

Karrelyos

Lamac lamec Bachalyas

Cabahagy sabalyos

Baryolas

Lagoz atha cabyolas

Samahac et famyolas

Harrahya”

With the last final verses the ceiling shook as the ball of floating flame burst forth, and crouched down there, was a demon.

Thin streaks of smoke poured out from it’s skin as it panted loudly and finally raising its head. Betty let out a shrill scream and stumbled back as the demon stared blankly at hair, wiry strand of hair occupied his otherwise bald head, large cancerous boils dotted its thick gray skin. Small shredded black wings sprouted from his back, and large bone-white curled horns grew out of his head, barely held by his neck. It was very fat, thick rolls of fat streamed down from his belly, large thighs that rub against each other and thick short arms tipped with deadly nails, and his short stature would have been comedic if it wasn’t for the deadly, toothless smile it beamed at the cousins, with black blood caked its ruined gums. Coal, wide-eyed as ever while fumbling back awkwardly and held tightly onto his cousin's hand, their now paperwhite skin stretched into a horrid expression of fear as the demon slowly advanced towards them, it’s thick hand, with its torn flesh, reached out towards them. For what felt like long tortures hours everyone was silent except for the loud panting from the demon as it’s long, dirt stained, nails caressed the cheek of Betty, the hell broke lose.

Coal shoot up on his long legs and shouted an incomprehensible spell, blasting forth a burst of yellow-ish light, sending the demon flying backwards and colliding with the back wall as it hissed and in return shot forth a ball of foul smelling flames, missing the duo by a whisker, as it engulfed the wall behind them, reducing it to a few pathetic ashes.

“Run!” Shouted Coal as he grabbed Betty by the arm with an iron grip and ran past the towering trees, its branches leaning towards them as if even they were interested,and the demon’s snarl being carried by the wind, sending another wave of fear through them.

“Why” demanded Betty, “Didn’t the runes stop it? It just walked past them!”, Coal skidded towards a stop and leaned on a tree and shooting her a look that said I-don’t-know-and-I’m-scared-witless.

The deafening silence pound  on their ears as they strained to listen of any sign that the agroed demon was after them, “I think we lost him” said Coal as he left out a much needed sigh of relief, a look of relief and family love was shared between them as they relaxed their tense bodies and wiped off the sweat that was collecting on their brow, “Now let’s get back and clean-” this time the scream came out of Coal as the trunk of an ancient fallen tree whistled past them, missing them by a few heart-wrenching inches, the demon was hovering above them, his tiny wings flapping furiously to keep him airborne, as he hurled what looked like spears made of the darkest metal to which Coal reacted by throwing Betty back behind a cover of thick-leafed trees and shot his arms forward and splayed his hands, “Yer yuksalishi va zarba!” the spell flew off his lips faster than the demon could react, sending a torrent of lively forest mud and rocks in his direction, hitting him square in the chest and sending him sprawling through the air and landing with a thud somewhere far away.  Spinning around Coal grasped Betty and shook her gently, “Listen here, and listen good,” he pointed a finger towards a thin gray strip of land near-by that was the closest town, “Run, teleport, charm your feet, do anything just get to safety!”, Betty shook her head was about to protest but Coal pushed her back and using a few clever words launched her backwards and far away, with an extra spell to make sure she landed gently as to not break her neck.

Turning around and planning to run away himself, Coal was stopped mid step by the midget demon, who glared back at him and barred his bloodied gums, but made no move to attack,”Listen, I don’t want to hurt you, just go back to wherever you came from-”, Coal was stunned to silence as the creature spoke, “ko'tarmoq”  his high pitched and raspy voice was like listening to nails being dragged across a blackboard as Coal felt as if lightness washed over him, as he started levitating inches above the trodden dirt ground gently before being shot up into the sky at the speed of a rocket.

Cold wind lashed at Coal’s face, the ground disappearing into a dizzying mess as he was abruptly stopped in the air for a few seconds, the high whine of the wind breezing past him, the squeaking of near-by migrating birds were barely audible as heavenly clouds rolled past, illuminated by the sickly glow of the moon that was slowly showing its face. The scene was breathtaking and Coal gasped in awe before the forces of gravity once again took effect on him, sending him tumbling towards the ground screaming like a high-soaring bird that suddenly lost its wings, the ground got clearer and more defines and Coal could have sworn that he could see the glint of mischief in the demon’s eyes as the ground slowly got closer, and closer. Coal bracing himself for death to wash over him, but it never came.

Slowly opening his eyes Coal realised he was hovering just a few inches off the hard ground, and a deep chuckle shook him as he looked up and saw the demon towering above him now glaring down at him and placed a diseased foot on Coal’s back and pushed him down on the earth, almost sending a mouthful of dirt down his throat, “Funny human, much weak” his hoarse voice and broken english made Coal want to hurl every curse word he knew towards him but the air of dominance that surrounded the demon made Coal choose his words more carefully, “Who even are you? What are you?”.

The demon seemed deep in thought for a second before raising his voice and swinging his arms in a dramatic fashion, scaring away the birds that were perched on the tree-tops, “I am Qanel! Demon from the depths of hell and now your master”he bared his gums once again in an ugly fashion, and dug his spiky claws into Coal’s flesh, blood spurting out freely as Coal clenched his teeth and struggling under Qanel’s strength, “Enough!” shouting at the top of his lungs, Coal mustered up his remaining strength (and with the help of a quick spell) pushed him off his back, quickly getting up to face the height-challenged demon.

Looking at him now in the bright daylight, Qanel looked ridiculous. His beady black eyes bulged out comically as he hissed, acidic saliva spitting out and fell onto the delicated plant life below eradicating it immediately, his jagged yellow nails ,curled at the tips, shot out for Coal’s neck as the demon lunged for him.

“Muz qabr” Instinctively Coal hurled another spell and him, a blinding flash of aquamarine light blazed to life and a chilling wind blew and there Qanel stood, immobile and encased in a thick frosty layer of ice.

Proud of his spell work, Coal made a rude gesture towards the demon’s frozen sneer and ran as if his hair was fire, retracing his steps back to the half destroyed hut.

Coal’s lungs ached and his limbs burned and was almost about to fall down before slowing down to a sluggish pace as the hut came in view, a run down hut with a missing wall never looked so inviting to Coal before.

He quickly popped in and reached the deadly black pentagram, wisps of foul-smelling black smoke rose from it like thin pillars, polluting the air as Coal desperately rummage through scorched fragments of paper and tomes, looking for something.  A glint of gold shown through the massive amounts of unneeded chalk and lavender scented herbs as Coal greedily scooped it up and cradled the glass orb filled with the clear liquid, holy water.

“Stop right there you, filius canis!” The raspy tone sent a shudder through Coal as he looked back, the demon standing at the missing wall, dripping with cold water and a expression of such hate that time itself seemed to freeze.

Coal swiveled his head towards Qanel, but didn’t look at him, but instead behind him. Sneaking behind Qanel with cat-like grace as a look of hate that was a match to Qanel’s, stood Betty. Large sweat stains drenched her once dry pink shirt, sending an offensive smell and warning Qanel of her, turning around quick and letting out a startled gasp(which was more like a snorting noise than a gasp), tried impaling her flabby body but Betty was prepared and threw a punch, not a spell, not an enchanted fist, but a normal mortal punch, hitting him square in the nose sending a firework of black blood flying everywhere and Qanel, the hardened demon from hell, crumpled to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

“Betty-” began Coal but was quickly cut off by Betty’s loud tone, “Shut up and banish this thing!”, Coal nodded and quickly got to work, sprinkling drops of holy water at the now screaming, smoking demon and began chanting.

"I forbade thee from entering this realm of light,

As I will it so,

Yee shall be burned and tortured by the lights might

Peace beyond to the ones who are tormented by thee,

I release their pain and suffering,

Forever shall it flee,

And peace and protection be restored unto those who grieved"

Coal struggled with remembering every word and the shakespearean dialect didn't help, but he managed. With every syllable the demon screamed, an inhuman raw primal scream, it’s flesh burning and vanishing in sparks of fire and soot. Betty watching indifferent from the side as she panted and rested while Coal sweated furiously at the brow while he shouted out the last verse sending the demon into a spasm of pain and explode into a horrendous ball of gore and blood, splattering against the the wall, painting it with its unusually dark shade of red.

Coal walked sluggishly towards Betty and collapsed next to her, Betty resting her head onto his shoulder, “Sorry I blasted you off without a second thought” said Coal as Betty gave a grunt of approval at his apology, and together they watched the moon float gently in the star dotted sky.

“Never do this again, your curiosity will be the end of you” warned Betty after a seemingly endless quiet of cricket chirps, “It's true curiosity killed the cat,” Coal continued, “but satisfaction brought it back”.

“That barely fits the situation we just endured”.

With that Coal and Betty enjoyed a relatively peaceful, but definitely beautiful, night.

Author's Note

First fully fledge short story of mine! I did write this in a sort of a hurry, so there may be some mistakes sprinkled around that I missed, so forgive me! I know this probably isn't the most original idea but hey I tried and I think it's a great start. Feel free to write down your opinions 'n' stuff.
Well that's about it, hope you enjoyed it!
Reviews are greatly appreciated!