“…That’s thirty. How many’re left, Azrathim?”
“A lot more than that, buddy boy.”
This poor schnook? The one whose shoulder I’m perched on? That’s Jonah. I scraped his sorry ass offa the pavement around six, maybe seven months back. Found him laid out in the middle of a chalk circle gutted like a fish. Sacrificed, in case you couldn’t tell. It’s a rule that when you want to summon up someone from downstairs, something’s gotta die. Animals are okay, but humans are better. ‘Specially if you want to call upon someone powerful.
Thing is, this summoning didn’t seem to go quite as intended. Guys that had been performin’ the rite were in worse shape than him, if you can believe it. Well past charred. Just poked one and they crumbled into a pile of ash.
Turns out it was Fornax they were tryin’ to summon. Big guy’s an old friend, and he told me later that a group of would-be warlocks tried to bind him to their will. Well, ol’ Flameface didn’t take kindly to that and cremated alla them in the blink of an eye.
He’s known as ‘Fornax the Incinerator’ for a reason.
So there I was, sittin’ in the middle of a grody old warehouse that smelled like a barbecue gone wrong with only one useable corpse laying around. What did I do? I brought him back from the dead, of course! An easy task for someone like me. I may be small, but size isn’t an indicator of sorcerous strength. Not tryin’ to brag, but when it comes to raising the dead I’m second to none. Like, just look at him. Could you tell that he was ever a disemboweled — and partly charred — corpse? No. No you can’t.
Not only did I shove Jonah here back into his body, I made some improvements while I was at it. Dude can pick up a car without breakin’ a sweat, and most conventional weaponry can’t even scratch him. If somethin’ actually can take a chunk outta him, he heals up nice and quick.
Yep. I do fine work.
Anyway, gettin’ back on track. If you think I brought him back from the dead outta the goodness of my heart, you’re a special kind of stupid. I’m no angel, and never claimed to be. Selfless acts give me heartburn.
Hell, I’m starting to like the guy, and even that’s givin’ me heartburn.
There’s a lot of people out there who owe me. I’ve been called upon by humans for all sorts of favors. Some of ’em have wanted to be rich, or powerful, or for enemies to meet terrible ends. Others were lookin’ for something more esoteric; arcane knowledge, the secret to eternal life, or the power to use magic. Each and every time I made good on my end of the bargain. I’ve made a lot of people very happy, but when I asked them to hold up their end of things they had the nerve, the absolute gall, to back out of it.
This is where my new friend comes into play. He’s been helpin’ me collect those debts, usually by collecting their souls. You renege on the deal, I get your soul. Right there in the contract, not that anyone ever reads it all the way through.
Real silly, but that’s humans for ya.
I brought Jonah back to life. Whether or not he asked me for it doesn’t matter, he’s on the hook to pay me back. Once his debt’s settled? He’s free to do whatever he pleases. Hell, I’ll even let him keep all the powers I added in. I’m cool like that.
Anyway —
“…Az?”
He’s staring at me, frowning a little. Typical of him, really. “You’ve been quiet for almost ten minutes. Get lost in your own head again?”
Shit, caught me monologuing. Play it cool. “Nah, nah, nothing like that. Just tryin’ to decide who to go for next, that’s all.”
“…Sure, let’s go with that.”
That was fun! Hope you continue the story.
I really enjoyed reading Azrathim’s voice. This was an entertaining read, I’d love to see more!