~

The trees lay like a dark canopy overhead, blotting out what little light came from the night sky. In spite of the oppressive summer heat and humidity, it was cold here, even though no breeze ruffled the leaves.

"I think we've come to the right place," Schmidt said. Warding Johannes first, he then placed wards on himself, and laid out a binding circle to prevent the demon from wreaking havoc across this area. All his preparations in place, he secured a finely cut ruby in his coat pocket. The binding circle would hold the demon here long enough for a secondary binding spell, which would entrap the entity for further questioning. Schmidt would take no shortcuts with one of Tartys's purported power.

Finally, he began the summoning ritual Miss Turnwater had described, spilling a d...

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