Free Summoner (Ash and Magic 1) by Sophie Park Page A

you."
    "You...?"  Ash was proud of herself for being able to form even that single word.
    "Yes.  Monty talks about you.  A little too much, I thought, only..."  Melketh stood to his full height and considered the spell that contained him.  "How did you do this?"
    "I... you know, the, uhh, the tome."
    "Tome."
    "The tome of... the one that details the spell, you know?"
    "No.  There's a tome!?"  Melketh frowned and looked around the room, as if he could see the book.  "Someone wrote down the spell!  That's insane.  Who would do that?"
    "Seraniteth the Grey?"
    "... oh.  Is that how Monty figured out my name?"
    "I think so."
    "That bastard!"  Melketh spat, a black glob of liquid that boiled away immediately when it hit the superheated floor on his side of the circle.  Ash could feel the heat of the infernal plane radiating out from Melketh, but most of it was dissipated by the protection spells woven into the room.  "He made me think he went on some sort of epic quest to... oh well, this is still impressive."
    "Umm..."
    "I am honestly surprised that you are alive, little one.  Do you know how dangerous this was?"
    "Uhh..."
    "Here, let's try something a little more... friendly."
    In the blink of an eye, the interior of the circle changed.  The heated rock was gone, the swirling flames disappeared, and even Melketh changed.  The eight foot tall red demon became a six foot something man in an expensively tailored suit.  He still had the same general features, minus the wings and horns and red skin, but he looked... almost human, like this.  You could almost forget that he was an immeasurably powerful demon lord.  He was now standing on a tiled floor, black and white ceramic, with a small chair in the middle.
    "How did you... never mind, that's not so hard."  Ash felt like, in this moment and in this place, there was such a thing as stupid questions and asking stupid questions was not a good idea.
    "No it's not."  Melketh laughed and sat cross-legged in the air in front of Ash.  "So.  Why did you summon me, little one?"
    "Okay, uhh..."  Ash took a deep breath and realized that she should start sounding less stupid in front of Melketh.  Considering all of the feedback she was getting from the spells and a few glances at her Analyze data, he might not be nearly as contained as he looked.  There was a good possibility that, if he wanted to, he could rip straight through her AM field like paper.
    Could he?
    "I wanted to see if I could."  Ash decided to be honest.
    "Ha!  That's the best answer I've ever heard!"  Melketh's laughter was like a deep, rich bell filling the room with its sound.  She heard it more in her chest than with her ears, and the reverberating echo of it made her smile.  "To see if you could!  Well!  You can!"
    "I see that."
    "There's more to it, I think, but I'll let you think on it."  Melketh stretched out his long legs and started to pace the space he was contained in.  "Do you know who I am?"
    "Umm, well, Mel-"
    "Stop!  Don't say it.  My name has power, as I'm sure you know.  Yes, I am Mel.  What else?"
    "A demon?"  Ash finished lamely.
    "Mel the demon.  Sure.  How about you?"
    "Ash... uhhh, Ashley.  C-"
    "Stop!  No full names.  Ash will do fine."  Melketh crouched down at the edge of the circle and looked at the leather belt that was still holding Ash to the side of the room, even though the wind was gone.  "You can unbuckle if you like, Ash."
    "Oh... oh, okay."  Ash nodded and undid her leather buckle, letting it fall unneeded against the wall.
    "Huh.  Why did you do that?"
    "You said I could!"
    "You believed me?"
    "Of course!  I mean, uhh... why would you lie to me?  I mean, you're... you're stuck inside there.  Right?  You can't get out, you can't... harm me.  Why should it matter if I'm buckled in?"
    "I can't, can I?"  Melketh's smile was secretive and he tapped a finger against his lips as if he were considering her words.  "Sure, I probably can't,