Goetic Justice 2

As their lovemaking grew faster and more intense, Ryan noticed more vines trailing along the floor, turning the whole room into a lush garden. He could even make out the beginnings of a flowery wreath that was forming about Nahash's crown of horns, colorful monarch butterflies flitting about in the air despite there being no open windows through which they could have entered.

He began to feel a familiar dullness coming over him, a clouding of his senses. He resisted it, knowing that Nahash was using her magick to influence his mind, no doubt intending to subject him to her usual hallucinations. As much as he enjoyed letting her toy with his brain, enhancing his pleasure and altering his perception to produce wonderful waking dreams, he wanted to continue without it. As well as being a poor use of her limited stores of energy, he was enjoying her in her natural state, his senses sharp and unclouded.

"Don't," he whispered, Nahash cocking her head as she looked down at him in confusion.

"Why not?"

"Without the magick I can taste you, smell you, feel you as you really are. I love it."

"I could give you a taste of paradise," she cooed, making her case. "I could conjure a hundred hands and a hundred pairs of lips to sate your every desire. I could make a kiss taste like the sweetest nectar, I could fill your nose with the most alluring perfumes. I could make our sweat taste like honey, and I could make you see visions of your most earnest desires, yet all you want is me at my most mundane?"

"There's nothing mundane about you," he chuckled, feeling the delicate strands of her wool brush against his cheek as they moved together.

"Whatever am I going to do with you?" she sighed, failing to conceal how flustered his request had made her. She usually had such complete control over their encounters, it was odd to see her so out of her element, adorable even.

Ryan redoubled his efforts, wrapping his arms around her waist as best he could as he plunged into her, the wooden frame of the tortured bed creaking under their combined weight. It was oddly cathartic to be able to squeeze someone with all of his might and to have no fear of hurting them. It was like the massive Seirim was made for hugging.

His ovine partner responded strongly, her labored breathing blowing his hair, her slimy walls caressing him in powerful waves. He couldn't be sure exactly how much control she had down there, more than a human woman certainly. But he didn't know if those fervent, almost loving strokes were by intent or if her sensual body was just built that way.

He couldn't take much more of this, she was chipping away at his sanity with every thrust. Nahash's satin passage wrung him with a force that made him moan into her fluffy ruff, the harsh contractions of her muscles milking him with deliberate intent.

She could sense his emotions, his desires conveyed without him having to utter a single word. She could feel his member as it jumped and throbbed inside of her, knowing what he wanted even before he did. With one final thrust, she drove him into her most intimate depths, her loins closing around him and gripping him like a fist as she buried him to the base. Ryan moaned into her silky wool, taking fistfuls of her soft ruff in his fists as the ecstasy made him lose all control. He clung to her for dear life as he bucked and writhed, his unbecoming vocalizations muffled by her fur. She merely placed a gentle hand on the back of his head, stroking his hair as if attempting to soothe him.

He exploded inside her, a torrent of his viscous emission pouring from his pulsating erection to flood her passage, the Seirim braying as she felt its warmth spread through her. Thick ropes of his ejaculate painted her silken walls, mingling with her honeyed juices, forced into the reaches of her trembling loins and spilling from her opening as he filled her to capacity. Every wracking throb was chased by a wave of almost unbearable pleasure, each more powerful than the last, his mind swimming as pulses of white light filled his head. There seemed to be no end to it. It just kept coming and coming until, through the haze of his euphoria, he feared that it might drive him mad.

Nahash followed close behind him, Ryan wincing as he felt her insides begin to tremble around his length, her muscles massaging him through the barrier of her luxurious walls. It was an exquisite sensation, like being stroked by a silken glove. Her climax shook her massive body, her arms tightening around him and her meaty thighs locking him inside her so that not a drop of his essence went to waste. Her quivering tunnel of flesh clamped around him, forcing out another thick wad of semen, a whole new dimension of tightness making his head spin.

They began to move again, abandoning all pretense of taking their time and savoring every moment, rutting like a pair of wild beasts. Every thrust fucked the syrupy mess deeper inside her, her loins drawing on him, her muscles seizing like a throat that was attempting to swallow around his shaft.

The fires of pleasure slowly receded, reduced to smoldering embers as Ryan let himself sink into Nahash's welcoming body like a deflating balloon. Her soft breasts cushioned him, the downy wool around her neck deep and plush enough that it could very nearly engulf his entire head. Everything about her was soft, yielding. Wherever his hands roamed they were met with her silky wool or her ample flesh, her smooth skin damp with sudor. With every staggered breath, he smelled her earthy scent, joined by the veritable botanical garden that had sprung up around their bed. Their bodies twitched and shivering in unison as sparks of residual pleasure shot through them, and they basked in their afterglow, giddy as if they had become drunk on wine.

"I can feel it feel it flowing inside me," she whispered, breaking a long silence that had only been punctuated by their labored breathing and the hammering of their hearts.

"My, uh..?"

"The magick," she chuckled, " but...that too..."

"Do you have what you need?" Ryan asked. It had taken some convincing for her to get him into bed, but now that he was lying here with her, leaving her warm embrace was the last thing that he wanted to do. If Haures himself had leapt through that window right now, Ryan wasn't sure that he would even have flinched. He felt like he was floating on a fluffy cloud, post-coital euphoria permeating every fiber of his being.

She shook her head, and he looked up at her in surprise.

"It's not enough I'm afraid," she replied with a mischievous smile, "it will take perhaps two more sessions before I have enough energy stored to manifest a body in a new location. I did say that it would take some hours," she added apologetically. "Do you feel up to it?"

"Well if it's the only way..."

She laughed, pressing his face back into her ruff.

"Relax for a few minutes, then we'll go again. But I want to be on top this time..."

CHAPTER 10: RETURN FIRE

The candles that surrounded the summoning circle flickered, illuminating the dark living room in their orange glow, the pale skin of the Seirim reflecting the light as they stood nearby. It was the middle of the day, but the grime that covered the windows blocked out most of the sunlight. The deep shadows that were cast by the dancing flames gave the cabin an eerie vibe, and it was making Ryan feel like he was standing on the set of an Evil Dead movie. He eyed one of the mounted stag heads, its antlers draped in wispy cobwebs, then shook off his fear and opened his copy of the Lesser Key at the page that he had bookmarked.

He had showered again after his romp with Nahash, and he was now ready to perform the ritual. The absence of incense had been somewhat mitigated by the smell of flowers from the bedroom, the greenery spilling out through the doorway now and threatening to consume the rest of the house. The plants had only grown stronger and wilder the longer that he and Nahash had made love. Now his companion was charged up on energy, ready to travel to the hidden Mason base at his side and ready to fight if it became necessary.

The baleful Haures had not shown his face again so far. Rather than being unable to locate Ryan, he found it more likely that the demon was simply wary of the Seirim, even in their weakened state. It was just a matter of time before the beast evened the odds, however, and they had already been in the cabin for too long. It was time to set events in motion.

Ryan began to recite the Preliminary Invocation of the Goetia from the safety of his protective triangle. It was becoming so familiar to him now, this was the third time in so many days that he had read aloud the entire passage. There was a certain rhythm to the invocation when it was recited properly, more of a chant or a hymn than a simple recitation. At this rate, he was going to learn it by heart, despite its exhausting length and complexity.

This time he had a glass of water on standby, knowing that he was going to need it. During the last two summonings, it had taken him about twenty minutes to get from the beginning to the end.

The Seirim looked on as he made his way slowly through the invocation, struggling with the Hebrew and Aramaic passages. When he was done, he proceeded immediately to the next evocation in the sequence, commanding the demon to appear as he waved his wand at the circle.

"I Evoke and conjure you Gaap, 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 & powerfully command you Gaap 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..."

The surface of the summoning circle began to shift as if the wooden floor inside the boundaries of the chalk was melting, becoming liquid. He was not surprised by the environmental changes this time, he knew exactly what to expect. Summoning was a precise science, and he was slowly learning to anticipate at what stages the demon would begin to manifest itself.

"...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..."

The floorboards became less defined, until all that remained was a perfect circle of polished wood, like the varnished surface of a dining table. The effect did not stray beyond the chalk, it seemed to have been properly contained, there were no breaks in the circle or errors in his transcription. He had to be cautious here, as Gaap was a higher ranked Goetic demon than any that he had attempted to summon before. It was powerful, no doubt cunning, and there was a good chance it might be malevolent.

Now the surface began to ripple, as if it was a pond that someone had thrown a pebble into, the waves lapping at the edges of the chalk summoning circle. The candles flickered, the structure of the dilapidated cabin creaking as if it was being put under some kind of stress.

"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 waited, his wand pointed at the center of the circle, the sound of his breathing the only thing breaking the eerie silence. He waited for the demon to manifest, wondering if he had done something wrong. Perhaps he had made a mistake during his incantation, or maybe the setup was just too amateurish for a demon of this rank to even deign to appear before him.

A sound reached his ears, faint and far away, and he strained to listen. It was a church bell, heard from a great distance. Was there a church near enough to the national park that it could be heard this deep inside the forest? It didn't seem likely.

As it grew louder, he was able to make out individual bells. There was a whole choir of them, as if a cathedral was summoning the faithful to prayer. He was tempted to compare the sound to the tolling of wedding bells, but it was oddly mournful, more like a funeral than any celebration. It was tuneless, grating, he had to fight the urge to cover his ears. After a while it became unpleasantly loud, echoing as if the noise was coming from inside the very room, like he was standing in the bell tower of some Gothic basilica. It shook his bones, seeming to make the foundations of the cabin vibrate beneath his feet.

His attention was drawn to a haze in the center of the circle, a mirage, shimmering like the air above the baking asphalt on a hot summer's day. It was formless at first, but then it began to change, taking on the rough shape of a man. The ringing of those blasted bells continued as if announcing the entity's arrival, its body becoming more solid as he looked on.

Ryan blinked, and then it was there. It stood on the now mirror-like floor, seven feet tall and clad in what looked like a hooded, burlap robe. Its face was obscured in shadow, save for a set of yellowed and crooked teeth, its long and bony fingers clasped in front of it.

He was used to demons taking strange and frightening forms, but this one was different. It wasn't just strange or alarming, it was repulsive, it looked like some kind of zombie monk. He was glad that the thing's features were obscured beneath its long hood, as he feared that whatever might be lurking under there would give him night terrors for the rest of his life.

Ryan quickly composed himself, knowing that he had to keep his attention focused on the task at hand. This form may well be designed to perturb and distract him so that the demon might find an opening in his defenses that it could exploit. He considered commanding it to take a more appealing form, but it might take offense, and the situation was already precarious enough.

It stood there in silence, waiting for Ryan to address it, making no comment about the unorthodox surroundings or the slapdash nature of the summoning ritual.

"Oh Mighty Prince Gaap," Ryan began, resisting the urge to clutch his protective pendant in his hand. He needed to appear confident, in control. Like dogs, demons would sense weakness and hesitation, and it might encourage them to act. "I have summoned you here because I am in dire need of your help. Please forgive the unorthodox nature of the ritual, my resources are severely limited, and my life is in immediate danger. Will you treat with me?"

Gaap turned its head slowly to peer around the room, examining the Seirim and the flickering candles. Ryan could hear the bones in its neck creaking. It turned back to stare at him, and while he couldn't see its eyes beneath the veil of shadow, he could feel them piercing through him. It was the same sensation that one got when they were alone at night, the hairs on their neck standing on end as their instincts insisted that they were being watched by some unseen force. Gaap's discolored lips pulled back in an ugly smile, revealing its rotting teeth.

"You are the boy..." it rasped, its voice hoarse and breathy. It sounded like it had a mouth full of dust, or perhaps it had been smoking ten packs of cigarettes a day for the last five thousand years.

"The...boy?" Ryan asked. What was the demon talking about?

"I know you, Ryan Cutter," it croaked.

Ryan was taken aback, glancing at Nahash for a moment, the Seirim seeming equally surprised by the demon's statement.

"How do you know me? What do you mean by that?"

It ignored his queries, merely standing there and grinning at him. Information wasn't free, it no doubt wanted some kind of payment.

"I will treat with you," the demon hissed with a bow of its hooded head, "state your terms."

Ryan cleared his throat, reading from the contract that he had prepared earlier. He had put a lot of thought into it, and this time he hadn't had Nahash to help him. If they had worked on it together, she would no doubt have objected to his plan. Fortunately, she hadn't been curious enough to press the issue.

"I would ask two things of you," he began, the demon looking on silently. "First, I need to know the precise location of one Reginald Carlisle, his title is Grand Master. He's somewhere in Antarctica, below the ice in a hidden base, that's all I know for sure. I intend to kill him. My second request is that once you've located him, I am to be transported to the nearest safe area inside the installation, somewhere that I can reach him in a reasonable amount of time. I must arrive unseen. You may not teleport me into the direct view of any guards, into a room that I cannot escape from, or otherwise allow me to come to any kind of harm as a result of where you choose to send me. You may not alert anyone to my presence yourself, or otherwise cause others to become aware of me, nor may you put me into any situation where others would hurt me as an indirect result. When I have succeeded in killing Carlisle, you will return me to this cabin."

Gaap contemplated for a moment, then spoke in its hoarse voice.

"And if you should fail to kill Reginald Carlisle?"

"I'm getting to that part," Ryan said. "As for your payment, I have nothing on hand. I cannot offer you sexual energy, nor do I have anything to sacrifice. Instead, I offer you a wager..."

The demon perked up at that, its unnaturally long fingers twitching as it seemed to lean closer.

"Go on..."

"Ryan!" Nahash snapped, "do you know what you're doing?"

"Trust me," he whispered, then he turned his attention back to the demon. "Because I cannot offer you anything in exchange for your help right now, I propose the following arrangement. If I should succeed in killing Carlisle, then the demon that is currently hunting me will be called off, his contract rendered void. That done, I will be able to move more freely, as my chief concern will be evading my mortal pursuers. As soon as it is safe to do so, I will have a hundred tin plates inscribed with your sigil, and I will spread them around the city. It will be a deferred payment, so to speak, only to be carried out when my situation allows for it."

"And what wager do you propose?" the demon asked.

"If I should fail to kill Carlisle and I meet my demise in the Antarctic base, then you may take possession of my soul."

"Ryan!" Nahash exclaimed, her eyes wide. "You cannot do this! Do you have any idea what that would mean?"

"It's the only way," Ryan replied solemnly, "no demon would accept a contract from a client unless they were certain that they would be paid. This way Gaap will receive the energy that is owed regardless of the outcome."

"But your immortal soul," she pleaded. "Death is not the end, Ryan. But if you surrender your soul to a demon, it will be drained of energy and consumed. You will cease to exist!"

"If I fail, then I'll die, and everything that I know and love will be lost. I don't care about the afterlife. If there's such a thing as Heaven, then I don't want to go there if you can't follow. The guy who calls himself God doesn't seem to like Nephilim very much, I don't think your name will be on the guest list."

"Foolish romantic," she brayed, her usually musical voice becoming more like that of a goat as her emotions got the better of her. "I won't allow it, I won't let you put your soul at risk out of some...misplaced notion of loyalty! There are more important things at stake!"

Gaap glanced between them, seemingly amused by their exchange. Her sisters were visibly upset, clustering together and whispering worriedly to one another.

"Stop smiling like that!" Nahash snapped at him, balling her fists and stamping a cloven hoof on the floor of the cabin. "You think you're being so noble, but you're just being an idiot! How dare you hide this from me, how dare you make this decision behind my back! There's more than this life, more than our romance. You'd risk the promise of an infinite existence for just a few more decades with me?"