Nameless Ghoul

Purple Fire

Secondo asked if Itzal wanted to come back later to go through the summoning, or if he wanted to get it over with now. All he really wanted was to get back to Sunshine.

He realised he remembered this particular one, though. It was unusual for a couple of reasons, so it stood out to him. 

He was relieved that he wouldn’t have to go through the process with Secondo; he didn’t think his mind could take reliving a memory like that willingly right now. When he sent Secondo a memory purposefully, something happened and he latched onto it and dragged the whole memory free in vivid colour. Instead of just recalling the specific parts that were relevant, he relived the whole thing in minute detail, as if he was going through it again. Now, he could do without that kind of trauma.

It was unusual for the red-haired witch to be absent from a ritual. He could probably count on one hand the number of times either of the witches had missed a summoning, so it was notable.

The other thing that made this summoning stand out in his mind was that it was strange, because the demon had paid more attention to him than was usual.

Itzal remembered losing consciousness from the blood loss before he and Santos struck the actual deal that night. Just before that, though, the demon had spoken to him. It had happened whilst Santos and the demon were discussing what his basic terms were for the deal, getting the technicalities out of the way. Whilst she and Santos had hashed out the basics, the demon had spoken to Itzal mind to mind. There were only a few beings who could do this. Certain bonded ghouls and ghoulette pairs could do it through the bond, but only with each other. A few species of demons could also, but only the higher demons could force their thoughts into the mind of another.

Demons and ghouls were closely related and shared many traits and ancestors, which is where ghouls' elemental powers came from. Each species was descended from a different line of Elemental demons, who passed their traits down to them. They were kin, and although they didn’t mix too often in their respective hell dimensions, they usually respected each other when they interacted.

“The demon was Eisheth. She spoke to me.”

Secondo looked surprised at this.

“Eisheth? Santos was playing with fire there. I wonder what made him deviate from the lesser demons and negotiate with someone like Eisheth instead,” he said thoughtfully. "And the fact she paid extra attention to you is worrying."

It didn’t surprise Itzal that Secondo knew who she was. He had only seen mention of her himself in texts that he remembered reading at the Academy about the different classes of demons throughout their history. He remembered something about her being a devourer of souls.

“What did she say to you?” 

Itzal thought for a minute, because even though the memory was not as vivid as if Secondo had called it forth from his mind, it was still difficult for him to think about.

“She asked me what I desired. She offered to give it to me,” he replied quietly. “I turned her down.”

Secondo nodded. There was no need to tell him what he had answered. He'd left his thoughts unguarded, so Secondo had picked it up. He had desired Santos, and in turn himself, to die. But if he had accepted her offer, he would have only exchanged one bond for another. When she devoured a soul, it became bound to her for all eternity, so death from her would have been no escape for him. She would not have granted his wish from the kindness of her heart. There would have been a price.

“Thank you Itzal. I know it is not easy for you to talk about these things. I would not have asked you if it wasn’t so important. We need to know which avenues to pursue with regards to Santos. He will not be leaving the cells, that is a given, but we need to prepare in case we cannot kill him. In which case, we will need to contain him indefinitely. We will need to summon Eisheth and find out what is what before we can decide on anything.”

Itzal’s head was spinning. All he wanted to do was to find Sunshine and lay down with her until his mind calmed down. He subconsciously reached out to her through their bond and she sent him a little caress, which went some way towards calming his racing thoughts.

He asked if Secondo needed anything else, and made his excuses to leave. Secondo said he would be in touch if he needed him.

When he returned to the lair, Sunshine had already dressed and was busying herself tidying up his room. She wore her jeans and one of his t-shirts and she looked adorable in the oversized top. She looked up when he came in.

“Hey,” she said with a shy smile. “Were you okay? You felt a bit stressed just now.”

He nodded.

“Secondo needed to ask me some things about one of the summonings I had been to. I don’t like to talk about them, so it just got a bit too much,” he answered. “I just wanted to be back here with you. Are you doing okay?”

She came over and wrapped her arms around his waist, cuddling into his chest.

“Getting there I guess. I cleared my head in the shower and I thought about a lot of things. I’m hurting but I’m angry too. Angry for myself, but also angry for you. What a pair we are, huh?” she said with a humourless smile.

Her eyes welled with tears again as she looked up at him, and he kissed her forehead.

“We will make him pay. We’ll do it together,” he whispered into her ear.

His breath caught as he saw her eyes flash with purple fire, and the wild ghuleh who lurked underneath the veneer of humanity peered out at him. He smiled and held her closer to him as a shiver of anticipation ran down his spine. He felt the spark of Sunshine’s fire coming through their bond, and he held her tighter.