Personal Demons Part 01

Antoine had been mixing with magic he knew he wasn’t supposed to. The young wizard had tried hard to make the king proud but failed at nearly every turn. The other wizards mocked him for his low power level, while his teachers scolded him for not studying enough. He hated the fact that he could barely preform even the most basic of spells. It was embarrassing to have to rely on rudimentary methods to be able to perform even the simplest of tasks. 

However right now, he was going to try something different. He’d snuck into one of the masters libraries and found a book. A book that he knew he wasn’t supposed to have but looking over it he knew it would grant him an amazing amount of power. Somehow just by touching it, he could feel the power overflowing from it. Even as he looked through it, he didn’t know what most of the spell would do. Until he found one. All he saw was the word power and he knew it was the spell he was looking for. In his weak state he needed something that would grant him more power. Power to actually be able to show the other students that he knew what he was supposed to be doing. 

He gathered the ingredients and prepared himself for the spell. He knew that it was dangerous but proceeded anyway. He’d been preparing for this moment for weeks now. He’d gathered the ingredients and started mixing them together. It was the dead of night and the candle was about to flicker out but he knew this would be the only chance he’d get. Antoine used his finger to spread the mixture out on the counter into the demonic symbol. He chanted the words.

The candle blew out. Smoke billowed out of the middle of the symbol. “It’s working!” Antoine said excitedly as he watched more and more smoke fill into a shape. It was rapidly taking a form. The smoke hardened into the shape of a person nearly a foot tall. 

“Oh fuck man… What the fuck was that?” the little red man asked. His small body stared up at Antoine in sheer disgust. “You the one who summoned me? Fuck man. That shit hurt. What were you thinking?”

Antoine gasped at the demon’s crude language. He’d never heard something speak so angrily before. “I have summoned you to grant myself more power,” Antoine stiffened his upper lip trying to sound brave.

“You?” the demon looked him up and down. “You ain’t worth shit. You think I’m about to stay here with you? Fuck that.” He hopped off the barrel and started to head for the window. Antoine watched as he propped himself up trying to escape out the window.

Antoine rushed across the room. Even at the demon’s slow speed he just barely caught up. “You can’t do that!” he put his arm in the demon’s way. “I summoned you. You have to listen to me.”

“The fuck I do,” the demon responded. “Your bitch ass can’t do shit!” He jumped over the arm still headed for the window.

Antoine looked over himself. A pang of bitterness shot through his body as even the demon he’d summoned didn’t want to listen to him. He steeled his emotions trying to at least seem somewhat in control. “No. You can’t leave,” he commanded. 

“Fuck you,” the demon flicked Antoine off while he tried to reach for the window. “I do what I want.”

“No!” Antoine commanded. All the strength in his body went to that single word. The demon stopped. He couldn’t move. 

The small demon tried to jump out the window but couldn’t. His small body pushed at an invisible force that had appeared right in front of him. “Da fuck?” he turned around looking up at Antoine. Even on the counter he barely came up to the lad’s chest. “You fucking do that to me?”

“I… Uhh… I… Uhh… Yeah!” Antoine finally found some kind of courage within himself to speak back to the demon. “Yes! I am you’re master. You must listen to my desires!” 

The demon rolled his eyes. “Really? You?” he asked. Antoine tried to keep his confidence but felt it slipping even to the small creature. Even with the size difference he still seemed weak in comparison. “Fine.” It plopped down onto the counter. “Whatcha want?” a toothpick appeared out of nowhere and he started running it through his sharp teeth. 

“I… Uhh…” Antoine staggered over the idea. 

“You got to be kidding me,” the demon grit his teeth and stood up again, pointing his small claw at the boy. “You summon me all the way from Hell and I gotta listen to yer dumbass not know what the fuck you want?”

Before Antoine could answer the door to the room flung open. Another young wizard burst through the door. “What do you think you’re doing?” Fredo demanded. He stepped further into the room, asserting his seniority over the other wizard.

“I’m just… I just… I…” Antoine stumbled over his words as Fredo grabbed him by the collar. Despite being the same size Antoine still felt significantly smaller than the other wizard. His eyes drifted over to the demon who was currently laughing at him.

“What are you looking at?” Fredo’s eyes followed his but he couldn’t see anything. It was just an empty counter top. “Botched another spell I see. For someone like you it’s dangerous to be practicing things like this alone. You’ll burn down the whole castle!”

Antoine’s eyes stared at the demon. “He can’t see you?”

“Guess not,” the demon was still laughing. “Guess you’re so weak that even after summoning me other can’t see me. But I think I can still use my powers. I’d be totally fucked if I couldn’t.” He strolled over the countertop towards Antoine and Fredo. Antoine’s eyes followed all the way.

“What are you looking at!” Fredo demanded.

The demon just laughed. “So what do you want me to do?” Antoine’s mouth just hung open as he tried shaking his head. “You’re such a loser man! Come on!” the demon laughed in his face. He put his hand onto Antoine extracting the information that he wanted. “Alright! If that’s really what you wanted!” the demon grinned.

He reached over to Fredo and grabbed his arm. “What the!?” Fredo reacted but it was too late. “Ow! What the devil!?” he looked down at his arm and saw a tattoo burn into it. The small burn quickly branched out. Small pools of ink branched up his arm in a stylized pattern. He raised the sleeve watching it travel up his arm. “What did you do!?” Fredo grabbed Antoine again, squeezing him. “What did you sum…” his question was cut short as he felt a wave of pain shoot through his body. He grimaced at the feeling and took a step back. “What did… Gah!” Fredo screamed as his hands went to his head.

Antoine watched as Fredo paced around the room. His mind seemed to be all over the place, never focusing on any one thing too long. He turned back towards Antoine. The whites of his eyes turned yellow. “What… GAH!” he screamed even louder. His body buckled over in pain but he refused to go down. Fredo turned back to the door and stagger his way to it. Each step seemed to pain him as he tried his best to stay in an upright position. Claws burst from the front of his leather shoes.

“What’s going on?” Antoine asked the demon. The demon simply gave him a chuckle, refusing to answer the question.

Gray hair was starting to erupt out of the other wizard’s skin. His small pale body quickly bulked up with a new size. The thin arms and legs he’d barely used for anything filled out with a new size. His rib cage started to change shape. It stuck out further in front of him than usual. Fredo scratched at the hair trying to ease the feeling. He was almost to the door. However he looked down at his hands seeing his fingers change. They couldn’t use a door. Their long dexterous shape pulled in on themselves. The pink nails turned black and sharpened. “Oh no,” he grimaced at the pain, falling into the wall.

The same was happening to his feet as paw pads grew on the bottom of them. Large sharp claws dug into the stone beneath his feet. His big toe pulled all the way up his leg. “I have to stand up… I have to stand…” his voice was lost as he fell all the way to the ground. His front claws dug into the stone trying to keep his position but did nothing for him. He turned around towards Antoine again. Their round human shape rapidly grew into to point and pushed to the top of his head. 

Fredo shook his head back and forth trying to maintain his mind. Little by little it was going away. He stared at Antoine then threw his head back as his nose pushed out of his head into a muzzle. Sharp teeth filled the new mouth. His nose turned black. Antoine could see the golden eyes even in the darkness. The moon seemed to make them shine even brighter.

“What’s going on?” Antoine asked again, with a tremor in his voice. He pushed himself back onto the counter trying to get as far away from the beast as possible. It moved slowly towards him, ears back. “What did you do..?” It only took a few steps for the massive beast to make it across the room. Even on all fours he was easily as tall as Antoine and easily weighed more than him.

“Gave you what you wanted,” the demon continued to grin. “A nice loyal pet. Go on. Tell him to sit.” 

“Wh-what?” Antoine trembled. Fredo let out a snort and the hot air hit Antoine in the face. “S-s-sit,” Antoine forced out. Instantly the large beast sat. Antoine stared at the massive beast. Even seated he was far bigger than any dog he’d ever seen before. “Good boy?” Antoine pat the dog on his head, scratching him behind the ears. Fredo’s tail wagged at the complement. “Woah…” he smiled as he looked down at the demon. “Fredo’s a dog?”

“Yep,” the demon said happily. “But now you have to take care of him.” 

“That’s really weird…” Antoine said. He was still a bit distracted by the massive beast in front of him. However again he was distracted as the door opened again.

“Antoine! What are you and your pet doing here?” the head master demanded. He crossed his arms. “You know you’re not supposed to be here so late.

Antoine froze. He didn’t know what to say. Fredo turned around and let out a low growl. The head master softened his posture. “It’s okay Fredo. Calm down,” Antoine started petting the massive dog again, easing his fears. “I was… Uhhh… Just leaving…”

“Good,” the headmaster tried to maintain his dominance but in front of Fredo, he wasn’t about to take any chances. “You know it’s past your bedtime. Now get some sleep.”

“Yes sir,” Antoine said as he passed the headmaster. He kept his head down until Fredo licked the side of his face. Feeling the wolf press his weight against Antoine made him smile, despite nearly knocking him over. He calmed down and gave the giant dog a few more pets. “Why didn’t he say anything about Fredo?” Antoine asked.

The demon just let out another series of laughter. “You really don’t know what you summoned, did you?” Antoine just ignored him, not realizing that he had grown a good six inches taller than when he’d been summoned.