Blackened Feathers

Inigo

Seren busied herself in the little chapel that the Clergy witches used for their smaller rituals. There was no point in using the main chapel for communing. She had no need for the larger space. The chapel was on the same corridor as the apothecary and the library that belonged to them as well. It was an open space with a high, vaulted ceiling and two tall, thin stained glass windows depicting various demons who were of significance to witches. There was an altar before the windows where a basalt statue of Baphomet looked serenely out towards the main room.

She laid out the various incenses, potions, and herbs that she would need to link her consciousness with that of the demon. When her mother communed, the demon took over her body for a brief period, which used a lot of energy and it wiped her out for days afterwards. When Seren did it, it was more of a linking of conscious minds. The demon could see out through her eyes and use her voice.

She was always nervous when she did this, though. The feeling of letting someone else into her mind was not a pleasant one, especially when that someone was a demon. It had been a long time since she had last communed, and she had never done it with an Elemental demon. When her mother died, she had shied away from it, nervous of what could happen. She knew that was different and that the same thing couldn't happen to her, but she'd let the fear talk her out if doing it again since then.

Seren was going to have to step up now, though. It was going to be a skill she would use a lot when she took over from Anya. The older witch was helping her prepare, cleansing the space and putting the protections in place that would be necessary as fail safes in case something went wrong. Secondo and Terzo would be there along with each of their water ghouls, the most resistant ghouls to Fire magics.

They were due any minute, and Seren downed the potion that would open her mind enough for the demon to gain access. The liquid burned her throat and she felt the tingle spread throughout her body as it got to work. The colours in the room became more vibrant and her hearing was more sensitive. She could smell the herbs and the incense with more intensity and her skin felt every shift in the air as Anya moved around the room, smudging the entire space to make ready.

Right on time, Terzo and Secondo arrived with their ghouls in tow. They took their places as Seren sat cross-legged in the centre of the protection circle she had drawn on the ground. It was an extra precaution to prevent the spirit of the demon from escaping and causing havoc.

"Thank you for doing this, Seren. Are you ready to proceed?" Terzo asked her.

She nodded and offered him a small smile before taking a deep, calming breath and letting go.

Secondo, Terzo and Anya began the ritual chant, and she closed her eyes and cleared her mind. She concentrated on their words and used her mind to call out into the ether to Inigo. It usually took a few minutes to connect with the mind she was seeking, but unnervingly, it was as though he had been listening out for her. The response was immediate and she threw her head back and gasped as the searing heat of the Fire demon burned its way into her consciousness.

The sounds, smells and the goings on in the room faded away and Seren found herself face to face with Inigo. She had never seen him before and she struggled to get a good impression of him at first. The eye of her conscious mind was still in shock from the instant response, with no time to adjust.

He was tall, over eight feet, with black skin that cracked and swirled with patterns of red lava underneath. Red and orange flames danced in his eyes and she realised that this was where the fire ghouls got their glowing eyes from when their tempers flared or they were excited. His face was harshly beautiful and his long hair swirled like grey smoke around his head and shoulders. He smiled at her and his teeth were like a shark's. A magnificent pair of wings fluttered behind him as he moved. They, too, were black and leathered like the wings of a bat.

"It seems like so long since I was called, and by another Clergy witch no less. I am truly honoured," he said. His voice was smooth as silk and it lulled her. She tilted her head and closed her eyes so that she could concentrate on it. "Such a pretty little thing as well. Familiar, though."

"I am the daughter of Elen, the Clergy witch who died when you took her over."

Her voice was steady and she kept her cool.

He narrowed his eyes and stepped towards her, reaching out and stroking a scorching hot finger down the side of her cheek. It burned, but it didn't hurt. The heat was comforting.

"Ah yes, Elen. A worthy conduit, but she overestimated her powers. She played with fire for a little too long. Such a pity. But you, I see, are different. Much different," he said with a grin. "What is that?" he said, narrowing his eyes again and scrutinising her. They suddenly widened in realisation and he chuckled. "Oh! Does the Clergy know who sired you?" She felt the look of confusion she must have worn, and he chuckled again.
"Do you know? No?" He grinned and the fire in his eyes sparked with amusement. "It has been a millennium, at least since I met one of his progeny. He is very careful about who he begets his offspring with. I wonder what it was about your mother that tempted him so?"

Seren's mind was reeling. Her mother had told her that her father had died when she was a baby. She said that he was a member of the Clergy so right now she had no clue what Inigo was talking about.

"My father was a member of the Clergy, he died when I was little. I never knew him," she said, reciting the mantra she'd believed for her whole life, trying to convince herself more than anything now that what she said was the truth.

Inigo inhaled and shook his head as he curled his lip.

"My senses never lie. You look like him, you even smell like him. Raziel's blood flows through your veins, I guarantee it. That fucking angel has killed more of my minions than any of those other haloed pricks," he said with a growl. "They portray themselves as these holier-than-thou messengers of Jehovah, but they're worse than any demon I ever came across. At least you know where you stand with a demon. Those winged fuckers are sly and vindictive. And he is the most arrogant of them all."

He got a calculating gleam in his eye suddenly and she swallowed, as whatever he was thinking could not be good.

In a heartbeat, Seren was back in the small chapel. She could hear her own voice speaking to Terzo, answering his questions, but it was Inigo saying the words. She felt paralysed and she tried to back out of the communing using the fail-safes she had put into place earlier, but nothing happened. His hold on her was too strong. She panicked as she fought against him, but all she could do was look on and observe what was happening in the chapel.

The door swung open and Omega and Alpha came in. Inigo swung her eyes over to the new arrivals and she saw the look on Omega's face as he realised he had interrupted. She heard him telling Secondo that something wasn't right, that he could feel her emotions and that she was panicking. She heard her voice addressing Omega.

"You should not interfere, quintessence. She gave herself to me willingly. We are not done. And so good to see you, little Flame," she said to Alpha. "We will have a conversation very, very soon. I'm sure you will like what I will offer to you."

She saw Alpha frown, and Omega growled and bared his fangs at her. Anger flashed in his eyes and she mentally screamed for him to stop; she didn't want him to taunt the demon. Of course, though, he didn't hear her. Omega took a step towards her, shouting her name, trying to bring her back to the forefront of her mind. She wished it could have worked, but it didn't.

Omega went to put his hands on her shoulders and Inigo tilted her head, raised her hands and motioned for him to stop. She felt the power coming from the demon-power that he shouldn't be able to wield through her on this plane of existence-and he froze an arm's length away. A look of confusion and fear crossed his face as he suddenly could not move. He looked her right in the eyes as Inigo moved her hands in a slicing motion, causing Omega's head to snap to the side, his neck breaking with a sickening crunch.

She screamed and railed and fought the demon with everything she had as Omega dropped to the floor, but it did her no good. The light faded from his eyes and she heard Inigo laughing.