The ritual was ready. The sacrifices were in place, as were the circles of binding. Already, she could feel the energy trickling through the air, flowing lazily into the circles. Of course it would be slow; the progress of technology, of science had all but stamped out magic. Those few that still understood its power were little more than performers, not daring to tap into the true potential magic held. No more.
"Okay, let's see... transfer to the forbidden language..." she muttered, going through the notes one last time. One mispronounced syllable, and it would spell catastrophe. Not the type of devastation she wanted to inflict upon the world. "Jvtl mvyao, kltvu vm aol mshtlz." she recited, slowly but without falter. The lights in the room darkened, save for the candle flames. "P jhss fvb mvyao. Vilf tf dpss!" she raised her hands, feeling a trickle of power flow through her. It was working. "Jvtl mvyao, aoha p thf klzayvf aol vsk dvysk huk thrl h uld vul!" the sigil she had drawn suddenly yawned open from the centre, intense heat rising out as her sacrifice of fresh meat tumbled into it. A crude sacrifice, maybe, but a cheap one. The ground rumbled slightly as a pounding rhythm came ever closer. "Yes... yes...!" she grinned, a dark chuckle escaping her. "Come to me! Let us cleanse this world of the malice that scourges it! Let us... wait, what?" she blinked, suddenly confused. The sigil had closed, leaving a foot-long lizard where it was. Its scales were orange, blackened claws tapping against the carpet as it licked the air in curiosity. "No, what, this isn't... ugh, no, you're not who I wanted..." she opened the scroll and looked through it again, muttering the spell in English. "Come forth, demon of the flames... I call you forth, obey my will, yadda yadda... come forth, that I may destroy the old wor- yeah, I got it right! This is all I get?!" she gestured to the lizard, frustrated. It hissed slightly and looked up at her, tilting its head slightly. "Ugh!" she grunted, kicking a now-extinguished candle over in frustration. Wax splattered forth, some landing on the lizard. Instead of flinching away, however, it looked at the candle and licked the air again, suddenly dashing over to it and starting to... lick at it. "Ugh, gross..." she sighed, then realised. The wax was still melted, it still had to be hot. The lizard, though, was eating it without a problem. Her grin slowly returned. "You're no ordinary lizard, huh?" she knelt down, petting it gently. She quickly moved her hand away; hot! The lizard was burning hot to the touch! "Gah! Y-yeah, that confirms it, you're definitely a salamander..." she stood up again, going to the bathroom and running the tap, putting the burn under it and sighing quietly. When she turned to leave again, she saw the salamander had followed her. "Hmph. Obedient, at least..." she sighed. "Alright, let's go see what you can do."
YOU ARE READING
10 Minute Tales
General FictionThe result of a New Year's Resolution, I have decided to write for at least 10 minutes a day. This is the result of that effort! Note that I first uploaded to Tumblr, so while I did start this on Jan 1, the earliest this e-book will show is Jan 19.
