Summoner 6

by Eric Vall

Braden shook his head and drummed his fingers on the table as he thought about it.

  “No, nothing,” Braden sighed, “but he kept talking about Gryff like he knew him, which I thought was weird.”

  “What did he say?” I asked, though to be honest, I was kind of scared to know.

  “Well, he knew where you were from, that you were a summoner, and he knew who we were, too,” Braden informed. “It was kind of creepy, actually.”

  “Did you piss someone off before you joined the Academy?” Nia asked only half joking.

  “I’ve pissed off plenty of people, I’m sure,” I replied, “but none to the extent that they would want me or my friends dead or hung out to dry.”

  “Clearly someone had it out for you,” Arwyn muttered and bounced her foot in place on the wooden floor.

  “You’re telling me.” I sagged in my chair, no longer interested in the food in front of me.

  “So, where were you guys while we were tied up in the forest?” Braden asked, clearly ready to change the subject.

  I chuckled dryly and glanced at Nia, who had settled into my side as we sat. Arwyn had scooted closer as well, though she kept a respectable distance. After all, she was still a teacher, and I was still a student.

  The four of us hunkered down for what we knew was going to be a story, and for the first time in months, I felt like I was at home again.

  “Well,” I began, “it all started when Gawain and I fought an ice giant in a thicket.”

  Chapter 10

  Several days had passed between the time we’d sent word to Sleet that we’d been successful and when we finally received a response. It was nearly nighttime when the post came into the inn. We’d already started on settling in for the night and Orenn, Braden, and I had begun taking swigs out of pints when Arwyn sat down across from us.

  “Ms. Hamner,” Orenn greeted respectfully, “care to join us?”

  “I am afraid not, Mr. Vascarti,” she replied as she held up the envelope. “Our time in Enzitha might be coming to a close.”

  “Oh?” I leaned forward in my seat and placed my pint on the table. “Did the Headmaster finally reply?”

  “Don’t say it like that,” Braden chuckled into his ale. “He’s a busy guy.”

  We laughed as Arwyn opened the neatly folded envelope that bore a red wax seal imprinted with a lightning bolt. I wondered what the lightning bolt might represent, but I remembered it was likely in reference to Sleet’s nickname, the Stormbringer.

  The three of us watched as Arwyn scanned through the letter, and her eyes seemingly traced every line of Sleet’s handwriting before she set the parchment down and folded her hands atop the table.

  “So, what’s the verdict?” I asked over another swig of ale.

  Her features looked grim, and she parted her mouth like she had something to say, but wasn’t sure how to put her thoughts into words. She hesitated and sighed before she finally looked up at us.

  “The Headmaster wishes us to return to Varle as soon as possible,” Arwyn dictated. “We will take the train from here, and it will be a direct route.”

  I blinked and waited for her to get to the part of something bad. There was something bad, wasn’t there?

  “Is that all?” Orenn asked her with a knowing look in his hazel eyes.

  “No,” Arwyn answered, “but that is all I can tell you for now.”

  “What?” It was my turn to ask questions. “What do you mean that’s all you can tell us? We’re all in this together.”

  Braden and Orenn nodded, but Arwyn stood abruptly and narrowed her eyes on us.

  I couldn’t get a read on the emotion she was trying to convey, but I had to figure whatever she was keeping from us must have been for a good reason, at least for now.

  “Our travel arrangements have already been made for us,” she informed. “Pack tonight. We leave first thing in the morning.”

  “How long is the ride from here to Varle?” I questioned.

  “Two days with a few stops along the way. You know how trains to Varle are.” Arwyn managed to smile a little, and I was reminded of meeting her on my first train ride to Varle and sharing a compartment with her.

  That day seemed so far away now.

  “We’ll see you in the morning then.” Braden raised his glass to her, and then he slumped against my shoulder as he chuckled.

  “Goodnight gentlemen,” Arwyn giggled, and I watched her ascend the polished wooden stairs before she disappeared down the hallway, presumably to tell Nia and Varleth to make ready to leave in the morning.

  Speaking of the gypsy …

  “How is Varleth?” I asked Orenn as I pushed Braden off me and righted him.

  Orenn shook his head, and he looked troubled, worried.

  “He won’t talk about it,” Orenn said. “I don’t blame him. I can’t imagine how horrible it must have been for him to go through.”

  “It wasn’t easy to watch either,” Braden added solemnly and finished off his ale. “They stopped before anything really happened, but the fear in Varleth’s eyes … “

  “Do you think he’ll be alright?” I asked quietly. I hated seeing Varleth recede like he had over the last few days after we’d come so far to break him out of his shell. Now, it was like everything had been for nothing, and we were starting back at square one. I couldn’t blame him, though. I never wanted to imagine how scary his experience must have been.

  “Eventually,” Orenn replied slowly and swirled his remaining ale in his mug, “but I think it’s best if we drop it entirely and not treat him any differently.”

  Braden and I nodded. It was another thing to handle on top of councils, ciphers, and bounty hunters, but Varleth was our friend, and that’s what he needed right now, friendship.

  “Anyway,” Orenn continued, and he slammed his mug on the table as he finished his ale, “we have an early morning tomorrow. Might as well get some sleep for the ride ahead of us.”

  I finished off my own pale ale and set it down next to Braden’s empty one on the table before I stood. My arms stretched over my head with a groan as my bones popped satisfyingly.

  “You comin’ big guy?” I asked Braden as I tucked my chair in.

  “One more,” Braden slurred, “and then I’ll be up to bed. Promise.”

  I laughed a little and clapped him on the shoulder.

  “Don’t overdo it, okay? I don’t need you to be wasted for our trip home,” I joked.

  Braden laughed, but the mirth didn’t quite reach his eyes.

  “Don’t worry about me, man. You get some rest, and I’ll be along,” he assured me.

  “If you say so.” I stepped back, then followed Orenn’s lead and headed for the stairs.

  “‘Night fellas!” Braden called to us, and Orenn and I waved back.

  Once we were up the stairs, though, Orenn stopped me. His hand caught my wrist, and his eyes were hard when I turned to face him. I’d rarely seen him worked up like this, so it was a whole different side to him that caught me off guard.

  “What’s up?” I asked quietly.

  “It’s Braden,” Orenn replied just as softly. “I don’t think he should be left alone.”

  I stared at him quizzically and looked back down the stairs.

  “You think he has a problem?” I asked.

  “I do,” Orenn affirmed, “and I think he shouldn’t be alone in his thoughts right now.”

  I wiped my hands over my face. Yeah, I noticed Braden had been a little off since we’d rescued him and Varleth from the Narufey, but that was to be expected, wasn’t it? They had basically been completely out of society for months. It was probably hard on them to know and recognize that life went on without them, and that they had been powerless to stop the animandu on their own. Needless to say, it was a traumatic experience for both him and Varleth, and we as their friends had to be there for them accordingly.

  “Alright.” I nodded and put my hands on my hips. “Alright, I’ll go sit with him for the night.”
>
  Orenn smiled and put a hand on my shoulder.

  “You’re a good friend, Gryff,” he told me. “You’ve always been good to us.”

  “Friendship isn’t something I take lightly,” I informed him with a smile. “When you’re someone who basically grows up alone, making friends and keeping them is one of the most special things you can have.”

  “Can’t argue with you there,” he chuckled. “I’ll see you in the morning, Gryff.”

  “See you, Orenn,” I smiled as he walked down the hall to the room he was sharing with Varleth, and then I turned back around and descended the stairs once again.

  “Gryff!” Braden cheered and clapped his hands. “You came back!”

  I laughed at Braden’s drunken stupor and took my seat beside him once more.

  “You’re drunk as a skunk,” I told him. “You should be cut off.”

  “Nooooo … ” he whined, then immediately giggled at himself.

  Oh, yes, he should, I thought, but I wanted to be the kind of drunk he was at. I wanted to be on a level of not caring about anything and just letting go all of the weird shit that’s been going on.

  “You want another round?” he asked with lidded eyes that definitely weren’t focused, because he had pointedly asked the cup in front of me, but I played along anyway.

  “Why the fuck not?” I smirked. “Let’s get wasted.”

  The more Braden and I drank, the less and less I realized that Braden had been tossing beers back nearly twice as fast as I had been. Braden hadn’t been much of a drinker, but he pounded pint after pint, and after a while, there was no more room in front of him to put down another one.

  “You should slow doooown,” I drawled and laughed at my own stupidity. “You’ll make yourself sick, you know?”

  “Who cares?” Braden made a face and took a few more swigs before he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.

  “I care, you overgrown tumbleweed,” I snorted and elbowed him lightly in the gut.

  I expected a response to an insult like that, and I was ready for it. It never came, though. I was met with silence as Braden stared into his mug like he would find the answer to life at the bottom of it.

  “Braden,” I tried softly and put my hand on his shoulder. “You good?”

  “I didn’t think anyone was ever going to come for us,” Braden admitted quietly. “Two months of being tied to a tree, being escorted to take a shit in the woods, only fed once a day and given water a few times a day … ”

  I frowned deeply. I figured that it had bothered him. Of course it did.

  “You don’t have to do this,” I told him. “I’m not going to make you tell me anything.”

  “I have to tell someone,” he replied immediately. “I have to … ”

  “Okay.” I pushed the empty mugs on the table away and waved to the bartender to get us another round. I’d figure out how to pay for it later, though I’d probably have them put it on a tab for the Academy and make Sleet pay for it. After all, this wouldn’t have happened to Braden if Sleet hadn’t sent him to the Narufey.

  “Tell me everything,” I encouraged. “We won’t stop until you’re ready.”

  Braden smiled, and it was then that I saw the sheen of tears in his eyes. He took a long, shuddering breath before he wiped them away and turned to look at me. His eyes seemed so much deeper, so much wiser and full of pain. These eyes, though definitely Braden’s, portrayed a side of him I never wanted to have to see. It was a side of him that lost a bit of innocence, not in the same way the animandu had threatened to take it from Varleth, but in the way that you mourn over death. Maybe all of Braden had gone into the Narufey, but only part of him came back out.

  We continued to drink well into the night, and he continued to tell me about his fears, how he’d been scared to never be able to see his family again, that he wouldn’t grow old, or have a family of his own. He’d said he was glad Varleth was with him, but that the gypsy had grown different over the time they’d been there, too. They both had.

  “We lost hope,” Braden finished, “so when Antoine and his men dropped you and the others at the trees, I couldn’t believe it. Hell, I barely even remember it.”

  “You were nearing death,” I told him sadly. “We didn’t know if you were going to make it.”

  “Honestly, Gryff,” Braden sighed deeply as he looked me in the eyes, “I don’t think I really did.”

  Morning came twenty minutes later, or at least, that was how it felt when Arwyn knocked on our door at dawn to tell us we were going to be late.

  “What year is it?” I groaned when she barged in and threw the shades open. I covered my eyes with my blanket, and she immediately turned the covers down again.

  “I’m not answering that,” she sighed. “I thought you were both going to head to sleep early so we didn’t have this problem?”

  I looked over at Braden’s bed to find him lying flat on his back and snoring so loudly the walls shook. Tiredly, I dragged my naked ass out of bed and over to his.

  “Hey,” I tried, but Braden didn’t budge. “Hey!”

  There was still no response. I huffed and brought my hands back, then clapped as loudly as I could in his ear.

  “What!” he bellowed as he bolted upright, and I rolled my eyes.

  “You’re drunk. Get dressed,” I told him, then padded my way back to the bed to gather my clothes and at least attempt to wash the stench of alcohol off my skin.

  All the while, Arwyn stood there with her arms crossed and a less than amused look plastered on her beautiful face.

  I wanted to kiss that face. It was a good face.

  “You have thirteen minutes,” she told us, “and if you aren’t ready, we’re leaving you here, and you’ll have to explain to the headmaster why you missed your ride back to the Academy.”

  With that, she closed the door and left Braden and I alone.

  I looked at myself in the mirror and almost didn’t recognize myself. I was a wreck. My hair stuck out at all angles, and my eyes had bags under them that were deeper than a thief’s pocket. I splashed some water on my face, then hopped in the shower to get some of the stink off me.

  When I was dressed and came back into the room, Braden had also managed to dress, and he sat on the bed with his head in his hands as he snored away.

  I would have laughed if we didn’t risk the danger of Arwyn coming back in here with her sword and shaking the both of us.

  “C’mon buddy,” I grumbled and pulled at his arm. “We gotta go.”

  Braden nodded and stood, though it took him a couple of seconds to get himself balanced. He grabbed his belongings, not that either of us had many, and I grabbed mine before we bumbled out the door and down the stairs into the lobby.

  “Good of you to join us.” Arwyn smirked, and the others got a bit of a kick out of the sight of us.

  Let them, I thought. If my drunk ass made people laugh in a time where laughter was going to be key, then I’d gladly make a fool of myself.

  I winked at Arwyn. “You’re looking lovely as always.”

  “Uh-huh.” She nodded and steered the both of us toward the door of the inn as she motioned for the others to follow. “Don’t think you can get away with that all the time now.”

  I grinned. “I don’t.”

  It wasn’t a lie. I didn’t plan on using my openness about my relationship with Arwyn as a tool or a means to get what I wanted. The only thing I wanted from her was her love, and I already had that.

  And I’d continue to give her mine.

  The sun was bright as we stepped outside. The oranges and pinks of dawn still colored the sky, and the moon had nearly disappeared behind the horizon as the sun peeked out. As much as I wasn’t a fan of early mornings, the time between morning twilight and dawn was the most beautiful time of day in my opinion.

  We walked to the train station down the paved road mostly in silence, which I was thankful for because all I really wanted to do was sleep. The train would of
fer me the chance, though, thankfully. After all, it was a two day ride.

  We passed a few little shops along the way to the station, and I couldn’t help but smile as I saw them. Enzitha was a cute little town comprised of a completely different culture than I’d experienced. It wasn't a bad thing at all, I had just never seen that much art in one place before. Every shop was selling something handmade and creative, which was a much different change of pace from Varle, where there were a lot more commercial markets.

  Wooden plaques and chalkboards labeled the storefronts, and children played in the windows before their parents opened up shop. Murals were painted on the sides of the brick walls, and even the fountain had been charmed to play a musical note when you got near it. It was fascinating, and definitely somewhere I wanted to come back to.

  When we did reach the train station, I learned it was less of a station and more of a train platform. That was common in smaller areas outside of the Enclaves, but it was also a bit of a shock. The town itself was relatively large, so I guess I had just expected there to be more.

  “All aboard,” Arwyn said as she made sure everyone filed into the car. “We have the whole space to ourselves, so make yourselves comfortable.”

  I took a seat by the window, and Nia slid in beside me with a telling smile. I managed a soft smile back.

  “What?” I asked with a slight laugh as everyone else settled in.

  “Looks like you had a good night,” she teased and brushed some hair from my sleepy eyes.

  “If by good you mean we drank a lot, then yes, we had a good night.” I nodded as if I were trying to convince myself that was all that happened, but the truth was further from it. Whether Nia seemed to sense it or not, I didn’t know, but she let it go after that and simply rested her head on my shoulder.

  “Don’t worry,” she said softly, “we’ll all get through this.”

  I smiled wider and kissed the top of her head before resting my own atop hers. Nia was so strong, and she never failed to amaze me with how kind she truly was once all of the prodigy and military family shit was dug out of the way.

  Shortly after we boarded, the train whistle blew, and the wheels grinded to a start on the track. I could have fallen asleep between the rock of the train and the sweet scent of Nia’s hair, and that’s exactly what I decided I was going to do.