On Terram Turbine Ignis or translated from Latin to English Land of Fire and Storm live what we would call Demons. I suppose they do resemble the biblical idea of demons, but there is a stark difference in what humans would consider hell and the Demons homeworld. Hell for one is where humans are tormented, the demon world has no humans at all. They could not survive there. Hell, even the demons barely survive there since everything from the bugs up to the plants is trying to kill each other. In a way, that is actually fortunate for humans of our world. As the demons are too busy surviving to learn the magic needed to enter our world without being tethered by a human. If they knew of humans, they might band together and create the necessary magic to reach us, but due to all the deaths from natural causes on their world the abductions of a few demons here and there go unnoticed.

On the day that Alex was going to the cavern, a man was starting the ritual to summon a demon to bind. First, he had to use a sight spell to see across the planes for a target. Then set up a portal spell linked from the targeted demon to his pentagram to restrict it while he attempted to bind it to his will. His target was a young demoness imp named Xiantha who was on one of the plains of her world hunting for some food. The man cast his portal so that it appeared in front of where she was flying in such a way that she could not avoid it. As soon as she entered the portal, it closed again rendering her unconscious during the transition.

When she awoke, she found herself inside a strange drawing on the floor with shackles from her arms, legs, even on her tail. She had no access to magic or any kind of range attack so being bound left her defenseless. About this time she heard a voice. “My name is David Cox, and you will submit to me and call me master.” Unfortunately for David, he picked the wrong imp to try to get a willing submission from that way. She was a strong willed demon and would as soon as die as submit to someone who captured her. She hissed at him and firmly told him to release her and send her back where she came from. David then informed her that the magic was only single directional and she could never go back to her world. Further, he told her if he wanted to he could have bound her to him by exchanging blood while she was unconscious, but that would weaken her. Willing submission would allow her to develop naturally instead of stunting her growth and development. Now that she was awake, he could still force her to become bound to him with another spell, but he told her that she would die first and he would then try another demon because he wanted greater power. He told her that she would need mana to survive in this world and that she could only receive it through the bond and without it her body would slowly waste away to nothing. This then led to a back and forth exchange and the eventual beating that Alex eventually witnessed. David had lied to Xiantha though, he could not summon anything else from her world. The magic would only allow it to be done once by a person, David could never cast that summon again which is why he eventually gave up and decided to magically bind her to him.

From Xiantha’s point of view, things were a little different. I had just about given up, I almost gave into this sadistic bastard who was enjoying hurting me. Then I heard from outside something coming. I was unsure what this meant to me, but it couldn’t be any worse than the position I was in now. I endured another beating while screaming my defiance and then this other man peered into the room. I watched him closely as he took everything in, then when the next beating occurred, I saw the anger appear on his face, and felt hope. Maybe this man would kill me instead of torturing me like David was doing. When David turned his back, I faced this new man fully and mouthed the words, please help to him, and he showed surprise, then fear as he ducked back around the corner. When David tells me he is going to bind me by a spell, I decided to try again to enlist his help to die and rejoin my kin in the spirit world by saying, “No, Kill me please.” David started chanting, and I heard a slight scuffle from outside the room, and the man walked in again with a large rock. Xiantha thought I was fierce in my hunting, I always imagined some great creature would end my life, not some rock in a cave, but it’s better than enforced servitude. I nod to the new man in gratitude for ending my suffering and lower my head to the ground waiting for the end to come with tears falling from my eyes.

Then with a sound like a fruit being broken open, the chanting stops, and I hears a body fall to the ground. I raise my head and look at the new man in shock, he killed one of his own rather than me!! I don’t understand, why he would do that. All I wanted was the mercy of a quick death, not for him to kill for me. I guess my shock is apparent to him because he looks at me and says. “I don’t know what you are, but treating anything like that is wrong. I could not allow him to enslave you, or torture you more. What is your name?”

He does not approach me for which I am grateful, and I reply to him “Xiantha, how are you called?”

He replies, “Alex Johnson. Where did you come from, how did he get you here, can we get you home?” The questions came rapid fire at me, and the last one broke something in me. I started sobbing “He said that I could not be sent home, that I could never go home.”

Alex moved towards me then and took me in his arms and hugged me. I didn’t know what a hug was since I had never gotten one before then but it felt soothing. My homeworld is a land of constant danger, this new world seems to be one of extreme emotions instead, from pain, and anger to intense sorrow, then to near contentment. Once I have cried myself out, Alex starts trying to figure out how to remove the shackles from my body, he eventually finds a key in a pocket on the dead man’s robes and starts to unlock me. While he is doing that, I tell him about my world and how I ended up here.

Since I got here, I have been feeling a thirst, and it’s slowly getting worse and worse. I tell Alex, and he goes out of the room and comes back with water for me. I drink it and discover that it does nothing to quench this thirst and realize that maybe David had been telling the truth. Maybe without whatever this bond is I will start to die. I look at Alex and tell him about what David had told me, and he glances at the corpse again with a disgusted look on his face, and I think to myself that maybe this man will help save me, and maybe together we can find a way to send me back home. If not at least I would have someone kind to be with in this new world. He pulls me into his arms again, and I decide that I want to live, so I say the words aloud “I accept Alex Johnson as my master and friend.” He quickly raises his head and shouts “What are you doing?” and the pentagram we have both been sitting in flares to life, and we both lose consciousness.