‘You can stop the summoning,’ the earth elemental’s normal voice echoed in her mind and she gratefully let her power subside, the gateway had been hopelessly unstable. Grabbing Amaran’s arm she slung it over her shoulders, dragging him back to the dubious safety of the tunnel entrance. Dumping the unconscious summoner inside the narrow passage she immediately span back for Jarin.
‘Don’t!’ Seiya staggered back under the force of the demon’s command. Ominous cracks echoed through the cavern, huge chunks of stone flying as the wild fought against the restraints. No matter the insane levels of magic the elemental poured in the wild destroyed them just as quickly.
‘But Jarin-‘
‘I will keep him safe,’ firm reassurance flooded over the link along with the demon’s words, ‘but you need to summon another wild to hold it.’
‘I-’ Seiya shied away from even considering what the demon was asking. Every part of her quailed at the sheer raw power of the unbound wild, and now he wanted her to summon another? ‘I can’t-’
‘There isn’t time!’ The demons voice lashed across her mind, emphasised by the wild’s triumphant roar as it finally broke free. ‘Do it now!’
There was no choice. Blindly Seiya threw her power into the gateway before she could think about what she was doing, letting the white hot torrent wash away the paralysing fear. Only the deep thrumming surrounded her, filling her senses with a fierce joy as the summoning resonated through her.
No!
Seiya wrenched herself free, fighting to break the hold the power had over her. She couldn’t go power-running, she had to stay aware and in control. The brightness was still there, the vibrations spilling from the gateway setting her teeth on edge as they reached fever pitch. Firmly separating her consciousness from the weaving Seiya spoke the ritual incantation slowly and deliberately, feeling the bindings taking form as the demon crossed over.
The unbound smashed into her wild before it had taken even a single step. Still disorientated from fighting the summoning Seiya stumbled backwards into the shelter of the tunnel, desperately commanding the demon to defend. The moment she dropped the physical bindings and tried to use will power alone the demon’s power crashed into hers, stabbing pain erupting in her skull. The demon wasn’t just trying to break the bindings but tear her mind apart. Gasping for air Seiya closed her eyes, focusing every shred of consciousness on crushing the demon’s attempts to fight as she re-imposed the physical bindings.
It wasn’t going to be enough. Seiya sagged against the wall as she threw her demon against the unbound wild. No wonder Amaran had collapsed; she had brought across the strongest wild she could and yet it only matched his. Without a rank advantage she didn’t stand a chance. As if sensing her despair the demon hurled itself against the bindings, the vicious mental assault driving her to her knees as she fought to hold on. But the wild was equally vulnerable while she was incapacitated; the attack suddenly stopping as the unbound sliced deep into its shoulder, the howl of pain and fury reverberating down the link.
At this rate they would both be killed. Her hands trembled as she pulled herself up to try and keep the battling demons in view. She was hopelessly out of her depth, except the one time with Amaran she had never directly controlled a wild. Another shriek of outrage echoed through the bindings, black blood pouring from a deep wound on the demons side. A couple more and it would be over, she simply wasn’t fast enough. Surely the demon could see it couldn’t fight them both? It was a desperate gamble but she didn’t have a choice; Seiya dropped the speech bindings before she could consider the true insanity of what she was doing. If only she could somehow make a deal…
‘I am going to enjoy tearing you apart,’ the demon’s voice sounded in her mind with startling clarity. The chilling drawl far more unnerving than the snarling avalanche of violent threats she had been expecting.
‘Not if he kills you first!’ Seiya shied back as the demon began flooding her with images, each horrific montage overlaid with sickening anticipation. ‘You can’t fight us both!’
‘Don’t worry I’ll start small.’ Seiya cringed away from the demon’s purr, each word felt like a violation. ‘I want to enjoy your pain for a long, long time.’ The laughter echoed in her mind as she slammed the speech bindings back in place, the blast that immediately followed straining the physical to their limits. The demons began to blur, her vision wavering as the limbs merged into one confused mess. She knew her wild was lunging blindly, the demon never easing the unrelenting pressure against her mind until she was so dizzy she could barely stand. It was completely defenceless, any moment the unbound would kill it.
Why hadn’t it landed another blow? Seiya squinted, trying to force the demons into focus. The unbound was effortlessly avoiding her flailing, it should have been easy.
You can’t fight us both. The realisation hit her like a gut punch as she remembered her own words. The speech bindings didn’t stop the demons communicating with each other, knowing she was near breaking the unbound was letting her demon focus on fighting her and once it was free… This time she couldn’t control it, heaving as a wave of pure terror washed over her from the demon’s images. And it would still have the link, with no bindings or shields to keep it from her mind.
‘Urgh-'
‘Amaran! Wake-up!’ Seiya shrieked in near-hysterical relief as the limp form beside her finally moved. Grabbing his shoulders she frantically hauled him up and pointed to the wilds. ‘You have to dismiss it!’
‘I-’ Amaran’s words were drowned out by a furious roar from the unbound as it leapt towards them. Hurling all of her power into the bindings Seiya stared in dismay as her demon remained motionless, the wild smiling triumphantly as she was finally too weak to overcome his resistance, the gloating anticipation leaking through her shields.
‘HELP!’ Seiya felt the surge of elemental magic rising to meet her as she screamed down the link. Spinning out the dismissal for the now useless wild she fled deeper into the tunnel, dragging Amaran with her. They almost didn’t make it, the unbound’s fist crashing into the rock that erupted to cover the tunnel entrance as it lunged after them.
‘Hurry!’ Seiya half-closed her eyes, the earth elemental’s sight super-imposed with her own. At least the unbound was still focused on them. Seiya winced as another blow sent shards of rock flying inwards, cracks racing across their makeshift barrier.
‘I can’t.’ Seiya whirled back at Amaran’s hoarse whisper. ‘The link is gone.’
‘You can’t-’ Seiya repeated in stunned disbelief. Panic bubbled perilously close to the surface, all her plans had centred on merely holding the wild until Amaran awoke. ‘My brother is in there!’ Her scream was lost as the stone finally gave with an almighty crash. Seiya flung herself back against the wall as the wild’s claws drove through, frozen in place as they splayed out to rake the tunnel sides, there was no chance of escaping. The sudden surge of summoning power was pure instinct, taking physical form as bright light lashed out against the demon. To her amazement the claws flinched back. In an instant she had the energy woven into proper bindings, the ropes blinding against the darkness as they wrapped around the wild’s arm, the demon howling as Seiya slammed the limb to the floor.
‘Alright.’ Taking a shaky breath Seiya cautiously stepped away from the wall, for the moment they were safe, the wild trapped. As she waited for her heart to stop pounding she was pleased to see both her hands and the bindings remained steady. ‘You form a dismissal gateway,’ she nodded to Amaran, ‘and I’ll drag him in.’
‘But he’s unbound,’ Amaran regarded the demon warily, his eyes tracing the flow of power from her to the impromptu restraints.
‘I’ll bind him so he can’t fight it,’ Seiya replied with more confidence than she felt. Pinning the arm was comfortably within her limits but the whole demon would be another thing entirely. ‘You’ve seen the Masters dismiss loose demons before, don’t say you can’t do it,’ Seiya challenged as Amaran hesitated, looking back ac
ross the chamber.
‘If this is about keeping me away from the orb,’ the sudden surge of anger as she made the connection almost left her speechless. ‘If you’d let my brother die because of that-’
‘Never,’ Amaran snapped back to face her. ‘I know what it was like losing my sister, I would never cause that pain to someone else…’ he tailed off. ‘But if it fails-’
‘Then the earth elemental will escape with Jarin and collapse the chamber,’ Seiya didn’t flinch as she met his gaze. ‘It’ll be killed or trapped, along with everyone else in the caves.’ He held her stare for a long time, but eventually looked away.
‘I’ll try,’ he agreed grudgingly as Seiya swallowed back her sharp retort, if she hadn’t bound the wild he’d have been sliced apart already.
‘Thank you.’ Not trusting herself to say more she closed her eyes and switched to the earth elemental’s view, the wild fighting to wrench free as it sensed the dismissal gateway forming behind it, the other arm pounding frantically at the tunnel entrance to try and reach them. Forcing more power into the bindings she sent them snaking up the demon’s arm, wrapping around its torso. The wild threw everything it had against her, yet this time missing the link actually gave her an advantage, without the accompanying mental assault it came down to a simple test of brute strength and raw power. Inch by torturous inch she dragged the demon back, her bindings spreading to envelop it completely, to crush any resistance to passing through the gateway.
Not again! Seiya wanted to sob in frustration as the demon ground to a halt, once more she was locked in a stale-mate. Amaran was shouting at her to hurry, the demon was fighting the dismissal, the gateway failing… So close and it still wasn’t going to be enough.
‘Dismiss me.’
‘No!’ Seiya immediately screamed denial at the earth elemental’s suggestion. ‘Jarin-’
‘Is with another,’ the demon assured her gently, the images accompanying his words deliberately slowed to allow her to understand. He’d taken inspiration from the threat she’d used against Amaran; although he couldn’t make an exit large enough for himself without de-stabilising the chamber he could make an entrance for a smaller demon. And in doing so he’d also laid the foundations to allow the weaker earth elemental to trigger the collapse should they fail.
‘Alright,’ she agreed tiredly, willing to trust the demon’s judgement. The strain of fighting the wild made it impossible to think coherently. The instant she released the elemental that changed, the flood of returning power washing away the confusion. She hadn’t realised how much had still been tied up in the request summoning as the bindings blazed to life. The wild went flying back as Amaran shouted triumphantly, vanishing through the gateway with a furious howl.
Chapter Thirty-One
‘It’s gone.’ Amaran announced unnecessarily as the tunnel once more went dark, though the trickle of light from the chamber ahead proved the earth elemental hadn’t been lying about his escape route.
‘What the hell were you thinking?!’ Seiya rounded on him angrily, the relief that it was finally over wasn’t enough to overcome the exhaustion from physically manifesting her power. It was amazing she hadn’t collapsed completely.
‘If we’d gone together Youally would have just used your brother to turn you against me,’ there was no hint of apology in Amaran’s voice, or any recognition of how close they’d come to being carved up for the wilds amusement. In contrast to her he seemed fully recovered, not that he seemed to have any intention of thanking her for saving him.
‘If I’d been a few seconds later you’d be dead and so would Jarin,’ Seiya spoke slowly, holding Amaran’s gaze as she dared him to contradict her.
‘They headed for the orb.’
‘Oh?’ Seiya eyed him challengingly at the deliberate change of subject, ‘so now you want me near it?’
‘It was never about that!’
‘Of course not,’ Seiya responded sarcastically. Closing her eyes she briefly rested against the wall, fighting the temptation to slide down; what she would give for a few minutes rest. Now that she knew Jarin was safe she could feel the bone-deep weariness creeping in, if she stopped she’d never get up again without the rush of adrenalin driving her.
‘How far is it?’ Seiya asked tiredly.
‘They’ll know the fighting’s stopped,’ Amaran answered cautiously, finally seeming to notice her condition as he anticipated her next question.
’So we’d better hurry before they decide to come investigate.’ Seiya sighed as she faced what was left of the elemental’s blockade. Her head was still too tender to relish another summoning so soon. ‘Can you?’ she turned to Amaran hopefully.
‘Not without risking the whole lot crushing us,’ Amaran crouched down to examine the rubble. Suddenly he yelped and leapt back, the whole barrier dissolving into sand.
‘Why didn’t you warn me!’ Seiya shook her head as he whirled on her angrily, pointing back into the chamber instead.
‘It wasn’t me,’ Seiya waved to the small earth elemental standing in the newly open entrance. Though he was only small in comparison to her previous summoning, he was still a few stories high and too large to enter the tunnel.
‘You have Jarin?’ she dashed out eagerly as the elemental crouched down, carefully opening his claws to reveal the small bundle, still in the same blanket from the cells. Seiya wrapped her arms around the small body, hugging him close as she was reassured by his slow and steady breathing.
‘You’re safe now,’ her voice was hoarse as she buried her face into the mass of curls, tears running freely down her face.
‘No!’ Seiya whispered in disbelief as she stared in horror, her mind momentarily blanking in an effort to protect itself. ‘No, no, no-’ she couldn’t control the sobs as she crushed Jarin’s sleeping form against her, rocking him as she begged to wake up from the nightmare.
‘Seiya!’
‘GO AWAY!’ she shrieked as Amaran put a hand on her shoulder, feeling him recoil as if she were a snake about to strike. ‘THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!’ No, it’s all mine, the voice inside wailed as she screamed, the grief and guilt too much to bear. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight which condemned her, the small fingers curled around the blanket edge, the red raw stump where the last should have been. She was his older sister, she was meant to protect him and instead he’d been hurt because of her, because of what she was.
‘Stop that!’ She barely heard the demon, without a link they had no chance of reaching her. ‘It’s not-’ she threw up her shields, blocking out the intrusion as her grief turned to anger. Everything that had happened to her was because of the demons, if they didn’t exist-
‘Impossible!’ Jamen stood at the exit from the chamber, staring at them in disbelief. ‘YOUALLY!’ the boy bellowed back down the passage as the gateway appeared on the floor in front of him, ‘THEY’RE COMING!’
‘Just give up Jamen!’ Amaran shouted angrily, shoving Seiya towards the elemental as he strode forwards. Seiya couldn’t believe her senses as Jamen’s power surged for the summoning, had the idiot learnt nothing? Her jaw dropped in amazement as the wild appeared; exactly the same rank as before. She couldn’t help staring at the other summoner, had he simply misunderstood Amaran’s warnings and believed he couldn’t summon any demons other than wilds when she was around?
‘Arghh!’ Seiya screamed as the wave of power smashed into her, Jamen’s shriek drowning out hers. It struck with the same force as a solid wall of water, flinging her to the ground. Nerve-fire wracked her body, the searing agony coupling with the intense pressure until she was suffocating. She scarcely felt the blow as the elemental roughly scooped her up, Amaran giving a cry of outrage as he was crushed alongside. It almost felt as if they were flying, Seiya risked peering over the edge and wished she hadn’t; the elemental was scaling the wall of the chamber to the exit high above, the stone steps shooting out and back so quickly she was certain they would fall. From far below she heard Jamen’s
screams echoing in the huge cavern. The whole place seemed to be collapsing around them, for a horrible moment Seiya feared they wouldn’t make it, the demon leaping through the hole in the ceiling just as it crumbled. Even once he landed she could feel the elemental magic still at work to hold the ground together beneath his feet as he ran along the cliff top, the huge chamber stretching the height of the rock face.
’Tell him to stop!’
‘I can’t!’ As the power finally subsided Seiya was able to think again, squirming around in the demon’s claws until she could put some space between her and Amaran. ‘I didn’t summon him.’
‘You didn’t-’ Amaran stared at her speechlessly.
‘He came though the portal earlier,’ Seiya snapped. ‘I had to dismiss my requests to deal with your wild,’ she added sharply.
‘What happened?’
‘Somebody used all the power for themselves,’ Seiya jumped at the voice inside her mind.
‘Then all the bindings are gone?’ Amaran responded grimly as she repeated the demon’s words aloud.
‘Yes, apart from the one holding it summoners can no longer use the orb’s power to bring us over or bind us.’
‘Then Jamen…’ Seiya wished she hadn’t spoken as she saw Amaran’s face.
‘The wild’s bindings would have vanished,’ he finished stonily. ‘What the-’ as the colour drained from Amaran’s face Seiya didn’t need to turn; she could feel something hovering ominously at the edges of her senses, her mind struggling to comprehend the immense aura behind them.
When she did finally turn the sight defied reality, the demon torso emerged from the ground just beyond where they had escaped the chamber; but whereas they had climbed up he was merely standing. No wonder the cavern had collapsed, the demon’s sheer physical size and bulk had broken through by brute force. Of course it had to be a wild, Seiya swallowed hard as she stared at the bladed arms, refusing to imagine the scale of such weapons on a demon taller than Rhianwater’s towers.
Summoner's Call (The Summoner Trilogy Book 1) Page 32