We resumed our walk down the hallway, with nobody of us talking. I was distracted with imageing what cool Daemon I would get. Mabey a mighty dragon or a agile wyvern? Or something never seen before? I couldn’t wait. And aperently I didn’t had to because we were now at our desdination. I looked at a big gateaway, but it didn’t went anywhere, there were just a blank wall.

Again, Joran turned around to me and gave me his a smirk. „We are here. This is the Portal trough which you will guide your daemon from his realm to ours and bind it to you.“ He snaped with his fingers and 4 other people with battle robes like him came trough a door.

„This Ladys and gentelmen will hold the portal open for you to get your a conection with the daemon realm and that you can search for a suitable partner. But beware, the portal will just be open for 10 minutes, so be fast.“ He turned around to join the others, but he turned one last time around to me.

„So, I will tell you now what will happen and what you will have to do, and I tell you this information just one time, I will not repeat myself.“ I perked up. Until know, I didn’t had even a little bit of information how this all would go on, so now that I would be giving this information, I didn’t want to miss a thing.

Joran saw my eagernis and took a instructive tone

„We are going to open the portal and guide your aether trought it. The moment you are throught you will be on your own. The more aether you have, and I can see you have quite the aether for a boy from this backwater village, the longer and the farther you can be in the other realm.When you are on the other side you have to find a monster that wants to make a bond with you. You could also try to fight with one and make it submit to you, but seing that you have nether the equipment, nether are looking like you know how to fight, so stick with young or small demons. So, and with that finished, let’s get started“

I opened my mouth to ask questions, can daemons attack in the realm attack my aether, how do I know that which daemon is right, and how CAN I tame it? But he gave me a look, not the happy one, no, this one was intimitading, and I shut my mouth close.

The four people plus Joran made a circle, with me in the middle. They started chanting in a language I couldn’t understand. I could feel the aether inside of me boiling, ready to burst out. The voices went louder and louder, until they were the only I could hear. At the peak of there chanting, I could got a feeling like hands searching over my whole body for something. I remembered Jorands words and I brought my aether outside of me. The searching feeling went away and was replaced with one of guidiance, like it wants to bring me somewhere. I let it do what it wanted and it took my aether and brought it before the portal, which now glowed in a purple light.

And before I could marvel at the beauty of it, I, or better my aether on which I was conzentrating, was shoved trought it.

I opened my eyes(the aether ones) and saw me in a wasteland. Everywhere where cracks in the land, filled with lava. I lookedaround me, but I couldn’t find anything. I wandered the barren land for a time, and I could feel my time was running shorter and shorter. Until now I just had sawn a few worms, beatles and little mangeled humanoid creatures, I think imps are they called, but nothing that took my interest, but then I feelt it. A little tingling in my aether which guided me farther and farther away from the gate. My aether goes alarmingly fast down the longer I needed, but this feeling was overhelming, like I would die when I didn’t go imidiatly! Farther and farther I went, until I came to the opening of a cave.

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My aether was nearly exhausted by now. I could feel that my time was running low, even when I am sure I was already longer than 10 minutes in the deamon-realm, but mabey the time flowes different here. I went into the cave, and saw nothing. Well, not nothing. I saw rocks stalagtitn

I got to the end of the cave, surrounded by rocks and lava. And the feeling I had brought me before this little „thing“ before me. He had hide in a little cave were he was sleeping soundly. He had a half a meter(1.64 feet) tall and a meter (ca. 3.3 feet) long body, covered with midnight–black furr. It would have looked like a cute black dog, when there would’t bee the naked skull instead of a cute fluffy face. It was in a stark kontrast to the body, as it has the a bone white colour. I looked a the face. The eyes were blood-red flames with black ones in then, and in this ones, just like an iris, oranges ones, just like real eyes, made out of flames. Two little stubs were coming out of the sides of his skull.

Spikes were around the neck in a circle, like a collar I saw the hunter use for their dogs, and under them on his chest he had a rock like protection. I slowly came in front of the puppy, and it looked like it noticed me, because it jumped up and growled at me.

Well, let’s just say it wasn’t a really threatening growl, more like a scared bark. But I didn’t know that at the time, I was fairly new at this and everything was a little terryfying for me. It didn’t got better when the puppy started ozing lava out and going down his front, were instead of fur he had obsidian-like cracks in which the lave went.

It was a scarry looking picture and I nearly scrambled ouit of the cave, that was until I saw something behind the puppy.

It was a giant skeleton.

Or to be more specififc, a giant mess of bones that lied in the corner, but one thing was recognisable, the giant skull. It looked like the skull of the little fella here, except the little nubs on the side of his skull

I looked at the little fella in a new light „Guarding your mother ,huh?“ Suprisingly, he stopped growling at me and cocked his head t the side, just like a puppy.

„You didn’t know you father eather huh?“ Still no answer, but the puppy stoped the lava flow and came in my direction from his chest. I was a little panicked, but as he showed no aggresion, I let him come closer. As he was just a meter away from me, he stoped. I just asked me how I know that it is a he, but then a feeling invaded me. I somehow knew instantly that it wasn’t from me, so I looked at the puppy.

The feeligng was like a question. „You want to know what I want here?“ the puppy nodded his head. „Wait, you can understand me??“ Again a nod. Uh, I wouldn’t have tought of that, but when I think about it know, it does make sense.

„I am summoner, and I am in search of a summon that would like to be my daemon and to explore the world and become stronger, would you like to be my partner?“

The puppy just looked at me and I could feel his confusion. *It looks like it could understand me, but doesn’t get what I mean... Mmh, let’s see if that works. *

I began thinking about pictures I thought would explane the situation the best. I tought about myself, how I was beaten up by the boys from the village because I couldn’t fit in. How I was trying to help my mom with the money with working myself to the bone. And at least, I showed him what I wanted to become. I showed myself, standing above those that bullied me, my mother protected and cared for, me and him, both powerful and full of energy ready to take on everthing

The puppy did nothing for a moment. Then it looked me direct in the eyes and everything went dark.