Summoner school 5 a reve.., p.17
Summoner School 5: A Reverse Portal Fantasy, page 17
“That would be nice,” I said. “I’d have to let the others know that we’re going tomorrow morning.”
“I can send the messages right now,” Sarya said. “Do you have some paper and a pencil for me to borrow?”
“Right here,” Ramis said and pulled some out of his leather pants’ pocket. “Summoner tools, you know.”
“I do,” I chuckled as Sarya started to write everything down to send to the others. “We actually came to take Rarus and Ramis with us.”
“Another mission? Or a hunt?” Senior asked as we all started to eat. “You’ve already taken down that traitor, Alec Enzaron, so I’m guessing this has something to do with that fire mage. What’s his name?”
“Jason,” Jasmine provided.
I looked between Rarus and Ramis and wondered which one of them had told their parents about the missions and the cultists, but both of them looked equally guilty. They’d said that they were close to their family, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise that Jasmine and Senior knew about the headmaster and Jason, but hopefully that information had stayed within their immediate family. I knew that Rarus said that minotaurs would never betray each other, but that was a dangerous generalization, because there was always a weak link.
“You’re right,” I said and took a deep breath. “Jason’s tracker has been turned off.”
“You’re sure?” Rarus asked and sat forward. “Then we need to go right now. We can’t wait until morning. What if he’s already gathered his army and is ready to attack another town?”
“Rina and Mike are creating weapons that will work against the shadow creatures,” I said and then took another bite of the surprisingly tasty fish stew. “Giving them the rest of the night to prepare will only benefit us in the long run.”
“Patience is a virtue,” Jasmine agreed. “And you’ll need a good night’s rest.”
“The other’s have been informed,” Sarya said and gave Ramis back the writing materials.
“Good,” I said with a smile. “We can relax tonight and then head to the north mountains tomorrow morning.”
Rarus sighed but didn’t say anything as his mother shot him a warning look. I understood the bull-man’s urge to go right at that moment, but Jasmine was right about it getting dark, and the last thing that we needed was to run into a bunch of shadow creatures when they were in their element.
I just hoped that there wasn’t another attack while we waited.
Chapter 11
“Good morning,” Sarya said as I walked into the dining room.
The redheaded elf wore a white apron with ‘Kiss the Cook’ written in dark letters, and flour covered every inch of it like she’d gotten in a fight with an entire bakery. I grinned, walked over to the messy chef, and gave her a quick kiss before she rushed back into the kitchen to pull something out of the oven. The fire mage yanked a tray of fresh biscuits from one of the ovens and then sighed with relief when she saw that the rolls had turned out okay.
“She’s been in there with mom all morning,” Rarus said as he strolled into the dining room. “They were up before I went for my morning jog. I’m used to mom being up that early so that she can send dad and Uncle Grikn out to sea with enough snacks to get them through, but Sarya insisted that she could help, too.”
I glanced out of the large windows that overlooked the hillside and the ocean far below. The sun was barely over the horizon, and the pinks and purples of sunrise still colored the fluffy clouds that hovered over the water. I’d felt Sarya leave the bed when it was still dark outside, but I’d fallen back asleep for another hour or so and didn’t wake back up until the first gray light had peeked through the window.
“She’s trying to learn to cook,” I shrugged and took a seat. “And she doesn’t sleep very much.”
The table was already laden with eggs, bacon, sausage, and some kind of white gravy that smelled vaguely of nutmeg. The women had definitely worked hard to make so much, though Jasmine was probably cooking to get out the nervous energy about our mission the same way that Rela always did. I wondered if my own mother would’ve been the same if she and my father had lived, but thankfully, Sarya walked in with the tray of biscuits before I wandered too far down that path.
“I’m doing okay with the cooking,” Sarya said. “Jasmine said that the biscuits are a little dense, but nothing that some gravy can’t fix.”
“It looks delicious,” I said with a reassuring smile.
“I’ve had worse,” Rarus grunted as he chewed on one of the biscuits. “You should’ve seen when Ramis tried to learn. It was the worst.”
“Yours were worse than mine,” Ramis said as he joined us. “If I remember correctly, you actually burned mom’s cabinets so badly that dad had to replace them.”
“All mishaps lead to learning,” Jasmine said like a mantra that she’d said over and over. “So, when are you all going?”
“As soon as we’re done eating,” I said. “I woke up to a message from Mike. Rina is going to have to stay behind, but he’s coming with one of the shotguns and some shells for it that are supposed to act like one of the light bombs. My grandpa taught me how to shoot when I was a teenager, so I’ll actually be the one in charge of the gun.”
“Just as well, since I need my hands free for casting,” Rarus shrugged. “You summoners have the benefit of having your hands free since your pets do most of the work.”
“It is helpful,” I shrugged. “It’s probably why I’ve managed to beat you so many times.”
“Not that many,” the grouchy minotaur huffed and then started to stuff his face.
“No fighting at the table,” his mother said with a pointed stare at both of us. “Now, you all sit and eat while I pack you some refreshments. Rarus, Ramis, make sure that you dress for the north mountains. I haven’t been to the Magia Schola realm in a long time, but the one and only trip to those mountains was cold and windy, and I don’t want you coming back with a cold.”
“Yes, ma’am,” both minotaurs said at the same time.
I pulled the chair out next to me for Sarya, and the redheaded elf let out a sigh of relief as she sank into it. The fire mage had grown up with enough servants and staff to cook every meal for her, but my mate was competitive, and it seemed to bother the proud woman that Atlesia could cook so well. I reached over and squeezed Sarya’s hand and then purposefully grabbed a biscuit, took a big bite, and then moaned with delight.
“It’s not that good,” she huffed, but a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. “It’s just my first try. But I promise that one day I’ll be able to help Atlesia in the kitchen, too.”
“We’ll work on it together,” I winked.
The rest of breakfast was relatively quiet as we devoured everything in sight. Rarus and Ramis went to change and pack their bags while I helped to clean up the mess, and Sarya worked with Jasmine to pack the bags. There was so much food left over that we’d have rations for a few days, and soon we were all loaded up and ready for another adventure.
“Everybody ready?” I asked as we all met in the hallway.
“Yep,” Rarus said.
Both of the minotaurs were dressed in a heavy wool shirt and jacket that matched their leather pants. It was odd to see the usually shirtless men wearing more clothing, but the last time that we’d gone into the mountains together they’d almost frozen to death. They’d clearly learned their lesson, and Ramis had even added a bright red scarf that was tucked into the front of his coat like we were about to go on a walk in a wintery city park instead of on the hunt for a wayward fire mage.
“Let’s go then,” I said and pulled out my amulet.
“Be safe,” Jasmine said from the doorway to the dining room. “And let me know as soon as you can that you’re okay.”
“We will,” Rarus said with a warm smile that seemed wrong on his usually grumpy face. “Love you.”
“Love you, too,” his mom said and then looked at Ramis. “Both of you.”
I concentrated on my memory of the map that Rina had shown me and the location of Jason’s camp, flooded the transportation amulet with mana, and opened the portal to the north mountains. Cold rushed in as if it was still the middle of December instead of spring break, and little snow eddies drifted in to melt on the stone floors. I took a deep breath, hugged my own jacket closer, and then stepped through into the snowy mountainside.
The north mountains were a lot bigger in person than they’d seemed on the map, and I looked to the left and right to see that the huge peaks stretched as far as the eye could see. The ones further away seemed as round as a volcano, but no smoke rose into the dark gray sky, and the only smell was the nothingness that came with extreme cold. It was less terrifying than the thin jagged mountains of the gnome world, but that also meant that the cave systems could loop back in on themselves a lot more. It was the perfect place for a trap, and the shiver I felt wasn’t just from the cold wind that scraped my cheeks.
There was almost a sense of relief when I realized it would be impossible for us to go through each and every hidey-hole, which meant we’d probably have to stick to the few that had appeared on Rina’s map. The dwarves apparently liked to keep their world just as secret as the gnomes, and I doubted that they’d give us a guided tour so that we could find the shadow creatures’ new hideout. Our best bet was to convince the dwarves to give us an escort so that we could find the new base without stumbling into a deathtrap or one of their secret cities, but I wasn’t sure how well that suggestion would go over with the fabled smiths.
“Hey,” Mike said as he strolled out of the nearby forest line. “I think I found Jason’s camp.”
“It wasn’t too far from where Rina marked it on the map,” Atlesia said as she walked up behind the tree-man. “But there’s definitely something weird about the plants here. I’m used to them going to sleep and being hard to talk to when it’s cold, but this is on a completely different level. It’s like they were knocked out with one of Mike’s sleep bombs.”
“Even the trees are like that,” my roommate nodded in agreement.
The others came through the portal to the minotaur town, and I shut it behind us so that we wouldn’t bring more snow onto Jasmine’s nice clean floors. Sarya reached for my hand immediately to send warmth from her body to mine, and the shivers that had started to pulse through me immediately stopped. Rarus craned his neck around like he was looking for someone and then let out a disappointed sigh while Ramis nudged him with a knowing smirk.
“I don’t think Franny is out here, bro,” the younger minotaur teased.
“She stayed behind to work on the corpse flowers,” Atlesia said. “But she wanted you to know that she missed you and that she’ll see you soon.”
“Gross,” Mike and Ramis said at the same time.
“Anyway,” I laughed and started toward the forest. “Let’s go take a look at this camp. He might’ve left some clues behind to show where he went. Did you guys find anything yet?”
“No,” Atlesia said and grabbed my other hand. “I just got here and then felt the magic of a portal and wanted to make sure that it was you guys.”
The flower nymph had donned her favorite pair of Uggs and skintight jeans that showed off her hourglass figure perfectly. Almost every inch of her pale green skin was covered in clothing, though the sleeves of her baby blue sweater were tugged up to leave her leather bracers free so that she could easily retrieve the seeds she kept there if there was a battle.
“I just got here, too,” Mike said. “Just a minute or two before Atlesia found the camp. I thought that I saw her lavender hair between the trees and didn’t want her to be alone out here. There’s no telling what the dwarves will do if they catch us. Especially if Jason was working with the shadow creatures.”
“We should try to keep a low profile,” I said as we walked into the camp.
It was only a few hundred feet from the area that Rina had marked on the map, and I was impressed with how well the gnome woman could pinpoint the tracker, especially with how big the mountain range was. There was enough mana in the area that I could see some of it in the gray rocks above us and even in the snow that glistened like earthbound sunlight beneath us. The gnomish devices always had trouble when it came to arcane magic, but clearly the tinkerer had figured out a way around that so that she could keep an eye on the dubious fire mage.
Jason’s camp was nothing too spectacular to look at and reminded me of the one that we’d made when we were in the mountains of the nymph realm. The tent glittered with an intact barrier, and the cleared area for the fire was covered in so much snow that I could barely see the wood pile underneath. It looked like no one had been there for days, but I didn’t see any signs of a struggle or even the rations that the fire mage had to have brought with him.
I carefully approached the barrier and glanced inside the tent to see that it was even bigger on the inside. It was large enough to host a small stove, a full-sized bed, and even a sitting area where Jason could go through his finds for the day. I could feel the pulse of magic from the shield and decided not to waste the mana pushing past it, especially since there was a chance we would run into a fight later, and besides, there weren’t any papers or bags anywhere in the place that might offer us a clue.
“It looks like he just grabbed his bag and left everything else behind,” I said and turned to the others.
But I found myself staring at an odd sight when I looked back. Rarus glared up at the mountain as if it had personally offended him while everyone else had their hands in the air like we were surrounded.
I took a few steps away from the tent to see what they were looking at and then swore under my breath at the sight of a company of dwarves on the ledge above us.
“What is your purpose here?” a dwarf with a long black and red beard snapped.
The dwarf’s clothes were heavy enough to provide plenty of protection against the cold of the mountain, and his thick beard and curly braided hair protected his face and head. A double-sided axe rested lazily on the soldier’s shoulder, but I had no doubt that every muscle in the four-foot-tall man’s body was ready to strike.
“We’re looking for someone,” I said.
“Is it a friend of yours?” he asked.
The air was thick with tension as Rarus snorted and shook his giant head. The minotaur hadn’t moved an inch, but three of the dwarves stepped forward with their hands on their sword hilts. It wasn’t like the stubborn bull-man to back down, so I shot a pointed look over my shoulder to remind him not to antagonize the locals.
“We’re not entirely sure,” I shrugged.
“How can you not be sure?” the leader snapped. “Is he a friend or not?”
“Sometimes alliances can only be found after testing them,” Sarya said as she stepped forward. “My name is Sarya Kaylen, and this is my mate. My friends and I are concerned about the mage that camped here and came to look for him.”
“Kaylen, huh?” the dwarf asked and then spat on the ground as if the name irritated him. “I suppose you should come with us then.”
“As your prisoners or as your guests?” the redheaded elf asked with a sugary-sweet smile. “It is an important distinction to be made. Especially in these trying times.”
“Guests under duress, your majesty,” the leader sneered and then motioned to a nearby cave entrance that hadn’t been there a second ago. “Follow that, and it will lead you to me.”
The dwarf retreated without another word, and the other soldiers quickly disappeared as well, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were still being watched. I turned my attention to the cave entrance and saw the slight silver sheen of mana and wondered if that was the color of dwarvish magic. It was one that I hadn’t seen before, though most of my textbooks focused primarily on the arcane mages and elemental magic.
“I hate going underground,” Atlesia sighed and dropped her hands. “Why does everyone have to live under mountains?”
“You get used to it after awhile,” Mike said with an encouraging smile.
“Been spending a lot of time in the gnome city?” Rarus teased.
“As much time as you’ve been spending with my sister,” the tree-man snapped back.
“We don’t have time for bickering,” I interrupted the two men before they could really get into it. “We need to find out what happened to Jason. And the dwarves might be able to help us. Lord Kaylen said that he’d talk to the dwarvish council member and get him on our side, so hopefully we won’t get tossed in a cell, but keep your guard up just in case they’re traitors, too.”
Silence fell as we all walked into the dark tunnel that appeared to lead deep into the mountains. Sarya used her fire to guide us since there weren’t any torches along the wall, and I forced myself to ignore the thin spiderwebs that clung to the perfectly square ceilings. The path seemed to go on forever without any curves to the left or right, and I let out a sigh of relief when it finally opened into a large rectangular room where the dwarven soldiers waited for us.
“This way,” the leader said and led us through a bronze gateway. “Welcome to Vur Falduhr.”
The gateway opened up to reveal a long stone road just big enough for two carts to pass by. A sheer drop-off waited on either side of the path and disappeared into inky blackness below while other stone bridges connected and branched out in a grid pattern that led to the rest of the city.
Vur Falduhr stretched for miles in every direction with buildings cut straight into the mountain. The ceiling was so high that I couldn’t see it even as I craned my neck back, and light poured through silver-lined tunnels to reflect off of mirrors so that the entire place was lit as brightly as the outside. Tiered gardens were tended by dwarves in thick brown cotton clothes while forges burned in the distance next to a massive waterfall that fell into the abyss below.
“Wow,” I whispered as I took in the detailed carvings and perfectly molded walkways. “This is amazing.”
“Dwarves are the best builders,” the soldier smirked and then started across the pathway. “Follow closely, and don’t fall over the edge. There are no handrails for you klutzy outsiders.”
