Summoner 21, page 7
“Thank you, sir,” I thanked the headmaster. “I appreciate it.”
“Of course.” Sleet nodded.
“On the subject of the Wilds, there’s another matter I’d like to bring up,” I began. “It concerns the situation beyond the Enclaves.
“Is this the event you mentioned before?” the headmaster inquired as his eyebrows raised. “Yes, please explain what happened.”
“I was on my way back to Varle when I ran into a pair of women who’d been injured by a beast in the forest,” I started, and I rubbed the back of my neck in anticipation. “The wounded one, Rachael, described the monster as being shadow-like in appearance--”
“Monster?” Sleet furrowed his eyebrows. “Mister Gryff, it is night time. How… how would a monster come to be in the woods?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I was skeptical myself until I saw the injury. No normal animal could have made that type of wound, and the women were too serious to be lying about it.”
“And they describe the beast as being shadow-like?’ Sleet wondered with a frown. “Were there any other discernible features to the creature?”
“They mentioned horns, tusks, and fangs,” I answered as I tucked my hands in my jacket pockets. “They said it was similar to many beasts and yet none at once. Sir, is it possible the monster has something to do with the thing on the moon?”
“As in belonging to it?” The headmaster cocked an eyebrow. “I can’t say for certain, but if I were to guess, that would be my assumption as well. If there were no rifts in sight, no portals, or the like, the creature must belong to the monster atop the moon. Perhaps a minion of sorts?”
“Maker.” I shook my head.
“We shall let the Grand Mage know about this,” Sleet decided with a definitive nod. “And in the meantime, we will dispatch a team of troops out into the general vicinity of the monster sighting. Did you happen to catch the name of the village?”
“It’s called Helux,” I remembered. “Brigitte and Rachael mentioned the village was composed mainly of the elderly and children.”
“I know of it.” The headmaster nodded. “We’ll make sure there’s a team to protect them and keep an eye out for a potential return. I should like to hope that monster is the only one out there, but that would be too convenient for us all, wouldn’t it?”
“Right,” I sighed. “So, what would you like me to do while we wait for the Grand Mage to arrive?”
“Is your family protected?” Sleet asked. “I know your home is full of capable mages, but do they have a plan?”
“For now, they’re staying put,” I answered. “Arwyn, Ashla, and a few of my Archons are skimming over the books in my library and trying to find any information they can about the moon. I don’t know how successful they’ll be, but Carth and Xan should help them get further than they would otherwise. The others are gathering supplies and watching over the children.”
“That’s a wise decision,” Sleet complimented me. “Until the Grand Mage arrives in Varle, there’s not much you can do. As you can see, we’re deploying troops to different areas in the Enclave and beyond, but I’d prefer for you to stay behind while we wait for Gallahar to arrive.”
“If they need me, I can help,” I insisted. “I am officially a graduate now. Don’t my three years of service begin now?”
“Your circumstances are much different,” the headmaster reminded me with a raised eyebrow. “I would suggest you return to your home and check in with your family. We’re at a standstill when it comes to tactics, and I’m sure your wives and children are awaiting your return.”
“Most likely.” I nodded, and if I was being honest, I wanted nothing more than to return home as well. My women had been completely supportive, but that didn’t mean I wanted to be out in the thick of it instead of being there with them instead.
“We’ll sort this out one way or the other,” Sleet assured me, and he rested a hand on my shoulder. “This may be the worst situation we’ve faced, but the human realm has never turned their back on a fight. This will be no exception.”
“You’re right.” I smiled at the storm mage. I appreciated the Headmaster’s serious but sincere expression, and something about his words soothed me greatly.
However, before I could get too relaxed, the headmaster and I were interrupted when a tall, gangly mage sprinted over to us. The fair-skinned man wore blue-trimmed gold robes that denoted him as an elementalist, more specifically a water mage, and his cheeks were a deep dark red as he attempted to catch his breath.
“Conor, are you alright?” Headmaster Sleet asked the water mage. “What’s going on?”
“Headmaster, you must deploy a team at once,” the mage choked out through haggard breaths. “A rift has opened up just outside of the Enclave, and it’s a large one.”
Chapter Four
“A rift?” I repeated back in an awestruck tone. “Shit, this isn’t good. How is this even possible?”
“I don’t know, Mister Gryff,” the dark-haired mage replied with widened brown eyes, and a shiver ran through him. “I wish I had an answer, but I’m just as confused as you are. One minute we were making our usual rounds, and the next we saw the glimmer of the portal’s rim, and then a monster stepped through.”
“The moon’s shift must have affected more than just its color,” Headmaster Sleet deduced in a solemn tone, and he shook his head back and forth. “It’s changed the very rules of our realm. It’s as you mentioned when you spoke of Brigitte and Rachael. Monsters can in fact come into our world now at night, and our realm no longer has the convenience of safety.”
“Fuck,” I whispered. After the encounter in the woods, it wasn’t too much of a surprise that a rift had appeared after all, but I still couldn’t believe this was happening to us.
“I don’t tend to curse, but I’d have to agree with you, Mister Gryff,” Sleet replied. “This is most bizarre, but we can focus on the technicalities later. For now, we need to get a team down there to work on the monster. If creatures can now enter the world at night, we need to be prepared for the situation to escalate. ”
“Leave that to me.” I nodded as I composed myself. “I can head down there and take care of the monster while troops check on the citizens and make sure everyone goes indoors. Luckily, there aren’t any villages too close to perimeter.”
“We’ll make sure the Enclave is secure,” the storm mage agreed with a hearty nod. “Now, how many mages do you require to assist you?”
“I can handle it,” I assured the headmaster. “With Sera at my side, and the Archons’ powers at my disposal, I think I can take on a couple of monsters--”
“Oh, c’mon, don’t let Gryff have all of the fun,” I heard a familiar voice behind me. “Save some monster battles for the rest of us, too.”
I turned around to see the arched eyebrows of my friend, Gawain Maddox, and his heavy-lidded emerald eyes studied me with a look of amusement that made my lips curl into a smile.
“I wouldn’t dream of going without you, Maddox.” I smirked. “I take it your declaration is a proposal to volunteer? Would you care to join me for some monster ass-kicking?”
“Always, summoner,” the haughty fire mage laughed back. “I know you have your team of Archons at your beck and call, but you’ll probably need more than just them in the event that monsters come through. Besides, we’re all just waiting here at the ready anyway. We may as well be of use instead of twiddling our thumbs.”
“Mr. Maddox is correct,” Headmaster Sleet agreed with my friend. “I would prefer you to go out with a team rather than face the monster yourself. Gawain, do you have any other mages in mind to join you and Gryff?”
“I’ll round up Almasy and Braden,” Gawain proposed. “They’re lingering around here somewhere, and I’m sure they could use something to do.”
“Best hurry up,” I advised the golden-haired mage. “We need to go handle the rift quickly.”
“Give me one minute.” Gawain nodded, and sure enough, he took off in a blur of red-trimmed gold robes and cloying rose cologne.
The garment indicated his rank as a fire elementalist, and though it was late at night, I wasn’t surprised the mage had taken the time to outfit himself in the proper attire. Gawain’s family was high-ranking and admittedly a bit snobbish, and though my friend was no longer the asshole I’d met when I’d first arrived at the Academy, he still put a lot of effort in his personal grooming.
Especially when it came to that damn fragrance.
I welcomed a different scent than the sulfuric one that still tingled in my nose, but the floral smell soon tangled with it and created something even more appalling.
I noticed Headmaster Sleet was watching my expression with an amused eyebrow raise, so I quickly assumed composure and attempted to play off my scrunched-up nose.
“Mister Gryff, I’ll need you and your team to be extra careful,” Sleet advised me as I reached into my bandolier to find the best essence crystals for the mission. “Monsters appearing outside of the norm need to be approached with caution to ensure you and your squadron aren’t hurt. I know you and your usual team are more than capable of handling whatever is thrown at you, but as your former headmaster, I feel the need to warn you to be careful.”
“We will, headmaster,” I promised Sleet. “Should it get too out of control, we’ll send word back to the Enclave.”
The storm mage gave me a cautious but accepting nod. He opened his mouth to say something further, but then Gawain returned with two of our other friends in tow, and the older man’s lips drew into a thin line.
I knew the headmaster trusted us, but I couldn’t blame him for being protective in these circumstances.
“Well, well, well, it’s about time you got here, Gryff,” Keith Almasy teased me as he approached. The renowned earth mage offered me a lopsided grin as he walked up and gave me a wink. “We were beginning to think you were too cool to hang around us anymore. I was hurt.”
“Almasy, when did you get back?” I asked him in surprise. The pilot had been off in some unknown location since before mine and Cyra’s wedding, and it felt like it’d been ages since I’d seen his lopsided smile.
“Just tonight, actually,” Almasy explained as he let out a tired yawn. “It seems I’ve arrived at the right moment. But we can discuss that later. We have other things that require our attention, like the apocalypse and such.”
“And such,” I laughed. I gave Almasy a smile, and then I turned to look at Braden Flint.
My exceptionally tall, solidly built roommate wore a weary expression, but his gray eyes were surprisingly alert for this time of night. He’d had the sense to don his summoner’s robes, but the belt that contained his essence crystals was looped haphazardly across his broad chest.
“Long time no see, Gryff,” Braden chuckled after a yawn escaped his mouth. “It’s been what, a whole four hours since we parted?”
“Nearly five,” Gawain corrected the ox-like summoner mage. “I’d managed only a couple of hours of sleep after returning from your mansion, Gryff. If I’d known we were reuniting so soon after our dinner party, I’d have crashed in one of your many guest bedrooms instead of heading back to my room.”
“Same here,” Braden laughed again. “Though mine and Mati’s house is only just down the road, so I can’t complain too much.”
“Well, I’ll keep that in mind next time I go to throw a dinner party before an apocalypse,” I snorted and rolled my eyes playfully at my friends. Only they could take an incredibly tense and stressful situation and find a way to make me laugh.
“Wait, you guys had a party?” Almasy sniffed mockingly. “Without me? My heart… It’s breaking…”
“You just barely missed it,” I laughed. “Though it wasn’t much of a party without you gracing us with your presence.”
“It’s crazy how different things were just hours ago,” Braden assessed as he shook his head. “If you’d have told me at dinner the moon was going to turn red, I would have called you a liar. But here we are.”
“How did this even come to be?” Gawain asked as he fidgeted with the hem of his robe. “Gryff, did something happen after we left? Something with the Archons?”
“Before we get into that, we need to go deal with that rift,” I reminded my team gently, and then I turned my attention to Braden. “Now, Braden, let’s summon some transportation and head out there. I can equip everyone with speed slugs and bullet bass armor as well so we can get to the rift as soon as possible.”
“While you distract the monsters, we’ll send a team into the Shadowscape to shut it down,” Sleet spoke up from behind us. “We just need you and your friends to keep the monsters at bay until the catalyst can be located.”
“Can do, sir.” I nodded at the headmaster, and then I turned my attention back to my friends. “Braden, maybe your king gryphon would be the best transport--”
“I’m way ahead of you.” Braden smirked as he revealed the monster’s essence crystal in the palm of his large hand.
“Perfect.” I grinned at my friend, and then I reached into my bandolier and retrieved a handful of my own gems. If we wanted to reach the rift quickly, we needed to use mounts to transport us over there, so I summoned my strongest flying creatures to do the job.
For myself, I went with the ever-reliable pyrewyrm as my mount, and then I summoned my vingehund again for Gawain. The normally-haughty fire mage had a soft spot for animals and was particularly fond of my pale-blue, canine-like summons, so I knew he’d be excited to take her into battle.
Sure enough, my golden-haired friend lit up when my monster manifested before him and let out a single bark.
“Hey there, cutie,” he greeted the winged creature as if he were speaking to an infant, and the vingehund wagged her tail as he scratched her chin.
“That’s adorable, Maddox,” Almasy cooed. “I love seeing your more tender side. Reminds me that you aren’t just an ass.”
“Shut it, Almasy,” the fire mage grumbled as his cheeks flushed a deep scarlet, but he didn’t deny the statement.
I considered chiming in but decided it would be best to focus instead of fanning the flames. I would have plenty of time to tease Gawain later.
Braden’s king gryphon appeared before us and let out a screech that sent a chill down my spine. The Grade-B monster was impressive, and the way Braden swung his long legs over the creature and sat atop with his shoulders level was almost intimidating. Size-wise, Braden was incredibly imposing, but his personality was not even remotely close. My former roommate was an incredibly kind soul with a big heart, but he’d become quite the warrior in the past few years.
“Almasy, the monster is large enough to carry us both if you want to ride along,” the ox-like summoner proposed to our friend.
“Sounds perfect to me.” Almasy shrugged. “I’m a pilot by occupation and by nature, but I really don’t have any fondness for directing monsters.”
Braden extended his hand out and helped the earth mage climb on the back of his summons. The half-lion, half-eagle monster was large enough for the pair of them and faster than most flying beasts, which made it the perfect summons to take out to the field.
Once Almasy was situated, Braden flashed me a boyish grin, and I gave him one right back before I approached my summons.
The pyrewyrm was a strange but intimidating creature. The monster was large, with swirling shadow-like wings, a long serpentine body, and an eyeless and mouthless wormlike head that regarded me with a curious tilt. Its legs were muscular and strong, and they ended in impressively sharp talons that clenched as it awaited my orders.
“Hey, buddy,” I greeted the pyrewyrm as I approached it. “I’m going to need you to take me out of the Enclave and over to the rift. We have some monsters to take out.”
My summons let out a soft trilling sound, and without further hesitation, I mounted the serpentine monster.
Once everyone was atop their summons, Headmaster Sleet’s eyes darted around at all of us, and he offered us a solemn expression. “Stay safe, all of you, and keep your wits about you. You’re some of my most capable mages, and I don’t want to risk losing you.”
“We’ve got this,” I insisted. “We’ll try to keep the monsters away as long as possible so the other team can find the catalyst.”
“Good luck,” Sleet wished us, and then he turned to face the water mage who’d given us the news. “Conor, come with me. I want you to join the Shadowscape team.”
“Yes, sir.” Conor nodded, and then the pair walked into the crowd of mages with an authoritative air.
Once they disappeared, I took a breath and gently tapped my leg against the pyrewyrm’s serpentine side.
“Let’s go!” I called out, and each of my monsters let out sounds of enthusiasm as they pumped their wings. Braden’s king gryphon let out a war cry of its own, and then we took off into the sky.
The sound of mages clambering in scared and excited tones rose up around us, and as we soared into the air, I steadied myself atop my pyrewyrm and kept one hand near my bandolier. While I could borrow abilities at will now, I still needed to be prepared to summon a monster quickly, especially since I didn’t know what we were going up against. I prayed to the Maker that our opponent would be nothing like the Archons’ monsters, and especially not Carth’s. The last thing we needed in this hellscape of a situation was a mega-sized monster.
The pyrewyrm let out a fearsome sound as its body tilted upward, and I returned my hand to its stable position on the back of the monster. The vingehund and king gryphon flanked my summons on either side, and together, my team and I soared into the clouds and over the protective walls of Varle.
“Everyone steady yourselves,” I called out to my teammates as the wind whipped around us. “Prepare for the worst. I don’t know what we’re going up against, but count on it being a difficult fight.”
