Thy Master's Bidding, part 2

(If you haven't already, you may want to read part 1.)

I didn't scream. Bocal-Sha did startle me (how often do you hear a voice coming from your tool shed, anyway? Let alone a demonic one?) but I wasn't frightened enough to let out a yell. I'd been delving into the dark arts for over a month at that point, so perhaps I was a little jaded. It was just noteworthy that my first true interaction with a being not of this world, and I didn't react in the stereotypical way.

I took a step forward to get a look at the creature. I was more curious than anything at that point. Wouldn't you be? In hindsight, I suppose fear should have been my initial response. Or skepticism, even. But my drive to know more about this beast ...and, okay, I'll admit it, the thought of the power that it could provide me, far outweighed any logical emotions a normal person might have experienced.

As I stepped further into the shed, a small part of me did realize I was completely vulnerable to the demon. If it had wanted to kill me, maim me, devour my flesh - then would've been the perfect time. But it didn't.

Because it wasn't there.

I took another step into the enclosure, and was now entirely inside the small building. I could see the weed whacker, power cords, gardening tools, the lawn mower, plenty of dust, and some cobwebs. But no demonic force. I looked up, looked down, turned around behind me. Was I imagining things? The voice had certainly sounded real enough. Maybe the head injury coupled with my desire to have wanted the spell to work was...

"Bocal-Sha is here, Master." The voice was most definitely real, and was most definitely inside the shed with me. But I couldn't see the demon.

"I... can't see you." I said, and was surprised at how rusty my voice sounded, as though I hadn't spoken for weeks.

A sudden powerful sensation of shame and disappointment enveloped me then. This was the first time that Bocal-Sha's emotions hit me (but not the last), and it was so unexpected and overwhelming that I was knocked to my knees. Evidently, I would learn, when the creature felt something strongly, I, too, would share the emotional state. Although 'share' isn't quite the right word for it. Bocal-Sha's empathy-waves were the equivalent of being emotionally mugged. Whatever I felt become secondary, almost non-existent, while Bocal-Sha's senses were all-encompassing.
"Bocal-Sha is in a weakened state, Master. Bocal-Sha can not reveal. Does Master desire Bocal-Sha reveal?"

The shame that Bocal-Sha felt was subsiding, or I was getting accustomed to it. Either way, I found that I was able to stand again. But all of this newness was difficult to take in. I needed some time to process everything that was going on.
"I...no, I understand if I can't see you," I said to the demon. "Are you able to leave this building?" According to many of the books and websites I had read, demons were subject to numerous restrictions on their powers or abilities depending on how they were summoned.

"Yes, Master. Shall Bocal-Sha leave?"

"Just stay near me."

"Always, Master."

*****

I'm sure if anyone had been watching me mow the lawn, they would have been quite puzzled. A teenage boy pushing a lawn mower, apparently talking to himself the whole time, occasionally laughing hysterically for no reason, twice stopping in order to have an uncontrollable session of crying for five minutes. They would have assumed me insane.
However, that 45 minute conversation allowed me to gather valuable information from Bocal-Sha.

The demon (it was neither male nor female, as demons are evidently sexless beings. When I attempted to determine Bocal-Sha's gender, it simply resulted in a shared bout of confusion.) was not the Devil, but most certainly knew of a Devil. As far as I could surmise, the Devil was an excessively powerful and ruthless demon who rarely personally interacted with humans, or demons. The Devil - whose real name was something unpronounceable - generally took a portion of all other demons souls and power on a regular basis.

Demons use Human souls as a sort of currency/food/energy source, apparently. By offering mine up, Bocal-Sha would be able to give the Devil his due (ha!) and be set for a good amount of time. When I asked what would become of me by no longer having my soul, Bocal-Sha chuckled. "Perhaps a career in politics?"

During our conversation, I learned about the empathy-waves, and how it is simply how Bocal-Sha is, and that it is not exactly controllable. The demon did promise to try and keep the feelings in check. Bocal-Sha also told me that the empathy-waves would not be as powerful to other people. Additionally, it was able to control it's voice so that it would not be heard by other people, unless it wanted to be heard.

Which brought us to the visibility problem. Bocal-Sha told me that if I performed some magic on behalf of it, that it's strength could be improved enough that it would be able to make itself visible to me. The spell was complex, the demon said, but if I wanted, it would be willing to help me through it. There was also a small sacrifice that I would be required to make - just some small animals - Bocal-Sha told me, and once the demon was visible, it would be able to help with further spells, and also able to grant certain powers to me.

I liked the sound of that.