Herbie Brennan - Faerie Wars

The Book of Beleth was the last thing he carried into the circle.

Brimstone checked to make sure he had everything. Once he started the operation, there'd be no going back for something he'd forgotten. When you were calling demons, you stayed inside the circle until they were safely gone if you knew what was good for you. So you made sure you had everything to hand before you started.

When he was certain there was nothing missing, he took the haematite stone and used it to inscribe a second triangle, inside the circle this time, touching the circumference at all three points. Then he put two large black candles in their holders and set one to the left of the triangle, one to the right. He surrounded each with a verbena wreath before lighting the wick with a brief touch of his wand. Going nicely, going very nicely.

Thunder rumbled distantly as he inscribed the protective lettering. He used the haematite stone for that as well, leaning cautiously over the edge of the circle to write the word Aay on the floor in the east. Then he moved to the bottom of the internal triangle and wrote JHS along its base. As he finished the 'S', the lettering of both words began to glow slightly, a good sign.

Next he filled the brazier with charcoal soaked in the Rutanian brandy. It lit with a whoosh when he applied the blasting wand. Once the flames died down a little, he added the camphor and a heady smell began to fill the attic room. He took a deep breath. He was ready to go!

Brimstone took up The Book of Beleth, drew himself to his full height and closed his eyes. 'This incense of mine, Oh Great One, is the best I can obtain,' he intoned in a voice that sounded like the rustling of dead leaves. 'It is purified like this charcoal, made from the finest wood.' He waited for a moment, then went on: 'These are my offerings, Oh Great One, from my deepest heart and soul. Accept them, Oh Great One, accept them as my sacrifice.'

In his hands, The Book of Beleth began to glow softly.

Brimstone droned on about the Great One for some time, even though the Great One had never done much for him that he could remember. But The Book of Beleth insisted so he supposed he should pay lip service, just to be on the safe side. When he'd ploughed through all the prescribed prayers and added more camphor to the brazier, he got down to the real business.

'Prince Beleth,' he intoned, his eyes wide open now so he could read the conjuration directly from the book, 'master of the rebel spirits, I ask thee to leave thy abode, in whichever part of the world it may be, to come and speak with me. I command and order thee, in the name of the Great One, to come without making an evil smell, in fair form and pleasing face, to answer in a loud and intelligible voice, article by article, what I shall require of thee – ' How to get more gold, for a start, he thought. How to get more power. 'I command and oblige thee, Prince Beleth, and I vow that if thou fail to come at once, I shall smite thee with my frightful blasting wand so that thy teeth shall drop out, thy skin shall wrinkle, thou shalt have boils on thy bottom and be subject to night sweats, ringing in the ears, falling sickness, flaking dandruff, arthritis, lumbago, uncontrollable dribbling, deafness, runny nose, ingrowing toenails. Amen.'

So far it was all standard stuff. Not word for word, of course, but the sort of evocation he'd used to call up a dozen lesser demons at one time or another. What came next was different. Oh yes, very different.

Brimstone held his breath. After a moment, the first spark crackled from the head of the furthest globe. Almost at once, trapped lightning arced from globe to globe, creating a triangle above to match the triangle below. A heady smell of ozone filled the air and the equipment crackled and roared.

'Come, Beleth!' Brimstone shrieked above the racket. 'Come, Beleth, come!' The book was glowing fiercely now and trembling in his hands. He'd read somewhere the tome was what made all demonic invocations work, whether you had it with you or not. So long as it existed somewhere, the road to Hell was always open to a man who knew the spells.

He stopped to listen. Behind the crackle and roar of the lightning, there was the faint sound of a distant orchestra, then a shimmering within the triangle. Brimstone swung his blasting wand to point it like a musket. 'Come, Beleth!' he repeated.

The music grew louder and the shimmering turned into a hooded form that gradually became more solid before Brimstone's eyes. The creature in the triangle was more than eight feet tall, broadly built with staring, bloodshot eyes. It threw back its hood. There were powerful ram's horns growing from its forehead.

'Enough!' Beleth roared.

Brimstone swallowed. There was something about Beleth that made him nervous. Well, actually everything about Beleth made him nervous. He'd called up demons before, but they'd all been small fry. This was the first time he'd managed a prince. He licked his lips. 'Oh mighty Beleth,' he began, 'I beseech – no, I command thee to remain within thy triangle of goat guts for such time as I – '

Beleth growled. 'Command? You dare to command me?' He had a surprisingly piercing voice for something that rumbled like the thunderstorm outside.

'C-c-command thee to remain within the triangle of g-guts for such time as I determine and – ' Most demons blustered. You had to be firm with them otherwise they'd try to walk all over you.

'Quiet!' Beleth thundered.

Brimstone shut up at once. He hoped the monster couldn't see he was trembling. It occurred to him that maybe this whole business hadn't been such a bright idea. You were always hearing horror stories about how difficult the larger demons were to control. Of course, much of it was Faerie of the Light propaganda, but there was obviously a grain of truth. To his horror, Beleth leaned forward so that the upper half of his body loomed over the boundaries of the triangle and even impinged across the edge of the circle. This wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't supposed to happen at all. He swung the blasting wand to point at Beleth's head.

The demon stared at the weapon and smiled.

'Beware, Beleth,' Brimstone said tightly, his jaw clenched to stop his teeth chattering. 'For I shall so smite thee with my frightful blasting wand that thy teeth shall – '

Beleth's smile widened and a curious discordant ringing sound began to fill the attic room. It crawled into Brimstone's head to fuzz his thoughts and cause an eerie blood-red veil to rise behind his eyes. The wand in his trembling hand began to droop, then melt. Even in his terror, Brimstone set up a howl of protest. The money!

Beleth watched as the wand dissolved completely, then raised his gaze to Brimstone's face. 'You don't have to threaten me.'

'I don't?' Brimstone said.

Beleth shrugged. 'A simple contract of sacrifice will bring you what you want.'

Relief flooded through Brimstone like a balm. Every demon asked for a sacrifice. 'Doves? Cats? Dogs? Nice little sheep?' he asked. 'You don't want a bull, do you?' Bulls were expensive. Not to mention tricky to kill. A sudden thought struck him. 'Wait a minute – it's a rare breed, isn't it? Something on the endangered list?'

'No, nothing like that. I just want you to sacrifice the second person you see after you leave the circle.'

Brimstone's eyes widened. 'You mean a human sacrifice?'

'Exactly!' Beleth rumbled.

Brimstone released an explosive sigh of pure relief. 'Piece of piss,' he said.

There was a knock on the attic door as Brimstone was intoning the ritual licence to depart. He had his contract now, properly signed in blood by both parties, but Beleth still hovered in the triangle.

'I told you I didn't want to be disturbed,' he shrieked. 'Go away! Go away!' He dropped his voice and went back to mumbling the licence: '…adjure and conjure you to leave this place, fully and without hesitation, returning whence you came, there to remain until – ' A part of his mind was wondering how he was going to turn off the lightning box now his blasting wand was destroyed.