A Contract is a Contract - 1. A Contract is a Contract

Volgeleth stood in front of the ornately-carved, white-painted wooden door. He raised his clawed hand to knock, then hesitated. He puffed out a small cloud of dark smoke. How had it come to this? he wondered. He was the High Priest of the Golaxaar, not some lesser demon. He was no one’s errand boy. And knocking on a stupid human’s door? Inconceivable! Volgeleth never asked permission to enter someone’s home.

He scowled, then remembered the king’s words to him before sending him on this cluster fuck of a task. “Remember to be nice. Word of this deal can’t get out or else it means doom to all demonkind.”

Volgeleth attempted to smile, hoping the illusion spell hid his sharp, jagged teeth. He should appear to be human to anyone he encountered. He knocked on the door loudly, hoping to fix this mess quickly.

The door opened, creaking on its hinges. What do we have here? A demon in disguise?

"What do you want?" demanded the young man standing in the doorway.

"Look the deal is null and void," the demon began.

"The hell it is," the man screamed at him and crossed his arms over his chest.

The demon grew an inch or three, and his shoulders became a little broader. It looked as if someone was about to lose their composure. The human lifted an eyebrow and smirked. Then, all of a sudden, the demon caught himself and smiled back. A smile, with a flash of fang. It was the creepiest thing the man had ever seen. Not that he was impressed by the demon’s demeanor; the man had him, and he knew it.

Volgeleth inhaled and reminded himself again to be—he shuddered—nice. “May I come in?” He wanted to claw the smirk off the impudent human’s face.

The man shrugged and stepped aside. Volgeleth entered the abode and stood in the gaudy foyer, arms crossed. He uncrossed them when he realized he looked defensive. And why wasn’t this meatsack afraid of him? He was a demon for fuck’s sake!

“The deal is null and void,” he repeated. “Silvadas wouldn’t sign off on it.”

“That’s not my problem. You know the rules. A contract is a contract. I met the conditions, which makes it unbreakable.” Then he sniffed exaggeratedly and grinned. “Is it me, or does it smell of sulphur?”

The demon growled.

After a long moment, the human exhaled loudly. “Look, there is no out for you. I expect you to release Valerian, otherwise I’m going to involve the angels.”

Volgeleth shook his head and gritted his teeth. Fuck being nice. This puny human was not going to threaten the mighty High Priest of the Golaxaar—the most fierce of the demon races. He scowled and released the illusion spell, allowing this festering piece of excrement to see him in his demonic glory. In an instant, he reached out to grab the human’s cloth covering—shirt, he recalled—his eyes blazing furiously crimson, and his head lowered as if he was going to skewer the infuriating beast on his gleaming black horns.

Instead of grabbing soft cloth; however, the angry demon found himself flying backward through the air, repulsed by a powerful spell. What in damnation was that?

The human buffed his nails with the fabric of his shirt, spread his hand, and admired the result. “Your king might have forgotten to mention a little something.” He bowed, with a great gesture. “May I introduce myself? Tamás of Lichterberg, Grandmaster.”

Volgeleth flattened his ears and narrowed his eyes. His pointed, scaly tail twitched as he realized the king had set him up. This was retaliation for the scandal. Defending his lower priests would now cost him his life. The demon snorted, smoke billowing toward Tamas. I won’t go down without a fight. The king doesn’t know my true power. He held up his hand, a glowing purple ball of energy swirled above his palm. He whispered a few guttural words, then glared at Tamas, grinning. “Is Valerian worth your life?”

“Always.” The Grandmaster made a casual, swirling motion with his right hand, pointed at the demon’s purple orb, and it fizzled out of existence. “As far as I can see, we are evenly matched. Maybe we should concentrate on the main problem here.”

The demon pushed down the burning feelings of rage and humility. He was the High Priest of the Golaxaar—the highest position in demondom, next to the king! Hell, there were few demons who even came close to the power he possessed! And now this stupid flesh ball…the weakest of the lesser creatures…wielded power equal to his. What the actual fuck?

Even though Tamas was a Grandmaster, he had to have help to get his abilities on par with the demon’s. Silvadas. No wonder he wouldn’t sign the deal.

Fuck.

Volgeleth leveled his gaze at the human. He was screwed, but damn if he’d show it. “I’m listening.”

Tamás went to an ornate cabinet and opened it. After some rummaging, he turned around—the demon tensed.

“Your king wants to get rid of you.” He lifted a bottle of ancient whiskey. “Need any help?”

“What do you know of it? And why would you help me?” Against his better judgement, he took the glass of amber liquid the human held out to him.

They toasted, and each took a hearty gulp.

“You know what I want: Valerian...and maybe a powerful demon who’s indebted to me.” Tamás pulled a strange amulet from under his shirt.

The glass slid from Volgeleth’s hand and shattered on the floor, the remaining liquid scattered with the flying shards. His eyes widened and for once, he was rendered speechless.

The Orb of Dulgorath!

No wonder this puny human had such power. Volgeleth nodded, salivating at the thought of obtaining the amulet. “I will get you Valerian in exchange for the trinket around your neck.”

Tamás froze. Then he threw his head back and laughed out loud. “Try again.”

Volgeleth’s tail twitched back and forth. “That’s my deal. How badly do you want him? I could just as easily kill him instead of freeing him.”

A plan was forming in the demon’s mind… one that would nullify any deal with this festering pile of humanity and get him the amulet. It would come with a hefty price, but the High Priest was willing to pay it.

The human watched Volgeleth. Narrowing his eyes, he thought he knew exactly what was going on behind those horns. Quickly he rubbed the amulet and pressed his thumb down, and the demon found himself inside of a shimmering cage. “Your powers are neutralized. I could kill you, immediately, but I have no interest in that. Why are you so stubborn? The amulet is worthless to you, as it is synchronized with my soul’s pattern.”

Volgeleth laughed. “Let me guess… Silvadas gave you that amulet, didn’t he?”

Tamás clapped his hands.“Bravo! Any idea why?”

“Because that ‘synchronized with my soul’s pattern’ crap is his typical line.” Volgeleth stretched his arms and cracked his neck. He walked through the shimmering cage, flinching slightly as the weak magic stung his hide as it dissipated. He towered over the puny human and held out his hand, claws upward. “Now. Are you going to give me the amulet, or do I have to eat you?”

The human rolled his eyes. “So predictable.” He swallowed the last of the whiskey. “We could have been allies.” Then the demon began to shrink. When he reached two inches, Tamás put the glass over him. “Your king fucked you over. Valerian is already free. There never was a contract.”

Condensation dripped down the inside of the glass as steam obscured the tiny demon. His breath came in hot gasps as he struggled to contain his rage. Volgeleth had never wanted to eat a human more in his life. He’d slurp his blood and pick his teeth with the infuriating meatbag’s bones.

A tiny peep crescendoed into a loud roar as Volgeleth channeled his fury into magic and grew to twice the human’s height, shattering the glass in the process. He knocked the fucker down and stood on top of him, front legs pinning the human’s shoulders down. Volgeleth grinned, showing all his sharp teeth. Foul goo dripped onto the stunned human’s face, causing him to retch. “I’m going to enjoy this,” Volgeleth hissed.

“Stop! Get off him!” A familiar, commanding voice bellowed.

Volgeleth scowled, then slunk off the human and returned to his normal size. He glared at the traitorous angel. “Valerian. What’s the meaning of this?”

Valerian smirked. “It was too easy to draw you into this. But your power can be useful, especially if we join forces.”

“Join forces? Why would I want to do that?”

“To overthrow the king, of course! He’s gone soft, making deals with humans. Your demonic powers, combined with my archangel powers will allow us to dethrone the king in no time.” Valerian scoffed.

Volgeleth looked from Valerian to the human’s now-wide eyes. He laughed, a hissing, raspy sound. “Deal.” He licked his lips as he eyed the trembling human. “Care for a snack?”