Summoner 5

by Eric Vall

  If it was for the good of humanity, then I would always rise to the task.

  “You should get some sleep, too,” I told her off-handedly.

  Ashla stepped forward and bumped our noses together. “That’s not a bad idea.”

  I sighed softly as our lips touched, and then I snaked an arm around her to pull her flush. Ashla melted into me, and our kiss deepened when she threaded her fingers through my hair. We broke apart only moments later though, and I licked my lips to relish the taste of her.

  “Sweet dreams, Gryff,” she whispered, and she placed another quick, chaste kiss on my lips before she sauntered past me and climbed the stairs to her room.

  My lashes fluttered as my gaze followed her, and I shook my head to clear it. Oh, I would have sweet dreams all right. I collected myself and followed up after her, but though the temptation to meet Ashla in her room was pressing more and more, I made the last turn on the left and entered mine and Gawain’s quarters for the night.

  The next morning came much quicker than I had anticipated. I hardly felt like I slept, though I knew I was out like a light the moment my head hit the pillow. Gawain was already dressed when I opened my eyes. Beside my bed, my things were already packed, and there were clothes lying out for me.

  I barked out a laugh. “Did you do this?”

  Gawain turned at the sound of my voice and scoffed. “Of course not, you dolt. I’m not your mother. Ashla came in and did it for you. She didn’t want to wake you.”

  Part of me wanted to reach over and kick Gawain for being such an ass that early in the morning, but I was humbled by Ashla’s act of kindness, so Gawain went without a beating, for now.

  I sat up and stretched my arms over my head. My shoulders gave a satisfying pop, and then I rolled out of the bed. I changed quickly without care of Gawain being in the room. I wasn’t ashamed of my body, and if he had a problem with it, he kept his mouth shut and minded his own business.

  Now clothed, I straightened up my bed. It was the polite thing to do, especially since the Wild Reds were likely going to be the ones who would have to clean up our room. Then I tossed my pack onto my back and led the way out of the room, Gawain in tow. As we descended the stairs, we heard the distinct sound of tears.

  We stopped before we took the last few steps. I didn’t think either of us meant to necessarily eavesdrop, but what else were we supposed to do? Go back to our room? I supposed we could have, but that probably would have caused more of a ruckus than us staying put on the stairs until we thought it was okay to show ourselves.

  “What’s going on?” Gawain mouthed to me, and I peeked my head around the corner to see the Wild Reds had surrounded Ashla and they were saying their farewells.

  “It’s not like I’ll be gone forever,” she tried to reason despite the fact that she herself was holding back tears as she hugged Joshua, who had dragged a table over to stand on so he could hug her properly. Bless his short soul.

  “We just want you to be safe, Ashla.” Doc smiled and rested his hand on her back. He also had to wipe a few tears from his eyes.

  I felt dirty watching such a touching moment from the shadows, and I turned back to Gawain, who was still awaiting a response. I shrugged, and he rolled his eyes.

  “We don’t have time for this,” he whispered, and I stopped him before he could intrude.

  “Just because you don’t understand how it feels to say goodbye to family doesn’t mean you get to barge in and make demands so that others adhere to your time table,” I snapped in a hushed tone. I hadn’t meant to, but the way he acted seemed incredibly insensitive, and I wasn’t about to let him ruin this for them and have him make more of an ass of himself than he already had.

  Gawain jerked his arm away from me and sneered, but he stayed by my side and waited for a few more moments while the Wild Reds muttered their well-wishes to their leader.

  When Ashla finally let go of Joshua to hug Zyg, Gawain and I made our entrance. The group of them turned to us, most of them with some amount of sorrow in their eyes, all except for Karn, though from the brief interactions I’d had with him, I was pretty sure he had only three moods: friendly, angry, and drunk. Still, he was the first one to stop me as we approached. He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed almost too tightly as he looked me in the eyes.

  “You’d best look after Ashla, boy,” he warned in a deep tone. “She’s one of the good ones, so if anything happens to her, I’m coming after you, since it’s you she’s decided to follow.”

  I gulped. Karn was certainly an intimidating size, and while I was pretty sure I could still take him in a fight, I didn’t think I’d stand a chance against all of the Wild Reds. I had a hunch he wasn’t the only one who shared that sentiment.

  “Oh, stop it,” Ashla laughed and pulled me by the hand. “We’re going to be fine. I promise to write you when I get to new towns so I can check-in. In the meantime, take care of yourselves.”

  Zyg frowned, and I could tell he forced himself to step back and not let himself get overly emotional. I didn’t blame him, though. He’d just found out a long time friend was missing, and now his leader was leaving as well. The guy was having a rough week.

  “I hope you’re able to find your friend,” I told him. I wasn’t sure what prompted me to say it, but Zyg blinked with his one eye and offered me a small smile.

  “Thanks. You guys be safe, too,” he said quietly.

  “I took the liberty of bringing your horses ‘round to the front here,” Drew said as he motioned outside the double entrance doors.

  Sure enough, I spotted Eva and Holly through the window alongside what must have been Ashla’s horse.

  “Thanks for that.” I grinned. “We had best be off then.”

  Ashla said her final goodbyes, and Gawain and I headed outside to pack up our horses. Ashla followed a moment later and situated herself on her horse, and we were off as the sun peeked over the top of the roofs of the little town.

  Now that we had begun our travels again, I took the opportunity to take in what I could of Wildren before I couldn’t see anymore of it. I didn’t know when I’d ever be back here, so I wanted to see as much of it as I could without taking up too much time in Gawain’s schedule.

  Ashla rode up beside me on her horse, an all black mare, save for some of the hair around its hooves, which were white, and pointed out to our left.

  “That’s where most of the townspeople live,” she explained. “There aren’t a lot of people here simply because of all of the open areas around. It’s particularly dangerous and leaves the town open to a lot of monster attacks. Luckily, there hasn’t been many near here, and there hasn’t been one in the town itself for over a decade.”

  She then switched and pointed to the right. “Over there is more housing, but that’s reserved for the merchants and other workers of the town.”

  “Why are they separated from everyone else?” I asked. “Is it a class issue or something?”

  Ashla shook her head. “Not at all. It has more to do with the late hours merchants tend to keep. They also get shipments in all hours of the night, and many places are open here around the clock because travelers get in at all hours of the day and night. Many of them even live in their shops, and they have little living spaces above the store.”

  “That actually makes a lot of sense.” I nodded. “They keep their business away from other families so they don’t bother them.”

  “Precisely. It isn’t a huge deal anyway. It isn’t like they don’t mingle at all. Where else are the others going to go for their food supplies and everyday needs?” Ashla laughed.

  “Speaking of which … ” I trailed off and gestured vaguely to the strip of road we were on. “This is the main hub area, right?”

  “You’ve got it,” Ashla acknowledged. “Every shop in town is on this central strip of road. If you can’t find what you’re looking for on this road, this town doesn’t have it, though you hardly need to worry. The road is a long one, and there are a
large number of different shops and storefronts that likely have what everyone needs. You have to worry more about someone looking for something they don’t have.”

  “That’s a good problem to have, I guess,” I chuckled as I observed some of the signs that were staked into the ground and hanging from the awnings outside of the shops as we passed them. There was a barber, a crystal shop, another shop for scrolls and accessories, and another separate accessory shop, and that was just in my immediate line of vision. I was sure there were more ahead and definitely more behind us. The inn we had stayed at was stationed in the middle of it all, or so it seemed, as there were definitely a fair number of other buildings beyond it going back toward the thicket.

  Before long, we were out of Wildren, and the sun had fully risen over the horizon. It wouldn’t be long before it hung above our heads and made the desert all the hotter.

  “Hey, Gawain!” I called out. “Maybe we should come back while the sun isn’t out to kill us!”

  I heard Gawain scoff. He didn’t turn his horse to face me, but he nearly turned completely around in his saddle to look me in the eyes.

  “We’re already halfway there,” he reasoned. “If it gets too bad, we’ll head back and seek shade, but I want to see how much canvassing we can get done before the sun becomes a problem.”

  I cocked my head, mildly shocked at his willingness to be so accommodating. “Yeah, okay.”

  He turned back around and shifted to get comfortable again. Beside me, I heard Ashla laugh into her hand.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked with a bit of a smile on my face.

  “Nothing,” she insisted. “It’s just it seems like the two of you go out of your way to hate each other when the truth is you actually have a lot of respect for one another.”

  I gaped as the words left her mouth. “You think so?”

  “Gryff, I spend all of my time with some of the most fierce men in Mistral. I’ve learned how to read them. It’s part of being a strong leader.” She winked.

  “They definitely hold you in high regard,” I commented.

  “I’ve earned it,” she stated simply, “just as they have earned my trust and respect. They are my family out here. I spend more time with them then I do my own relatives, and I trust them with my life. It’s the least I can do when they acknowledge me as an equal.”

  “As opposed to what?” I asked.

  “A woman.” She laughed dryly. “Women, in general, aren’t viewed as strong, Gryff, but those men treat me like I can fight with the best of them, and they trust me to stick by them through thick and thin and have their backs.”

  “I know plenty of strong women,” I threw back. “Arwyn, for one. Nia Kenefick, Layla, Cyra, Erin … ” I could have gone on, but I was pretty sure Ashla had already caught my drift. “My point is that just because you’re a woman, it doesn’t make you weak. Shame on whoever told you that you were, because they were greatly mistaken, and you deserve to be treated better.”

  A stunned silence followed my little outburst. Even Gawain had slowed his horse down to fall in stride by my other side.

  “You really are cut from a different cloth, Gryff,” Ashla murmured, and I couldn’t help but notice the soft blush that painted her tanned cheeks.

  Beautiful.

  “It’s nothing, really.” I grinned.

  “No, it’s everything,” she shot back, and it was my turn to force back a blush.

  The ride fell silent for a while after that. We passed a few odd houses on the outskirts of Wildren, and we blearily waved good morning to the kind older folks as they greeted us. After that, we were back in the wilds. Mountains surrounded us on either side. Again, we came to a crossroads. Following along the western mountainside would spit us out on the other side of the desert, and we’d then have to go around the eastern mountain to get to the port city.

  The more direct path seemed more obvious. If we followed along the eastern mountains, we could take the path over and reach Balvaan in half of the time, but climbing a mountain that steep wasn’t without its perils. Climbing mountains of any kind held dangers: rockslides, steep paths and the like. Bandits were also a problem, but that was everywhere these days. They’d likely rob their own mothers if it made them a pretty coin in the process.

  The three of us stopped. There was a decision to make.

  “Thoughts?” Gawain asked me.

  I shrugged. “Both paths have dangers, but we need to scout the area before anything.”

  “He’s right,” Ashla chimed in. “We didn’t come out all this way only to turn around with nothing. We have to search the sands while we can. We’re surrounded by the mountains, so it’ll buy us a little bit of time before the heat really sets in, but it’ll get trapped before long, and we’ll be drenched shortly after noon.”

  “Not exactly appealing, is it?” I chuckled and tossed a look at Gawain, who surprised me when he chuckled back.

  “Can’t say that it is.” He smirked a little. “Very well then. Let’s split up. When the sun hits its peak, we’ll reconvene here. Unless we find something, then use a flare.”

  I patted the flare gun fastened to my hip and nodded before looking to Ashla.

  “Do you have flare guns?” I asked.

  “Of course.” She moved part of her cloak aside to reveal she too had a flare gun attached to her side. “What kind of leader do you take me for?”

  “A good one,” Gawain commented and then trotted forward with Holly. “Use your blue flares if you find something.”

  With that, he took off along the western side of the mountain. I looked to Ashla again.

  “I guess I’ll take the center,” I offered.

  Ashla nodded. “I’ll take the eastern side of the mountains. Good luck.”

  We both took off in different directions, and our horses trod across the sand. My eyes scanned anything and everything. If it shifted, if it glittered, I stopped to examine it. Mostly, I found nothing but rocks, buried by time and weather, but they didn’t hold any magical properties.

  After only a few minutes of getting on and off Eva, I gave up on riding her across the desert. How was I supposed to look and examine things if I was so far off the ground? I didn’t have any kind of levitation magic or a means of calling things to my hand, though it would be neat if I could learn something like that. I grabbed her reins, and we walked alongside one another. I stopped every so often to give her some berries, as instructed by the stable hand at the Academy. It was an encouragement to keep her going, and it had probably been a while since she’d eaten a good snack.

  We trekked for some time when I suddenly felt a sharp burn at my side. I gritted my teeth and hissed as I pushed my tunic aside. Though it was still in the sheath, my rhin dagger burned to the point where the leather that covered the blade had begun to smoke. I quickly detached it from my side and dropped it to the sand when the hot leather seared my fingertips.

  “What the … ?” I looked up. The sun had barely started to ascend past the mountaintops. There was no way it was so warm that my dagger would catch fire, and even then, that just wasn’t heard of. Did it maybe have something to do with the rhin?

  I leaned down to examine it closer. I didn’t want to risk burning myself again, so I pushed it along the sand with the tip of my boot. The leather sheath still burned, and through an increasingly large hole, I was able to see the blade glowed hot red and angry.

  A sudden thump alerted me, and I stood upright again. My pack had fallen off Eva. Spooked, she whinnied loudly and stomped her hooves in the sand wildly.

  “Calm down!” I tried, but she continued to buck and throw a tantrum. As I tried to reassure Eva and get her under control, the pack started to move on its own. Not only that, but it seemed like it was attracted to the dagger, like there was some invisible force that pulled it closer.

  As it inched nearer to me, I stopped it with my foot. Through the canvas, I felt it, a steady beat, a rhythm, like a drumbeat, or rather, a heartbeat.

&n
bsp; I was suddenly reminded of one of the cipher poems, and I gasped. I sunk to my knees, and with one hand, I opened up the bag. The cloth that the ciphers and tablets were wrapped in glowed the same angry red as the rhin dagger, and the tablet thrummed.

  Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

  My eyes went wide, and I hastily fumbled for the flare gun at my side. I didn’t even bother to check what color I’d set off as I fired it into the air, but it didn’t seem to matter. No sooner had the shot gone off did the distinct stench of rotting death and the sound like a crack of thunder roar through the open desert.

  A rift had opened right in front of me.

  Chapter 10

  There was so much going on that I couldn’t focus on one thing over the other. The rift in front of me was an obvious problem, but the ciphers and tablet continued to glow angrily. They beat against my palm as the tablet pulsed quickened, and it made my own heart race.

  It wasn’t until I saw the tip of what looked to be a metal pincer start to peek out of the rift that I shook my head and got myself together. Now wasn’t the time to observe the ciphers and the tablet. I had to worry about saving myself and my comrades first. I hastily wrapped them back up in their wrappings and shoved them back into the bag before I stood.

  With a deep breath, I readied myself for whatever monster was about to emerge from the rift. It moved slowly, as though it were testing the gate, curious as to what was on the other side, but also apprehensive. I moved my hand over my crystals and took several steps back.

  As the monster from the rift began to take a more definitive shape, I gasped, and my eyes flew open with fear. What emerged from the gate was a monster I’d only seen in textbooks, and they were ranked amongst some of the deadliest class B monsters that had ever been recorded.

  It was called a roosa. They were scorpions with giant, thick, metal pincers the size of two fully-grown humans in height and were thick. Its tail was just as menacing, and it loomed over its steel body ready to strike anything that got in its way. It was able to extend up to twelve feet in front of the body to strike its prey before it reeled back to its normal size. Big black orbs that were its eyes seemed to look into the very culmination of my being, and it sent shivers down my spine.