‘Thank you,’ hesitantly she laid a hand on the demon’s neck, just behind the huge curving horns, each one easily twice the length and breadth of her arms. This time she knew there was no mistaking the recognition in the amber eyes, the eyelid blinked so slowly she could almost feel the immense struggle as the demon fought against Youally’s physical bindings.
‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered, the words whipped away in a blast of wind as the demon took to the sky once more and disappeared.
‘What are you doing?’ Youally hissed angrily, grabbing her shoulder and roughly spinning her round. Though Seiya noted he hadn’t dared approach until the demon had gone.
‘I just wanted to see it up close,’ she smiled as sweetly as she could, ‘after all I knew it couldn’t hurt me with you binding it so strongly.’ She winced inwardly, her acting skills too poor to completely mask the biting sarcasm. Thankfully Youally seemed oblivious, even though he still looked annoyed his ego was clearly lapping up the flattery.
‘Well,’ he gestured for her to start walking towards the school, ‘it’s not wise to take risks. Demons are dangerous creatures after all.’
‘Uh huh,’ Seiya made agreeable noises as she thought of the demon’s eyes, there was no way she would be half so calm when someone was binding her against her will. She was glad the dark hid her expression, she hadn’t even stepped inside the school and she was already certain the summoners had no right to enslave the demons this way.
Chapter Two
The next morning Bifull brought her breakfast in her room, watching while she ate before escorting her to her first lesson. The room itself was alright with a bed and desk, even a wardrobe filled with what she guessed passed for a uniform. Black seemed to be the order of the day, trousers and a long sleeve shirt covered by a belted tunic, the shoes little more than soft slippers. Before Bifull arrived Seiya made sure to hide her clothes, glad she had thought to slip her knife in her boot to get it past Youally as she used it to make a small slit in the mattress. What with being escorted, uniformed and put in a room three stories up she was almost certain she was being considered a prisoner and escape risk. Taking her clothes and the only footwear that would last outside would be a good way to ensure she stayed put. Her suspicions were reinforced when Bifull dragged her into the classroom, forcing her to stand at the back while he spoke to the teacher. She could feel the eyes of the pupils on her as the two quietly conversed, a swift head count made twelve in all, the majority were boys and most looked to be around fourteen or fifteen. The desks were all clustered at the front, most of the room left as a big empty space. Decision reached the teacher waved her towards an empty desk as Bifull left.
‘Class, this is Seiya,’ the eyes swivelled to follow her as she took her seat. ‘I’m Master Lyle, and I take the lower level classes.’ Seiya looked again at the young man addressing her, she wouldn’t have thought him much older than mid-twenties and he seemed very different from Youally, so laid back as to be indifferent.
‘Now you’ve missed quite a few lessons and we’re just about to start practising summoning for the first time,’ he turned his attention to the entire class, ‘but first we’ll review what we’ve covered so far.’ He cleared his throat and moved to the centre of the room, leaning casually against a desk Seiya suspected was there expressly for that purpose.
‘Now, what are the three bindings we use on demons?’ Eager hands shot into the air.
‘Physical, magical and speech.’ A nod from Lyle and the boy smiled. Seiya’s eyebrows rose when the boy listed “speech”, clearly her instinct that the demons were intelligent wasn’t wrong. She raised her hand and caught the Master’s eye before he could ask the next question.
‘Can the demons talk then?’ Lyle waved to the class to answer her question and though some regarded her pityingly the hands still went up.
‘A demon can talk directly to a summoner’s mind to drive them mad, so we have to bind them.’ The girl looked to Lyle for confirmation and smiled happily when he nodded agreement.
‘And what is the fourth that we use at higher levels?’
‘Will.’ Seiya realised her face must have shown her confusion as Lyle turned to her.
‘Instead of controlling the demon like a puppet we simply tell it what we want done and let it work out the best way to do it,’ he explained with a careless shrug. ‘It can be more effective but you need to be very strong.’ His eyes went back to the rest waiting patiently. ‘Who can tell me what we are going to do today?’ Seiya tried to keep from smiling as the hands all reached towards the ceiling, she couldn’t fault the children's eagerness.
‘We summon a demon with all the bindings in place, hold it still and then dismiss it.’
‘Correct, and how do we perform a summoning?’ Fewer hands went up this time, Seiya hoped it was shyness rather than ignorance since it sounded as if they were about to be doing just that.
‘We speak the incantation specifying a rank one demon and draw the gateway to pull it into our world.’
‘Well done,’ the boy beamed happily and seemed relieved. Seiya wondered if he’d been worried they were going to be asked to give a demonstration.
‘Now I know we’ve all been practising the different parts of the summoning ritual for the past week but it’s very important to remain focused on your task the whole time. Doing each bit separately is much easier than the whole.’ Seiya swivelled with the rest of the class to follow Lyle as he walked to the empty space at the back.
‘As Seiya is new the rest of you are lucky as I’m going to demonstrate the summoning procedure again.’ His eyes met Seiya’s and he smiled kindly, ‘don’t worry if it’s all a bit much at first, the others have had a good week of practice. Try to focus on sensing the lines of power used for the gateway, hopefully they’ll be visible to you.’
How could they not be? Was Seiya’s first thought as bright white lines criss-crossed the area just in front of Lyle, the pattern was a definite one, a diamond inside a square with all the vertices linked by adjoining lines. The whole thing looked a little simple, the incantation that accompanied it seemed to be in an archaic version of their own language; the words vaguely familiar but in different forms as she focused on committing it to memory. Some of the other students were silently mouthing in time to the instructor and tracing the pattern with their fingers on the desks, given the way some were squinting Seiya assumed that the lines were not as visible to all. The incantation came to an end with what Seiya guessed was the equivalent of a command to appear and a small demon stood before them. After her encounter last night this one seemed tiny, it resembled what she always thought the pixies in her mother’s bedtime stories would be like. It was only there for a second before Lyle spoke commandingly again, the dismissal nothing more than a single word.
‘Easy, huh?’ Seiya knew Lyle thought he was joking but to her that was exactly how it looked, though she was quite a bit older than the rest. ‘I suggest you watch the others and then have a go at the end. Now, any volunteers?’
As she watched the other children try to summon Seiya found it hard to believe they’d been practising for a week. The first two were fairly confident, both producing demons although the second spoke the incantation in such an exaggerated way Seiya had to stop herself from laughing. After that it went downhill, some fluffed the words, others drew diagrams that were completely wrong. It was harder for her to see the lines drawn by the students, obviously Lyle had done something to make his visible. She could sense they were using their power but the actual detail eluded her, though she could instinctively feel when it was wrong. It seemed to take forever but eventually everyone had made an attempt and Lyle was beckoning her up.
‘There’s nothing to worry about,’ he reassured her, ‘some students can take up to five attempts before they can do a whole summoning. Just have a go and I’ll talk you through it afterwards.’
‘Thank you,’ Seiya smiled at him and blanked out the faces of the rest of the class. Most were un
interested, busy sharing whispered notes on their own attempts or asking the ones who succeeded for advice. A couple watched but nobody expected her to do anything.
‘Hang on,’ Lyle grabbed her hand, ‘let me help you find your thread.’ Seiya looked at him quizzically and he laughed. ‘All summoners need to be shown how to access their power the first time,’ a warming tug flowed up her arm from where he held her. It was a strange sensation and she could almost imagine the power flowing from her core out to her fingertips. The silvery strand stretched from his fingers to hers but with the merest thought she could redirect it, using it to draw the pattern on the floor. She looked at the result critically as Lyle regarded her, not quite managing to hide his surprise.
‘You’re holding the pattern with your mind, let it go and it’ll disappear,’ she could feel Lyle watching her as she followed his instructions, the strands vanishing as the feeling of power faded.
‘Does it have to be drawn like that?’ although Seiya had felt the energy flowing through her to her fingertips she was fairly certain that was just a reaction to Lyle’s suggestion and the way he described it. ‘Can’t it just be created whole,’ she pictured the gateway in her mind and placed the image on the floor in front of her, letting her power make it real.
‘Um… yes… that is the way we teach later on.’ Lyle stumbled slightly on his words as he stared at the shimmering lines, ‘are you sure you’ve never done this before?’ He waved away his own question and Seiya was aware the rest of the group was now paying close attention, all the other conversations had stopped.
‘Would you care to try summoning?’ Lyle gestured to the space in front, ‘from the beginning please.’ Seiya dismissed the ready-made gateway and began the incantation. The words fell into a nice rhythm but she instinctively winced at the parts that bound the demon. Yet she continued regardless, if she wanted her freedom it was important to do this properly. The gateway appeared with barely a thought and almost no pull on her power. Foregoing theatrics she spoke quietly, even her command to appear was said softly. She doubted the incantation worked by expecting the summoner to project their voice across the gateway being opened. A demon appeared sure enough, the bindings holding it statue still. She felt sorry for the little thing and crouched down to inspect it properly, surprised when Lyle made a strangled noise and dragged her away.
‘I forgot to mention that we don’t get near the summoned demons, even when bound.’ As Seiya stood up she could see the rest of the class were staring at her. The emotions ranged from awe to distrust, a couple looked as if they would be perfectly happy if the demon did break free and rip her head off.
‘And dismiss it?’ Lyle’s voice brought her attention back to the demon, still standing stock still.
‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ Seiya apologised, effortlessly copying the dismissal action of the other pupils. A moment later the demon was gone but Lyle was looking at her strangely, as if he suspected her apology had been meant for the demon instead.
‘Master Lyle,’ Seiya placed herself purposefully between the summoning teacher and the door as the last of her new classmates filed out.
‘Yes?’ Lyle replied cautiously, gazing longingly towards the exit behind her as the door swung shut.
‘Is it possible for an untrained person with power to accidentally summon a demon?’
‘Of course not,’ Lyle’s body seemed to relax and his eyes lost their wariness. The tension Seiya hadn’t even been consciously aware of dissipated as he smiled at her reassuringly.
‘It would be impossible without knowing the incantation or the gateway pattern.’ He leant back against the desk at the front of the room, arms loosely folded. ‘Who was it that told you that?’ From his tone Seiya could tell he intended to have words with whichever student had tried to mislead her.
‘Master Youally,’ she replied firmly, her eyes holding his, watching confusion chase surprise across his face until realisation set in.
‘Ah.’ Finding something incredibly interesting on his fingernails Lyle avoided her gaze as the silence stretched uncomfortably.
‘Which is why you’re angry,’ this time it was Seiya’s turn to be caught by surprise as Lyle looked up, she thought she’d been hiding her emotions well.
‘I’m good at reading other people,’ the young Master explained, ‘when children first start summoning it’s important they’re not overly afraid or the strong emotion can make things go awry.’ He pushed himself off the desk as if to make for the door but Seiya took a step forward, blocking his escape.
‘Can I pass the level one exam?’ As Lyle remained silent she opened her mouth to ask again but he already had a hand up to stop her.
‘Yes,’ he looked as apprehensive as when she’d first accosted him, ‘it’s the same procedure but with a rank two demon.’
‘Then I can take the exam and move onto the next level?’
‘No.’ Lyle raked a hand back through his hair and tried to smile to take the edge off his sharp refusal. Seiya stood and waited, her hands twitching at her sides as she resisted the urge to fold her arms, aware she needed to keep her body language as non-confrontational as possible.
‘It’s not that simple,’ Lyle expanded reluctantly, ‘you’d have to go into another class, so the Master would have to agree and that class would be nearing the point where they would be taking the level two exam so you’d be even further behind.’
‘I’d work hard to catch up,’ Seiya allowed herself a small smile, ‘you wouldn’t be talking about it if you didn’t think I was capable.’ Lyle’s head snapped round at her last comment, but the denial on his lips was quickly replaced by a rueful grin.
‘Perhaps,’ he conceded, ‘but you’d need the agreement of the level two instructor and the headmaster.’ He shrugged and took a step towards the door, Seiya could see that in his mind the conversation had reached an end. ‘It’ll never be allowed, there’s no precedent.’ Shaking his head he went to walk past her and Seiya put a restraining hand on his arm.
‘You don’t understand,’ Seiya winced as she recognised Youally’s phrasing in her own words. ‘I didn’t want to come here, I don’t want to be here. I just want to go home as soon as possible.’
Lyle pulled away from her and she let him take a few steps back until they were facing each other, the Master seemed uncertain how to react.
‘If that means doing what Youally wants and passing the level five exam then so be it. But if things start taking too long-’ she paused as Lyle held up his hand to stop her finishing.
‘It’s not easy to leave Rhianwater,’ he cautioned, ‘and you should be careful what you say in case others misunderstand.’ His sudden seriousness caught her off-guard and she swallowed her challenge about being kept a prisoner. At her silence his expression eased, softening back to the easy-going young Master of a few moments ago. ‘I know you’re angry at being tricked but try and keep it under control,’ Lyle spoke softly as he stepped towards her, glancing towards the door as if worried of being overheard. ‘I’ll hunt down the level two teacher and headmaster over lunch and see if I can work something out.’
‘Thank you,’ Seiya ducked her head with relief. From the Master’s reaction she suspected she’d been very lucky with her choice of level one teacher.
‘Go down and try to find the others for lunch,’ Lyle advised with a sympathetic pat on her arm as he turned her gently towards the door. ‘You’ll want to eat plenty in case you have to pass your exam this afternoon.’
By the time Seiya found her way to the main hall she had to make do with leftovers. Overwhelmed by the sheer noise in the crowded space she didn’t even bother looking for her class, simply grabbing a space on one of the wooden benches as she started tucking in.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’ Seiya nearly choked on her mouthful as a voice shouted right by her ear. She hadn’t even noticed the boy approaching, her attention on those leaving to try and spy her classmates. Before she could even speak the boy shoved his arm towards
her, pointing at the red band.
‘This table is for level fours only, you haven’t even got your band for passing level one,’ he gestured at the corresponding empty place on her arm.
‘I’m sorry,’ Seiya stifled her annoyance and the instinctive retort, given Lyle’s warning she needed to try and avoid causing unnecessary trouble. ‘I’ve only just started,’ she added placatingly, ‘nobody told me about coloured bands or reserved tables.’
‘The table isn’t reserved,’ the boy still looked irritated but as he stepped away at least it seemed he believed her. ‘You sit with your own and the lowest levels,’ he jabbed a finger at her, ‘have to wait until all the higher levels have got their food and sat down.’ Seiya nodded as she rammed the last bit of food home, nearly knocking him flying as she leapt back off the bench.
‘Thanks for telling me,’ she didn’t give him time to reply as she dashed to dump her empty tray. Though she couldn’t resist giving him a cheery wave as she left, sensing his outrage from across the hall.
Chapter Three
‘Master Gorbacov will be coming to assess you after the lesson,’ Lyle pulled her over to one side as she entered the classroom. ‘I thought the headmaster would hate the idea but he actually forced Gorbacov into agreeing.’
‘Thank you!’ Seiya flushed as Lyle smiled knowingly at her obvious surprise, despite what he’d said she hadn’t really expected the Master to help her.
‘This afternoon is mainly going to be one-on-one help to sort out any issues with what happened this morning but you may as well see if you can summon a rank two. Just be subtle,’ he cautioned, ‘I don’t want the others to try and copy you, we never normally let a level one summon a rank two this early.’
Summoner's Call (The Summoner Trilogy Book 1) Page 2