Summoner 19, page 22
part #19 of Summoner Series
I took a deep breath, and to my disdain, the air still smelled like excrement and decay. Even though the stench was enough to make me retch, at least I knew we were still in the Shadowscape. I was alive at least, and the voices around me weren’t a hallucination
“He’s been out for a really long time.”
“Give him some space, man.”
“I am giving him space--”
“Orenn, I swear to the Maker, if you don’t back up…”
Finally, I felt stable enough to open my eyes, so with a final deep breath, I slowly parted my eyelids. The dim landscape around me made it difficult to focus, but after a few blinks, the images around me grew sharper, and I recognized the dark blurs around me as the bodies of my teammates. They were all crouched down on the ground around me, and every one of the mages looked overwhelmed with fatigue as they peered at me with eager eyes.
“Thank the Maker,” Varleth sighed in relief. “Damn it, Gryff, we were worried you weren’t ever going to wake up.”
“You can’t rid yourself of me that easily, Prost,” I chuckled, but the sound had a concerning wetness about it that made me wince, and clearly, I wasn’t alone in this sentiment because my team all shared wide-eyed glances with each other as I suddenly started to cough. The exertion of it made my lungs ache, and everyone fell silent as I hacked.
“We need to get you back to Mistral,” Braden decided once my fit finally ceased a minute later. “Sooner rather than later.”
“Not yet.” I shook my head firmly. “We aren’t quite done here.”
“What do you mean, Gryff?” my former roommate pressed.
“I second Flint’s statement,” Gawain spoke up, and the mage’s golden eyebrows creased together in confusion. “We’ve defeated the herd, you subdued the Archon, what is there left to do at this point?”
“I captured one Archon, but there are still two more,” I reminded the fire mage with a raised eyebrow of my own.
“Oh, Gryff, I really hope you aren’t suggesting we go after the others,” Almasy groaned.
“Why wouldn’t we go after Hunnah and Quilla?” I wondered. “We’re already here in the Shadowscape--”
“Gryff, you’re a total machine when it comes to battle, don’t get me wrong,” Varleth interrupted me with raised hands. “But at the same time, we just fought an intense battle against Carth and that herd, and I don’t think we’re ready to immediately go into the next fight.”
“Guys, we can do this,” I insisted. “You saw how well we just handled that fight. Carth didn’t even stand a chance against us.”
“Gryff… I’m not so sure your mana is up to the task,” Orenn chimed in as I released another fluid-filled cough.
“I love you, man, but you just controlled a ton of monsters and captured another Archon,” Braden pointed out to me gently. “I don’t think you’re in any shape to go after two more. Not without rest, anyways.”
I knew my friends had a point, but at the same time, this was the perfect opportunity to track down the remaining Archons, and I wasn’t sure when I’d have a chance like this again.
“Gryff, we need to get you home,” Gawain added in, and the fire mage’s tone was as soft as Braden’s as his emerald eyes studied me. “We gave you a couple of potions while you were out, but I don’t think they were enough for everything you just went through. Your mana was depleted, and it took a lot of effort from Xanrith to get you back to this point.”
It was then I realized neither my monsters nor the Archons were with us.
“What happened to my monsters when I passed out?” I wondered as I peered around at the ruined grounds. “They aren’t here, so I’m assuming they were recalled?”
“They all returned to their essence crystals when you dropped,” Braden answered. “They’re back in your bandolier.”
“Oh, thank the Maker,” I sighed.
“Xanrith also seemed like she needed some distance,” Gawain chimed in. “She was very protective of you.”
“Strange that she remained when my monsters didn’t,” I noted as heat rose to my cheeks. “What about the other Archons? Where were they?”
“Sera and the others returned to their Marks,” Orenn answered.
“It was really cool to watch,” Mur added, and the moose shapeshifter’s lips curled up into a smile.
“Xanrith wasn’t really clear about how she could remain,” Braden admitted. “Something about how since she’s healed you before, she could stay manifested… with everything that was going on, it was hard to keep it all straight.”
“I understand,” I said. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll ask her later. You all did more than enough, and now that I’m better--”
My words trailed off as my stomach began to churn, and I turned away from my friends just in time to retch all over the ground. The bile I expelled was a strange clear color with a slight tinge of red, and I forced myself to close my eyes before I could make myself sicker.
When I opened my eyes, I felt a slick wetness above my lip, so I wiped at the area with the back of my hand, only to see a streak of blood. My friends were right. If I didn’t get treatment soon, the consequences could be dire. I was no stranger to pushing myself to extremes both mentally and physically, but things were different now. I had wives, girlfriends, and children who needed me to return home to them in one piece, and I owed it to my family to take care of myself. I’d managed well enough without my mother and father, but I wasn’t about to condemn my children to a similar fate over a pair of monster goddesses.
“You might be right,” I admitted quietly to the group. I debated whether or not to mention the strange dreamscape I’d fallen into, but now didn’t really seem like the right time to bring it up. I needed to take a moment alone to think about it.
“Look, there’s no reason we can’t return again later,” Almasy proposed. “We just need to get back to Mistral and heal up first, okay?”
“Okay,” I agreed with him, and the earth mage held his hand out to me. I gladly took it, and Almasy helped me to my feet. The motion was a little too quick so my head spun as I rose, but the pilot helped me to steady myself.
“Do you have enough energy to summon Sera?” Braden inquired in a gentle tone.
“I think so.” I nodded. “But if I’m being honest, it’ll be about all I can manage.”
“Should we track down your aunt?” Mur asked me in his terse Mistral. “Could she help us at all?”
“I’d rather not have her see me like this.” I shook my head firmly. “We parted on better terms, but I’m afraid if she saw how bad of shape I’m in, she’d go back on her feelings about me and the Archons.”
“Fair enough,” Braden allowed.
“Sera’s the safest bet,” I continued. “I’ll get her out here so we can finally get out of this place.”
“Pace yourself, Gryff,” Varleth warned me with cautious dark eyes. “If you can’t manage it, we can go find Crystyn.”
“I can handle it,” I insisted. “But I appreciate you all looking out for me. It really means a lot, especially after what we just went through.”
“Just another day in the life of a magical badass,” Orenn responded, and we all cracked up at the metallogue’s aloof tone.
It felt nice to laugh again after my ordeal, and happiness flooded my mind. I just needed to get through this moment, and then we could go home and enjoy a brief moment of peace.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on manifesting the dark-winged Archon. I didn’t have much mana left to spend, but the goddess was our only chance of getting back to Mistral, so I had to pull myself together enough to summon her forward.
My back began to tingle, and Sera’s gorgeous frame appeared in a plume of smoke. When she first manifested before us, her cat-like citrine eyes were heavy-lidded with lust, but then they shifted to perfectly round, surprised orbs.
“Master, are you alright?” Sera demanded as she took in my weakened form. “You look as if you’ve been brought back from the dead.”
“It certainly feels that way,” I admitted to the monster goddess, but Sera was unamused.
“Your friends assured us they had mana potions that would heal you--” she began, but I waved her off.
“It wasn’t a lie,” I insisted. “I’m just feeling--”
“Say no more”, Sera interjected with a raised chin. “We must get you back to the human realm as fast as possible.”
The Archon held her hands out in front of her and scrunched her delicate nose, and moments later, a human-sized portal began to rip through the air. My knees wobbled a bit as my mana finally wavered from the summoning, but Orenn and Braden managed to step over and support me between them before I could fall.
“Easy there, Gryff,” Braden soothed me. “We’ve got you. Just relax into us.”
“Thank you,” I murmured as I wrapped my arm over my former roommate’s shoulder. Orenn took the other arm, and my muscles eased up as the weight was taken off them. My eyelids strained to stay open, but I forced myself to remain awake. If I fainted before we could step through the portal, Sera would return to my consciousness, and I didn’t know that I would have enough mana to manifest her again.
“Are we going to be able to walk him through the portal?” Orenn wondered aloud as he eyed the space with a weary expression. “I don’t think we’ll all be able to get through it at the same time.”
“I will extend it, mage,” Sera assured the metallogue, and sure enough, the Archon waved her hand again, and the portal stretched further out into the air. “But you must step through it immediately. We need to get him to Mistral before he collapses again.”
Varleth, Gawain, Almasy, and Mur stepped forward first, and they confidently walked through the widened portal with ease. Orenn and Braden made sure I was tight against them, and once they were certain, the pair of mages helped guide me to the mouth of the portal.
“Stay with us, Gryff,” Braden instructed me.
“We’re so close, man,” Orenn chimed in. “All we have to do is step through this portal, and we’ll be home.”
“You’re right,” I replied, and I used all of my strength to hold my head up. “We’re so close.”
I took a deep breath, and after I met Sera’s firm but encouraging gaze, we walked through the opening.
As we stepped through the portal, we were greeted by an impressively bright burst of morning sunlight, and my eyes struggled to focus against the intense beams.
When my eyes finally adjusted to the brightness, I peered around at my surroundings, and I was pleasantly surprised to see we’d appeared on the Academy’s emerald green lawn.
“Damn, that sun sure is bold today,” Braden groaned as he cupped his hand above his eyes.
“You’re telling me,” Orenn grumbled and ducked his head. “Maker, I knew the Shadowscape was dark, but the perspective really changes once you return home.”
“That’s for sure,” I chuckled weakly. “After my week with Carth, I never thought I’d get used to sunlight again.”
I glanced back at the portal just in time to see Sera float through it. Once she passed through the opening, the dark-winged Archon clenched her fist, and the portal collapsed in on itself.
“Thank you, Sera,” I addressed the goddess as she smoothed down her mane of silky ebony hair.
“Of course, my master,” she purred. “Do you require further assistance?”
“You’ve done more than enough,” I insisted, and Sera looked a little disappointed, but she nodded her head.
“Then I shall return to your consciousness,” the monster goddess decided, and then her yellow eyes glinted with mischief. “Something tells me we’re going to have our hands full with Carth, and I’d like to be there to help put her into her place.”
“Don’t be too rough on her,” I warned the dark Archon. “We’re going to need her to cooperate later.”
“Sure, sure.” Sera waved me off. “I’ll behave. As much as I can, anyways.”
The gorgeous goddess gave me a flirtatious wink and then dissolved into a plume of fine mist. My back tingled as her wing-shaped mark returned to my skin, and once it settled, I turned back to my team.
Varleth and the others stood a few feet away from us, and Braden and Orenn helped ease me over to the group of mages. The rest of the lawn was fairly empty, and I thanked the Maker we hadn’t amassed an audience.
“We need to get Gryff to the infirmary,” Varleth declared in a serious tone as his eyes trailed over me. “Meridan needs to start treating him at once. Orenn and Braden, are you still good to help him inside?”
“We’ve got him,” Braden assured the banisher, and then he turned to me. “Gryff, feel free to let all of your weight fall against us. We’ve got you.”
Normally, I’d have pushed through and attempted to walk to the infirmary on my own, but after summoning Sera and stepping through the portal, I was in no shape to deny help.
“Thanks, guys,” I said as I looked between Braden and Orenn. “I appreciate it.”
The world around me then grew a little hazy, and the weightless feeling I’d experienced inside my dreamscape started to return to me. My eyelids grew heavy, and I found it difficult to keep my head up.
My friends were right about one thing: if I didn’t get treatment soon, I was a goner.
My eyes fluttered closed, but I sensed Orenn and Braden guide me through the Academy doors. As we maneuvered around the school, I focused again on my breathing and concentrated on staying awake. Even though it was difficult to stay conscious, I had to be awake just long enough for Meridan to get me one of her more potent potions, the kind she didn’t part with unless it was an extreme situation.
Soon, Braden and Orenn paused, and when I opened my eyes, I noticed the familiar walls of the infirmary around me. The room’s excessive windows filtered in more of the bright sunlight, and my eyes were too heavy to stay open.
“Gryff?” I heard a familiar voice exclaim. “Maker, is he okay?”
“Holy shit, Gryffie, you’re back!” another female voice chimed in.
I tried to squint, but my eyelids felt like they’d been pressed down by a row of cement bricks. Luckily, I didn’t need to open my eyes to know the first voice belonged to Nia, and the second voice was Layla’s.
Unluckily for me, neither the multi-elementalist nor the petite summoner sounded too happy.
“He’s fine,” Braden assured them. “He’s just a little tired out--”
“Don’t you dare try to downplay it, Flint, I know what mana depletion looks like,” Nia snapped. “Gryff, what happened out there? Why were you gone for so long?
“We’re back, too, in case anyone was wondering,” Varleth grumbled behind me.
I finally managed to open my eyes as everyone began to talk at each other, and the sunlight that streamed through the windows managed to illuminate just how terrible my teammates looked. Braden, Orenn, Almasy, Gawain, and Mur all wore tattered clothes, and deep-set dark circles ringed their eyes like a raccoon’s. Braden’s eyes were particularly bloodshot, and Varleth’s mouth was a thin line as he tried to keep himself awake.
“Oh, Maker, Gryff, what the hell happened to you?” Layla demanded as she stood before me, and the petite summoner’s enormous hazel eyes were ablaze as they ran down the length of my body. Despite her alarmed expression, my auburn-haired girlfriend looked particularly cute in a black long-sleeved top that was tucked into a plum-colored miniskirt, and her trim legs were encased in a pair of black stockings that stopped just at her slim thighs and gave just a hint of her golden skin.
If I weren’t so exhausted, I would have pulled the petite mage into my lap and eased her out of everything but those sexy stockings.
“I’m fine, I swear,” I insisted, but my knees suddenly buckled. My weight was still supported on either side by Braden and Orenn’s large frames, so I managed to stay upright, but I could feel the eyes of my women on me as the pair of mages helped ease me over to an empty bed.
“Mister Gryff, why must you always come to me battered?” Meridan asked in an exasperated tone as she rushed over to me from across the room. “Just once, I’d really appreciate a casual visit that doesn’t involve drained mana or wounds.”
“Oh, Meridan, you can’t tell me you don’t love to see my face here,” I chuckled at the healer, but Meridan didn’t seem all that amused by my pleasantries.
“I’d prefer it more if it weren’t mangled,” the auburn-haired nurse murmured, and then she shook her head slowly as her eyes trailed down my battered body. “I’ll return with some potions. Get comfortable, Mister Gryff, I have a feeling this is going to be an extended stay.”
Meridan slipped away, and as she did, Layla crossed over to me.
“Wait, what are you two doing here?” I wondered. “How did you know we’d be here?”
“You’d be surprised to know it was actually an accident,” Layla laughed as she perched on the edge of my bed. “Nia had a check-up with Meridan after lunch and asked me to accompany her.”
“Is everything alright?” I addressed the multi-elementalist with concern. Nia looked perfectly fine to me. Maker, she looked better than fine in a dark blue sweater that clung to her full breasts and a pair of shiny black leggings that clung to her extraordinarily long legs like a second skin. Her gold-trimmed golden robes were tied into a knot around her narrow waist, and they drew just the right amount of emphasis to her shapely hips.
“It was just a check-up,” Nia assured me. “Everything is totally fine, I promise.”
“Leave it to Gryff to be worried about someone else when he’s literally on his deathbed,” Braden chuckled, and the rest of my team chimed in, except for Mur, who seemed to have missed the comment entirely.
“Speaking of deathbed, Mister Flint, I do believe it would be wise for you to take up an empty bed as well,” Meridan called out from across the room. The healer’s back was facing us as she rifled through a cabinet, but the slight edge to her voice gave it a maternal tone that indicated she meant business.
