by B. T. Narro
Over the years, Rygen had half expected Miqu to come by with coin or at least parchments for Rygen to write on, which Rygen would have politely refused at first. She would happily take either after her first refusal, of course, but it seemed that Miqu had no coin to spare because she had chosen to stay full time at the Red Crown.
Miqu had not turned out to be like another mother to Rygen, which she had secretly hoped soon after meeting the caring aunt of the Litxers. She had shown many times that she did want Rygen to be safe and happy, but it seemed impossible for Miqu to accept a life of poverty in order to save coin for herself or to give some to Rygen. She could not live how her brother had learned to live. Or had been forced to live, Rygen had realized at some point.
The famous summoner arrived. She was as big as most men, with short raven hair. She always appeared in her army uniform, sheathed sword and all. She usually wasn’t boisterous until she’d made a few ales disappear. She grabbed her first drink in exchange for a few coppers and took a spot in the midst of the noisy chaos.
Rygen spent the next two hours watching as the summoner’s smile widened and her words were spoken louder. Gaps between people in the tavern started appearing as night approached. Rygen could hear the summoner clearly by then. She was talking to three men, her focus on the more handsome one. All three were twice Rygen’s age, the kind of wealthy people who usually snickered at seeing such a young woman here. But today they were all wrapped up in the summoner’s words.
“You don’t believe me?” the woman said with a shrill call-to-action tone.
“I didn’t say that,” said the handsome man with a bit of a chuckle.
“I will prove it to you and everyone else. There is no summoner stronger than me. None. Watch.”
The woman pushed everyone away and spread her arms. She opened a blue rift of Esitry that was as tall as she was. About half the patrons in the tavern stopped their conversations to stare with worry. The workers and patrons who had seen this before just rolled their eyes.
“Look!” said the woman drunkenly as she pointed at the rift. “You can see its massive leg! You see? You see?”
The men backed away from the rift as they noticed something, probably the treelike leg of the creature that Rygen had seen before. Her view from the other side offered nothing but a dark tint of rocks along the ground.
“All right, you can close it,” said one of the worried men.
The summoner let it collapse and heaved a gasp. “That’s…that’s why.” She had a few more breaths, then whistled and laughed as if being out of breath was comical for some reason. “That’s why I’m the best. I’m going to bring that creature through one day. It will be the largest ever seen in our realm.”
Rygen angrily listened to her boast for a while longer until the woman finally left with the least handsome of the three men. Rygen didn’t bother following her this night. She would wait until another.
Rygen didn’t know how many nights she had followed the summoner now, though it had been over a year since she’d started. The days that had passed since then all blended together in her memory. Rygen had spent most of them on the farm, taking some time here and there to look for better work, only to find none. She had followed the summoner every chance she could, but usually the woman just stumbled home alone to her lavish house.
It was a couple weeks later, after listening to the woman spout about how close she really was now to bringing forth the creature, that Rygen felt as though she had to act soon. There was finally sincerity in the woman’s voice. She must’ve had a breakthrough of some kind.
Rygen stayed far behind, knowing what route the woman would take. But eventually the summoner was stopped by a man in uniform. Rygen was too far back to hear what they said. She climbed onto the roof of the shop she’d hidden behind and hurried across many more roofs. All the buildings on this street were close enough to share a wall at times. Rygen scampered along until she figured she was close, slowing so she wouldn’t be heard. She listened.
“Just get on with it,” the summoner was saying.
Rygen peered over the edge of the roof for a look. She recognized the new commander of the army, for she had seen him around Jatn many times. She placed him somewhere in his forties. His brown hair was trimmed short at his flanks, longer on top. He seemed to always put care into the way it folded over. He was a handsome man and appeared to know so, as he often wore an arrogant look. He wasn’t particularly strong or tall, and Rygen had heard nothing of his skill with sword or magic. She’d also heard nothing of a gentle heart, like the old commander had. Jarrel Marks was never seen in the poor districts and usually had an entourage of guards around him. Tonight was no different. Rygen spotted two of them waiting at the end of the street.
She quickly hid herself again. Spying could be perceived as a threat, and there was no one in Jatn with any power to get her out of prison if the army decided to put her there. She’d heard stories of what happened to some of the women who’d been put away. She could not let that happen to her.
“I don’t want you rambling about what you can and cannot do,” Jarrel scolded.
Finally, he would reprimand this idiot summoner. It had taken him long enough.
“I’ve never said anything about what I cannot do,” the woman said with a laugh.
“Just stop. You’re causing problems.”
“And if I don’t follow this order,” she challenged, “what will you do?”
“Celia—”
“I’m too important to your mission of killing rebels for you to dismiss me,” she interrupted with a drunken slur of words. “I’m the only summoner stronger than Erisena. What she summons next time that might stop the cavaliers will be destroyed by my creature. In fact, my incenfiend could’ve killed her beast with little help from the horsemen.”
“Except you stupidly summoned it early and killed more innocents than rebels!” Jarrel snapped.
“Don’t pretend you care about innocents.”
“I do when it could be Erisena rather than one of them. Have you forgotten about the reward for her? Three hundred gold coins.”
“Split among the team. I’ll gladly take them for myself when my creature kills her.”
“Just be quiet about your summoning progress. We’re receiving complaints.”
“So?”
“This is an order, Celia!” He sounded enraged enough to strike her, but as much as Rygen wanted to see, she kept her head down.
“I have other creatures I can bring into our realm right now, commander. Would you like to see one of them?”
Rygen heard the sound of a struggle. She couldn’t help but take a peek. She saw Jarrel grabbing Celia’s collar and trying to keep hold, but the summoner wrestled his hands off her.
“You’re lucky you’re a woman!” he said, “or you would be on the ground right now.”
“Try it.”
There was a brief silence.
“You are not as important as you think,” Jarrel said. “Don’t forget that your powerful incenfiend was found dead in one of the homes of the poor, killed with what my men found to be nothing but a dagger.”
“Luck!” Celia spat. “I will find out who killed it and make sure they die for it. I will kill anyone who tries to hurt my next creature, no matter what colors they wear. It will be worshipped like a god, and so will I.”
“Keep your voice down!” he hissed.
“I will not stop anything I’m doing! Do what you want to me, but know that I will retaliate if you dare.”
He grumbled a curse as he walked off. Celia stayed put and laughed to herself.
Even after the commander was long gone, Celia stayed and danced around. She laughed and hummed a happy tune. Rygen couldn’t believe even the commander was scared of this woman. There really was nothing that would stop her from summoning another creature. Her incenfiend had killed Rygen’s mother, along with other innocent people. Her next creature was supposedly much larger. It might flatten entire home
s.
Anger roiled in Rygen’s stomach. Something had to be done about this cackling witch. Rygen followed close behind Celia, unsure of her plan. Fear was starting to get the better of her. A voice yelled for her to turn back before it was too late, but there was a stronger voice deep down that told her this needed to be done. She had to be brave. She began to feel sick as she realized what she must do. She almost stopped to vomit, panic trying to take hold. She swallowed hard as she began to sweat. Still, Rygen kept going.
Soon the summoner had arrived at her home. Celia took out her key and unlocked the door. Rygen could not let her get away again. This had to happen now!
She rushed into the home behind Celia as the summoner was entering. The drunken woman didn’t even hear her as Rygen hid behind a table near the wall while Celia closed the door. She continued to giggle to herself, sometimes even talking and pointing at a pretend commander. She reiterated some of her choice lines and laughed harder as she stumbled away. Rygen heard her take hold of something metal, probably a lantern.
Rygen took out the knife she kept on a holster fastened around her leg and stood near Celia. The summoner gasped when she got the lantern lit.
After a few curses, Celia made a face of anger. “Who are you?”
“My name is Rygen Nexi. I’m the daughter of Verona Nexi.”
“Who in hells is that?”
“One of the innocent women you killed with your incenfiend.”
Celia stepped forward and grabbed Rygen by her shirt. “Was it you who killed my creature?”
Rygen stabbed the knife into the idiot woman’s side, but her reflexes saved her from a serious cut as she jumped back.
“I will kill you!” Celia extended her hands as if to make a rift.
Rygen could feel the Esitry trying to come through from the other realm. It would tear an opening between the two worlds, but Rygen grabbed hold of it with her mind and pushed it back the other way.
At first the summoner gasped and stared at Rygen in shock, but anger soon resumed control of her features. Celia strained through expression and voice, pulling on the Esitry too hard for Rygen to stop it.
A rift had almost formed when Rygen gave up and lunged at Celia with another knife strike. She had no grace, no coordination, but surprise was on her side. Anger took hold as Rygen attacked. This is for my mother! She felt the blade sink into flesh as she fell onto Celia. The two of them rolled and grappled on the floor. Rygen lost hold of the knife.
Celia threw her off. Rygen saw the knife in Celia’s shoulder and dove for it. She grabbed Celia’s hand, which was already reaching up and starting to take hold of the small hilt. Having two hands against one, Rygen quickly overpowered the taller woman and pulled out the knife. She was kicked back as she tried to attack again.
Rygen could feel her creature sensing her distress. Jin wanted to come through to help her, but she wanted to do this on her own.
She got up as Celia began to open another rift. This one was enormous, but Celia seemed to be having trouble connecting the sides to form a sphere. Rygen tried to disrupt the Esitry, but Celia had too strong a hold. Giving up, Rygen ran at the woman with no plan as to where to put the knife. She swung wildly, missing as Celia stepped to the side. To Rygen’s horror, Celia tripped her. The knife came loose as Rygen fell.
Celia grabbed it and came for Rygen. She scampered backward on the ground as she opened her own rift. Jin jumped through and snapped at Celia. The woman stumbled back and uttered a sound of shock as the creature put itself between the two of them.
Celia laughed. “That big rift just for a kloxy? That will be your final mistake. Your first was coming into my home.” She had her hands aimed at Rygen’s rift, holding it open. “You have a talent for opening rifts. I’ll have to use this one to bring my beast through.”
Rygen tried to force it shut, but it was too late. A massive claw stepped into their realm. The leg of this beast was taller than Celia herself. Its knee bent as it tried to squeeze through. Celia pried open the rift more.
“I didn’t want to risk closing a rift on my Helefar before, but it’s time now. You should feel honored. You will be the first one it eats.”
Rygen tried desperately to close the rift, but trying to move the Esitry was like trying to move a mountain. Her only hope was Jin.
Attack! As Celia focused to stretch open the rift, Jin ran at Celia’s knees, Rygen right behind. Celia was ready as she stabbed downward at Jin’s face, but Rygen was right there with her creature. She dove into Celia’s arm. Sharp pain shot deep into her shoulder. Rygen didn’t know what happened as she hit the floor and tried to get to her feet. Celia screamed as Jin sank his teeth into her leg.
Despite reeling in pain, the summoner swung both fists hard into Jin’s skull. Rygen’s creature did not stop thrashing, until the second blow. He fell. Soon he was back on his feet, but he swayed as he tried to regain his balance.
Celia spun to go for the knife on the floor, but Rygen was there first. She lifted it to bring it down into Celia’s chest, but the woman grabbed Rygen’s arms. Gods, she was too strong. She threw Rygen’s arms hard to the side, sending the knife flying across the room.
Everything shook as another massive leg came out of the rift and struck the floor. Celia still had hold of Rygen’s arms. She rolled on top of Rygen. In a flash, her hands switched to clasp around Rygen’s neck.
“Too bad I have to kill you before my Helefar gets through. I wanted to see him devour you.”
Rygen tried to pry the woman’s hands off her neck, but this was not a battle she could win. She drove her knees into Celia’s stomach again and again. Her throat was on fire. Her body screamed for air. She knew she was hurting Celia with her knees, but everything had begun to turn white.
Suddenly, the weight on her throat was gone. She sat up and gasped for breath. Celia screamed as she tried to wrestle Jin off her, but Rygen’s creature seemed to have a good hold of her neck with its jaws. Rygen saw the Helefar ducking to align its fearsome face with the enormous rift. It would surely pass through in a moment. It had a square head with two lines of teeth. Its red eyes were a thing of nightmares. But Rygen finally felt power over Celia’s Esitry now that Celia was under attack. Rygen brought down her hands and closed the rift. She could hear the deep roar of the powerful beast, though it cut short as soon as the rift closed. Two of its legs remained in this realm. They slowly toppled over and crashed to the floor as Jin ravaged the last remnants of life from Celia.
Rygen sent her beast back and ran out of there as all the blood from the Helefar’s legs and Celia’s neck started pooling together.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Rygen could not work for the next two days. Her shoulder bled for most of the first day, and she could barely use her arm the second. She didn’t want to arouse suspicion, but she did go to the Gorging Fish each day to see if there was any talk of Celia’s death.
It turned out to be the only thing people discussed, everyone speaking with grins. Some even toasted to her demise. An older man sat beside Rygen in her corner later in the night. Normally she’d send him off immediately, but he said something before even introducing himself that piqued her interest.
“It’s not true about Celia.” The man leaned close like he was telling a secret. He smelled strongly of ale. “It couldn’t have been her beast that killed her. If she couldn’t bring the beast through the rift in the Tisary, there’s no way she could drunkenly open a rift in her own home for the massive thing. The army’s probably covering something up, as usual.”
This man did not know as much about summoning as he thought. Often summoners were capable of opening a rift for their creatures, but they had to wait until they were strong enough to enlarge the rift so the creature would not be cut in half. Rygen often thought back to her battle with Celia, rejoicing not only in her victory but in how she’d dismembered the giant beast that had wanted to come through. She had seen enough of the Helefar before the rift closed to tell it was like a
n incenfiend. It wanted nothing more than to destroy.
The only time Rygen felt sour about killing Celia, ironically, was when she thought of her mother looking down at her. Mother would not have wanted Rygen to risk her own safety, and she certainly wouldn’t want Rygen avenging her death. She was too gentle. Rygen used to be like her, but she wasn’t that girl anymore.
Rygen wanted to know what else this man had in his head. Perhaps there were other rumors she had not overheard yet.
“Has the army covered up anything else?” she asked.
Rygen would take nothing this man said as fact, but she knew Andar would want her to ask this very question. She did it for him, and for the dead commander who had cared about all of them. Rumors were better than nothing.
The stranger scooted over close enough to put Rygen in extreme discomfort. “The commander was murdered by the man who’s commander now.” He slurred his words a bit, but they were spoken in a calm and secretive nature that made it seem like he knew just what he was saying.
“How do you know?” she asked.
“Everyone in the army knows it, but they can’t do anything.”
“And you’re in the army?” Rygen would be surprised, for most army men wore a uniform at all times.
He scoffed. “Gods, no. I work in one of their bathhouses, though.” He smiled and used a friendly tone as he asked, “How old are you?”
“Thirteen,” she lied. Her age was one of the many things she might tell a man to get him to leave her alone, though now she would have to reduce it by a year.
He grimaced. “You look a lot older.” He glanced down at her chest.
She had just a small opening at the top of her tunic, giving no view of anything, but he peered with squinted eyes as if he might be able to find something given the right angle.
Rygen leaned back and folded her arms. “I’m thirteen,” she insisted. “You should sit somewhere else.”
He surprised her by grabbing her arm and pulling her hard. He started to stuff his other hand in her pocket. “You play games! You must be fifteen at least. Let me see your papers.”