The Demons of Rome

XXIV - There's a Mara in my Bubble

Max groaned painfully in his sleep and Gopple wiped his brow with a wet rag. The sun was beginning to set and the long shadows seemed to be reaching for them.

"Can you do nothing else for him, Aelith?" Iatus asked.

"I told you, I'm not a healer, he needs a doctor, a human doctor. I can just about keep him alive, nothing more."

Iatus groaned in despair.

Aelith had reverted to baby owl form and was perched on Max, his feet glowing with a faint green light.

"We're just going to have to summon that mara," Iatus said, determined.

"What? You can't!" Aelith snapped.

"It's the only way out of this mess."

"I told you we could cut off your arm."

"Why are you so opposed to this?"

"Well... you won't be able to handle the mana drain and you'll die."

"Is that affection I hear? The great Aelith getting sentimental?" Iatus smiled.

"Shut up, if you die it will hurt me, a lot."

"Why are you so against this? I summoned you without too much trouble, how hard could a mara be?"

Aelith shrugged his wings, "About three to four times as hard. But this spirit is... evil. Pure, unadulterated evil."

A shiver ran down the bird, puffing up its feathers.

"Well, if it's that or cutting off my arm, I choose that."

Aelith scowled, "Well, I refuse to help you."

"Tough, you're bound to my will, expand the shield so I can draw a summoning circle."

"You don't know a circle powerful enough for a mara."

"Well, you will just have to help me, won't you?"

Aelith scowled, "I don't know how."

"What?" Iatus said, genuinely shocked.

"I don't know anything about summons, why would I? I'm the one being summoned!"

Iatus bit his lip, "Well, the one for shedu will just have to do."

"You do realise that will take much more mana than normally, give up, you can't do it."

"Watch me, birdbrain."

Aelith snorted, "Goodbye, cruel world, it's been a blast."

"Oh stop being so dramatic."

"If you are going to do this, at least make the circle big, fill the whole square if you can."

"Fine, expand the shield."

Aelith scowled one last time and expanded the shield, pushing the air spirits back. Iatus found a loose piece of cobble and pulled it up.

"Sharpen this," he said to Aelith.

The bird took the stone, wrapped its wing around it and crushed it, forming two sharp shards of stone.

"Thank you," Iatus smiled sarcastically and began to scratch out the summoning circle. He didn't know how big to make the runes so he had to repeat them a few times.

"Will it work?" Iatus asked.

"No clue," Aelith stated bluntly.

"I'm sure someone with such magnificence as you, bossman, would never make a mistake, it couldn't possibly fail," Gopple said cheerfully but unhelpfully.