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

Kat stared at the door as she closed her mouth *You know, the tree looked a little different… I didn’t expect such a drastic change when viewed from the ground. Why is there a door here?*

As Kat approached though, it was clear that the door was never intended for human- err demon use. The door itself sat at around waist height and only extended to her eyeline. Kat scanned the clearing for anything out of placed as she slowly approached the door.

As Kat wrapped her hand around the door handle, she spun around scanning the tree line again but saw nothing. To Kat this whole situation smelled fishy and she was sure Thyme wouldn’t just let such a prime opportunity for a trap of some kind go to waste.

Shrugging of her worries she carefully opened the door ready to jump back at the slightest sound. As the door opened Kat heard a slight creaking and sprung back as far as her legs would carry her. Charging them up she practically flew to the far end of the clearing backing up against one of the trees only to have the door creak fully open to reveal a box inside and no traps.

”But I look like a fool now, hey Timmy” said Kat to her passenger that had managed to keep its grip. Walking up to inspect the box Kat found that it didn’t seem to be locked at all. Kat tapped the sides lightly just enough to lift the box and let it fall down.

Nothing happened. Kat flicked the lid of the box open slightly then braced herself… but nothing happened. Throwing the box open Kat then took a step back and looked into the nook searching for any form of traps.

Once again, nothing happened. So taking a step forward Kat investigated the contents of the box. Contained within was two things. The first was an ornate dagger covered in blooming flowers and vines that ran over the hilt. The second and stranger thing was a cassette tape.

*Why is there a cassette tape here? Do these even work?* Kat grabbed the two things from the box and held them in her hands and started to examine then when she felt a light impact hit her horns.

Kat tried to raise her head to get a good idea of what had struck her but found herself stuck in place. Not forcefully, but there was something holding her horns in place. Reaching her arms up towards her head she quickly encountered a soft padding attached to her horns.

*What is this?* Kat pulled her head back with a bit of force and felt her horns come loose. Now able to raise her head Kat eyed the device in front of her. It was a boxing glove attached to a string. Well, truthfully it was closer to a leather gauntlet, with stuffing leaking out of it, but the overinflated stuffing and the brightly coloured leather still left that impression.

In Kat’s moment of distraction Timmy had jumped down and grabbed the cassette from Kat’s hands. She managed to catch them just as they pushed the cassette into the base of the tree.

”Hello? Hello is this thing on? I sure hope so considering this is all pre-recorded” said Thyme’s voice through the tree

”So, hopefully you like my little trap. Just a bit of fun to get you thinking on your feet, plus you got a cool weapon out of it? Right? I did leave this with a weapon right? Well, you can’t answer me so I guess it doesn’t matter. Hopefully the tiny versions of myself are finding you in good company

”They are a… bit of a work in progress really, so fingers crossed nothing horrible has happened. Anyway, that” the voice cut out with a clearly different take of Thyme jumped in ”dagger” then the voice switched back ”Only has one special ability, but it’s a good one. You can use it to make a shelter. Just place it in the ground and poof

*”That should keep you safe in a few areas, though… let’s just say it isn’t well equipped to handle extreme weather”* Kat heard the tape continue for a few seconds longer, but the rest of the recording was just Thyme’s laughter

I guess I’m not supposed to know about the frost area or the desert yet. Woops ”I didn’t think you’d have such a neat function Timmy. So do you make sure I can hear the recordings Thyme left?” Kat asked

Timmy nodded ”Cool, uh, want a lift back to my head? You enjoy the view from there?”

Timmy nodded once again, this time though with a smile on it’s little face. ”Oh, you can smile, nice” said Kat as she placed Timmy back on its throne.

Once Timmy was settled in, Kat took another look at the dagger. The blade had the faint impressions of blooming roses, and the edge looked rather dull but still gleamed in the night. The guard itself was a mixture of vines and roses, that gave way to the hilt that looked like the vines had broken through the original binding.

*So the question is, do I sleep?* Kat looked at the sky, and failed to see the moon, of course it wouldn’t have really helped that much. *No, I shouldn’t. I’m just not tired and I don’t really need to anyway.*

Backtracking a short way so she didn’t have to break through yet more canopy Kat took to the skies and stared at the ground around her. *So what do I do then? Should I be trying find more of these stashes of weapons? Trying to find people? Am I so far out that I should just head to the centre until I accidently bump into someone?*

Kat sighed. I’m doing that a lot lately too. Was I always so prone to sighing? Kat tried to look back on it but couldn’t really bring up any notable examples.

And so Kat pondered as she sped towards the horizon. Keeping her eyes trained on the line of frozen trees and trying to avoid getting of course while also trying to spot anymore trees that were obviously out of place. She let her thoughts wonder as she flew just to keep her mind working as she travelled.

*Of course, there’s always the possibility I’m missing a tonne of stuff on the ground by traveling this way, but what choice do I have really? I may be fast but after seeing Green running through that maze, I know that despite my wings I’m not Green fast.*

*But does that matter? I can travel as the crow flies. I don’t need to weave around the trees, and I can beeline straight for anything I see. Thought Kat as she slightly corrected her flight path once more. Ok, I can head mostly straight for anything I see. Curse this damn forest and its disorientation enchantment*

*Hey system is there anything I can do about it?*

Would getting assistance from D.E.M.O.N.S not constitute cheating?

*Oh now your going to go all rules lawyer on me huh?*

Kat got no response. *Well, I guess that’s kind of fair. Seriously though system can I do anything?*

User Kat is unlikely to be able to counteract the enchantment as it has been created by a vastly stronger being that greatly outclasses User Kat.

*Then why can I still see through all the illusions?*

User Kat seems to have an extremely rare trait known as True Sight. It grants unparalleled ability to see through illusions even physical ones. This ability is extremely rare, and even more so in such a low-ranking demon. Until it had been tested against the entity known as Thyme, it was unclear if Kat had truly received the full scope of True Sight.

*Huh, does that mean I can charge people more when they summon me?*

User Kat…

Dismissing initial response

Calculating

Examining summoning parameters

Reaching conclusions

User Kat is in fact eligible for higher paying summonings, however this will not increas base rate for User Kat.

*Well, a demon can dream.*

As Kat got closer to the cold line she used less and less energy to keep it in her sights. And as she got closer, she found herself drifting of course much less. Finally, I can be rid of this damned enchantment. I’m not sure how cold it will actually be but surely whatever is in the next area can’t possibly be worse then needing to course correct every thirty seconds because you realise you half turned around.

As Kat got closer and closer to the changing environment though, she rapidly noticed a new problem. While she might not have been unconsciously steering away from her goal anymore, the drastically increasing wind was taking up the mantle in its stead. The temperature hadn’t dropped and there was no snow mixed into the not so little breeze, but looking ahead it was clear that wouldn’t hold for long

It seems that Kat had traded one minor problem, for a potentially much larger one.

*Well… shit*