Maladus grinned at him, “Well like I said friend, we of the Nine Hells are merchants and entrepreneurs by trade. As I looked through your memories, I noticed that your world has exquisite media, be it in book, movie, or game format. I would part with this ritual, and one to summon myself at no extra cost, for one full franchise of your choice and the means by which to use it so it may be replicated.”
Damian snorted a laugh at that, he couldn’t sell the rights to any IP, because copyright laws still existed for some reason, however he could find a way around it. It would just be better if his trial wasn’t being broadcast to his world as what remained of Hollywood was definitely going to bitch at him for this.
“I unfortunately can’t sell you anything like that as there are laws regarding intellectual property back home…...” Maladus’ smile began to fade into a thoughtful frown before Damian continued, “But, I can lend a friend one of my favorite movie series and a DVD player so he can enjoy them as long as I get them back after he is done.”
Maladus’ grin returned full force as he rapidly began to nod his head, “Of course, I would be delighted to see one of your favorites and will ensure their prompt return.” He reached his hand out to Damian a sigil glowing on his palm. “To seal the deal, you will need to accept this mark that will hold you to your end of the bargain or horrifically torture your soul till you do but I have full confidence in you!”
Damian just shook his head and grasped the demon’s hand, letting out a slight hiss at the pain from the sigil burning itself into his flesh. Maladus turned to his pack and rummaged into it for a while before pulling out two pieces of parchment. One he handed directly to Damian, the other he unrolled and began to write for a few minutes before handing that one over as well.
“Now, just a heads up you will need a sacrifice of some kind for each ritual, material or symbolically. To go without one would be considered rude, and may leave you with a bad reputation at best or an enemy at worst so be prepared.” Maladus said as he started to pack up his belongings. “We have tarried here long enough and you have something important to get to. It was nice to meet you Damian and I do hope you will continue to patronize my humble shop going forward. May you find the ancient paths, the good way, and walk in it.”
Maladus disappeared in a flash of light and Damian once more found himself alone. The crossroad he found himself at was now gone, now it was only a straight trail worn down by time and countless footsteps. Just ahead of him was an enormous gate the size of a four-story building and half again as wide. Carved into the gates were images of beings fighting against various monsters, sometimes victorious and others being devoured after a bitter defeat. The beings were humanoid, but the heads of a pronghorn and small patches of fur on seemingly random parts of their bodies. Damain approached and ran his hand over some of the carvings noting that they resembled Ancestral Puebloan petroglyphs.
This was possibly a monument to the warriors that fought and died to protect their people from the monsters that prowled their homeland or a record of their legends and mythology. Damian took a few minutes to examine the carvings closest to the ground memorizing what he could before taking a deep breath and stepping through the gateway to finish the trial and become an Inducted. He clutched his new knife and two ritual instructions tightly as everything around him went pitch black.
Damian barely read the prompt before blacking out from fundamental, painful change.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
General Krueger sipped coffee, slumped in her seat. This wasn’t what she imagined being a general would be like when she joined the Bundeswehr at 18. Instead of strategy sessions or briefings, she sat in the UN headquarters before a TV with a notepad, watching people die. She hated trial nights
Shaking her head, she settled for a long night with another sip. Everything worsened the more time passed. Cities went dark daily, casualties were climbing, and there was nothing to do but hold the line and hope for a miracle. You would think that with seventy-three Inducted they could at least close one war front against the monsters that hounded them, but no the idiots thought the best way to use their strongest military assets, was to spread them out over a large area to keep things “stable”. All that accomplished was more dead soldiers and civilians, while politicians argued over whose country needed to be saved first. You would think a global crisis would make them actually be useful but that would insinuate they had the ability to think beyond their own self-preservation.
The first five hundred aspirant trials passed by in half an hour, General Krueger wished she could say that was abnormal but that would be a lie. All of them were civilians that had no training, subpar fitness and all the decision-making skills of a goldfish on cocaine. If she didn’t know for a fact all of this was real she would feel like she was watching a particularly bad B-list horror movie with how much she yelled at them not to touch the obviously trapped object, that they inevitably grabbed first thing. It was around Aspirant trial number six hundred forty-three that she was pleasantly surprised to see a successful trial run.
The new Inducted was a red-headed policewoman from Ireland, that found herself in a zombie infested graveyard and did the only sane thing. She climbed on top of the first mausoleum she could find. She used her baton to beat any zombie that got close, while using her pistol to keep the hoard from swarming her. General Krueger made a note which she handed over to an aide, who departed to get in touch with the Republic of Ireland. She hoped they actually be able get more information on their new Inducted this time. This was the first Inducted to come from the Ireland/United Kingdom area, if they could establish a foothold there, they would gain a possible evac point for the more affected areas. Ireland had less monster waves than any other country for reasons no one could accurately point to.
The eight hundred and seventy seventh trial produced another successful trial run. This time it was a very large man of Chinese descent who found himself stranded in a warehouse full of weird fish creatures that swarmed him from all sides. He was badly injured but had managed to toss one through a crumbling support column. Which yielded the young man a chunk of rebar and concrete he proceeded to wield like a sledgehammer. He had little issue with the remaining fish freaks and complete his trial. Once again General Krueger made a note and sent an aide running to try their luck at getting more information on the newly Inducted young man.
“Two in one night is a good sign. Let’s hope for a few more.” General Krueger mused, sipping her coffee. Only to then spit it out halfway through the next trial. When a young American sat down across from a demon, and gained the intel she needed to reignite her hope
“GET OTHER GENERALS HERE NOW! Move on this quickly, someone get a line to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland stat! I want their top Nordic mythologists/folklorists on the next plane to the US, figuring out ritual offerings for the Norse pantheon. Inform the escort pilots: get those eggheads to the U.S. no matter the cost, we finally have a chance to end this; I won’t have it ruined because an overgrown bird monster eats our aircraft!” Krueger screamed orders, packed up, and signaled an aide stay and watch the remaining trials.
Her eyes narrowed when she saw everyone frozen in place, “MOVE YOUR ASSES BEFORE I START KICKING THEM, PEOPLE! NO TIME TO LOSE!”
She stormed to the conference room, personnel scrambling to get out of her way. Fifteen minutes: that’s how long it took for every general and bureaucrat present at headquarters to assemble. She recapped the American's trial and the intel gained from it.
She stormed to the conference room, personnel scrambling to get out of her way. Fifteen minutes: that’s how long it took for every general and bureaucrat present at headquarters to assemble. She recapped the American's trial and the intel gained from it.
“We have sixty-five portals globe-wide, nine per continent barring Antarctica. Send out every drone, locate them ASAP. Redirect all Inducted to finding and closing the portals quickly! Especially North/South America, and Australia, let’s evacuate the heavily affected areas until they can be brought under control. I’ve taken the liberty of sending professors specializing in Nordic mythology/folklore to this young man,” Krueger read an aide’s note, and continued, “one Damian Campbell, to ensure he gets our Norse reinforcements.”
The meeting lasted hours, but preliminary orders were sent out after ten minutes. All that was left was figuring out how to spread their armed forces to cover for the loss of the Inducted that would begin portal hunting, and who would get to spread the first bit of good news they had in a long while. For the first time in a long time the mood in the room was hopeful, and cautiously optimistic.
