A Summoner's Calling

by Jacquelyn Evans

Volcano : Jet

  13

  Jet lays curled in a ball within the shadows of her cell. Her arms lay between her thighs like a cushion and relieve the excruciating pain from the horse. Lying on the cold stone ground, she’s grateful to its slight numbing capabilities which sooth her body’s pains. But then, sounds of multiple people walking down the hall catch her attention. Jet opens her tired eyes and lifts her head, looking at the cell door.

  Three soldiers stand before the door. One of them turns a valve, illuminating the cell by using the lava’s burning light. Jet cringes, as she tries to hide from the sudden brightness. Raising her arm to shade her, she feels the rising temperature venting through. What do they want now? she wonders.

  Opening the door, they all traipse in. As they stop, the one leading them orders, “Get up.”

  “Screw you,” Jet says as her eyes begin to adjust to the light in the cell. Two of them come over, each grabbing a wrist. Both forcing her to stand on her bruised ankles. Before she could try to remove her wrists from their grasps, they cuff her in shackles without linking chains. She notices unique symbols etched into the metal.

  The soldiers let go of her, but before she could ask anything, the soldier before her says, “You’ve been summoned.”

  She tries to muster the might to punch him, but he snaps his fingers and teleports her to an open room.

  As she reappears, chains from the ceiling spring forward and attach to her cuffs, locking her arms and pulling them into the air. Jet looks around to find herself in the torture room filled with other instruments as another person struggles on a stretching contraption.

  She looks left as a cloaked figure leans over another, injecting something. The cloaked figure whispers inaudibly. The person on the rack is picked up and shoved into a tall cylinder with rough iron spikes on the inside covered in dry blood. The door is shut. Their muffled screams could still be heard throughout the room.

  The cloaked figure turns, and Jet’s eyes widen with fear and anger. Vladimir.

  “Ah, it worked. Splendid.” Vladimir gloats, clapping his hands together.

  “What do you want?” Jet asks, despising having to see him again so soon.

  “While I imagined you’re still rather worn out from your horse ride, I’ve decided to take this opportunity to see if we can bring that power out of you for me to control,” he says. The soldiers from her room enter, one of them carrying a bowl of mixed foods.

  “That’s never going to happen. You can’t break my resolve. You haven’t the whole time I’ve been here, and it won’t start now,” Jet laughs.

  “True, but that will change once we bring in your sister,” Vladimir smiles.

  “You’ll never get her. She’s talented at hiding,” Jet smirks, staring him down. Kozic, you’d better not let them get her, Jet prays. She remembers him as the one that winked at the castle when they escaped down the hall.

  “Well, we’ll see shortly. In the meantime, eat. You must be famished from that horse ride,” Vladimir offers as a soldier walks over with a bowl of soft foods. They have strange blue and purple colorations to them and smell sweet.

  “No, I know better than to eat anything from your hand freely,” Jet says as her foot adjusts to her standing position and realizes nothing has tied down her ankles.

  “I’m not asking you to eat.” He picks up a biscuit and holds it in front of her face. The soldier steps a couple steps closer for him. Jet sighs and sees a look of triumph on Vladimir’s face, but she has a different idea in mind.

  She grips onto the chains and flip kicks the bowl backward out of the soldier’s hands, spilling the food onto the ground. Before Vladimir could back up, her toes touched the ground. She side jumps, kicking him in the face. He falls back, dropping the biscuit.

  “I told you that I’m not eating that,” Jet smiles, shrugging her shoulders.

  “You didn’t bind her feet. Argh. This is what I get for being nice.” Vladimir throws up his arms and orders several men to assist.

  “Nice. You? Be nice? I don’t think you even have a clue how to be nice,” Jet says while trying to kick the soldiers away. Two take ahold of a leg each, while two more bind them to the floor. Then a man, standing behind her, draws out a whip, giving it a crack to catch her attention.

  “You’ll eat this, one way or another. You men; I don’t care how, but feed her this damn food,” Vladimir demands, pointing to the biscuits on the ground. Some of them soak up blood from other victims. The men salute and retrieve some biscuits. They approach, and the man behind her cracks the whip across her shoulders, but it doesn’t cause pain. He cracks it again but still no response. The soldiers attempt to force feed her, but she turns her face side to side and crumbles the food. Then she bites one of their noses before head butting another.

  “Hold up, hold up. This won’t work if you can’t do your job. Did you forget how or something?” Vladimir rubs his brow.

  “No sir, but…” The man with the whip says.

  Vladimir walks behind her. “Show me.”

  The man lashes Jet with the same force he always used. Force that met Vladimir’s expectations. Jet again feels no pain, but Vladimir sees her back react with a white swirl and immediately heal.

  “What do you wish I do, sir?” he asks as Vladimir curses, but then a portal opens and Kosmos steps out.

  Vladimir walks to Kosmos and whispers. Kosmos steps through the portal, leaving it open.

  Jet hangs there, confused. One of the soldiers rushes her. She notices and hits him with the top of her forehead. The momentum knocks him unconscious. Then Kosmos comes back with some tools, one of them being a whip with a white flail end. It’s fine and braided and glistens like a crystal. Vladimir nods. Handing the new whip over, he says, “Try this.”

  He lets out the first crack, just as before. Then he cracks it at her back. As the whip breaks through the skin, Jet grips the chain, trying not to buckle.

  “Much better, sir,” he says.

  “Good. Men, I don’t think I need to tell you what to do,” Vladimir moves to the side. The whip continues to crack, and she struggles to keep her mouth shut. She breathes the pain through her nose while crumbling their biscuits as before.

  “That’s it. Grab her hair. When I say so, plug her nose,” the soldier standing in front of her says. The second steps to the side and yanks her hair. He waits for the soldier’s word. The man behind her cracks the whip, making her gasp for air through her mouth. The soldier says instantly, “Now!” She tries to close it, but the soldier on the side grips her jaw to keep it open as he shoves the biscuit inside. He then loosens his grip of her jaw and covers her mouth, forcing her to swallow.

  “Alright, stop. Good job, gentlemen. Let’s give it a minute,” Vladimir says. They step aside. Within minutes, Jet’s arms become too heavy to control. Her senses can now pick up the hot airflow in the room, and her eyes hurt from the heat. Confirmed in her body’s inability to defend any of Vladimir’s actions, Jet can hear the start of hastened thumps of her panicking heart.

  “God, what did you feed me?” Jet asks, trying to fight the sensitivity.

  “Oh, good. It’s taken its effect. It’s something that makes this whole experience more enjoyable,” Vladimir grazes her arm, and a surge of ecstasy runs down her body.

  “What was that?” Jet says, fighting her body’s natural urge to moan.

  “Just a concoction that nicely maximized your senses, granting me the chance to call out your sleeping power.” Vladimir smiles and nods to the man behind her. It dawns on her what’s coming next. He cracks the whip, and she cries in pain. Her screams echo through the halls. Kosmos hands Vladimir something white and shiny.

  “What’s that?” Jet blinks as her eyes water, blurring her vision.

  “Well, from when you disappeared from us due to an intense injury, it became apparent that the quickest way to call out your power is by pain. So, I’ll recreate that same scenario, followed by placing an enslavement device around your neck. It
gives me control of that power,” Vladimir says, standing next to her. She feels a pleasurable smoothness from the tool Kosmos gave him rubbing up and down her arm. Then Vladimir takes the tool and slices the surface of her arm, sending her nerves into a frenzy with mixtures of pulsating pain and pleasure.

  “I won’t let it be yours,” Jet struggles as he slices again in strokes.

  “You don’t have a say in the matter.” He grabs her chin and makes her look at his eyes, “…and don’t worry. The same treatment you’ve experienced will be the same for Erryn. It’ll be a nice sisterly bonding experience for you both.”

  “No. You’ll never have her.” She lifts her chin out of his grip and bites his hand.

  “How dare you!” He retrieves his hand from her mouth and smacks her. It feels equivalent to a punch to the face. While Vladimir bandages his hand, he sends a soldier to place a hood over her head. Jet hears something being dragged. It passes between her legs. She feels the chains loosen while discovering that her fingertips are starting to regain normal feeling.

  Having unchained her, the soldiers manhandle her. They force her onto a bench where they secure her hands under the narrow table. Jet feels pressure on her chest from a soldier holding her down. She hears swishing just before a force of water hits her face.

  Thrashing her head, she notices the water entering her nose and mouth along with the fabric, instead of the lacking air. The flow stops, and Jet begins coughing, gasping for air.

  “You’ll not bite me,” Vladimir demands as Jet regains enough air back. She hears the guy refilling the bucket.

  “I’ll bite every hand off if that means you won’t be able to land a hand on her,” Jet shouts back.

  “Again,” Vladimir orders the two men. Snickering, they start pouring more water while holding her chest down.

  Volcano : Vladimir & Kosmos

  14

  Vladimir watches as his soldiers waterboard Jet, waiting for any signs of her powers to show as Kosmos hears a signal. After a quick check, Kosmos determines that it originated from the castle.

  “Vladimir, they’ve returned,” Kosmos says.

  “Oh, really? Alright, that’s enough. Sit her up,” he orders the soldiers. Kosmos closes his portal and opens another. Jet coughs for air, squinting as they yank the hood off her.

  “Wh-what’s going on?” Jet looks around as her eyes adjust.

  “Your sister is coming,” Vladimir smiles, pleased with his accomplishment, but Kosmos looks back at him with a raised brow. First through is Kozic, and after he steps to the side, Gesthal steps through. After Kosmos closes the portal, Vladimir keeps looking for Erryn to step out with her hands bound. Though, Kozic kneels and Gesthal keeps his head down.

  “I told you, you weren’t going to get her,” Jet laughs with relief, but it’s short lived as Vladimir spins. Grabbing a spiked, rusted gauntlet on a nearby shelf, he slaps her in the face. He drops the gauntlet and walks over to Gesthal, trying to keep a king’s calm persona.

  “What happened?” he asks.

  Gesthal hesitates.

  “My patience is wearing thin, my friend. Now tell me what happened or so help me god…” Vladimir’s temper nearly explodes as Jet laughs.

  “The situation was progressing as planned. The village was willing to give her up, but then a friend of hers stood by her as she reawakened Nija’s fire god, Zaravarn,” Gesthal says.

  “Oh, she succeeded, did she? Erryn has definitely come a long way to be this strong with magic in just a year,” Kosmos says.

  “Didn’t I tell you? She was good at hiding,” Jet shouts the reminder with a chuckle. Vladimir glares hard at her over his shoulder, to see a near vacant expressions of a battered woman, hinting to her mind slipping from what is present. You may have bolstered about your impenetrable resolve but it’s clear you’re finally breaking. Let’s shine a little light on what’s current, Vladimir thinks, holding a finger to silence the others as he now faces her direction with clenched fists. He looks over to the wall and stomps to a lever as the two soldiers hurry to move the plank, making her stand. Vladimir snaps his fingers as her arms are raised. Her feet are lifted off the ground, and she hangs in the air.

  “Right now, there is only one of two things I want from you. That’s either your power or your screams. Your banter and laughs are not wanted,” Vladimir says. He pulls the lever and a bloodied iron horse elevates out of the floor.

  “No,” she shrieks as he points to several people, one of them being the man holding the whip.

  “Kozic, you’re dismissed. Go train,” Vladimir orders as Jet is placed on it and whippings resume.

  “Yes, your highness,” he bows to Vladimir and leaves clenching his fist.

  “How hard is it to catch one little girl? Just one,” the enraged king pokes, shoving the general’s chest. Then, he turns to Kosmos, “And you. It’s because of your theories ‘needing’ me to wait is why she’s not here right now. And for what?”

  “Excuse me?” Kosmos says.

  “Sir, with all due respect, I think he sent her there for a reason,” Gesthal starts catching Vladimir’s attention. “She’s able to call on her power.”

  Vladimir stands stock still, dumbfounded by the news as a forgotten warmth of joy builds within him. He hasn’t felt such bliss since before the death of his father.

  “You saw it?” Kosmos steps next to Gesthal.

  “Yes, although a small amount. She used it in summoning their god. She collapsed afterward, though,” Gesthal explains.

  “So, she doesn’t have full control of it yet. There’s still time,” Kosmos declares.

  “Is she still in Nija?” Vladimir asks.

  “No, sire. Thanks to a magical door, I have reason to believe they have transported beyond the harbor town walls of Pinya,” Gesthal replies.

  Hm, that’s going to cause a problem, Vladimir thinks as he listens to Jet’s cries and looks to her defiant eyes.

  “Although you were unsuccessful, storming that harbor will need some preparation. Regardless,” He shrugs and pauses his thought while walking over to Jet. He signals to have the horse lowered, as some with her toes barely touching the surface. She’s barely conscious.

  “Sir?” Gesthal looks to Vladimir.

  “Jet, pay attention because this part is crucial,” he says in an almost tender tone, while he brushes her check with the back of his hand, revealing her exhaustion. Vladimir’s caring façade flips to a smug smile, gripping her very sensitive and bruised vaginal lips. It causes her eyes to grow wide at him. “There you are. Now understand this. Yes, you were right; I didn’t get her. However, now she’s somewhere backed into a corner where she’ll have nowhere to go. I’ll be personally bringing her home in one fashion or another. Once I do, I’ll make sure you and Erryn will never think twice in escaping me ever again.”

  Her eyes filled with rage. Trying to lunge at him, she makes him let go of her as she begins breaking the links in the magical chain. Then a majestic voice speaks with Jet’s voice, “You will be dead before that happens.” Jet’s eyes slowly change to an absolute black and her right arm begins morphing her fingers into black-bladed claws. A violent aura erupts around her, continuing to weaken the chain further. It breaks, freeing her. Vladimir shouts for someone to get the collar, never witnessing such darkness before. She jumps at Vladimir, trying to maul him, but Gesthal intervenes and pulls Vladimir back. Kosmos teleports behind her.

  “Jettrina,” Kosmos calls to her as she whips her attention to him with a gaze sending shivers, which he only remembers feeling during the last god war. Vladimir is handed the collar as Kosmos impulsively knocks her out cold, praying that she remains down.

  “That was it, wasn’t it?” Gesthal points at her as she lies sleeping.

  “That was different then the light from the last experiment but now we know something else. Erryn is now not just a marvelous power to be had. Instead, she’s another key to unlocking and gaining control of Jet’s powers. How crucial you’ve be
come. Kosmos, don’t forget to do your job and contain your gods,” Vladimir scolds.

  Kosmos glares at him, disgusted with his words. “Watch your tongue mortal, for I’m the only reason you’ve come across food for your greed. Plus, she’s in the palm of my hands. It’s only a matter of time. You worry about Pinya.” He turns, stepping through his portal into a vast meadow.

  Pinya : Erryn

  15

  Traveling through the teleporter, Erryn is surrounded by images flashing up from her past as she’s forced to revisit one of Jet’s experiments she had witnessed. With crystal clarity, Erryn recalls how Jet was strapped down to a metal table. Her meager efforts to resist were rewarded with a hard slap to the face from Gesthal’s gauntlet. Vladimir immediately follows-up, injecting a needle of a vile serum into Jet’s neck. In seconds, the concoction causes Jet’s body to convulse, spasming multiple times until falling limp and leaving silence to hang about the air.

  Erryn struggles to push away the returning feelings that Jet is dead. She can see down the tunnel to an opening, which meant the end of the teleport, but the visions of Jet’s torture remains. After several people in white coats remove Jet’s restraints, vibrations shake the room. A white power emanates from her rising from the table into the air.

  The white light grows brighter, blinding the area around Erryn as she closes her eyes to shield them, covering her ears to drown out the explosions. Then she feels the hardness of her landing. The ground is rough with patterned indents from a bricked path.

  Erryn continues to have her eyes closed and her ears covered as a gentle grasp touches her wrists. She resists but her hands begin to lift just a little, and she hears, “Erryn, it’s okay. It’s all over.”

  She opens her eyes to a darkened alleyway. The ground is filled with bricks. They are in between two buildings which are framed with metallic bases. The walls are layered with thick weathered wood. The air feels damp on her skin as the smell and taste of salt permeates the area.