Tonight was Linnea's moment. The chance to turn everything around. Three years after getting kicked out of the academy for something she was innocent of, she was finally getting another chance. This time, through her own hard work. The allure of magic still burned in her chest, and she was ready to truly embrace it again.

Linnea had double-checked everything, but she went ahead and triple-checked things just to be sure. One by one she compared the sigils she'd drawn to the ones in her grimoire. One chance was all she'd get. Months of trudging in the mud hunting for arcane creatures, magical plants, disrupted leylines where magicrystals grew. Doing odd jobs to stay afloat, calculating, measuring, testing. Three years spent all for this moment.

The circle was perfect. Linnea knelt down and focused. "...Elder spirit..." she murmured. The candles lit in the room quivered as the summoning circle came to life. "...spirit of water..." A common domain, complimenting Linnea's both magical aptitudes.

"...water of knowledge..." There was an audible hum in the chamber as each sigil linked into the next with Linnea's chant. "...knowledge above all..." A crack in space formed, constrained only by the boundaries of the summoning circle. A warm draft emanated from it, billowing Linnea's blue hair and the red robes she'd kept from her Academy days.

"All for..." Linnea paused. The last sigil of the summoning circle remained unlit. Something was wrong, her instincts told her.

She opened her eyes. The portal glowed red. Pulsating. Unusual, but within expectations; the spirit on the other side had already accepted the summons and wanted out. The chant had gone fine. There was plenty of energy in the circle. What was it that she was sensing?

Linnea's next breath made her understand. The draft carried a faint, but distinct scent. Not that of an arid plain or a desert, as she had expected, but... "...Brimstone," Linnea whispered as she put a name to the scent. The last sigil lit up – and exploded. The witch's eyes went wide as she realized she'd just inadvertently botched the chant.

The portal yawned open like a terrible maw. Visions of fire and fury beyond it. A monster with gnashing teeth and hungry, ravenous eyes looked straight at Linnea, frothing at the mouth. But then something red and swift dashes past the hell-beast and straight through the portal, which promptly closes and the summoning circle rearranges itself into containing what should've been a spirit.

Linnea stared, eyes round, at what she had just summoned. There in the middle of the circle, an unmistakable demon. Red skin, horns, tail, the works. A succubus, if Linnea had to guess. Right here in her hut.

A blush rose to Linnea's cheeks when the succubus's eyes settled on her and the demon's mouth spread to a grin. "...Um. This wasn't supposed to happen." Linnea mumbled, still holding onto her grimoire, still kneeling. This wasn't a spirit, but many demons were capable magicians. Could the succubus teach her? By all rights, Linnea should banish the demon while it was still contained, but...she was reluctant to throw away three years of work like that. Who knows how long it would take for her to be ready to perform another summoning?