Succubus Companions pt 2

Seraphine was propelled through the portal with such force that when it ejected her she rolled into a glimmering field with such force it bruised her side and wings. She hissed in pain as she stood up, eliciting a half-awed and half-terrified curse. She clambered to her feet and looked around.
She stood in a well lit, incredibly spacious attic of some kind. Judging from the number of pillars, the wide windows, and the storage doors at the far end, she guessed she was in some kind of warehouse. Much of the far end was dusty, filled with cobwebs, and otherwise empty, but the nearer portion was swept clean but otherwise cluttered with bookshelves, tables, desks, candelabras, armoires, and chests of all kinds. Every flat surface including large sections of the floor were covered with heaps of books, sheaves of paper, bubbling potions, spell components, and the occasional piece of discarded clothing. A large bird cage on a stand stood in one corner.
The golden, glittering, semi-translucent wall surrounding the nearly twelve foot diameter circle she stood in and the intricate ruins laid out on the floor didn’t surprise her. Only an idiot or a very, very powerful mage or priest would summon a gate without the protection of a summoning circle. What did surprise her however as she turned around was the brilliant blue white shimmering wall that snapped up around the only other occupant of the attic.
Behind that wall of light, the young mage tilted his head as he studied the succubus. A few locks of his jaggedly cut mahogany brown hair drifted into his eyes as a brow arched up. He absently pushed it out of as he ran his hand through his hair. He took a step towards the summoning circle, his blue and gold robes swishing audibly around him. “Well, this is unexpected,” he stated his eyes watching the trapped demon.
Seraphine met his gaze with a half smile. “Not what you expected?” she purred. Despite his confidence she could sense his nervousness, and she couldn’t help but admire his self control. He’s young, but already pretty powerful to cast a gate like that, she thought to herself. Maybe I can get him to help me save Melrazia.
“Quite honestly, no,” he replied. His blue eyes watched her intently as she studied her prison. “I did not intend to pull you here, and I apologize for the inconvenience. I am not sure what went wrong, but no matter. I will send you back and will trouble you no further.” He began to chant.
“Wait! Don’t you at least want my name?” Seraphine called out desperately.
The mage paused in his chant. “Not particularly. I have no wish to deal with a demon of your caliber. I know how such dealings usually turn out,” he replied wryly, preparing to start again.
“You mispronounced the name,” Seraphine blurted out, unwilling to give up so easily.
“Pardon?” The mage looked intrigued.
“You mispronounced the name of the Quasit you were trying to summon. Thus, I was able to come through instead,” Seraphine explained her eyes darting around desperately.
“Go on,” the mage stepped back gesturing for her to continue.
“A gate not properly keyed with a name like that is like an open invitation. You never know what will come through,” she paused as a sudden thought came to her as she caught sight of the cage again. As the realization struck her like a slap to the cheek, it both filled her with dread and with hope at the same time. “You were trying to capture a familiar weren’t you?”
The mage narrowed his eyes and for a tense moment Seraphine thought he was going to banish her but he finally nodded. “Aye. An Imp or a Quasit make powerful familiars.”
Seraphine regarded him for a moment. “You follow a dangerous path mage, are you sure you wish to pursue it?”
“You sound like my father. I think I will send you back now.” The mage’s voice grew tight.
“Wait, I can help you. There’s an easier and safer way.” Seraphine stalled, and resisted the urge to smile as she noticed the slight irregularity in the flicker in one small spot on the golden wall that made up her prison. Got you, she whispered to her self.
“And when you’re done you will want either my life or my soul, if not both. Do you take me for a fool? No thank you.” He nearly spat, so disgusted was he.
“I want neither your life nor your soul.”
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Then what do you want?”
“My friend’s life. Her life is in danger. You can cast a gate. You can summon her here and then let her free.”
“What in Selune’s name makes you think I would let a demon free?” The mage growled angrily.
“Send her to another plane then. Just not the same one you pulled us from. She will die there,” she pleaded.
“Why should I do this? What would I get out of this?”
“I can help you get your familiar.”
He snorted. “Not good enough, I can get my own familiar.”
Seraphine swallowed hard. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves she closed her eyes and let it out. “Not one like what I am offering. Not a full fledged succubus. If you do this for me, I will let you bind me as your familiar.”
When she opened her eyes, the mage was pacing. At last he turned and glared at her. “Even if I could do what you say, and I can’t—I don’t have the ability to cast multiple gates in a day—how in the nice hells do you expect me to trust you?” he almost snarled.
Seraphine played her hand. Or more accurately she played her foot; sliding it across the smudged rune. Ordinarily a properly drawn rune would be impervious to such a move from a demon as lowly as a succubus. However, the rune was already smudged and so was vulnerable and the tip of her boot managed to smudge it more. The rune strained and flickered out and the wall came down in a series of rapid sparks and sizzles.
As the backlash of the failed spell hit the mage, he screamed in anger and fear, and his personal shield flickered and fell. He put his hands to his sides gasping trying to clear the pain from his mind while he watched Seraphine walk over to one of the tables and sit on the edge of it.
She shifted her position sliding further onto the table and letting her legs dangle. She picked up one of the beakers, examining the bubbling green liquid with a critical eye, her long red nails tapping on the glass.
“I don’t expect you to trust me, I ask only that you help me. I can point out that I could have killed you at any point in the last ten minutes.”
“Then why don’t you?” gasped the mage.
“First, it would be a waste. Then there’s the fact I really do need your help. I can’t do what I need on my own, and there’s little chance I could find another mage to help me in time. And then there is the fact that you have not harmed me yet, and I do not feel the need to kill just to prove I can.”
“If I help you, you will agree to be my familiar? And you will tell no one of this?” he asked at last hesitantly.
“I swear it.”
“I will need help, I cannot do this on my own,” he stated flatly.
“Is there anyone you know that could help?” She asked, chewing her lip, nervous that he wouldn’t agree.
The mage nodded slowly. “I know of one that can help. But it will be hard to convince him. He is a powerful priest and he has little love for demons.”
“Is he a good man?” Seraphine asked. “Is he fair?”
The mage nodded to both. “Aye, about as just and fair a man I know.”
“Then bring him here, and I will try to convince him.” The mage hesitated and Serpahine tried to smile reassuringly. “I won’t leave this room or do anything to bring harm to you or him or anyone unless attacked. Better yet, banish me and I will get my books and you can summon me back tomorrow.”
The mage nodded. “What name should I use to summon you?”
Seraphine thought for a second. “Just use my name, Seraphine.”
The mage nodded again. “I will summon you again tomorrow then Seraphine. But I feel it only fair to warn you that even if the priest believes your story, and looks past his abhorrence of demons, he likely may refuse to help you for another reason altogether.”
Seraphine tilted her head in question.
“He is my father,” the mage explained and with that spoke the spell to send Seraphine back to the abyss.