Teamwork

Chapter 8

After the end of her last class, Jones wandered around the Great Hall, trying to figure out where everything was to happen. The teachers' tables were still where they should be, but the students' tables were gone from their normal long lines in the middle of the room. Benches were being dragged into place around the edges of the room. What looked like a buffet-style dinner was being arranged against the far end of the hall.

Waving, she caught the attention of one of the staff. "Will there be a platform?" The man looked darkly at her and didn't answer. "OK. No platform."

Circling the area in the middle of the hall, she tried to figure out how her presentation would be displayed best. Maybe Wronski was right. No team. Make yourself look as good as possible. Leave the rest to their own devices. If that was the case, well... Lighting would be important. The huge kronleuchters were hung in a row. The candlelight would be pretty, but hardly efficient enough to see the results. She took out her wand and played with increasing the candlepower and, after several attempts, wasn't able to get a result she liked and, with a final wave of her wand, returned everything to its original state.

As she turned to leave, she realized that she needed something else. Clearing her throat loudly, she waved again, calling out, "I need a sheet of plastic on the floor." The castle's maintenance staff looked up from their bench moving. "Trust me. It will work to your advantage if the mess is easy to clean up." Several of them crossed themselves and backed away from her.

The click of boot heels echoed in the room as Gregorov strode in, a large book clutched under one arm and a cloth bag grasped in the other hand. He gave her an odd look and motioned her out of the way. Dropping to his knees in the center of the room, he began to sort through contents of the bag.

Curiosity got the better of her. She edged closer to see what he was doing. The book was open to a familiar page. He had a copy of de Spina and was using that as a guide to set up his containment area. As he picked up a piece of chalk, she asked, "Are you doing a circle or the star within the circle?"

He answered with a grunt and began to sketch. She watched as he first drew a circle. Inside of that, a star took shape then symbols followed. The whole operation was done very carefully. Names of the most popular demons were inscribed and candles were put at all of the points. He began to work on the outside of the circle, drawing it darker and thicker, when she couldn't stand the silence. "Which one are you calling? Do you always work this size? I thought nine feet was the norm."

Gregorov paused from his work and looked up at her through a mass of hair. "Go away."

"I'm not trying to be a pest. I'm curious. I've never summoned one myself. Never needed to. I've only seen it done a couple of times before."

He sat back on his heels and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "I have never summoned one, either."

Her jaw dropped. "Never?"

"Never." He studied his creation. "I thought I would do this in class. Who cares if it works there or not? The students do not pay attention most of the time." He looked at the book and at the drawing. "Does it look the same as the ones you have seen?"

She could only clear her throat for a while, her mind turning over possible responses. "The first one I saw was only a circle. It worked ok. He summoned a minor arcana demon for that one. I've seen just the star used. That didn't work as well. Might have been the wizard though. The most successful one I ever saw was set up the same as what you're doing now. This is the variant where you spend all this time on set up and then just chant the name?"

"Ja. It looked more impressive. Thirty-two demons' names, a phial containing the relevant element on each segment, candles. Should look." He grinned at her. " Very Dark Arts-ish."

"Can I ask which one you're summoning?"

"There are too many choices. Since today is Friday, I had thought Bechet. I hope he is not busy." Gregorov resumed darkening his circle. "My first choice would have been Asmodeus, but I dealt with that need last night."

"Yeah. Right. Maybe Belphegor is better for you." She shook her head, mostly in disgust, and left leaving Gregorov to wonder who Belphegor was.