Dantalion of the Goetia: Taste the Obsession of a Demon - Page 52/108

Gwynedd released her grip on my throat.

"I will change thee now. You will feel the sting of my venom. It will be quick. Then you will feel no pain. I will bring thee to the Courtyard of the Undead, where thou shall be chained to the sacred altar where thou evoked the 'Incubus' Dantalion. You will lure him there. It must be done when the moon wanes in the sky, for this is the phase of his true demon form. Your union will taketh place, and I shall pay thee visit on the third night. Thou wilst not reveal the meaning of thy changed form or ye both will die!"

A barbed injection of venom seared into my blood. Her poison moved through me, a thousand knives of pain penetrating every limb of my body. My eyes were on fire, yet my body from the base of my spine down felt ice cold. And then complete darkness. I slowly opened my eyes to find myself chained there, to the jagged stone that was my fate.

The bitter cold of winter had gone now, and the altar was alive with the scent of wisteria. I could still see the freshly inked seal etched into my forearm, and a coldness move through my body. Weak and barely able to move, my fingers were daggers, like the ones Dantalion held me with in his true demon form. My legs had become a serpent's tail, coiled up beneath my waist. No matter how I suffered, no tears would form within my eyes. They felt strange. Hot and burning. I tried to hide the demon I had become under the white garment that fell from my bare shoulders to the ground.

I could not tell what day or phase of the moon it was, nor how long I was left here. I remembered the serpent demon Gwynnedd had done this to me! I knew why she wanted Dantalion to be released so badly from his curse. She wanted pure demon blood to give to her Demonic Lord, and if she did, she would be restored.

If I die, at least Dantalion will be free. I didn't know when, or if Dantalion would come, and if he would be tricked into this madness. I couldn't tell him who I was, now transformed into this new demon form, or we both would die.

Darkness had come now, the sliver of the waning moon shone between the branches of the pines. Up above, millions of stars scattered across the night sky.

I knew from my studies, and also from my evocation of Dantalion, that in order to summon a demon, you must know the demon you want to call up. Lilith knew exactly who he was, and she needed me to complete the evocation.