Summoner 16, p.15
Summoner 16, page 15
Fuck, it was creepy.
“The gray prowler is pretty powerful,” I complimented loudly. “You must have to concentrate really hard to control it.”
The crowd of students took a big step backward at my words, as though they suddenly remembered the rare occurrences when summoners lost control over their monsters.
As I stared at the statue-still gray prowler, the word frozen circled my brain a few times, and then an idea struck me. So, I dug into my hip pouch beneath Dio’s butt until I found the crystals I was looking for.
I’d never tried this before, but I was sure it would work.
“Don’t you worry, kid,” my teacher responded with a confident smirk. “I’ve got it completely under control.”
“Oh, I have no doubt,” I agreed easily. “I’m just impressed.”
To emphasize my point, I tossed out the crystals in my hand, and a moment later, my ice imps formed in the air in front of me. I immediately gave them the mental command to attack, and in my next breath, a thick layer of frost was developing around the prowler’s legs.
The squirmy, snake-like monster writhed and broke free from its icy restraints, but an instant later, it was frozen in place yet again. Try as it might, the muscular arms the creature used to propel itself forward were stuck, but that didn’t stop the beast from spewing its acidic spit toward my summons.
As the projectiles of corrosive liquid sprayed onto my imps, they screeched in pain and fell from the sky as their stubby, leathery wings twitched uselessly.
I recalled my imps with a wave of my will, and I frowned as I realized my original idea wasn’t going to work.
Time to improvise.
Dio practically roared with excitement when I gave him the command to attack, and he grew into his largest size as he leapt from my hip pouch. His comically long fangs seemed more proportional once the massive saber-toothed tiger monster occupied the empty space between me and the gray prowler, and I was reminded once again that the two-foot-long teeth could crush a skull instantly.
“You didn’t toss out another crystal, so I can only assume that’s your familiar.” Professor Brevens sounded surprised. “I didn’t know you had one.”
Shame and regret filled his eyes, and I tried to give him a subtle smile of encouragement, but I could tell he was losing his will to fight. Dio growled and leapt forward, though, so I refocused on the battle between my familiar and the gray prowler.
My large cat-like monster dodged the spit bullets with agile grace, and once he was within range, he swiped a long, sharp claw against the snake-like monster’s throat.
Grayish black blood oozed from the wound, and the sound the prowler made as it died made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
The round was over almost before it began, but Dio stood victorious over the dissipating remains of my teacher’s monster.
“Whoop!” Layla shouted from somewhere off to the side. “Go, Gryffie! You did it!”
“He still has to win one more round,” Braden reminded her.
“But they’re tied now, right?” The petite summoner bounced up and down on her feet, and the side-by-side comparison between her and the ox-like summoner standing next to her made her appear miniature.
“No,” Rori argued in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “Another round will not be necessary.”
“What are you talking about?” I raised my voice so I would sound angry and offended. “You’ve only won the first round, the match isn’t over yet.”
“Don’t interrupt me, you little shit,” my teacher said, and he shot me a reprimanding look before he returned his gaze to the audience. “What I mean is, I forfeit.”
What was he doing? He was messing up our entire plan. Maybe the headmaster’s presence had sapped my teacher’s nerves, or maybe the idea of my familiar getting injured had made him feel bad, but I still hadn’t expected him to give up before we even finished the match. His eyes blazed with determination, though, so I had to trust that he knew what he was doing.
A gasp went through the throng surrounding us, and then loud whispers buzzed through the students until I couldn’t hear myself think.
“Don’t,” I warned in a cautious tone, and I pleaded with my teacher with my eyes not to give up.
“Furthermore!” Rori’s brown eyes lit up as he turned to face Sleet, almost as though his declarations were cathartic. “I hereby tender my resignation effective immediately.”
Disbelieving arguments and loud debates amongst the students drowned out everything else, and I shook my head in amazement.
Just like that, and it was over.
Rori got what he wanted, a final moment of glory before he left, and I got what I wanted, a chance to look human and unpossessed by demons in front of my peers. It was even more of a win-win situation if you considered the fact that each of us had won a round.
Not bad for my first day back at school.
Chapter Eight
Dio pranced toward me with a triumphant air. See, I didn’t even eat him.
He shrank as he strode proudly toward me, and by the time he reached my feet, he was once more the size of a kitten. So, I scooped up my familiar and gave him some grateful rubs under his neck before I returned him to my hip pouch.
While the duel hadn’t gone the way I’d expected it to, I couldn’t say I was upset. It was against my character to fake anything, and I definitely wasn’t the type to purposefully throw a fight in favor of my opponent, but I didn’t regret my decision.
It seemed the duel had given Rori the confidence he needed to chase his dreams, even without leaving as a winner.
I had to admit, I respected him more for his decision to forfeit than I would have if he’d followed through with our plan.
“Hurray!” Layla shouted as she pumped her fist up into the air. “Gryffie won!”
“My husband is the strongest warrior,” Freya commented in a proud voice. “I knew he would win against the fat oil man.”
“I think Gryff was the only one here who didn’t expect himself to win,” Cyra pointed out.
“Now, can you explain what the fuck that was all about?” Nia demanded as she pushed past the others and came to a halt inches from my face. Her blue eyes were icy, and it was obvious she didn’t appreciate being left in the dark.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner,” I said with genuine remorse, and I lowered my voice so no one but my friends could overhear. “I didn't want to risk messing up the ruse.”
I could see Headmaster Sleet speaking with Professor Brevens in my peripheral vision, and the two faculty members pointed to me with emphatic gestures while they were in the midst of what looked like a rousing debate.
“So, it was a set up?” Braden looked confused still.
“Yeah, pretty much.” I smirked. “Well, up until the end.”
I could see Sleet lock his eyes onto me and start to move toward me, so I steeled myself for the consequences to what had to have been a blatant disregard of the rules.
Duels weren’t against the rules, were they?
When Gawain had challenged me, the match was strictly regulated and supervised, but this was much less formal. It had to be different when it was a fire mage versus a summoner instead of two summoners against each other, right?
“Whatever caused all the fuss isn’t as important as the fact that we’re late to our next class,” Nia declared, and she waggled her hands in the direction we needed to go next. “Move along, yokel, play time’s over.”
My fiancée was right, I needed to get to class. If I wanted to pass the midterms, I had to show up to every single lesson, so Sleet would have to wait. Besides, he was the headmaster, I was sure he valued my education regimen more than he wanted to punish me, anyway.
With that in mind, I slipped into the crowd and followed my friends away from the dueling grounds.
It only took me a moment to stop off at the bathhouse and pull my training garb from my pack. Since I was staying in the tavern and couldn’t just run back to my dorm room in the middle of the day, I had a bag full of everything I needed for my first day back at the Academy.
I met back up with Braden, Layla, and Nia as we headed toward the back end of the training grounds where arms training and hand-to-hand combat were taught.
Last year, our physical training exercises occurred every three days, but they lasted for the entire day, so I was grateful for the change of pace. It seemed the schedule for my second year was designed to be balanced with Monster Response Squad duties, which made me wonder when those obligations usually began for students.
Nia and I had both been rare exceptions when we’d been asked to join Monster Response Squad 46 during our first year. We’d shown a lot of talent, potential, and courage, though, since we’d entered a rift on our own and held the line until reinforcements arrived.
When I stepped into the familiar grounds, two teachers stood at attention waiting for us. The man was tall and bony, with skin that seemed to tightly stretch across his face and revealed the obvious bone structure beneath, but he didn’t look unhealthy, just severe. His head was shaved, beard groomed, and he wore a crisp green uniform. He seemed every bit the no-nonsense military man, and he was exactly the same as I remembered him.
The woman was older, and her hair was graying, but she kept it tied back in a restrictive bun. Her features were soft and rounded, and they stood in contrast to her steely eyes which had a tendency to burrow into each of her students with an intense scrutiny. She had obvious laugh lines etched into her face, but I’d always gotten the feeling that she didn’t laugh much.
They were, of course, Mrs. Gerelda the archery and firearms instructor, and Major Tytus Jareck, close quarters combat teacher.
I’d learned a lot more than I’d expected to from the experienced fighters, and I was grateful to be back under their tutelage, even though I knew my skills had increased since they’d last seen me fight.
“It’s good to see you guys,” I greeted with a friendly smile, but I was met with only confused stares.
Had my appearance changed that much?
Then recognition dawned on their faces, and they exchanged a knowing glance.
“Mister Gryff,” Mrs. Gerelda said with a curt nod. “Good to see you in one piece.”
“I’ve heard some of the craziest rumors,” Major Tytus commented with an amused lilt to his voice.
“If you’re expecting to receive special circumstances, then I must inform you that you are highly mistaken.” The older woman sniffed defensively. “I understand you have spent a great deal of time away from school, but I still expect the same level of performance and grit from you, young man.”
“Hear, hear,” the major mumbled, but he clapped me on the shoulder as he gave me a rare smile. “Welcome back.”
“Thanks.” I smirked. “And don’t worry, I don’t expect special treatment. If anything, I want the two of you to make things harder for me.”
“Did he just say that?” Braden asked with a bewildered expression.
“Yep,” Layla confirmed in a solemn voice. “He sure did.”
“He has a death wish, obviously,” Nia commented with a roll of her eyes. “What else do you expect from Gryff?”
“True,” Braden chuckled.
I shot him a hurt look, but my roommate merely shrugged.
Before I could defend myself against my friends’ verbal jabs, though, Mrs. Gerelda began to bark out her orders.
Class had started, it seemed.
The rest of the afternoon passed by quickly for me as we ran through drills and fired at targets for hours upon hours. After we’d turned our arms numb with rifles, and my fingers stung from the bowstrings, it was Major Tytus’ turn to put us through the ropes.
He pushed us without pause until sweat dripped from my forehead and fell into my eyes. I blinked through it and continued to focus on the firmness of my punches, the straightness of my kicks, and the smoothness of my breathing while I sparred against my classmates. In between sparring matches, I shadowboxed outside the edge of the onlookers, so by the time the two teachers dismissed us for the night, my entire body felt numb.
“Let’s go meet up with Freya and the others,” Nia suggested as we ambled back toward the dorms. “We can go into the city and check out some available houses.”
“That’s a great idea.” I gave my ashen-haired fiancée a wide grin. “Just let me wash this sweat off first.”
“I’ll join you,” Braden offered.
“Fine.” Nia smiled sweetly, and her long silvery pony tail whipped as she swiveled and veered away from us. Then she waved a hand over her shoulder as she called out her final message. “Come to my dorm to get us when you’re done!”
“Women are weird,” my roommate observed as he watched my fiancée leave. “Is she always that bossy?”
“Only when it affects something she really cares about,” I explained, and my heart swelled with love for the beautiful prodigy. “You can always tell what’s making her anxious by looking at what she’s trying hardest to control.”
“Wow, man,” Braden gasped as his eyes went wide. “I never thought about it like that, but you’re right. No wonder you get the results you do.”
“It’s not magic, or anything.” I chuckled. “It’s just who I am.”
“Uh-huh, sure,” he countered with an exaggerated wink.
“I’m pretty sure there’s at least one thing about you that’s magic,” Layla remarked as she bounced into view seemingly out of nowhere, and her hazel eyes twinkled as she let her implication sink in.
Braden’s face turned crimson, and he looked away from the petite summoner to stare at his feet.
“Be nice,” I warned in a stern tone.
“What happened to you?” Layla huffed. “You’re less fun. It’s like you went and got all grown up or something.”
I frowned thoughtfully as I mulled over her words.
Had I changed that much?
My thoughts were heavy as we finished the trip to the bathhouse, and I waved a reluctant Layla away while Braden and I stepped into the men’s side. If the ornery summoner wanted to see inside the pools, we both knew she could, but I was hoping she would be nice enough to give me and my roommate some privacy.
I’d gotten into the habit of sending Dio back into his crystal whenever my clothes were coming off, but he seemed less reluctant to return to his cramped container the more I let him spend time being active.
I supposed the claustrophobic sensation could get really intense if there was no guarantee of relief.
I showered before slipping into the soaking pools, but Braden was already leaning against the edge with his head hung back. I was surprised the baths weren’t busier considering the heavy sweat we all built up during physical training, but I could hear laughter and voices in the neighboring indoor sauna, so I knew we weren’t entirely alone.
Still, it was nice to let the warm liquid dissolve the aches and stress of the day.
“So, what’s it like being married?” Braden asked after a long moment of silence.
“Not too much different from dating, I guess.” I shrugged, which caused the water around me to sway. “The idea of being a father was weird at first, but I’m starting to get excited.”
“No way,” my roommate exclaimed as his eyes went wide. “You want to have kids?”
“Sure.” I grinned. “I’m not getting any younger.”
“That’s totally something a dad would say,” he commented with a sly smile.
“It’s totally something Maelor would say,” I agreed. “It’s hard to believe there was a time when that would have offended me.”
“You’ve grown up a lot over the last several months.” He nodded to emphasize his point.
“I don’t feel like I’ve changed that much.” My brows creased as I thought over the treatment I’d received since returning to Mistral. “Everyone acts so different toward me now… ”
“Not me.” Braden smirked. “But I still love ya, man.”
“You know I love you, too, you big lug.” I grinned through liquidy eyes, but it had to be the steam from the baths blurring my vision.
“So… ” The ox-like summoner gave me a sheepish grin. “Have you picked your best man yet?”
“Is that your only motivation?” My jaw dropped with mock hurt. “I thought you loved me.”
Braden laughed. “I do. Which is why I know you’ll make the right choice.”
“You mean, you?” I retorted as I mirrored his laugh. “You make a good point.”
“Pssh.” The summoner waved his hand dismissively as a blush crept up his neck, but then he leveled a serious look at me. “Seriously, though, whoever you choose, just know that I’m really happy for you and Nia.”
“Thanks, man,” I said as my heart swelled. “That means a lot to me.”
After that, the conversation dwindled while my roommate enjoyed his soak and I swam a few laps around the pool. By the time I emerged from the water, my fingers were shriveled and pruny, but it was worth it, since my muscles hadn’t felt that relaxed in a long time.
Once I was dressed and presentable, I waved goodbye to my roommate and headed to the girls’ dorms to retrieve my women. As I walked across the campus lawn, I summoned my familiar once more, but he didn’t make a single comment as I situated him into his normal spot. It took me a moment to remember the layout and where Nia’s room was, but a short while later, I stood before the door marked ‘311.’
I could hear giggles and muffled female voices on the other side of the wooden portal as I knocked on the door, and a moment later, Nia pulled it open to reveal her crowded room.
Freya, Layla, and Cyra sat on one side of the elementalist’s king sized bed, but I could see Arwyn’s long alabaster legs folded over the edge of the sitting chair, and then I spotted Erin and Ashla sitting cross legged on the floor.
All of my favorite humans in one place, Dio noted in a pleased voice. Place me on the floor so they can give me all the pets.
“Hi, Gryffie!” Layla greeted me with an energetic wave. “Can I hold your familiar?”
