Fred nudges John with his foot while wiping the dagger with a cloth, “Come on, ya wimp, get over it.”

“Fuck you, Fred. How would you like to get your nuts obliterated?” David snickers like the dipshit he is. “Hey, fuck you too, David, if you weren’t so stupid he wouldn’t have gotten out of the ropes to kick me in the first place!”

“John’s got a point, do you even know how to tie a square knot?” Fred asks.

“What is a square knot?” David responds.

“Gosh, you’re so useless,” Fred says while pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. “Let’s just get this over with already.”

They drag Kyle to the centre of the room and stand around him. Fred opens up the book and flips through the pages.

“Shit, I forgot to put in the bookmark, which one do we do again?” Fred asks.

“I think it was that one,” David points out, “Or maybe that one? I can’t remember either.”

“Whatever, just pick one, the body’s getting cold and we probably need the blood,” John says.

“Okay, okay! Shut up now, I need to read out.” Fred retorts. He quickly skims the contents of the book and then begins the ritual.

The cultist begins the chant. He speaks words of a language long forgotten. Something woven within the fabric of reality awakens and listens to him. It conjures the powers of the underworld while joining in the chant. Kyle’s blood begins to start shifting into a circle around his body, drawing the sigil of summoning. In a sudden burst, plasma energy begins to shoot up in a column. Kyle wakes again to find he’s in the middle of this literal pillar of scorching fire. He tries to get up but he can’t, as if something was keeping him down. He’s confused, flabbergasted, and believes he’s been sent to hell already. The temperature is unbearable like he’s a piece of ice dropped into a volcano. However, he’s determined to get up and see what’s happening around him. One arm at a time, he pushes himself agonizingly off the ground and onto his knees. All around him, flames are ever-burning and bright. There is nothing else around him that he can see. Good news, he’s no longer bleeding from the chest. Bad news, he’s burning inside and out.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Unbeknownst to Kyle, it’s not fire burning into him, but pure magical substance creating a hole between dimensions and he’s the vessel for an entity beyond this world. It’s called a summoning for a reason. Of course, a puppet must fit the host, so changes must be made for accommodation. Bones rip through the skin on his back, it’s hot with pain and causes Kyle to crumple down onto his elbows. He screams in excruciating pain, but no sound comes from his mouth. The magic energy surrounding him forms meat and skin onto the bones and him, moulding the new limbs into wings. More new things also grow from Kyle’s body, but he can’t focus on anything else. His eyes are wide open, dreadfully aware and unaware at the same time of his grotesque transformation.

He feels himself slipping from consciousness once more, but the presence of something is keeping him awake. A figure reaches out from the blaze around him, holding a hand out. It was as if it was telling him, don’t give up and close your eyes. You can still survive. Persevere and you will see. It saw his struggles, his dreams, and his desperation. So it gave him something; shimmering hope. Kyle is still in absolute agony, but he begins to push through with all his might. He no longer wishes to die. He grips the floor with his nails and gradually gets up on one leg. If he can just crawl out of this flaming column, he’ll be free.

Outside, the cultists wonder whether or not the ritual is working. Surely by now, something should have happened, but the sigil is still spewing intense manifested magic and isn’t stopping.

“Hey, do you think we messed up the ritual? It really shouldn’t be doing that.” John says concerningly.

David scratches his head, “If we did mess up, then Boss is going to be real mad.”

An abrupt surge of energy shoots out and startles the cultists as they chat, and they begin to notice something inside the pillar rise. A pair of wings shadowed expand out, along with a head with two protruding horns right after, and eerie glowing eyes brighter than the rest of the fire. Kyle takes one step after another and emerges from the flames. After exiting, the magic dissipates instantaneously, and he stands directly in front of the man who murdered him. Fred begins to tremble uncontrollably, his hands shaking as he holds the book between him and Kyle. He stares right into his face, and only one thought comes to Kyle’s mind. Kill.