The Demons of Rome

VIII - Elemental

The next day Ava woke him with his breakfast early, just before dawn.

"Good morning Master Iatus, it's your first day of lessons today and you have practical demonology first up, which starts at seven, so you need to get up," she laid the breakfast down on the desk and placed a tunic on the bed.

Iatus yawned and thanked her groggily, she gave a nod of the head and left him to get dressed. He dressed quickly and wolfed down his breakfast. He hadn't been up this early since he'd been here and it was something of a shock. Ava then escorted him to the classroom and wished him luck and smiled, nodded her head and walked away down the hall.

Iatus walked into the classroom, there were three people in the room, a slip of a boy in the far corner, a fat boy near the centre of the room, who was looking gormlessly at the intricate circles, pentagrams and symbols carved into the floor and Max was leaning casually against the side wall.

Iatus went over and greeted him. Max smiled and clasped his arm in greeting.

"So, what do you expect of today?" Max asked, his eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Well, it is practical demon work so I presume it will involve a summons, at least that's what the floor looks like."

"My dad wouldn't let me have anything to do with demons and stuff until last year, he always said I was too young, he let me read about it, just stories and stuff though."

Iatus nodded then looked round to the door as he heard it open. A girl was standing in the entry, gazing harshly at the room, as if weighing up its weaknesses. Her eyes landed on the two boys, although only for a second, then they were off again. She had all of the features to be beautiful but wore them with disdain. Her skin was a tanned brown and she had long dark hair which framed her chiselled features. She moved out of the doorway and stood in a commanding position in the centre of the room. She was swiftly followed by seven more boys. Two of them were obviously identical twins, with light blonde, curly hair and mischievous smiles.

"Why is a girl here?" Iatus asked Max, confused. They don't let girls join the military.

"She's a mage too. Obviously. It is uncommon but not unheard of."

The students gathered together in small groups and began talking amongst themselves, all apart from the one girl in the middle who continued to stare directly at the door. Iatus watched her closely but she never moved.

His staring was broken by the bursting open of the door by Tribune Claudius. Everyone immediately snapped to attention and Iatus imitated them as best he could. The Tribune stormed to the end of the room and took up a position just in front of a giant circle with complex lines and intricate symbols drawn on it.

"Gather round students, today is your first taste of life as a mage, a few of you may never have seen a demon before and most will not even know the basics. I tell you this now, life will not be easy for you if you do not keep up. In these practical lessons you will be pushed to the very limits of your magical powers. Now, first I will introduce you to your main weapon, ally and companion: the demon. Niana, show yourself."

The shadow around Claudius' feet shifted a little, then a black leopard shot out of it, as if pouncing on a prey animal. The class gasped and stepped back a little, all except Iatus and the strange girl. She looked at it with the same calculating expression as she did everything else. Claudius laughed at their shock and the leopard curled itself around his feet, his eyes flickered over Iatus and the girl but Iatus couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"This is Niana, she is a greater jinni and is one of the most powerful things you are likely to face. Today you will all hopefully summon your first demon; you are all capable of summoning a lesser imp for starters. Can anyone tell me what level we class an imp as?"