“What do you two think?” I whispered.

The three of us were huddled in the corner, the demon was standing in the pentagram and oddly covering his ears. I noted him wincing, did he just scratch himself?

“We cannot trust him, I know I have said it several times already. But history is very clear, demons are not to be trusted.” Felmun repeated, making a valid point.

“Well he is not exactly asking for trust, merely offering a deal. No different then the deal I offered you.” Belus countered.

“And I was against that as well.”

“I know you were, but we had little options. At the time I didn’t know I could conjure a major demon. But with this demons power and Belus forces, we do have a chance.” I explained, giving my knight a sympathetic glance.

He scowled, the weight of my words setting in. “But this is not the issue, what I need is your advice. Should I entertain a deal with a Demon?”

“You know my opinion on the matter.” Felmun added.

I looked to Belus for his advice, he on the other hand was frowning in thought. He stayed like that for a full minute before speaking.

“I think you should hear the demon out.” He finally suggested, prompting a rather ugly scowl from my Knight.

“Are you insane? Oh wait your a necromancer, your mental state is quite clear.” My Knight said mockingly, it was petty but I couldn’t completely disagree, yet couldn’t judge.

“Fine there is no harm in hearing him out.” I declared, quickly silencing Felmun with a glare.

With the decision made, we turned to the demon. He was standing in the pentacle, arms crossed behind his back, waiting patiently. We crossed the room and stood before him.

“Well are we going to negotiate like civilised men and women?” Felmun snorted as the Demon continued. “Or will it be threats and torture?” He asked with a truly ferocious smile.

I tried to ignore it and calmed my breathing, this was a decision I hoped would not backfire. Because the Demon was right, I summoned him too late, the enemy was nearly at the doorstep and I needed firepower. Compelling an uncooperative demon would take too long and if the Demon could be believed, he was knowledgeable about such magic.

“We will hear your proposal.” I said, resolute in my decision.

“Excellent, you won’t regret it.” The demon smiled wider, it was quite frightening but I kept my face neutral and gestured for him to continue.

“As far as I can see things, you are going to be sieged yes?” He asked and I nodded. “I see, so if that is the case, what I propose is an exchange of sorts.”

“An exchange, what does this entail?” I asked, concerned.

“I will offer my full cooperation in the coming battle, I will use every trick I have to repel whatever enemies you have.” He declared, smiling again and I think was getting used to it, not so much for Felmun.

“And what do you want in exchange?” I pressed the demon to answer.

“Nothing you will miss, just spell components.” The demon requested.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

“Spell components, what for?” I inquired suspiciously.

“Well so I can perform magic of course, need to get some spells prepared for the coming battle. As I said getting components in the Abyss is quite the chore. Fascinating, but not easy.” He said, exasperated.

I did understand his annoyance, assuming demons had such feelings. I hated when you had to spell everything out for a person. Alas, I needed to be clear and precise. Dealing with a demon requires the utmost caution, if not avoided entirely.

“Is there anything else you want?” I prodded the demon, trying to pull any more useful information.

The demon looked down at himself, sighing. Naturally, my eyes descended as well, I will admit that I spared a glance at his impressive member. It was grotesque in its size and to be honest not as appealing. Of course, my old ladies-in-waiting would faint at the sight, some may even be intrigued at taking such a man or demon to bed.

I was not sure what he was implying but Sir Felmun seemed to get the wrong idea. “You foul fiend, to make such a request of my lady!” Felmun accused angrily.

I was momentarily confused before it dawned on me. I chuckled beside myself, acting like one of those vapourish court ladies, amused by something lascivious. The demon on the other hand looked puzzled, his head shifting back and forth between myself and Felmun.

“What are you taking about? I was about to request some clothes, but I was not sure if they would survive in the Abyss.” He explained, offended.

“You want clothes?” Belus asked, just as puzzled as the demon.

“Well yes, clothes maketh the man, or demon in this case. What, do you prefer me to just stroll about with all my dangly bits on full display?”

“In my experience, generally demons don’t concern themselves with clothes. Are you saying you are an outlier perhaps?”

The demon looked thoughtful, tilting his head to the side. “I suppose I would be considered an outlier, most demons I have met are just as you said.” The demon explained, shrugging in a very human manner.

I pondered his request, thinking back to the student robes I had commissioned. They were quite large and could possibly fit the demon. All through the wings would be an issue, but that was his problem.

“Fine, we will provide some clothes. Is that all?” I agreed and prodded for more requests. The more he told us, the more insight we had of his true agenda.

“That should be it, spell components probably for pyromancy, since they would be most useful and clothes as I said.” He listed his requests, before coming to another conclusion. “What exactly is the enemy composition?” He asked.

I would have answered, but honestly, I didn’t have the full picture. I turned to my dear Sir Felmun, fluttered my eyelashes and requested sweetly. “Gallant Sir Felmun, please relay what the scouts have discovered, to my demon servant.” He frowned, not wanting to engage with the demon. But my charm is hard to refuse and so he explained.

It took only a few minutes to outline the enemy composition. Sir Felmun begrudgingly gave a detailed account of the enemy's troop numbers, composition and the current state of its military readiness.

The demon frowned, at least I think he was frowning. He was silent for a short while, possibly digesting the barrage of information. Eventually, he spoke, sighing heavily.

“Vampires, they will be tricky. Human sellswords are one thing, but a vampire army with ghouls and zombies.” He shook his head before casting a glance at Belus.

“That explains the necromancer, fight fire with fire I suspect.”

“Essentially.” Belus said with a malicious smile, not unlike the demon.

“If that is the case, unless you have some grand necromantic ritual to get rid of them?” The demon gestured again to the necromancer. Belus shook his head and the demon sighed. “Well if that is the case, I will need some backup. How is your conjury supplies?” He directed his question to me.

For a moment I was shocked, did this demon just ask for conjury supplies? Did he want me to summon and bind more demons? Why in the name of the abyss would a demon want that? The idea was ridiculous.

“We have plenty, but what are you getting at?” I asked, not liking where this was going.

“Well I have around four demon minions I can summon, to aid us in battle.” The demon informed as if he was inviting some friends to a tea party.

“Minions, you have minions?” I asked, incredulous.

“Technically yes, three second orders and one first order. They have gone a bit a stray, but if I can get those conjury supplies we can summon them here.” The demon looked down at the pentagram. “Say can I use this to summon them, it will have to be one at a time though.” He requested.

“You want to use this pentagram, the one I used to conjure and bind you, to conjure and bind more demons?” I was shocked, and so were my compatriots. The mad demon was suggesting summoning and binding his fellow demons and using the very pentacles I designed to trap him.

The three of us stood there in silence, trying to process. But the demon was just smiling away, waiting patiently for our response.