Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Summary
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Epilogue
Other Books
Summoner’s Call
The Summoner Trilogy: Book One
Sarah Anne Piddock
Cover Art by Tithi Luadthong
Copyright © 2020
All rights reserved.
For Anne,
Thank you.
For showing me the joy of reading.
For all those trips to the library,
and carrying those piles of books.
I write because of you,
and writing helps fill the void you left behind.
I will never stop missing you.
I wish you could’ve seen what I have become.
In loving memory,
Your daughter, Sarah
Rhianwater - difficult to reach yet even harder to escape, it serves as both school and prison to demon summoners in training. When Seiya is forced to attend she cares only about passing the exams as quickly as possible so she can return home.
But when Seiya secretly breaks the rules and removes the demon’s bindings she finds they are far from vicious monsters, becoming her friends and willing allies. Facing animosity from her fellow students and getting ever closer to openly defying the Masters, Seiya needs all the help she can get.
Chapter One
‘Trouble’s coming.’
Seiya paused at Diroc’s warning, cursing at the small boy and horse hurtling towards them.
‘Pa would have a fit.’ Resting the fence rail on the floor she turned round to face the miscreants with hands on hips, prepared to give her most disapproving big sister glare.
‘That would be slightly hypocritical of him,’ Diroc levered himself up from the floor to join her watching the incoming missile.
‘So he did the same then, when he was Jarin’s age?’ she gestured at the figure atop the charging pony. Ridiculously long brown curly hair bounced around a misleadingly angelic face, as had been proved during the last attempt to try and cut the flowing locks. After a furious tantrum and bloodshed as Jarin had nearly lost an ear along with his hair her mother had given up. At seven years old her darling twin brothers had suddenly decided they wanted to be as different as possible; in contrast Hamish insisted his hair was kept cropped so short her mother had to cut it every few weeks, the quiet boy unusually defiant.
‘Actually,’ Diroc caught her eye and grinned, ‘Samuel was blindfolded.’
‘What?!’ Seiya gaped as Diroc shrugged nonchalantly.
‘I think it was some kind of bet,’ he mused as Seiya’s attention was fully occupied preventing Jarin plowing into them, his poor horse skidding to a stop just in front of Seiya’s waving arms.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’ she demanded angrily. Reaching out to grab the reins she belatedly realised there weren’t any. Speedy, for that was the rather unimaginative name Jarin had come up with, seemed to watch her with even more amusement than her brother as she glared at the pair of them. She decided to reassess her feelings of pity for the “poor horse”.
‘Somebody at the ranch is asking for you,’ Jarin quickly blurted out before she could launch into her lecture. ‘They seemed really really important,’ his eyes were already going into innocent puppy mode but Seiya didn’t believe for a second that his charge had anything to do with the urgency of the message. Jarin only had one speed, and that was somewhere between break-neck and suicidal.
‘They better be,’ she warned as she vaulted up behind. For a minute she thought Speedy would try and throw her off, but luckily he thought better of it, contenting himself with a few prancing steps and head tossing.
‘Will you look after things here?’ she called back to Diroc who replied with a mock salute. With her father confined to the house after a nasty broken leg she’d been keeping an eye on the day-to-day running of the ranch. Not that she was needed, Diroc had been running things in the background since her father was a boy.
‘Get going then,’ she admonished as Jarin gave a whoop, Speedy living up to his name as they shot back towards the farm.
‘You asked for me?’ Seiya walked into the presence of the two visitors looking decidedly more wind blown than she intended. She could almost sense the older of the pair wrinkling his noise in distaste as she tried to subtly wipe most of the dirt off her hands. Suddenly she wished she had ignored the urgency of the message and taken the time to wash properly.
‘These two men are from Rhianwater,’ her mother, Nayria, said the name slowly, glancing at the pair who nodded slightly in confirmation, ‘where they train summoners.’ The phrase sounded vaguely familiar and Seiya scrabbled through her memories for a match.
‘Yes,’ Seiya nodded as she made the connection, ‘I sold Gryi to a summoner, about five months ago.’ Seiya could see Gryi clearly enough, the mare had been very placid and sweet natured though lacking in any pace; that had seemed to please the summoner, though she couldn’t even recall his name. ‘Are you looking for something similar?’ she enquired, already running through the available mounts in her mind.
‘Of course not,’ the one who had been looking at her with distaste seemed insulted, his eyes narrowed and even though they were the same height Seiya felt he was looking down at her. ‘The one who was here before sensed you had a strong gift, so we have come to take you to Rhianwater for training.’ Her parents stiffened as the man spoke, clearly this subject had already been broached.
‘Thank you for the offer,’ Seiya forced herself to smile politely, ‘but I’m happy here at the ranch, I have no interest in training to become a summoner.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ the summoner looked at her contemptuously, ‘you have no idea of how powerful you could become.’
‘Like I said, that doesn’t interest me,’ Seiya determinedly fixed the smile in place as she repeated herself. ‘I’m happy here,’ she looked over and caught her father’s eye.
‘I’m sorry for your wasted journey,’ Samuel stepped in smoothly before the summoner could reply, ‘but my daughter doesn’t want to become a summoner. Was there anything else you wanted?’ There was no mistaking the dismissal in the final question, the summoner drawing himself up indignantly in response.
‘You don’t understand,’ at the condescending tone Seiya was sorely tempted to physically throw him out. ‘This isn’t a request. Your daughter’s untrained power is dangerous, she has to come with us to Rhianwater.’ There was nothing friendly in his smile, as he took a step forward Seiya instinctively retreated.
‘This is ridiculous,’ she hoped the anger in her voice hi
d her anxiety. ‘I don’t have any power, nothing has happened before. Your person got it wrong.’ The summoner’s smile widened triumphantly as he beckoned to the one standing behind him. The younger one carefully lifted a milky coloured glass orb from the satchel over his shoulder and passed it forward.
‘This orb is used to test summoning gifts,’ the summoner held it out towards his companion and Seiya was shocked to see the younger one pull out a knife and make a small cut on his fingertip. ‘It reacts only to the blood of summoners with significant power.’ As the boy pressed his bloody finger to the orb the milky glass instantly cleared, shining with a cold white light. The moment he lifted away the light disappeared, the orb returning to its previous state as the main summoner gestured towards her and her parents.
‘Would you care to test it?’ Seiya was tempted to smash the orb on the floor just to wipe the smug smile off his face. She looked at her father, his expression was grim but he still stepped forward, supported by her mother and his wooden stick. She hadn’t even seen him draw a blade but blood already oozed from his finger. His touch on the orb did nothing more than leave a bloody red print, the milky clouds swirling indifferently inside the glass. Seiya could sense all eyes turning towards her.
‘Even if I do have this gift,’ Seiya eyed the orb with deep misgivings, ‘why would I suddenly be a danger now?’
‘You could accidentally summon a demon into this world, can you imagine the damage it would do?’ The summoner’s eyes bored into her, ‘how would you feel being responsible for the deaths of everyone you care about?’ Seiya shuddered inwardly as she pictured some unstoppable monster ripping its way through the ranch. There was no way she could risk it.
‘If I do have this power,’ she stressed as she met the summoner’s gaze, ‘how long will it take to train so I won’t cause any accidental summonings?’
‘A year or two.’ Seiya’s jaw clenched and her eyes hardened as the summoner shrugged, ‘maybe less if you are very talented.’ She looked over at her parents, to be away from them and Jarin and Hamish for the whole year? A part of her yelled that her father would need her help, but deep down she knew that Diroc and her mother were more than capable of supporting him.
‘Let’s hope I’m talented then,’ she forced a smile in her parent’s direction as she nicked her finger on her belt knife and pressed it to the orb. The blinding white light sent her senses reeling, the sheer intensity momentarily stunning her until she pulled her finger away. Blinking as everything returned to normal Seiya saw she wasn’t the only one, everybody looked disorientated.
‘Well then,’ Seiya turned to see the summoner smiling at her, the expression sending shivers down her spine, ‘you’ll be coming with us?’
With the battle essentially won the summoners wasted no time dragging her away. Youally, the older Master summoner, didn’t seem to believe in goodbyes; there was barely time to embrace her parents, her mother managing to track down Jarin and Hamish as she argued with Youally about what to bring. Hugging the two boys she extracted every promise she could think of that they would behave themselves. The sincerity was touching, Jarin assuring her he’d look after their parents. It was just a shame Seiya knew it would be a miracle if it lasted the day.
Giving in to Youally’s demand that she bring nothing with her as Rhianwater would provide everything Seiya couldn’t think of any excuse to delay further. Bifull, the younger quiet summoner, stopped just short of physically dragging her out the door, though his presence sent a clear message that he would be prepared to step in if she changed her mind. As the youth was the human equivalent of a cart horse Seiya doubted she would have much of a chance against his solid bulk.
To Seiya’s surprise their destination was a wicker basket carefully hidden off the side of the track. Arms folded she watched sceptically as Bifull lifted it out into the open, it really was just a scaled up version of a typical picnic hamper, even down to the huge handle arching over the top. Bemusedly Seiya copied the two summoners by climbing in, neither would tell her anything and Bifull motioned her to silence as Youally started muttering under his breath. Seiya’s eyes widened as a dark shape appeared in the sky, rapidly resolving into a creature flying towards them. By the time it landed Seiya was forced to revise her previous half-hearted belief in demon summoning. The beast was huge, the thin body stretching back almost snake-like to well over five horse-lengths. The hide looked scaled, but at a distance it was difficult to tell if it was soft or armour plated. Several pairs of small legs protruded from the body, the feet resembling birds claws. But no wings, even though she had watched it weave through the air it was difficult to believe it could fly. The head itself seemed like a cross between a dog and a lizard, long and slender it sprouted a pair of graceful swept back horns matching the ridges along its spine. The blackish hide looked strangely beautiful as the sunlight danced across revealing a rainbow of colours. As if sensing her scrutiny the eye focused in on her, a deep honeyed amber with darker colours whirling in its depths.
‘It can’t hurt you,’ Youally’s smug voice made her jump and she bit back her instinctive retort; he didn’t need to know she felt no fear of the creature lying before them.
‘It’s completely bound, I can control its every movement. It has to do what I command.’ Seiya nearly choked on the glee in his voice. Hoping neither summoner had seen her reaction she controlled her anger and swallowed the urge to shout at him to let it go free. The creature, or perhaps she should call it “demon”, she thought grimly, still watched her and she could have sworn there was an intelligence in its gaze.
‘Wouldn’t it be easier to train them?’ she was relieved her voice remained steady.
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Youally looked at her with thinly veiled contempt, ‘it’s a demon, evil and vicious. If I relaxed the bindings even for a moment it would kill us all.’ Seiya didn’t bother to argue, turning away to watch as the demon rose up and hovered above the basket, taking the handle in its claws. She swayed as the basket lurched as it was lifted into the air, her hands gripping the edge as she watched the ground shrinking beneath them.
For most of the flight Seiya hung over the side of the basket, captivated by the ground rushing beneath them and the demon flying above. Youally’s attention seemed focused on controlling the demon but Bifull, at Youally’s prompting, began telling her about Rhianwater and the summoners. From his bored tone she assumed that normally those who attended Rhianwater already knew most of what he was saying. She stayed where she was at the basket edge, looking at him occasionally when he paused to show she was listening, even if not that attentively. Students were organised by level, not age, as the gifts could manifest anytime during adolescence. At seventeen she would be one of the older trainees, most were the children of families with strong summoner ties; the children presented regularly for testing so they could be trained the moment their gifts awakened. Summoners progressed up the levels by passing exams, Youally adding that with her abilities she would be expected to pass level five and become a fully trained summoner. Bifull was a level six, though from what Seiya could tell he was effectively an apprentice to Youally. There was no mention of what made a Master summoner. Each summoner level could only summon corresponding demon ranks; a level one could only call rank one and two, a level two could summon three and four, all the way up to level five using rank nine and ten. The level sixes, Bifull explained proudly, could summon any demon though the recognised rankings only went up to thirteen; beyond this the demons were too powerful to control. Seiya’s attention was drifting away as she nodded absently, more interested in watching the final rays of the setting sun than listening to Bifull boast about Youally’s prowess in summoning the rank twelve demon carrying them. As darkness fell and there was no longer anything to see Seiya belatedly realised Bifull’s droning had stopped and looked round to see him sitting in the corner of the basket, sheltering from the wind.
‘How much further is it?’ she called over. By her reckoning they’d been
flying at least three to four hours having set off late afternoon.
‘You can see the lake up ahead,’ Youally answered her as Bifull remained silent, no doubt irritated at being ignored earlier. ‘Rhianwater sits in the centre.’
Leaning out the basket Seiya could see the moonlight reflecting off a body of water ahead, an island sitting like a black hole in the centre. Small, flickering lights were visible as they got closer, Seiya could even make out the buildings as the demon dropped lower. The school itself appeared to be a huge stone edifice, the imposing walls and narrow windows reminded her more of a castle than a place of learning.
‘There are the boats,’ Bifull was stood next to her pointing downwards and she could just make out a small jetty going out to the lake, a boat house sitting alongside. The whole thing appeared to be surrounded by a high wall and Seiya began to wonder if it was to stop people coming or going. Her apprehension grew as the basket was placed gently on the ground, if the only way off the island was by summoning a high rank flying demon or one of the well-guarded boats she was going to be trapped. Having safely deposited the load the demon released the handle and Seiya watched its silhouette against the moonlit sky as it landed a little way from them. Initially she wondered why Youally was still binding the demon but one look at his face gave her the answer; he wanted to gloat, to look down on the demon and make sure it knew he was the one controlling it. She noticed he didn’t stand too near though, however strong his power may be he didn’t get close enough that a sudden flick of teeth or claw would see him wounded. Seiya leapt from the basket before anyone could stop her, catching both summoners by surprise as she ran towards the demon’s head.
Summoner's Call (The Summoner Trilogy Book 1) Page 1
