Darned to Heck

The Harpsian Diamond

"This is going to be difficult." Asmodeus murmured, scrutinizing the join between the gem and my flesh.

"Wow don't fill me with too much confidence." I said sarcastically. Ossovae smiled at my remark from over Asmodeus's shoulder. I was the only person that got away with talking to him like this, and she found it relentlessly funny, not that she would show it around him. She actually laughed out loud once and then about shat herself when Asmodeus turned to look at her.

"You are a bad influence." He muttered, reading my mind.

"You need taking down a peg sometimes." I replied. He smiled; I was starting to think that he might even like my rebellious streak.

"If it weren't for your rebellious streak this charm wouldn't be so difficult to remove."

"What do you mean?" I asked, my hands trailing unconsciously over the gem.

"The more likely a person is to rebel, the stronger the bond that forms to allow the master complete control. If I had attached this to a weak minded person it would have only formed a weak bond, as that person would have needed little persuasion to do what I asked. You on the other hand..." he trailed off.

Great, this is all your fault. I spoke to my inner self.

Bite me. It replied.

Asmodeus chuckled and then stood, going back over to the table to consult his book. "Ossovae."

"Yes sir?"

"I will need the Harpsian Diamond, the key is in the desk of the fifth study."

"Yes sir." She ran out of the room like lightning from a cloud.

"What do you need a diamond for?" I asked, curious.

"There's only one stone harder than a ruby Allie, anything else would just crumble on impact."

"On impact, what the hell are you planning to do to me?"

"I don't wish to frighten you with too many details, but unfortunately there is a distinct possibility that you will die." He looked up from the book "only momentarily of course." He added hastily, with a concerned look at my face.

I swallowed nervously.

Ossovae returned with an intricately carved wooden box tucked under her arm. She brought it to Asmodeus, who thanked her before pressing his palm against the wood. Muttering something inaudible the box clicked open and inside sat the biggest diamond I had ever seen. I stood from my chair to get a better look.

"Sit." Asmodeus commanded without looking at me, my legs buckled and I fell back into the chair.

"Hey!" I yelled.

"The circle will be useless if you leave it." He replied, preoccupied with the gem.

"Oh," I looked down to the white chalk circle and the painstakingly intricate symbols that had been drawn around me. "I forgot about that."

"Are you sure you want to do this Allie?" he asked as he inspected the diamond in the light of a lamp. "It is going to be very painful and there is nothing I can do to change that fact. Once I have started the ritual, I will not be able to stop it."

"Are you really expecting me to back out now?" I asked.

"You wouldn't be you if you did." He smiled regretfully. Maybe this really was going to hurt. "Then let's begin. Ossovae, are you ready?" He said seriously.

"Yes sir." She moved into position, standing behind me in a small chalk circle on the outside of my own. Asmodeus mirrored her actions, but facing my front.

He inhaled deeply. His shoulders set, and he opened his eyes to stare resolutely into mine.

The words started quietly at first, tumbling softy from his lips like water over a fall. The flames of his red eyes flickered tentatively, curling and flaring outwards, quickly breaking their bonds and spilling into his pupils. His words intensified and the circle around me began to shimmer softly. A gentle humming noise rose to join the sound of his voice, I could feel the stone at my neck growing warmer as Asmodeus's voice grew louder. The language he spoke was not the soft and golden sound I had heard before, but a chilling and harsh collection of words. They rasped and grated over one another, fighting and bickering between themselves inside his throat. Hissing and spitting like a cat he raised the foreign words into a shriek, eyes consumed in flame. His face twisted and morphed, his teeth sharpened and his eyes became angular and dark. A thick black tongue, forked like a snake's slithered and whipped between his lips, pulled into a grimace on a reptilian face. Large coal-black clouds seethed from him, obscuring his body as it shimmered between forms. Fire spilled from his eyes and crackled from his skin. The intense light from the circle dug into my eyes and the fierce heat of the gem at my neck began to cut into my flesh, searing and burning and tearing into me, burrowing into my chest to escape the words that attacked it. The gentle hum had now become a vicious scream, piercing my ears and drowning out the sound of my own weak voice as the pain consumed me.

I saw the glint of something even brighter than the circle raise into the air in front of me. Black spots budded across my vision as my retinas blistered and cracked under the unrelenting glare of the object, slowly I went blind, and I could see nothing but black. Madness crept into my mind in response to the pain and my heart shuddered and jolted behind my ribs, forcing my lungs into spasm. I felt the hot metallic blood spill from my lips before I registered the shooting impact of the diamond as it collided with me. My airways were crushed and for the split second between life and death I could feel the cool rush of air as it spilled through the large hole torn directly through my neck.