Devil's Crown

 
 

Devil’s Crown 

Rough Draft 
By Matthew Garrison 
 
 

Table of Contents 

Table of Contents 1
About 2
Invocation 3
Banishing 15
About the Characters 24
STOP READING HERE 25
Ritual 26
Wicked Game 31
Behind Clouds 37

1

About 

A fictional story based on years of historical demonology,
mythological and religious personal research. The themes present use
information from historical documentation and present day practices with
modern fantasy twists. Please enjoy ​Devil’s Crown.

2

Invocation 

“Lame… Lame…. Laaaaame! Why are these apps all just the same
boring gatcha style games?” Zilli shouts as he browses a catalog of apps on
his phone while laying on a pillow on the floor of his room. Then he stops on
something he notices in particular,
“Occult Compendium” Zilli clicks the app and reads the description. The
informational resource of the occult and how to summon demons.”
“DO NOT DOWNLOAD” It read in big bold letters.
“What’s this?” Zilli downloads and installs the app. As soon as it finishes he
opens it and begins skimming through the contents.
“Tarot Cards… Rituals… Tools… Solomon… Demons… Summoning… huh…
Gahhh! I have to learn all this to summon a single demon?
Zilli settles into reading over as much as he can for the night.

The next morning. Zilli arrives at a public library. He looks around
the library, up and down each aisle scanning each shelf unable to find
anything on the occult. He then decides to ask a librarian.
“Excuse me,” he inquires to a male librarian. “Do you know where I can find
any books on the occult?”
“The occult? The librarian was surprised.

3

Not many people are interested in that sort of thing.” He mentioned
curiously. The man spoke properly and maturely, which was fitting since he
was at least a decade older.
“Well I’ll show you where they are.” As the librarian led Zilli down a hall
which was easily missed, almost hidden, down to a room only accessible
from the hall then to the darkest corner of that room with bookshelves filled
with material on historical demonology, paganism, witchcraft, and various
books on the occult. Benches were on all sides of the small room. The only
other person present was a boy sitting in the opposite corner with his nose
in a book.
“Thanks sir.” Zilli said blankly.
“Might I ask, what do you need these books for exactly?”
Zilli hesitated for a moment then said in a half joking way, certain this
librarian won’t take it seriously.
Zilli pulled out his phone and showed off the app to the librarian.
“This is like some app on the occult, I read some of it and thought I might try
it, ya know, can’t hurt anyone can it?”
The librarian quickly glanced at the app, almost uninterested though with a
bit of tension in his movement.
“Interesting, If you have an app like that then why did you come here?”.
“Oh, well the app doesn’t have all the information I need to summon a
demon and talk to it. Heh heh. Sooo I was hoping I could find it here.”
The librarian stared at Zilli stunned. He glanced away for a second then
turned back. “Well, you won’t be able to summon a demon anytime soon you
know.” He said with an instructive tone.
Zilli got caught off guard, he chuckled then asked sarcastically, “What do you
know about the occult?”
With a quick retort, “Well for one, I read all these books.” the librarian says
as he motions his arm around the room.
“You have to start from the basics. It takes years of practice, learning and
honing your abilities in order to even do demonic communication let alone
even conjure one. On top of that it requires certain materials like, chalk,
incense, and a blackened mirror. Furthermore, you have to show the utmost
respect to a demon or else.”

4

Zilli listened carefully to the librarians words though still skeptical,
“I see, so I would have to read all of these books?”
“Yes all of them, and I suppose you can wait until that app of yours has all
the information because I’m not going to help you do anything foolish like
summoning demons.”
Zilli turned towards the exit, “Well thanks. I’ll just see myself out now.”
He held his head down though with determination in his eyes.
“What an annoying librarian.” Zilli thought.
The librarian watched with a slight smile as Zilli left.

Later in the day, Zilli is standing in a park waiting for a friend to
arrive.
“Heeeey Philomena!”, he shouts out to her as she approaches.
“What do you want?” She prods suspiciously glaring at Zilli.
“What do you mean? We always meet up here.”
“Yeah but you're never this excited. So whats up?” She spoke coldly and
carried herself in a reserved and stoic manner.
They begin walking down a trail around the park.
“Well I was so bored yesterday, I guess I couldn’t help it.”
“So what are you planning to do then, now that we're through with high
school? Are you going to get a job or go to college or anything?” Philomena
quizzes.
“Well, I don’t really know. Getting a job doesn’t really sound exciting to me.
Waking up at 9am and working to 5pm everyday for the rest of my life, it
sounds kinda monotonous to me. How about you?”
Philomena’s expression changed to one of deep thought, “Well, I want to do
something for the environment, it’s hard watching and knowing that people
hurt the world more and more everyday, but I don’t know what to do.”
Zilli quips uncompassionately, “If only all the bad people were just gone or
dead huh.”
Philomena, “You don’t have to go that far ya know.” She chided, though
unphased.
“What? Less people, less pollution right?”
“I mean, you're not wrong but how can you say that so easily?”

5

“I don’t know, I just find it hard to care about people I don’t know, ya
know?”
After walking silently for a while through the park the two walk up to a
nearby bench to relax. Zilli takes up most of the bench as he lounges with his
arms over the back.”
“Actually, Philomena, I do have something to ask you...” Zilli now in thought.
Philomena brushes her hair behind her ear on one side and leans forward as
she stares at him through the corner of her eyes waiting for his question.
“What’s that?” she asks.
“Well, I just wanted to know if I could borrow some materials like, chalk,
incense, oh and black paint.
“Oh… why do you need this stuff all of a sudden?” She looked at him with
confusion.
“I just need them, I was reading some stuff on the occult and I kinda want to
try it. I know you must have some since your family is into paganism.”
A moment passes as Philomena catches her breath.
“Oh alright, I guess you can use some of my parents' stuff. I don’t really care.
Just don’t become too much of a “free spirit” like my parents okay?”, she said
a bit mockingly but also distant.
“I like the way you are now.” She softly admitted.
“Thanks Philomena! I owe you one, I’ll see if I can pay you back later. Let's
go, I can’t wait!” Zilli jumped up and grabbed Philomena’s arm to pull her
along running towards Philomena’s house.

Later that night. “Let's go over this again. Burn incense, check. Draw
a triangle on the ground, check. Just like the app shows.” Zilli was constantly
checking the app on his phone in between tasks. All the lights were off
leaving a mostly dark room only lit by a few candles evenly distributed
around the room.
“Oh and I need to paint the mirror black.” Zilli placed the necessary items on
a small table in front of the triangle he’s drawn in chalk on the wooden floor.
He set his phone on the table before picking up the mirror to paint, he
covered the surface of the mirror in black and went over it carefully to make
it even. He then set the mirror back in place in the middle of the table.

6

“Alright everything should be in place.” He then steps into the triangle facing
the mirror.
“To perform a communication ritual I need to do an invocation ritual which
draws in foreign energy. To call upon a specific entity I need to keep its sigil
in mind as I chant.”
Zilli closes his eyes, puts his hands together and begins chanting.
“Oh Sergulath, I invoke thee, make thyself known, so mote it be.”
“Oh Sergulath, I invoke thee, make thyself known, so mote it be.”
Zilli chants a few more times, forcing himself to believe in his words more
each time.
Then he opens his eyes directly looking into the mirror on the table.
He waits a moment.
Then looks closer, being careful not to step outside of the triangle.
He waits another long moment.
“It didn’t work?” Disappointment rising in his voice.
“Maybe it didn’t hear me.” He convinced himself.
Zilli closed his eyes, put his hands together and chanted again.
“Oh Sergulath, I invoke thee, make thyself known, so mote it be.”
“Oh Sergulath, I invoke thee, make thyself known, so mote it be.”
Louder with each repetition. A strong belief founded in each word.
“Oh Sergulath, I invoke thee, make thyself known, so mote it be.”
“Oh Sergulath, I invoke thee, make thyself known, so mote it be.”
He chanted a few times more each one now dying in strength until he
opened his eyes again.
He stared into the deep black of the mirror and waited a moment.
“Sergulath?”
“Anything?”
Zilli’s face contorted with disappointment.
“Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.”

“GAHHHH! WHAT IS THIS!?”
A sudden voice broke through the silence of the room.
“Whaah?!” Zilli fell to the floor startled and confused.

7

He then remembered the triangle and checked his limbs to pull them closer
within the space of the triangle.
Thinking to himself how close that was to possibly being very bad.
“Who— who's there!?” Zilli called out trying to assess the room.
A moment passed. Then it responded.
“Hey kid, what the hell did you do to me?” It said with a harsh, raspy, deep
voice tinged with irritation. Zilli thought whatever it was, it was definitely
going to kill him if it could. “If it could” repeated in his mind, so he figured he
needed to be extra careful right now.
“What do you mean? Where are you… sir?”
“What d'ya mean, “where are you?”, I’m up here, in the mirror you conjured
me into ya nimrod!”
Zilli stood up being seriously cautious.
He looked into the mirror once again but couldn’t see anything no matter
how hard he looked.
“I don’t see you, you’re not in the mirror, sir.” Zilli asserted respectfully.
“No no no, over here!” The voice suggested.
Zilli looked around the room listening carefully for the demonic voice. It
became apparent that the voice had to be coming from the direction of the
table but it wasn’t the mirror.
“Down here!” The voice said, losing its patience.
Zilli looked next to the mirror, noticing his phone beside it, the screen was
off showing a deep black, reflective surface like a black mirror. Suddenly a
frightening entity pressed against the other side of the screen.
“Here I am!” the entity exclaimed, startling Zilli again who then recomposed
himself a second later.
Zill couldn't discern what he was even seeing on the screen due to the
distance and size of the phone but something like a close up of an eye was
moving around and blinking.
“Wow... the demonic communication ritual worked.”
“No shit sherlock!” It responded condescendingly.
“Now get me out of here, it's cramped and…” It sniffed the air audibly.
“Is that lavender incense? Who uses lavender? What the hell even made you
get into summoning?”

8

“Heh, boredom I was also just curious to see if it’d work, sir.”
“Well aren’t you a curious cat.”
“I- didn’t know demons would be so picky.” Zilli said with confusion.
“You got quite the nerve kid, I’m a demon of war! A great tactician of the
infernal nation. I can make strategies that'll beat your opponents with no
sweat. Even my strategies have strategies! That means I’m one of the
smartest demons there are, a scholar even, and smart beings are always
picky.” The demon boasted with pride.
“Excuse my rudeness sir. You must be Sergulath then, sir?”
“The one and only. And what's the name of the being who summoned me?”
“I’m Zilli, I’m the one that summoned you, sir.”
“Well pleasure to meet you Zilli, the one I will be devouring when I figure
out how to get out of here.” Sergulath assured him as he began struggling
against his confinement..
“Y-You can’t do that, I’m in the triangle, that means you can’t enter this
space.” Zilli opposed with confidence.
“I hate to tell you this kid, well not really, but that triangle ain't even
charged with any energy to keep me out! If it weren’t for this contraption
that I can’t seem to get out of, I definitely would’ve eaten you by now, limb
— by — limb.” Informed Sergulath menacingly.
Zilli stood stunned for a moment then thought to himself.
“I summoned you for a reason though, so I would gladly help you get out of
there if you can do something for me, sir!” Hoping this would work to his
advantage.
He sighed…. “Alright then, I see how it is. Tell me what you want so I can get
the hell out or back to hell already.”
“Uhh, well I want…
I want you to be my friend! Sir.”
Sergulath now stunned, his face contorted. A short moment passed then
Segulath broke out into a belting laugh.
“Gaaahhh hahh hahh hahh hahh!”
“You want to befriend a demon? You really are as dumb as you look.”
“What, it can’t be any different from being friends with ya know, humans,
right?” Zilli’s reasoned.

9

“You do realize I would just ​eat a​ ll your human friends don’tcha?”
Zilli considered the majority of people he calls “friends” then responded, “I
don’t really have any issues with that.”
Then another thought struck him.
“Well, except one person.”
“Hah! you must be some kind of sociopath or somethin, you're almost as bad
as a demon yourself!”
Zilli winced at the accusation, but ultimately let it slide.
“Alright so let's say I accept being your friend, what do ya even get out of it?
You wanna have a slumber party?! HAHH!”
“Same thing you get from any friend. They have to be useful to you
somehow. Even if it's just to talk or stroll through the park.”
“Are you telling me you summoned me just so you could have someone to
talk to?”
“Yeah, I did mention I was bored right?... Sir.”
“Hmmm…” Sergulath inspected Zilli as best he could from the limitations of
the phone.
“Okay, okay, it’s a deal… “ Sergulath said with a seemingly intentional fake
tone in his voice.
“So are ya going to let me out now?”
“Uhh, right. I'll let you out now.” Zilli was trying to think of what to do to
accomplish this task, as he didn’t have his phone to access the information
since it was currently being possessed.
“Uhh, quick question, do you know how I would do that? Heh heh.” Zilli put
on an act of modest embarrassment.
“What the crap?! You perform an evocation ritual. Go on already!”
“Uhh right...” Zilli began motioning his hands in the air, not remembering
what he’s supposed to do.
“C’mon, like a star! Oh you gotta be ​kidding ​me.”
Zilli made a few more attempts with no luck.
“Wow! You suck at this kid. How long have you been practicing your craft?”
“...One day, sir”
“What?! Only one day?! Yet you managed to conjure a demon? Well ain’t that
some shit...” Sergulath sounded somewhat impressed.

10

“You’re interesting for a human. In fact I haven’t met someone like you
since… Hmm nevermind.” Sergulath’s words trailed off.
“Since you're trapped in my phone and this triangle doesn’t work anyway, I
guess I can just pick you up and take you with me. I’ll see if I can have a
friend get you out.” Zilli reasoned.
“How do ya know I haven’t been lying to you to get you to step out of that
triangle?” Sergulath grinned menacingly.
“Good point, but then we both will be sitting here until I die of hunger.”
“I got nothin better to do with my time. Watching you rot would be pretty
entertaining even.” Sergulath got farther from the screen as if reclining.
“Hmmm, nahh I’d rather trust that you can’t get out.” Zilli smiled as he
stepped out of the triangle and picked up the phone.
Sergulath’s grin became a disgusted frown as he was raised from the table.
“Lets get you out of there, f​ riend​.” Zilli said quite pleased.

Knock knock knock, Z​ illi banged at the door.
After some time the door peaked open as Philomena looked out with a half
asleep glare.
“Zilli?” Her surprise made her slightly more alert. Then she let the door
swing open all the way.
“What do you want Zilli? It's past midnight.” She said while fighting a yawn.
“I need your help Philomena.”
Philomena just glared at Zilli for a moment before sighing then stepping
back to invite Zilli inside.

1st Person POV Test
“You did WHAT!?”
Philomena was clearly not happy with my actions.
“It's no big deal, the demon’s trapped in my phone and all we gotta do is
send him back.” I tried to convince her.
“Do you have any idea how much danger you put yourself in? You could
have ​died!”​
“Yea but we’re friends now.”
“Friends! FRIENDS!?”

11

Philomena took a moment to compose herself. Then she turned towards the
phone.
“Pardon me your demonic excellency while I chew out Zilli for a bit.”
“Hey it's either you or me, to be honest seeing you tear zil-for-brains a new
one is the most entertainment I’ve had all millenia.”

“Pssst, Ey Zill, between you and me, she’s a keeper this one.” Sergulath
whispered to me as I smiled at Sergulath still tense from Philomena's
scolding.
“Okay I get it, I get it. That doesn’t change the fact that I have a demon
trapped in my phone that wants to go home.”
“Correction, I want out so I can eat you.”
“What?!”
“He’s kidding, he’s kidding!” I tried to calm down Philomena before turning
toward Sergulath.
“You’re kidding!”
“No I’m not...” Sergulath mumbled frankly.
“Sergulath mentioned that I had to use an evocation ritual but I don’t know
how to do that and my phone is kind of preoccupied at the moment. So I just
need to know how to do that then we're done.”
“An evocation ritual is the opposite of an invocation ritual. An invocation
draws in energy so an evocation banishes it away.”
Philomena explained.
“Well I managed to do an invocation ritual so an evocation can’t be hard
right?”
“It’s true that an evocation is easier than an invocation but whats idiotic is
the fact that you performed an invocation without first learning how to then
make whatever you summon go away.” Sergulath pointed out maliciously.
Philomena thought for a moment. “Ok, I’ll try to do one. My parents' books
mention how to do an evocation ritual. It should be simple but I’ve never
done it before on the account that I didn’t know any of this was real before
tonight!”

12

Philomena had a moment to herself to prepare for a while. It was way past
midnight by this point but she was determined to do this right.
First she sat down and appeared to be meditating.
“What cha’ doing Philomena?”
“I’m doing a cleansing ritual. It will remove any negative energy so as to
make the next rituals safer. Please do NOT distract me.”
For someone that didn’t believe in this stuff before, she sure is awesome at
it, I thought to myself.
She then stood up and went around to each wall in a specific order drawing
a star in the air with her hand then praying.
“Is this still part of the cleansing ritual?”
“No this is an evocation ritual.” She replied quickly.
Zilli looked at Sergulath still sitting in the screen of his phone. “Shouldn’t
you be doing that on my phone?”
“Patience, I’m protecting this room from other energies for now and in the
future.”
“Ah I see, that’s so thoughtful.” I watched in amazement.
“Actually this is standard, you typically should have all this prepared before
any ritual. To not do so would be dangerous.”
“You can think of this as the long and correct version of that triangle you
tried to make.” Informed Sergulath.
After she finished the last wall she walked up to the phone, stood before it,
she drew a star over the phone then chanted.
“I bar all energies from entering and banish all energies
herein, so mote it be!”
“Ahhhh, uuhhhh, GAHHHH!” Sergulath began screaming
from the phone.
“I bar all energies from entering and banish all energies
herein, so mote it be!” She chanted louder, half drowning
out the screams.
“I bar all energies from entering and banish all energies herein, so mote it
be!”
The phone went silent.
Philomena and I stared into the phone screen.

13

“Sergulath....”
“Sergy?....” I prodded for a response.
“I guess he’s gone.” I picked up the phone.
“BOO!” Sergulath shouted, causing me to fumble the phone and try to catch
it, it flipped a few times in my hands before I got a firm hold of it.
“Damn it Sergulath, you do that on purpose don’t you?!”
“Hey, I’m a demon, I have to entertain myself somehow.” He said with
gleeful pride.”
“My evocation didn’t work.” Philpomena was clenching her fists.
“It's ok, we’ll deal with it somehow. Personally I don’t mind having to live
with a demon.”
“Yeah don’t beat yourself up, the ritual was pro, there’s just stronger
bindings at play than someone without any practice can break.” Sergulath
said slightly consoling.
“Shocked to hear a demon say something nice.” I said giving Sergulath a
look.
“Hey, at this point she’s done way more to try to get me out here than you so
shut it!”
“Maybe I can break it if I study, and...” Philomena said with wavering
determination.
“Don’t worry about it for now, just get some sleep. I’ll go back home then. Oh
and thanks Philomena, I owe two now!”

14

 

Banishing 

The next morning, Zilli is waiting at the park.
“Hey Philomena, how’s it going?”
“Well, I didn’t get much sleep since ​someone ​decided to come over in the
middle of the night practically carrying a ​bomb w​ ith him.”
“At least everything is ok now.” Zilli ignored the danger.
“Sure, don’t ever do anything reckless like that again or I’ll deck you right in
the face. Got it?”
“Loud and clear Pholomena.” He said nervously.
“You got a lot of fire in you, I like that.” Sergulath cut in.
“No offense to Sergulath but why don’t you just break the phone, what
happens then?”
“Are you k​ idding​? Do you know how expensive this phone was? My mom
would kill me and I’ll never have another phone again!” Zilli sounded as if he
was making excuses.
Zilli and Phenomena continued on their silent walk for a while.
“Dya guys always have such boringly quiet walks?” Sergulath pointed out.
“I don’t think it's boring why?” Zilli smiled.
Philomena glanced at Zilli for a second then looked away.
“If I knew you guys were going to be no fun then I would rather stay in the
Inferno!” Sergulath said, losing his patience.
“Oh sorry, would you prefer if I left you at home to watch TV then?”

15

“Sergulath watches TV?”
“Yeah he was up all night, kept asking me to change the channel for him.”
“That's kinda cute.” Pholomena said, staring at Zillis phone.
“It's nothing, look dya know how much TV there is in the Inferno? None! We
gotta make our own entertainment which usually involves fighting, waging
war, or just have our personal legions battle it out gladitorily.”
“That sounds pretty fun.”
“Yea but imagine doing it for several millennia.”
“Right, that would get repetitive.”
“Oh well, then I’m going to the library to figure out a way to get Sergulath
out. See you later Philomena!” Zilli said as he headed off.

Zilli left and walked to the public library. As he enters, he sneaks his
way over to the hall that leads into the occult section. Looking around weary
to avoid the useless librarian. He walks down the hall then enters the little
room. Then Zilli begins looking through the occult books on the shelf.
He skimmed through a few books yet didn’t find any new information yet,
rather the same information that was already in the app, the exact same
information as the app even. Yet Zilli continued browsing as there must be
information here that isn’t in the app.
“Ahem.” A familiar sounding voice clearing their throat behind Zilli.
He turned around and almost shrieked in surprise but managed to hold it in.
Staring at him was the same useless librarian from before.
“You're back I see.” Said the librarian.
“Well, the app is still missing information I need.” Zilli reasoned.
“You're still trying to summon a demon? I thought I told you that was
dangerous.”
“Well, you see...”

“You did what!?”
“Your phone has a demon in it!?“
“Calm down everything is fine.”
“You have a demon… in your PHONE. What part about this is fine?”
“Probably the fact that I can’t eat him yet.” Sergulath interjected.

16

“And it talks?!”
“I mean, I apologize for my behavior, your demonic excellency.” The
librarian respectfully addressed Sergulath.
“See, Sergulath is a friend now, he’s here to help me.”
“Unfortunately that is the deal we made.” Sergulath remarked.
“Well now. I haven’t seen that before.” The librarian was subtly amazed.
The librarian sighed. “To be fair it is impressive that you even succeeded in
a demonic communication ritual after only reading an app. Though also
extremely lucky that you survived!”
“I know I've had my share of scolding. So will you help us?” Zilli inquired
hopefully.
“No.” The librarian said without hesitation.
Zilli was shocked for a moment at the quickness of the librarian's
unwillingness to help but also figured he would say as much since he
refused to help before.
“Look, I just want to read through the books, that's something I don’t need
you for. So I’ll find the answers myself then.” Informed ZIlli.
“This is something I want to do though with or without you.”
“Alright, alright, you're free to look through the books. My shift is over
anyway so I’m going home now.”
“Bye” Zilli said harshly.
“Cya.” The librarian teased as he walked off.
“Pretty ballsy of you to disrespect him like that. Not that I care, I’d sooner
eat both of you if I could.” Said Sergulath.
“Yea well that librarian gets on my nerves. Not many people can really do
that to me.”
Zilli continued searching through the books, though a little distracted.
Time passed into the late hours and the library got quieter as more people
left for the night. A familiar person walks into the room surprised to see Zilli
reading the occult books.
“Hey, you’re the one that was kicked out the other day.” He said.
“You got me there.” Zilil said sarcastically as he glanced at who it was. It was
the boy that was reading in this room during his first confrontation with the
annoying librarian. He looked about a year younger than Zilli.

17

“What’re you planning to do? Summon a demon so you can get possessed or
killed?”
The boy teased.
“For your information I have already had contact with a demon. It’s getting
him to return home, that's the hard part.” Zilli informed.
“What, no way!” The boy was in disbelief.
“Well it’s true but think whatever you want.” Zilli tried to brush off the boy
and get back to reading.
The boy appeared to be a little ticked off as the tension was visible across
his body and in the scowl on his face yet he contained it.
“Whatever. I’m just here to study so I can become a ​real ​summoner not like
someone that's full of themselves.” The boy grabbed a book from a shelf
then sat down on a bench across from ZIlli.
Several long minutes passed until a man walked into the room looking
around nervously. He noticed The two boys in the room then turned and
walked back out.
“Friend of yours?” Zilli asked.
“No one I’ve ever seen before.” The boy responded.
“Seems this room is pretty popular then.” Zilli reasoned.
“It normally isn’t. I’ve been coming here for a year and I’ve never seen
anyone come in here besides the librarians, and well, now you.”
The boy informed Zilli, an air of suspicion rising between them.
“Should we go check it out?” Asked the boy.
“I don’t care, I’m trying to find something right now.”
The boy stared at Zilli thinking for a moment.
“How about this, I’ll try to help you find whatever it is if you help me look for
this guy, it's a big library you know.” The boy negotiated with Zilli.
Zilli looked up from his book with a large smile on his face.
“You got yourself a deal.”
The two of them laid their books on the bench and left the room.
As they exited the hall Zilli said, “Hey boy, you check the bottom floor, I’ll
check this floor then we’ll meet back up here.”
“Um, ok, but call me Lonnel.”
“Alright, Lonnel it is. I’m Zilli.”

18

They searched their respective floors thoroughly but returned to the hall
empty handed.
“No luck it seems.” Lonnel said.
“Are there any places we could’ve overlooked?” Asked Zilli.
“There’s a small floor above us but it’s not open to the public.”
“Let’s check it out, lead the way.” Commanded Zilli.
“Who made you the leader?” Lonnel snapped at Zilli.
“No one did. I’m not the leader I’m just saying. You know this place better
than me.” Zilli reasoned.
His response put Lonnel at ease. “Ok then it's this way.”
Halfway across the room to the upper floor they noticed the suspicious man
descending the stairway to the first floor in a hurry.
“There he is.”
“Lets go.”
They followed him and watched as he proceeded out the front entrance of
the library. Zilli and Lonnel gave chase but as they looked outside they
couldn’t tell where the man had gone so they headed back inside at a loss.
“I guess that's that then.” Lonnel stated.

“You’re still going to help me though.” Zilli mentioned.
“What? But we didn’t even catch the guy.”
“I helped you, that's all you asked. A deals a deal.” Zilli casually persuaded.
Then they heard screaming coming from the floor above and glanced at each
other then hurried upstairs.
As they got upstairs they saw things flying around, being tossed every
direction. People were whimpering and hiding in utter fear.
A dark shadow darted across the room at speeds which if you blinked you
could miss it entirely.
“What is that?” Zilli asked out loud. Lonnel shook his head.
“That, that’s a polter poltergeist.” Sergulath answered.
“Where’d that voice come from?” Lonnel asked, now looking towards Zilli.
“Oh, that's the demon in my phone.” Zilli pulled out his phone and pointed
the screen towards Lonnel.

19

“Sergulath, meet Lonnel. Lonnel, meet Sergulath the great demon of war and
strategy.”
“Heh heh, I didn’t specify ‘great’ or anything, but you sure know how to
introduce a demon lord.” Sergulath was flattered by Zilli’s introduction.
Lonnel just stared at the talking phone screen in amazement.
‘You- you really did summon a demon. Er- P- pleasure to meet you lord
Sergulath.“
“Hod did that poltergeist get here anyway?” Zilli asked.
“Do you think that guy brought this poltergeist here?” Lonnel suggested.
“Probably. How do we deal with a poltergeist Sergulath?”
“Well poltergeists are just condensed negativity born from people's fears
and malice. If they consume enough of it they can become a minor demon
themselves.” Sergulath informed.
“Ah I see.” Zilli had a realization and he grinned with a plan in mind.
“What? What does that mean?” Lonnel asked.
“C’mon you should know, we can banish it.”
“Banishing? So like an evocation ritual?”
“Right, I’ve seen it done once so I think I can do it but I’m going to need your
help.” Zilli looked at Lonnel seriously.
“B-but I never performed any ritual before.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you what to do. This will work, I promise” Zilli assured
him.
“Alright, if you say so..”

Minutes later. Zilli approaches the dark entity.
“Hey poltergeist! You don’t have a library card so get lost!”
Several books rose up from the bookshelves then flung at him. Zilli tried his
best to cover himself from the books with his arms mostly successful though
a few stray ones managed to hit him from behind.
“Oww, that's not a very nice poltergeist. Don’t you have any manners in the
library?” He said while rubbing the back of his head.
Then the shelves themselves started to shake as they tilted towards Zilli.
“Oh crap.” He ran forward through the collapsing bookshelves.

20

SLAM SLAM SLAM The bookshelves fell with a heavy boom barely missing
Zilli as he escaped through.
“Alright, that was close. Now it’s my turn.”
He began performing an evocation ritual. Chanting the phrase like he
remembered,
“I bar all energies from entering and banish all energies herein, so mote it
be!”
He then began drawing a star in the air with his right hand. The entity threw
more books at Zilli but he withstood the beating to continue the ritual. The
entity moved around rapidly then escaped to the upstairs room that's
blocked from the public.
Zilli finished the ritual then followed after the poltergeist. There was a rope
tied between the railings to the upstairs room and a sign which said,
“Staff only”. Zilli hopped over the ropes and ran upstairs.
As he reached the top of the stairs, books, papers, lamps and various things
were swirling around the room as the lights flickered chaotically.
Screeches and moans echoed from a dark corner of the room.
Zilli walked towards the dark corner.
“GET OOOOOUT!” The shadowy figure growled in a deep inhuman voice.
“No way. Die monster! you don’t belong in this world!” Zilli shouted with a
smirk on his face. Then he began performing another evocation ritual.
THe poltergeist tossed everything it could at Zilli causing Zilli to stop and
evade or block the incoming projectiles as best he could. Then he would try
to continue the ritual again.
The poltergeist shrieked then tried to pass through the walls but instead
slammed into them. Then it made its way for the exit to go back down stairs.
As it reached the exit it slammed into the air like there was an invisible wall.
“What's the matter? Can’t escape anymore?”
“Lonnel and I have been setting up evocations all over the library in
advance. They block all energies from passing through which means you
can’t get out.” “Now holds still while I use it to banish you.”
“I bar all energies from entering and banish all energies herein, so mote it
be!”

21

The poltergeist howled and screamed like a banshee as it evaporated into
nothingness.

Zilli and Lonnel met up at the hall.
“Great job with those evocations Lonnel!”
“That was a good plan Zilli.”
“It was Sergulath who gave me the idea. Thanks demon lord buddy.”
“I’ll accept the demon lord part, but I’m not your buddy! Humans are just
food to me.” Retorted Sergulath.
Zilli laughed while Lonnel was a bit uneasy hearing that but giggled anyway.
Then Zilli noticed the annoying librarian walking up to them.
“What happened here?”
“Oh I thought you went home.”
“So you thought it would be okay to trash the place?”
“No, we saw a man and then there was this poltergeist which we banished
and now you're here. Fantastic timing I might add.”
Lonnel nodded, “It's true.”
The librarian looked at each of them. “Well, good job then.”
“Why did you come back anyway?” Zilli sceptically asked.
“Hmm. I guess there’s no point in covering it up. I could sense that
something was wrong. Or rather, my demons told me.”
“So you have seen summoned demons before!” Zilli said with surprise.
“Of course I have. Who do you think even created the app you use?”
“What!? You made this app?”
“I told you I read all the occult books didn’t I? The app is going to have all
the same information transcribed, though I’m still working on it and I left
parts out to prevent certain i​ diots f​ rom doing anything ​stupid w​ ith it.”
“Again, I’ve heard that already several times now.”
“Okay. I’ll teach you how to do it then. But I’m teaching you the right way.
You can’t always get lucky you know.“
“Great! I wouldn't have it any other way.” Zilli smiled with excitement.
“But you have to teach Lonnel here too.” He negotiated.
“I was already planning to teach Lonnel since he proved his studiousness.”
Zilli and the librarian smiled at Lonnel.

22

“By the way, my name is Achida, and you were Zilli right?”
“Right. Nice to meet you then Achida.”
Achida shook the boys hands in agreement.
“I’ll be teaching you how to practice magecract now and soon demon
summoning.”
“But it’s late right now so first let's clean up the library for tonight. That
poltergeist really messed this place up. Then we can start tomorrow.”
Lonnel and Zilli both agreed and they closed the library then spent the night
picking up the bookshelves and fixing up the books as much as they could
before heading home to rest.

23

About the Characters 

A recent highschool graduate in gap year.
Likes: Mobile games and quiet walks.
Dislikes: Being bored.
Favorite food: Burgers with blue cheese.

Best friend of Zilli, also gap year.
Likes: Environmental science and nature.
Dislikes: Being bothered.
Favorite food: Ramen and hot tea.

Demon of war and strategy
Likes: Good entertainment.
Dislikes: Stupidity and disrespectfulness.
Favorite food: Roasted virgins.

Considered to be a very annoying librarian.
Likes: Reading and being annoying.
Dislikes: Nosey people.
Favorite food: Seafood.

A boy who spent a year reading about magecraft.
Likes: Reading.
Dislikes: His older brother among things.
Favorite food: Tacos.

24

STOP READING HERE 

Story after this point is still WIP

25

 

Summoning 

1. Setup
a. Zilli is going to the library to practice
b. Mana blade
c. Meet a friend of Philomena that feeds animals

2. Conflict
a. Summoning first demon

3. Resolution
a. Tell about Devil’s Crown
b. Anyone with a contract is automatically viable to battle
c. Strongest summoner with strongest demon wins
d. Beating demons yields points to that demon to rank up in the
Inferno
e. Defeating stronger demons yield more points than weaker
ones
f. Summoner with the highest ranking wins
g. Devil’s Crown grants one wish
h. Why? Because deons are bored in the Inferno so getting
humans to battle each other adds some excitement

4. System
a. Invocation
b. Mana blade

26

c. Energy (no duality)
d. Practice
e. Summoning

Park???

Zilli left the park to a small market to pick up some snacks and a meal
then started back home. As his path took him around the library he noticed
two guys dressed in decorated black robes walk into an alley. Noticing one
of the guys was carrying a book which had a demon sigil on it.
Zilli waited for a few minutes then decided to follow them quietly. He came
up to a corner and peaked around it. Zilli saw the backs of the two men
standing near each other facing the open space of the alley, both appearing
to be chanting as if they were in a ritual.
“What ritual are they doing?”
“Look at their feet, you can see they’re standing in a triangle. Those are only
used for demon summoning. So yeah you better draw one too unless you
want to get eaten. Not that I care though.” Sergulath informed nonchalantly.
“Crap crap crap.” Zilli said as he pulled out the chalk he was still carrying
and rushedly drew a triangle on the ground.
“Last time you said my triangle didn’t work. How do I make it work?”
“Remember the evocation ritual Philomena performed?”
“Yeah of course.”
“The triangle is the same thing, you do an evocation ritual on the triangle so
that it acts like energy blocking walls around you.”
“That makes sense. I’ll give it a try.”
The area around went black, the walls faded away and it was like they had
been transported into a lightless abyss.
“You better hurry!” Sergulath shouted.
Zilli drew a pentagram in the air in front of him with his hand then chanted.
“I bar all energies from entering so mote it be.”

27

Just then the ground shook slightly and it was as if something big was
coming. Just beyond the curtain of darkness behind the two summoners. A
deep low snarl could be heard as giant monstrous forms emerged and
lurked forward. They were hulking beasts. One was covered in muscle,
standing on two large elephant legs and had 3 serpent-like heads but the
noses appeared like human skulls. The heads twisted around the body so
much it was hard to tell where they started.
The other, like a humanoid fiend but large with small wings, and several
horns crowned it's head. It wore a metal brazier and carried a demonic
drum under it's left arm.
The summoner carrying the book shouted,, “You got this Titivillus!” Sending
the demon with the drum charging towards the other demon.
Then the other summoner who was wearing a hood said, “You know what to
do Dahaka.” As the serpent-headed one took to running as well.
The two demons rushed at each other colliding like rhinos then began
grappling with each other. Dahaka, the serpent-headed one, held onto the
other while strafing as Titivillus was struggling to get an arm free to hit his
drum. The two demons rotated until Titivillus was positioned closest to the
two summoners. One of Dahaka’s 3 heads let go of Titivillus and layed on the
ground. Dahaka pushed off the ground giving him the force to push Titivillus
away. He stumbled backwards past the summoners closer to Zilli. Then The
hooded summoner reached out of the triangle and shoved the other
summoner out of his triangle onto the ground. Titivillus saw his summoner
lying on the ground vulnerable outside the triangle then lunged forward to
quickly snatch up the summoner in his mouth and devour him whole. The
two demons laughed as did the summoner of Dahaka. Zilli was amazed at
what he saw. Sergulath had a few snickers as well.
“That was a dirty move he did, cleaver, but dirty.” Sergulath noted.
The battle between the two summoners was over as both demons walked
back into the void as it vanished and we were suddenly returned to the
alley. Realizing this, Zilli ran off as fast as he could before he could be
spotted by the hooded summoner.
The hooded summoner turned to walk out of the alley then stopped and
noticed the chalk drawn triangle on the ground.

28

Back at Zilli’s home, “What ​was​ THAT!?”
“That? That was a demon battle. Didn’t know they were bringing that back.”
“That was so cool! I have never seen demons before and they summoned
them so easily too!”
“They must’ve been experienced mages, at least when compared to you.”
“That's exactly what I want to do, I want to summon demons!”
“Then you’ll have to practice like everyone else. You only got lucky you were
able to perform a communication with me remember.”
“Right, right. I don’t want Philomena to scold me again.” Zilli said
embarrassed, holding his cheek remembering those painful hits.
“I know what I gotta do!”

???

“You’ve read through most of these sections on demons in the App right?”
“The ones called Greater Key of Solomon and Lesser Key of Solomon? Yeah.”
“Notice anything in common?”
“They’re written by someone named Solomon?”
“Exactly! Referring to King Solomon, the last king of Israel. He’s very
important because he practiced and documented most of what is the
foundation of modern demon summoning.”
“That's cool. Who was his demon?”
“That's the thing, it's said that he had command of 300 demons. All who
revered him so much that they worked tirelessly for him until three days
after his death.”
“Why three days?”
“They kept working because they believed he was still alive. One day he
stepped out onto his balcony to watch over his demons, which he did daily
but he usually only did this for an hour. However, on this day he died
leaning against his cane and stood there for three entire days. During which
the demons actually worked harder fearing he was angry. ”

29

“Apparently the only reason they stopped is because, on the third day,
termites chewed through his cane and he fell over. This was when everyone
figured out he had been dead the entire time.”
“Wow… That's kinda epic.”
“Yeah, no one has ever been able to accomplish the same command over
demons like him, though, some have tried.”
???
???
“So you sorta know about triangles right?”
“Well the app mentioned them but evidently not enough as when I tried it, it
did nothing according to Sergulath.”
“Well that's because you need to perform an evocation ritual on the
triangle.”
“Oh right I kinda figured that out already.”
“Interesting, how so?”
“Uhh Sergulath told me but I still don’t really get it. Like why do we use a
triangle to begin with?”
“Well you can actually use any shape, in fact modern practitioners just
create a circle for non-demon summoning related rituals because it's simple
and effective enough. The only reason we use triangles for demon
summoning is similar to the reason angles are strongest in construction.
They’re a stronger shape even in magic and when dealing with demons you
typically want all the protection you can get.”
???
???
Something about the room seemed darker now despite the candlelight.
Almost as if the walls were disappearing into a void.

Achida fight

???
Summoner Battles
???

30

I saw two guys summon demons then fight each other. Though one pushed
the other out of their triangle.
“What a despicable person.”

 
Wicked Game 

???
31

The thief and I confronted each other.
“I’m Zilli, and you are?” Zilli questioned the thief.
“What do you think I am stupid? I’m a thief, I’m not just going to tell you my
name.”
“That's fair.” Zilli admitted and shrugged.
We both created our triangles then he proceeded to summon his demon.
“Radna, I Invoke thee, take form in this plane, so mote it be.”
His demon emerged from the abyss. A large bizarre monstrosity standing on
two legs with no visible arms to speak of. Instead a coat of flesh and muscle
wrapped around it's torso. It's skin was like the brown leathery appearance
of a horse and it's feet only had two human toes. It had a long opossum-like
tail and hideous face like a rat and a human combined with a long tongue
dangling out of its mouth. Some kind of cloth hat covering the horns on its
head. It carried a long metal sword like a rapier but with no handguard and
the handle curved like a hook, which made me think it must have hands
somewhere to hold that sword.
“Sergulath, any plans?”
“Let me think. Yeah, summon the demon Minoson. Here’s the sigil.”
Sergulath Showed a sigil for Minoson on the phone screen.
Zilli was amazed by how quickly Sergulath came up with something.
“Minoson, what does he do?”
“Ehhh, he's a bit of a strategist like me but different.”
“What's taking so long? Summon your demon already!” The thief taunted.
“Ok I’ll give it a try - Oh Minoson, I invoke thee, take form in this plane, so
mote it be!”
A moment passed as a small demon floated out from the Abyss. It was a
small woman wearing a purple tuxedo vest and tophat. Black horns curled
from the side of its head around the brim of the hat and black wings covered
in fishnet flapped behind her.
“Who dare summon me to fight without warning?” Minoson demanded.
“I apologize, I need you to battle for me.” Zilli said respectfully.
“Ohhh, a cutie, I’ll be sure to devour you up later.” She threatened.
“I told him to summon you.” Sergulath shouted from the phone.

32

“Sergy? Is that you boss? What a miserable state you’re in and you ​know​ I’m
not the fighting type.”
“She can't fight?” Zilli said nervously.
“Just do it already!” Sergulath demanded.
Then Radna ran at Minoson trying to bite her as she flew out of the way.
“Uhg, fine! Why do I have to fight such ugly demons.”
She waved her hand creating 3 large dice in the air. The dice fell and rolled
around the ground until they stopped. Their values were 1, 1, 1.
“What does 1, 1, 1 mean? Zilli asked Sergulath.
“Don’t know, just watch.”
The ground lit up as it cracked forming shapes and drawings etched in the
surface.
There were several rectangles next to each other forming a large square
ring.
It took a moment to realize what I was looking at until it clicked. I was
looking at a giant Monopoly board.
“That’s an amazing power and all but are we going to play Monopoly? I hate
that game.” Zilli was now unsure of the situation.
“Wooo hooo! I love Monopoly!” The thief shouted excitedly.
“Of course he would.” Zilli said with confidence fading further.
Both demons were in the large “Go” space. Radna turned to attack Minoson
again but she evaded and flew 8 spaces along the board until she stopped on
a space that read “Vermont Avenue, $100”
“Will you buy this property?” Minoson asked Zilli.
“I guess I’ll buy it. That’s kinda how you win at Monopoly after all.”
“Smart boy,” She replied with a wink.
The space under her changed gaining an engraving that said Zilli on it. Then
Zilli’s phone had a notification, thinking it was weird he decided to check it.
It had a text notification from his bank that read, “$100 purchase made to
your account.”
“What?! This is using my actual money!”
“Hoo hoo! What a sneaky demon she is.” Sergulath was quite pleased.
“You're one to talk, it's not affecting your bank! I only had 861 dollars, I was
saving up...” Zilli took a breath.

33

“Well I don’t have much money to begin with but I’ll try to win anyway.”
Zilli, trying to keep some shred of confidence.
Radna tried to move down the spaces towards Minoson but was stopped by
some invisible barrier.
“Ah ah ah~ You must wait your turn.” Minoson waved her finger at the
Thief.
“You already moved so isn’t it my turn?” The thief demanded an answer.
Minoson pointed at the dice which there were now only two of and read 4,
4.
“She rolled doubles which means we get to take another turn.” Zilli realized.
“What! That’s cheating!” The thief shouted angrily.
“That's just the rules of the game, now I’ll move again.”
Minoson made the dice roll getting two 5’s. She then moved 10 spaces until
landing on a space that read, “Tennessee Avenue, $200”
Then my phone got another notification. “$200 charged to your account.”
“We got another double so I’ll go again. Roll dice!” Zilli said.
The dice raised up then dropped and tumbled along the ground stopping on
4 and 5, not a double this time. Minoson moved to the space that read
“Ventnor Avenue, $260”“$260 charged to your account.” The latest
notification read.
Zilli thought to himself, I’m down $560, almost out of money but I can’t stop
now.
“Ok finally, I’ll take my turn. I’m going to take every property and win!” The
thief said with confidence.
“Radna, use your ability to take his properties!”
The three zones Zilli had previously purchased suddenly changed to have a
different engraving on them.
“Radna is a demon of greed and envy, so his ability is to take anything.
Hahaha, this is going to be so easy.”
“That’s a pretty cool ability your demon has ​Isidore.​ ”
“H- how do you know my name?
“The engraving, it says ‘Isidore’. Although you wouldn’t tell me, it seems you
can’t avoid the clairvoyance of demons.”

34

“Dammit, whatever, I'll just kill you if you squeal to anyone. Roll the dice!”
As Isidore shouted, the dice began rolling then landed on the values, 1, 1.
“What only 2 spaces? Radna went to the second space on the board which
was a community chest space. A card appeared in front of Thief which he
grabbed and read. A snicker crossed his face.
“Since I got doubles I’ll go again.” Isidore stated.
The dice tumbled again giving him a total of 7 and Radna moved that many
spaces landing on one that said, “Connecticut Avenue, $120” The space then
gained an engraving of his name on it too.
“Is he being charged as well? He hasn’t checked his phone.” Zilli questioned.
“I’m guessing since he was planning to rob a place so he must have it on
silent.” Reasoned Sergulath.
“Now I’ll use this card on you!” Isidore revealed the card which said, “Make a
player lose a turn.”
“Damn. Oh well. We can still win this Minoson!” Zilli encouraged. Minoson
smiled.
“Since you’re losing a turn I’ll go again. Roll the dice!”
The dice raised up then dropped again giving him a total of 5. Radna moved
and acquired that space too.
Now it was our turn again. “Roll dice!”
“You don’t have to shout it ya know.” Minoson gave a small temper.
“Oh, sorry. Please roll the dice.” Zilli said.
“That's better,.” She said as the dice rolled giving the values 1, 3.
“Only 4, well in this game how much you move doesn’t really matter.”
Minoson moved to the space that read, “Pacific Avenue, #300”
“That’ll take up the rest of my money... But I’ll buy it.” The phone was
notified but ZIlli didn’t bother checking his notifications this time, wanting
to avoid seeing his savings dried up.
“My turn now, but this is taking forever and why am I playing this game with
you anyway? Radna, just go attack them!”
Radna attempted to make a straight line to Minoson who was on the other
side of the board but an invisible barrier blocked him and wouldn’t allow
anyone to cut through the middle of the board.

35

Radna then started running past the spaces around the barrier to get to
Minoson. Radna got to the space right before Minoson and was about to
attack.
Zilli shouted, “Minoson!”
“Bankrupt!“ She said as Radna lunged for Minoson but hit another barrier.
“What happened? It's our turn so we can move!” Isidore was confused as
was Zilli for a moment.
“You ​poor f​ ool, you let your greed get the better of you. Since you moved
without rolling the dice, the game charged you for each space you passed.
Just check your bank.”
“So what?”
Isidore checked his phone and found 13 charges to his bank account, each
between $120 to $280.
“What?! Nooo! How can my account be negative? You, you took everything!”
“Also don’t forget to check what space you're on.” An eerie delighted grin
stretched across Minoson’s face. Definite proof that she was a demon.
Isidore and Radna looked down at the space he was on, which was the “Go
Directly to Jail” space. The space began to crumble beneath Radna and
swallow the beast into the abyss.
Zilli looked as the beast fell and said, “Game over!”
Zilli got a notification on his phone again. He checked it and went wide eyed.
“All the money was transferred to me.” His jaw hung open as he looked up at
Minoson.
“That's for playing well and to remember me by.” Minoson blew a kiss at
Zilli as she faded away with the abyss. Zilli and Isidore returned to reality.

36

Every victory is built upon many little victories.
— Matt Garrison

37

 
Behind Clouds 

Zilli and Philomena ran down stairs and found the Rene with a triangle
setup around him and starting to chant something.
They looked at each other then back at Rene and started their own Triangle
Ritual.
“Dahaka I invoke thee, take form in this plane so mote it be!”
Rene said as a familiar 3 serpent headed demon emerged from the abyss.
“Philomena! I’ve seen this guy's tricks before. He might try to get his demon
to eat us.”
“Well’ be safe inside the triangles though.”
“No, I mean I saw him push someone before.”
She looked at Zilli confused.
“What should we do Sergulath?”
“He’s too far away to push us. He can’t step outside his own triangle without
the possibility of his own Demon eating him too.”
Then Rene reached into his coat and pulled out a gun, pointing it right at
Zilli and Philomena who were both stunned.
“Sergulath, any plans”
“Just wait a minute.” Sergulath suggested with confidence.

38

“Evocations block energy, not bullets. Now why don’t you both step out of
your triangles or I’ll shoot one of you.” Threatened Rene.
“Heh, die or die? you're not giving us much choice here.” Zilli amused.
“I don’t deal in choices I deal in tricks and taking lives now stop f​ ucking
talking and step out!”
He trained his sights specifically on Zilli now.
“You…. Lied to me and now you're threatening us. But I...”
A dark aura emanated from Philomena as she spoke.
“I am n​ ot ​afraid of y​ ou!​ ”
“Agramon! I invoke thee! Take form in this plane so mote it be!”
Philomena shouted as Rene pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger.
The shot flew from the gun towards Philomena traveling across the room…
But then, it stopped in midair as a shadowy hand reached up from the
ground to catch the bullet.
The rest of the demon known as Agramon emerged from the ground.
Agramon was tall, covered in fur with large pointed oval ears and long
narrow horns sticking straight up from it's head. The face was a mix of goat
and feline. It's arms though were its defining feature as the fur stopped at
the shoulders then transitioned into complete shadowy forms for their
entirety. They were large and reached the ground with pointed fingers.
Zilli looked amazed at Agramon and was impressed with Philomena
thinking to himself, “When did she learn to summon demons?”
The thief aimed at Zilli next and pulled the trigger but that bullet was also
blocked as Agramon stretched it's arm into the path of the shot.
“I see you’re gonna keep stopping my bullets but can your demon still do
that while fighting?. Dahaka.”
With that, Dahaka’s serpent heads reached towards Agramon and latched on
attempting to move him out of the way or distract it from blocking bullets.
Rene pointed his gun at Philomena to wait for a clear shot.
“Agraman, I’m going to use your gift.” Philomena said.
Philomena waved her arm in a straight line creating a translucent bar of air
which rippled out from her moving slowly towards Dahaka and also
blocking the line of sight between her and Rene.

39

Rene watched as the projectile of air passed him and hit Dahaka causing it to
retract in pain and let go of Agramon.
“Now Agramon!” Philomena shouted.
Agramon covered itself in it's shadowy arms and as it's arms moved away
it's appearance changed to Rene only. It changed to that of his deepest fear
while Zilli and Philomena could only see Agramon normally.
Rene trembled and his grip loosened on the gun causing him to drop it.
Agramon moved closer to Rene and he was visibly and audibly shaking as he
took a step back. Agramon lunged at Rene hitting his barrier. Rene fell
backwards with his arms over his head. He became hysterical mumbling in
fear. “UhhHhhHh aHhh Ahh AHHH!”
A minute passed before he looked up from his arms seeing Agramon back to
his normal appearance. Then Rene looked down and noticed he was on the
ground sitting outside his triangle. He looked over at Dahaka who was
eyeing Rene with drool dripping from his mouth.
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
Dahaka hissed as it snatched up Rene in it's mouth and swallowed him
whole. Screams still audible but fading from the lump going down Dahaka’s
throat.

 
 

40

“Sergulath was right, I’m a sociopath, I’m just as bad as a demon!”
“How can you say that?”
“I don’t empathize with others. I had to learn to copy what people do and act
out emotions so other people don’t treat me like an animal.”
“I can’t stand the thought that the only reason anyone cares about me is
because I pretend to be normal. I feel like I’m just manipulating everyone
and I don’t know who really is a friend to me.”
Philomena looked at Zilli, her eyes growing wider.
“But that's not why anyone likes you!”
Philomena exhaled then continued.
“It's because when people speak, you listen intently. You lean in and get
those big eyes. Sure you’re analysing their behavior but that means you're
actually paying attention unlike most other people. It makes me feel like
what I say matters to you. You hang on every word and action and it's
simply magnetic. That isn’t something you're pretending to do because
that's what you do to be you!”
Zilli turned towards Philomena then hugged her tightly.
“Thanks Philomena, I guess I owe you another one!”
“At this rate, you won’t even be able to pay me back.” Philomena joked with
a crack of a smile.

“Hell is e​ mpty a​ nd all the devils are h​ ere​.”
— William Shakespeare

“We are all searching for someone whose demons play well with ours.”
— Heidi R. Kling

“The moment you pick up a controller, the heart turns off.”
— Game Sins

41

“People aren’t rational, they're rationalizing.”

Dreams aren’t accomplished with wants and hopes.
— Matt Garrison

“Demons I get… People are crazy.”

— Supernatural

“If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.”
— Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

42