Summoner 19, page 21
part #19 of Summoner Series
“Holy shit,” I muttered, and my eyes widened considerably as the already-imposing storm expanded into a blazing inferno.
Gawain continued to pump his magic into the tornado, and I used the baroquer’s magic to do the same. My flames were a deep orange that contrasted Gawain’s beautifully as it swirled around the fox’s tornado. Once the entirety of the storm was aflame, the vulperine pulled back its tail and then swung forward, and the inferno took off right in the nimadoe’s direction.
The deer creature tried to run, but the fire tornado was too fast for it to evade, so within moments, it went up in flames. The monster let out a shriek of pain as the flames encased it, and I could hear Carth's scream from across the field.
The flames ate away at the surface of the monster until its skin began to blacken at a rapid pace.
“Will you capture this one as well” Gawain asked with a raised golden eyebrow. “I noticed you captured the erebok earlier--”
“Once it’s a little more vulnerable,” I decided as I studied the flame-covered creature. Unlike the urchin Gawain had taken down, the nimadoe remained in place while it burned, and the flames remained on its body rather than catching the ground on fire as well.
I turned to the vulperine. “I need you to send a wind that’ll put out the blaze!”
The vulperine let out a bark and then turned around so its rear faced the nimadoe. Its twelve tails moved back and forth rather than in a circular motion this time, and then a wall of wind magic surged forth. It slammed right into the blackened nimadoe, and the blaze that surrounded the deer fell away as the air cleared it. The deer let out a sigh of relief, and as it did, I ran forward. I pulled out another empty crystal from my bandolier, infused it with my mana, and once I reached the deer, I used one hand to stab into its darkened flesh with my rhin dagger, and the other to shove the essence crystal through the opening I’d created. The deer didn’t fight me, and soon the creature was absorbed into the crystal. The gem shifted around and darkened into a fawn color, and its shape became similar to a single antler.
“Fuck, yes!” I declared as I stashed the gem away into an empty slot in my bandolier.
Carth had to be seething with fury now.
With the nimadoe and erebok captured, only the tressel remained, and as I looked out at the rest of the herd, I realized the other monsters appeared to have weakened significantly. I’d been so consumed by my fight against Carth’s personal creatures that I hadn’t witnessed my fellow mages’ efforts, but from the monsters’ body languages, I could tell Carth was losing. I just needed a way to move them away so they wouldn’t step in to defend Carth or the emerald bear monster, as well as round them up for a final strike.
Suddenly, a small voice rang out, soft at first, and then it crescendoed into a full song. The snarls and growls of the herd died down as the song’s volume increased, and my team and I all studied each other with confused looks.
“What the fuck is that?” Gawain called out to me as he studied the area.
Xanrith flew over to us and inclined her head upward, and I followed her gaze until I reached a blue-black blur in the sky. The Archon’s harpy hovered in the air, and its mouth was opened wide as the gorgeous melody spilled out of it. The monster was singing, and for a moment, I found myself unable to turn away from the harpy. The song was haunting and familiar, and the longer the sound filled my ears, the more I wanted to fly up into the air and join her.
Carth’s remaining herd seemed to have a similar reaction to Xan’s summons, and one by one, they all turned their enormous heads in the bird woman’s direction. The harpy flew past the herd, and to my surprise, a few of the monsters started to follow in her direction, including the tressel.
“She’s luring them away, isn’t she?” I realized, and I turned to Xan with raised eyebrows.
“Her song lures her prey long enough to distract them,” the umber-skinned Archon pointed out, and the goddess watched her summons with a proud gaze.
“In that case, I should probably take care of them while they’re distracted.” I grinned. “I have one last trick up my sleeve, and I think it’s time to use it.”
I reached into my bandolier and retrieved a few more essence crystals. My electric and water imps appeared before me, ready to go, and I signaled my sprucebore.
Then I reached through my bond with my electric imp and used my mana to borrow its electric ability. My sprucebore was a conductor, so it couldn’t create its own lightning, but with my imp’s magic, I certainly could. I felt the magic from my creature flood through me, and when I clenched my fist, sparks flew around.
Fuck. Yes.
Electricity crackled around my hands, and for a moment, I was nervous to be covered in metal armor, but the imp’s magic didn’t seem to have any negative effects on the bullet bass’ coating.
“I need you to cover the field in as much water as you can manage,” I instructed my water imps, and the creatures let out sounds of excitement at the command. As they ambled across the field, I reached through my bond to get the attention of my colossal sprucebore.
“Hey, buddy, I’m gonna need your skills,” I noted, and the monster began to move toward me obediently. As the monster pushed forward, I scanned the field for someone else who would be helpful.
“Almasy!” I called out to the earth mage.
“What’s up, Gryff?” he asked.
“I need you to use your earth magic to raise our team up off the field,” I instructed him. “I’m about to light it up, and I don’t need any of you to get electrocuted in the meantime.”
“Good suggestion,” Almasy agreed. “We’re all entirely too good-looking to get burnt to a crisp.”
The earth mage peered around and then raised his hands up into the air. The ground trembled and shook beneath me, and I nearly fell over from the motion.
“Everyone brace yourselves!” Almasy called out, and when he lifted his arms up, the earth below began to rise up like an elevated platform beneath me.
I struggled a bit to keep a stable stance, but luckily, the upward motion didn’t last much longer. The earth flew up a few hundred feet, and around the field, similar pillars rose up under my team. The Archons who could fly simply took off into the air, but the few without wings were also raised. I sensed their gazes from across the field and sent a wave of reassurance to them as the ground shifted.
Once the earth stopped, I glanced at the entranced herd to see if they’d even noticed our ascension, but they were so enthralled by the harpy, it was as if they were blinded. Among them was the tressel, and I was impressed that even Carth's personal summons were ensnared by the harpy’s song. That would make my life a lot easier in just a moment.
My water monsters were successful in their endeavors, and soon, the entire field was flooded.
With the castle’s grounds almost entirely flooded with water, we were all about to be in for quite the light show, so I took a deep breath and concentrated on the electricity that had begun to crackle and spark in my palms. I imagined it concentrating into one fixed beam, and as my focus deepened, my heart began to race. When I opened my eyes, my hands were surrounded by sparks of electric magic.
Then I focused on my sprucebore, and with one final exhale, I released all of the electricity I had within me. Just as I’d visualized, the element left my hands in a single beam of lightning, and I felt a rush of excitement through my bond with the sprucebore.
“Let it rip, buddy,” I commanded my monster, and the electricity I’d pumped into it suddenly shot out, and as I predicted, the entire field lit up in the single brightest explosion I’d ever seen.
The air was filled with the smell of burnt flesh, and the remainder of Carth's herd screeched and shrieked as their bodies were electrocuted. The tressel was no exception, and I watched with fierce determination as Carth’s personal monster seized up and suddenly fell to the ground with its master in tow. The remaining monsters did the same, and within moments, the electric storm died down until it simply crackled along the ground.
I waited a second or two to ensure that the herd was no more.
All of Carth’s monsters twitched and writhed, and as my team and I peered at the field around us, disbelief flooded through me. It was over. Carth’s herd had fallen apart, and the Archon laid limp from where she’d fallen in battle.
We’d done it.
The ground beneath me began to lower again, though it stopped about ten feet from the rest of the flooded field.
“Did we… win?” Mur called out to me in stunned disbelief, and for the first time, his words were as clear as a Mistral native’s. The moose shapeshifter’s dark ochre eyes were wide as he studied the piles of dust around us.
“Almost,” I replied. “There’s one thing I have to do first.”
Almasy brought us back down, and once we were back on the wet and muddy ground, I peered around and located the unmissable green skin of Carth.
I approached Carth’s fallen form, and even from twenty feet away, I could hear the Archon’s ragged and strained breaths catch inside her throat as she laid there crumpled on the ground. Her weakness surpassed the level I’d witnessed after the battle against the quartzriel, and for the first time, her russet eyes were dull.
“Get away from me,” she hissed as I reached her, and her voice was full of venom. “Don’t touch me, Beastmaker, or I swear I’ll--”
“Give it up, Carth,” I insisted with a slow shake of my head. “You’ve lost. There’s no reason to fight it any longer.”
“I h-h-haven’t los--” the Archon interjected, but her words were cut off by a wet cough that made her entire body seize up. It was a pitiful sight that I wanted to end.
“You have,” I told her, and I knelt down on the scorched earth beside her. “You tried, and you failed. It’s time you accepted defeat and pledged your fealty to me once and for all.”
“I’ll n-n-never join you,” Carth stammered as her entire body trembled with the remnants of my electrical attack. “I would rather succumb to another thousand-year slumber than reside inside your consciousness like my weak, pathetic sisters.”
“Who the fuck are you calling weak and pathetic?” Phi growled behind me as she shrunk down into her normal form, and I shot the white-winged Archon a glare over my shoulder.
The goddess bent her chin down as if to apologize, and then I turned my attention back to the horned goddess on the ground.
“Here’s how this is going to go,” I instructed the Archon with the same tone one would scold a child with. “You’re mine now. Your days of trying to take over the human realm are over, Carth, and it’s high time for you to accept that fact. Whatever you had planned, consider it over. You’re going to join me, whether you want to or not, and you have no say in the matter whatsoever.”
“I won’t cooperate,” Carth spat through gritted teeth. “Whatever it is you do to exploit my sisters, you won’t be able to do the same to me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” I shook my head at her. “You don’t get a choice in the matter. I will say that things will be a lot easier if you submit willingly, but if you can’t do that, I have other ways of making you listen.”
The violent tone of my voice surprised me slightly, but I couldn’t stop the words from escaping my mouth. I was tired of these conversations. It was time for Carth to face the facts, and it was time for me to conclude this portion of the battle.
So, I reached down and placed my hand on Carth’s shoulder. The goddess tried to wiggle out of my grasp, but her efforts were useless. The Archon wasn’t going anywhere, and it was futile for her to try to fight me.
I tightened my grip, closed my eyes, and pictured the horned goddess retreating into the recesses of my consciousness as the other Archons had before her. I felt a tug at my mana and a slight flare at the front of my forehead, but instead of succumbing to the pain, I strengthened my focus further. I couldn’t let Carth slip through my grip again.
As the pain exploded through my head, a tingling sensation broke out around my leg. It consumed the upper part of my thigh and ensnared me almost like a bracelet.
“Fuck!” I gritted my teeth as the ache tore through me, and suddenly, I felt the hand I’d placed on Carth lose purchase. I opened my eyes in time to see the horned Archon’s body dissolve into essence and pass through the spot on my leg, and I knew that when I pushed my pant leg away later, I would see the goddess’ tattoo on my skin.
Seven marks.
Seven Archons within my mind.
I was two Archons away from finally concluding this war.
I dropped down onto my knees as the sting of the Archon’s tattoo vanished from my leg, but the moment the pain subsided, another burst jolted inside my head. The migraine that pulsed behind my eyes was like a tempest, and my eyebrows creased together from the pain.
“Gryff?” Varleth called out to me. “Gryff, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I replied, but the voice that escaped my lips was weak. I felt as if I were crashing from my adrenaline high, and my energy plummeted so far down I’d have sworn it was underground.
“No offense, man, but you don’t look--” was all I heard before, suddenly, the world around me went black.
Chapter Eleven
I floated through a dark expanse of emptiness as I dreamt, and the silence of the night-dark landscape was blissful after so much noise and physical pain.
I couldn’t see it, but I somehow knew I was atop a gathering of mist, like a pitch-black cloud that cushioned my limbs with a softness akin to sheep’s wool. The plush bed conformed to my body as if it’d been hand-tailored for me by an expert weaver, and I settled into the cloud with a sigh of relief.
All was calm, peaceful, and easy. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so perfectly at ease with myself and my surroundings.
The cloud beneath me floated forward, and I wasn’t sure of the destination, but at the moment, I didn’t care. I didn’t have anywhere to be, and there were no responsibilities that needed my attention.
Then the silence was interrupted by a whisper so faint I could hardly hear it, and for a moment, I forgot the comfort of the cloud beneath me and attempted to search the darkness for the source. The words spoken were indistinguishable, and the neutral tone of the voice made it difficult to decipher whether it belonged to a male or female.
“Hello?” I tried to call out, but no sound came out from my mouth. I attempted again, but it was as if I had no voice in this plane. Why couldn’t I speak?
The whisper called out again, and I tried to sit up, but instead, I sunk deeper into the cloud. Why couldn’t I leave? I needed to find the voice, needed to get off the cloud to find her. Why couldn’t I get up?
Don’t fight it… just give in, Gryff.
“Who’s there?” I attempted to call out, but I remained voiceless.
Release yourself, Gryff Porter. The human realm has no need of your services any further. Give in to me and allow yourself to sink into the comfort of restful sleep.
For a moment, I considered taking the voice up on the offer. I was exhausted, and the idea of a long rest was tempting… but how did the voice know my last name? Only a select few beings knew my surname was Porter.
“I have to go back!” I insisted as I searched my memory for who the voice could possibly belong to, but whether they were human or Archon, I couldn’t place it.
Must you? the voice asked me. Think of how much easier it would be to let go, give in. The cloud is comfortable, warm… out there, the world is cold and hard. Here you will only know the loving embrace of the darkness. Out there, life is nothing but cruel and painful.
“I’m not ready to die,” I objected. “I have too much to accomplish first, and I have a family who needs me.”
Your love for your human companions is admirable, but why must you push forward when you’ve already accomplished so much?
“Because I owe it to my family and Mistral to keep them safe and protected, that’s why,” I replied through gritted teeth. “And I’m ready to return to them.”
So soon? You’ve only just come to me.
“Who are you?” I demanded, but the voice didn’t answer. I could feel a presence around me, yet none revealed itself as I looked around.
You’ll regret spurning my offer, Beastmaker.
The cloud dropped out from beneath me, and suddenly, I plunged into a vast abyss. A cry left my lips before I could stop it, and adrenaline surged through my body as I picked up speed.
I couldn’t see a thing, but I had the sense that the landscape had curved around me, and the resulting claustrophobia was almost unbearable. I opened my mouth to scream, but I felt paralyzed by the weight of the darkness.
There’d been many times over the years where I wondered if I was about to die, but as I plummeted into the void, I experienced my first wave of gut-wrenching terror.
I descended for what seemed like millennia until I suddenly reached an end and slammed onto my back. My lips parted to release a cry of pain, yet no sound escaped my lips.
Was this it?
The end?
I began to say my goodbyes when suddenly, a circle of light appeared above me. It was subdued as if covered by a thickly woven curtain, but it was still there nonetheless.
Perhaps I was alive after all.
I amassed enough strength to raise my hand and reach after the light, and the moment I did, I suddenly felt solid again.
The dim light flooded my vision entirely, and then I felt a buzzing sensation in my eardrums.
I could hear the sound of voices around me, but they all sounded so similar in tone that I couldn’t place who they belonged to. My sealed eyelids felt as if they were being held down by cement blocks, and the rest of my tired body was no better.
“Gryff?”
“Do you think we should shake him?”
“No, give him another moment or two. He looks like he’s going to wake up any second now.”
While I was somewhat conscious, I wasn’t quite ready to wake up entirely, so I attempted to twitch my finger. To my surprise, even the effort required to do the miniscule movement was too intensive, so I focused instead on my breathing. I was certain if I got more air through my lungs, I’d be able to accomplish the physical movements necessary to wake up completely.
