Azazel (Demonology II)

I

  "How am I supposed to tell the difference?" I asked. Often, artifacts were unusual looking objects like totems and masks. If she wanted to avoid anything out of the ordinary, why were we here?

  "You're not," she said. "Leave it all to luck, I guess."

An hour had passed, and we still didn't find anything. We searched high and low, but there were no artifacts.

  "I don't understand this," Eva said, frustrated. "Suluth said that this tomb was full of artifacts. If we can't get the artifacts, we can't get back to Heaven. That is, without using you as a human tribute again." At the beginning of our journey, Eva had summoned Suluth, the great robber demon. He knew where all of the world's greatest treasures were, and had told us that we could find tons of artifacts in the catacombs of Paris. 

  "Someone must have gotten here before us." I said, brushing some cobwebs off of my shoulder.

  "You're very good at pointing out the obvious." Someone behind us said. I whirled around and took a defensive stance. Before me stood a tall and thin man. He couldn't have been much older than me, as he appeared to be only twenty. His hair was half-dreaded and hung loosely from his head. He had a chiseled face with an angular nose, which was pierced with a silver stud.

  "Who the hell are you?" Eva asked, stepping between he and I. "And why are you raiding the catacombs?"

  "I could be asking you the same question." He said jokingly. "But I'll tell you, seeing as your friend here is just waiting to tear me apart. My name is Eloy, and I am the chosen one." With that, he turned and ran. Eva and I ran after him, tearing through the halls of the catacombs. I couldn't tell whose footsteps were whose, so we eventually lost him.

  "What the hell was that?" I asked as we made our way out of the catacombs. "'Chosen one?' That guy's batshit crazy or something."

  "Well, whatever he is, he's a threat to us." Eva hailed down a cab. "He managed to clear out the entire catacombs before we could get to them."

  "Take us to Orleans," I said to the cabbie in French. My dad was from Canada, and had grown up around people who spoke mostly French, and it rubbed off on me.

  "That's going to cost you a lot." The cabbie said. I pulled a wad of cash out of my pocket and waved it around. The cabbie nodded and began to drive.

  "Do you think he's a demon?" I said to Eva in English. 

  "He can't be," she said, slumping back into her seat. "I didn't feel any aura from him. He could be a human, or some kind of monster. Either way, we need to deal with him as soon as possible. We just need to get in contact with Suluth again and find the nearest artifact. If we can get to the site of the artifact, we can definitely find this Eloy." 

  We arrived in Orleans much quicker than the metro could have. I paid the cabbie and followed Eva up to our flat. It wasn't anything special; two bedrooms, a dining room, kitchen, a bathroom, and an office. We only planned on staying for a week, but it seemed as if we would extend our trip.

  Once we were inside, I helped Eva push the dining room table to the side. When the middle of the room was clear, I made a circle of salt and began to draw the sigil for Suluth. I then cut my finger and let the blood drip onto the circle. Fire spread across the sigil, but never crossed the salt circle. A dirty old man appeared before us. His hair wasn't gray, but more of a dull black. His face was withered and his clothes were tattered.

  "Why are you two summoning me again?" He asked. His voice was raspy, as if he smoked a whole pack a day.

  "The catacombs were empty," Eva said. "You told us that it would be full of artifacts, but there was nothing there. Some man got to it first."