The burning red light faded, replaced by naught.
It failed?
Tears welled up. She tried to stand, but couldn't.
Her body was burned in several places.
Her once soft delicate skin was now all crumbly, barely clinging on.
Damn…
"Was there a flaw in the summoning-" A voice. A voice she was so familiar with.
It didn't fail… it wasn't that she was turning to ash, but rather, the opposite.
The words ran through her mind; no, it raced. Through her whole body. In a split second, her mind- just went numb. It didn't fail.
But before completely going out cold- she saw him.
And this time, she knew.
Definitely not for the last time…
***
The girl woke up sometime later. She couldn't tell how much time had passed. But reckoned it couldn't have been long.
After all, she was still in the same room.
The summoning room.
The darkness almost oozed, as though alive. It flowed like water, and upon touch, registered faint coolness.
Something in the shadows. Wooden furniture. Concrete walls, extravagant decorations from flamboyant carpets to luxurious chandeliers, and even monster hides and carcasses on the walls. Despite the place looking like death, it actually smelled like Sandalwood to her; nostalgic.
Two demons. She knew they were demons. But they looked nothing of sort. At first glance, ordinary people couldn't tell if they were indeed demons or just overly good-looking humans.
However, if paid close attention, anyone would be able to see the small golden horns slightly peeking up from their scalps.
One was a butler. Wearing black and blue- a red tie. White hair, round glasses, and quite the mustache; old. How old? She never heard.
And the other-
"I believe you can understand me," the demon spoke.
She had her eyes on him, not being able to look away.
Golden long hair. Purple piercing eyes, as though he saw through her; but she knew he didn't understand women even at the surface level; kind of cute she noted in her imaginary diary. And above all- that face.
The face that would put all the men on earth to shame- she thought it the first time she came here, and even now she thought it to be true.
Was it the face she fell in love with, or the man himself- even now, she didn't know.
But one thing was clear, in love- at least in her form of love, beauty didn't matter. After all, she'd seen his real face. His real… self.
"Yes." She answered.
"Not frightened," The butler spoke. "Good sign?"
"Indeed. Name yourself, human."
A red suit- black shirt, and though neither went together, somehow, the man sure made it work… somehow.
"Lenora… Lenora Dean."
"I am Xanard-"
"Xanard An Augustine Arkhanam…" The words slipped out. They just slipped out of her mouth.
She couldn't even will to cover her face. Fuck…
Slightly surprised, but mostly suspicion brewed. "Did you perhaps imbed the necessary knowledge into her as well?" He asked his butler.
"I'm afraid only the language my lord. Summoning alone is tricky and even just language sometimes can corrupt the soul. But I suppose, there might have been some miscalculations in your spell…"
"Hmm…" The demon held his chin, deep in thought. "Regardless... Dean- I've summoned you to this world to do my bidding. Due to a troublesome curse, I've been forced to be confined to this wretched castle while my people suffer more and more from those accursed elves."
"And that's why you summoned me? A human? To help a demon?"
Is it me or are things moving too fast?
Lenora distinctly remembered having this conversation at least three days later when she was first summoned.
At the time she was so shaken, she spent the majority of her time confined to a bed, out of sheer shock. But during those days, war spread and engulfed the whole continent, eventually leading to the world's demise.
Or maybe I was too inattentive?
The two demons stared at each other- slightly confused but- "Yes," Xanard answered. "That is correct. And if you should choose to go back home, you'd do well to listen to me-"
"And if I don't want to go back home?" She took a step forward.
He cleared his throat. "In that case, I shall incinerate you without a second thought and summon another-"
Lenora grinned, not taking a step back but rather, another one forward. "Really?" Eyes fixed onto his. "Would you now?"
"Ahem…" The butler mumbled. "My lady, if you should help us, we shall help you adequately in return. In the forms of jewelry, riches, even men…" he hinted at various things.
Lenora shrugged. "Not interested," Her gaze was fixed on the demon in front- "I require quite a few things. Since you were already gracious enough to grant me knowledge of this world, would it be acceptable if I were to request specific things you have?"
Of course, she was bluffing. Just inheriting the language alone from the spell was enough to cripple some people. Even in her case, she had to spend an entire evening sleeping. This time, however, as she already knew the language, the effects were marginal. Though she did shudder at the thought of just how screwed up her brain would have been if they'd really tried putting in all the knowledge of the world in her right away….
"That should be alright," The butler answered on the lord's behalf.
All this time, the demon- the demonlord Xanard hadn't said much and just stared at the woman before him.
Coldly.
Examining her.
The woman with brown hair- a round face, soft nose- and awfully big eyes. Kind of cute. But nothing exceptional. He'd seen prettier woman.
Yet.
The way she presented herself, almost sent shivers down his spine.
Was this really a human he was dealing with?
The woman reminded him of a particular woman.
"Name them." His voice came out, sublime- cold.
"Cape of Xarx, Ring of Ele, Wand of San, and-" Head slightly tilted- smiling. "A kiss on the forehead." Her lips poised suggestively; sultry.
"Huh?" Slightly taken aback, the demonlord stared.
His face basically spilling out- what the hell?
The first three sacred artifacts aside, the hell was this human even saying?
He was a demon, a fierce being; the bane of all mankind. And yet, this human… was asking for a kiss? Had she gone mad?
Sufficed to say, the demonlord's thinking was derailed and he might have even faltered in his speech if he had spoken out loud.
"Well?" She waited for a response.
Xanard regained his composure as though nothing ever happened. "Very well… Alberto-" he flicked his fingers.
The butler bowed once- vanished and returned a minute later with the three requested items.
Meanwhile, the woman still waited there, her head raised up slightly.
"And be sure to kiss her on the forehead as you send her off," He turned around and prepared to leave.
"I'm sure, she didn't ask the kiss from me, my lord," Alberto said.
"Not interested," he repeated in the same tone Lenora'd used before.
Poof! He was gone.
It was hard but somehow- Lenora kept the giggles in. "All attack, no defense."
But did I come across too strong?
She'd done it once. She knew she could do it all over again. Back then, she feared him for a while, but… that was also sort of fun in its own way.
Besides, what was the point if she couldn't enjoy the process? At least that's what she thought at first but no matter how she thought about it, she couldn't help but feel her heart race.
"Now- though I'm not sure how you did that or how you managed to know all this; I'm sure you don't possess any evil intentions; thus, I won't inquire. But you do know what would happen to you in case you managed to enrage him or betray him, correct?"
"He'll destroy me?" Leanora shrugged.
The butler- Alberto didn't bother answering. Instead- "Do you know how to use these?"
"Pretty much. Oh yeah, before I forget-"
"The kiss? You really want one?"
"Not from you, no thanks." She smiled. "But-" She went closer to his ear, "You see…."
Alberto's eyes almost popped out.
"How do you-" The words stuck in his throat. But then- he nodded and for a moment, "I shall take care of it… my lady."
He left.
Empty. The room was empty with just her now. But only in hindsight. There were things in the shadows.
The shadow demons who saw her face, that smile, almost shivered.
Almost.