Summoner 4

by Eric Vall

  I grinned good-naturedly in response, then turned my focus back on Nia. The mirrortaur grew closer, and if I wasn’t seeing things, there were definitely two of them headed straight for the vanguard. I opened my mouth to warn her, but then remembered that she wouldn’t be able to hear me, and my efforts would have gone to waste.

  It didn’t look like I had to though, because within seconds, Liam was at full attention, as was Nia. The ground rumbled beneath their feet as the mirrortaurs charged.

  An epic battle was about to begin.

  Liam rushed the one that had ran by the forest and shot a flurry of flames from his palms. The mirrortaur roared and brought its axe down fast. Liam was able to roll to the side, and the blade barely missed though it did tear up his cloak. It was a close call, and he had to recover quickly before the mirrortaur went in for the second round.

  Meanwhile, to Liam’s right, Nia worked on tutting her fingers. She chanted something repetitively, but I couldn’t understand the words her lips formed. It must have been a spell of some kind from another dialect that was beyond my comprehension.

  As the second mirrortaur was about to launch itself at her, Nia hit it with a hurricane force gale of wind that sent the beast tumbling several meters until it collided with a number of now-dilapidated buildings. The next flick of her wrist flattened them, effectively dropping tons of rubble on the monster.

  Not even an eye blink later, it burst through the rubble with a mighty roar. Its hooved feet stomped madly as it readied its charge again, and as it did, a rain of what looked like small comets tore through the sky.

  “Did it just summon a bunch of comets?” Layla asked from beside me as she gripped my arm tightly.

  “Yeah, it’s one of their powers,” Braden said, and I realized his face had gone pale.

  “Damn,” I muttered as Nia flung her hands upward and summoned a wind shield that sent the comets hurtling back at the mirrortaur. The creature roared as the projectiles slammed into it, throwing up billowing clouds of dust into the air that hid it from view.

  “Hopefully it’s dead,” Braden said, but from the look on his face, I could tell he didn’t think it was.

  Meanwhile, Liam had surrounded himself with his own barrier made of fire. It wasn’t enough, however, to stop the axe-wielding beast from taking a giant swing at him. The mirrortaur’s axe cut through his fire wall, but the blade fell just short of slicing him in half because the force from the blow along with the energy released by his now broken flame shield sent him soaring backward.

  Like Nia had when we descended from the airship outside of Bathi Highlands, she used her ability to control wind to slow Liam’s momentum and soften his fall to the dirt. He coughed and waved his thanks to her before he went right back at it with his fists ablaze. I had to give him credit. He definitely was no pushover.

  Nia turned her attention back to the other mirrortaur as the cloud of dust dissipated, and she froze. Her eyes darted around the area as she tried to locate where it had gone off to. I joined her in her search and found that it had left her to help the other in taking Liam out. As both creatures stampeded toward him, Liam threw up his hands and turned the ground in front of him to slag.

  It was a smart move because the mirrortaurs were moving too quickly to stop, and as they stepped into the molten ground in front of them, they tripped and fell forward onto the ground.

  As the impact of the massive monsters shook the arena, Liam charged from one side, Nia charged from the other. With a swift motion, they conjured blades of concentrated white-hot flame and drove their respective fire swords through the backs of the mirrortaurs simultaneously while the monsters were still trying to rise.

  The creatures collapsed, and Nia and Liam stood amongst the wreckage, black blood splattered on their clothes. As they retracted their blades, they immediately took their stances again. One could never be too careful inside a rift. At any given moment, something could happen. A new monster could appear, or the Shadowscape could become unstable.

  Still, while they waited, Nia kneeled in the puddle of blood and pulled a vial out from under her cloak. I hadn’t known her to keep vials before and watched with an odd fascination as she took a sample of the blood as a token of her victory.

  “Mirrortaur blood is a rare component to some of the more potent potions,” Braden explained. He must have seen the confused look on my face.

  Of course. It made sense Nia would know that since she had grown up with a sister who was a famous apothecary.

  Beside her, Liam picked up one of the mirrortaur’s axes. I laughed because I could see myself having done something similar. Why harvest the horns when you can have the big shiny weapon? Well, maybe it wasn’t shiny right now, but with some tender loving care, that dried blood would clean up nicely.

  My eyes flicked over to the forest, and I noted that Laurel and Edym had almost reached the center. Whether that was where the catalyst was, I didn’t know, but if the pedestal in the center of the clearing was any indication of its location, then they were practically on top of it.

  I switched my focus back to Liam and Nia once more as they left the mirrortaur bodies to turn to ash and blow away as though they had never existed in the first place. Nia smirked as Liam showed off the axe but seemed otherwise uninterested in anything he had to say that didn’t directly pertain to the mission. At least that much was consistent with her. Nothing else mattered than the mission when it was go time. It was a trait that I admired about her if I were being entirely honest.

  She must have said something else because Liam tossed the axe on the ground behind them and turned his attention toward the rift, a vigilant look on his face.

  “Did she see another mirrortaur?” I asked, and as I started looking around for more monsters, Cyra gasped suddenly, and it grabbed my attention. She pointed wildly behind Nia, and when I saw it, my stomach lurched, and I was on my feet.

  “Nia, look out!” I yelled as the axe Liam had held before started to glow violently. Everything seemed to slow down.

  I didn’t know whether or not she saw it, or if Liam had noticed it because the light from the catalyst being destroyed illuminated the dome just as the axe exploded violently.

  Chapter 10

  The light faded and each of the Takers was gone, with no evidence of what just happened. I shook my head as I realized they had been teleported back outside of the gate, but that didn't tell me what had happened with the mirrortaur's axe. There was an astounding silence that was louder than anything I had ever heard in my life, followed by a shrill shriek that made my spine go rigid.

  Immediately, Meriden and her team of medics rushed to the gate entrance. The squad was soon surrounded on all sides. I couldn’t see anything.

  “Shit!” I growled as I climbed over Braden and Maelor. I’d forgotten about Layla asleep on my shoulder, and I distantly heard her yelp as I ran from her. I didn’t know whether or not my friends and Maelor were behind me or not, and I didn’t care. I wanted to get to Nia.

  My heart raced as I flew down the stairs and into the main foyer of the arena. I turned to get to the gate, but several of the faculty members blocked me and a few others on the other side of the stands from getting any closer.

  “I’m sorry,” a woman said, and she placed a firm hand on my chest as I tried to maneuver by her. “I can’t let you through.”

  I opened my mouth to argue but was cut off by a familiar voice.

  “It’s okay, Poppy.” Arwyn stepped by the woman and reached for my hand. She pulled me along and offered the shorter woman, likely another professor, a sincere smile. “I’ll take responsibility for him.”

  The woman looked as though she wanted to protest, but she bowed her head. “Of course, Arwyn.”

  Arwyn didn’t look back as she led me through the small crowd that had gathered. When we stepped past the bulk of them, however, my throat closed up with what my eyes saw.

  From head to toe, Nia was drenched in blood, but I couldn’t tell if it was he
r own or not. I couldn’t see any injuries on her, but I wasn’t sure. Tears rolled down her face as she hugged herself. One of the other medical staff looked over her, but she shook her head. She didn’t want the help.

  “Move! Move, please!” Gallahar Kenefick swept through the crowd and rushed passed Arwyn and me. Sleet and Miriam Sharpay were hot on his heels. While they split ways to consult with Meriden and her team of medics and clerics, Gallahar tended to his daughter.

  As soon as Nia saw him, she crumbled, and he was quick to remove his cloak and wrap her in it. He pulled her into his chest while she cried.

  I’d never seen Nia fall apart like that. It felt like an icy hot shard of glass pierced my heart, and I wanted nothing else at that moment than to be there for her. I moved to go to her, but Arwyn stopped me.

  “Not yet,” she whispered quietly. “Let her have this moment.”

  I frowned. I didn’t understand why I should wait, but I obeyed all the same.

  “Clear a path!” Sleet bellowed, and the crowd parted while Liam Aegard was carried out of the arena by the medical assistants.

  There was a blanket over his body that was coated in blood. His arm hung limply at his side, and blood ran down his fingertips. It left a trail in his wake.

  I looked to Sleet, who hung his head as he followed the team out of the arena. I didn’t have to ask to know what the prognosis was.

  Liam was dead.

  I couldn’t help it. I squeezed Arwyn’s hand a little tighter, and my emotions skyrocketed. I hung my head and grit my teeth.

  Liam’s death was a reminder of why we fought the monsters in the first place, and why we had to be on top of our game. We had to win this war.

  “What’s going to happen to him now?” I asked Arwyn quietly.

  She rubbed the back of my hand with her thumb and responded in an equally soft tone.

  “They’ll bring him back to the medical wing and clean him up. Then…” She trailed off.

  “Then?” I prompted.

  “It depends on his family’s preferences,” she finished. “If they live in the wilds, they have the option of having his body transported by airship to his hometown, and he’ll be buried there.”

  My mouth was dry, and my voice was hoarse. “What if he doesn’t have a family?”

  Arwyn paused. She turned to me and squeezed my hand. “Then we will give him a funeral, and he will remain in Varle. Either way, he will have died a hero.”

  I nodded, but I was numb. Is that what would happen to me? Would I be buried here in Varle since I didn’t have a home to speak of? What would Maelor want to do with me?

  I shook my head free of such unwanted thoughts and forced myself to turn my gaze back on Nia. The tears had subsided, but sobs still shook her shoulders even as her father tended to her.

  “Gryff!” Layla cut through the flow of people and ran up to me. Her eyes searched mine, and her face blanched.

  “Where is Nia?” she asked, her voice suddenly cool and low as the weight of the situation became obvious to her.

  “She’s okay.” I pointed vaguely in Nia’s direction, and Layla took off. I wanted to follow her, but I couldn’t move my legs. Everything felt heavy.

  As Layla approached her, Nia looked ashamed, as though she didn’t want anyone, especially her friends, to see in her such a state, but Layla didn’t care. She took Nia into her arms and hugged her tight, and Gallahar Kenefick looked on with a sigh of relief that someone else cared enough for his daughter to comfort her.

  “Go to her,” Arwyn encouraged, and Braden finally came up beside me as well.

  “Come on, Gryff,” he urged quietly, and I pushed aside my thoughts as he guided me towards Nia and Layla. It wasn’t about me right now. It was about helping Nia cope with what had happened, and being there for her when she needed us, needed me most.

  My eyes met Gallahar Kenefick’s as Braden and I came closer, and he bowed his head in a silent greeting. Braden introduced himself and shook the General’s hand before he joined us.

  “Nia,” I tried softly, but she didn’t respond. She barely even budged outside of a quiet tremor that wracked her hunched frame.

  I looked to Layla, who had tears in her eyes as well. I had a feeling she was a sympathetic crier. She sat Nia down on one of the steps into the fighting ring and kneeled in front of her.

  “You don’t have to talk about it,” she whispered, “but we want to be here for you.”

  After a moment, Nia lifted her head. She looked to Braden and me, and I saw a world of hurt in her eyes. I broke my heart to see her like that.

  Finally, she nodded, and I took a seat beside her as Layla sat on her other side. Braden sat a step up from us, and he put his large hands on her shoulders. I knew from experience that even the simplest of touches was enough to keep a person grounded, and Braden had done exactly that.

  I wrapped my arm around her waist and took her hand in my other hand. Layla rested her head on Nia’s shoulder and held onto Nia’s other hand, and the four of us curled in around one another. Maelor and Arwyn watched us from afar as though they were standing guard over us.

  It was strange then, but I could feel the bond between the four of us strengthen then. I knew at that moment that these were the people I needed in my life, that at the end of the day, these wonderful people, and Maelor, Cyra, and Arwyn, were my family.

  I didn’t know how long we sat there, but most everyone had cleared out of the arena when Sleet approached us. Gallahar Kenefick and Miriam Sharpay flanked him on either side.

  “I am terribly sorry, Miss Kenefick,” Sleet began with a solemn tone, “but I am afraid I have to ask you to come with me.”

  Nia looked up slowly. Her eyes were puffy and swollen, and bags hung beneath them. The blood had dried and stuck her hair to her face. She didn’t move, and neither did we.

  “Nia.” Gallahar knelt in front of her and placed a hand on her knee. “It’s okay. We just need to ask you a few questions.”

  I was shocked at how gentle the General was. I wondered if Nia got special treatment because she was his daughter, or if he really was that kind of a man. My gut told me it was a little bit of both.

  Nia stared blankly at him as she nodded, and it was only when she began to stand that the three of us let her go. Her father put his arm around her, then looked back at us.

  “You have my gratitude, summoners.” He offered us a sincere, weary smile. “Thank you for taking care of her.”

  We all nodded.

  “Of course.” I sighed, and I even managed a small smile.

  As he led her away, and the three of us remained, Sleet stayed behind a moment. Miriam Sharpay did as well.

  “The council has decided to take a day in memoriam to observe Mr. Aegard’s death,” Sleet told us. “That said, I had wished for you to meet on better circumstances, but I’d like to introduce the three of you to Councilwoman Miriam Sharpay.”

  Miriam stepped forward. Her fish lips were even more puckered up close, and deep-set wrinkles were etched into her pale skin. Her eyes, though, were ice blue, almost white, and they seemed to glow as the arena lights went out.

  “It is a pleasure,” she said sharply and extended her hand. When none of us moved to take it, Sleet cleared his throat and gave me a look that told me I should play along.

  I bit back an exaggerated sigh and took her hand in mine. I shook it more firmly than I probably needed to, but my manners weren’t quite about me at that moment. My head was elsewhere.

  “Gryff,” I introduced myself simply, then my friends. “This is Layla Bethel and Braden Flint.”

  Braden and Layla waved but were otherwise unsociable. They, too, had their heads somewhere else. It wasn’t a good night for any of us in that regard.

  “Ms. Sharpay is--”

  “The head of all rights and regulations that pertain to summoners,” Braden cut Sleet off, and I was taken aback by how flat his tone was.

  Miriam didn’t look impressed with his outburst. In fa
ct, she outright ignored him and turned her attention to me.

  “I’ve heard much of you, Gryff,” she told me. “I’m told you are quite the prodigy of summoners.”

  “With all due respect,” I said as I bit back my annoyance, “I disagree. Every summoner has the potential to be more than slave labor. I’m only instilling that mindset in them. They’re doing all the hard work.”

  Miriam looked between my friends and me, then turned up her nose. It was so slight that I doubted Braden or Layla saw, but I definitely had a clear, up-close view of the inside of her nose. Coupled with the sneer on her wrinkled face, she looked like an old carnival mule that used to be dolled up for a show, but at the end of the day, she was still an ugly mule.

  “If you say so.” She crossed her arms and squared off her shoulders. “In any case, I simply wanted to inform you that I am looking forward to your performance in the Magicae Nito. Shame it had to be pushed back a day.”

  I bristled and obviously so. How dare she make light of someone’s death? What kind of person had that much time to be so unbearably cold?

  Sleet must have noticed because he was quick to intervene.

  “Miriam, let us leave them. Perhaps I could interest you in a brandy?” He put a hand on her back and began to steer her away, but Miriam stopped to get in the last word.

  “Do have a good night, summoners,” she said, and with that, she and Sleet left the arena.

  “What a bitch,” Layla spat. “To be so cold when someone has just died…”

  “You said it,” Braden scoffed, his tone still flat.

  We lingered another moment and only moved when thunder cracked above our heads.

  “Come on,” I grumbled. “Let’s head back.”

  Braden and Layla stood, and the three of us trudged out of the arena and started up the path to the main building. Even as the sky opened up above us, we were in no rush to get back. We let the rain wash over us, and it cleared away the transfer of blood from Nia’s clothes and skin to ours.

  When we approached the main building, Arwyn awaited us.

  “You lot are going to catch a cold!” she exclaimed, and she handed us each a towel as well as a small flame in a tiny jar. I cupped it in my hands, and warmth spread over me, like a comforting hug.