“You’re too late,” Fletcher called to the driver on the coach box. “If you’re quick you might catch them on their way to Corcillum.”
He pointed down the street as the carriage door swung open. Berdon stepped out, a bashful grin on his face.
“Sorry, son,” Berdon said, giving his son a friendly hug. “Forgot they’d done up the place.”
“I don’t care about the lawn; I care that you’ve missed the whole thing,” Fletcher said. “You know, whatever business you had could’ve waited. There’s not even any cake left—Cress ate it all.”
“Well, that’s the thing,” Berdon said, smiling down at him. “It couldn’t wait, actually. There’s someone who wants to meet you.”
But Fletcher wasn’t listening. Because a woman had stepped out of the carriage. Alice. His mother.
He stared, not understanding. Her eyes. It was as if she was looking straight at him. He took a hesitant step forward.
“Fletcher?” she said hesitantly.
“Go on, son,” Berdon said, giving him a gentle push.
Then tears were running down Fletcher’s face, and she was there, hugging him to her chest. It was as if a dam had burst within him, flooding him with joy. After all these years, everything he had been through … he had his mother back.
“I’m sorry,” she said, sobbing. “I’m so sorry.”
Fletcher pulled away and looked up at her. He touched her cheek, hardly able to believe she was real.
“Don’t be sorry,” Fletcher said. “I’m here now. You’re here now.”
She smiled through her tears.
“Come on,” she said, taking him by the hand.
They walked toward the mansion, Berdon waving him on with a booming laugh that filled the air.
Fletcher had never been so happy.
Because finally, he was home.
COMING IN 2018
FROM TARAN MATHARU
THE SUMMONER SERIES CONTINUES WITH
THE
OUTCAST
WHEN STABLE BOY Arcturus accidentally summons a demon and becomes Hominum’s first common summoner, he also becomes the key to a secret that those in power would do anything to keep hidden. Whisked away to Vocans Academy so he can be watched over, Arcturus finds himself surrounded by enemies. But he has little time to settle in before his life is turned upside down once again, for Hominum Empire is in turmoil. Rebellious intent simmers among the masses, and it will not be long before it boils over. Arcturus must choose a side … or watch an empire crumble.
DEMONOLOGY
WILL-O’-THE-WISP - LEVEL 1
This elemental demon appears as a glowing globe of blue, much like a wyrdlight. Though beautiful to look at, they are treacherous, leading any that might follow into the pits of sinking sand within their native swamplands. Once the victim is stuck fast or drowned, nearby will-O’-the-wisps will flock together and drain it of its blood. Beneath the glow of blue, they appear rather like a limbless glowworm.
JACKALOPE - LEVEL 1
This demon is one of the most common prey animals in the ether, and is not a popular choice among summoners. It appears as a hare with a pair of antlers on its forehead. Known for its speed and sharp incisors, this demon can still hold its own in a fight, although it is more likely to flee unless cornered.
LAVELLAN - LEVEL 2
The Lavellan is a ratlike demon armed with two venomous fangs where its incisors should be and a thick, wormlike tail. Though a solid starter demon, many summoners turn their noses up at using the Lavellan thanks to its verminous appearance. Unlike a Mite’s or Damsel’s, the Lavellan’s venom acts much like a snake’s, causing excruciating pain and eventual death unless antivenom is administered. Since so many shamans use them as demons, it is suspected that at least some of the orc part of the ether is made up of swampland, for that is the Lavellan’s preferred habitat.
PYRAUSTA - LEVEL 2
This demon appears in the shape of a lizard, but with the body parts of an insect—as if made from a beetle’s carapace with the same segmented joints. Its wings, though shaped like a Wyvern’s, are made from the same fragile material as a butterfly’s. The demon is prized for its ability to change color at will to blend in with its environment like a chameleon. Along with its potent sting, the demon’s insect-like eyes and antennae allow it to sense heat and movement, giving the summoner a new perspective when scrying.
BAKU - LEVEL 3
The Baku shares many similarities in appearance and body shape with a real-world creature known as a tapir. The Baku is a prey animal in the ether and is not considered a suitable demon for summoners. It can be described as a pig-sized demon with an elephantine trunk and tusks and the striped orange fur of a tiger.
KAPPA - LEVEL 3
The Kappa is one of the more common Aquarine demons. Appearing as an overgrown toad with a turtle’s beak and shell, this demon’s most unusual feature is the hollow indentation at the top of its head. It is theorized that this bowl is used to store water when the Kappa travels overland, allowing it to breathe with the Kappa’s large gill at the bottom. Other than its shell, this demon is a weak species and serves as a prey animal to the Nanaues and Akhluts of the ether’s oceans.
COATL - LEVEL 4
The Coatl is a serpent with multicolored plumage instead of scales. Although not capable of flight, the Coatl uses its feathers to glide down from the ether’s trees and onto unsuspecting prey below. The Coatl will use its venom to paralyze a victim and then constrict it to death, before swallowing the carcass whole.
GUNNI - LEVEL 4
This demon is relatively common in the ether and is considered an acquired taste by some summoners. It appears similar to a bear-sized wombat, with a pair of small antlers on its head. Its claws, teeth, and horns are not particularly sharp, but the demon’s size and muscle more than make up for this shortfall.
ROPEN - LEVEL 4
The Ropen appears as a hybrid between bat and bird. It has no feathers; its wings are made from a stretched membrane between clawed wing joints. When hunting, it uses its powerful talons to snatch smaller prey. Its most birdlike appendages are a long pelican beak and an elongated crest on the back of its head.
YALE - LEVEL 4
The Yale is one of the ether’s more common demons, but it is rarely captured due to its poor mana levels. It looks something like a hybrid of cow and deer, with cloven feet and a pair of curved horns. A Yale’s dark brown fur is striped white and black along its spine. These demons have the unique ability to manipulate the position of their horns, sometimes spinning them like a pair of drills when charging an opponent, be that another male during mating season or one of their many predators.
LEUCROTTA - LEVEL 5
The Leucrotta is zebra-striped demon that prefers to hunt at dusk. It is an unusual creature with cloven hooves, a lionlike tail, and the head and body shape of an overgrown badger. It is not unknown for this demon to follow Shrike migrations across the ether, eating the carrion left behind. These solitary demons were once popular with Hominum’s summoners, but have since fallen out of favor.
ENCANTADO - LEVEL 5
The Encantado is a four-limbed dolphin-like demon, native to the waters of the ether. Though the webbed claws of their fore and hind legs are not particularly sharp, they use their hard skulls and powerful fluked tails to batter their enemies aside. If an Encantado has recently been swimming, it is not unknown for it to spray water from its blowhole to blind its enemies. They are sought after for their fierce intellect, playful nature, and speed, since they are faster than both the Nanaue and Akhlut. Unfortunately, they only appear occasionally in Hominum’s part of the ether when swimming up one of the few rivers in the area.
CATOBLEPAS - LEVEL 5
The Catoblepas has a powerful bovine body and horns, a horse’s mane and a head similar to that of a warthog. This herbivorous demon has a penchant for eating poisonous plants, leaving its breath toxic. Although immune to their own Catoblepas’s noxious fumes, summone
rs avoid this demon for fear of inadvertently injuring others. These demons are one of the more dangerous prey animals that the ether’s larger carnivores feed upon.
SLEPINIR - LEVEL 5
This demon could be described as an eight-legged horse, sporting four eyes like a Canid or Felid. Known for its powerful musculature, aggressive nature, and racing ability, this demon is a popular choice among Hominum’s mounted summoners, the Dragoons. With enough stamina to run for days and the speed of a cheetah, these demons are incredibly difficult to capture.
MUSIMON - LEVEL 5
The Musimon appears as a cross between a horse and an enormous, bearded billy goat, with two pairs of horns on its head. The lower pair is curled and thick, while the higher pair is long and sharp like a bull’s. These demons are popular among the Dragoons, especially for the newer, less powerful summoners.
HIPPALECTRYON - LEVEL 6
Close cousin to the Alicorn, this demon bears the front half of a horse and the back half of a cockerel, with a curved beak and red wattle instead of a muzzle. The male Hippalectryon’s red and green blend of fur and plumage culminates in a fan of bright tail feathers that it uses to attract its equally deadly, fawn-colored female counterpart. The hooked talons of its hind legs can easily disembowel an attacker, yet that does not prevent a Hippalectryon’s higher-level predators from trying to attack. This demon is a favorite among the Dragoons, Hominum’s mounted battlemages.
KIRIN - LEVEL 7
The Kirin might be described as a hybrid between reptile and horse. Though their body shape resembles that of their equine cousins, Kirins are armored from head to hoof in viridian scales. Much like its cousin, the Alicorn, the Kirin sports a horn in the center of its forehead, though the Kirin’s branches in two rather like an antler. Vainglorious summoners actively seek out this rare demon, as their lustrous red manes and tails make for a regal mount. It is a favorite among Dragoon officers.
SOBEK - LEVEL 9
Sobeks are native to swamps, rivers, and lakes, avoiding the wider seas and oceans of the ether. These thick-skinned bipedal crocodilians use their claws and jaws to tear apart their opponents, if their large tails haven’t battered them to the ground first. Hunched over at five feet tall, this demon could stand toe-to-toe with its natural adversary, the Nanaue.
AHOOL - LEVEL 10
Appearing as a giant bat with the musculature of a mountain gorilla, the Ahool is a solitary demon that is rarely found in the known ether. Ahools are occasionally used as a mount for more powerful orc shamans. Known for their acute senses of hearing and smell, they make excellent trackers on air and land alike. With sharp claws on its winged forelimbs and fangs as thick as elephant tusks, an Ahool is capable of taking on a Griffin.
INDRIK - LEVEL 14
These enormous demons have the long necks and large bodies of giraffes, but with thicker limbs, a long tapering tail, and a head that is more akin to that of a horse’s or camel’s. Their fur is short, gray, and mottled with black patches. Traveling in herds of a score or more, Indriks migrate widely, acting as a food source for the large, carnivorous demons across the ether’s ecosystem. Given their role as prey animals and their high summoning level, these demons are relatively useless to summoners.
AKHLUT - LEVEL 15
The Nanaue is to a shark as the Akhlut is to an orca, or killer whale. Cousin to the dolphin-like Encantado, this demon is thought to move on all fours like a wolf, using its webbed claws and fluked tail to travel over land and sea. As large as their animal counterparts, these demons have never been seen in the flesh. All knowledge of the Akhluts’ existence comes from a depiction—a name and summoning level painted on the inside of an orc shaman’s hut.
ZARATAN - LEVEL 15
This amphibious demon could be described as a hybrid between a tortoise and a turtle, with webbed claws, a sharp beak, and a protective shell. Their newborns appear the same size as a sea turtle, but they can grow to the dimensions of a small archipelago. In fact, they are often mistaken for islands, given the amount of vegetation that forms on their rugged shells. Considered the most long-lived demons in the ether, these demons are said to live as long as two millennia.
TRUNKO - LEVEL UNKNOWN
Few sightings of this demon have been made, but most reports describe the Trunko as a white, whalelike creature with a trunk like an elephant’s. Trunkos use these trunks to discreetly replenish their air reserves when they are at the surface, rather than breaching and allowing predator demons to know their presence. It is suspected that the Trunko is hunted by most sea predators, for their half-eaten remains have been known to wash up on the shore.
BEHEMOTH - LEVEL UNKNOWN
This demon roamed the ether thousands of years ago, but is now extinct. Little is known about them, since all that remains are their bones. At twenty times the size of an elephant, these demons were gigantic, second only in size to the Zaratans, though from examination of their teeth it is theorized that they were peaceful herbivorous ruminants, grazing on treetops as a cow might eat grass. The Behemoth had a similar body structure to a hippo and a head comparable to that of a manatee, but with a buffalo’s horns.
DRAKE - LEVEL UNKNOWN
Previously unknown to Hominum’s summoners, the Drake is something of a mystery to researchers at Vocans, since it is yet to be examined or tested against a fulfilmeter. From the descriptions of the owner of the only known specimen—one Fletcher Raleigh—it is clearly the first stage in the metamorphosis of a Salamander, facilitated by the extreme heat of a volcano. Somewhat larger than a Griffin, the Drake is similarly proportioned to that of a Salamander, with the addition of a long, sinuous neck, two back facing horns on its head, and a pair of large leathery wings. As with their smaller counterparts, Drakes have the ability to breathe fire, self-heal, and heal others with their saliva. Rumors have circulated that a Drake’s summoner becomes immune to fire, but the veracity of these claims is yet to be determined.
DRAGON - LEVEL UNKNOWN
According to the testimony of one Fletcher Raleigh, the Dragon is the final stage in the metamorphosis of the Salamander species. Appearing as a giant Drake, this demon is complemented by larger horns and scaly skin that is extremely difficult to penetrate. Only one specimen is thought to have existed—belonging to Khan, the religious leader of the orcs. It is theorized that only an albino orc is capable of summoning a demon of such power, stemming from the hypothesis that a quirk of evolution has given the albinos of the orc species immensely high fulfilment levels.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Taran Matharu wrote his first book when he was nine years old. At twenty-two, he began posting The Novice on Wattpad (the online writing website) and reached over three million reads in less than six months. The Novice is the first of three books in the Summoner series, and Taran Matharu's fiction debut. Taran lives in London. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Epilogue
Demonology
About the Author
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 by Taran Matharu Ltd.
A Feiwel and Friends Book
An Imprint of Macmillan Publishing, LLC
The Battlemage Page 35