The doll stumbled forward to the edge of the summoning circle. It slammed into an invisible wall right where the shackles started. Cracks ran through its formerly flawless skin at the point of impact.
It let out another silent scream as it fell onto its back.
More dust fell around Juliana as a tremor shook her little room.
It pulled itself to a sitting position right in front of Juliana.
And it cried.
No sound came out of the doll’s mouth, but it was unmistakably crying. The doll even tried to wipe away nonexistent tears with the sleeves of its red dress.
A wide crack split the summoning circle in two. Flames belched forth, forcing Juliana to flinch away from the heat. A motion in her fingers had her ferrokinesis moving metal to cover her entire face.
As she felt the heat die down, Juliana formed two peep holes for her eyes.
The doll managed to catch itself on the edge of the crag. Wax melted away under the lingering heat. Two blue eyes met with Juliana’s own in fierce accusation.
The moment lasted mere seconds.
Another tremor shook away the small bit of land that the doll had managed to hold onto. It fell into the flaming pit with one last silent scream.
Juliana stared as the pit slowly mended itself. The doll’s face had been so lifelike in those last few moments. She could almost see herself in its features. Had its hair color been different…
She shook her head as a shiver ran up her spine. It was
So absorbed was she in staring that Juliana almost forgot the next step.
Juliana brought her hands together in applause.
“Thank you, thank you. You’re too kind.”
Juliana had to hold in a scream. The man appeared without a single motion or noise. All the other demons she summoned had climbed out or otherwise emerged from the summoning circle.
None had just appeared, especially not mid bow.
At least he appeared human. She was still not sure that the vocabulary existed to describe one of the demons she’d summoned.
He wore a fancy tuxedo with a bow tie and a red rose in his lapel. On his head was a featureless, white mask. It had been pushed to one side of his head, as if he moved it out of the way to eat.
Held in both of his white-gloved hands were cross-shaped wooden planks. Strings dangled loosely beneath them.
Looking closer, Juliana realized that he had thin strings attached to his wrists, head, back, arms, legs, and several other points that extended up into nothingness.
Fitting for a demon subtitled ‘The Marionette.’ She wondered if there was something more, something hidden away beyond the obvious thing in front of her. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know either way.
“I trust you enjoyed tonight’s performance, milady?” As he spoke, he raised his head from the bow to look Juliana in the eyes.
His didn’t seem to glow at all.
“Is something the matter, milady?”
Juliana blinked and shook her head. She’d been staring. “No. It was very, um, unexpected.”
“Excellent,” he said as he clasped his hands together. The puppet control sticks vanished as his hands connected. “Life would be so droll if nothing unexpected came along.” He flashed a smile full of sharp, interlocking teeth. Very much reminiscent of Arachne’s teeth.
“To whom do I owe the pleasure–” He cut himself off with a tilt of his head and a small sniff of his nose. “There are a number of other demons around, including one with almost overwhelming power.”
“That would probably be Professor Zagan.”
“Sounds familiar.”
“I think they were calling him a pillar.”
The demon blinked. And blinked again. “Well,” he said with a nervous chuckle, “I see I’ve overstayed my–”
“What? No. Don’t go.” Juliana bit her lip before letting some of the metal around her head retreat. “You’re the first demon that can talk and isn’t trying escape the shackles to kill me.”
He gave a deep, guttural laugh. Almost predatory. Quite the contrast to his otherwise affluent speech. “First, you need more experience at determining when a demon is trying to kill you. Second–”
“You’re trying to kill me?”
Another chuckle. “I hope I don’t offend. It’s like tradition. I will say that your shackles are well made. I might be able to get through them given some time. You might look into finding how to create stronger ones.”
“Um, thanks?”
He smiled, though it appeared slightly strained. “As I was saying, pillars are bad news. Lastly, said pillar is heading in this direction. Since you seem new to this, I’ll give you a tip: demons can sense one another for quite some distance in the mortal realm.”
“He’s what?” Juliana jumped to her feet. “Why is he coming here?”
“Probably to play with us before he kills us,” he said with a wave of his hand.
“You don’t seem that worried,” Juliana said far calmer than she felt.
