Thoth
Thump!
The young man's head, heavy with sleep, made contact with the huge tome before jerking back up in alarm. With a mumbled curse, he rubbed his weary eyes, then gingerly touched the red mark on his forehead.
This was the third time tonight he'd face-planted into his book.
Sighing, the magician brushed dark hair from his eyes, the stick-straight locks in need of trimming. He turned tired black eyes back to his work. The heavy book lay open to some page near the middle. Though, reading it would have been difficult, as most of the text was buried in sheets of loose paper, covered in the man's messy scribble.
Why did finding suitable servants need to be so hard?
The young man's eyes were starting to droop again. In his sleep-deprived daze, he picked up a pen and doodled on a spare sheet.
T-H-O-T-H
He snapped awake and quickly scribbled the words out, then ripped the section from the paper, then snapped his fingers, uttering a quick command and the paper burst into flames. He was Elton Diggory now, not that insane name his parents had given him. Why they'd even picked such a stupid- No, no, he couldn't think about it at all. Elton. Diggory. That was his name. If his master had taught him anything, it was that one kept all their secrets closer than anything else.
Not that it had done the old fool any good. After all, he'd kept all his secrets so close, then proceeded to summon the most dangerous, most powerful demon of all into himself and no one could stop him from destroying London. Fool.
Another sigh. Those seemed to be a new habit of Thoth's. As if his life wasn't trouble enough without a remembered birth name. Though, his fool of a master had given him almost as much trouble. After all, being affiliated with London's most notorious villain was a dangerous occupation. Especially when that villain inadvertently killed London's latest late hero.
Ah yes, John Mandrake. Tho- Elton had glimpsed him once or twice. How could he not, when Makepeace had nearly forced the man to keep him company for two years? The budding magician could tell Mandrake was powerful, and that he was different. Sure, he'd been the most powerful politician of the era, possibly even more powerful than Makepeace, but under all that, Elton could barely glimpse something. A conscience, perhaps?
Never mind, it didn't matter anyway. Or did it?
Eyes lighting once again, Thoth -No, Elton- wracked his brains to remember the demons Mandrake had employed. He remembered Ascobal, certainly. It was too creepy to be forgotten. Then there was Cormocodron, very powerful. Oh, and then there was…it had started with a 'B'…
The magician shoved his papers to the side and flipped through the book until he found- Ah, yes there it was-
"Bartimaeus. Also known as Sakr Al Djinni, N'gorso the Mighty and Rekyt of Alexandria. 4th level, extremely cheeky. Dead. Killed in the Battle of the Glass Palace along with magician John Mandrake."
Just his luck. The one demon he'd actually found promising, and it had been crushed under a thousand tons of iron and glass. Why did his plans, and his life, never, ever, work out?
Now thoroughly disheartened, Elton reached absently for a book of names. Flipping it to a random page, he scanned listlessly. Maybe if he managed to uncover a new demon? Risky, but really, he was short on time now. Risks needed to be taken…
"Narendra"
No, any demons with Indian names seemed to be flightly and low-ranked.
"Nash"
No. Just no.
"Nasir"
Promising, but more than likely had been taken already, and probably by an afrit, the way his luck was going.
"Natalia"
Sounded like a name a Succubus would take, and Lord knows he didn't need one of them.
"Natulius"
Again, probably taken, and it was Roman. The Romans had been known for their reckless demon summonings, as well as their power.
Yet another sigh. Really, was there no hope for his cause at all? The young man's hand dragged across the page. On a whim he looked at his finger.
Oh. This looked promising. Recent, yet somehow majestic enough to seem plausible for, perhaps, a middling djinni? Something he could have under his full command. Yes, yes he'd try this. After all, he'd end up dead if he failed, and he'd end up dead with no real servant, so what was he risking? Taking up a pencil, Elton circled the name he'd chosen.
"Nathaniel"
Oh look, a chapter that's more than a page long! I appologize for the wait, but this chapter was kicking my butt, and then writer's block set in... But, I think I'm finally settling into this story, so hopefully it'll start to come easier!
To the Reviewers of Awesome:
Neela:
Glad you're still liking it~ Hopefully my chapters will continue to get longer, 'cause believe me, I know the short chapter thing is frustrating. I've experienced it from both sides...
