Summoner 16, page 23
“No more missing each other.” Layla pulled on her panties, straightened her skirt, and smoothed down her hair. “Okay?”
“Okay.” I nodded to emphasize my agreement.
Layla winked at me, and then she pulled open the door to the hallway, and I blinked in the sudden flood of light.
“At least you’re already right next door,” she observed with a casual shrug, and then she wiggled her fingers at me to say goodbye before she trotted out of the warehouse.
She was right. I was a few feet away from what was now my classroom, and in a matter of moments I would officially be a teacher.
So, I took a deep breath and strode toward the door to the classroom.
I had to admit, I was less anxious about my first day of class than I’d been before Layla had grabbed me, but once it loomed ahead of me, my nerves came back again.
When I pulled open the door and walked into the classroom, I got a sudden flashback to my first day of school, and how Rori Brevens had shown up late and drunk. Seeing the faces swivel toward me expectantly as soon as I entered made me realize how unprepared I was.
I didn’t have any lessons planned or curriculum in mind. I remembered what Rori had gone over last year, but I wanted to do so much more than that.
All I could do was be myself, though, and see how it worked out in the end.
Suddenly, I made eye contact with the same mousy haired kid who had walked in on me and Layla a short while before. When the glimmer of recognition crossed his face, I could feel my cheeks burning, but I turned my eyes to the desk at the front of the class, and by the time I sat down in the teacher’s chair, I had my facial expression under control.
We were all adults here, right? Probably nothing he hadn’t seen before.
“Where’s our teacher?” a tall, square faced girl asked. “And who are you?”
“I’m right here.” I grinned. “My name is Gryff, but I suppose you guys get to call me Professor Gryff.”
That had a nice ring to it. Could I get a sign made for my desk?
“You’re our teacher?” the girl snorted. “But you’re just a student.”
“Who ever said a man could only be one thing?” I winked. “Besides, it’s about time the Academy brought in some fresh blood, don’t you think?”
“Wait… your name is Gryff, and you’re a summoner… ” She gasped, and her eyes went wide. “You’re the guy who ended the attack on Hartmire Enclave!”
“Sort of?” I laughed. “There was a whole team of mages with me, but I fought in the battle of Hartmire Enclave, yes.”
I was met with shocked silence and blank stares, so I took a moment to scan over the faces of my first students.
There was the square faced girl, and I noticed her hair was woven into two stiff braids behind her ears. The scrawny, mousy haired kid avoided my gaze, but another boy stared me straight in the eyes with an intensity that made him stand out.
He had short cropped red curls, pale skin, and freckles dotted his face. His eyes were green, and sharp, but his mouth was settled into a discontented frown.
My fourth student was a pudgy boy with chocolate stains around his bottom lip, and a mop of brown tangles fell over his eyes. I could hear his heavy breathing from across the room, and he sniffled like he was congested or had just been crying.
I resisted the urge to shake my head. These were my students. They didn’t look like much, but I was confident I could turn them into proficient soldiers after a few months of tutelage.
Still, I had my work cut out for me, so I needed to get started somewhere.
“How about you guys all introduce yourselves?” I suggested with a friendly smile.
“I am Terrowin Kemble,” the square faced girl announced in a confident voice.
“Nice to meet you, Terrowin. Where are you from?” I asked, and I steepled my fingers against my chin the way I’d seen many powerful men do before.
“I grew up in Hartmire Enclave,” the girl explained in a solemn tone, “but my family moved to Varle after the attack.”
“I see.” I frowned. “Like I said, I was in Hartmire at the time. The devastation was hard to comprehend. I’m glad you and your family made it out of there, and that you found your way to the Academy.”
“I realized I had magic during the attack,” Terrowin added, and I could see the pain of the memory in her light brown eyes. “I found an essence crystal, and I picked it up. Next thing I knew, a bandersnatch came out and attacked me.”
She held up her forearm to exhibit the purple scar lines marked into her skin.
“That’s incredible,” I replied. “I’d like to hear more about that experience in the future. Thank you for sharing.”
“Is it true that you defeated the belial during the attack on Hartmire Enclave?” Terrowin asked in an urgent voice with a pleading look in her eyes.
“It’s true.” I smirked. “I captured it, and since then I’ve used it to defeat an entire army.”
“You can summon the belial?” Terrowin’s mouth hung open as an awed gasp escaped the other students.
“I can tell you guys about that later,” I said with a laugh. “Let’s get back to our introductions.”
Then I turned and looked at the scrawny kid expectantly.
“I’m, uh, I’m Syman,” he muttered without looking up.
“Nice to meet you, Syman,” I greeted, but I noticed he didn’t provide a surname. “Where are you from?”
“Varle.” He shrugged, but he didn’t say anything else. His attitude reminded me of Layla, and I made a mental note to ask my summoner friend if she knew this kid.
I let Syman be and moved on to the next student, and the red-haired kid blushed when I looked at him.
“Arty Canterwell, sir.” He looked down at his desk. “I’m from Ralor’s Stead.”
I swallowed hard. Ralor’s Stead was the town where I’d faced off against a king fire eye cyclops by myself.
“What, uh, brought you to the Academy?” I asked in a voice I hoped sounded casual.
The memory of that day was still vivid and terrifying, even though I’d faced even more powerful monsters since then.
“I saw you.” Arty blushed even more until his skin almost matched the color of his hair. “You were fighting that giant monster after it destroyed the whole town… I’d known I had magic for a long time, but I didn’t tell anyone until after that day. I wanted to be just like you.”
I blinked as his words settled into my brain.
He had become a summoner because of me?
“I, uh,” I stammered, and I raked a hand through my hair. How was I supposed to respond to that? “I’m flattered, Arty, but I just did what needed to be done. Nothing more.”
“You’re a hero,” Terrowin interjected in an awed voice.
“If that’s what you want to call it.” I grinned, but then I turned my attention to the pudgy kid who’s name I hadn’t learned yet. “Your turn, kid.”
“You’re practically the same age as me,” the chubby boy sneered. “Who even gave you permission to teach this class? Did you even pass it last year?”
“Last year I actually taught the class more than the teacher did.” I shrugged. “If you don’t want to tell me your name, fine, but then you’ll have to live with whatever nickname I come up with for the rest of the school year.”
“Darius,” the pudgy kid huffed in an offended tone. “Darius Silvermane. You may have heard of my father? He runs Silvermane Industries, the largest supplier of essence crystal energy in all of Mistral.”
“Congratulations,” I said in a sarcastic tone.
Darius reminded me of Gawain, but slightly more obnoxious. At least my haughty new student didn’t reek of rose petals.
“What makes you qualified to teach us anything?” Darius continued in an irritated voice. “Summoners aren’t supposed to be the heros. We are the backbone of the economy.”
“What makes you think summoners can’t be both?” I grinned and kicked my feet up on the edge of the desk while I placed my hands behind my head. “I started out doing manual labor, construction, repairing villages after attacks, that sort of thing. After I fought the fire eye in Ralor’s Stead, though, everyone acted like a summoner fighting was mind blowing. At least now there’s mixed opinions, so I’d say I’ve made progress.”
“Progress with what?” Terrowin asked with a confused look.
“Changing the way the world sees us summoners,” I informed her. “I believe we deserve to be more than the grunts of society. We can make just as much of a difference as the other mage classes.”
“I want to make a difference,” Arty exclaimed with wide eyed excitement. “I want to be just like you.”
“I’m sure you’ll become the best version of you,” I said with a gentle smile.
While it was flattering to hear the younger man constantly looking up to me, I didn’t want him to think his own personality wasn’t good enough.
“So, they hired you because you did construction and defeated a monster,” Darius surmised with an unimpressed voice, and the pudgy kid rolled his eyes. “Please. Even the substitute was more experienced than that, and she wasn’t even a summoner!”
“I did not like her,” Terrowin informed me.
“Is it true that some monsters don’t need an essence crystal?” Syman asked suddenly. “Like they stay in your head instead?”
“That’s one way of looking at it,” I replied in a cautious tone. “I’ve captured immortal monster beings called Archons, but they cannot be contained inside a normal essence crystal. Even the massive crystals in the caves in Luratamba weren’t strong enough to house one of the immortal beings.”
“So, what happened to them?” Syman asked with sudden interest on his face.
“They’re imprisoned inside my consciousness,” I explained hesitantly. I wasn’t sure how much I should tell these kids, but on the other hand I wanted future summoners to be fully prepared for whatever they encountered, and that included Archons.
“You keep monsters in your head?” Darius scoffed. “How do you expect to be their master that way? Any summoner worth their salt knows to keep up boundaries between themselves and their summons.”
“Archons are a whole different beast,” I explained. “They don’t follow the same rules as other monsters.”
“What do they look like?” Arty asked with avid curiosity. “Can we see one?”
“Ooh, yes, can we see an Archon?” Terrowin added.
“If they’re even real,” Darius argued.
“Oh, they’re real all right,” Syman muttered, and I shot him a quizzical look, but he didn’t say anything else.
My gaze moved from face to face as I decided what I should do. I didn’t think Arwyn would approve of me showing the immortal goddesses residing in my head to my first-year students, but I knew I’d be dying of curiosity if I was in their shoes.
So, I waved off my reservations, took a deep breath, and summoned Sera with a tug of my will power, and black essence trailed from my shoulders and down the sleeve of my shirt to drip like spilt blood on the classroom floor.
The dark-winged Archon’s body formed in her favorite fashion, from the feet up, and by the time her face manifested into a wicked grin, she was already wrapping her arms around me.
“Mmm, master, I’ve missed you so much,” she moaned seductively into my ear. “I’ll be good, I promise. Just don’t send me away again.”
She teased her inhumanly long tongue across my jaw line and left a trail of warmth and spit in her wake.
“What in the Maker’s name is she doing?” Terrowin asked with a shocked expression. “Did she just lick you?”
“Shut up, mortal,” Sera snapped as she shot a scathing glare at my student over her shoulder. “Grown-ups are talking.”
“Sera,” I growled in a low, warning, tone.
The dark-winged Archon sighed and rolled her yellow eyes. “My apologies, sweet, delicious, human child. My intentions were not to be rude.”
“I-It’s okay?” Terrowin replied in a confused voice.
“If she’s a monster,” Darius chirped in an insolent tone, “then how can she talk?”
“I suppose much the same way you can still eat,” Sera countered with a sly smile, “even though you are already a pig. Oink. Oink.”
“Oh, man,” Syman guffawed. “That had to hurt.”
“Shut it, scum,” Darius sneered.
“Make me,” the scrawny kid retorted.
“Alright, enough,” I said in a voice loud enough to echo around the room with authority. Even Sera bristled her feathers and pulled on an innocent demeanor.
Suddenly, the bell rang to signal the end of class.
All four first year summoners leapt from their seats without saying a word, and they dashed toward the door without hesitation.
I sighed to myself once I was alone in the room, and Sera gave me a sympathetic smile.
“I can peel their skin from their bodies for you,” she suggested as she rubbed her ample breasts against my arm.
“I’m done for now,” I signed, and I recalled her with a wave of my will.
What did I do wrong? Sera’s voice was full of pain in my mind as I pushed her back behind the mental wards keeping the Archons separated from my active thoughts.
“Nothing,” I muttered out loud.
Please, she sighed. I… can we talk? Ever since you returned to this place you’ve been distant. I just want to talk.
“Give me some time. I’ll talk tonight.”
Okay, she relented, and then I felt her fade to the back of my mind.
If I couldn’t control the Archons, then there was zero chance I’d ever be included in the research team, and while the midterm tests and my wedding had taken priority, I still had the burning desire to know what was written inside those books.
Sera’s previous offer to translate the texts in exchange for my seed echoed through my mind as clearly as if the dark-winged Archon had just repeated her words once more.
Sleet and Arwyn were worried about the purity of the research. I could understand their heightened sense of security, but it was me we were talking about, not some unvouched stranger. They had to know I would never do anything to jeopardize the safety of the realm.
Maybe once I’d subdued Veopa, and I’d completed our bond, then Arwyn and Sleet would change their minds and let me join the team. So, before I headed off to the rest of my school day, I made a mental note to deal with the shapeshifter goddess that night.
The rest of the day passed by quickly, although it was a little weird to go from being the teacher to being the student. I gave several people disappointed looks when they were being too loud in Arwyn’s class, and she gave me a knowing smile from across the room.
At the end of the day, my mind was still buzzing over my experiences during my first day of teaching. I would show Darius what a summoner was capable of and knock that haughty look off his face, and I’d figure out what was going on in Syman’s head and why he’d been certain the Archons existed.
Terrowin had a lot of potential, and a lot of energy, but I could already tell I wouldn’t need to worry about her too much. She had fire.
Arty acted like my biggest fan, but I didn’t care about fame as much as I wanted my students to be competent, confident summoners.
Altogether, I was satisfied with my new students and what I’d learned on my first day. I’d see more of what they were capable of during our next class session.
I fell asleep with Freya by my side, and a feeling of all being right in the world comforted me into sleep, but I had one more thing to take care of before I could focus on living a normal life.
It was time to subdue Veopa.
As soon as I realized I was sleeping, I manifested a room inside my dreamscape, and once I’d removed the magic barrier in my mind, I summoned all of my Archons to me.
“I’m so happy you called for me,” Phi greeted with a pleased glint in her red eyes.
“Don’t fool yourself,” Sera sneered at her sister as she stepped into view. “He will be bored of you again soon.”
“I’m not boring, right, Gryff?” Miralea asked as she pranced forward. Her orange eyes glowed in the dim light of my dreamscape, and her fangs reflected some unknown source of light as she smiled.
“He’s already replaced you with another cat,” Utuni observed in a dry voice as she manifested in my dreamscape. Her serpentine tail flicked behind her, and it accentuated the swaying motion of her hips as her blood red lips twitched into a smile. “I, however, am irreplaceable.”
“Do you know why I summoned you?” I asked as I looked around at the four goddesses.
“You wish to apologize for the intolerable way you’ve been treating us?” Sera guessed with a twinkle in her yellow eyes. “I forgive you. You can take off your pants now.”
“No,” I said, and I gave the dark-winged Archon a stern look. “It’s time for me to subdue Veopa.”
“What’s your rush?” Sera’s eyebrows arched quizzically. “She hasn’t stirred or made a single complaint.”
“Let me worry about my reasoning,” I replied in a grim voice. “You just need to focus on obeying my command.”
“Mmm, yes, master,” the dark goddess moaned, and she ran her long tongue over her lips. “I will grant your every desire, even if I have to cut my heart from my chest to please you.”
“Oh, yes,” Phi added in a lustful voice, “I’ll do anything for you… Spank me, Gryff. I’ve been naughty, and I need a firm hand.”
“Fools,” Utuni sneered, and she stepped closer to me until she stood inches from my face. Then the snake goddess walked her fingers up my chest until they buried in the nest of hair peeking out from the neck of my shirt. “You need a real woman. A powerful one. You need me, Gryff. Forget these others. Choose me for your seed, and we shall rule the world side by side.”
“Stop hogging him,” Miralea muttered with a low growl, and she shoved herself in between the snake goddess and me. “I’m the one Gryff really wants, after all.”
“What I want,” I said in a clear voice as I pushed the Archons off me, “is for you to bring Veopa out and hold her down.”
