∼ Grimoire ∼

Chapter - 003

Steeper and steeper, down went the tunnel, and before the impling knew it, it was once again tumbling as a poor imitation of a red ball rolling down a rocky incline.

This time, however, it wasn't knocked out upon finally coming to a halt after its long descent, though it certainly wondered if that was for the better since then the pain was real and not just an afterthought in the blissful ignorance of unconsciousness.

Hissing in annoyance at the red screens and their numbers as they taunted its injured state, the impling tried to ignore them as best as it could since the pain racking his body was a bigger concern to the demon at that moment. That was when the gravely misplaced demon got a grip on its spinning head and suddenly realized the odd surroundings that it found itself in.

No longer frantically tumbling through those narrow tunnels, it was now in a massive cavern that could almost qualify as an open expanse. But more eye-catching than the sheer size of the cavern was the temple steepled in some kind of dark as midnight stone.

Outlined and decorated with beautiful lines of gold that contrasted the black of the temple, it made for both an ominous and bewitching sight that had the impling unconsciously gaping with awe. Its feeble little mind wasn't used to handling the idea of such grandiose structures or objects so it felt rather at a loss as to what to make of it.

Feeling all of a sudden small and exposed, the diminutive impling glanced around with trepidation, stopping when its gaze landed on the cracks and holes littering the cave wall to his back. Exactly which one it had come tumbling out of, the demon didn't know, but it was at least relieved at the fact that those cursed creatures appeared to no longer be pursuing it.

Still, that did not mean it wanted to stay out here in the open for a second longer. That would be against its skittish nature. Shooting to its feet and trying to ignore the aching protest of its rather battered body, the demon scanned its surroundings for any good hiding place as was natural for any smart impling such as itself.

After all, as far as demons went, implings were the bottom, of the bottom - of the food chain.

However, as it looked for someplace to scurry away too, the ever-curious demon kept finding its gaze unconsciously turning towards that black and golden temple, for some reason feeling an intense allure and desire to approach it welling up within.

At first, it felt as if the mesmerizing temple called to it, but as the sensation grew stronger, the impling knew that it was not the temple itself... but something inside it calling out to something intrinsic to its own demonic existence.

Unsurprisingly, the impling stood no chance at resisting the urge, finding itself standing before the open temple only moments later. Shaking ever so slightly from the fear of the unknown as the veil of the temple's dark interior could barely be pierced from the outside, the demon squeaked a startled yelp the second it took a hesitant step inside.

As if reacting to its presence, fires had lit up the temple from the inside, occupying anything from torches mounted on the walls to the grandiose light fixtures hanging from the ceiling in complex tapestries of light and design.

The fear welling up within the impling wasn't enough to defeat the compulsion though - its gait ever so slowly beginning to pick up again. It glanced at the fires and the various shadows with wary eyes - focus jumping from flickering shadows that were cast across the otherwise empty temple filled only with only pillars holding up the ceiling.

However, that was not to say that there was nothing in the temple at all. In its center, raised upon a large altar or pedestal of some sort, an object lay. There was no further need to search for whatever had called the impling here -- for this, was it.

It was only the flickers of the golden flames all around that accompanied the impling's hesitant and fearful gait towards the ominous object. But not once did the entranced demon ever even consider turning back despite its fear, so enraptured was it in the callings of the item.

The impling still didn't know what to make of it. It hadn't the faintest idea whatever this item was. Then again, it wasn't surprising as books weren't something that you'd just find anywhere in the lesser stratums of the nether world.

Scampering up the marbled surface of black and gold that was the altar, the impling climbed up to the book that was about as big as the demon itself. Not that the impling was any big creature by most calibers, almost qualifying itself as little more than a rodent in size within the nether world.

It inspected the book, glancing across the many symbols, carvings, and other runes etched into the book's leather-bound exterior. They made no sense to the already nonsensical demon, so it quickly gave up staring and trying to make sense of the complex tapestry that almost seemed to tell a tale of some sort.

It was both with hesitant but also eager fingers that the impling reached down to take hold of the book's cover in an attempt to open it, but it quickly realized that its diminutive figure did nothing to help it in that endeavor.

The impling grunted with exertion as it clasped around the cover with both its hands and pulled upwards. But it was all for naught as the impling barely felt it give. It was probably crusted shut by something. Then all of a sudden, a brilliant idea came to the demon, that only it, the smartest of all imps, could have possibly come up with.

The impling... knocked the book off the pedestal.

With a clatter and a heavy thud, the book hit the altar below. Landing on the hard surface of the temple below. But before the impling could even check if its actions had been successful, the fretful demon let out yet another squeak of fear as faint whispers assaulted its ears from all around until they eventually died down, relenting to the same silence that had engulfed the temple just moments before.

It looked over the edge of the pedestal with a hesitant peek and the impling spotted the book laying on the ground, face-up and open. While those whispers almost certainly had something to do with the book, the demon still did a little gig of triumph, cackling with wild abandon as it, of course, was the smartest of imps - as proven time, and time again.

Climbing down the pedestal, the demon may, or may not have fallen some of the way as it lost its foothold. But if you were to ask it personally, such preposterous nonsense would be debunked; as something as ridiculous as that could not ever happen to it...

Rubbing its behind sorely, the impling waddled over to the open book, feeling the call of it becoming ever-increasing. The moment it loomed over the book whose contents were splayed out for anyone to see, the impling froze.

The demon was locked in place by some unknown force as the book's pages suddenly started turning from one to the next, releasing a dark-red glow that only became stronger with each page that turned; until suddenly, the books closed with a thundering boom of dark energy which sent the impling sprawling back, thrown through the air for who-knows-how-many times today.

Stunned from both the book's effects and the abrupt end of its momentary flight, the impling barely noticed the many notifications flaring up in its mind. But its groggy attention still met the bare minimum attention required to call forth all the screens awaiting its perusal.