Summoner school, p.20
Summoner School, page 20
“I just arrived,” the pale woman said with the faintest smile. “Are we permitted to pass?”
“Ye-yes,” he said and stepped to the side.
“Thank you,” she said and then motioned for me to follow her.
The ogre disappeared back into the shadows of the gateway until only his bright red eyes peered out from the darkness. I stared for a few seconds and tried to figure out where he ended and the wall began, but then Professor Lovelace cleared her throat and gave me a pointed stare. The green-skinned man chuckled as I gave up my search, and I wondered if he might tell me how he did it one day if I could make friends with him.
“Thanks for your help,” I said as I caught up to Professor Lovelace.
“You’re welcome,” the dark-haired woman said with a sideways glance. “I hope that you don’t plan to make me a liar.”
“No,” I said and shook my head. “I’m on my way to the store. If they’re still open. It looks like a lot of the shops are already closed.”
The town around the school wasn’t as magical as the elven city, but there was a quaint charm to the French-inspired architecture. The shops all had hanging signs with scrawled cursive names, and the cobblestone streets had painted murals. I didn’t see any bright flowers or stone balconies, but a few of the shops had wrought-iron fences around tiny gardens.
A tavern down the street had its doors open, and loud shouts poured out into the road. The sound of a badly-tuned guitar filled the lulls in the cheers, and patrons stumbled out with sloshing beers in their hands. The rumors about the shadow creatures either hadn’t reached the townspeople, or their idea of being prepared was to be as drunk as possible.
I positioned myself between Professor Lovelace and a drunken minotaur, and the faintest smile tugged on her lips. The sexy dragon-woman had on black robes and the almost skintight dress that she usually wore in class, and my eyes watched every move of her hips as we walked. I had the urge to slip a hand around her waist but resisted and stuck my hands in my pockets instead.
“I know a place that’s open,” the beautiful woman said and broke the silence. “It’ll have all the supplies that you’ll need. I assume that you’re looking for more crystals and spell components?”
“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “I need a few more wasp stingers, too. The adaptations for them are pretty cool, and I want to test a few of them out. I need a new backpack, some highlighters, and some pens.”
“They’ll have all of that,” she said and crossed the street to a small store. “It’s a place to find whatever you need. At any time. No matter how strange.”
There was something in the tone of her voice that told me there was more to what she’d said than what appeared on the surface. It was like a verbal puzzle that I was pretty sure would help me in the upcoming battles. I just wasn’t sure if she knew about the underground battles, or if she meant the jackalope hunt and the war with the shadow creatures. Either way, another supply stop would be nice to have, especially if they sold parts of animals for my spells.
The small glass window was lit by a single candle that didn’t do much to illuminate the road, and I couldn’t see anything on the other side. Professor Lovelace walked through the dark red door, and the golden bell on the other side tinkled to let the shopworker know that we were there. The inside was just as small as the window, and the shelves along the walls were almost completely empty.
“Professor Lovelace,” a small man with a bulbous nose said as he walked out. “It’s good to see you again. And who is this with you? The human summoner I’ve been hearing about?”
The small man had a small limp, and I realized that one of his legs was made out of steel and gold. It whirred like something from a steampunk novel, but the noise was soft enough that I wouldn’t have heard it if the store wasn’t so quiet. He reminded me of a gnome that I’d seen in a video game, and the ringmaster at the underground arena could’ve been a distant cousin of his.
“Andrew,” I said with a wave. “It’s nice to meet you. Mr.…?”
“You can call me Tins,” the man said. “I’m a gnome, if you’re wondering.”
“Are you a summoner?” I asked and glanced around the shop.
“Me?” he laughed. “Absolutely not. I’m a tinkerer. But I know enough sorcerers, and my little shop carries everything you students might need. And a few things besides! What are you here for?”
“Wasp stingers, a backpack, some crystals, highlighters,” I listed and counted the items off on my fingers. “That should be enough for now.”
“I’ll have that ready for you in a second,” Tins said and shuffled toward the back. “You need any special kinds of crystals or gems? Or will the regular quartz do?”
“Regular quartz will be fine,” I said. “But can I buy gems from you, too?”
It wouldn’t hurt to have someone else to buy gems from so that the Candyman wouldn’t become too suspicious, and there was something about the small gnome that made me think he wouldn’t ask a lot of questions, just like Candyman. I glanced over at Professor Lovelace to see that she seemed to be very interested in a pocket watch, though her purple eyes darted between Tins and me, and that curious look passed over her face again.
“Are you still planning on your jackalope hunt?” Professor Lovelace asked as she straightened and turned toward me.
“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “Mike’s working on some kind of sleep-inducing smoke bomb, and I have the emeralds that I’ll need once I actually have the parts.”
“There’s a storm coming,” she said and took a step closer to me, tilted her head, and studied me. “You may be ill prepared for the fight ahead.”
I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was talking more about the shadow creatures than the jackalope hunt, and a shiver ran up my spine. My hand wrapped around the moonstone in my pocket, and all of the questions I had for her rushed back to the front of my mind. I glanced through the door to the back to see Tins climbing a ladder for something, so he wouldn’t be able to overhear anything.
“I have a question about my amulet,” I whispered and pulled the moonstone out. “It’s been getting hot at random times. And the blue swirls inside move counterclockwise instead of clockwise. I haven’t been able to find anything about it in the library, and my grandma just changes the subject whenever I try to ask about it.”
I purposefully left out the shadow creatures for the moment because that would lead to questions about where I’d seen the dark beings. The ones at my grandparents’ house were one thing, but I couldn’t tell a teacher about the illegal fights, even if she’d already figured that out. It was one thing for her to speculate about it, and another entirely for me to confess outright.
“Growing warm?” the dragon-woman asked and bent over my hand to take a closer look at my amulet.
Her warm breath fanned across my wrist, and goosebumps erupted up and down my arms. The beautiful woman glanced up at me, and I thought I saw the faintest smirk before her purple eyes flitted back to the moonstone. The pearlescent stone shimmered in the low light of the shop, but the blue swirls remained inert, and Professor Lovelace nodded to herself.
“Do you know what’s going on?” I asked.
“Perhaps,” she said and straightened, looked toward the back, and then cleared her throat. “I’ll need to take a better look at it. Come by my rooms tomorrow night after dinner. We’ll have time to discuss this in private then.”
“Your rooms?” I asked as my heart raced.
“Yes,” she said. “I need to go now, and there won’t be time in class tomorrow. I may keep you late into the night, but I’m sure your roommate won’t mind.”
“Right,” I said with a nod. “I’ll see you tomorrow in class.”
The dragon-woman pushed her silver-rimmed glasses further up her thin nose, looked me up and down with that unreadable expression, and then turned toward the door. I watched every sway of her hips as my mind replayed the conversation. She’d seemed like she was flirting with me, but I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, and I decided that our time alone the next night would let me know for sure.
“She’s a hell of a woman,” Tins said as he came back out with a heavy leather backpack. “I put all your ingredients and such in here. Even added a few extra quartz in there. If you’re going to be doing battles, then you may want to look into storing your wasps in something like carnelian. It gives extra energy and creativity. It’ll help you and your swarm to attack in more unpredictable patterns. Course, you’ll have to have a strong mind to keep the little pests in line.”
“Thanks,” I said and paid with a gold coin that I’d stuck in my wallet. “I’ll have to look into that. See you around.”
“I’m sure that I will,” the gnome chuckled and then headed into the back.
The entire walk back to the campus my mind played over what the gnome had said. Plain quartz was perfect for a beginner since it was pure and didn’t have any flaws, but it would be interesting to see what other types of crystals I could use. The wasps would never need something as intricate as a gemstone, but I might be able to imbue them with different abilities that had enhanced the changes in their puzzle.
“That didn’t take long,” the ogre said as I neared the gate.
“Just out for school supplies,” I said and showed him the bag. “Did Professor Lovelace make it back safely? She said something came up.”
“Yep,” the green-skinned man said with a nod. “Came back a few minutes ago. Said you’d be along shortly. Glad you didn’t make her a liar.”
“I do my best,” I said with a shrug. “See you next time.”
“Maybe you won’t see me,” the muscular man said and then blended back into the shadows.
It took all of my self-control not to ask him how he did it, but the big man didn’t seem to like me that much, and I doubted he’d share. The library had to have books on ogres, and I added it to my mental list of things to study. It might even give me an insight on how to become friends with him, and then I could learn more than just how to become one with the shadows.
But my main priority at the moment had to be the jackalope hunt. I’d already gathered all of the ingredients, the spells, and had learned the last place that one had been seen. It was time to move out of the library and into the real world of magic, and excitement raced through my veins as I thought about facing down the sharp-antlered creature.
If I was able to kill it, then I’d have a powerful weapon in the underground arena and could raise my rank, since no other freshman summoner could possibly summon a creature that powerful. Rarus made a lot of money since he’d won so many battles, and I intended to do the same. A jackalope could almost guarantee me wins against the other summoners, especially if I could make it conjure lightning, and the terrifying creature would be the perfect weapon against the shadow creatures, too.
“That didn’t take long,” Mike laughed as I came through the door. “Did you even eat dinner?”
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “They’ve got the school locked down, and I didn’t want to stay out too long. Did you grab me food?”
“Absolutely not,” the tree-man said and then pointed toward a plate of food on my desk. “But Atlesia stopped by. She said that she was sure you hadn’t eaten, and look at her being right.”
“She was,” I said and set my bag down, grabbed the plate, and popped a cherry tomato into my mouth. “I’ve never had a girlfriend that’s so nice.”
“Me, either,” my roommate said as he turned in his chair, held out his notebooks, and pointed to a bunch of numbers that reminded me of my calculus class in high school. “I think I figured out how to make the spores work for us. I’ll have to test it out tomorrow after classes, but it should be ready in the next few days.”
“Perfect,” I said. “Don’t stay up too late. The teachers are probably going to double down on our lessons since they had to cancel today.”
“I’ll be fine,” Mike said. “You humans are the ones who need more rest.”
“And food,” I said as I really started on my dinner.
The next morning came before I was ready, and I shot a glare at my alarm clock as it buzzed and shouted. Mike groaned from the other side of his miniature forest, and I laughed at the tree-man’s messy leaves as he popped out. I’d gone to bed pretty late, but he’d been up even later, and his mutterings had become background noise to my dreams.
We met Atlesia for breakfast and talked all the way to our history class about the teachers, the council, and the extra security around campus. The entire student body buzzed with gossip and rumors as we headed to our separate classes, and every conversation seemed to mention the shadow creatures that were sure to attack us at any moment. I didn’t see Sarya anywhere, and she didn’t even show up when class started.
“Good morning,” Professor Edinbock said as he floated into the room. “I’m sure by now that you all have heard the rumors. No, I will not be addressing them, and no, I will not be telling you what was discussed in the council meeting. However, we will be changing the lesson plan.”
The Victorian-era ghost blinked in and out as a shadow passed by the window, but it was nothing more than a cloud that quickly moved on. The lights had never had an effect on the professor before, and I shared a look with Atlesia and Mike as the usually calm man cleared his throat. He ran his hands over the clothes that he’d been buried in, took a deep breath, and then ran his hollow eyes over each of us.
“Today, we’ll be discussing the most feared man in all of magical history,” he said. “Listen carefully, students. The man that I’m about to discuss broke every rule in the nine realms and was the reason that we all had to come together and sign a peace treaty. Magic is a wonderful thing, yes, but if used incorrectly or for selfish reasons, then it can corrupt.”
“Does this have anything to do with the council meeting yesterday?” Onet asked as she bounced in the air on her shimmery wings.
“Of course not,” Professor Edinbock said. “Kruwyn died centuries ago, long before any of you were born. There are rumors that he’s still alive and well since his body was never discovered, but that is purely groundless speculation. He was a human, and no amount of black magic can make you immortal.”
“Black magic?” I whispered to Atlesia and Mike. “Like necromancy?”
“Necromancy is a dark art, Mr. Hall,” the ghost teacher answered for my friends. “But it is not necessarily black magic. Necromancers use those who are already dead while black magic requires blood to be spilled and for pain to be endured. The more agony a sacrifice goes through, the more powerful the spell.”
“What happened to him?” Eldar asked. “If no one ever found his body, then where did he go?”
“The purgatory realm,” the Victorian-era man said, and gasps went up around the room. “Yes, yes, I know. The purgatory realm is reserved for only the worst offenders, but as I said, he was the most evil mage in all of history. He and his followers were all sent there to stop the spread of their villainy. At least, those who didn’t sacrifice themselves in an attempt to make Kruwyn more powerful.”
“People actually do that?” Atlesia asked with tears in her eyes. “But why?”
“Because they believed him,” Professor Edinbock said. “He promised to make the nine realms united as one. Under his rule, of course.”
“And they never found the body?” I asked. “What if someone froze him in time or something so that he can be brought back to life later when he’s more powerful? Or maybe he was turned into a vampire like Professor Louis. Vampires live forever, right?”
“They live longer, Mr. Hall, not forever,” our teacher said. “A spell to halt one’s aging has never been performed successfully, and it is highly unlikely that any of his followers could cast a spell strong enough to do what you suggested.”
“What if it’s a necromancer?” I asked. “The human realms have plenty of cults that exist long after the leader dies, and they don’t have the magic to bring them back.”
“A necromancer’s creation is not what they were in life,” the blonde elven woman sneered. “They don’t have magic. Even if they were the most powerful mage in the history of magic, they’d just be a zombie.”
“You’re correct, Ms. Rilan,” Professor Edinbock said. “Even if Kruwyn still had followers all these centuries later, none of them could bring him back from the dead.”
“This is him,” Atlesia said as she slid the textbook toward me.
“He doesn’t look scary,” Mike said.
The fluttering of pages filled the classroom as everyone searched for the picture of the most evil mage in history. A few girls gasped as they saw his strong jaw and salt-and-pepper hair. His dark blue eyes were ringed with gold, and the way he stared up from the page made a shiver run down my spine like he might peel himself away from the glossy picture and step into the room.
“That’s enough for now,” Professor Edinbock said. “Now, can anyone give me examples of other black magic users in the history of the nine realms?”
Hands went up everywhere, and Onet practically flew down to the front of the class and spun around excitedly. The ghost teacher went down the line and had each student answer questions about the black magic users, dispelled rumors where he could, and explained in more detail about the evil mages that had practiced the taboo magic.
“He looks familiar,” I said after a few minutes of staring at Kruwyn’s picture. “Do you guys feel like you’ve seen him before?”
“No,” Mike said.
“I don’t think so,” Atlesia said with a shake of her head.
“All humans look the same,” the blonde elf smirked. “You two could be related for all I know. Any psychopaths in your lineage?”
“Not yet,” I shot back with a sweet smile. “But it’s never too late to start if you’re down to make a baby with me.”
Her eyes widened for a second, but then she recovered and sat back with a sour face. I rolled my eyes at her and looked back at the picture. There was definitely something familiar about him, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it, and I made a plan to ask Sarya about it later. If she didn’t know about him, then I could ask Professor Lovelace, but then she might have more questions about where I spent my time outside of class.
