Demon Hunter: Birthright: An Urban Fantasy Harem Adventure by Michael Dalton

Author:Michael Dalton [Dalton, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-04-30T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Katarina and I went over to the lab that night to conduct the ritual.

“Master, I trust you and believe in you, but are you sure about this? Volach is a powerful demon.”

I had checked and double-checked all my formulae and calculations, and it all seemed solid.

“We have to do something. They’re looking for you, and maybe me too. I’m sure.”

“All right.” She rubbed my shoulder and tried to smile.

The first thing was the keratin powder. I put the snakeskins in a beaker and added a measured amount of sodium hydroxide, then put it on a burner. As it simmered, I had Katarina stir it. Meanwhile, I laid out the magic circle on the floor with Grandma Amy’s ashes. By the time that was done, the keratin solution was a thick, milky fluid with only a few strings and clumps left of the snakeskins.

“It is finished?” she asked.

“Looks like it.”

I neutralized the pH, then strained and rinsed the solids. I put the resulting paste in a dryer and turned on the heat.

While the powder was drying, I set up the brazier next to the circle with the charcoal and got the fire going. I measured out some sulfur and set it with the mandrake root. I created another set with the poppies and Volach’s business card.

Then I went over to the Biochem lab to get the acetic anhydride. I’d reviewed the Material Safety Data Sheet for it, and I decided to save it until right before we needed it because of the handling risks. It wasn’t especially toxic, but it was highly corrosive, reactive, and flammable. Worse, when it burned, it produced toxic fumes. So I would have to be very careful setting it on the brazier.

Eventually the keratin powder was dry. I set it out with the other stuff. Then I put on the gloves and safety glasses I needed to handle the acetic anhydride.

“Here goes,” I said.

I opened Clavicula Salomonis to the ritual. I lit the gas ring and tossed the sulfur, keratin, and mandrake root on the brazier. A thick, foul smoke filled the air as I lifted the staff and began to read.

“Volach the wise, ruler of serpents and slithering things, I call to you.

Volach the wise, I summon you to appear.”

The smoke from the brazier began swirling around the magic circle.

“By the power of Hell and all the spirits of the world, I call you to me.

By the power of God and the spirits above, I command you to appear.”

The moment I finished the last line of the incantation, there was a low thump, and the smoke from the brazier coalesced into a tall form inside the circle.

“Oh, what the fuck?” a deep voice said.

The smoke cleared. Inside the circle was a handsome man in slacks and a crisply starched white dress shirt. His dark features looked more like a male model than a demon lord, even though there was a vaguely serpentine cast to his face.

He turned toward us but was immediately stopped by the circle.

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