The Ritual takes a turn

Salazar watched from his knees as Velveths chanting increased in volume and speed, filling the cave with her magically amplified voice as her arms rose higher. One by one the inner summoning circles changed in colour from red to a bright white until they reached the binding circles surrounding them, stopping the advance. Finally, with a last booming phrase and a bright white light, the ritual was finished.

Velveth was breathing heavily, and beads of sweat had formed on her forehead. In the centre of the circles, still radiating a slowly fading light, was a ball of white string about the size of a human head. Velveth raised her voice again, “Mighty entity, I want to form a binding with you. I am powerful and experienced, there is no better conduit for you in this dimension.”. There was no reaction. Velveth waited a few seconds before continuing, “What do you say?”. Nothing.

*BIND WITH ME*

Salazar shuddered as the voice resonated inside his head. It sounded like someone speaking unimaginably loudly, but through so many layers of cloth that it didn’t deafen him. He shook his head and watched for Velveths reaction; she must be pleased to finally get an answer. His Mistress was still pouting though, crossing her arms and staring at the ball of string. Did the entity speak only to him?

*BIND WITH ME*

There was no mistake, it was talking to him. Fear overcame Salazar. Fear of his Mistresses ****, fear of the surely insidious motives of the entity, deep down, a fear of change.

*ARE YOU NOT THE ONE WHO DREW THESE CIRCLES? THE LOUDMOTHED WOMAN SPEAKING TO ME IS NOT SKILLED ENOUGH TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT! I KNOW IT WAS YOU SO BIND WITH ME*

Salazar was shocked. His Mistress was not capable of drawing the lines he drew? She did have him draw them for quite some time now, but he had thought it was for him to practice. Was he really more skilled than her?

*What are your terms*, he directed his thoughts towards the ball of string.

*I FIND TERMS… RESTRICTING. I KNOW YOU’RE WORRIED ABOUT YOUR SAFETY BUT YOU HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR FROM ME. HOW ABOUT THESE TERMS: I WILL GIVE YOU ABILITIES WHEN I FEEL YOU ARE READY FOR THEM AND I WILL HELP YOU WHEN YOU’RE IN TROUBLE*

Again, Salazar was confused, these terms were incredible. Normally an entity required certain permissions and rights to the body of the summoner before granting any powers, but this one was offering power for nothing in exchange.

His thoughts were interrupted when Velveth stomped her heel on the ground and yelled, “How dare you ignore me? I have summoned you!”. There was still no response, that was when she looked at Salazar, “Come here boy.”. He rose to his feet and walked over to her. As soon as he reached her side, she grabbed him by the neck and threw him into the summoning circle. Her laugh was cruel and indifferent, “There, have this boy as a sacrifice. Will this be enough to show my goodwill? He is my dear apprentice after all.”.

Salazars heart sunk. If anyone crossed the binding circles into an active summoning circle, they essentially stepped into the domain of the entity. He was at the mercy of whatever this being was and with the binding circles all around, he couldn’t escape either. Even if the entity wanted to bind with him, he was of no use to it now that he was also inside the circle. The little tingle of hope he had felt turned into deep despair. He was done for after all. A short glimpse of what could have been if he were to enter a binding with a strong entity, only to have that hope shattered immediately by the betrayal of his teacher.

*OI, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING ALL SAD FOR*

It was weird that the entity still talked to him and even more weird that it wasn’t gloating or taunting him. Salazar didn’t understand, he was of no use now, he couldn’t bring the entity into his dimension from this side of the circle.

*LOOK AT THE BINDING CIRCLE*

His head shot around, following the intricate lines of the binding circle he had drawn. Finally, right in front of him, he looked at his Mistress smirking down at him, completely unaware that the tip of her heel had just ever so slightly smudged the circle.

*BIND WITH ME*

For the first time in years, Salazar smiled.