Arcane Summoner: A Post-Apocalypse Progression Light Novel

by Wolfe Locke

  “Lots of nice things,” he said, dumping some of the contents of his [Spatial Ring] on the counter and pulling everything else out of storage. Rek inspected everything carefully, squinting through his green glass monocle.

  “Valuable,” he said. “A lot of valuable items. No junk this time. You’re learning.”

  Zander grimaced. When he’d first started scavenging, he hadn’t known what was good and what was worthless. He’d wasted a lot of time and energy carrying things he couldn’t sell.

  Rek set the last inheritance down. “Five thousand sols. And not a penny more.”

  “Five—thousand?” Zander’s jaw almost hung open in shock. That was more cash than he’d ever had in his life. “Are you sure?”

  “Never been more sure of anything." rek admitted, "You did good work today, Zander. Keep it up.”

  Privately, Zander prayed that he didn’t have to ‘keep it up’. He hoped that his scavenger days were numbered, and that soon he’d be able to move on to summoning full time. But he didn’t tell Rek that. There was no point in severing a useful business contact before he’d actually made the jump. He still might need to sell to Rek for a while yet.

  Cash in hand, he sauntered over to the training booth.

  “Welcome back, Zander,” Mira said. She was the village’s Master-at-Arms, and she ran the booth every Sunday at market. He’d always admired her. As a child he’d thought she could do anything, and part of him still believed it.

  “Training session, please!” he said, throwing three thousand sols down on the table. Mira’s eyes widened.

  “Good haul?” she said.

  “The best yet.” Zander admitted.

  “What’s your specialty today?” She asked.

  He grinned. “Summons. Whatever you’ve got, I’ll take.”

  “Coming right up.” She responded.

  She rummaged on the shelves behind her, looking for the scroll she wanted. Finally, she found it and dropped it in front of him. “Summons,” she said. “New abilities. I think you’ll like this one.”

  He unfurled the scroll, greedy for the knowledge, and felt the new ability enter his brain with a rush. An ability that would further hone Rocktooth's power.

  Still a little dizzy, he thanked Mira and headed back to his cottage. He’d done his work for the morning, and he still had two thousand sols in his pocket. It was time to rest.

  Felt you learn something, the Forest Titan said as he approached the cottage. Powerful techniques you’ve got here. Thanks for that.

  “No problem. Hey, Forest Titan, if you’re going to come with us for the rest of our journey—what’s your name? Do you have one?”

  I do.

  Zander waited.

  But it’s for me to know and you to not know.

  “Oh,” he said, deflated. “That’s fine.” The Titan was kind of a buzzkill. He hoped Rocktooth came back soon.

  Terra and Caroline approached him when he entered the cottage. Both of them looked nervous.

  “What’s going on?” he said. “Everything okay?”

  “We were thinking,” Caroline said eagerly.

  “Realistically, I was thinking,” Terra added.

  “How would you feel about us coming along with you? Permanently?” Terra pressed.

  “On scavenging missions?” he said. “Or--?”

  “Wherever you go,” Caroline said. “Fighting Dagon was hard, but sort of fun. Rewarding, at least. And there’s not much for me in Meoxia anymore.”

  “I want to go back to my forest,” Terra said. “Eventually. But there’s a lot of world to see. I want to see it.”

  “Terra, I mostly just go to Atlanta and back,” Zander said. “I’m not adventuring all over the world or anything.”

  “Still. It’s more than I’ve ever done. I want to come with you.”

  He thought about it. “Okay. Sure!”

  “Really?” They asked in unison.

  “Yeah. It’s nice to have friends who aren’t Rocktooth. He’s cool, but—you know how he is. Terse.”

  “I like Rocktooth!” Celeste shouted from the corner of the room. “He’s great. Worth his weight in gold.”

  Zander agreed, but he was still a little miffed about the golem’s sudden disappearance. He didn’t respond, just scowled in her direction and headed to bed for a long midday nap.

  Just after sunset, a messenger pounded on his door.

  “Council’s meeting,” he said gruffly. “Up at the chief’s house. The Elders have already been talking all day, but they want to get your input.”

  “Gladly,” Zander said, pulling his cloak around his shoulders. “Be there in a moment.”

  Celeste got up to follow him, but the messenger stood in her way. “Sorry, miss. Elves only for this one. I’m sure you’ll understand.”

  “Sure,” she said. “I get it. Tell us how it goes, Zander.”

  He followed the messenger up the hill toward Taura’s house, trying to quell his anxiety. If the Elders had been talking all day, what had they been talking about? Would they take this threat to Haven’s safety seriously?

  “Ah,” Taura said when he arrived. “Good. We’ve been waiting for you. We all looked at the fang you gave us, and we’ve determined that it’s definitely from a grand demon.”

  “Great!” Zander said. “So what are we doing?”

  “Sit down,” Taura said, gesturing toward the high bench at the head of the meeting hall. “The Elders want to talk to you.”

  He sat and looked out over the assembled council. They were a pack of scrawny greybeards, and their eyes were full of fear.

  “Who are you?” one of them said, leaning on his cane. “A mere scavenger? How could you defeat the grand demon?”

  “I’m not a ‘mere scavenger’—” Zander protested, but Taura held up a hand to silence him.

  “Let’s listen to the elders,” he said. “They’ve debated all day, and they have much to share.”

  “The old ones are moving,” an old woman said, addressing the crowd. “First Dagon—then who else?”

  “I killed Dagon. He’s dead. Haven is safe,” Zander said, but Taura hushed him into silence again.

  “There are rumors of other villages being destroyed,” the old woman went on. “Meoxia. Red Hills. Decatur Wood. That can’t all be Dagon’s doing. There are others. I’m sure of it.”

  “We have to protect ourselves,” another old man said. “This scavenger here will attract the old ones’ attention.”

  “Wait,” Zander said. “What?”

  “He must be cast out. It’s the only way. He can’t be allowed to draw evil down on our village.”

  “Hold on,” Taura whispered. “Don’t worry. This has to go to a vote. These two are some of our more fiery elders. I’m sure the others won’t vote to cast you out.”

  “Is there a real danger that I’m going to be banished from Haven for this?”

  “Uh,” Taura said. “I don’t know.”

  “A vote!” the old man said. “Now! We must decide whether the scavenger should stay or go!”

  “Aye,” the Elders chorused. “To a vote.”

  “Aye for go, Nay for stay!”

  Taura gave him an anxious look as the Elders pulled out the white and black stones and bronze tallying bowls that they used for voting. For the first time, Zander started to worry that he was going to come out on the wrong end of this. But that was crazy—right? Surely they wouldn’t actually cast him out of Haven. This was his home.

  “To the bowls!” the old man said. “Drop your tallies. Black is Aye. White is Nay. Think of Haven as you cast your votes. Think of our future!”

  Taura watched the Elders drop their stones in the bowl, face pale. It was hard to tell how the vote was going, and Zander resorted to staring down at the table in front of him, trying to keep his thoughts positive. He had no control over what happened, either way.

  The tally was close, at least. Zander took some comfort in that. But the Ayes had it. The council of
Elders voted to banish him from Haven forever. Taura, at least, voted against it, as did many of the Elders he’d known from childhood. But many Elders that he’d thought were safe, that he’d shared wonderful experiences with, voted to cast him out.

  “I’m so sorry,” Taura said as they filed out, faces grim. “They’re scared. It makes people act in weird ways. If it helps, I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you get the provisions you need. Heal up, free potions, whatever it takes. Spend the night here.”

  “But then go,” Zander said, heartbroken.

  “Yes,” Taura said. “And then go. Head south toward New Panama in the morning. Take the coast as much as you can. Stay safe. Here—you should even sleep in. Don’t leave at first light, or anything. I can definitely do that much.”

  It wasn’t enough, and they both knew it. They parted ways in silence, and Zander went back to tell the girls, still in a state of shock.

  What happened? the Forest Titan said as he passed the woodpile outside his house.

  “We have to go.”

  So soon?

  “Yeah. The meeting went badly. Really badly.”

  Ah well. I always knew this wouldn’t end well. I felt it in my bones. You learn to sense these things when you’re my age. Something was off with the energy of this village from the moment we arrived here.

  “Thanks, Forest Titan,” Zander said bitterly.

  But when you’re my age, you also learn that nothing is forever. This is just for right now. Good, bad, it’s all temporary. So don’t think too long-term. Things can always change on a dime.

  “Okay,” Zander said. He wasn’t in the mood for the Titan’s philosophy.

  Just something to think about.

  “Where’s Rocktooth?”

  The Titan shrugged. How would I know? He’s your friend, not mine. We summons don’t all know each other.

  “Fair point. Just asking.”

  In the end, they left at first light. Zander didn’t want to stay in Haven a moment longer. It was too painful, knowing that he might never see it again.

  “Do you want to take one last look at the village?” Celeste said as they passed the boundary stone that marked the line between Haven and the woods. “Maybe it’ll be super satisfying when you come back. If you have that memory.”

  “No. Let’s just go. If I turn back, it’ll just make it all worse.”

  “Okay,” she said, looking concerned. “If that’s what you want.”

  He wondered where Rocktooth was. In some ways, the golem was his best friend. They’d been through everything together.

  Never fear, the Forest Titan said. It will all turn out all right. I’m sure of it. Rocktooth was in this world a long time, he will need to recharge his energy in the Nether.

  “You were also sure you could beat Dagon,” Zander said, under his breath.

  New Panama. Beaches. Oceans.

  He tried to keep those oceans in his head as they moved off into the forest and out of Haven. The place Celeste had wanted to go was just as good a journey for the next adventure.

  Authors Comments

  Thank you for reading "Arcane Summoner". Originally I'd had a much darker story in mind, and then, well the last year hit and I started editing. I didn't want a dark story anymore, and I don't think anyone else did either.

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