Succubus Master Pt. 06

"Okay, now, let me give you the basics on how to summon a familiar. First, one must draw up a familiar summoning circle, like the one I just drew. To summon, one must stand by the circle, channel one's power into it, and then recite the summoning verse I gave to you. Once you do all of that, a creature from hell will hear your call and come forth. Then you must make a pact with them. Now, keep this in mind: every pack is unique. It depends on the creature itself. And be warned if one summons a creature that is too powerful, or cannot meet the conditions of the pact, then that summoned creature can attack the caster."

That last part made my stomach churn - so much so that I was starting to question whether or not I should do it. Luckily for me, Ella had the same concerns.

"Are you sure we should be doing this? I mean, if Max summons something and it tries to kill him, then why take the risk?"

"I know it might seem rash, and normally I wouldn't recommend him doing something like this - not until he fully understood his powers. But with the emergence of his wings, and the fact that priests that were probably summoned to eradicate me - er, us - just showed up in town, I think a familiar would go a long way in aiding us. Besides, I think Max will be able to handle whatever creature he summons. He's very special."

From her tone, she did seem quite confident about my abilities, but I was still apprehensive about summoning a creature from hell. After seeing the look on my face, Rayna decided that a demonstration of how the spell worked was in order. She walked right up next to the circle, placed one hand on it, and began to pool her demonic energy into the formation. When the ritual was about to reach its peak, the etched curls glowed a dull red. Then Rayna recited the verse she wrote down for me. Upon its completion, the circle glowed brighter, and a dark figure started to rise from the very center.

"How may I serve you?" asked the black creature at the very center of the circle. The glowing light had finally faded, showing that the summoning was complete and that it was time for the final step: forging the pact.

"Oh my god, it's so cute!" Ella squealed in glee as the creature's true form became visible. It was a cat, like the one that worked with Janus, whom we'd met when Rayna had needed a new identity. This one had dark, glossy fur, white mitten paws, a white face, and a white-tipped tail. By that alone, it would have looked like any normal house cat, but there were three distinct differences. First, it was standing on its two hind legs perfectly; second, it wore a very posh-looking butler's outfit; third, it was talking in a very British accent. Ella wanted to reach up and grab it, but Rayna held her hand up.

"Will you serve, and be loyal to me throughout time?" Rayna began in a commanding voice. "Will you follow my every command, and fulfill the task laid out in front of you, no matter how small or mundane? Will you protect me, and fight for me, if the situation arises?" Will you be my faithful and ever-loyal servant?"

The cat agreed to every one of Rayna's terms without any fuss or hesitation. Then it looked back up at us expectantly.

"To finish the pact agreement, you must offer your summoned familiar a name," Rayna explained with a smile. "So, any ideas?"

"Wait, it's your familiar; don't you want to name it?" I asked her, unsure if I had that kind of right.

"There's no rule that says I can't ask for input. Besides, I want this familiar to be with Ella. With trouble in town, I would feel much more comfortable having someone with her at all times. So even though it's my familiar, I can command him to listen to and follow Ella. She'll be a master by proxy, if you will. So, Ella, what do you want to name your new pet?"

Rayna snickered; the cat in the center of the summoning circle began to look unsettled. It only took Ella two seconds to think up a name.

"Mr. Smuckers," she said, with all the smugness in the world.

The cat's face paled at hearing its suggested name, but before he could voice his objection, Rayna finished the ritual by giving him that name.

"Alright Mr. Smuckers, as your Mistress, I hereby order you to be by Ella's side. She will be your Mistress unless I say otherwise. Her orders are like my own. You must listen to her every word, and obey her every command. You must be there for her, and warn either me or my Master if she is in trouble. Is that understood, Mr. Smuckers?"

"Lady, why did you have to give me such an undignified name? Please, Mistress, please reconsider and change my name. It's so undignified for a house cat of my stature." The cat pleaded with her, but it fell on deaf ears. That was especially evident when Ella quickly scooped up Mr. Smuckers in her arms. The cat made an amusing whining noise as Ella started to dance around while cradling her new pet. It brought a smile to my face, but I quickly refocused on Rayna. Something Mr. Smuckers had said had piqued my interest.

"House cat?" I asked as I eyed the strange creature. I tried to hide my smirk as Ella rubbed her face into his. She'd always been a cat person, and just went crazy whenever she saw one. It was one of the cutest things about her.

"Yes, Smuckers over there is a house cat - more importantly, a shadow house cat. They are mainly used as servants, errand boys, and spies. To be a great house cat, one must obtain intelligence and power from one's Master. Judging by his attire, he used to serve as some higher demon but was probably released some time ago. I must say, I never would have expected to be able to summon a great house cat. I guess my powers have grown since I met you, Master."

Rayna seemed a little proud of herself. Hearing that made me smile. It showed how much she appreciated me, and that I'd made her stronger, which was good, since I didn't want anything to happen to her. While I was smiling at her, Rayna stood up next to Ella and started to play with Mr. Smuckers.

"My you are a cutie! Just look at that outfit you wear."

"I know, it's too cute," Ella agreed. "Are you sure I can have him?"

"Of course!" Rayna replied. "With trouble around, it will be nice to have someone by your side. Mr. Smuckers is yours to do with as you please, but I hope you don't fault me for wanting to play with him." Rayna's voice got very girly for a moment. I supposed she was a cat person too.

"Of course not! Maybe we can dress him up in a few other outfits - maybe even make a calendar out of it." Ella smiled back at Rayna. Then, in one smooth motion, she leaped forward and gave the succubus a big fat hug, while Mr. Smuckers was still in between them.

I smiled as I saw the cat try to struggle to get out before being squeezed to death, but then I noticed something. Mr. Smuckers wasn't actually trying to escape. He was pretending to, but taking the opportunity to paw at Rayna's massive tits. I saw a small smile on the little guy's face.

"That little pervert," I said to myself, shaking my head in disbelief that there were perverted house cats in the underworld.

Rayna finally separated from Ella, leaving Mr. Smuckers in her care. Of course, he begged Rayna to take him with her, but Ella wouldn't let him go. So while Ella and Mr. Smuckers bonded - whether Mr. Smuckers wanted to or not - Rayna began to direct me to perform my summoning.

"Okay, Master, remember: visualize that you are pushing your power into the summoning circle. Then, once you feel like you have enough, recite the incantation."

"Okay, and if I do that, will I be getting my house cat?" I asked as I positioned myself at the edge of the circle.

"Tough to say," Rayna said, stepping back and taking a position next to Ella. "This is, after all, a generic summoning ritual. We'll just have to wait and see what kind of creature will respond to your call."

I looked back and saw Ella rubbing Mr. Smuckers behind the ear - which was his weak spot, apparently. He began purring into Ella's hand.

I shook my head and smiled again, but then refocused on the task at hand. Doing as Rayna instructed, I began to pool my energy inside me. That now-familiar stormcloud bubble began to grow. I kept on pulling my power until the bubble was the size of a large grapefruit. With it in hand - at least figuratively - I knelt and began to visualize siphoning it out of my body and into the summoning circle. Then, in a clear and commanding voice, I recited the incantation Rayna had had me memorize.

"Creaturae deorsum inferius. Vocavi, et quaeritur coram me. Egredere et ostende mihi, ut dignum esse particeps esse."

In English, it roughly meant: "Creatures of the down below. I call them and ask them to appear before me. Come forth and show to me, a worthy partner that we could be."

After the incantation, the summoning circle greedily absorbed the remaining power that I had set aside. The ruins in the dirt began to glow brighter than Rayna's summoning had, and a vibrant blue instead of red. The air around me sizzled as the energy inside the circle began to run rampant. At first, I thought I'd done something wrong, but then a large, dark figure began to rise out of the circle - a very large figure. After another moment, it came into focus. It was a big beast on four legs. It was huge - bigger than an English Mastiff, bigger even than a gray wolf. As it gained ever more definition, I noticed it looked downright ferocious. Its fur wasn't black, but rather a dark blue-gray, with frosted blue tips on its paws, ear tips, mane, chest, and tail. Its eyes carried inside of them a fierce electric blue. Its paws looked like they could easily crush a man's skull. It was a true monster if I'd ever seen one, and it terrified me. I was about to ask Rayna what the hell I'd just summoned from hell itself, but even she was cowering in fear. That wasn't a good sign when it came to summoning a creature from the underworld.

"Master, we're in deep shit now," Rayna said, her voice laced with terror. "That's a hellhound you just summoned - but not just any hellhound. That's an Infernal hell hound, the most powerful of its kind. Plus, judging by its size, it's a female."

"Is that good?" I asked, praying that the creature right in front of me wouldn't try to kill me.

"No, they are meaner than their male counterparts," Rayna responded, now bringing Ella behind her as she prepared for what was about to happen.

"Who dares summon me?'' The hellhound spoke in a deep, yet feminine voice. "Who dares to be my Master?"

Swallowing the lump in my throat and straightening my back, I squared up against the beast. I said, in the most confident voice I could muster, "That would be me."

The beast looked me up and down and just scoffed. "You, a half-breed? You don't even look like you have any meat on your bones." Then it seemed to take a few more sniffs of me. "But I sense great power coming from within you... a grand power, but is it enough to be my Master? We, the Rieka tribe, do not follow the weak; we follow the strong. Only the strong are worthy of our power, loyalty, or fighting spirit. If you wish to have the power of the Rieka, then prove that you are strong. Make me submit to you, and I'll be your loyal servant until the end of time."

As soon as she said that, blue flames started to appear everywhere she sported blue fur. The beast readied itself in a pouncing stance, waiting for my attack. Every nerve in my body screamed for me to run away - to not fight the hulking, 500-lb beast that was now also on fire. But another part of me said to stay and fight, to make her submit. In the end, I decided to take a chance and fight the beast. I got into a fighting stance - at least what I remembered from my fourth-grade karate that my mother had made me take for a year. Then I told Rayna to back off and protect Ella. Both girls wanted to protest, but the look in my eyes told them that it wasn't up for discussion. Rayna made real use of her wings and spirited all three of them to a safe distance. Once they were gone, I lunged at the beast and punched at it with everything I had.

My hand burned as soon it made contact with the beast's fur. The blue flames were not just for show. They were true flames that would have burned the skin off of any mere mortal. Luckily, my skin was much more resilient than a normal human's, so I only got a first-degree burn. Unfortunately, the beast retaliated with a swift claw attack that left a gash on my skin. It wasn't life-threatening, but it still hurt like a true motherfucker. I didn't pull back though; I pressed the attack.

The beast was agile. I managed to keep up with it for a while, but I could tell it was slowly winning. I knew I needed to be both stronger and faster than the beast, so I began to channel my energy into the muscles in my arms and legs. Suddenly, I felt... better. I felt better at everything - or at least everything physical.

The strength I'd gained from my body's prior transformation was something I'd readily understood - lift more, hit harder. This was different. I became stronger still, true, but there was more to it. I felt new, fresh electricity. I felt messages travel from my brain to my limbs and back again at lightning speed. Moreover, I saw - literally saw - the hulking, blazing beast before me slowed down. I knew it wasn't because it had gotten tired. I knew it was because I was simply faster - simply better. I began to dodge the beast's clawing attacks, protecting myself from getting cut up anymore. When the beast exhaled a gout of blue flames out of its mouth, my body was ready before my brain was. I managed to dodge the blast, but the tree that it hit immediately turned to ash. It was a frightening sight, to say the least. Still, we kept fighting. That mostly involved me dodging her attacks, but I did manage to land a few of my own. Still, it felt like I barely did any damage to her with any of them, even with all my newfound strength.

"You are strong for a half breed," the hellhound said casually. "Normally, any demon who dared to try to conquer a Rieka would be a pile of ashes by now. But it's time to put an end to this."

In a swirl of black smoke, the beast began to morph. What replaced its gigantic four-legged form was a beautiful, beach-body woman who could give all the sports models runs for their money. Corded muscles ran up and down her body, showing amazing definition. Besides the fact that her new form was built for power, though, what drew me in was the fact that her skin was the same dark gray color that most of her fur had been just a moment ago. Some of that fur remained, in fact - on parts of her legs, parts of her arms, and some of her face - but the rest was bare skin that looked as smooth as silk. She also had long, gray, fluffy ears at the top of her head; flowing, dark gray hair; and a swaying, fluffy tail.

Still, for all those striking hybrid features, my eyes were quickly drawn to her chest. Two big, bountiful breasts stood before me - bigger than Rayna's, but just as perky. Each was capped with a dark blue nipple. Then I glanced further down, and discovered the biggest, plumpest ass any man has ever seen. It wasn't flabby in the slightest, either. it looked like you could bounce a silver dollar off of it.

While I was still admiring her new form, the same black smoke that had facilitated her transformation began to coalesce around her body, leaving behind black gladiator leather armor that left very little to the imagination. It only covered her chest, shoulders, arms, and her mound venus.

"You have fought with honor, but you weren't worthy to be my master," she said. The last trace of black smoke became a gigantic greatsword, black as night, which she casually held in a single hand. She twirled it like it weighed nothing as she got a feel for it. Then, with one snap of her wrist, the blade was pointed directly at me. It suddenly went ablaze, covered from hilt to tip in a brilliant blue flame. I knew when I saw that blade that I had bitten off more than I could chew. It became more apparent when I barely dodged her first swing. She was incredibly fast - faster than she'd been in her hellhound form - but her speed wasn't what scared me the most. It was the fact that in that one swing, she'd chopped down a tree that was right behind me. What it would have taken a professional lumberjack to do in a few minutes, she'd done in a single second. Terror filled my veins; I knew I was no match for the hell beast in front of me.

So, embracing a noble tradition from Captain Jack Sparrow, I ran away.

The beast roared as it gave chase. Luckily, while she was fast, her movement was limited due to her big sword and the trees all around us. I knew one hit from that monstrosity would be game over, but I had no idea how I could counter a sword that was on fire. I needed something to defend myself. Then, like a bolt of lightning, an idea formed, which led me to make a mad dash to Ella's car. I dodged left and right as the beach-bodied hell beast took big swings at me. No other trees had fallen yet, but everywhere the blade hit, it left big scorch marks in its wake. Then, like the parting of the seas, a clear path towards the object of my desire came into view. The problem with a clear path, though, was that it also made it easier for the female beauty to catch up to me. Following my instincts, I dodged left and dodged right, but in my haste, I did not see the tree root. My foot got caught under it, and then the world started to spin. I tumbled end over end until I landed face-first into the dirt, a mere ten feet away from my destination. A roar filled my ears as the beast leapt up into the air, sword raised overhead, and plunged downward for a final slashing attack. I'd turned over and seen her do it. I was sure I was going to die, but I had to concede that she looked magnificent.

I was doomed; I had no weapons, no shield, nothing to protect myself from her final attack. I screamed in my head for someone to come help me, but no one was around. I could feel Rayna and Ella come rushing towards me, but they were too far away, too far to help. By the time they arrived, I would be split in two by the beastkin's greatsword. Still, though, I pleaded for someone, something to help me. With death descending, I put my arms in the air to put up some sort of defense, and closed my eyes, not wanting to see the gigantic sword carve me in two. I resigned myself to my fate.

A thunderous boom filled the forest around us. For a long, tense moment, I thought I had already died, but then I felt a familiar, humming presence fill my hands. I opened my eyes to see what had happened, and what I saw surprised the shit out of me. It was the xiphos, in my hand, and it was holding back the beastkin's sword. The sword had once again saved my life.

Chapter 18

I was still shocked that I was alive, especially after the female beastkin had unleashed a powerful slashing attack, but I was - and even unhurt - thanks to the xiphos in my hand. Last I'd known, it had been resting in the back of Ella's car. Before we'd made it to the quarry, we'd stopped at my house for a quick lunch. While we'd been there I'd felt uneasy about leaving the sword behind since that priest was walking about. To be on the safe side, I'd taken the blade from my room and stashed it in the trunk of Ella's car. That was the main reason why I'd been running towards her car in the first place, hoping and praying that it might help me against the beastkin. But I never would have thought that it would come to me like Mjolnir and block the massive, fiery sword. It made me wonder what was so special about the sword, or about me in relation to it. It didn't make much sense, since I was half demon, and it was, apparently, some kind of holy weapon. Stranger still, I could have sworn I heard it try to say something to me - to speak to me, as if it had a voice of its own.