Once upon a Midnight | BOOK I

Eight

That was the first time I watched someone die. For the most part, I couldn't care less. Her stupidity had cost her her life, but a part of me still felt sad. Christine didn't deserve to die, especially after what she did to save us from the bone demons. My lips twitched as I took my eyes off the place where Christine was standing just moments ago. The smoke from the previous battle got into my nose and I coughed up black phlegm.

"Easy there," Angela said. "We'll need all the strength we can get to defeat that giant."

I sniffed, silently cursing her for reminding me about the undead giant slowly rising from the ground. The giant's head, two hands and left leg were already out of the ground, sending low earth tremors every few minute as it tried to wriggle itself out of the ground. Believe it or not, raising an undead giant is tough work, even for powerful sorcerers. Some people were having a serious discussion about the creature before us, while some, I noticed, were not here on the mountain. Nicolas had gone to inspect Christine's body to see if by some diabolic miracle, the girl survived. He would definitely have better luck finding an angel. I turned my head around, trying to find Moonlight. He'd slid out of my hand when we got to the mountain and I wouldn't want anything to happen to him. Thankfully, he was lying at one side, oblivious to our impending doom. Christine's familiar was also with him, albeit he had returned to his false face, as a black cat.

A smirk claimed my face as a thought crossed my mind. Christine was clearly dead and her familiar was very much alive. Maybe he could be open to employment. I squinted my eyes at the infernal creature. If I was going to survive this attack, I'll need as much help as possible. Only problem was getting the demon to speak to me. I sat cross-legged on the ground without giving it much thought. The blackstone collars were fashioned to inhibit my magick, but there was a limit to what they could do. It was clear when I was able to summon those spirits. I made a mental note to read up on blackstone later. I pushed my consciousness out of my body and tapped into that of the familiar. It didn't resist, and it let me in. My mind was plunged into an abyssal darkness. I couldn't see anything, but there was definitely a presence around me.

"What's your name?" I asked with as much courage as I could muster. When dealing with a demon, it was best if you knew it's name, it would give some kind of power over it. Even though I would very much like not to deal with a named demon, but I didn't have much say in the matter.
For some reason I was yet to understand, the demon seemed very cooperative and didn't play any hellish game on me. "Div-e Sepid," it's voice sounded in my ear. Call me cliche or whatnot, but the demon's voice wasn't at all what I expected. It was cool and low, like a man talking to the love of his life, and nothing like the way I imagined the voices of demons. His statement however made me frown.

"You're lying," I said. The demon before couldn't be the all powerful Div-e Sepid. Especially since Div-e Sepid was dead.

The demon chuckled. "Why do you think so?"

I gritted my teeth. "I don't have time for your games, demon. I am here to enlist your help."

"Oh, you have more than enough time. Time flows differently here," it said. For a moment, I thought I felt a breath on my ear. "But very well, I won't taunt you, human." The creature somehow managed to say the word "human" like it was an insult. "When I was defeated by the sorcerer Rostam back in the days, I was split into eight parts. I am one of the parts."

"So, you're weak."

Now, it's voice shifted to the more demonic voice I had imagined. "I am not weak," it growled rather loudly. I squinted an eye. The sound was too loud for me.