The Devil's Opponent: The Root of Evil Manifesto

The Devil's Opponent: Root of Evil Manifesto

Chapter 1

Raven Grimm was a rather funny, but handsome man who owned a magic store in the big city called “The Capricorn”. It was his little slice of paradise and a good reason for him to stay out of working at a fucking job which would just end up making him “just over broke”. He had such a feminine face and long silky white hair that spoke of many years of wisdom that he wore down around his shoulders. He looked so much younger than he really was. He was what you might call a femboy or at least that's what he preferred to call himself. Born on February 18th, 1993 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. so currently he was 33 years old, but looked to be in his twenties still. He was perhaps the most available bachelor in his area and yet no woman or man would touch him with a ten foot pole because of a cursed ring he could not take off. It was silver with a great black diamond set into it. The diamond was so dark and dense it felt as if it were absorbing the energy around it and to his knowledge it actually was. He hated how heavy it felt on his hand. It felt like an overpriced slave collar. He cursed the woman who put this on him night and day, but to no avail she never seemed to return to him. He looked around at the shoppers in his store and saw one pick up a tarot deck out of curiosity. He was meaning to teach classes on how to read them, but lacked the energy to invest in such a project since managing his store took up what motivation and energy he did have. A young woman in a billowing cloak came into the store just as he was thinking of closing up shop. She had brown hair and hazel eyes the color of the forest and river and skin that was basically white. What did she want here? He wondered as she picked up a black and red candle for spell casting and came to the register where he stood.

“Just these two items please.” She said in a rather soft and polite tone as she peered down at his black diamond ring out of concern. “It looks like you could use some help around here. Would you mind hiring me part time? I can get you a resume. I'm very good with this type of thing and have years of customer service.”

This surprised Raven since he was so used to women simply finishing their shopping and leaving. Perhaps he'd get some help after all.

“Yes, I'd love that. When can you start?” Raven said hastily not really thinking of her qualifications, but how he would finally have someone to talk to. Maybe even relate to and possibly do a little something extra fun if the reader knows what I mean.

“I can start next week and will need to inform you of the schedule I have available to work since I have several side projects I am working on. Mostly the crafting of jewelry and weapons.” The young woman said with an eager voice. “And I guess if I'm working for you I suppose you should know my full name. It's Merlina Azazel. It's been a pleasure making your acquaintance, but I must be taking my leave now.”

“Wait, can I have your number so I know who to call?” Raven said taking out his phone.

“Yes, my number is eight seven zero, eight zero five, five zero one nine. I'll wait till you put it in.” Merlina said putting the two candles into her purse and purposely peering into the younger man's eyes. It felt as if she intended to look into his soul.

He hastily put in the number and added her. As he did it he thought nervously of the woman who put the cursed ring on his finger and left him for dead. She wouldn't do the same surely. He had no choice, but to blindly trust this person. Aurora Grimm was the name of the woman who curse him with the ring. He was still married to her with that ring and she wouldn't do the ritual to reverse it. She took everything from him and he would stop at nothing to get everything back plus more. All that energy he had. He had to work so hard to keep that shop afloat just to fucking survive. She wouldn't stop, so he was going to fucking rebel. Merlina was a woman of magic. Perhaps he would see just how powerful she really was and do the same ritual Aurora had him do. He was at his wit's end and would go to any length to survive.

Chapter 2

Merlina reached her apartment which was simply furnished. In the corner of the living room there stood an alter to Stolas who she had already sacrificed her soul to for the knowledge she had of astronomy, astrology and virtues of precious stones. There was a carpet in the center of her living room with a pentagram pattern. She took out a tarot card deck and began shuffling deciding to see how this employment with Raven would go. The first card was the three of pentacles. So far so good. She did after all reach out for a career helping him with his store. She vaguely wondered how much it would pay as she looked at the second card. It was the two of swords. Someone was making her choose between helping and hurting him. There was someone who hated him with a passion and didn't want him to experience joy or happiness at all. Then there was the upside down ten of cups. She would find a reason to pity him, but didn't know why. She went on her computer for spell requests people would pay her to perform. She had one client which was what the candles were for. It was a sex spell for a female client. She never questioned the karma she would cause with such a spell. Was the victim married or single? She didn't know. She set up the ritual and began doing a binding spell to make sure he would never get away from her. As soon as he had sex with her the binding would become stronger and it would only get stronger with each time. In a city where men were so reluctant to date this sort of power was a game changer for so many women. She did at least five of these spells a day. She would have to slow down on the spells because of her new job, but she wouldn't stop entirely.

As she finished her spell she pondered on casting a sex spell on her new boss. She would need to get his full name and a picture of him in order to make it work. An image of a person is a piece of the person's soul or at least that's what she believed. She could feel the person's current emotions just by looking into the eyes of the photographed person. The eyes were after all the window to the soul. And then there was his astrology chart. She would absolutely need to have that. She wanted to know what she was getting into. Perhaps his Sun, Moon and Venus placements would provide the best hint for what she was attempting with him. His hair was long enough, but if she got caught getting a piece of it she'd be fired and it would be awkward. The photograph would have to be substantial for this particular spell. She knew in binding him this way to her it was a huge risk but guarantee job security. She knew she was touching fire, just like Sophia the goddess of wisdom who had experienced pain beyond belief to get to where she was. The only way for sure she could know what her love and sex spells were like would be to cast one for herself and see first hand what her clients were facing. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her and she would do it. She googled “The Capricorn” into her desktop computer and the first image that came up was one of him holding a crystal ball gingerly in his hands.

“Got you.” She said as she printed up a copy of the photograph on her printer.

Chapter 3

The next day Raven showed up bright and early to the store only to see Merlina there already putting a few crystals back into her purse. It wasn't anything fancy. Just a rose quartz and a bit of malachite. She looked up and brought out her resume for him to peer at. Perhaps a little too eagerly as he snatched it away impatiently. She smirked as he took it and relaxed just a little too much as he read it.

“It says here you worked at a call center for two years?” Raven said taking his shades off to get a better look at her. “What have you been doing since then?”

“Oh a bit of this and a bit of that. Freelance work really. Nothing huge.” Merlina said with an innocent smile. “I'm still doing some spell work plus digital artwork for a freelance site.”

“That's awesome that you're able to put spell casting to use in this world. Most people give up after the first spell doesn't work or something like that.” Raven said as he put the resume away in his coat pocket. “I suppose you're used to selling and customer service? I can use someone like that. How does twenty dollars an hour sound?”

“It sounds fair. I'll take it.” Merlina said as she looked down at the black diamond ring that felt like it was sucking at her very soul. She looked him dead in the eye and said “Can you remove that ring?”

At first Raven looked annoyed, but calmed down and said “I won't remove the ring. It stays on no matter what I'm doing.”

Merlina looked at him suspiciously at first, but then relaxed back into her professional attitude which made Raven relax. The last thing he wanted was for her to nag him to do something he couldn't. They headed into the store as he looked over her resume some more. She seemed very knowledgeable on witchcraft, so perhaps she was the best person for the job after all.

“Alright, I'm putting you in charge of the store for one day and seeing what you do with it.” Raven said putting the resume in his desk in the back.

“That's great. You won't regret it.” Merlina said as a hint of a smirk could be seen tracing her lips. It was as if she had a plan that whole time.

The day went on smoothly. Merlina took care of customers selling merchandise off the shelves as easily as Raven thought she would. She gave off a certain charm that magnified the buyers to the more expensive items. That was good and all short term, but Raven thought of how hard it would be to replace and restock each of those items. She didn't know it, but she was creating work for him. He thought to himself and then thought again. This was the challenge he needed was it not?

Chapter 4

She slept soundlessly until a rather large ominous owl showed up in her dream. It had glowing yellow eyes with pupils so well rounded like large black holes sucking up all the light and light grey feathers that spoke of both dark and light. His beautiful feathers covered up long legs. Stolas. That's who that was.

'Don't take the ring unless you're willing to touch the fire it's attached to.' Was a thought that came to her before she snapped awake shaking slightly.

Her mind went straight to Raven's black diamond ring. Something about it was drawing her in now. She needed to know the pain of that ring for herself. She wanted, no needed to touch that fire. She needed to see how it burned him to wear it.

She got up at three o'clock in the morning and decided to consult her tarot cards on what was going to take place if she made such a choice. The first card was the three of pentacles which was a good sign because she had collaborated with another to get a job, the second card was the moon and her mind went straight to Raven since his sun sign was Pisces, then the last card she drew was the death card. According to the rest of the prediction there was a complicated romantic situation going on between her and Raven and it would lead to a huge transformation of some kind. She wasn't sure, but knew it was related to the black diamond ring he wore.

She just sat there looking at those three cards out of curiosity for a minute or two, then decided to go brew some tea to relax her nerves. She looked up more photographs of Raven online and peered at that ring he wore. Something about wearing it did seem painful and soul sucking. She would find out how to wear the same ring so she could feel what he was going through. She had to touch this fire. Her curiosity wouldn't allow her not to. She thought about it for a moment and then thought about how he wouldn't just give up the secret of the ring willingly. She had to trick him somehow. It was the waxing moon now, but soon it would be the full moon. The perfect time for a sex spell. If she could get him into bed with her, perhaps she could get his tongue to slip. She knew this was the evil choice, but she felt no guilt because her intuitions told her it was consequential if she didn't find out what was going on with that ring of his.

As she got around getting ready for the day, getting her shower and getting dressed she thought of what her craft had transformed into over the years. She kept his image up on the computer and would glance at him every once in a while as she poured over her book of shadows thinking of which spell to use on him. She looked at the photograph and focused on his third eye to see if she could get a better look at his soul, but that same sucking feeling came from him and she couldn't feel how the spell would even work on him. In fact looking at him made it feel like something within him was tying her soul to his. This would simply take further investigation. Surely he had a weak point she could exploit. She would go to work that day again. Perhaps those observational skills of hers could be put to use? What if this really did lead her to a transformation. What if she wasn't ready for said transformation? She was about to take a gamble with her soul and she knew it.

To be continued......