Summoner school, p.19
Summoner School, page 19
“And they’re soundproof,” I said with a look at Atlesia.
“Are we really going somewhere alone with her?” my girlfriend grumbled. “I don’t trust her.”
“She did lead us to the underground fights,” I pointed out as we started toward the library.
I’d managed to eat a few bites of my breakfast, and one of the strawberry scones was tucked into my pocket for later. My stomach was in too many knots to be that hungry, but that would change at some point. I chewed on an orange as we walked and tried to catch snippets of everyone’s conversations.
“That makes me trust her even less,” Atlesia said and slipped her hand into mine. “She’s only around when it benefits her.”
“She’s a lot nicer when no one else is around,” I promised.
“I can hear you,” Sarya said with an irritated glare.
“I know,” the flower-nymph said and flashed a smile.
The library was almost empty as we walked inside, and the librarian had an even more sour expression than usual. She gave us the key to one of the larger private rooms, jotted it down in a notebook, and then waved a hand at us to shoo us along. It was eerie to see most of the tables empty, though there were a few students that were brave enough to risk the dark corners of the stacks.
“So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?” I asked as the door shut behind us.
The private room was much bigger than the one that Atlesia and I had been in, and even Mike managed to fit inside without any issues. The tall tree-man took one of the seats at the round conference table, and I took the one next to him. Atlesia sat next to me while Sarya started to pace back and forth near a chalkboard with remnants of the last study session still scrawled across it.
“I think that you were right about the shadow creatures at the underground fights,” the red-haired elf said and gripped the back of a chair.
“I know I was,” I said with a shrug. “And it seems like I’m not the only one that saw them.”
“Exactly,” Sarya said as she plopped down. “I’ll admit that I was a little worried when you first mentioned them, but I didn’t see them, so I assumed it was something wrong with your human eyes. Elves do have better night vision, and it didn’t make sense that you could see something that I couldn’t.”
“Naturally,” I said. “I talked to Professor Lovelace about them, but she said that they didn’t exist and made it seem like they were just myths that parents told kids to scare them at night.”
“A creature made of shadows would definitely scare me,” Atlesia said with a shiver.
“They exist,” Mike said. “There have been creatures like that deep in the forests for as long as anyone can remember. Most of the time they leave us alone. We tree-people stay in the light more than the dark, but the woods have become restless, and our plants have demanded more food. That’s the reason that my cousins were in town last weekend. They wanted to see if my parents were having the same problems.”
“A nursery would be the perfect place to hide,” I said as my mind raced with the possibilities. “Especially if the trees grow close together. There would be plenty of places for them to hide.”
“We’ve never seen them in our gardens,” my girlfriend said. “But my grandmother once told me a story of being with a friend in the woods and seeing something scary. She said that’s why the flower-nymphs never go into the woods alone.”
“Makes sense,” I said. “But in the underground fights it looked like they were collecting mana from the dead mages. They wouldn’t find a lot of that in a forest.”
“Mana?” the red-haired elf asked and tilted her head to the side. “What are you talking about? You can’t see mana like that.”
“Summoners can,” I said with a shrug. “Professor Lovelace said that some of us can see the flow of mana. I’m guessing the only reason that I saw it in the ring was because the mages were dead and it was all leaving their bodies. But those shadow creatures picked it up before it could dissipate.”
“There is a lot of magic in the deep woods,” Mike said with a thoughtful nod. “It’s why it always feels like something is watching you. The magic is thick and alive all on its own. If these creatures need mana, then they might be drawn to anywhere there’s a large gathering of it.”
“Cities and schools might be next,” I said as I drummed my fingers on the table. “Maybe that’s why people are seeing them now. But why are they coming out of the forest and going to the underground fights? If people have been seeing them for centuries, then they’ve had to be sustaining themselves somehow, and there’s no great deforestation happening, right?”
“No,” my roommate said.
“That’s what they meant,” Sarya whispered more to herself than the rest of us.
“Who is ‘they’?” I asked.
“My parents,” the elven woman said. “The last time that I visited them, they were arguing about something, and I distinctly heard mom say that they weren’t ready. It must mean that the council isn’t ready for whatever these creatures have planned.”
“The council, or the school?” I asked and ran a hand through my hair. “The teachers did cancel class to go meet with the council. If we’re right, and the creatures are after mana, then where better to go than Magia Schola? They’ve practically gathered all of the most powerful young mages in one place.”
“But we have the battle magic program,” Atlesia said as she tapped her foot. “There’s a lot of students who know how to fight. We’re not completely helpless.”
“That’s probably why they push it so hard,” Mike said. “They even tried to talk me into joining. I’m not a flower-nymph. My trees aren’t as poisonous. What am I supposed to do? Throw a branch at someone?”
“They did a good job of trapping you earlier,” I pointed out. “It might be helpful if the creatures do attack.”
“Only if they can’t slither through,” the tree-man said.
“My parents said something about a war--” Sarya started and then was interrupted by a knock on the door.
We all turned at the same time to stare at the door like someone was about to burst through with weapons raised. I slipped out of my seat and padded over, but there wasn’t a window for me to look through. My hand wrapped around the quartz in my pocket, and I put my thumb on the vial of powdered rat tail.
An elf with silver eyes and short red hair stood on the other side of the door. His face twisted into a sneer as he looked at me, but then he turned to Sarya and motioned for her to come over. He had to be one of her siblings, but I didn’t move out of the way until the beautiful woman put her hand on my shoulder and gently tugged me out of the way.
“Caros,” she said with a tight smile. “What are you doing here?”
“You need to come with me,” Caros said and ignored me like I was insignificant. “Our parents would like to have a talk with all of us. Only if you’re done slumming it with the help, of course.”
“The help?” I asked and then bit my tongue.
“It’s just community service,” Sarya rolled her silver eyes and strolled out into the library. “It’s part of the Kaylens’ duty to help the less fortunate. And who’s less fortunate than a human who thinks he can be a summoner.”
“No one,” her brother said as he looked directly at me for the first time.
He didn’t look happy.
He turned away from me and started to close the door without another look. Sarya mouthed an apology and then followed after the tall man with her usual haughty facade back in place. Caros left the door slightly open so that I had to shut it, and it took all of my self-control not to summon the rat and throw it at him in frustration.
“He’s the worst,” Atlesia said as she walked over. “No wonder Sarya can be such a pain. If that’s what her entire family is like, then it’s practically ingrained into her. Gross.”
“Might be why she’s trying to be friends with us,” I said and wrapped an arm around Atlesia’s waist. “She’ll be back later. For the moment, we need to figure out more about the shadow creatures. The library has to have something about them. They can’t have existed for this long without there being some records of them.”
“Maybe,” Mike said as he came around the table. “I’ll ask one of the librarians if they know anything.”
“Another fun-filled day of studying,” I laughed and followed him out. “I’m going to do some more research on the jackalope. If we’re about to be hunted by some creepy shadows, then I want to make sure I have an animal that’s actually useful.”
We spent the rest of the day in the same study room, but Sarya never returned. The librarians flat-out refused to help us and then scolded us for twenty minutes about spreading hysteria around the campus. They really wanted to discourage us from looking, and it only made me want to find out more.
Mike left in the afternoon to study outside and check on his plants. The spots of sunlight were hard to find as everyone tried to stay out of the shadows, but the tree-man found a place to lounge, and I went back to the room. I curled up on the bed and pulled out my grandmother’s journal to see if there was anything that could help, and Atlesia went to check on her new plants in the greenhouse.
My notebook had different colored inks all over the pages like I was some mad scientist on the verge of a breakthrough. Grandma’s journal didn’t have anything on the shadow creatures, but there was a puzzle that was similar to the one for the jackalope, and I managed to understand some of her messier handwriting. It seemed like it might be a chimera that used jackalope and some other kind of animal, but I couldn’t identify the other one yet, and grandma’s notes didn’t explain things.
There was still so much that I didn’t know, and if Sarya’s parents were right, then war was around the corner. I made a plan to ask Professor Lovelace about the creatures again, and this time I wouldn’t let her get away with saying that they didn’t exist. It had seemed like the beautiful teacher knew more than she let on, and if all else failed, then I’d sneak into her office and find that book that she’d tried to hide.
I must’ve fallen asleep at some point because I went from my cozy bed to my grandparents’ house. It was night in my dream, and the lights flickered on and off like I was in the middle of a horror movie. I pinched myself to wake up, but I didn’t feel anything, and something outside grabbed my attention.
The shadow creatures swarmed around the house and had somehow managed to get past the barrier. My heart raced as I watched the creepy animals slither through the cracks in the walls and windows. I backed up toward the door and fumbled with the handle.
The old wood creaked as it swung open, and I stumbled out into the hallway right as the shadow creatures reached me. They swept over me like a tidal wave, and my body screamed under the unexpected weight. All of the air in my lungs was pushed out of me, and I opened my mouth to gasp for more, but I couldn’t take a breath.
Something crunched, and red-hot pain seared through my body. I couldn’t see my own hand in front of my face, and it felt like the shadow creatures were trying to make me part of them. The burning sensation spread out from my leg until it was all that I could think about, and darkness spotted my vision.
I snapped awake right as everything went black and gasped for air. My lungs hurt like I really hadn’t been breathing, and my leg still burned like it had in the dream. I patted the spot and found the amulet was stuffed into my pocket. The fabric stuck to the gem, but I managed to pry the jeans away and free the amulet.
It glowed bright white as I pulled it out to stare at it, and the blue swirls in the moonstone spun counterclockwise. The only time that it had done that was when the shadow creatures were around, but it was still daylight, and my dorm room was bathed in the golden rays of sunlight. The amulet was still warm as I turned it in my hand but had started to cool, and the blue swirls weren’t moving as fast.
One thing was clear.
I needed to figure out what the hell was going on with my amulet.
Chapter 13
“Grandma, just what did you get me into?” I muttered to myself.
I closed the book on my lap and slid from the bed. The sun was almost completely set behind the school’s wall, and that meant grandma would probably be about to eat dinner. I could pop in and check on her, but her memory was always worse in the afternoons, and the old woman had avoided all my questions so far.
The amulet had gone back to normal, so I shoved it back in my pocket and then ran a hand through my hair. Grandma’s journal stared up at me from the bed, but it didn’t have anything about the pendant. The moonstone was clearly connected to the shadow creatures somehow, but none of them were in my room when it was hot, and I was sure that the campus had barriers like my grandparents’ house.
“You okay?” Mike asked as he came into the room.
“Yeah,” I said. “I think that I need to talk to Professor Lovelace. Or go back to the library.”
“Most of the teachers are still gone,” the tree-man said and set his bag down. “Even the battle magic practice was canceled. Rarus is running around on a rampage. That guy really needs help.”
“I’d completely forgotten about practice,” I sighed and shook my head. “Guess that’s a good thing, though. The last thing that I need is to be a target for Rarus.”
“That minotaur needs a better outlet,” my roommate laughed. “Are you sure that you want him to be your mentor? I’m pretty sure he’ll just use you as a punching bag.”
“He’s going to try,” I smirked. “But I handled my own well during our first fight. And his magic is fantastic. It’s worth a few bruises to learn from him. Besides, I want to see the look on his face when I finally beat him.”
“I want to be there for that,” Mike said, and the leaves on his head waved excitedly.
The tall man pulled a wooden box from underneath his bed, gently pried open the lid, and then grinned at the contents. All I could see was dark black soil, but the tree-man ran a hand over the dirt and then closed the box with a happy sigh. He slid it back into place as he started to hum to himself.
“Are you okay?” I asked and sat back on the bed.
“Yeah,” he said and then plopped down on his desk chair. “That’s my latest acquisition. It’s the one from the underground arena contact. A rare mushroom. It needs a delicate touch, but I can feel it in the soil. It’s doing great.”
“Nice,” I said. “It’s not going to grow out of control, right?”
“It shouldn’t,” he said and glanced at his trees. “And I’m going to prune the others back. They’re getting a little out of hand. Can’t believe that they trapped me inside.”
“That was pretty funny,” I said. “Do you think any of your mushrooms could help with the jackalope hunt?”
“Maybe,” the tree-man said as he tapped his fingers on the desk. “I have one that can make it fall asleep, but the spores are hard to work with. And if we ingest them, then we’ll be down for the count, too.”
“Maybe not that one,” I said and tapped my foot as I processed. “Could you make it into a liquid of some sort? We could lob it at the jackalope like a smoke bomb.”
“I might be able to do that,” Mike said as he pulled out a notebook. “When are you thinking we should go?”
“This weekend,” I said and started to flip through my notes. “The weather is supposed to be clear in the area where they were last seen. We could head out Friday after classes, camp out, and then find its hunting grounds on Saturday.”
“It’s supposed to rain tomorrow,” the tree-man said. “I can feel it in my bark. That’ll give the ground a few days to dry. It’ll make it harder to track, but easier for us to fight it.”
“My thoughts exactly,” I said. “The last thing I want is to be sliding around in mud. Actually, I’ve been meaning to go into town for some supplies. Did you want to join me?”
“I’ll stay here,” he said. “I’ve got an idea for that smoke bomb you were talking about, and I might need to experiment a little.”
“My roommate is a mad scientist,” I chuckled and grabbed my stuff. “Just don’t blow up our room.”
“No guarantees,” the distracted man said as he started to jot something down in his notebook.
Shadows stretched across the campus as the sky darkened into night. String lights were hung through the branches of the trees, and paper lanterns were draped along the walls. Students either gathered under the small circles of light or made mad dashes to the dormitories, library, or cafeteria.
The rumors about the shadow creatures had clearly spread throughout the campus. A couple of the teachers wandered around like it was just a normal night, but their posture was too stiff, and their hands were in their pockets as if they were holding onto spell components. It was as if everyone was ready for war to break out, and a shiver ran up my spine as the memory of my dream flashed through my mind.
“Where are you going?” an ogre asked as I passed through the school’s entrance gate.
The green-skinned man stepped out of the shadows like he was one himself, and I couldn’t help but think about the ogre at the underground fights. Stealth had to be a species trait like their red eyes and tusks. The gate guard had a black tattoo on his hand that reminded me of a spell, but I didn’t recognize the pattern, and he didn’t seem like the type to share.
“I’m going into town,” I said and pointed to the line of shops. “I need some school supplies.”
“And you decided that now was the time to do that?” the big man asked as he glowered down at me.
“Yeah,” I said with a shrug. “I was studying all day and just thought about it.”
“Likely story,” the ogre growled. “There’s a curfew tonight. No one’s allowed out after dark.”
“I’ll be his escort,” Professor Lovelace said as she glided up behind me. “He’s one of my students. I can vouch for his avarice for knowledge.”
“Professor Lo-Love-Lovelace,” the green-skinned man stuttered, and a faint blush colored his cheeks. “Of course. Anything you want. I didn’t realize that you were back from the council meeting.”
