Summoner 8

by Eric Vall

  “There aren’t any left,” Erin answered with a sigh. “I’m glad as hell you dealt with Sera, because we were mostly there as a bluff.”

  “I see Ashla!” Layla chirped, and she dashed away before we could ask any questions.

  “Let’s go say hi to her,” Cyra suggested in a calmer fashion, and we followed in Layla’s wake to find the ice mage.

  Ashla was laid out on a simple mat on the ground, and a blue sheet covered her from the neck down. Layla was already chattering away to the injured mage, and Ashla nodded along as a smile teased at her lips.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked as we knelt around Ashla’s mat to talk to her more closely.

  “Like a giant punched me in the leg,” she responded, and her chocolate eyes sparkled with humor.

  “It was more of an open-handed hit,” I amended, and I frowned at the blue sheet as I fought the urge to peel it back and see the damage for myself.

  “Don’t worry, idiot,” Ashla quipped, and she lifted an arm to flick me on the shoulder. “It’s a broken leg, not a mortal wound. I could’ve gotten this falling out of a tree. I’ll be healed up in no time, you’ll see.”

  “I’ll visit you in Meridan’s clinic,” I promised decidedly. “You might heal quickly, but I’ll be there just in case.”

  “You’re a sweetie,” Ashla responded with a smile. “I’m glad to hear it. Now, before I die from the anticipation, will you guys tell me what the hell happened with the giant monster who’s been terrorizing this village?”

  “Ah,” I said as I gleaned her meaning. “That giant monster.”

  It was difficult to explain what had happened without spouting top-secret knowledge to all the patients and healers nearby, but I skirted Phi and Sera’s actual identities with some vague pronoun usage, and the word ‘Archon’ never came out of my mouth. Ashla and Erin nodded along in tense anticipation as my story continued, but they both seemed satisfied at the end of it.

  “That’s it, then!” Ashla exclaimed in joy. “A final victory, don’t you think?”

  “It could be,” I said cautiously, and a smile lit my face despite myself. “I feel like I won’t be truly relaxed until I hear the Svellfrer’s Rest and the Ortych Sands teams are alright. Nia, Varleth, Almasy, Braden, and Gawain could still be fighting, for all we know.”

  “They’ll be fine,” Ashla dismissed with a gleeful grin. “Nia and Varleth could outlast the end of the world with how careful they are, and Ortych Sands has all the backup in Mistral.”

  “I know,” I allowed with a shrug, “but I’m still waiting to celebrate.”

  “Just watch,” Ashla retorted. “The day will be over before you know it, and everybody will turn up just fine.”

  “If you say so,” I answered reluctantly.

  Of course, Ashla ended up being exactly correct. The rest of the cleanup operation flew by, and I joined the crew of soldiers to help with body disposal. Layla was commandeered by the healing team to help with assistant tasks in the patient tent, but Cyra, Erin, and I joined the few remaining soldiers in the work to clean up the dead.

  As we labored to carry away bodies, the few able soldiers who were left helped us as they gave reports and told their sides of the story.

  Hearing the soldiers speak was a stark reminder of just how much had been lost in the fight against Phi. Nine Njordenfalls citizens were missing or found dead in total, and fifty-two soldiers were dead or presumed dead. One-hundred soldiers had entered battle, and only seventeen survived in the first platoon, while thirty-one survived in the other. The larger number of survivors in the second platoon was only attributed to the fact they were stationed in a camp near the permanent rift location, a little further from Njordenfalls village. When the fighting broke out, they suddenly found themselves the lucky ones.

  Soon, the first airship back to Varle Enclave was ready, and Arwyn found us as we bagged up a victim of a clawed monster.

  “Vacation is over,” the red-haired professor announced with a tired sigh as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. “I’m going to go back to Varle Enclave with the victims who need clinic treatment. I suggest you all come as well, and don’t make Sleet wait any longer for a proper report.”

  “Understood,” I responded with proper seriousness.

  Arwyn nodded, but she broke into a sudden smile that lifted my heart.

  “Good work, you idiots,” she said as she gave Erin and me firm pats on the shoulders. “I really wanted to ream you out for disobeying protocol and flying straight to Njordenfalls, but I can’t bear to do it when you saved so many lives and ended such a big threat. You’re the luckiest, stupidest leader I’ve ever met, Gryff.”

  “Thank you?” I said in a hesitant, questioning tone.

  “You’re welcome,” the professor responded smartly as she gave me a lightning-quick wink. “Now, let’s go before they get impatient waiting for their pilot. Your ship is the one we’re using, Erin.”

  We filed into Erin’s airship, and my eyes widened at the sight of it now packed with the wounded. The orange-haired pilot gawked for a moment before she picked her way gingerly through the chaos and disappeared into the hold.

  “I guess it fits within the weight limits,” I assumed as I watched Erin go. “Kinda amazing, what these new airships can do.”

  “No kidding,” Layla replied with a whistle.

  “Guys!” Ashla’s voice called from the back of the ship, and I picked my way through the injured on the floor to find her.

  After I evaded a few sprawled bodies, I stopped at Ashla’s side. She was propped up against the back wall of the airship with her legs stretched out in front of her. The blue sheet was gone, and I could see her bandaged leg in its full, splinted glory.

  “Little cramped in here, huh?” the ice mage asked with a grin.

  “I guess safety harnesses get forgotten about in an emergency,” I replied as I looked at the critical conditions of a few of the patients. “Hopefully, we won’t run into any turbulence.”

  “Even if we do,” Ashla snorted, “we’ll be in Meridan’s hands soon. She’ll heal everybody on this ship with pure mother-hen power.”

  “No kidding,” I agreed in amusement.

  “I’m sure she’ll be delighted to find out you got hurt,” Cyra added with a rueful expression of regret.

  “Don’t remind me,” the ice mage groaned.

  “Hey,” I said as an idea occurred to me, “can somebody look at my back for me? I felt something after the battle, and I need to know for certain what happened to Sera’s marking.”

  Cyra helped to lift up my shirt, and the girls leaned in to look at my shoulders.

  “The tattoo from before,” Ashla murmured, “it’s not just the one side anymore. There are two symmetrical wing shapes now, like they’ve always been there or something.”

  “Huh,” I responded as my eyebrows raised. “I guess I really did beat her.”

  “You sure?” Ashla asked. “Two tattoos doesn’t mean anything definite.”

  “If I’m wrong,” I replied, “at least Varleth will have both his eyes on me.”

  We all laughed, and the tension in my chest loosened as the ship lifted off and soared into the sky above.

  We were going home, and this time, finally, we’d gotten a real victory.

  I spent some time watching Arwyn bustle around the airship as it flew. The healer worked tirelessly to stabilize her patients, and it seemed like all was going well. She and her mousy-haired assistant worked like a well-oiled machine, and patients never wanted for water or warmth for a second before Arwyn and her assistant took care of their needs.

  I began to grow drowsy on the airship as the exhaustion from mana depletion overtook me, even though I didn’t have a real seat or blanket. I kept my back against the wall, and Ashla and Layla were warm enough on either side of me to lull me into a fast, dreamless sleep.

  When I woke up, it was to the turbulence of the airship landing. The cabin hold creaked and shuddered as the ship l
owered through wind currents, and Layla startled awake next to me in the next few moments.

  “Didn’t I just go to sleep?” she complained in a quiet, rhetorical mutter.

  The ship set down with a familiar jolt, and Erin emerged to pick her way through the crowd of patients as she made her way to the ramp button. The door opened, and late evening sunlight shone into the dim cabin as the ramp lowered all the way to the ground.

  Immediately, soldiers rushed in to take the wounded off on wood-strengthened gurneys. Ashla stretched awake beside me as the patients were taken away, and she blinked in bewilderment as the next pair of soldiers reached her with a travel gurney.

  “Have a fun trip,” I told the ice mage as the soldiers loaded her up with careful, coordinated efforts.

  “This is mortifying,” Ashla groaned as the soldiers tightened the canvas straps of the gurney around her. “I feel like a newborn baby being swaddled by its parents.”

  One of the soldiers chuckled in amusement, but they carried her away despite all her protests. Layla snickered beside me as she watched the procession, and Cyra yawned as she shook her head at the antics.

  Finally, the wounded were gone, and it was our turn. Erin emerged from where she’d been waiting in the low hallway between the cockpit and the cabin, and she joined us as we exited the airship and closed up the hatch behind us.

  “Your Diomesia has been doing a pretty good job,” Cyra commented as she patted the ship on its metal hull. “I can see why you like her so much.”

  “She’s a saint,” Erin replied with a proud sniff. “I’m glad you understand, Cyra.”

  I grinned at the exchange, and we made our way back to the Academy with tired feet and light hearts. The huge wooden doors opened to us as they were magically commanded to do so, and we scurried through them into the lobby. When we took a few steps inside, we were met instantly by a messenger in the form of a student.

  “Headmaster Sleet wants you to join him for a meeting in the usual spot,” the pudgy student said as he examined our ragged team. “Hope you know where that is, ‘cause I sure don’t.”

  “Thanks,” I said gratefully to the student. “Sorry you had to go out of your way.”

  The pudgy student shrugged, and he tugged at the tight fit of his fire mage robes before he strolled away without another word.

  “Glad we had those few seconds to get all rested up,” Layla commented dryly, but we hurried along to the secret meeting room anyway.

  We pounded down the staircase and through the door, and we were met by the expectant faces of Grand Mage Kenefick, Professor Lle’shenne, and Headmaster Sleet himself. I was surprised to see Braden and Gawain seated just behind the three administrators, and my face brightened in joy as I grinned at them.

  “Man,” I greeted in a gush of relief, “am I glad to see you two. What about Almasy, is he fine?”

  “Totally fine,” Braden answered with a steady smile back at me. “He’s just running another mission, of course. The guy never quits.”

  “Sounds about right,” I agreed. “I swear, Almasy would marry his ship if it could say the wedding rites back to him.”

  “He’ll find a way some day,” Braden answered. “I bet he could weld the ring to the steering wheel.”

  “Now that we’ve all had a friendly chat,” Grand Mage Kenefick interrupted in a dry tone, “perhaps we could get to some actual reporting of events?”

  “Sorry,” I apologized quickly as I took my seat. “I should have jumped straight in with that part. Just a little giddy from the long day.”

  We settled into our chairs, and Cyra started the narration of their experience in Njordenfalls before Ashla, Erin, and I arrived.

  Phi had come through the rift almost the second it opened, it sounded like. Tabby had run to warn both soldier platoons while Cyra and Layla coordinated evacuation efforts. The reason the casualty count among the Njordenfalls citizens was so low was almost entirely because of this initial effort, and I was thoroughly impressed by how well the two women handled the situation.

  Eventually, Cyra’s narrative ran up against the moment when Ashla, Erin, and I’d arrived, and I took over to explain our own piece of the day’s events.’

  I described everything starting from Svellfrer’s Rest, and my teammates filled in the gaps with details whenever my story began to grow sparse.

  One spot I did get stumped at was when I tried to describe what had transpired between Sera and myself at the end of our encounter. My story was already filled with vague insinuations that Phi and Sera needed me for something, and the truth was, it upset me to describe out loud the level of their desire to possess me. My description of the mental battle between me and Sera wasn’t very comprehensive, and in the end, I couldn’t explain how I’d won over the dark Archon.

  “You subjugated her?” Grand Mage Kenefick asked as a frown creased his mouth and brow in consternation. “Was it some kind of magic word? A certain trick with summoning magic, because of the bond between you?”

  “It was like nothing I’ve ever felt before,” I described honestly. “I couldn’t tell you where it came from, or if I could do it again. All I know is that Sera is now under control, and that’s good enough for me.”

  “Is she still talking to you?” Headmaster Sleet asked as he gave me a long, scrutinizing look.

  “Not anymore,” I replied, “but I’m not sure if her silence will last.”

  Professor Lle’shenne looked disturbed, and her eyes were wide as she sat stiffly back in her chair. Grand Mage Kenefick was just as tense, though his stiffness stemmed from the frustrated, burning desire to know more.

  “Well,” Headmaster Sleet cut in as he stroked his white beard, “it’s certainly unusual. However, I trust Gryff on his assessment of however dangerous he thinks the situation is. It certainly doesn’t sound like Sera will be bothering him anymore, but we can’t know for sure until some time has passed, and he has examined the new bond fully.”

  “What about Phi?” Professor Lle’shenne put in as she leaned forward in her chair, and her frown deepened. “Even if Sera is somehow taken care of, and the ciphers were incomplete in their knowledge of Archons, there’s still the matter of this Archon essence crystal.”

  “I don’t know much,” I said honestly with a grimace. “I have it here, so I invite you to help me figure out exactly what this essence crystal’s properties are.

  I pulled out the warm orb of blue essence crystal, and it glowed brighter as I set it on the meeting table.

  Grand Mage Kenefick leaned back in shock as the crystal touched the mahogany surface of the table, and Professor Lle’shenne let out a quiet gasp of surprise and dismay.

  Headmaster Sleet didn’t react in any visible way except by continuing to stroke his white beard, but his cloudy eyes flickered to me with a grave, serious set to his wrinkled face.

  “This essence crystal is highly unstable,” the Headmaster explained calmly as he nodded toward the glowing blue orb. “The radiance it gives off is no mere ornamental effect, but rather a sign of magic leakage. Phi’s very influence cannot be contained properly by this crystal, so it shows visual signs of the Archon’s power stretching against the confines of her cage.

  “In other words,” Lle’shenne added with a shudder, “you need to find a better prison to contain her, or she’s going to be able to manipulate the world around her in unforeseen ways.”

  I sucked in air through my gritted teeth and released it again in one long sigh.

  “Perhaps the crystal caves can contain her,” I suggested as my mind turned the problem over. “Sera was kept in a pillar of crystal big enough to keep her power stable for centuries. If we put Phi in that same space, it should solve the problem.”

  “At least until the next unwitting traveler comes through,” Lle’shenne retorted, “and Phi decides to possess them in the same manner Sera did with you.”

  “That … “ I trailed off as my idea crumbled away. “That is a concern. It would maybe take yea
rs for her to regain enough power to break free, but that’s just pushing this problem into the future. I don’t want to do that, not after capturing Phi specifically so she couldn’t be reborn and destroy humanity a century from now.”

  “This issue may require more research from our team of scholars,” Sleet suggested as he turned the end of his staff to indicate Ll’shenne. “For now, let us move on to some of the news reports we’ve been getting in for the past few hours.”

  “Excellent,” Grand Mage Kenefick put in approvingly. “These reports might help us come to some decisions for the future, I should think.”

  “Svellfrer’s Rest is doing well,” Sleet began as he smiled kindly at us. “The two remaining scout team mages, Nia and Varleth, were the only ones at the scene for two hours. Despite this, they held back the monster horde with ingenuity, talent, and impressively hard work. The soldier platoons arrived, and the monster threat was wiped out when a small squad of soldiers escorted Nia and Varleth inside the rift to find the catalyst. As you can see, the team at Ortych Sands was even better prepared, and their fight was concluded with minimal injuries or casualties.”

  Braden and Gawain nodded, and pride swelled in my chest to see the large summoner sit straight up with newfound confidence.

  “Let’s hear how things went at Ortych Sands,” Grand Mage Kenefick decided as he leaned forward in his chair.

  Gawain and Braden started on their narrative of the Ortych Sands fight. It sounded pretty tame in comparison to Njordenfalls, but it was still a much bigger horde of monsters than was usual for a regular rift.

  “You encountered a sandwyrm,” Sleet mused as he leaned on his staff. “At Svellfrer’s Rest, it sounds like the largest enemy was a bluewing. In both cases, the monsters that appeared were well-suited to the surrounding climate. I suspect Phi had a hand in organizing every part of these attacks.”

  “It would pan out,” Grand Mage Kenefick agreed. “What other conclusions did the academics draw, professor?”

  “I’ve made some notes in the report about scholar findings,” Lle’shenne answered as she brushed her dark hair out of her face. “We found it interesting that despite the threat of a permanent rift location at all three major monster attack sites, no permanent rift was opened. It’s clear that whatever exact conditions an Archon needs to open a permanent rift, these conditions were not met in Phi’s case. This raises the hope that all permanent rift openings can be avoided, but we have to know for certain why Phi nearly opened one in Ortych Sands before.”