With the demon looking much like an oversized curio jar, the rest of the students started to calm down.
For a moment, there was pure silence.
Well, except for the two remaining students still trying to break down the door.
“You two,” Catherine called out to the students by the door, “do not need to return next class.”
Neither of the two acknowledged her. The locks on the door clicked open as soon as Catherine finished speaking. They both fled from the room without a glance back, shouts and cries fading as they ran down the hall. The noises were cut off as the door swung shut again.
When they were stopped by someone else and asked what was wrong, Irene very much hoped that they would remember the contract that they signed. The consequences of forgetting wouldn’t be pleasant.
Irene had already learned from her actions. Losing her head and fleeing aimlessly was how she ended up nearly dead at the hands of a partial demon just a few months ago. She certainly wouldn’t be making that mistake again.
Brushing back her currently white-blond hair between her horns, Catherine turned in an instant from battle maiden to sultry charmer. The violet blood dripping from her horns and fingers left streaks in her hair. Irene wasn’t quite in the right state of mind to decide whether the blood added to the charm or upped her intimidation factor.
“The rest of you performed adequately. Though Irene,” Catherine said, turning, “should something go obviously wrong again, next time don’t get closer to the circle. I believe that ordeal would have been ended much sooner had my arm not been caught while getting you away.”
Irene grit her teeth. Less because of the admonishment–which she probably deserved–and more because of the increasingly painful ache in her arm. Still, she nodded an acknowledgment at the succubus.
Lightly tapping on the large ball of ice, Catherine frowned. “Now what do we do about–”
“That isn’t an imp,” someone blurted out.
“How very observant of you,” Catherine said as she rolled her eyes. “Yes, this is not an imp.”
Randal took a step forward. “I told her that the circle was inadequate,” he said with a self-righteous tone in his voice.
Catherine shot him a glare. He wilted, taking a step backwards.
“The circle,” Catherine said, “was flawless. Or at least no flaws that would have mattered.”
Irene tried to straighten up at the slight praise and at Randal being shot down, but the pain in her arm ruined that little action. Instead, she looked on as she kept her arm as still as possible.
“I could feel the shackles,” Catherine said. “They might not have
“Then what is that?” said one of the older students with an exceptionally unnecessary gesture towards the ice.
“I haven’t the slightest idea.”
The entire classroom was struck dumb by that single proclamation. A few looked at one another with incredulity.
Irene frowned at the ice ball. Demons had such a variety in appearances and there were so many different ones that she had no clue where to start in identifying the creature.
Humans, for the most part, all had two arms, two legs, a head, and a body connecting it all together. Most humans had hair on their head, two eyes, a nose, a mouth. There were variances in coloring, hair style, muscle mass, and gender dimorphism, but overall, one could look at a photograph and pick out the humans with ease.
Demons weren’t so homogeneous. Arachne had eight eyes, eight legs, and the body of a spider. Catherine had horns, a tail, and wings like a bat. Lucy the security guard had shown up at the previous class and demonstrated her natural form which looked more like a plate of soggy spaghetti than a living thing.
And they all changed. They could turn into something more human-like. Though in Lucy’s case, Irene was having a hard time seeing her as anything but shaped spaghetti noodles since their last class; Lucy’s uncanny appearance just felt so much more pronounced.
There were a few shared traits according to the book. For instance, demons often had red eyes. Not in one hundred percent of cases. If she had a thousand demons in a hat and picked one at random, Irene would put all of her money on it having red eyes.
Irene blinked as she realized another shared trait. One that the book said had no known deviance.
“That thing isn’t a demon.”
“Very astute,” Catherine said as she turned to Irene. “Much more so than whoever said that it wasn’t an imp. What gave it away?”
“Its blood. The book said that demons all had black blood without exception. Purple is not black.”
“Yes, the first and most obvious thing. Well, while it is injured at least. For me, it was that it has no presence. Demons can sense each other to a degree, you see. This thing doesn’t ping my radar in the slightest. Though it does make me somewhat queasy.”
“So what is it?” someone asked.
