The Summoner's Path (D'Vaire, Book 10)

by Jessamyn Kingley

  Brogan chuckled. “Warlock familiars are pretty different than wizard ones. I can’t even picture Renny climbing up and snoozing on my shoulder.”

  “Kind of a creepy image actually,” Conley agreed. It wasn’t a long walk from the front door to Aleksander’s office but before he got there, he ran into his son.

  “Dad, are you going to stay for dinner after your meeting with the gang?” Trystan asked as he hugged Drystan and Conley in greeting.

  “Con still refuses to learn to cook, so yes.”

  “You could learn,” Conley argued.

  “Oh look, it’s Blodwen. My favorite necromancer,” Drystan called out as he spotted his son’s mate heading for them. He embraced her and ignored Conley’s irritated expression.

  “It’s so good to see you guys. We’ll catch up after your meeting,” Blodwen promised.

  “Catch up? You mean since we last spoke yesterday?” Conley joked.

  “Absolutely.”

  Leaving the friendly smiles behind, Drystan followed Conley and Brogan into Aleksander’s office. As they were told, it was full of people. The sorcerers were the same group who’d made his parents immortal. They included the warlock twins, their cousin Scheredin as well as his familiar, Brexton, Renny, the Prism Wizard as well as the two wizards who called D’Vaire home, and the Arch Lich. All of them were smiling except for the Grand Summoner. He had shadows under his navy eyes, and his shoulders were slightly slumped.

  “Everybody okay?” Drystan asked.

  “Of course, have a seat,” Dra’Kaedan invited. It didn’t escape Drystan’s attention that he patted his twin on the leg as he spoke. Whatever the Grand Warlock said, there was certainly something up with his brother, Dre’Kariston.

  “I’m not buying that. Dre’Kariston looks like he hasn’t slept in a year or so,” Conley argued.

  “We’re family, so I’ll tell you that things didn’t work out with my mate,” Dre’Kariston stated. His voice lacked emotion, but it was obvious to Drystan that the situation wasn’t as cut and dried as his words.

  “I’m sorry,” Conley offered as he took a seat. “Is there anything at all we can do to help?”

  Drystan sat down next to Conley. “Even if it’s just to talk, we want you to know we’re here for you.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate it. Unfortunately, there’s not much that can be done. He’s a Consilium dragon and doesn’t have the same emphasis on matebonds as we do. He was perfectly okay with having a relationship with me while he marries someone else and has children to further his family’s goals. I was unwilling to take part in his plan and cut him out of my life. My hope is to have the bond between us severed at some point in the future,” Dre’Kariston explained. His eyes were full of misery, and his chin quivered during his entire speech. The warlock had intense feelings for the dragon who broke his heart.

  “Oh, Dre’Kariston, I’m so sorry,” Conley replied. “It couldn’t have been easy for you to learn of his intentions.”

  “No, it wasn’t. He should’ve been up-front with his expectations for our relationship and honest with his plans for his future instead of leading me along. But, that’s the past now. Let’s talk about something good instead,” Dre’Kariston responded. The Grand Summoner wanted to discuss something besides his shattered feelings, and Drystan was more than willing to oblige him. He’d been through situations before where his friends had trouble with their matebonds.

  Glancing over at the Arch Lich, he recalled how devastating it was to see him hurting when things fell apart between him and Alaric, but there’d been a solution there. Chander made a gigantic mistake and offered not only an apology but remorse for being wrong. Now the couple were inseparable. In Dre’Kariston’s case, Drystan found it impossible to reconcile how someone could expect a mate to sit on the side while his other half put another person at the front and center of their life. For once, he could understand the merits of having a demon cast a spell to free someone from their matebond.

  “If that’s what you want, then we’ll go ahead and discuss what you’ve all brought us here for, but I’d like to reiterate that Con and I are both good listeners. Feel free to call us day or night if you need to.”

  Dre’Kariston offered him a weak smile. “I appreciate, that but let’s talk about something good, shall we?”

  “Absolutely. What’s up? Are we planning a big party to celebrate Dre’Kariston switching to dark magic?” Conley asked. Like Conley, Drystan had noticed the shift in the warlock’s power. It’d been a bone of contention between the twins over the last couple of years, and he was glad Dre’Kariston had finally embraced his true path. “I think it would’ve been more fun to plan a surprise one though, and he’s sitting in the room.”

  “Ooooh, a party. Yes,” Dra’Kaedan enthused. “With cake!”

  “You need to get over the cake thing,” Renny told him.

  “Anyway, we did have a purpose for dragging you both over here,” Chander said. “It began with an idea I had…I don’t even know how long ago, but I’ve been obsessed with dragons. When Del needed a topic for his High Arcanist project, I suggested the spell he created to resurrect fallen knights with their beasts.”

  “Yeah, we know. I know you guys are excited to use it, but we’re going to be adamant about waiting until all the sentinels are trained. We need to give the new shifters our full attention as it’s going to be a learning experience for all of us, and I didn’t think it was specific for dragons,” Drystan replied.

  “It’s not. It’ll call any shifter from beyond the veil, and I agree with waiting. We do need to make sure no one gets hurt. I’m just trying to explain how we got to today,” Chander responded.

  “Okay, so dragons. Del’s spell. What more is there?” Conley asked.

  “The idea I gave Del was rooted in a bigger project I’d mulled over for years. I even created a spell to permanently resurrect animals, which is how the Lich Reaper got his pet dog, and all of it stemmed from the two of you.”

  “We were shifters, so you wanted fallen knights to be able to do the same in the future?” Drystan asked.

  “It’s a nice side benefit. What I wanted was for the two of you to be dragons again. I couldn’t do it when I resurrected you. No one had ever pulled two men with their beasts over the veil, and I had no time to figure out how to do it then, but I’ve had centuries to research. And of course, I now have the brilliant and creative men in this room with me. We have the root of a spell to reunite you with your dragons. What we need to know is, do you want to fly again?” Chander asked.

  “I swear to Fate. Every damn time I’m around you lately, you’re making my head spin. Of course we want to fly again,” Conley assured him as Drystan’s mind choked on the possibility of being one with his beast again. It was such a tempting and wonderful scenario. “But, how would that work?”

  “We’re working on a final spell. The biggest obstacle was finding your dragons. Conley, you were one of a kind, so we knew if we found a golden beast, it would belong to you. I didn’t know where to begin to find him, but then Dre’Kariston went dark. We shadow walked and spoke with T’Eirick and Saura. They had your dragons with them—the beasts sought them out. Their idea is to temporarily resurrect them, and they’ll essentially escort your dragons across the veil,” Chander explained.

  Drystan’s eyes widened. “You saw our dragons? And you’re going to resurrect the Grand Warlock and the Grand Summoner who created our Council? You guys certainly don’t do things in halves.”

  “As T’Eirick pointed out to me, those titles belong to their sons, but yeah. They’ll be here for three months,” Chander replied.

  “I’m so fucking excited to meet them,” Aleksander threw in. “And to see a golden fucking dragon.”

  “You know my dragon wasn’t ugly,” Drystan retorted.

  “Okay, so here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to bust our asses to finalize a spell. We’ve already started working with the simulator. You two are going to have
to be unconscious. It looks like that will last at least a day but could be as long as three as your bodies recover. We’re essentially adding a resurrected body inside of you. So, it appears that instead of standard rez sickness, adding a dragon to you will just keep you comatose,” Delaney told them. “T’Eirick and Saura have the hardest part in all of this. They have to convince your beasts to cross so they can enter your bodies. As you know, the natural inclination for them is to protect you. The warlocks have no magic, so it’s going to be tricky.”

  “They’ll cross the veil. Then we’ll cast an enchantment opening your souls to be reconnected with your dragons. Chand will do the actual resurrection spells. That’s what us dark sorcerers will be doing. The light casters will be flooding you with healing to make sure not a cell in your body is harmed. That’s important so your dragons don’t balk in the middle of the process. There are a lot of moving parts in this,” Dre’Kariston added.

  “Are you all going to be lying out in the yard again like when you cast Idris’s immortality spell?” Alaric asked.

  “No, this is a big spell but it won’t affect our souls, so we’ll remain upright. We’ll be tired afterward, though,” Dra’Kaedan replied. “It’s the Reverent Knights who’ll be sleeping.”

  “So, we’ll need to be tranquilized to start?” Conley asked.

  “And we might sleep for three days. This is something we’re going to have to coordinate with Arvandus and Roman. They need to run the show while we’re sleeping. I think we need to put Chrys in the loop. We’re Council leaders—he needs to know why we’re out of commission and as the leader of the dragons, it’s probably appropriate to clue him in on the fact that technically we’ll be shifters again,” Drystan said. Then he turned to Conley. “Shifters again. I can’t believe the words coming out of my own mouth.”

  Conley leaned forward and gave him a smacking kiss. “I know! My brain’s so excited, it can’t handle it and might burst. But yeah, we need to get our Venerables and the Emperor informed about the plans these crazy sorcerers have come up with.”

  “We figured you’d want to let them know,” Chander agreed. “I think Chrys will be thrilled to see you two as dragons.”

  “I know I will be. I met you as dragons. I still have a clear image of Conley’s brilliant golden eyes,” Aleksander commented.

  “My suggestion would be to plan this for Friday evening. If all goes according to plan, you’ll be back at your desks by Monday or Tuesday,” Chander said.

  “Fuck that, I’ll be flying for like a month,” Conley teased.

  “I just want to say thanks, guys. Chand, I know this comes out of your guilt for separating Con and me. I want you to let that go, but I’m so grateful it brought you to this idea. I could live a long, happy immortal life just as I am. Especially now that you’ve returned my mate to me and given me an eternity with my parents—but to fly again? To have my beast? I’m starting to feel kind of greedy because now I want that so badly.”

  Chander smiled. “No thanks necessary. For myself, I’m starting to feel like with this group of men in here, I can accomplish anything.”

  “You hear that, boys? The pressure’s on. I think the real question is, what are we going to do for an encore?” Scheredin asked.

  “Next project is Carvallius and Latarian when we find her,” Renny said.

  “And we’ll have T’Eirick and Saura to help us,” Idris gushed.

  “Like Conley, I’m pretty sure my head’s going to explode,” Aleksander remarked.

  “Drys, get out that phone. We got calls to make. Plans to form. Dragons to resurrect and all that.”

  Shaking his head at his crazy mate, Drystan did as he was told. “Anyone who is ever okay with normal should steer clear of this place and all of you.”

  “What can we say? Being a freak is a fabulous fucking thing,” Renny crowed.

  Chapter 26

  Delaney rubbed his eye with his fist. “I think we’ve got the spell we need. The simulators are giving it a low percentage because there’s no way to alter the parameters of the dragons crossing the veil. There’s no way to tell it T’Eirick and Saura will be doing that. If we look at the results broken down by stages, everything but that part is in the high nineties. This is going to work.”

  “I agree, and I’m getting tired of staring at this damn thing,” Chander replied.

  “Good, then we’re on track to do this tomorrow night,” Dre’Kariston added.

  “Little brother, if we’re going to stay on schedule, you’ve got to get some fucking sleep. This is primarily a dark sorcery spell. All the big juice is coming from you three. You can’t maintain that high level of concentration when you haven’t slept in nearly a week,” Dra’Kaedan told him gently.

  “He’s right, you know. This is you, me, and Del. You look like shit and I know you’re hurting, but this will fail without you. I know you don’t want your head messed with, but let Dra’Kaedan cast a sleep enchantment on you. We’re done with the spell, so you can sleep right up until an hour before we start. You’ll get a delicious meal, and then we’ll reunite you with your folks and drag these dragons into our Reverent Knights,” Chander threw in.

  “That’d be sleeping for nearly twenty-four hours.”

  “It’s not like you don’t need the rest. Have you slept at all since you learned the truth about Somerly?” Scheredin asked.

  “Snatches here and there. I’m just so…pissed,” Dre’Kariston blurted out. “And it seems like just when I get calmed down, something reminds me of it. I get all churned up and torn apart inside again. I’m trying very hard not to hate him, because it’s detrimental to me, but why did he lie to me? Why didn’t he just tell me from the start that he was going to get married? I brought him into my life, into my home, and he knew all along I was painting a picture of the future with him in it.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “I keep seeing images in my head of him with someone else. It’s driving me insane.”

  “It’s a horrible thing to see that. To wonder if right now he’s fucking someone else. I know it’s hard, and I’m so sorry. You know, they already fucking hate me in the Consilium. I could pop over there and kill him,” Chander said.

  Dra’Kaedan gave the Arch Lich a baleful stare. “You know, you really shouldn’t offer to kill someone’s mate.”

  “I wanted to kill Alaric when I thought he was fucking Victor,” Chander argued.

  “Yeah, but then you found out it wasn’t true, and now you’re back together. Imagine if you’d managed to go through with your plan,” Dra’Kaedan countered.

  “Hey, I appreciate the optimism, but there’s no way I’m getting back together with Somerly. Still, you can’t kill him. It won’t fix my stupid heart anyway. I’d probably spend my time mourning the asshat. No, this will all go away. Intellectually, I know the feelings will dim and I’ll get over it. I just hate the way it’s tearing me apart right now. I hate this.”

  “Maybe it was a bad idea to focus on this dragon thing instead of helping you work through those feelings,” Scheredin suggested.

  “No, I need this. I like having something to do. It’s cathartic in a way, just like painting my room and getting rid of all that white. I’ve had a productive week. I would’ve gone insane without doing stuff. When I get crazy and want to cry, I think about my parents coming here and the excited faces of the Reverent Knights.”

  Before anyone could respond to Dre’Kariston, Aleksander popped his head into the Coven of Warlocks’ office where the sorcerers and Alaric were all hanging out working on their project. “Hey guys, Chrys is on the phone. Got a few minutes to chat with him?”

  “Absolutely,” Dre’Kariston replied.

  Aleksander walked in and grabbed a chair, then set his phone down on the table in front of him. “Okay, Chrys. We’re all here.”

  “Gentlemen, I’m having quite a week, and you’re responsible for the giant smile I’m wearing.”

  “Chrys, if you’re hoping that when we resurrect Drystan an
d Conley’s dragons they’ll return to their roles as emperors you’re doomed to disappointment,” Chander responded.

  “You sound just like the Reverent Knights. Why can’t anyone understand that I might want a vacation at the very least?”

  “Go to the beach for a week like a normal person,” Dra’Kaedan retorted. “Fate made you Emperor. She’s not going to snatch it and give it back to Drystan and Conley. They have the Order of the Fallen Knights to rule—they don’t need to take on your shit.”

  “You’re just bitter you can’t hand your title back to your dad when he gets here.”

  “Yeah, it’s such a hardship overseeing a race of seven men,” Dra’Kaedan said dryly.

  The Emperor’s rich laugh filtered through Aleksander’s cell. “I’m incredibly excited to meet your parents.”

  “You and everyone else that knows they’re coming. I think it’s going to be up to them how public they want their visit to be, but I know they’ll want to meet you at the very least,” Dra’Kaedan commented. The twins agreed about discussing with their parents the necessity of them staying permanently but because T’Eirick and Saura had yet to give their consent, it was important to stick with the temporary resurrection idea for now. Dre’Kariston hoped it wasn’t as uphill of a battle as he expected it to be. His parents had once ruled the warlocks; they weren’t easily dissuaded from their ideas. The good news was that neither were their sons.

  “I sure hope so. It’ll be an unbelievable honor to spend any time with them. I’m so grateful for their work in creating the Council and the foundation they built for Chander to grow. Without the previous leaders of the Council, who knows where we’d all be today?”

  “Is that what you wanted to discuss? Securing your invitation to meeting T’Eirick and Saura?” Chander asked.

  “Partly. I know how remarkable you all are, but I’ve got the leaders of the Order of the Fallen Knights going into the unknown. I understand how difficult it is going from man to beast, and I didn’t have the complication of having my dragon being pulled from the other side of the veil. I’m looking for some reassurance here that next week I’m still going to have Drystan and Conley ruling their people.”