Summoner 4

by Eric Vall

  Chapter 1

  When I next opened my eyes, my body felt as if it was heavy, as though my limbs were being held down with lead, and there was the taste of something chalky in my mouth. My skin was clammy, and there was a particular sheen to my body that told me I hadn’t properly bathed in a while. I wondered if it was my own stench that drew me from my slumber. I wouldn’t have doubted it.

  My eyes took a minute to focus on something besides myself. My eyelids, like my limbs, were heavy, and I blinked several times to try and clear my eyes, but it still felt like there was a sticky film over my eyeballs. How long had I been out?

  I caught a glimpse of the things that were around me, and I recognized the bed sheets to be the same medical white as the ones in the infirmary in the Academy. I sighed and I blinked again as I allowed my eyes to wander. Everything was quiet, save for the soft breathing of someone next to me, so I focused my eyes on determining who that person might be.

  Beside the bed, Maelor sat with his head tipped back, mouth slightly ajar as he slept in a chair. His hair was a mess, and he looked a bit pale, though that could have been the weird film on my eyes skewing my vision. Had he been here this whole time?

  I continued to look around my surroundings a bit more and saw dozens of flowers and letters of what I could only assume were well wishes piled next to me on the other side of the bed. I tried to reach for them, although it felt as if my joints were pretty stiff. I managed, though, and grabbed the closest one, a card from one of my lovers.

  You better get better, you hear me? I mean it!

  - Layla

  I smiled and set the card back down. She wasn’t the most eloquent person I’d met, but her heart was always in the right place. Beside that card was a small vase of red and white flowers. They were vibrant, bright, and they looked exotic and expensive. These could only be from Nia.

  I opened the card attached to the vase, and sure enough, there was a message from another one of my lovers.

  Be strong. We’ll see you soon.

  - Nia

  She signed her name with a heart. Cute.

  I put the card back and let my arm fall back to my side. As my eyes cleared, I could see other well-wishes from Braden, Orenn, and even Headmaster Sleet, amongst others, but I decided to let myself rest for a while instead of continuing my observations. I closed my eyes again, but footsteps and the curtain being drawn caught my attention.

  “I thought I heard movement in here.” Arwyn, my teacher, squad leader, and lover, smiled at me from the end of the bed.

  I opened my mouth to speak but was stopped when all that came out of me was a croak that was then followed by a wicked cough. Arwyn moved around Maelor, who had jerked out of his slumber, and put a gentle hand on my chest to ease me back into the mattress.

  “Your body is still recovering, Gryff,” she explained softly. “It took on a lot of essence, more than even a banisher can handle on a good day. You’re lucky to be alive, so please, sit back and rest.”

  I huffed at that but complied all the same. There were a million questions on my mind, and none of them seemed like they were going to be answered anytime soon.

  “You took one hell of a beating, kid,” I heard Maelor say from behind Arwyn, and she stepped back so that I could properly see him. “You probably don’t even remember the ride back to the Varle Enclave.”

  I shook my head, and Maelor chuckled and clapped a hand down atop my leg.

  “You were sick as a mutt,” he started, “spewin’ and--”

  “I’m sure he doesn’t need all the gruesome details, Mister Maelor,” Arwyn cut him off, and Maelor and I looked at one another in amusement as we shrugged. “The point is that you haven’t had the type of training necessary to process the amount of essence you absorbed. Even a skilled banisher would have a hard time processing and dispelling it.”

  I nodded. I wanted to ask how Varleth was. He had absorbed quite a bit of essence as well, and he was an experienced banisher with an abundance of talent and training.

  “Jeez, you’re even noisy when you can’t speak.”

  As if on cue, Varleth, still dressed in a hospital gown and hooked up to an interesting looking machine that seemed to be cleaning his blood, came through the curtain with a relieved smile. It was small, but it was just large enough that I could tell he wasn’t his usual scowling self.

  I couldn’t talk, and waving at him seemed inappropriate for the relationship he and I had built in recent weeks, so I winked and flipped him off, which earned me a good-natured chuckle from him and Maelor.

  “Good to see you’re still in one piece, summoner,” Varleth retorted with a good-natured sigh as he limped his way back to his own bed. As he left, though, Meriden, the head nurse, bustled inside with a clear tonic in a vial that billowed blue smoke from the top.

  “Good morning, Mr. Gryff,” she greeted, and I waved to her. “I’m sure you have a million questions, but you’ll have to take my word and drink this immediately.”

  I barely had a spare moment to share with Maelor before her cool, plump fingers were holding my jaw open. She spilled the liquid into my mouth, and I nearly screamed as the liquid hit the back of my throat. My body went rigid, and then it convulsed. I heard Maelor swear and saw Arwyn step in to hold me down again.

  “You have to swallow it, Gryff,” she told me, and I shook my head. It was nasty, like ice-cold acid scorched by hot flames and every part of my body tingled with a wave of nausea. I didn’t want it inside of me. I struggled against her hold until she clamped my mouth shut. Then I realized Arwyn left me with no choice.

  I did as she insisted, despite that it felt like I had swallowed a dozen sharp knives. A chill rushed through my veins, but as the intensity wore off, I felt the weight of my limbs lift, and moving was exceedingly less of an effort.

  When she was sure I had swallowed it, Arwyn took her hand away. “How are you feeling?”

  I glared at her, but it wasn’t like it was her fault or anything. Still, I felt the need to convey my disdain for having to drink that awful, toxic piss, so I gave talking another shot.

  “What the hell was that for?” I asked, surprised that my voice sounded like my own again. As soon as the shock wore off, though, I went back to my glaring between Arwyn and Meriden. Unsurprisingly, neither of them were phased by it.

  “Echoserum,” Meriden provided. “A disgusting and effective way to dispel the essence absorbed into the bloodstream, and the ultimate killer of the common cold.”

  “Disgusting is right,” I scoffed and rubbed my hands over my face. “What the hell happened?”

  “It wasn’t pretty.” Meriden knocked my hands away to feel my forehead before she moved about. Her heels clicked on the tile as she ran on autopilot, and I wondered if she had actually gotten a decent night's sleep in recent days. The bags under her eyes were heavy, but she managed to keep a sincere smile on her painted lips.

  “The essence you absorbed in the Shadowscape started to decay your body after you absorbed it,” Arwyn continued. “You started to have seizures on the ship.”

  “Is that when I started spewing?” I asked, and Maelor stifled a chuckle behind his large, hairy hand.

  “Yes,” Arwyn replied sharply, but then she moved on. “We got you back here, but the essence had already cracked much of your skin. We did what we could, but without the echoserum, all we could do was keep you medicated until it was ready.”

  I nodded slowly. Damn, I had really been through the wringer.

  “Shouldn’t that be somethin’ ya have handy?” Maelor asked, arms crossed as he adjusted his face into a scowl. “Ya have your banishers absorbin’ all this essence, but ya didn’t have anything to immediately remedy Gryff’s condition?”

  That… was actually a fair point.

/>   “We usually do, but Mr. Gryff wasn’t the only one that needed to be treated, and it isn’t often we need a potion that potent to dispel such a high concentration of essence.” Meriden moved around the bed and offered me another clear liquid that I took hesitantly. “Relax, it’s just water.”

  I smelled it before I drank it. Ah, it was water.

  “So I’m okay though?” It seemed like a silly question to ask, almost borderline childish, but I needed to hear it all the same.

  “You’ll be fine,” Arwyn assured with a smile. “Give it another day’s rest, and you’ll be in prime exam taking form.”

  I spit out my water mid-sip. “What?”

  “Headmaster Sleet had exams pushed back for as long as needed for you and Mr. Prost to make a full recovery. Since both of you are well on your way, I see no reason why exams shouldn’t begin at the end of the week.” Arwyn’s tone was unreadable. She was serious, certainly, but there was without a doubt a hint of joy underneath.

  “Unbelievable,” I groaned as I closed my eyes.

  “It’s still rather early,” Arwyn continued. “Take the rest of the day to rest. I’ll inform your friends that you are awake. Maybe that will give you some motivation.”

  As she turned to walk away, I cracked an eye open to watch her. I really couldn’t place my finger on it, but something was off. I didn’t question her, though. I couldn’t, at least, not here in front of Maelor and Meriden.

  Our status as lovers had to remain secret for a long while still.

  When she was gone, I turned to Meriden, who mulled over my chart next to the bed. “How long was I out for?”

  Meriden seemed to give the question a fair amount of thought before she answered. “Three weeks, I believe.”

  No way. I looked to Maelor, who nodded in confirmation.

  “Holy shit,” I swore, and Maelor barked a laugh.

  “Ya took your sweet ass time waking up, that’s for sure,” he wheezed and patted my hand. “Everyone was waitin’ on you.”

  I suddenly felt a little guilty, but it wasn’t anything I could help. I knew my body needed to recover. I guess I felt bad for making people worry, even though I knew they all understood.

  “Don’t think so hard about it.” Meriden smiled and put my chart down. “What matters is that you’re alive, Mr. Gryff. Not many people who haven’t been trained to handle that amount of essence can say the same.”

  “Thanks,” I replied with my own weak smile. I appreciated her trying to cheer me up.

  “For now, do as Ms. Hamner said and rest easy.” She clicked over to the curtain and motioned for Maelor to follow. “I’m sure your friends will be along shortly. They’ve been eagerly awaiting good news.”

  The wooden chair beside my bed scraped across the tile as Maelor stood up to follow after Meriden. Before he left, he grasped my hand tight, and I gripped back as hard as I could.

  “You’re a strong kid, Gryff,” he muttered. I could tell there was more he wanted to say, but he didn’t have to voice his worry for my life and relief that I pulled through. I knew.

  He left, and Meriden shut the curtain behind them. I heard her tell him to take it easy and to take a shower now that I was stable, and Maelor reluctantly agreed. I relaxed back against the pillows. Dawn was shining through the window above my head, but I felt my eyes droop. Who would have thought after being asleep for so long that I could still be tired from such minimal interaction?

  I wasn’t sure when I nodded off or for how long, but when I opened my eyes again, it was to find Layla’s face a mere inch from my own. Her weight on top of my chest was welcomed and comfortable, and I cracked a smile as her face lit up.

  “You are awake!” she cheered, and she was like an excited puppy. Her big brown eyes sparkled, and her cheeks glowed with relief as she threw her arms around me.

  I laughed a little as I hugged her back, though not quite as tightly. I still had some work to do to build my strength back up, but Arwyn did say that would come throughout the day.

  “How are you feeling, farm boy?” Nia said with a smile, and I noticed she was perched on the bed beside me.

  Not that I was going to complain that my bed was suddenly crowded with the addition of two of my lovers. Besides, there wasn’t a lot of room, to begin with, and fitting more than two people in here at a time was a task in and of itself. How Meriden dealt with Arwyn and Maelor in the room before was beyond me. I chalked it up to some sort of teleportation magic. Was that a real thing?

  “Better now that you’re here.” I managed a grin, though I was sure it wasn’t as seductive as I wanted it to be since I hadn’t cleaned my teeth in three weeks. Still, they both rolled their eyes and gave me affectionate smiles in return.

  “Still the same as always,” Braden commented from my other side. He sat where Maelor had been before, and I reached out to give him a lopsided high-five.

  “Can’t keep me down forever,” I chirped, and he laughed good-naturedly.

  “You gave us a scare, man,” he admitted after a moment.

  “But we never gave up on you.” Layla’s smile brightened, and it was honestly such a heart-warming sight that I felt myself start to get emotional. I wasn’t going to cry, but it was damn good to have friends that cared so much about my well-being.

  “Thanks,” I choked, and I held Layla closer. Beside me, Nia took one of my hands in hers and laced our fingers together.

  We chatted for a while, though there hadn’t been much to tell. Mostly, I was simply thankful for their company. I had never been a fan of being alone for too long. Oh, I could survive just fine. It was all part of being raised in the wilds, but that didn’t mean I liked it. Even then, I always had Maelor.

  It was just past noon when Headmaster Sleet politely announced himself on the other side of the curtain. Layla had shifted so that she was lying on my other side. She was small, and she fit rather comfortably there. As Sleet pulled the curtain back, I noticed Orenn and Varleth, who had since been cleared with a clean bill of health despite some graying around his eyes, accompanied him.

  “Welcome back to the world of the living, Mr. Gryff,” Sleet teased.

  “Good to be back, sir.” I chuckled lightly before nodding to Orenn and Varleth, and Orenn waved back.

  “And I see Miss Kenefick has already found her way here,” Sleet commented. “Excellent.” He shifted himself in such a way so that his back was against the curtain. I assumed it was easier for him to address us as a group that way.

  “The village of Bathi Highlands and the crystal caves it mines are safe because of you,” he began with a jovial tone. “Your bravery and resourcefulness in such a dangerous situation, one that we have not ever seen the likes of, is more than admirable.”

  “Thank you, sir,” the four of us said in unison while Braden and Layla clapped and cheered quietly.

  Sleet smiled but raised his hand to silence them. Once they had, he continued.

  “I haven’t much else to say outside of that, but I do hope you all know that your heroic actions will not be taken lightly. There shall be a feast after you complete your exams in your honor, now that you’re all able to eat solid foods again, I presume.”

  We all laughed at the light-hearted jest, and Sleet bowed his head.

  “Now, if you would excuse me, I do have some other matters to tend to.” He gave me a once over and smiled brightly. “It is good to see you well, Mr. Gryff.”

  “Thank you, Headmaster.” I smiled in kind, and he took his leave. Orenn and Varleth stuck around, though, and stood beside Braden as we all let out our collective breath with a sigh. If it was exam time, I knew that it would be a while before we could all be together like this again. I wanted to enjoy it while it lasted.

  It was late afternoon the following day when Meriden gave me the all clear to leave the infirmary with a clean bill of health. The moon had already begun to phase into the dusk-lit sky, and I had grown restless now that I had awoken from my three-week coma. I felt fantastic like
there had never been anything wrong with me to begin with, and I made a mental note to always drink the weird toxic piss potion when it was presented to me without a fight.

  I stood up out of bed and stretched. The bones in my body popped like an offbeat drum, loud and in succession, and it felt so good to feel limber again after being in bed ever since I had awakened. The breeze felt nice on my skin after not having felt it for a while. I never really thought about the things that we as humans take for granted. Even the small stuff, as simple as an evening chill, was something I seemed to have missed.

  As I turned the corner to the dining hall, I saw my friends had gathered, and they chatted amongst themselves. When Nia spotted me, she waved, and Braden and Layla turned to follow suit. It was the perfect way to end the day, even though I felt like it was only beginning, and it brought a blissful smile to my face.

  Chapter 2

  We sat in our usual spot for dinner, close to the door, and near the center of the dining hall. Sure, it meant we were a little further from the food, but being near the door allowed us a good spot to people-watch from. I didn’t care much one way or the other, but Layla liked to see who was coming and going, the nosy little thing she was. It made her happy, though, so I wasn’t going to take that away from her, especially when it was more or less harmless.

  She and Nia had brought me back soup, bread, and a roasted chicken breast even though I had insisted I was fine to get my own food. Still, they had demanded they take care of me for once, so I relented.

  “Man, now you’ve got them bringing you your meals?” Braden laughed as he stuffed his face full of brisket. “What’s next?”

  “Hey,” I countered with my mouth full of bread, “I didn’t ask for this.”

  Braden only laughed louder, and Layla elbowed him hard in the ribs. He choked, but it didn’t stop his laughter.

  “He was only out cold for three weeks,” Layla said as she rolled her eyes. “Maybe you should have gotten him something, too.”

  “It was only a nice gesture,” Nia insisted. “His presence was missed.”

  “Aww, you missed me?” I grinned.