Aila gritted her teeth, focusing on the levitating boulder in front of her. Her right arm strained with the effort, the palm of her hand tingling as she worked her magic. All she had to do was push the rock away, and she would win this game.
Normally, such a task would have been easy — but not right then.
Right then, Lentashial was in control of Aila's other arm, and was pulling the boulder towards them with everything she had. Aila could barely feel the arm, but she could see it pulsing with her demon's power. The space around the arm seemed to ripple, red scales appearing and disappearing over and over as the demon worked.
The sky was clear above them, and the wild grass around them swayed gently in the breeze. It was evening, and the sun was low in the sky. Behind Aila, a wide grassy hill rose gently. In front of her, a dark forest loomed. It was a forest she had come to know intimately during her time in this place. It was a forest Aila was sure she'd be visiting again that night once the sun went down.
The boulder rose slightly, then immediately lowered, shaking slightly as Aila and Lentashial clashed. Aila grinned, air hissing in and out of her mouth.
(Ready to give up, Tash?) Aila said.
Tash - as Aila had long come to call the demon - giggled in her mind.
(Not a chance,) Tash said.
Aila could feel that her power was slipping. The giant rock was just starting to inch towards her, and she couldn't force it back again no matter how hard she pushed. She could feel her mouth curling into a triumphant grin — a grin, she knew, that would show way too many teeth.
Aila sighed, and then released her magic all at once. And as the humungous chunk of rock sailed straight towards her, she relaxed her muscles and closed her eyes, willing Tash to take her place.
For one moment, Aila's body was surrounded by an etherial fog. By the next moment, Tash was leaping towards the boulder on outstretched wings. With wide eyes and a wider smile, the demon slashed at the rock with hard glowing claws, smashing it immediately into tiny little shards. The creature flapped her wings, landed softly, and whooped in delight.
"Yeah!" Tash said. "Take that, freak!"
Aila could still feel her body clearly. She felt Tash's leathery wings flaring out from her back, and felt the warm glow of the sun on Tash's scales. But most of all, she felt Tash's simple delight radiating through her — delight at using her power in full, after an entire day of being forced to hold back.
Like all demons, Lentashial was a bundle of near-endless energy, an almost bottomless well of magic just waiting to burst out. Aila played with the demon every evening, for that very reason. Her daily magic trainings, challenging though they were, were just never enough to tire the demon out, and so never enough to truly allow Aila to rest.
Tash sniffed the air, folding her wings. (So. What now?) she asked.
Aila had just been about to answer when she heard a pointed cough from behind.
(Aw, no,) Tash said.
The demon looked behind her, without turning the rest of Aila's naked, newly-winged body. Sure enough, Magus Stromwell was right there, looking at them hard with one eyebrow raised. He was dressed in his usual elegant black gown, his silver hair brushed neatly back.
"Good evening, Aila," Stromwell said. And then, dipping his head: "Tash."
A good-natured growl escaped from Aila's throat.
Stromwell blinked "Is...everything okay here?"
Which was when Aila finally took control.
All at once, Tash's wings and scales faded away, replaced by an elegant hooded cloak. At the same time, Aila nudged Tash gently to the back of her mind, taking the demon's place. She clasped her hands in front of her, and bowed.
"Magus," Aila said.
Stromwell nodded. "Aila." He walked around her, supporting himself with his large walking stick, and surveyed the field where Aila and Tash had been playing. "Might I ask what you were doing?" he said.
Aila swallowed. "I was playing with Tash, Magus. Like I always do."
Stromwell turned back towards her, his face creased into a frown. "With the demon out in full? In complete command of your actions?"
Aila nodded. "She...gets restless easily. So I do let her out sometimes, and—"
At Stromwell's raised eyebrow, Aila lapsed into silence.
"So you're letting her dictate to you?" the magus said. "Are you sure that's—"
Tash growled again — and not, this time, in a good-natured way. The sound came from deep in Aila's throat, impossible to miss.
Aila shut her mouth hard, gritting her teeth. Tash went quiet right away, but it was already too late. The magus had heard it, and both his eyes were wide.
"N-no, I'm still in control," Aila said. "But...it calms her. It makes her easier to work with." She forced a smile. "But I keep her in line."
She stroked a finger over the metal collar clasped around her neck.
Stromwell sighed softly. "Yes, well...I do apologise, Aila. And to you, Tash. But you have to understand that I..." He lapsed into silence, rubbing at his eyes.
Tash took control of an arm, and Aila did nothing to suppress it. That arm moved up to her other arm, in a loose approximation of a hug.
(Sorry,) the demon said.
Aila closed her eyes, dipping her head. (I know. It's okay,) she said.
Aila understand the magus' concerns all too well. After all, Aila was the first of her kind: a human with magic potential, with a demon to enhance that potential, but with the demon tightly restrained. The collar around Aila's neck was enchanted, and granted Aila power over the demon that possessed her. Without the collar, there would be nothing at all to hold Tash back.
"I know that you and Tash are...close," Stromwell said at last "But she's still a demon, Aila. You must realise what she could do if she got loose."
Aila shook her head. "No. Tash wouldn't do that."
But she knew what Stromwell meant. She'd seen victims of demon possession before, as had Stromwell, as had Tash.
Stromwell opened his mouth, and Aila was sure that he was going to argue. But then, he simply sagged, and nodded without looking her way.
"I can see that you trust her," he said. "But...just be careful. That's all I ask."
Tash kept quiet that time, inwardly and outwardly, but Aila could feel that the demon was listening closely.
Stromwell nodded his head. "Well then. Good evening, Aila. Good evening, Tash."
Aila bowed. "Good evening, Magus," she said.
He turned and walked away, towards his homely little cottage just beyond the hill. Later, Aila would go back there too. She'd lived with the magus for several months, far away from the sorts of people who would do her or Tash harm.
Such people had made the collar that Aila now wore. They'd wanted to trap Tash with it, and to trap Aila in turn. They hadn't realised that Aila would be able to harness the demon's power, and use that power to escape them. Nor had they realised that, with practice, Aila would be able to let Tash out in full.
Aila sighed, and flopped down onto the grass, staring up at the evening sky.
Stromwell was trying to understand; she couldn't deny that. He acknowledged Tash and talked to Tash when so few others did, and had taken Aila as his apprentice when no other mage would have her. At over twenty years of age, she was the oldest apprentice he had ever taken on - and thanks to Tash, by far the most powerful.
She closed her eyes. And for a moment, she found her thoughts drifting back to her first days with Tash. She remembered being kidnapped from her village by masked cultists, remembered being tied up and gagged upon their altar. She remembered writhing and thrashing as they summoned Tash into her. She remembered how Tash had refused to follow their orders, flown her back to her village, only to be chased away and then—
A pair of reassuring arms wrapped around her chest: her arms, both under Tash's influence.
(You okay?) Tash asked.
Aila felt her shoulders loosen. And then she nodded that yes, she was.
It was always easier when she and Tash were alone. That way, she didn't have to worry about what anyone else thought, nor did she have to explain what she would rather not try to explain. Instead, it was just her and Tash, free to do what they wished, free to not be bothered or judged.
Aila swallowed a lump in her throat. She'd been having so much fun just then, playing with her demon in the field. Now, though, she simply felt drained.
(Hey,) Tash said then, squeezing at Aila's arms. (I know what would cheer you up.)
"Hmm?"
(Want to go heavy tonight? When we go to the forest?)
Aila's cheeks went flush, a gentle stirring rising in her loins. "Y-yeah. Yes!" she said. "But...how heavy?"
Her demon stayed quiet, stretching the moment out. (Heavy enough...for a safe-word, say?)
Aila exhaled, her mouth going wide. If Tash wanted a safe-word, that could only mean-
"Yes!" Aila said. "Let's do it! Yes!"
- - -
That night, Aila crept out of Stromwell's cottage. She shut the door behind her, locking it with a simple spell. She walked on, threw her head back, and took in a deep breath of nighttime air. She sighed softly, her arms swinging lightly at her side. The grass felt pleasant between her toes, and the air was cool against her naked skin.
She always felt more relaxed at night. At night, it was just her and Tash, with no-one to see them and no-one to question them. Stromwell would be sound asleep by now, and would remain asleep right up to dawn.
Aila, though, could never have slept — not with Tash's energy still bubbling beneath her skin, and not with what they had planned for this night.
"Ready when you are, Tash," Aila whispered.
