The Demon Swindler

Hawwani was just an average twenty-something woman; a steady job here, a side job there, and a couple of nightly classes on the weekends. I guess she's not all that average because those weekend night classes she attends are for an academy of magic. To the world of the light, Hawwani is just an ordinary woman, but in secret, she's studying to be one of the most powerful witches the world has ever seen; at least, that's her goal. So far, however, she's been struggling to keep up with her peers, always messing up her spells or backfiring her curses; at one point, she gave herself rat teeth during a practice duel. One day, after a stressful week at her secretary gig and a string of poor tips as a server, Hawwani decided to try something new and go against her code of never summoning demons. Late next Friday night, while everyone prepared for their classes, Hawwani went over to the library and started reading all the books she could on summoning, the one thing she was good at, and checking the books out to work on at her grandparents' farm.

While at her grandparents' farm, with everyone away at the monthly Conference Of The Elders' Council, Hawwani went into her grandmother's summoning chamber, where she learned her first summoning spell and got her first ever pet cat. First she decided she needed a body strong enough to contain magical energies, so she decided to summon Renagra the great, a demon known for his impenetrable hide. Drawing a magic circle on the ground with a pentagram within the crescent moon, she began her ritual. Standing at the base of the summoning circle, she held out her hands and poured her magic energy forth, willing the demon to rise to her aide. The circle slowly started to glow and a red plume of smoke rose from the ground. "Who dares summon me from my slumber?" Called the demon. As the smoke cleared, an armour-clad monstrosity became visible. "Great Renagra," Hawwani began. "I summoned you to grant me your power." Peering down at her, the demon let out a hearty laugh. "You humans are all the same, wanting power for one reason or another. What power do you seek, child?"

"I want to become strong enough that my magic energy cannot harm me, no matter how much I obtain."

"Very well, I shall grant you the power you seek, but you must pay the price of your first born son."

Hawwani paused for a moment before answering the demon. "I accept your terms, Renagra. I shall give you the first son born to me in exchange for the power I seek."

With that, there was a flash and a warm glow surrounding Hawwani as she felt herself grow stronger. The next part of her plan was to increase her magical energy, and for that, she required the help of the fae. The circle from the last spell erased, she drew a new circle lined with clovers and roses, pouring her energy into it as she did with the last to summon the queen of the Faeries. "Who calls for Nephira?" Called the sing-song voice of the Faery queen. "I do." Answered Hawwani, as bravely as she could. "What is it that you seek, my child?" Asked Nephira.

"I seek the power to control the elements as your kinfolk do."

"For what purpose?"

"To restore what this world has lost."

"A noble answer, and the first in a long time to ask of this. Very well, I shall grant you the power you seek, but at the price of your first born daughter to join the Faeries."

"I agree to your terms."

Nephira nodded her head and disappeared in a flash of light with a breeze of cool air surrounding Jennifer as newfound magical power flowed throughout her body.

With the power granted by the strongest demon to ever live, and the magic given by the queen of the faeries, Jennifer returned to her classes the following weekend as a changed witch. Her spells no longer backfired, potions never flopped, and she even managed to beat the strongest witch in her year in a duel.

As the years ticked by, Hawwani's reputation began to grow within the magic community, and she longed for nothing more than children of her own to pass down her knowledge, but the idea of sleeping with someone left her feeling sick to her stomach, so she decided to adopt, stopping by an orphanage for witches on her way home from the classes she began to teach. With her reputation, adoption for her was an easy process, and so she adopted a pair of twins, a boy and a girl.

A decade passed since Hawwani's pact, and Renagra and Nephira's impatience grew. They decided to check in on her on her 35th birthday, and the sight they saw had infuriated them. A flash of light and a cloud of smoke filled Hawwani's new home, her children held captive by demons and faeries alike. "You dare go back on your word, foolish mortal?" Renagra asked. "You dare betray the Faery queen?" Nephira demanded.

"You promised your first born son to the demon and your first born daughter to the Faery, and here you have your own son and daughter with none granted, as per your own agreement."

A sly smile cracked upon Hawwani's face, angering the beings before her. "What's so funny?" They demanded in unison. "These children are not my first born son or daughter." She explained. "In fact, they aren't even my own offspring. They were adopted, someone else's spawn, and I'm raising them as my own. Our contract was never broken."

"How do you figure?" Asked the demon.

"I made the pact when I thought I might want to settle down with someone someday and have children with a partner, but after learning of the process it takes, it left me with a bad taste in my mouth, so I decided to adopt instead. No children were born of me, which means you were never alerted by changes in my magical energy, and so our contract remains valid."

Nephira and Renagra looked at each other, both enraged that a human outsmarted them both, and decided that her actions required a punishment. Turning their backs on Hawwani, the two talked in hushed tones before turning back and speaking in unison.

"For your trickery against the queen of the Faeries and the greatest demon to ever live, we shall spare you your adopted children, but you will be cursed with immortality. You shall live forever, as you are, as the children you care for grow older and die before your very eyes."

With that, there was another flash and the room filled with smoke, and the demon and faery were gone, with her children running to her arms as though waking from a terrible dream.