‘I told them,’ Havir’s head drooped wearily. ‘They knew if you succeeded they would be powerless, I’ve never seen Youally so scared. One moment they’re both shouting at me, the next-’ he shrugged helplessly, ‘the next thing I know Youally reappears with a small boy and tells me he’s your brother. He has a knife and-’ Only iron self-control prevented Seiya leaping across and wrapping her hands round Havir’s neck as he tailed off again, yes he was badly shaken, but the longer he took to tell them the greater head-start Youally and Jamen had. ‘He threatened to cut the boy’s fingers off if I didn’t tell him,’ Seiya felt peculiarly numb as Havir turned his attention to Amaran instead.
‘I had no choice-’
‘Did they hurt him?’ Seiya cut across Havir’s plea and was relieved when the summoner shook his head after a brief hesitation. ‘Tell me where the orb is, if they want me I’d better not keep them waiting.’
‘They can’t be far ahead,’ Amaran assured her, ‘not if they took the time to spread the rumour that I’m dead and take control. Did anyone else go with them?’
‘I don’t know,’ Havir looked even more miserable, ‘they forced me down here by threatening the child. I’ll come-’
‘No,’ Amaran cut him off bluntly, ‘you’re too upset and I need you to sort things out here. I’ll go.’
Seiya looked at Amaran sharply, seeing her response he gestured impatiently. ‘This was all aimed against me, you just got caught up in the middle.’
Seiya nearly bit her tongue off as she clamped down on her instant refusal. She needed either Amaran or Havir to give her directions, even if she didn’t need their help when fighting. Still she couldn’t help scrutinising Amaran’s expression, she didn’t doubt he wanted to help save her brother but was he also thinking of how to stop her destroying the orb?
Chapter Thirty
‘The demons say there are five masters hidden from view, but Youally and Jamen aren’t among them,’ Seiya whispered to Amaran. Keeping back under the cover of the trees they were both looking at the open space between them and the rock face. Amaran claimed there was a passageway just the other side of the cliff leading to a network of caves, the only caveat being an earth elemental was required to create an entrance.
‘You’re talking to all of them?’ Amaran regarded her disbelievingly as Seiya nodded. She wasn’t about to admit it had been a severe learning curve working out how to project her thoughts and receive those of demons who had come through a portal. Communication without the usual summoner-demon link was a lot more difficult, for now Seiya was content simply letting the demons talk to her, anything she needed to tell them went through the earth elemental she had request summoned.
‘Do you have any control over them?’
Seiya sighed inwardly and forced herself to remain calm, it must have been the hundredth time Amaran had asked the question, all in varying guises. She’d thought he’d been going to attack her when the demons came streaming from the portal.
‘We need them,’ Seiya studiously avoided answering, ‘we can’t deal with all those masters and head after Youally.’
‘And Jamen,’ Amaran reminded her, frowning as his eyes swept the small cleared area. They could easily cover the ground in less than a minute at a run, Seiya knew she would easily be quicker held in the earth elementals claws, what he lacked in speed he made up for in stride length. Amaran steadfastly refused to put himself in physical contact with a demon, even one he had personally summoned and bound.
‘They’re behind those rocks,’ Seiya gestured to the huge boulders littered around, any one of them could easily hide one or two summoners. No demons as yet though, Seiya doubted there was anywhere the masters could have hoped to conceal such big creatures. She already knew none were in the stand of trees with them, the smaller demons that scouted ahead had confirmed the area was safe, whoever was waiting they intended to ambush them at the rockface in the time it took them to summon and enter. Seiya allowed herself a small smile, there wasn’t going to be any standing around and it would never occur to anyone she would be arriving with a small army to aid her.
‘We are ready whenever you are,’ Seiya didn’t recognise the demon’s voice in her mind, ‘let us decide how to deal with whatever is summoned, make sure you get into the passage and close the entrance behind you.’ Seiya didn’t bother saying she had never intended to try and command the score of demons hidden amongst the trees; the varying sizes, ranks and elemental/physical combinations should be capable of dealing with just about anything the masters dared summon. If nothing else sheer weight of numbers would provide enough of a diversion to get her safely through.
‘They’re ready,’ she passed the message onto Amaran who nodded slowly. Currently demon-less he had claimed it would be easier for him to remain that way until he was confronting Youally and Jamen, then he could summon a suitable demon based on what they called with no need to dismiss. ‘Let us carry you,’ she clambered easily into the earth elemental’s outstretched hand, flinching only slightly as the claws closed to form a very cosy cup, ‘otherwise you may get trodden on.’ Her voice was muffled through the claws but she knew Amaran could still hear.
‘No thanks,’ he repeated firmly, ‘just give me a head start so I can draw out the masters.‘ Seiya reluctantly kept silent, as much as she wanted to disagree he did have a good point, it would work much better if the masters could be drawn into summoning before she appeared. There was no point discussing it further, they’d already argued the subject to death and she knew he wasn’t going to budge.
‘We’ll make an opening for you,’ she assured him, quickly checking her demon was aware of what she wanted.
‘Now!’ Amaran was off before Seiya could reply, swiftly followed by the hasty surge of her demon’s magic. Suddenly her senses were overwhelmed with summonings from all directions, gateways blazing on the grass as Amaran sped past. He still hadn’t reached the rock wall by the time the first demons appeared; Seiya couldn’t see what they were but heard the answering charge from her own, dark shapes hurtling out the forest. That isn’t my problem, she reminded herself firmly. The small crack in the demons claws let her see only Amaran, the opening in the rock face was just reaching the size for a human as he approached.
‘Our turn,’ Seiya felt the demon launch itself forward as Amaran disappeared into the passageway and the entrance yawned wider, a black gaping hole in the rock.
‘What’s happening?’ Seiya demanded, as the demons huge strides ate up the ground she could see the opening starting to shrink.
‘There’s another elemental,’ Seiya could hear the strain in the demons voice as its steps started to falter, ‘I can’t hold it.’
‘No!’ Seiya could feel the demon’s claws opening, its arm moving backwards. Not again! But her denials were futile; with the opening barely wider than a normal doorway the demon’s arm swung forward, propelling her through the air. Flying into the passageway Seiya crashed into the floor on the other side, yelping loudly as her knee smashed into a protruding rock, shooting pain numbing her whole leg. By the time she rolled to a stop the opening was gone, the rock closing back up as if the entrance had never existed.
The demons were going to kill her. Seiya groaned into the darkness, it was sheer luck she didn’t have a cracked skull or broken bones and for once it hadn’t been her idea.
No-one was following. Exhaling slowly Seiya gradually pushed herself to a sitting position, the passage floor was strangely smooth to the touch, almost as if it had been polished. The darkness was total, even pressing her hand to her nose she couldn’t see her fingers. Where had Amaran gone? She couldn’t hear anything, not from the demon battles outside or the footsteps of the person she knew was ahead. The dark seemed almost solid, as if rather than standing in a passageway she had been swallowed into the rock itself.
Stop being silly. Ignoring the throbbing in her shoulder she clambered to her feet, gingerly testing the battered leg; the numbness may have subsided but there was sti
ll a strange pulsating pain in her kneecap. Standing still she could sense the demon auras from the clearing, if she concentrated she could even make out which ones were bound by the masters. Even though it was pitch black Seiya still closed her eyes, frowning as she concentrated on finding the high ranking earth elemental that blocked them.
‘They defeated it,’ her own demon answered wearily, from his tone Seiya knew she didn’t want to press for details. ‘They won’t be following you any time soon.’
‘Shall I send you back?’ Seiya was acutely aware that if it came down to a battle of pure strength having even one request summoning would lessen the power she could call upon.
‘Of course,’ the demon seemed surprised she would consider doing anything else. ‘There are other elementals here, if you need me summon me again by Gunath.’
‘Thanks Gunath,’ Seiya frowned into the silence as she flicked out the dismissal. Where was Amaran? She hadn’t been that far behind yet there was no sign of him.
‘Amaran?’ calling cautiously into the darkness she hoped her noisy entrance hadn’t alerted Youally and Jamen. What she really needed was to be able to see where she was going. Framing the request in her mind the fire elemental that answered was so small she couldn’t even see it, only the tiny glowing sphere that appeared hovering just above the floor a few strides ahead, illuminating the rock behind.
‘Thank you,’ Seiya reached out with her own power, checking she could also control the demon’s creation. She’d been luckier than she’d realised, if she’d flown even a little bit further she’d have smashed into the wall. Turning away she sent the light skimming along the edge, trying to find the passage that led deeper into the caves.
‘What the-’ Seiya frowned as the light made a full circle without finding a single crack, not even a slight change to indicate where the entrance had been before closing. The fire demon picked up her thought before she could act, the globe suddenly brightening to fill the entire space.
So much for worrying about others seeing. Seiya surveyed the cavern she was trapped in, obviously it wasn’t just the entrance that needed an earth elemental, though why Gunath hadn’t said anything-
‘Because that wasn’t there before,’ the demon answered her question as he came across, the elemental magic already at work. ‘Somebody has created a barrier.’
‘Amaran.’
Seiya seethed inwardly as the solid rock she had almost collided with melted away, revealing the passage she had expected. The idiot had nearly gotten her killed, and more importantly he’d succeeded in slowing her down. Was he really so desperate to keep her from destroying the orb he’d risk Jarin’s life by trying to take both Youally and Jamen on at once?
‘There’s more,’ Gunath interrupted cautiously, as if afraid her anger would be re-directed at him instead. ‘If I carry you-’
‘You’ll fit?’ Seiya stared at the demon incredulously, allowing her thoughts to indicate her acceptance as Gunath scooped her up.
‘How do you think they built it?’ Gunath didn’t slow or hesitate as he charged towards the solid looking walls, the obstacles simply vanishing. Why had Amaran even bothered? He must have known her earth elementals would break them down faster than he could build them and it didn’t cost her anything. The sudden wave of summoning power washed over her like heat pouring from an open furnace, prickling along her exposed skin as every hair stood on end.
‘Can we avoid them?’ From the sheer intensity it had to be all three fighting, if she could circle round behind…
‘There is only this passage,’ Gunath told her apologetically, ‘I cannot make another.’
‘And it’s a clear path from here?’
‘What are you planning to do?’ there was no missing the concern in Gunath’s voice. ‘You cannot fight all three-’
‘I don’t need to,’ Seiya reassured as the demon put her down, quickly dismissing both requests. If Amaran thought he could beat both at once he must have called something incredibly powerful, hopefully that would be enough of a distraction to let her rescue Jarin.
As she expected total darkness didn’t return as the fire elemental vanished, a dim light flickering up ahead. Seiya slowly edged her way along the wall; there was no way the demons she sensed would fit into the passage she was currently in. As the light became brighter the tunnel spilled into an enormous chamber, impossibly huge it could only have been created by demons. Pausing on the threshold long enough to take in the three demons Seiya almost swore out loud; why had they all summoned wilds? Clearly Youally and Jamen weren’t as weak as Amaran thought if they could bring across rank twelve or thirteen, but Amaran’s… Her breath caught for an instant as her eyes darted across the chamber, there was no ignoring the strain on Amaran’s face; yes his demon was easily more powerful than the other two but it was costing him and she doubted it would be enough to overcome being outnumbered.
If only he’d waited!
The sudden crash as the demons collided sent Seiya shooting back into the relative safety of the tunnel. Watching the horrible confusion of blades and limbs and dark black hide her heart was pounding as she forced her breathing to come back under control, the surge of adrenalin making her tremble.
Jarin. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and risked leaning into the chamber again. All it would take was for one of them to glance her way and she’d be done for. Trying to ignore the bloodied claws and blades she shut out the demons noise, her eyes searching for Youally.
No! Just as she found him the demons wheeled across the chamber, Amaran’s throwing both smaller ones away. Despite herself Seiya couldn’t help but stare at the wilds; each carried deep wounds, black blood smeared all over the cave floor. It would be a miracle if she made it across in one piece, one slip, one hesitation and the demons would kill her, either by accident or summoner design. Even if Amaran saw her it was unlikely he could, or would the cynical part of her added, come to her aid. The smaller demons threw themselves once more at Amaran’s, forcing it to retreat as they danced out of reach of the scything blades. Transfixed Seiya struggled to pull her eyes away, she didn’t see how the weaker demons could hope to win, they couldn’t even come within striking distance. She almost forgot to breathe as she finally saw Jarin, the tiny helpless figure dumped carelessly behind Youally, slumped against the chamber wall. If the demons went that way- The wave of nausea almost made her knees buckle as she put a hand against the wall for support. How could Amaran summon a wild he could barely hold with her brother completely unprotected?
Suddenly Youally’s demon threw itself away from the general melee, launching towards Amaran instead. It was an unbelievably stupid move, Amaran’s larger demon simply lunged after the smaller wild’s exposed back, almost slicing it in two. She watched as it crashed to the floor, looking up to see Youally staring at it in stupefied horror. Then his head turned back towards Jarin…
He was too late.
The blaze of power surprised even her, the gateway forming so quickly it was little more than a flash of light. All three heads instantly snapped in her direction, demons frozen in place. In the split second it took for them to turn back the huge earth elemental stood protectively in front of her brother. For a moment everything hung, the wild demons motionless statues as understanding slowly dawned on Youally and Jamen. There was no escaping the fact her demon was unbound, Seiya waited as the initial contempt for her rookie mistake was replaced by consternation as the demon remained still.
‘You can’t hurt me!’ Youally’s face flushed and Seiya thought she could see the beginnings of fear as his eyes darted between his wild lying bleeding on the floor and her and Amaran’s demons. ‘Fight Amaran now or I’ll kill your brother!’ Seiya watched in disgust as the bindings round the wild flared, somehow the pulsating ropes managing to drag the demon to its feet and throw it towards her elemental.
‘No!’ Youally’s eyes looked as if they would bulge out of his head as the rock floor rose up to encase his demon’s legs. Seiya merel
y watched on as the elemental’s magical power flowed, the wild rooted to the spot.
‘You’ll never find the other one!’ there was desperation in Youally’s voice as he backed away towards the other end of the chamber.
‘I already have!’ Seiya called back triumphantly, turning to look at Amaran to let him know he could finally dismiss his wild. The elemental would be more than enough-
‘AMARAN!’ Seiya screamed as her stomach took a sickening lurch. He was barely conscious, swaying on his feet, the bindings visibly fluctuating.
‘DISMISS IT!’ Sprinting across the chamber she barely noticed the battling demons, all her focus on the sense of Amaran’s power fading. Too late. She was still several strides away as Amaran crumpled to the floor, the chamber reverberating with the wild’s triumphant roar as the bindings vanished completely.
‘I can hold it for a little while,’ the earth elemental’s voice pulled her back from sliding into panic, ‘but the other one will be free to attack you.’ Jamen’s demon, her brain was horribly sluggish in making the connection.
‘I think he’s got other things to worry about,’ Seiya responded grimly. The released wild had made an instant leap for the remaining summoner, Jamen desperately throwing his wild in its path as he fled after Youally.
‘There is no-one strong enough to answer,’ the earth elemental interrupted her request summoning before the first line had been formed. ‘If you call Aleos he could try and speak with the Bwyhuli.’
‘Bwyhuli?’ the word was unfamiliar but Seiya knew she didn’t have time to ask questions, Jamen’s demon didn’t stand a chance, the unbound striking it down with a single blow. Flinging out the request for Aleos she sensed the earth elemental using the gateway as a conduit for his thoughts, the elemental magic surging as stone shackles encased the wild before it could turn on them. Dizziness threatened to undo her as she staggered slightly, the overwhelming torrent of thought was impossible to follow and over before she could blink
Summoner's Call (The Summoner Trilogy Book 1) Page 31