Kat rubbed her eyes. there was fire a lot of fire, but for some reason she wasn’t afraid. It was all sorts of. Reds swimming into blues, greens disappearing into yellows and melting back like churning tides. It was a stunning sight and Kat couldn’t help but appreciate the rapid shifts in shape and colour the fire underwent, content to watch the colours flow around her Kat relaxed until a progress bar appeared in front of her. Underneath the bar words appeared wreathed in flame burning into existence before cycling to a new response.

SYSTEM STARTING

STABILISING SUMMONING CIRCLE

INITIALISING LANGUAGE MODULE

GRANTING RANK 1 PERMIS- ERROR

COMPLETING BLOODLINE INVESTIGATION

PENDING

ANCIENT BLOODLINE DETECTED

FORM INCOMPATIBLE

DELAYING AWAKENING

INSTALL COMPLETE THANK YOU FOR USING DEMONICALLY ENERGISED MESSAGING AND OPERATIONS NEURAL SYSTEM OR D.E.M.O.N.S. WE WISH YOU LUCK ON YOUR CONTRACT.

Kat’s feet landed solidly on a hard floor and she gazed around. She was in the middle of a strange intricate circle that made her eyes swim slightly if she looked at it. Glancing around she noticed the room was filled with books rising up along the walls for well over 10 metres before meeting the ceiling. *Lily would have a field day in here.* Kat’s musings were interrupted by a terse shout. “Boy shut down this summoning right this instant, banish this fiend immediately

Kat’s eyes lazily followed the sound eventually landing on an old man in a dark robe standing next to another figure. This second figure was in a small circle and looked to be around her age, perhaps a bit older. Certainly, he was young compared to the old man but why was he being called boy?

“Master what are you saying? I have finally completed a successful summoning on my first attempt. I’ve been your apprentice for ten long years. Give me one good reason I should end the summoning and lose my chance to be recognised as a summoner in my own right” said Apprentice

“You’re damn fool is what you are boy, shut down this summoning right now before I come over there and make you do it myself” shouted the old man.

*Man, this is a weird dream, am I projecting something here? Who are these people supposed to represent anyway? I liked this more when we had the pretty fire colours.* “You know what? Yeah, just try and interrupt the summoning. Come over here and try. Do it old man I dare you. I know you won’t because for some reason you think I need to end it properly otherwise you would have forcefully cancelled the spell, I’ve seen you do it to other students before. Surely if it’s that big of a deal you can do it again” said Apprentice smugly glaring at the old man challenging him.

“If you really want me to cancel the spell give me a good reason not just some sorry excuse.”

“You dammed brat, you win. But know that you’re making a huge mistake. That bitch clearly looks human, human you fool” The old man said this as if that explained everything.

Kat turned to look at the old man and he shivered. *Yeah serves you right old man, come cower before my all powerful gaze. Seriously though mind your language, what did I do to you. Do you think it’s polite to speak to guests that way?*

“What does that matter old man? Plenty of demons can take human form, Succubus, quite a few Pit Fiends not to mention the Lords and Princes why should it matter to me what the damned thing looks like?” retorted Apprentice

“You unbelievable idiot.” said the wizard, face going red and beard swinging as he put his whole body into scolding his apprentice “Not only is everything you listed at least a mid-tier demon which, might I remind you, should be impossible because the circle is set up specifically for low tier demons. Even then, even then if I was willing to entertain the idea a weak mid-tier snuck through, none of them even the Succubi would be able to completely hide their demonic traits, the only possible way for this thing to look the way that it does is if it’s an exceptionally powerful demon”

*Oooh, yes fear me mortals for I am the great and powerful Kat. I have conquered entire realms for the disrespect you have shown me, haha. This is great.* Kat let her gaze wonder the room landing on the apprentice who paled significantly when he met her eyes. *Whoa, this guys scared of me, yes stare into my eyes young fool.*

“But, b. b. Um,” Sweating bullets the Apprentice struggled to get the words out “What about the temperament, we.. we… I mean I set the circle up to only accept the most passive of demons, one willing to act peacefully when it’s summoned. It might be strong but it… it’s fine right?” stammered Apprentice. *Eh, guilty as charged I’ll accept the whole passive thing, sort of. I think I’m a pretty chill most of the time, but this is a dream so maybe I should fuck with them just for the fun of it.* Kat smiled at the thought, and then decided to keep smiling raising it even further up her cheeks hoping she looked at least a little creepy, though it was doubtful. The pink pyjamas probably weren’t helping.

“Fool, if one part has failed the other likely has too, it’s just as likely to tear as limb from limb as it is to dominate our minds and force us to work for it till our bodies are dust. Shut the dammed portal down now before it decides to try breaking out. we don’t have the power to contain this thing in the slightest.” The old man screamed. He was clearly exceptionally agitated at this point.

The Apprentice seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, before stretching out his hand and beginning to chant. the words seemed to twist and worm themselves around each other as the boy spoke, overlapping each other, doubling back and twisting themselves but somehow remaining clear to Kat as she struggled to listen in. “Demon summoned from beyond this plane, I banish you. Demon from beyond this plane I dissolve any contract we have, I banish you from this plane. Demon you are no longer welcome here, this circle is not your own, be grasped and pulled and twisted back towards your home!”

The floor dropped out from beneath her. Kat once again found herself in the world of strange fire. Yawning she stretched out twisting herself a bit as she fell. *Why am I still so tired, this is kinda a weird dream. Will I get those messages again like last time? Bah who cares, magic fiery thingy can you drop me off back to bed please thankyou.* As if it could hear her thoughts, Kat was plopped back onto bed. Pulling the covers back over herself she snuggled into the pillow and closed her eyes.

As Kat returned to her slumber, she missed a projection in front of her eyes spewing out a serious of messages

CONTRACT TERMINATED

FORCEFUL TERMINATION IDENTIFIED

TERMINATION DEEMED WRONGFUL

FULL COMPENSATION AWARDED TO USER

BEGINNING TRANSFER TO ACCOUNT

HALTING TRANSFER

AWAKENING BLOODLINE

ERROR INSUFFICIENT FUNDS

RESOLVED

INCREMENTAL AWAKENING BEGINNING

INITIATING…

Kat’s eyes shot open, a searing pain coming from her back. quickly reaching for her pillow to stifle the screams, she spasmed on her bed, hands gripping the bottom for relief and finding none. Twisting and turning, Kat threw off the sheets in her struggles before the pain begun to subside. It wasn’t gone, but it had dulled from the feeling of someone trying to hammer a steel spike into her spine to a much gentler feeling of ripping it back out again and leaving it. *This is not how I wanted to wake up this morning.* Kat groaned and turned fully onto her stomach hoping to relieve the pain in her back when she noticed something strange. Her back felt off. When she tried to roll over it was like she had a small weight pulling behind her. Craning her neck around Kat froze, sticking out of her back, was a long thin something. Ignoring the pain for a moment and trying to sit up, Kat followed the line down past her legs to find it ending in a mostly flat spade shape.

*Oh no. no, no, no. Ok calm down, that doesn’t have to be a tail does it? Certainly, it’s probably just um, blankets, in my thrashing around I rolled my blankets up and this is just what it looks like now.* Kat didn’t believe herself for a second.. not only were her blankets red not black, she could clearly see them at the foot of her bed.