Demon Summoning for Dummies 01

"Well," he said, snapping the book closed. "Here goes nothing."

He stood just outside a mostly-even salt circle, thickened with various types of salt for good measure. He'd drawn an inverted star in chalk in the center. Elend had already placed a candle, a stone, a cup of water, a knife, and a feather at the respective corners. Now, he would have to be careful to speak the right binding spells. That was the trick with demons, said Demons for Dummies. Demons couldn't hurt you, couldn't even so much as touch you, if you cast the right binding. Of course, Elend wanted a demon to touch him, but the hurting part, yeah, that was kind of important.

He had written down all the recommended binding spells as well as a few that he'd made up on his own, all with the intention of keeping the demon from getting loose, causing generalized mayhem, or worse, alerting Silvercleaver to the fact that this was all happening in her basement.

She was out now, fetching meat in bulk from the butcher. It wasn't that he was exactly disobeying Silvercleaver's homework. He was just disobeying her direct order to not attempt to summon a demon.

Did Silvercleaver really expect him to just be celibate for the years it would take to learn to undo the spell? Almost six months had passed since Shay had cursed him and he was dying a little on the inside every day. He tried plucking the little guy up with his own hand every morning, and nothing.

It wasn't like he was summoning a powerful demon. Even he wasn't foolish enough to try that. Just a little demon--a weakling one to start. A buxom succubus with a sweet mouth would be ideal. Maybe she'd even be able to lift a witch's curse for him.

He read the binding spells off the list, watching the bonds burn the salt, then sighed. "I guess this is it." This is as ready as he was ever going to be--at least without the training that Silvercleaver refused to give him. But he'd always been a quick study, and what little he lacked in book smarts he made up for in sheer bullheaded determination and charm. The professors just tried to scare students off of this kind of thing when the students weren't capable. And Elend had been studying for weeks! He was ready.

He rolled up his sleeves, did some light stretches, and readied himself to bring and bind the demon. "Sed quid daemonium infirma," he said in his grandest voice. "Weakling demon, unmoor from your hellish berth and come forth, to this plane, and serve me."

Power surged through him, so sudden it was like a door being blown open by a storm. The storm stole the breath out of his lungs for a terrifying moment. Books and papers flew across the room; Elend ducked to avoid getting whacked by An Apprentice's Guide to Forbidden Conjurings. The salt circle sparked, crackling. The water boiled and the flame went out.

When Elend blinked, a demon stood before him.

It was a male demon--one could not help but notice his manhood--demonhood?--hanging heavily between his thighs. His skin was dark, red as fired clay. Twin horns curved back from his skull, popping out from a tangle of black curls. A whiplike tail twitched, ending in a barb that looked better for catching fish than to be at the end of an appendage.

And his face. His full lips glistened as if with steam, high cheekbones giving him a haughty look. And his eyes.

His eyes flashed like gold, almost too brilliant to look at.

Elend stumbled back, reaching for the book that had just whizzed by his ear. This wasn't right. He could feel the energy pulsing off the creature, making every hair stand on end. Elend had never met a demon in person before, but he knew a weak demon wouldn't make him feel like this, like electricity ran through every fiber of his body, like he was just a conduit to a massive power surge.

He had to banish it before it was sealed in this plane.

"Hmm." The demon rumbled, glancing idly around the low-ceilinged basement with its shelves crammed just as full of weapons as it was of books. His eyes rested finally on Elend, and he could feel them searching him. "I don't much like being pulled away from my business." His voice was deep, as if it came from some cavern far beneath him.

"You can go," said Elend quickly. "Go back to where you came from now, please. You're not exactly what I hoped for either."

The demon tilted his head to the side. He had not moved from his position inside the circle, had not fought as Elend expected, and did not seem at all shy about his nakedness. "You were hoping for a female," he said after a moment. A sly smile crawled onto his face.

That was beside the point. "I summoned a weak demon," said Elend, flipping pages to figure out how to undo this mess. "Not you."

"What were your summoner's words?" the demon stepped forward, eyeing the salt cautiously.

"I did everything right. Sed quid daemonium infirma."

The demon laughed, making everything in Elend twist with humiliation. "You summoned anything but a weak demon. Well, here I am." He stepped over the salt circle, though was cautious not to touch it, and into the room, advancing slowly on Elend while his tail flicked behind him. "What is it you want from me, Master?"

Elend did not appreciate the note of amusement in the demon's voice. In the binding spells, he had made sure that the demon would not physically harm him or anyone else. He wasn't particularly afraid that the demon would hurt him, but being presented with the man, whose horns scraped against the ceiling, was quite another matter.

He swallowed, giving up on finding the right banishing spell. "Tell me your true name, demon."

The demon's face pulled in pain. His hand whipped out, reaching for Elend's arm. But before he could hurt him, he stopped, though didn't look particularly surprised. "Mm. Little warlock did one thing right, at least." He clapped, slowly. "Well done."

Thank all the gods. "Tell me your true name. Now."

The demon sighed, rolling his golden eyes. "My name is Ashtar."

Good. Elend at least had a true name; that would give him a smidgeon of additional power. "Ashtar." Elend licked his lips. The anticipation had left him yearning, even though his dick was barely hard. Even though he'd summoned the wrong demon, his binding spells held. Maybe he was more ready for summonings than Silvercleaver thought. "You're going to pleasure me until I get off, and then go back to hell where you came from. All right?"

Ashtar's eyes widened, tongue darting out to lick his lips. "Oh," he murmured, and finally seemed to see the iron bars of the cage in the corner. Silvercleaver had sometimes kept prisoners there until she was ready to turn them over to the official authorities. Due to that fact, the floor of the cell was spattered with centuries-old blood. "This is interesting."

"Elend!" Silvercleaver's voice came roaring from the other side of the door, the telltale sounds of her boots tromping overhead through the front door. "I've got a side of beef for dinner. Come get the stove going."

Elend stood stock still. He'd expected her to be gone for another hour at least--she usually stopped in town to chat with friends. "Oh shit," he said.

Before he could speak a command, Ashtar had him by the arm, a surprisingly gentle touch for how unbreakable it was. Elend felt electric desire course through him for the span of a moment, until he was steered into the cell and locked inside.

"No," said Elend, panicking. "She can't know you're here. She'll skin my hide. Let me out!"

"She won't know the difference," said Ashtar. He smiled, gazing at Elend. Slowly, his features began to change, to shift. His skin paled; his horns shortened; his stature became small but, in Elend's opinion, hearty. He smiled Elend's smile. With a blink, his eyes were a normal hazel color. "How do I look?" he said with Elend's voice.

"Holy shit," said Elend.

The demon, looking like an exact copy of Elend, mounted the stairs. "Wish me luck." Elend was so utterly shocked at how quickly this situation had gotten out of hand that he gave no commands, only stared as Ashtar opened the basement door. "I'm in the middle of something right now."

"Well," came Silvercleaver's voice. "Get over here and light the fire first. You could use the elemental practice. Remember: every moment is an opportunity to hone your skills!"

Ashtar disappeared upstairs. For fifteen awful minutes Elend held his breath, gripping the iron bars of his cage, praying that Ashtar could do a good enough job playing him to not arouse suspicion from Silvercleaver.

Then Ashtar returned, and closed the door securely behind him.

It was a very particular feeling, watching himself descend the stairs. "All's taken care of," said the other Elend. "And all without you lifting a finger, my young warlock." Ashtar smiled and changed back into himself, into the imposing demon he had been. This time with pants on.

"Let me out," said Elend sternly, in his best commanding voice.

"I will," said Ashtar mildly. "I have to take care of some earthly matters first. Back in a sec."

With a puff of smoke, Ashtar was gone. Damn. He'd knocked it out of the park with the summoning, but had forgotten the damn binding spell.

**

"This beefsteak is stellar, Miss Silvercleaver," said the handsome gentleman with the slicked-back hair sitting across from Elend at the dinner table.

"Just Silvercleaver," grunted the orc. She was glowering at the handsome gentleman, clearly disgruntled. "I admit it's very...unusual for Elend to seek out tutors he isn't already sleeping with."

Elend was too worried about the handsome gentleman--actually Ashtar with a slick new human form--to be embarrassed by his mentor. "Sorry I didn't tell you," said Elend. "My dad sent him to teach me. It's just, uh, good to take my mind off things, you know?"

"I guess a young man gets tired of hearing orcish orders after a while," said Silvercleaver. She seemed to relent with her words, but her eyes were fixed on their dinner guest, as if she knew there was something not right with him.

"Quite right," said Ashtar, taking another bite. "Nothing against your no doubt capable tutelage. I've read about what you did in the Great War. Very honorable. But it is good for a young man to look up to his own kind. You understand I'm sure."

Silvercleaver grunted and put her elbows on the table, hunched over her food. "Well," she said, prodding at her steak with a fork. "Elend is on house arrest at the moment. Dealing with an incident at school. I trust you can do all your tutoring right here. I've set up the basement for that purpose."

Ashtar inclined his head. "I just hope I'm not too much of an imposition."

"No overnight stays," warned Silvercleaver, even though Elend was by far old enough to choose his own bed partners. She was still irritated with him for getting Shay expelled.

Ashtar pressed a hand to his chest. "You offend me, Silvercleaver. I have nothing but the most honorable of intentions for your student." He glanced at Elend, and Elend nearly jumped out of his chair as a glimmer of the golden eyes flashed before him. "I daresay he is a strong enough warlock to handle himself."

"So he'd like you to think," said Silvercleaver, getting up with a half-finished plate. "I guess you boys don't need me, so I'm going to do some organizing." 'Organizing' was what Silvercleaver called moving around everything in her quarters until it was shinier and stabbier.

Elend stared at Ashtar as Silvercleaver's thumping feet retreated upstairs to the bedrooms. He hadn't eaten a bite of his dinner, teetering on the precarious edge between horror and arousal. "Uh," he said. "So how about that weather?"

Ashtar delicately dabbed the corner of his mouth, then stood, pushing back his chair. "Shall we begin?"

Elend swallowed audibly. "Uh, begin what?"

"You gave me an order, Master Elend," came the deep, velvet-smooth voice. "I am to pleasure you until you get off. Don't you remember?"

He didn't trust that for a second. "And then what?"

"Then I go back to hell where I came from." Ashtar's smile was almost kind. Elend felt like a misbehaving, but nevertheless beloved, dog. "Unless of course I should tell your mentor exactly what I am and who brought me here."

The young wizard flushed. "Not really."

"Then come." Ashtar curled his finger, prompting Elend to stand. It wasn't exactly what he'd hoped for, but maybe it wouldn't be that bad. He'd never had a blowjob from a dude before. But really how bad could it be if half the school was doing it?

Elend followed Ashtar down into the basement. The demon paused at the door, hands passing over the lock and then around the door itself.

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure we won't be disturbed." The golden eyes flashed in the dark as Ashtar melted into his natural form, the enormous, dark demon with massive horns. His tail flicked thoughtfully behind him, scraping as he came unhurried down the stairs, where Elend waited with a pounding heart. "I can't exactly pleasure you with your clothes on, Master."

Elend's hands leapt to the buttons of his shirt, making quick work of them. He pulled it off under the unwavering gaze of the elder demon. And really, who was the demon going to tell about this? He felt giddy with his daring, and with the utter certainty he would not be interrupted this time. The guys at school were never going to believe this. "No biting, now. Tehre's a good demon."

Ashtar smiled. He also removed his clothes, completely uninhibited in a way no one on the mortal plane could ever match. His cock hung heavy between his thighs, half-thick. "Now kneel, Master."

Elend's hands hesitated on his trousers. "Uh. Sorry?"

"I don't know how you expect to worship me properly standing, mortal."

Elend blinked, slowly. "Aren't you supposed to be pleasuring me?"

"I will," Ashtar assured him. "In time. But first you must learn what being pleasured by me means." He took a step forward. "First, Master, you will give me your mind, your body, your soul, wholly and completely, by your own free will."

"I don't know about that," said Elend, trembling. Not that he was afraid. But hell. "What porno did you take that line from?"

"Get on your knees, Master," murmured Ashtar softly. "I won't ask again."

Elend swallowed. What would happen if he disobeyed? Would Ashtar disappear, or worse, tell Silvercleaver? He bit his lip and sank to his knees. "Okay, fine," he said, glowering up at him. "If you think I'm sucking that monster dick you've got another thing coming, demon."

"My name is Lord Ashtar of the Thirty-Nine Terrible Pleasures," said the demon, sounding amused. But instead of moving forward, he retreated to a low, beat-up old velvet chair, which Silvercleaver had sawed the legs out of one day for some reason or another. The demon sank into it, lounging as if it were bespoke for him. "You will address me as such, mortal, and you will touch your cock while I witness."

"That's...kind of a mouthful."

"You do need my touch, don't you?"

Elend sighed, wrapping his hand around his shriveled dick. "If it'll make you go away faster. Sure. Lord Fancypants of Hell."

"Less talking," commanded the demon. "More stroking."

Elend did as he was told, bedgrudgingly. After all this--going against his mentor's wishes, summoning a real-as-fuck demon, and getting broken up with, it was still just him and his hand.