The Binding
"Yes," Daniel answered in the same thought-speak the demon had used.
"Then," the demon answered, "let us begin." The demon began chanting in a strange, hypnotic language, and Daniel found himself staring unblinkingly into the jewel's light, even as it intensified. The robe Daniel was wearing tore down the center. A blast from the eye threw it off of him, and it floated to the floor. Daniel was now exposed before the demon, yet utterly unafraid. There was a pressure in the middle of his chest, like the touch of an unseen finger. It moved down, and in its wake was a bright crimson line in Dan's skin.
The chanting grew louder, and the line branched and spread, moving to his back, his shoulder's and arms, and down his ribcage. As it spread, it began to etch bizarre shapes and patterns, and Daniel started to feel an unearthly new energy flow through him as he was infused with the power of the demon. His heart was pounding and his breath became deep and rapid.
As the lines spread, they left his skin smooth, hairless and flawless, and what was not red was white as marble. Beneath his skin, Dan's muscles grew larger and more toned as much of his fat vanished. His bones, too, stretched and grew, leaving him about a foot taller than before. Daniel gasped sharply and arched his back as the demon's touch moved down his body, covering his flesh with the unearthly designs. The lines also wove a delicate pattern across his face. His ears became pointed and his canines sharpened into fangs. The hair on his head turned pitch black and grew much longer, resting on his pale shoulders.
At last the transformation was complete, and one last change pulsed through Daniel as his soul and the demon's became inextricably fused. The light left the ruby that had housed the demon for so many years, and the eyes that had once been Daniel's burned with the same red light. The Demon-Daniel came back to the floor, picked up the torn robe, and tied it around his waist.
The old man was now kneeling beside Max. "Master," he said in awe, "what shall we call you, now that you've come to our world?"
The creature answered, in a voice that was both Daniel's and the hiss that had come from the ruby: "The name of a demon can be used to bind it, so no mortal shall ever hear mine. You may still call me Daniel, for the brief period that you remain alive."
Written by Zodiac on 08 September 2008
The end (for now)