Summoner 5

by Eric Vall

  I laughed a little. “You don’t have to, you know. Don’t think you have to follow me just to impress me.”

  “I don’t,” she replied confidently and strode past Orenn and me. “I can do that without parading around you like a lovesick kitten.”

  Both Orenn and I eyed her as she marched on ahead. We wore the same amused smirk.

  “Where do you keep picking these women up?” Orenn teased.

  I shook my head and chuckled under my breath. “Beats me, but I’m glad she’s on our side.”

  We snorted, and then followed after her.

  I finally took a long look at the lay of the land in front of us. Dark purple sand surrounded us, and the sky was a lighter shade of the same color. There was nothing around us to be seen. There were no mountains or decimated towns, just a plain of vast nothingness. It was a little creepy if I were being completely honest.

  “So,” Orenn began after a short while, “what’s happened since I left?”

  I barked out a short laugh and side-eyed my comrade. We had a lot to catch up on. I filled him in on the other rounds of the Magicae Nito and went into more depth about how the rift opened within the mock one as we were in the middle of the exam. I also told him about Miriam Sharpay and Sleet’s plans to undermine her, and how Gawain and I had been sent out, along with the others who had been deployed to seek out the ciphers in the hopes of being able to translate both the tablet and the book.

  Ashla also listened in carefully, but I didn’t bother to mince words at this point. I had no reason not to trust her. She was willing to share with us what she knew, and based on the things she had told me in our short bursts of alone time, I came to the conclusion that she was someone who this information was safe with.

  Orenn whistled as I rounded out my tale on how we got to this point.

  “That’s quite a story,” he said as he crossed his arms. “I thought I had it rough.”

  I chuckled a little, and then remembered Orenn had been on this journey for longer than we had. He’d been sent ahead of us after he failed his round in the Magicae Nito and was supposed to have retrieved one of the ciphers as his solo mission to redeem his position on the monster defense squad.

  “So, were you able to find the cipher Sleet sent you to find?” I asked with vague hopefulness.

  “Unfortunately not.” Orenn shook his head and frowned. “I’ve been searching for days, even stopped in Tietra like you, but there was nothing to be found. Elder Sterling was supposed to be my beacon of hope, but I couldn’t wrap my head around what he was talking about.”

  He chuckled a bit, though it was dry, mirthless. “To be honest, all of this is way over my head. I don’t know anything about ciphers or seals, or anything like that. I’m just the tank that protects the people who do all of the hard work.”

  “Don’t say that,” I said and clapped Orenn on the shoulder. “You’re plenty more than what you give yourself credit for.” I then sighed and crossed my arms. “I mean, this is all a bit over my head, too. I’m kind of just making it up as I go along, but so far, it’s worked out for me.”

  “You definitely do seem to have a bit of luck on your side, that much is for sure,” Orenn said with a chuckle and brightened a little. “Thanks, Gryff. I don’t feel so bad about being lost in all of this now.”

  “Don’t mention it.” I grinned. “We’re in this together, and we’ll get through it together.”

  Orenn returned my grin, and we bumped fists. It was nice to have him back in my corner.

  “Gryff, look.” Ashla stopped suddenly and pointed out toward the horizon.

  I squinted my eyes to focus my vision. Sure enough, there was something there aside from stagnant sand, but it was hard to make out what it was exactly.

  “Let’s keep moving,” I ordered. “That’s the only way we’re going to find Gawain and get out of here.”

  But the moment I said that, I stopped dead in my tracks as Ashla and Orenn started to walk ahead of me. I heard the sound and justified fear and caution made me wait and listen to make sure it wasn’t my imagination.

  It was a song, but not just any song. It was the song I’d heard coming from the rift in Bathi Highlands. The sound was muffled, as though the person who serenaded us was behind several thick walls, but I could definitely hear it.

  Was I the only one that could?

  “Gryff?” Orenn called back to me, and Ashla turned as well. Concern was etched on their features, but I had no way to ease their minds. The last time we’d heard the song, we were headed into an inverted rift and a battle against the angel monster that still plagued my dreams from time to time.

  “Tell me you hear it.” I looked at Orenn with narrowed eyes. If the angel from Bedima was here, that could spell even more trouble than we had bargained for.

  They were both silent as they listened to the space around them. I’d started to fear it was all in my head when Orenn’s eyes flew open finally.

  “It’s--”

  “The song,” I cut him off. “I know, but where is it coming from?”

  The three of us continued to look around for the source, but nothing caught our eyes as to what could be making the melodic sound.

  “Let’s keep pushing on toward whatever that disturbance is,” Ashla suggested. “We might not find it standing here, but at least we’ll have made progress.”

  She was right. We needed to do as I originally said and press on. I focused myself and started forward again, but my senses were amped now and ready for whatever laid ahead.

  We walked for what felt like hours, though it was likely only minutes. Time was screwy in the Shadowscape, after all. Every step we took seemed to only drag out the stretch we tried to reach further and further with no end in sight, though that was definitely not the case when we were suddenly inches away from falling into a pit.

  I stopped short and waved my arms to keep my balance.

  “What is it?” Ashla asked as she stepped up beside me.

  “Are they whirlpools of sand?” Orenn stepped up to my other side.

  “Looks that way,” I answered with a shrug, “and the song is only getting louder.”

  “Maybe whatever we’re looking for is nearby then,” Orenn suggested.

  I nodded as I looked out over the next expanse. It was in fact spotted with pits ranging from the size of a coin to ones twice as large as I was laying flat in diameter. They all spun clockwise, as far as I could tell.

  All of them, that was, except for one.

  “What do you think is special about that one?” I asked.

  Ashla and Orenn turned their heads to see what I was looking at and examined it with equal curiosity.

  “Let’s go see.” Ashla smirked, and Orenn and I followed as we slid down the slope of the dune with ease.

  As we walked across the sand, I noted how the sound grew louder and became less muffled the closer we got to the one pit that swirled opposite of the rest. I was still a little afraid of what we might find, but I knew we had to persevere for the sake of everyone on the outside. I had to persevere for Gawain’s sake.

  We stopped at the edge of the sand pit that swirled the other way, and the song was as clear as ever through the sand.

  “Is it coming from below?” I thought. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense, but it was the only thing I could think off.

  “Let’s say that it is,” Ashla huffed as she whirled around to face me. “How would we even get down there?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t have all of the answers, hence why I’m asking the questions in the first place.”

  She didn’t question me after that, and we stopped at the edge of the opposite swirling sand pit. I knelt down. What were we supposed to do now?

  “Gryff, do you have a coin I could borrow?” Orenn asked suddenly.

  I gave him an incredulous look from the ground. “What for? Planning on buying me some sand flowers while we’re here?”

  “Don’t flatter yourself too much,” Orenn snorted. “I
have an idea.”

  Skeptical, I fished into the pocket of my pants and pulled out a coin as requested. Then I placed it in his palm, and he walked over to one of the other nearby holes. As I opened my mouth to ask him what he was doing, he promptly dropped it into the sand pit, and I watched in stunned silence as my money swirled down the spiral of sand and into … somewhere.

  “Ugh, next time use your own coin,” I scoffed. I didn’t necessarily need the money, a single coin wasn’t going to kill my funds, but it was the principle of the matter.

  “I would, but I’m fresh out,” he explained. “Bought a loaf of bread with it this morning.”

  I rolled my eyes as Ashla laughed.

  “Can I have another?” he asked, and I reluctantly handed him three more so he would stop asking.

  He walked further away and dropped one into the sand. It disappeared like the first one. The same thing happened with a different hole after that. When he came back over, he still didn’t look deterred by whatever his idea was.

  “Still think you’ve come up with something?” I asked curiously.

  “Well,” he began, “if you think the music is coming from below, then there has to be a way down. Since the sand pits swirl down, I thought maybe they would land somewhere.”

  I looked him over for a moment, then to Ashla who shrugged and nodded. Maybe that wasn’t such a farfetched theory. My eyes drifted to the opposite swirling pit, and I looked back at Orenn who had the coin ready in his hand. He tossed it in, and we all watched with hope that it would do something different this time.

  Round and around it went until the indigo-colored sand swallowed it. There were a few moments of silence, and I started to think we had cracked. Of course, there wasn’t anything on the other side. How foolish of us to believe in something so silly.

  I stood, ready to find a different solution, but then amidst the song, I heard a soft, tiny plink. It was just loud enough to distinguish that it wasn’t a fluke, as Ashla and Orenn heard it, too.

  There was something down there after all!

  “And you said you weren’t smart,” I teased Orenn and lightly jabbed his shoulder.

  The bigger male laughed a little. “I said I didn’t understand ciphers and seals. I said nothing about anything else.”

  “That’s all well and good,” Ashla interrupted, “but how are we supposed to get down there?”

  I thought about it for a moment, then took a deep breath. I knew it was crazy, but it was just crazy enough to work.

  With a deep breath, I leapt into the sand pit.

  “What are you doing?” Ashla yelled. “Are you crazy?”

  “Trust me,” I told her plainly as the sand started to creep around my ankles. “If I don’t make it back, well, at least it’ll be a fun story to tell the boys when you see them again.”

  “So help me, Maker, Gryff, get out of there!” she warned, but by then it was already too late.

  The sand started to swallow me, and my feet were stuck. Even if I had a change of heart, I’d already sealed my fate. Reckless? Absolutely, but if this was the only way to find the source of the song and find Gawain before the rift closed, then it was a risk I was willing to take. I’d do the same for any of my friends, and even if we weren’t the best of them, I’d still do what I could for Gawain.

  “You know Miss Hamner will have my head if you don’t come back,” Orenn warned.

  “Tell her it was for the good of science,” I laughed, but I knew he was right. Arwyn would have been a fierce force to reckon with if my body ever turned up. She’d already expressed once how much she hated that I’d skirted death as much as I did. If I actually died …

  I decided not to think about it and focused on my hope that this was the solution. After all, it only took the coin a few moments to clink on something, so there had to be open air not too far below the vortex. The sand continued to creep up my body, and as strong as the current was around me, I was oddly relaxed. It was up to my neck in seconds, and I sucked in a deep breath of air before my head could go under.

  The sandpit consumed me, and all was hot, sandy darkness for a few moments until I dropped onto a hard surface with a thud. I groaned and rolled to the side. The coin had broken my fall, not that it actually helped since I’d landed on what looked to be black marble. I looked up and saw there was a purple vortex of sand where I’d been spit out of.

  “Can you hear me?” I tried, but I got no response. “Ashla! Orenn!”

  There was a beat more of silence before Ashla answered.

  “Gryff! Are you okay?” she asked frantically.

  “I’m fine, I’m fine,” I tried to reassure her, but I didn’t know how well of a job I was really doing. “Listen, you guys have to do it, too.”

  “I’m sorry, what?” she asked, and I sighed. I should have known she’d be stubborn about this.

  “Just get into the pit and let it swallow you,” I told her as though it was the easiest thing to do in the world. “You’ll be fine, I promise.”

  I heard her scoff. “Famous last words.”

  “You could stay up there and potentially be alone to find your way back to the rift gate, or you can join me and Orenn. Your choice, Ashla.” I was almost teasing her, but despite the mildly amused undertone, she did need to make a decision. Each moment we spent planning our next step was a moment we could lose Gawain before the rift closed.

  There was a muttering of something not quite coherent, but it was along the lines of, ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this.’ After a moment, though, Ashla’s feet began to penetrate the vortex. I stood beneath her and caught her as she fell through. I didn’t want her to land on the surface of the marble the way I had.

  She looked up at me with a fierce blush and then scrambled to have me set her down. I complied easily, and she righted herself before she took a deep breath.

  “Thanks for that,” she muttered bashfully, and I barely resisted the smirk that threatened to creep onto my face. Damn, she was cute sometimes.

  “How goes it down there?” Orenn called down.

  “The water’s fine. Hop on in,” I joked.

  I stepped out of the way, and moments later, Orenn joined us. He’d landed on his feet somehow, and I equated him to an oversized feline.

  “Well, now that we’re all here … ” I trailed off and finally got a look around the place.

  The same black marble we stood on was everywhere. The walls, the floor, the ceiling, everything was made from it. There were windows on the outside wall that showed nothing but an eerie purple light that made my head ache. Somewhere outside in said strange light were sounds of monsters mulling about, but I couldn’t make out what they were. If I had to take a pandering guess, though, the monsters that lurked out there were big and not very friendly.

  All the while, the song continued, and it was more clear than it had been before.

  “Which way?” Orenn asked.

  I looked up and down the narrow hall we had landed in. We seemed to be toward one end, as there was a wall nearby without any doors indicating that it could lead elsewhere. The song seemed to be coming from the other end.

  I turned in the opposite direction and pointed. “This way, but keep quiet. No sense in alerting the monsters guarding the place that we’re here.”

  Ashla and Orenn both nodded, and the three of us treaded lightly as we moved down the hall. There wasn’t anything else significant about it. All that was there were the windows and more of the hallway. No pictures or sconces with torches, nothing, but the hallway had to lead to somewhere.

  “What do you think this is?” Orenn asked.

  “Beats me,” I replied quietly. “I didn’t think there was anything like this that existed in the Shadowscape. Normally, it reflects the destroyed mirror image of what Mistral looked like, but there was nothing like this in Mistral that I know of.”

  I looked to Ashla as she was more informed about the ciphers and the lore than I was, but she shook her head.

 
“I’ve never come across any mention of this in any of my research,” she admitted. “Though it is strange how intact this place is. It looks like it’s never been touched, like it’s brand new.”

  “Or no one has been here in years,” Orenn added. “Something tells me we aren’t the first visitors, though.”

  He nodded to what looked to be the other end of the hallway. There was a door on the right just ahead, and beyond that, a glowing white orb floated against the far wall. The closer we got to the orb and the door, the louder the song became, and the hotter the rhin dagger at my side burned. We were definitely onto something.

  “You don’t think Gawain is here, do you?” Ashla asked.

  “I’m not sure of anything anymore,” I admitted. It was true, though I was still confident we were where we were meant to be.

  When we came upon the door, we noticed the engravings in the same language as the symbols on the tablet and in the book. What the heck was it? Everything seemed to connect back to the strange mystery language, and it was suddenly everywhere.

  Orenn put his hand on the door then wrapped his fingers around an ornate black handle. He pushed, and then pulled, but nothing happened. It didn’t even budge. Maybe it was locked?

  “There’s no getting in there,” he said with a frown.

  Simultaneously, we all looked at the white orb that floated several feet away. I stepped around Ashla to get a better look at it, and I noticed there was something inside.

  It was another cipher.

  “No way!” I exclaimed quietly, and I reached my hand out to touch the orb. The light itself didn’t burn me, though it felt hot to the touch. I easily removed the cipher from the orb, but there was no time to celebrate our success.

  The song stopped immediately, and the light suddenly grew brighter. It illuminated the entire hallway, and as it did, the growls from outside grew into terrible roars.

  Something had been alerted by that flash, and it was coming for us.

  Chapter 11

  “This is bad!” Orenn exclaimed, and he backed himself against the wall out of instinct to put distance between himself and the monsters.