Crisis of Faith

Things are not going as planned.

Andrei Boswell, the bishop of the Christian church in the city of Banat realizes as he stares up into the glowing green orbs surrounded by the deepest void.

It all began with the burning of a witch at the stake in Wallachia's capital a couple years back.

The woman by the name of Lisa Tepes got executed after the bishop of Targoviste accused her of witchcraft.

Sadly, he did not know that the same woman was married to a monster thought to be nothing but a myth and can only be describes as the incarnation of Satan himself in the eyes of the people, Vlad Dracula Tepes.

After her body was naught but a charred corpse on the plaza of the city, a fiery apparition in the likeness of Dracula appeared and gave the people of Walachia an ultimatum of a single year, after which he will raze the land to the ground and kill everyone.

No one took it seriously, writing it off as a ploy by the devil to sow fear in the hearts of the devout believers.

A year passed and the church even staged a celebration in the memory of the day they had burnt the so-called witch.

Then came the rain of blood, followed by the arrival of Dracula's castle that seemingly rose up from hell itself to release his hordes of demons upon Targoviste's citizens.

Since then, all of Walachia has been plagued by the demonic creatures that hunt them like animals by breaking into their homes and eating their children.

Finally, Andrei could no longer stand still as his prayers remained unanswered by the lord while the city of Banat slowly crumbles around him much like the rest of Walachia.

Assembling his most trusted subordinates, he moved to a hidden basement and began arranging the ritual that should have been his people's salvation.

In the vast collection of heretical knowledge under the church's supervision was a book, completely black cover and pages with otherworldly crimson letters inside.

After deciphering and translating the strange glyph's and symbols, the content of the forbidden literature laid bare before the desperate man of God.

It contains instructions on how to summon demons from a place called the endless abyss.

Apparently, if the words of the author are to be believed, it is a realm different from hell and its inhabitants know no mercy to even their own kind.

Having experienced the strength of hell's forces, Andrei intended to summon his own army to fight against Dracula's hordes.

But things just aren't meant to be.

In the fateful night of their first summoning, they used a filthy heretic who had attempted to burn down what remained of the cities church as the sacrifice.

Cutting him open and using the blood to paint the satanic symbols, they performed the ritual following the books instructions and brought something into the world that was beyond their control.

The tall but slender demon of clearly feminine nature crushed Andrei and his subordinate's illusion that what they are doing is god's work.

Her insectile appearance already threw him off, if not for the two black horns jutting out of her forehead, he wouldn't have been so certain that it was a demon they had summoned and not just some other kind of monster, but together with her complete disrespect and relentless taunting of their faith her true nature was rather obvious to them.

At first Andrei had still tried to cling to his believe that God was guiding and protecting him, but the demoness's words made sure to tear that believe apart.

Why would God need to rely on mortal humans like them if he had the legions of heaven just waiting to follow his wishes?

That combined with the formless pressure crushing down on his mind, Andrei's confidence got whittled down.

Looking up at the demoness standing in the blood drawn pentagram, with that small smile on her lips that would have seemed reassuring and friendly if not for those inhuman eyes and mandibles.

Her last words still ring clear in his head.

"Beg~."

As his shaken and confused mind slowly gets overwhelmed by the fear and hopelessness of it all, Andrei finally understands.

'That's right, the only time someone reaches out to a demon is when they are desperate and out of options.' Banat's bishop realizes.

His once grand ambition of leading an army in the name of the lord, which has already lost its luster begins to crack before shattering and crashing into a heap of broken shards on the ground.

It is not him taking command of the forces of hell and leading them against Dracula, but him desperately reaching out to the infernal plane to beg for their help as his prayers had fallen on deaf ears.

Like a candle in the wind, the light in the bishop's eyes went out, plunging his mind into the darkness of despair and fear that only grew stronger with the pressure emitting from the otherworldly being that they had summoned.

Shoulders slumping and back bending, Andrei bows down until his head touched the ground.

"P-Please o-oh gr-great demon f-from the depths o-of the abyss, end the nightmare that has befallen the lands of Walachia." He stutters out under the shocked eyes of his subordinates.

A crackling chuckle broke the following silence, the eerie, slightly distorted sound sent shivers down his spine until the bishop felt the already familiar clawed fingers take hold of his bloodied hair.

Roughly pulling his head off the ground, the strange demoness forces Andrei to face the others in the basement.

"That depends~. "Meeting the shocked and despairing eyes of his subordinates, Andrei struggles in the demon's grip for a moment before going slack again.

"Are you speaking for ALL of them?" She asks with a wave of her arm in the direction of the other priests.

Closing his eyes, the bishop's body soon shook with sobs as tears begin to run down his eyes before they snap open and once again meet those of the assembled clergymen in the basement.

"Yes… isn't that right? We all want this to end." A rather ugly smile, twisted by all kinds of emotions makes its way onto Andrei's face as his body continues to shake.

Silence hangs in the air until one after the other, everyone slowly bent down and bowed with their heads touching the stone floor.

Bishop Andrei was not sure how he should feel about what he saw.

On one hand he was glad that they had followed his lead as it would hopefully mean that the demon would accept their plea and get rid of that monster plaguing the lands, and on the other he felt immense guilt for dragging them along into what was certain damnation.

"Hmmmmm~ then let's hear what exactly we are dealing with, shall we?" Feeling his hair being released, Andrei turns to look at the demoness whose smile now showed clear curiosity.

Nodding numbly at her words, the bishop begins to explain everything to the demon from the beginning to the end.