Shadowplay

She rolled her jaw, and then began clicking, humming, and hissing the Infernal tongue. "Are you that which has guided me around this castle?" Rifyll asked.

The Shadow nodded.

Rifyll wasn't sure to be frightened or elated. A demon being kind to her, but for what? Her eyes snapped to the circle, and Rifyll clicked out, "Are you trapped in this castle?"

The Shadow nodded.

Rifyll didn't think she could break the circle without some kind of repercussion. If she was lucky, then the demon would snap back to the Low Planes, but it was far more likely that the demon would be set free. Rifyll wasn't sure what the demon would do if that was the case, but lore held it to be nasty and painful. She began to pace around the circle, studying the infernal words. Eventually, her eyes were gazing at the Shadow, admiring the inhuman perfection of the demon's form.

What would it be like to have a demon bounded to her? She had heard that such contracts gave the mage in question great power. It could be the power Rifyll needed in order to stay in the college! What would it feel like? What would she be able to do?

The circle held the answers, and Rifyll's eyes shot to it, pouring over the last words to try and understand it. She could read the words "New" and "Transfer" easily enough, but the rest sent her memory scrabbling for the answers.

The word behind Transfer was Power, but Transfer could mean something else, Rifyll realized. It was written to also mean 'Take Ownership Of' or even 'Enslave'! The only difference was a few curled spikes that changed it. And the word after New was Host, or Sufferer? No, Master!

For the first time in her life, Rifyll had made a breakthrough! She felt brilliant! Now that she knew what to look for, word after word fell to her understanding! After mere minutes of studying the infernal script, Rifyll could read it whole; "For The New Host/Master To Take Ownership Of/Enslave Power In Shadows, Swallow/Kiss Darkness Itself/The Demon."

Well, that'd be quite easy. The Shadow had already kissed her everywhere else, why not on her lips as well? Rifyll turned to the Shadow and crooked her fingers to bring the demon closer.

The Shadow placed her hands against the barrier the circle would've formed. As she tried to push through, her hands faded to flat blackness and fell to the ground like the shadows of hands placed over a wall. She could not tangibly escape the circle.

Well, Rifyll didn't think that shoving her face into a demon-holding circle was the smartest thing ever, but she had gotten away with a lot of things thus far. Just as long as she didn't disturb the circle itself, she should be fine.

Rifyll gently tip-toed through the coal lines and words, watching the ground carefully until she was at the circle's borders. The Shadow's hands were wrapped around her boots, trying to caress and massage them. Rifyll looked up the Shadow's hellishly beautiful body and stared into the demon's eyes. She couldn't read them, their silvery crossed pupils staring straight and unfeeling, yet vibrating slightly, fading in and out.

May as well. Rifyll, eyes closed, bent forward with kissing lips. The difference between inside the circle and outside it was like stepping into shade from a hot summer day.

Before she could realize what was happening, hands seized Rifyll's head and dragged her closer. Greedy, lusting lips clashed with hers, pushing and mingling with them. Her eyes fluttered open in surprise and saw, close up, the closed face of the Shadow, absorbed in the ferocious kiss.

Dark, cool lips controlled hers, kissing her over and over, taking what they wanted. Rifyll could feel long, cool tongues, thin like whips, push into her mouth, caressing her tongue and tying themselves to it. Rifyll was no longer in possession of herself, her head in the Shadow's grasp and her mouth commandeered by the Shadow's mouth.

It felt like shadows were being poured down her throat. Rifyll started to gag uselessly; she couldn't stop them, she didn't need to stop them as her breath wasn't interrupted, but she could still feel them.

The kiss was sweet in its own way, and it didn't lack for passion. It was bizarre to feel how much Rifyll liked this possession. Elven serenades sung about kisses like these, plays and romances dedicated to these rare longing moments. Any woman would envy this somehow.

Just as she thought that she'd start thrashing and pull away, Rifyll felt a shadow press against her and then melt into her. When her eyes refocused, the Shadow was gone.

No, not quiet. Rifyll felt heavier, like she was dragging around a floor-length coat. But there was also something almost alive inside her! Experimentally, Rifyll flicked her fingers out. Energy from her core surged up her arm and popped out of her fingertips as fire!

Rifyll grinned and laughed merrily. She began to flick her fingers willy-nilly, felling an unending buzz of magic surge through her body and spit out her digits as colorful fireworks of all kinds. She swirled around, and felt mass move with her. More than mass. It felt like someone was copying her moves, someone that was standing exactly where she was!

She looked at her own shadow, and saw that it was surprisingly dark. Rifyll ran to a mirror and searched herself for signs of a change. If the magistrates found out that she had bonded with a demon, then she'd be kicked out for sure! Her emerald eyes were fine, and her autumn-colored hair was as brilliant as it had been. There were no erroneous tattoos that she could see. She pulled back her lips to look at her teeth, and that was when she found it. On the back of her lower lip, infernal words were printed into her skin, reading 'Forever Your Shadow'.

"Hah, hah!" Rifyll laughed aloud. No-one would know if she didn't want them to! Now, about getting out of this castle...

Rifyll willed a glimmer of magic to run through her head, and she could see it. The entire castle's layout, all its towers and dungeons, its secrets laid bare for her. Kitchen, Servant's Quarters, Jardins, Secret Passageways, all revealed to her. She could walk through this place blind! And where was she now?

Knowledge welled up in her, like drawing from a fountain. A Pleasure Room, a hidden chamber dedicated to ecstatic orgies made by a previous ruler. It had been used to call upon demons for their services in hedonistic parties. The Lurroc Family would never want this to be revealed, but now Rifyll knew it and more. The world was at her fingertips.

Time to leave. Rifyll experimentally reached out at the door. The other being within her, the Shadow, stretched out her arm and pushed the door open. Rifyll smiled widely, power running giddily through her body. Rifyll Wyndcall danced all the way out of Castle Lurroc, and with her, the Shadow escaped into the world.