It rolled along the floor before losing momentum and falling flat on its side.
Right in the center of Irene’s summoning circle.
“Go on,” Catherine said. “Channel your magic into the circle. Become the first true diabolist of the class.”
“I, um…” Irene took a step back from her circle.
Taking a deep breath, Irene moved back up to the summoning circle. She knelt down at the edge and shut her eyes–more to block out the sight of the watching students than any part of the ritual. With another deep breath, Irene started pushing her magic into the circle.
She had never used a ritual circle before. Summoning circles operated much the same way, from what she understood from books. There was a strange tingling sensation that was completely absent when she used a regular wand.
When she opened her eyes, Irene almost jumped back away from the circle again. The runes and markings she had drawn on the tiled floor were moving, rotating around the center point she had used to mark her initial circle. None of the symbols in the circle seemed to move at the same pace as the rest of it. Outside runes moved slower while the geometric shapes towards the inside spun around like the blades of a fan.
Irene did note that the shackles weren’t rotating. The shackle lines glowed faintly even in the light of the classroom. Otherwise, they were the same as when she had drawn them.
She actually did jump back when a gaping black maw erupted from the rotating circle. Shark-like teeth chomped around the coin.
A snake-like appendage erupted from beneath the circle. Despite coming through the floor as if through water, the appendage clamped down on the tiles like the hard floor it was.
More tentacles pulled the rest of the body through the floor until the entire thing was above ground.
With all the snake-like tentacles hanging off of its body, it looked something like a cross between Medusa and a large dog. Definitely not what an imp was supposed to look like.
Four red eyes glared around the room, moving from one silent student to the next. Settling on Irene, the dog slammed into the barrier formed by the shackles.
Irene jumped back again, letting out a startled shriek.
Her shackles lost some of their glow, flickering lightly as the demon reared its head into the barrier again.
Irene only vaguely heard the startled shouts coming from the other students. All of her attention was focused on a desperate feeding of more of her magic into the shackles.
Though the glow strengthened for a moment, the shackles flickered again as the demon rhythmically pounded into the wall.
“Help,” Irene said, glancing towards Catherine.
The succubus was wide-eyed with her mouth slightly agape, almost pressing herself away from the circle and into her desk.
Irene didn’t have time to consider the implications.
A resounding sound of glass shattering preceded her shackles going dark.
Iced
The demon’s gaping maw snapped shut mere inches in front of Irene’s face. Inches only because something gripped her arm and pulled.
Irene didn’t stop inches from the demon. The force on her arm kept her going. She flew backward, rolling into a table that had been pushed to the edge of the room.
Pain in her shoulder and upper arm forced her to cry out as she came to a stop. Even through her shirt, Irene could see an unpleasant lump. Her arm wasn’t where it was supposed to be.
Gripping her dislocated shoulder with her other arm, Irene grit her teeth and turned her attention to the scene unfolding before her.
Chaos.
The other students were scrambling around. Some of the older students had their wands out, firing off bolts of electricity or balls of fire at the demon. Others moved to the door, clawing at it in an attempt to escape.
There were still five minutes before the official end of class. Catherine had not unlocked the door yet.
A cynical part of Irene’s mind commented on how much of a fire hazard that was. Catherine could probably unlock it quickly. Unfortunately, she was a little tied up at the moment.
Standing in her fully transformed demonic form, Catherine fought against the demon. She didn’t seem to be doing all that well.
Irene would have thought that an oversized rottweiler would have been easy prey for the succubus.
