“Time has elapsed and soon the bastard will attack. Am I doing the right thing? Would it not be better to accept my brothers demands and save my people the horrors of a siege?” I asked no one in particular.

It was a subject that plagued my nights constantly. So many sleepless ones tormented by this very idea, that I was leading them all to their doom.

Yet despite all that, even when informed of the truth, my people stood by me. They stood with me against the very lord of this land and an army of undead. I would be proud if I wasn’t so horrified at the insurmountable expectations they were placing upon me.

I could only lean on my vassals for support, however few they were. They were attending to their duties and fulfilling them to the best of their abilities. I couldn’t ask for more, but was that enough?

Soon the enemy would swarm over these walls and cut down my people like wheat in a field. My grip on my staff tightened, I had taken it out and spelled it with several offensive attack magic. I wasn’t only a conjuror, but I was much better at commanding demons than anything else.

“Mistress Ephemia.” A voice called to my side.

I turned to its origin and identified him as a castle footman. He was a young man, looked to be around sixteen, wore a simple gambeson and wielded a spear.

“Yes.” I said.

“Senior Gerald has requested your presence in the summoning chamber, it is a matter of some urgency.” The footmen explained hastily.

I was taken aback for a few moments, several possibilities raced across my mind, none of them good. But standing around would get me nowhere.

I bid the footmen to lead on and so we made our way down some stairs, through the courtyard and into the castle proper. Going down some stairs, I felt that twinge of envy towards those wizards capable of teleporting.

I never had much luck with such spells. Oh, I could spend a while preparing and maybe set up a short-range teleport for evacuation purposes. But to simply cast a spell and poof, appear on the other side of the barony. That is far beyond me and I hated it.

We eventually arrived at the summoning chamber, the door was unbarred and the guards were on edge. Gerald was to the side, kneeling down and speaking to a young girl. I recognised her as Emily, the new student who arrived with her father. What was she doing down here?

“Gerald, what is going on?” I asked my senior wizard.

He looked up from the girl and locked eyes with me. Shaking his head he explained the situation.

“You will not believe this Effy, but there is a secret passageway between the library and the summoning chamber.”

For a moment I couldn’t parse that information. I mean that shouldn’t be possible, I would have been informed when I first took over this castle. I thought about it for a moment, recalling the rumours about its previous lord.

The man was a wizard of noble pedigree, a minor baronet. He was known to have been quite the pervert and creating secret passageways is not something I would put past him. I just never imagined such construction would have been performed.

“You will have to spell this out to me.” I demanded, gesturing to the presence of a child.

“It’s scooby doo level shit, we’re still trying to figure out this wall.” A voice spoke from within the chamber.

“Shut up Astra!” Another voice chided the first.

“What is happening?” Is all I could say, glaring at Gerald, as if my stare would tear the answers from his mind.

“Come with me, your demons will explain.” He said, leaning down to the awe-struck girl. “Emily please go with the man.” Gerald directed.

“But I want to learn more magic.” She pleaded.

I was confounded, was this little girl being taught magic by Gerald? A little early for that given the siege, but perhaps he was showing her a thing or two.

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“I will teach you some magic when the siege is lifted. You shouldn’t go in there to learn magic with demons. It’s not safe.” He told her firmly and with conviction.

Learning magic with demons? What in the abyss was going on? Was she in there with my demon, being taught magic by a minion of the Abyss? I had so many questions but standing out here will not get me any answers.

Eventually, the girl relented and was led away by one of the footmen. Her eyes shined brightly as she passed me. The expression was odd, she seemed rather reserved when I interviewed her. Perhaps she was in shock? But she spoke clearly and concisely.

I shook my head, one thing at a time. Entering the chamber I came upon something I could not so easily describe. Five demons, a number I wouldn’t dare control at once, were running about my summoning chamber.

My demon was standing at the table, inspecting a wand. A second order stood next to him like an attentive student. A first order was buzzing around retrieving items.

Glancing to the side we had two more second orders loitering beside a wall, one of them tapping each brick one at a time with a single deadly claw. I shut my eyes, wondering if this is all just a dream and I am ready to wake up safe and happy in my old house.

Reality begged to differ and so I had to deal with it. “Gerald, what is going on here?” I asked.

“Heresy my lady.” He answered.

Puzzled by the odd use of such a word. I tried to parse his meaning. When I couldn’t I decided to have him elaborate.

“Heresy, none of us care for that. We are not Etonian.” I said flatly.

“Merely what your demons call it. Infernomancy I believe is their name for the heretical Wizardry.”

Heretical Wizardry, I had not heard such a term in years. The Etonians and Norelonese referred to necromancy as heresy or an abomination. We in the duchy had a more liberal view of the craft. But infernomancy was not something I had heard of before.

“It is not an established school of Wizardry, at least not in this localverse.” My demon explained.

“I assume this so called heretical Wizardry is your creation?”

My demon shrugged in a very human manner, I was starting to notice these human-like quirks of his.

“I am unaware if I am the first to develop it. Like necromancy it is a rather obvious application of two elements into one. But so far I have not heard of many wizardly inclined demons.”

I tilted my head, trying to fathom what he had just told me. In theory, it made sense, combining two elements to create a composite form of Wizardry was not unheard of. Necromancy was a perfect example of this.

I was getting off-topic, recalling the presence of a child. I scanned the room for this so-called secret passageway. All I could see was those two-second orders trying to scratch away at the wall. Suddenly a section of it parted and a wooden lever appeared from a secret crevice.

“Found it, suck it Velma!” One of the second orders shouted in celebration.

I didn’t know who Velma was and what they should suck, perhaps it was the name of a soul-sucking demon? But demons eating souls was a stupid rumour only believed by uneducated peasants. Demons didn’t eat souls, they just dragged your soul down into the Abyss to be tortured for all eternity.

“Don’t pull that lever!” Asmordis as he was calling himself, commanded.

“Yes boss.” The second order saluted.

“I would assume that lever has something to do with this so called secret passage way?” I pointed to the wall, expecting an answer.

“Yeah I just found it, this place is cool. Seriously murder house vibes, I bet this was the dungeon of some serial killer.” He said excitedly pointing his finger to the ceiling.

“He was a perverted wizard, at least that’s what the rumours suggested.” I corrected and then wondered why I was engaging with a demon.

“Sex dungeon then.” He grinned, nudging his fellow demon before the two started snickering like schoolboys.

“Ignore them my lady, they are rather vulgar. But to explain, young Emily was reading in the library, she discovered a lever disguised as a book and found her way into this chamber. I sent for Gerald while entertaining the inquisitive little girl with a demonstration of creating infernal arcane devices.” He explained and I was at a loss.

Did this demon just say he entertained a small child by teaching her magic or at least a demonic version of it? I wondered for a moment if the demon had corrupted the girl. Some members of wizard society and the populace, in general, were well aware of the corrupting nature of demons.

“Let me get this straight, you were entertaining a small child that came into this chamber from a secret passage way. Showing her how to what? Create arcane devices? What kind of devices?” I said, incredulous.

The demon grinned and turned to the table, grabbing one of the wands. I quickly made the gestures for wizard sight and noted that this piece of wood was magical.

“I am glad you asked, mistress. I would like to request you test my latest creation.” He presented the odd-looking charred wand.

“Test it?” I questioned, cautious to take it.

“Yes, it is one of the first arcane devices to be created by Infernomancy and with just a little power it can rain fiery death upon your enemies.” He held his head up, proud of his creation.

I took the wand cautiously, inspecting it before handing it over to Gerald. Taking a deep breath, I weighed my options and to be honest, I had few of them.

“Alright, when the enemy comes we will test your Infernal creation. I looked forward to see the fruits of your demonic labour.” I turned to Gerald. “Get someone to deal with that so called secret passage way.” I commanded. “I will be calling upon you and your demonic horde when the time comes.”

Asmordis nodded. “And we will await your call. In the meantime we shall be crafting weapons of Infernal destruction and please let me know how the wand does.” He requested.

I agreed, wondering how my life ended up here. I would lament the craziness but it was to be expected the moment I chose to summon demons. This is the life you chose Effy, you just need to ride it out.