D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Kat found herself in a hall that matched the previous room well. The corridor had wooden walls and lights all across the ceiling. The corridor extended for quite some ways into the distance, and Kat estimated it was around 200m, with doors every 10m’s or so. Kat had the desire to open the doors that they had passed. So many of them looked identical and yet she had a feeling something interesting was behind at least one of them. Despite this desire though Kat continued to fly forward, every time she considered opening up a door she could hear the clink of chains in her ears and the words of the contract would come forth into her mind reminding her she’d promised to walk straight and enter a room without deviating from that.

It wasn’t an uncomfortable feeling per say, even that fact it seemed to loom behind her wasn’t all that concerning. It was more like a watchful parent that wanted to ensure the best for their children. The method might be harsh if called upon, but they ultimately wished for it go never come to that point for both of their sakes. Eventually Kat did arrive at the door. The robed man had walked slightly passed and then bowed extending his arm towards the door indicating for her to walk in.

Following the instructions Kat turned the door handle and carefully walked inside. To no surprise whatsoever this room also featured nothing but wooden walls and well lit ceilings. Would it kill you to put some decorations up? Or windows? Could you do windows? While Kat was complaining internally, she was also scanning the four people who happened to be in the room. It was of some surprise to Kat that there was four people in room considering that mage had talked about the client singular, but she guessed that a group could count as a client in these circumstances. The next thing that stuck out to Kat was the hair of the group, it was all vibrant colours. Not the usual lush hair but in the case of one girl it was a bright neon green.

The group was arranged somewhat professionally. One of the men stood in front of the others, with bright brown hair that was cut extremely short and close to his hair just barely long enough to avoid being labelled a buzz cut. His face had the radiance of youth and he worn a big, if somewhat forced smile. He had a full set of plate armour on though the material was strange to Kat. Instead of a shiny steel finish it had a blueish tint to it. None of the figures carried any weapons but the gauntlets on that plate mail armour looked deadly enough by themselves despite there unadorned nature, just the shear bulk of the armour was more than enough to cause someone trouble.

To the man’s right was a much taller and thinner man in a set of scale mail armour. The leather was a dark green and evoked images of dark swamps and mangroves. His hair was a matching brown with his other companion, but his hair was a good deal longer. Not to the point that it even covered his neck, but more than long enough when compared to his friend. His face was a strange mix of youth and experience. He didn’t seem older than the first man, but his face had a random assortment of scars in various places and angles and a particularly nasty one covering his left eye. Based on the fact he was staring at Kat with somewhat undisguised disapproval she could tell that his eyes still worked.

The final member that was grouped together was a tall woman, even taller than both her males’ counterparts dwarfing Kat who was already quite tall for a woman by a significant margin. She had her face set in a hard line with a pair of thick glasses and stared at Kat like she was trying to look into her soul. There was no hostility like the second man, no judgement, only cold analysis of her and the situation at hand. Contrary to the armoured men beside her she had a robe that more closely resembled the mage outside. It was a dark blue much like her hair and was covered in runes that glowed faintly against the fabric. They were hard to make out, being the same colour as the cloak itself but Kat’s eyesight more than met the challenge and was able to identify three distinct markings at least on the front. On the woman’s back Kat could see the faint outline of something resembling wings. They were hard to make out but Kat was sure she could see them.

The final figure stood away from the group, around three large strides behind them to be exact. Kat couldn’t see much of the last girl because she was hidden by her companions quite well. All Kat could see from this angle was her green eyes and wavy green hair. It wasn’t as vibrant as the others and seemed to be trying to blend into the background. Of course, bright green hair against a brown wooden background still stood out well and Kat was able to notice her without any trouble.

Kat stopped around two metres away from the group. She was unsure what the proper etiquette was in this world, but such a distance would be far enough away to make it clear she wasn’t encroaching on their personal space but easily close enough to have a conversation. Well, perhaps she was a bit further away then necessary but stepping closer to what looked to be veteran fighters of any kind wasn’t high on Kat’s to-do list.

The group just looked at Kat in return. The polite smile, the disapproval, the analysis, and now, from the hidden figure in the back-innocent curiosity. Kat was unsure what to make of a group like this. She couldn’t help but wonder what sort of job they’d want from her. They all seemed capable in their roles… Well, the girl in the back was perhaps the least professional, but between them Kat couldn’t figure out what skills she might have that they lacked.

Right, so we have platemail, grumpy, glasses, and… green? Eh that’ll do for now I suppose.

”Are you our demon?” asked Platemail as he stepped half a step towards Kat.

”My name is Kat, and well, I certainly don’t belong to anyone, but I am considering working for you” said Kat

”Oh great it’s a smartass” said Grumpy

”Hey, these sorts of contracts are extremely binding, I have to be careful what I agree to. Wouldn’t want to have a misunderstanding causing the contract to curse you now would you?” said Kat.

”Also you’re being rude, the demon in front of you is almost certainly of the female variety and I for one would be rather put off if I was referred to as an ’it’” said Glasses ”Besides we need her to accept the contract, we hardly have the time or funds to hire another demon”

”Well don’t tell it that. Now it’s got leverage. This is why I hate working with you” said Grumpy.

”Uh please don’t fight” said Green in the back but was promptly ignored.

”Consider it your punishment. I won’t have you treating her as anything less the a sentient being. I know you have your problems with demons… and dragonkin… and most of the other races but that isn’t her fault” said Glasses

”Look you fairy bitch, just because the young master likes your whore of a charge, doesn’t mean I-” Grumpy was cut off when Platemail slammed him in the face and sent him flying into the wall. A bright light coated them for a moment and he bounced off before the wall dimmed and Grumpy groaned on the floor.

”Fix your accursed mouth. I’ve let you accompany me on my adventures for years. We played together as children, but every time you insult my fiancé I get this much closer to kicking you out. I understand your problem, I really do, but now isn’t the time for this” said Platemail.

”Indeed scum” hissed Glasses, ”We need another teammate and your poor attitude is getting us nowhere”

”Why listen here, fairy bitch, I might not be able to insult your” Grumpy caught himself ”Your lovely companion, but I can still insult you. So why don’t you”

Kat tuned the bickering pair out at this point. Whatever it was the wanted to say, clearly it wasn’t worth her attention. This was an old argument, and she doubted it would be resolved here and now. While this arguing was taking place however the final member of the group was sneaking around the outside of the room towards Kat.

The other didn’t seem to notice her presence, as she walked past them towards Kat, but Green did pick up on Kat’s eyes that followed her around the room. Walking around and past Kat she started speaking from behind Kat’s wings

”I’m sorry for those two. We really need your help” said Green

”What with? I certainly can’t fix their dysfunctional attitudes” said Kat

Kat could here Green taking a big breath behind her and pausing for a moment as if afraid to speak the words Kat needed to hear. ”We need you to enter a tournament”