‘The wild demons will fight you every second they are summoned,’ Gorbacov paused dramatically, ‘and if they manage to break the bindings they will not hesitate in killing you and everyone else in the vicinity.’ Looking along the row of desks Seiya could see the other students were shocked by the revelation. Despite the continuing assertions that the demons were evil and vicious there was a certain level of complacency among the students, a loose demon rarely attempted to attack its summoner, even then it was only a token protest with no real harm done. Personally she found the wild demons reaction far more understandable, by killing the summoner the ties holding them in this world would be broken allowing them to return home.
‘Then why are we summoning them?’ Seiya tried to soften her accusatory tone. ‘If the other demons don’t mind helping us why force the wild ones against their will?’
Gorbacov gave her a strange look and Seiya inwardly cursed, it was a big stretch to go from the demons not fighting as hard to the demons not minding. Why would she know how the demons felt?
‘They’re much stronger,’ to Seiya’s relief Gorbacov ignored the implication in her phrasing. ‘Generally a rank seven wild demon will be the equivalent of a normal rank eight. As such,’ he turned his attention back to the rest of the class, ‘you will start training summoning rank five wild demons, progressing to rank seven as you prove you can comfortably maintain control. For the exam you will have to summon rank eight.’ His eyes swept the room, ‘any questions?’
‘Good,' a line of shaken heads was greeted with a nod. ‘You will also be practising binding the demon’s will, without the physical and magical bindings.’ He motioned with his hands to quell the rising whispering as people turned to their neighbours. ‘You control the demon’s movement and power by directly binding its will.’ Even though he emphasised the word Seiya still didn’t really understand what he meant.
‘Let me demonstrate,’ Gorbacov strode through the desks to the clear training area; Seiya turning in her seat along with everyone else to watch him.
‘This is the way you have been taught so far,’ as Gorbacov spoke the summoning incantation Seiya could hear the altered words, the bindings were the same but the first part was unfamiliar. Her eyes widened as the supposed rank five demon appeared, taller than Gorbacov the black form was vaguely humanoid, with scaly hide similar to the other demons Seiya had called. The talon-like nails she had seen on the “normal” demons were replaced by long vicious claws that seemed to sprout from the demon’s palm, with no fingers to speak of she doubted the demon would actually be able to use them as hands. Not that she could see that being necessary, the demon was clearly a fighting machine, the claws paling in comparison to the huge blades sprouting from the demon’s lower arms. The base covered nearly the whole distance between wrist and elbow, sweeping out in a crescent shaped scythe both edges looked deadly sharp. The way it merged seamlessly with the demons body Seiya guessed the blades were bony extrusions, the black skeleton polished to a high sheen and sharpened to a knife edge.
‘They all look like this,’ Gorbacov’s hand gestured along the length of the demon’s body, ‘they have no magical abilities and are pure physical fighters.’ Seiya barely heard, transfixed by the demons eyes, the amber orbs blazed with a hatred that made her stomach clench. She had no trouble believing this creature wanted to rip her apart and doubted the released wild demons attacked their summoners first, they would want stay and kill as many as possible. Flinching back as the demon’s gaze met hers she struggled to understand how none of her classmates seemed equally affected. Could they not see the difference between this demon and the others they worked with day after day?
‘As you can see I am now making the demon walk across the room and slice through the log at the end, moving the legs and then the arms.’ Seiya tried not to jump as the demon sliced through the wood, the wicked looking bone blade cutting smoothly with no resistance. It was all too easy to imagine human flesh as its target.
‘Now I will summon binding only the demon’s speech and its will,’ he dismissed the demon without even looking at it. ‘You will learn to summon with all four bindings in place and then relax the physical binding so you can use the one mastering its will. If you feel you are losing control the physical bindings can be reinstated in an emergency.’ Seiya’s memory leaped back to the first lecture she had heard in Master Lyle’s class, the bindings holding the demon’s will were far more difficult to maintain than simply holding it still. The other students were leaning over the backs of their seats, their whole attention focused on the summoning in front of them. Seiya heard the additional binding added to the incantation, though the lack of the standard bindings sounded strange. It was interesting to hear that relaxing bindings was a standard practice the school taught and yet Gorbacov never seemed to suspect what she was doing.
‘At the moment I am controlling the demon’s will, ordering it to remain still.’ Gorbacov waved at the stationary demon, to Seiya’s eyes it looked the same as the one he dismissed seconds earlier. ‘I will now order it to cut the log in half, but how it accomplishes the task is up to the demon.’ Seiya watched as his gaze rested briefly on each class member, checking they understood the important qualification. Seemingly satisfied Gorbacov turned his attention back to the demon.
‘Go!’ Seiya knew the command was for their benefit but it was still shocking as the demon shot forward, the top half of the log rolling to the floor before her eyes had even tracked its movement, never mind the blow itself. It was utterly different to his first demonstration and from the expressions on the others faces had achieved its purpose. “Will-power is better than direct physical control,” the message was hardly subtle, nor did Seiya feel it was accurate. She was certain Gorbacov could have made the first demon move faster.
‘This makes all the difference when fighting,’ Seiya’s head whipped round from studying her class mates to focus on Gorbacov, ‘the demons will be better at using their bodies than you will be. However,’ the wild demon was dismissed with a barely audible command, ‘it takes a lot of strength to force them to fight effectively.’ Finally seeming to notice Seiya’s intense scrutiny his eyes rested on her. ‘This will be the focus of your training for level four.’ Even as Gorbacov’s gaze lingered Seiya felt herself rebelling; it was bad enough to summon the wild demons against their will, but then to force them to fight? It was disgusting, what right did the summoners have? Taking a deep breath Seiya clenched her fingers round the desk edge until the knuckles whitened and turned to the front once more, her face hidden from Gorbacov or the other students. She needed to regain control of her emotions.
‘Any questions?’ She could imagine Gorbacov looking across the row of faces; he would be puzzled at her turning away.
Seiya didn’t trust herself to speak.
Chapter Eight
‘I won’t do it,’ Seiya’s voice echoed defiantly in the huge empty chamber. The demons they were summoning were simply too big for the classroom on the second floor, the rank sevens were easily three times her height so they now used a hall on the ground floor. Nobody had warned her the demons power increased more quickly at the higher ranks; the gap between a rank two and three was barely noticeable, she could feel the extra power required between six and seven, but she didn’t want to even think about the gulfing chasm that must separate a rank nine and ten.
Wincing as her words bounced off the walls Seiya wondered what the original function of the hall had been, a place for feasting and celebration? It certainly wasn’t anymore; newly built partitions stood out against the existing stone, each one sectioning off a portion of room big enough for two demons to fight. Seiya purposefully averted her eyes from the multiple black pools on the stone, always gone by the next training session. The hall was little more than a venue for controlled blood letting, the section walls ensuring that any loose wild demon would have some obstacle between it and the other students. Yet it also made it a lot trickier for another demon other than th
e summoner’s opponent to intervene, as Seiya knew from experience. The second time it had happened she thought Freiden was going to die; only Calvin placing his own wild demon as a living shield had given her time to restrain Freiden’s unbound. The loose demon had shown no hesitation in attacking its fellow to reach the summoners, the wounds sustained by Calvin’s demon made Seiya doubt if it had survived. Her gaze drifted to the stall where it had happened, it seemed wrong there wasn’t even a stain on the stone.
‘You don’t have a choice,’ Gorbacov’s voice brought her attention back to the present and gave her déjà vu at the same time; this argument was hardly new.
‘I won’t make them fight,’ Seiya stubbornly declared, and she hadn’t. Not once through the two weeks of training. ‘You know I can summon and bind them.’
‘You can’t just keep acting as a safeguard,’ Gorbacov had initially been indulgent of her refusal and Seiya suspected he was pleased to have another pair of eyes watching the weaker class members. As time went on though he kept putting more and more pressure on her to take part.
‘You can’t make me,’ her tone hovering between statement and challenge she headed towards the door, the room itself sickened her.
‘I could set a wild demon on you right now,’ the unexpected threat made Seiya pause, if only because it was so ridiculous. She snorted in disgust.
‘You’re going to kill one of your students? That will go down well,’ her mocking smile abruptly faded when she felt Gorbacov forming the gateway.
‘Are you insane?’ Seiya stared open-mouthed as he continued the incantation. He wasn’t bluffing; the summoning was too far through to cancel. Frozen in stunned disbelief Seiya only managed to sprint a few strides before the demon landed in front of her. Throwing herself to one-side she only narrowly avoided the vicious bone blade on the demon’s arm, little consolation as she smashed into the stone jolting every bone in her body. Winded and gasping for air she instinctively rolled as the demon swiped again. Scrambling to her feet Seiya could feel the tenderness where her left side had impacted the floor, tomorrow she would have some serious bruises. Her eyes swept between Gorbacov and the demon, she was too far away to attack the Master but the demon was moving too slowly, he had to be controlling it directly using the physical bindings.
‘Stop it!’ her shout rang out in the empty chamber but the other students had gone down for dinner long before, it was unlikely anyone would hear. Even if they did would they help her?
‘Call a wild demon to fight it,’ Gorbacov was trying to use the demon to herd her into one of the sections. The first tendrils of fear wormed into Seiya’s conscious mind as she looked over her shoulder, soon her back would be against the wall with her only way out blocked by a rank seven wild. Seiya cursed Gorbacov soundly; if the wild had been any weaker then she could have summoned a higher rank normal demon to restrain it. Steeling herself she made a feint to one side before trying to dash between the demon’s legs. The arm came down again, the claws swiping downwards as if they would rip her body open from head to toe. Instinct took over and she leapt backwards to avoid it, her mind screaming to continue as Gorbacov wouldn’t really hurt her. The opportunity wasted she had no choice but to back further into the walled pen, her chest heaving as she dragged in huge gulps of air. It wasn’t just from the physical exertion, she was scared.
Gorbacov would not kill her. Seiya repeated the line in her mind like a mantra. He was trying to scare her into summoning, force her to put harming the demon over suffering herself.
‘Summon!’ Gorbacov bellowed across the room and Seiya flinched back as the demon moved forward menacingly. Creeping back step by step she held one arm outstretched behind her. Panic welled up as her fingertips brushed against the wall and she instantly snatched them away as if burned.
Gorbacov would not kill her. Seiya couldn’t even see the Master anymore, the demon blocked her sight yet there was just enough room between the two of them for her to summon. Her brain yelled at her to do as he wanted, the demons she spoke with would understand, probably actively encourage her. They had no love for their wild counterparts. Her heart told her not to. Her one attempt to talk to a wild had been a complete failure, the string of constant abuse had made it impossible for her to get a word in and the headache she suffered afterwards put her firmly off trying again. But at least she could have claimed she had never used one demon to hurt another, or allowed the ones she summoned to be harmed. That would all change if she gave in and summoned another rank seven now, Gorbacov would make her fight and with the demons evenly matched she wouldn’t be able to hold back or her own demon would get wounded.
Then don’t fight on an equal level. The answer was obvious, if she needed to restrain a demon without anyone coming to harm then her summoning would have to be significantly stronger. Seiya stood up straighter as the panic melted away, Gorbacov was acting unfairly, why should she obey the rules?
‘Dismiss the demon or I’ll summon a rank nine,’ her voice rang authoritatively across the chamber. The gateway she formed on the floor was brighter than any she had created before, the power thrumming through the intersecting lines washed away any last vestiges of fear.
‘You can’t,’ but Gorbacov’s voice held a note of uncertainty, ‘you aren’t a level five.’
‘So?’ Seiya walked towards the motionless wild demon until she could see Gorbacov once more, ignoring the fact she was now easily within the demon’s reach. Their eyes met and Seiya held Gorbacov’s gaze until he looked away, shoulders slumping in defeat.
‘Just promise me you’ll fight in the exam,’ Seiya began to shake her head but Gorbacov held up a hand to stop her. ‘You’ll be given a rank advantage, you’ll be able to overpower the other demon without either getting hurt,’ his voice stopped just short of pleading. For the first time Seiya wondered what would have made Gorbacov desperate enough to act so unreasonably.
‘Okay,’ Seiya agreed slowly, ‘but only if nobody will get hurt.’ She risked a smile and gestured to the demon before her, pleased to see her hands showed no signs of shaking. ‘How about dismissing him now?’
‘What’s in the level four exam?’ Seiya resisted the urge to attack Aleos as the demon gave the increasingly familiar shrug that meant he couldn’t help her. Couldn’t or wouldn’t, Seiya thought exasperatedly. The last practice session was tomorrow and she didn’t fancy the chances of some of her classmates successfully summoning a rank eight. For them to be thinking about taking the exam at all was ludicrous, it didn’t matter what they had to do, the demon they summoned would end up killing them. Surely that would be a fail, Seiya thought darkly. Gorbacov hadn’t tried to make her fight again, though she did a hold a rank seven will-bound for the entire length of each session. The demons could cope with a little boredom, the others had accepted the fact she never took part in the fights but Seiya doubted they had understood her explanation. She suspected certain members like Calvin and Kirinya were secretly hoping her lack of practice would see her fail.
‘I’m going to the library then,’ she threw the battered notebook back on her desk in annoyance. Whoever had written the diary had experienced a very different school to the one she was now in. Ranks and levels didn’t seem to exist, people simply trained to be summoners. The focus was on managing multiple request summonings and how to facilitate interactions between ordinary people and demons, the summoner needing to act as translator since the former couldn’t hear the demons thought speech.
‘Shall I come with you?’ The thought tempted her for a moment, Aleos could read their language and having two people work the shelves would make the task quicker. However there was also the risk of Aleos being spotted in the corridor. Seiya smiled to herself; no amount of explaining would get her easily out of that one.
‘That’s okay, I can summon you if I need to,’ not that she was meant to summon outside her room but she didn’t think there were any bedrooms near the library. Stifling a yawn as she dismissed Aleos she cursed as she pushed open
her bedroom door to find the corridor outside was pitch black. It was either very late or very early, Seiya didn’t particularly care which, in both cases she probably shouldn’t roaming about. She hadn’t been told any official rule but the students had no portable lights, the lanterns in their rooms firmly fixed. She considered summoning a fire elemental to provide her some light to see by, but quickly discarded the notion. The seal around her room prevented other students being disturbed by her summonings, out in the corridor they may feel the demon’s presence. Sighing Seiya placed one hand on the wall as she started walking, the last thing she wanted was to miss the staircase.
By the time Seiya reached the library her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, the pair of wooden doors just recognisable as dark rectangles against the stone. Carefully turning the handle Seiya winced as the door creaked on its hinges, the noise amplified by the dark.
The wave of power slammed into her as she pushed the door open, instinctively throwing herself to one side she cried out in pain as she landed on the bruises still there from her confrontation with Gorbacov, over a week on she still had tender spots. The gateway pattern on the floor blinded her with its brightness, her own power soaring to match that of the demon that was headed towards her.
‘Help!’ her mind screamed the request through the gateway, offering only the sense of her opponent’s power, unable to see the demon attacking her. Too late she felt the rush of wind as the demon lunged towards her, still on the floor her mind blanked out. Unable to guess the demon’s direction she desperately curled up into a ball to try and protect herself.
Summoner's Call (The Summoner Trilogy Book 1) Page 8