Vresas the Demoness
(Futanari Demon Stories)
1
Iranon, Pennsylvania, 1923
"He's so. . . handsome."
"And he's rich. His father is the owner of how many mills? Seven?"
"Yes, seven."
It was a typical Saturday afternoon. Emily and her sister Anna were doing the dishes and discussing boys. Anna had her eye on James Louis Armond—the heir to the Frakes & Kingston Law firm—and Emily had her eye on Galen Amano. His father owned seven mills.
Neither one of them had any chance. Both were poor peasant girls. They had only seen these men from afar, gathering what they knew from gossip—not hard to acquire, considering they went to the same Church. True, both girls were beautiful, but beauty in those days meant nothing without family connections. And Emily and Anna's family—the Scofield clan—were the poorest of the poor. Their father was in prison and their mother had remarried their uncle. Together they all lived in a cramped three-story house on the end of Briar's Lane, gifted to them by their great aunt, Matilda. Both of the sisters appeared destined for spinsterdom or marrying low-caste men—in either case, a life of drudgery awaited them, just like all in their family.
But, for now, they had their dreams.
"What would you do with all that money?" Anna asked.
"Buy a larger wardrobe. Some horses. Maybe a ranch."
"These dishes never end."
"No, they never do."
"What would you do with the money?"
"I would hope to travel."
Though separated by a year, Emily and Anna had little in common in terms of personality. Emily, 23, was shy, reclusive and melancholy. Anna, 24, was gregarious, adventurous, active and almost always cheery. Physically, they were also quite different: Emily was small, frail, thin and pale, with long black hair and big dark eyes. Anna was taller, plumper and blonde like her father. Despite this, they got along well. They had no one else—most in the town shunned them for their poverty and the sinful ways of their family line.
After the dishes were done, Anna went to the market and Emily retired to her room to read a book. While Anna enjoyed being out and about, Emily's preferred to read. Books gave her something nothing else did—books and the occasional game of Chess with her sister. Luckily, Iranon had a fine library, and when Emily had her fill of books there, she could always find more obscure works at the University.
On that fateful August evening, Emily had five books at the ready:
Godsea: Legend of the Gilded Ausprey
Confessions of St. Augustine
Tales of a Time and Place
The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts
The Maiden, Lyra
She didn't expect anything grand from them. She had once tried to read the
Confessions of St. Augustine
but found it too terribly boring.
Perhaps I'll use it as a sleep aid,
she laughed to herself. The others merely had interesting titles. In any case, her schedule was filled till supper. And after supper, she planned to read more. To read herself to sleep was one of her favorite activities, though she needed to be careful not leave the candle burning.
She looked over the four volumes, not knowing on which to start. She knew it wouldn't be
The Confessions.
Closing her eyes, she picked one at random—
Tales of a Time and Place
. She then plopped into her chair and began reading.
2
An hour later, there was a knock at the door.
"Emily? Emily are you in there?"
It was her mother.
"Yes, mother. I'm here."
Emily got from out of her chair and unlocked the door.
"Emily," her mother said, exasperated, "I am making roast tonight and I can't find the the large black bowl. Where is it?"
Emily thought a moment. "I don't remember us washing that. When was the last time you used it?"
"Oh, you're right. I left it at Martha's house on Wednesday. I should have known."
Emily rolled her eyes.
Her mother left.
Emily returned to her book. The distraction had made her lose her place and, in any case,
Tales of a Time and Place
was proving to be quite boring. She wanted something a little more exciting.
She picked up
The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts
—a book she had read many times before, but always enjoyed reading again. Magic was a topic that intrigued her since she was young, and though she knew it was forbidden by the Church, she still read the occasional book on the subject. She figured it was harmless, and she only went to Church for her mother's sake, anyway.
As she opened the book, she noticed a slip of paper tucked away in its middle. It was folded like a bookmark—and the library never removed bookmarks, for some odd reason—and the paper looked quite old. It was yellowing, brittle and creased in odd ways.
"Curious," Emily said. She held the paper up to the window. There was writing on it. It looked to be two pages, actually. Not wanting to tear it, Emily walked over to her desk and spread it out flat. It was English writing—excellent penmanship. The second page also had a strange seal—a seal which looked quite similar to what she had seen before in books of magic, akin to the symbols used to designate demons.
She felt a twinge of fear. Then fascination.
I should make some tea before I read it,
she thought.
Savor the moment.
She left her room, went downstairs and put on a pot of tea. Her mind was already racing with possibility—someone, or some
thing
, had taken the time to write a two-page note, composed or transcribe a demonic seal, and leave it in a library book. Perhaps it was intentional —the book was on the same subject, after all. She could barely contain her excitement.
Her mother was also in the kitchen. "You look odd," she said. "Smiling like that."
"Sorry," Emily said.
"I wonder if your sister will remember to get some eggs."
"I'm sure she will."
"I need eggs for the biscuits."
"Right."
After the tea was done, Emily poured herself a cup and returned to her room. She had work to do.
3
Before reading the strange paper, Emily looked at the handwriting again. Though excellent, she noticed a few oddities: the
s
was a little lower than the other letters, and the
t
would be crossed twice. She wondered where in the country people wrote like that. It certainly wasn't local.
The text read, "For the summoning of Vresas, demoness of lust, know that her day is the fifteenth mansion of the moon. She must be summoned at the midnight hour, or before dawn, and the Karcist must observe chastity for three days prior. On virgin parchment, draw her sigil by the light of two candles, and speak her enn in a low voice. Her enn is thus:
"
mira Vresas arncalavi xen xen rencarna
"This should be said with a prayerful heart. Know that she comes when she wishes and may not appear at the time of summoning. She will grant whatever the Karcist wishes in matters of lust, but only by pact.
"Do not regard her many forms with fear. They are temporary."
At the end, there was a signature, though Emily could not make out the letters.
From her studies prior, Emily knew that
Karcist
was an ancient word for
sorcerer
, but she could not recall what an
enn
was. From the text, it appeared to be a prayer. She had read similar words before in
The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts
—words which were said as part of the litany to an angel, demon or spirit.
The ritual was simple. Elegant, even. Emily was used to more elaborate instructions—special incenses and robes, swords consecrated with abstract designs and symbols, seals which were required to be engraved in metal. This ritual only required candles, a short prayer or
enn
, paper and pen.
"Curious," Emily said. She often considered that the common instructions given in grimoires might be needless, assuming they truly worked. Simple instructions such as these could be applied to any angel or demon, provided its seal, name and office were known.
She sipped her tea and felt a warm swell in her heart. The seal was so elegant, so unalike the crude seals given in grimoires like
The Lesser Key of Solomon
,
The Sworn Book of Honorius
and
The Grimorium Verum
.
"Vresas," she intoned. The name, too, was beautiful. Evocative. "demoness of lust". It was all very fascinating to her.
For a brief moment, she thought of Galen Ameno. Tall, brown-haired, blue-eyed. Strappingly handsome. Rich. She wondered what Vresas, demoness of lust, would do if she summoned her and asked her for Galen's affections.
Then she recalled the words
only by pact
. She knew what "pact" meant—other grimoires explained. But each pact was potentially different. Vresas would want something—but what?
"Silliness," Emily whispered. She took another sip of tea and went to her next book:
Godsea: Legend of the Gilded Ausprey
. A fantasy novel, over 1,000 pages long.
A nice title. A bit gaudy, but nice.
She began reading.
4