Demons and Disaster

He knew this was it. He'd been searching through books for months now since he came across the entry in a book about demon summoning. He had read that when a demon was summoned you could ask for any number of things from the demon and it would grant them to you. He nearly fainted in his excitement at reading this, at last her could cure his condition and redeem himself in the eyes of his father.

-----

Since birth he had been nothing but an accident. Belefaria, his mother, had been his father's mistress. His father's name was Vestaron and even though he had a wife already he must have decided she was not good enough to tend to all his 'needs'. Many nights his father would come to his mother's home and they would enjoy each others company in the intimate way only lovers could. This went on for quite a while before one night in the heat of passion they neglected to protect themselves from a chance that his mother might become with child. That was all it took as some young couples have probably discovered, and that one time conceived him. Knarius's father was furious to find his mistress was pregnant with his child and more so that she wished to keep it.

He finally relented and agreed to let her keep his bastard offspring. They took great care to hide their connection to one another so Belefaria went to the clergy of the city to find if the baby was healthy and to discover its gender. When she found it was a boy she was overjoyed, having a perfect name for him. She told Vestaron the name she wished but he simply told her they could discuss it once the baby was born. The months passed and eventually the night came, Vestaron had paid off a midwife to hold her tongue at ever seeing him while Belefaria birthed the baby, but there were complications with the birth. In the end Belefaria passed away but the baby boy was born successfully and healthy, except for a birth defect that had crippled his left leg.

Vestaron mourned the loss of his mistress and from that day on could only scowl at the baby, the mistake that had killed her. He grudgingly named the child Knarius to honor Belefaria's wishes but he treated the boy with only the barest of kindness. He made sure the child was clothed and fed and taken care of, keeping him locked away from everyone within his dead mistress's home. He could not use the crippled leg well and could barely walk much less run or other things as he grew, and to Vestaron that made Knar seem even more useless. He made sure to never let his true wife know of the child or the indiscretion.

To him, Knar was simply a crippled accident.

-----

He poured through the books, knowing his search was at an end as he found the incantation for demon summoning, listing the items needed, the spells, and even how to draw the summoning circle. He was elated, knowing that with the summoning he could ask the demon to cure his leg completely so he would not longer be the useless crippled child. He could show his father he could be useful and make him proud and wanted. It had taken him time and effort to slip from the house when his father wasn't there and purchase the books he now had. His father had purchased him random books in the past, some reference materials and that is where he found the mention of the demons. He knew this was what he needed and hastily ripped the page from the book and found a dark room to begin setting up the things.

Once more he was forced to slip from the house for some of the necessary items but eventually he returned with his goals set in his mind. Young Knarius drew the circle on the ground in the chalk, setting the candles around it and placing the herbs, incense, and other needed items around the circle. Near him was a knife for the offering of blood to open the gateway. Sadly, though he was not aware in his haste, had had only ripped out part of the summoning rite from the book. Beyond the first page was details on the bargaining rites, what he would offer or offer of himself in exchange for what he wished the demon to give him. His youthful nativity didn't seem to comprehend that a demon would not just give something away for nothing.

Regardless, he set about the summoning, cutting his arm and dripping the blood into the circle as he incanted the words and made the motions in the air. The circle begin to glow with a dark fel light, the air growing heavy and oppressive in the room as the summoning began. With a flash of sickly light a large demon appeared before him, according to what he read this was a Dreadlord, though one of minor power, though that power was enough to grant what he wanted. He grinned eagerly as the demon got its bearings and stared down with red eyes filled with hate upon it's summoner, breathing in his face with a foul stench akin to rotting eggs.

"FOOLISH MORTAL! WHY HAVE YOU SUMMONED ME, A GREAT DREADLORD, TO THIS PLACE?! HAVE YOU ANY IDEA WITH THE POWERS I HOLD?!" spoke the demon in a outraged boomed voice. Though the sound was intimidating and noisy, it was spoken into his mind so he had no worries of others hearing.

"Well... great dreadlord. I have bound you in this circle and summoned you here to do my bidding! I demand a service from you!" spoke Knar back, slowly gaining confidence as he saw the demon was bound in the circle and could not leave. It was all bluster and had not chance of harming him.

"FINE THEN STUPID YOUNGLING, SPEAK WHAT SERVICE YOU WOULD HAVE ME GRANT YOU, BUT TAKE HEED THAT YOU SPEAK IT WELL LEST YOU NOT GET EXACTLY WHAT YOU WISH!" said the demon back into his mind with a superior look upon his face, a sideways snide grin that looked like a Noble looking down upon a mere beggar.

Knar had read that demons took the request literally, so if you did not word it properly they could twist what you wanted into something else. He knew he'd have to phrase this exactly or the demon might do some horrendous thing upon him in it's anger at being summoned and subdued by a mere mortal.

"Demon, I demand of you this one service. I wish to have my left leg made healthy and the crippling birth defect in it healed." he said to the demon, hoping he had said it well to keep the demon from twisting it back upon him.

The demon looked at him and snarled, baring it's teeth but nodded, seeing that it could not twist the words to exact a revenge upon the mortal before speaking into his mind as well "I WILL GIVE YOU THEN WHAT YOU WISH, BUT WHAT DO YOU BARGAIN IN EXCHANGE!?"

Then with a wicked cackled of glee the demons red eyes flashed and looked at the young Sin'dorei in perverse pleasure as it realized something before speaking into Knar's head again, "YOU STUPID NAIVE MORTAL CHILD! YOU NEGLECTED THE RITE OF BARGAINING! WITHOUT IT I AM FREE TO TAKE OF YOU WHAT I WISH IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR STUPID AND PATHETIC DEMAND!"

"Wait... what? No! I..." said Knar, stuttering and in a fearful frenzy, not realizing in his haste he had missed the second set of rites on the page behind the one he removed.

The demonic chuckle seeped into his mind, like a dark cloud seeking to extinguish all light of hope in his thoughts before the demon spoke into his head again, "YOU SHALL HAVE WHAT YOU SEEK, DIMWITTED MORTAL, BUT I SHALL TAKE WHAT I WANT AS WELL! IT WILL NOT BE NOW BUT SLOWLY I WILL TAKE IT FROM YOU. KNOW THIS DAY YOU HAVE MADE A BARGAIN WITH THE DARK AND LOST SOMETHING THAT YOU WILL NOT EVER BE ABLE TO REPLACE!!!"

The demons dark chuckle grew louder and frenzied in his mind as fel energies gathered around the demon, weaving them into a speed to grant Knar his demand but all Knar could do was scream back oaths of denial. He knew that he had just give the demon something precious but he didn't know what and could only imagine what horrors would soon descend upon him. The green lights swelled and focused into a beam, shooting out from the circle and driving deep into his crippled leg. He let out a primal scream inside his mind, his mouth unable to open and voice the pain and corruption he felt from the dark energies as they coursed through his body and healed the leg.

Muscles grew strong as they should have been, bones straightened perfectly, and the shape of the leg became what a normal boy of his age would have for a left leg. Slowly the pain and darkness slipped away, leaving him breathing raggedly as the demons continued to laugh inside his head as it begins to fade from the circle, cursing Knar's name and telling him once more that he would slowly take his prize. Demons relished in chaos and corruption and so they took great joy in torturing mortals when they could. Sure the demon could have taken his soul but what better torture could there be then slowly stealing his sanity, piece by piece. Letting Knar slowly discover something was very wrong as he lost his mind to the darkness and chaos. A living hell for the foolish mortal that would eventually learn what was happening and not be able to stop it, and eventually not even realize it was happening.

Sadly Knar knew not the demon's plans, worrying still but confident now that he could stand on two legs without support or severe pain. His father chose this time to come to the house as Knar walked from the room where the demon circle was. He rushed forward ecstatically and showed off his ability to walk to his father, knowing he would be happy with him, seeing he was not a useless cripple anymore and even had began the steps to take upon himself the great powers of a warlock.

But he did not, he simply scowled an glared down at the boy. Being a mage as he was he could smell the stink of fel energies in the house and on the boy, his now not so crippled son. He could tell a pact had been made with the darkness and it had healed his leg, and all he could do was look on with disgust now.

"You stupid useless boy! How could you dabble in such dark and dishonorable arts. That is the it... you are not son of mine, simply the bastard of some unknown man and the son of a dead women. Gather your things and leave now! I cast you from this home! I disowned you!" Vestaron screamed at his son, "You are just as bad as your other sibling, giving yourself over to the demons. Be gone and never return!"

Knar stared on in shock, completely taken back by his father's reaction, knowing he would have to do what he said he was no longer considered family. He gathered his stuff and left, though he took heed to how his father talked about a sibling, perhaps he would have to look for them as he started his new life. Maybe he could still have family, even with his mother dead and father disowning him. He supposed he would have to find out, walking into the city on his now two perfectly function legs.