Amos stared unblinkingly. Had he just woken up from a dream? But the fear and eerie silence felt so real. He could still feel it creeping under his skin.
"Who... are you?" Amos asked, still in the same position.
After what had happened, seeing the strange woman felt like a relief. He didn’t care anymore if she was a witch or even a criminal.
Lilian crossed her arms. "Well, I don’t like uninvited guests. But you really made a mess, didn’t you?"
Amos remained silent, blinking repeatedly, confused. He didn’t know what was really happening.
"Where am I?" Amos asked, looking around him.
"Where do you think you are? Weren’t you the one who wanted to meet me?"
Amos looked at Lilian again. "So you’re the owner of the Candy Shop? You’re the witch?"
Lilian crossed her arms, looking at Amos and shaking her head. "I’m sure that cute man will cause me trouble."
Lilian had already suspected this would happen when Vlad brought Alvaro to her place. She thought she would get many victims, but among the guards who came, she never expected to meet a wizard.
And that guard, who was a wizard, had just invited a high-ranking demon to her place.
Lilian couldn’t ignore Amos; she knew that. So she signaled the young man to follow her.
Amos stood up, feeling his legs tremble slightly. He had been too scared earlier. He walked after Lilian, trying hard not to fall behind, or he might get trapped in the darkness again.
Lilian turned toward an open door. Amos followed, seeing the dim light from lamps in several places, and a candle on a table.
Amos stood silently in the doorway when he saw a handsome man sitting calmly, reading something on a table covered with boxes of candy.
"You have another guest, honey?" The man looked up. His gray eyes sparkled as he stared at Amos. Then a small smile spread across his lips.
Amos swallowed hard, especially when he saw the woman kissing the handsome man so wildly. He just stood there awkwardly, looking around to avoid the strange couple who didn’t know where to make out.
Lilian looked at Redert. "I have to resolve this. I miss you..." Lilian kissed Redert again, lingering as if they hadn’t seen each other in a year. But they had only been apart for less than an hour.
Lilian looked at Amos and her smile widened. She immediately walked to a small table in the corner of the room and asked Amos to sit down.
"So, you’re a wizard too?" Lilian asked, her voice light and cheerful.
Amos hesitated as he walked toward the seat in front of the table. Lilian was already sitting across from him. They would be facing each other.
"I’m not a wizard," Amos replied briefly.
"Strange... you summoned a high-ranking demon, and you say you’re not a wizard. I can also sense magical energy in your body."
Amos sat down, unsure if he should being honest with the woman, that he had made a mistake.
Lilian smirked slightly. She felt strange because she couldn’t read anything from Amos, something that was usually very easy for her to do when looking at normal humans.
"Tell me, don’t you need me? Isn’t that why you came here?"
Amos took a deep breath before speaking. "I need you to come to the palace. I... made a mistake. I really need your help."
Lilian leaned back in her chair, waiting for Amos to say more. She had heard from the guards she had captured, that the prince had invited her to the palace.
But she didn’t like interacting with humans, especially not seriously. She liked her world, which was free from pressure or interference from anyone.
Amos bowed his head and told her how he had made a mistake with the king.
He recounted every detail.
Lilian seemed uninterested, but she was curious about the figure in front of her. She couldn’t see anything about Amos’s life.
"So you stopped the ritual halfway through?" Lilian asked for clarification.
Amos nodded. "I didn’t know how to lift the spell. I tried everything, but I just messed everything up. I created a magic portal and couldn’t close it. Now the portal keeps emitting light." Amos began to panic as he remembered each of his mistakes. If anyone saw his room, it would be even harder for him to get out of this mess.
"Then you came to me?"
Amos looked at Lilian with a pleading gaze. "I tried to cover it up. I know I was wrong, but I was scared. And eventually, Prince Sylas heard what I did. If I didn’t bring you to the palace, they would take me to the royal court. I would be sentenced to death," Amos said.
Lilian smirked. "Well, that’s not my problem. You have to solve your own problems. I don’t want to get involved."
Amos clenched his lips. "Please, help me. I’ll give you anything I can."
Lilian looked at the fear in Amos’s eyes and chuckled softly. "You should have stayed away from humans. And what have you done? You helped them, and now they’re going to take you to your death?"
"Remember one thing, if you help them, they’ll only use you, no matter if you’re dying or even dead," Lilian said softly, seriously, her voice full of pressure.
Amos listened, then bowed his head. He was aware of that and had learned from his mistake. But he still needed to find a solution to the unresolved problem.
Amos looked back at Lilian. "Can you tell me what I can do, if you don’t want to go to the palace? All they want is to remove the magic from His Majesty’s body."
Lilian smiled. "You have a strong aura and the potential to become a great wizard. You just don’t even know how wizards and magic work."
Amos fell silent. He had heard his mother say many times that he had strong wizard blood, and she had forbidden him from practicing magic. She had even forbidden him from touching magic books until he had to steal one to bring to the palace.
"What’s your name?" Lilian asked.
Amos looked up. "Amos."
"Alright, Amos, the first thing you need to know is that magic doesn’t just happen. You need an intermediary and ’something’ to help you."
Amos blinked in confusion.
"Nothing happens suddenly. As a wizard, you need the help of ’demons.’ And to summon them, spells were created. The stronger the spell and ritual you perform, the stronger and more competent the demon will be to help you."
Amos widened his eyes. He had no idea about any of this.
"Every wizard connects with a demon and makes a deal with them. You see, demons won’t help you without something in return. They want your soul in exchange."
Amos listened carefully.
"From the beginning, witches know what they want and what they sacrifice. They will get anything, as long as they promise to hand over their souls when they die. And that pact lasts a lifetime."
Amos swallowed hard, thinking of his mother. Did his mother also have a pact with the demons? But why didn’t she use her spells properly if she truly made a pact and would pay with her soul?
Lilian continued. "What you did to His Majesty was, you summoned the demon and performed the ritual, but you stopped it before you actually made the pact. The demon assigned to make your spell work tried to pull you in, but you couldn’t even feel their presence. Because your knowledge and preparation were insufficient and very weak." Read full story at nοvelfire.net
Amos tried to process it. "Does that mean the demon I summoned couldn’t make contact with me?"
Lilian nodded. "Because you couldn’t see or feel them. You cast other spells and opened a portal, summoning more demons. You caused chaos without realizing it. And you summoned high-ranking demons into my home. Well, that’s good..." Lilian said sarcastically.
Amos shuddered at her words. He struggled to swallow his saliva. "Does that mean there’s no way to stop them?"
"You can stop them if you make a proper pact with the demons. You must learn to accept and feel their presence, then choose the strongest demon. You can command it to do anything, especially destroy the demons you’ve summoned before and finish what you haven’t completed."
Amos bowed his head. That meant he had to make a deal with a demon, and in exchange, he had to give up his soul when he died. Was that a fair price?
No wonder his mother had always forbidden him from touching anything related to magic. It seemed like she was afraid he would come into contact with demons.
But now, did he have any other choice?
Amos looked at Lilian. "Can’t you help me?"
Lilian shook her head. "Demons have ranks. Seeing the demon coming for you, I’m not sure I can break your spell."
Amos took a deep breath, starting to panic, his hands trembling slightly. "What should I do? Please help me. I’ll do whatever you say."
Lilian clenched her fingers, gave him a mischievous look, and smiled crookedly. "I’ll consider it if you’re willing to dance naked in front of me."
Amos’s eyes widened. "Sorry?"
He thought he’d heard wrong, but Lilian’s gaze was so mischievous.
Amos swallowed hard. Dance naked?