Chapter Seven: Freak

At the age of sixteen, Lezard Valeth became the youngest person to ever successfully summon a demon. The encounter did not go as he would have hoped. The demon he summoned looked like a deformed dwarf with over-long arms and claws that scraped the courtyard's stone floor. He could understand it but the demon apparently didn't understand him, and so the interview was a failure. Even so, he took pride in accomplishing the feat at all.

School was becoming increasingly dull for him. Already he was setting to master spells students two years older than he were learning, and it took little effort for him to keep his position as head of the class. When he lost sleep he didn't show signs of it. The writing over his bed appeared infrequently but it always proved useful and so he often performed partial summonings.

Lezard's roommate had a captive audience every morning as he relayed what the strange boy was up to. "He talks to himself all the time," he would report. "But it's like there are voices in his head. Oh, and he wrote weird stuff on the wall again. I don't know what it means but it gives me an uneasy feeling when I look at it."

"He's finally losing his mind," observed an older student, though none looked pleased at the idea. "Maybe he'll be kicked out." This suggestion settled much better with the gathered students enough for them to confidently go their separate ways.

One particular day, about midway through the winter term, Lezard did not show up for his morning class. This caused a stir in his fellow classmates. Even when he was ill he had never missed a class. His roommate swore Lezard left at the usual time, but after that he seemed to have left the school's property.

Mystina was aware of all the whispers circulating about her friend but she paid no attention to them. The little bookworm helped her out a great deal and as long as he continued doing so, everything else was his own business. However when she heard he skipped class she grew concerned. That was not like the boy she knew. Others were content to forget him but she went out looking. He wasn't in any of his usual spots and that only troubled her more.

The afternoon meal break rolled around with no sign of her friend. Mystina wondered where he could've run off to and why he hadn't bothered to at least tell her before he left. She jabbed at her food angrily. When she glanced up she emitted a gasp of surprise. There was Lezard headed her way. Other than disheveled hair nothing in his appearance gave away where he'd been.

"Lezard, you little louse! The school's in an uproar because you've skipped class all day!" What have you been up to?" He ignored her, taking a seat beside her and staring forward. She waited but he didn't even turn to greet her. "Don't ignore me!" she snapped. He made no indication he heard her. Certainly he could be a prick but he hadn't been this rude to her since they met. "LEZARD!" she practically screamed in his ear.

"Hmm? Ahh, Mystina," he drolled, finally turning to face his friend. "Do forgive me. I was deep in thought." His lips curled into a smile. His eyes locked onto hers and she instinctively recoiled. There was something wrong about those eyes… something sinister and threatening.

"Are you all right, Lezard?" she wondered.

"Why, of course, Mysty! I'm perfectly fine!" He laughed, turning his attention to his food. The girl at his side stared at him dumbly. In all their time as friends he had never once called her "Mysty".

"Lezard…" She tried again, treading carefully this time. "What did you do?"

"I had a pleasant visit with the dead," he answered. "It is much easier to call upon demons when one is surrounded by departed souls. I cannot tell you all that I learned, but it was an educational experience much more useful than anything this school could teach me."

Lezard got up without ever touching his food and left the eating area. After that day he spent much more time in the library and much less in the classrooms. The teachers were displeased but they couldn't complain: he finished any work given to him with excellence. Whatever it was he was doing all those hours in the library was something private. Even if he would tell Mystina his plans she wouldn't have understood any of his notes. She was a little glad she didn't know what was going on; he had grown increasingly strange, enough for her to feel uneasy.

The seasons rolled close to spring. These days when Mystina and Lezard met they only talked about Mystina's research. Lezard still assisted her but now it came in lecture form and she sat copying down his words. She had to admit he had good information though she suspected some of it didn't come from library books. Lezard's roommate reported no recent appearances of the wall writing but instead told of the late hours Lezard was spending out of the room.

A spring day arrived where the weather was so nice students were allowed outdoors to study. Mystina was hurrying to the library for a book she needed when she accidentally stumbled on a couple kissing each other fiercely. She rolled her eyes a little and moved to take a different route but a chuckle from the male held her back. There was something very familiar about that laugh…

"Lezard?" The male turned, and sure enough it was her friend. Looking closer Mystina saw he had the girl pinned to the wall and even now she was squirming for escape. "What are you doing?"

"If you don't mind, Mysty, I'm rather busy," he snapped. "Go away." The furious look in his eye made it easy not to argue. Once again Mystina was left puzzling what was going on with her friend. As far as she knew she was the only female he would tolerate spending time with. He even admitted to her he didn't think much of women. What could've changed his mind?

"What the hell, Lezard?" she shrieked the moment she had him alone. "What the hell? Since when were you interested in women?"

"My personal life is none of your business," he retorted, glaring her down. "I suggest you butt out. Unless… you're jealous?" He smirked mischievously and reached for her arm. "Are you wanting a little action, Mysty?"

"UGH! You pervet!" She wrenched out of his grasp, seriously unnerved now. "Don't you dare touch me you… you freak!" She ran way, Lezard's laughter following her. No, it wasn't Lezard anymore, at least the way she knew him. Something had changed him horribly.

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On that morning when Lezard skipped class, he had writing on the wall giving instructions to visit the local burial sights. So far the writing pushed him in the right direction, and he hurried out of the school. Without planning it he summoned a demon, and opened his ears to the voices of the dead. They were all talking over each other along with demonic shrieks.

"Stop, stop! I can't understand." They paid no heed to him and continued the cacophony. "I want to understand!" he shouted over them. "I want all the knowledge you can give me! I want more magical power! Anything!"

"Payment!" the voices cried back in unison. "Payment! Payment!"

"I will pay!" Lezard agreed thoughtlessly. "Name your price and I will pay it! Just give me what I desire!" He felt invisible hands groping him, feeling up his legs and arms. Someone was screaming and then a burst of light knocked him off his feet.

Later he found himself back at the school entrance. How he got there he didn't know. He was aware of a throbbing headache and nothing more.

The girl he cornered was younger than himself but he didn't care. He wanted her, to feel her skin under his hands. It was an impulse that never occurred to him before but he followed it all the same. Once Mystina was gone he returned to his prey. He soon released her but he would keep her in mind, just in case he needed someone like her later.

Mystina had called him a freak. He found the new title extremely amusing. Now even his only friend had cast him out of society. No matter to him. He had always been apart from everyone. Mystina's disgust and fear meant nothing to him. He had his own plans and would carry them out. Nothing else mattered.