Summoner school, p.22
Summoner School, page 22
I let Mike lead the way down the new path since he seemed to be able to understand the directions from the tall pines. The road was too thin to be on any map, and there were a few parts where we needed to push our way through the underbrush, but the temperature was nice enough that none of us became overheated. I had us all stop for lunch when we came across a stream, and the water we drank from the slow-moving creek was sweeter than anything that I’d ever tasted.
The trees continued to direct us into the early afternoon, but finally we emerged into a meadow with soft grass and tiny little flowers. Mike said that the jackalope’s boneyard should be in the next clearing, and the two of us went to check it out while the girls rested. I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to leave the two alone since they had a tendency to fight, but both of them were too exhausted to say much and just stretched out in the grass.
“How big do you think the pile of bones is going to be?” my roommate asked as we walked.
“No idea,” I confessed. “The pictures in the book looked pretty big, but if it eats that much, then it’ll go through its food supply quickly.”
“True,” the tree-man said.
“I think that’s it up ahead,” I said and pointed to a mound covered in moss and vines.
The tiny hill was covered in greenery like it had been there for centuries, but there were bones near the bottom that still had pieces of flesh stuck to them. It looked like the jackalope had picked most of them clean, and I couldn’t tell what the original animal had been, but there were plenty of sharp teeth that told me it had been a carnivore, too.
“This is huge,” Mike whispered as if the jackalope would hear us and come running out. “It must’ve lived here for a really long time to make this big of a boneyard.”
“Probably,” I said and bent down to pick up a few teeth from the dead creature, pulled a vial out of my pocket, and slid the sharp bones inside. “I wonder if I can figure out what this used to be. It didn’t survive the jackalope, but if I have the right spell, then I can make it better than it was before.”
“You summoners sound dangerously like necromancers sometimes,” the tree-man said.
“It’s two sides of the same coin,” I said with a shrug. “Although necromancers bring something back from the dead, and my creatures only look real. At the end of the day, they’re still mostly stone. And my summoned pets can still use magic. Come on, let’s get back to the girls. We need to set up camp before nightfall.”
“We have plenty of time thanks to the trees,” Mike pointed out as we walked back through the forest. “You guys might even be able to make a nice dinner before the hunt.”
“This place is really creepy,” Atlesia said as soon as we came into the clearing. “The flowers are super quiet like they’re asleep, and I haven’t heard one bird in the last hour. It’s like everything is taking a nap and waiting for sunset.”
“Maybe they are,” I said and started to look through my bag. “Didn’t the trees say that there are a bunch of creatures that only come out at night?”
“They did,” the tree-man said and sat in the sunniest part of the meadow. “They said that we shouldn’t stay here. At least this meadow is open enough that we should see anything that wants to come after us.”
“I’ll light them on fire if they do,” Sarya said and flipped her ponytail. “I have no plans for being eaten.”
“Barbecue is always delicious,” I laughed and tossed the elf a bag of cantaloupe slices. “That’s your favorite, right?”
“How-how’d you--”A faint blush colored her cheeks, and then she composed herself. “You’ve been paying far too much attention to me, human. Don’t forget that I’m only out here to watch this disaster unfold.”
“Sure, sure.” I handed Atlesia a bag of black cherries and winked at her knowingly. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
“You can admit that you like hanging out with us,” the flower-nymph said with a roll of her eyes. “It’s not like there’s anyone out here to hear it.”
“Fine. You’re all tolerable,” the redhead said.
Mike, Atlesia, and I all shared a look and then burst into laughter that seemed to echo back from the trees. Sarya huffed but took a slice of the cantaloupe from the bag and ate in silence. We fell into a comfortable quiet as the afternoon wore on, and we all prepared ourselves for the upcoming hunt.
I couldn’t help but notice the way the trees reached out into the meadow as if they wanted to touch us, or the complete lack of birdsong or the chirping of insects. The forest near the jackalope really was asleep, but it began to come awake once the last rays of sunlight disappeared behind the horizon. The hoot of an owl woke me from a nap under one of the trees, and I stared up at one of the long branches that resembled a hand.
“Seems like everybody is waking up,” I yawned.
“It was a nice nap,” Atlesia said as she snuggled into my side.
“I soaked up plenty of sunlight,” Mike agreed. “Are we ready for the hunt?”
“I am,” I said and glanced around to find Sarya beneath a nearby tree. “I think we should stand guard near the boneyard. The body that we found was probably a week old, so it’ll need to hunt again soon, and I’ll bet it eats where the bones lay.”
“That sounds correct,” the redheaded elf said and stood in one graceful move. “What’s the master plan? Are you going to throw some wasps at it like you did with Ramis’ bats?”
“No,” I said and started to stuff spell components into my pockets.
I’d picked out a pair of cargo pants for the hunt so that each pocket could hold a different creature, and the wasps were separated by the spell type. The puzzles lent themselves to different variations on size, aggression, and venom. I’d already completed them so that all I’d need to do was throw the stinger dust on the paper, channel my mana into the quartz, and then let them fly.
“My main plan is to use a large rattlesnake,” I said. “It’ll be much bigger than the one that I used against Eldar, so it won’t be as venomous, but it’s mostly going to be a distraction so that I can get close enough to slit its throat.”
“You’re going to get close to the thing?” Atlesia gasped. “I thought you’d just kill it with one of your creatures.”
“I don’t have anything yet that’ll be strong enough,” I said. “Mike has a sleeping smoke bomb that should knock it out once I’ve distracted it with the rattlesnake.”
“Locked and loaded,” the tree-man said and held up a small leather satchel.
Something moved in the trees across the clearing, and we all froze in place and waited to see if it was friend or foe. The entire forest went quiet like the other creatures wanted to see what would happen, and my jaw dropped open as a jackalope strolled into the grassy meadow.
Its antlers stretched up toward the night sky, and the pale moonlight glinted off the white alabaster tips like they were the points of daggers. The jackalope’s face was the same as a normal bunny, and the soft brown fur along its hide reminded me of a classroom pet we’d had in elementary school, but the fangs that it bared at us were anything but friendly.
“Okay,” I said and glanced at the others. “It looks like our prey came to us.”
“Or we’re its prey,” Sarya hissed. “That thing is a lot bigger than a normal rabbit.”
“It’s a jackalope,” I said and reached into my pocket for the rattlesnake spell. “I’m going to summon the rattlesnake, you guys stay behind me. Mike, be ready to throw that sleeping smoke bomb.”
“Got it,” the tree-man said as he slowly inched forward.
“What do you want me to do?” Atlesia asked.
“Just stay back,” I said. “You can help us take it apart once it’s dead.”
“Okay,” the flower-nymph said with a nod. “I can do that.”
The wolf-sized bunny titled its head down like it was about to charge at us, stomped on the ground, and then snorted irritably.
I uncorked the vial of rattlesnake tail and then poured it over the slip of paper before I sent mana into the quartz. The jackalope paused for a second as if it could sense my magic, and then let out an angry shriek when my snake burst into existence.
The rattlesnake was as thick as my leg and almost as long. Its venom would be almost negligible at that size, but my plan was to distract the jackalope with it, not use it for the kill. I wasn’t sure if there would be an effect on its magical properties when I summoned it if I used a venom to end its life, but it wasn’t something that I was willing to risk.
A chilly breeze ran through the clearing and sent shivers through me, but all of my attention was on the jackalope. The huge creature had focused its attention on the new threat, and I was almost positive it planned to eat my rattlesnake. Its fluffy white tail wiggled as it moved into a better pouncing position, but my snake had already slithered in a different direction, and the mutated bunny had to readjust.
“Now, Mike!” I shouted as the creature turned its back on us.
Mike lobbed the sack of fungus spores at the jackalope, and it spread over the creature’s fur like glitter. The sleep powder clung to the mutated bunny like a cloud of smoke, but it just whirled around to look at us with my snake between its fangs. Rage seemed to pour out of it as the rattlesnake turned to dust, and my heart raced in my chest as it aimed its antlers toward us.
“It didn’t work,” Mike whispered. “But it worked on the owls. Why didn’t it work on the jackalope?”
“Maybe it has a resistance to it,” I said as I pulled out a crystal with wasps. “Sarya, I need you to surround it with a ring of fire.”
“On it,” the redheaded elf said and lifted her hands into the air.
I was a little surprised that she didn’t make a snide comment, but there was fear in her silver eyes, and I doubted that she wanted to see us killed. Her fingers sparked with bright red magic right before flames burst out of her arms like she was a living flamethrower. I watched as she swept the fire back and forth until it surrounded the jackalope and then glanced down at the spell to make sure that it was the right one.
“You have to be kidding me,” I muttered as the jackalope leapt over the wall of fire in one bound.
Black smoke clung to the jackalope’s antlers as it glowered at each of us in turn. The mutated bunny started toward Atlesia, and the flower-nymph let out a shrill scream as she darted behind me. Her fingers twisted into the fabric of my shirt, and I could feel her shaking like a leaf, but there was no time to comfort her.
I summoned a cloud of wasps that immediately started to attack the jackalope, but its fur was too thick for the small stingers to get through. We needed a new plan, and fast, or we’d all be dinner for the mutated bunny. I couldn’t believe that it had jumped over the flames without any trouble, and Sarya’s forehead was damp with sweat as if the blast of fire had used more of her mana than she’d expected.
“Mike,” I said and looked at my roommate. “Can you ask the trees to help us restrain it? I can’t get close enough to kill it.”
“They’re not going to help us,” the tree-man said. “This jackalope is part of their home. They won’t stop us from killing it, but they’re not going to give us any more aid than they already have.”
“Right,” I said and had the wasps buzz around the creature’s eyes. “Maybe vines? Can you make those grow?”
“I’m a tree-person,” he huffed. “Atlesia, can’t you grow some vines?”
“I-I can’t,” the flower-nymph said and shook her head. “I talk to flowering vines, and there aren’t any around here.”
“Mike, you grew those woody vines that hang around your side of the room,” I said. “You can do this.”
“I’ll try,” he said and closed his coal-black eyes.
I summoned another swarm of wasps to distract the jackalope and took a step back. The creature had stumbled forward and panted as it tried to dodge the irritating insects. They still hadn’t been able to actually sting him anywhere but the face, but his eyes had started to swell shut, and that was good enough for the moment.
The ground beneath us began to shudder like in an earthquake, and then massive vines exploded from the grass. They were as thick as my forearms and the same gray as the woody vines that Mike had grown in our room. The tree-man muttered the incantation of a spell as he pointed to the jackalope, and the thick cords wrapped around our prey to tie it to the ground.
The mutant bunny tried to use its antlers to cut itself free, but the vines squeezed tighter until it seemed to have trouble breathing. Sarya had put out the fire behind it so there wasn’t a lot of light, but the jackalope still turned its attention toward me as I snuck closer. The wolf-sized bunny heaved and struggled for a few more seconds before its eyes rolled into the back of its head, and it passed out.
I held onto one of the antlers, bent over the creature from behind, and then sliced its throat open. It bucked against the woody vines and fought its inevitable death, but finally it went still, and the deed was done. I was covered in soot from the jackalope’s antlers, and I’d used so much mana that I was dizzy, but we’d done it.
“I can’t believe it,” Sarya said as she walked over. “You actually did it.”
“We did it,” I said with a bright smile.
“I’m sorry that I wasn’t much help.” Atlesia’s bottom lip trembled and tears threatened to spill over her pale-green skin. She looked up at us with her big brown eyes, and I pulled her into a comforting hug.
“Your magic isn’t really meant for battles,” I said. “You can help us take this thing apart. I need the antlers for my spells, but everything else we can sell.”
“I will not be helping with that,” Mike plopped down in the grass and yawned. “Those vines were exhausting. I’m pretty sure I used up most of my mana.”
“It was amazing,” I said. “Get some rest, and we’ll take care of the body.”
“The fur will bring in a lot of gold,” Sarya said as she walked over to inspect the jackalope. “Elves love to use them in coats for winter.”
“Perfect,” I said. “Let’s get to it.”
“I’m going to learn more combat spells,” Atlesia said with a firm nod. “If you’re going to be doing dangerous hunts like this, then I’m not going to just hide behind you.”
“Okay,” I said with a reassuring smile. “Maybe your brother can help. But I promise you that it’s okay. Not everyone is a fighter.”
The flower-nymph looked like she wanted to say something else but held it back and started to take apart the jackalope. Her skill with a knife was impeccable, and the rest of us ended up just getting out of her way. I told her that was probably the most important skill to have since the rest of us would probably muck it up and ruin something, and my girlfriend’s perfect smile made another appearance.
We took as much of the creature as we could and then moved its body into the boneyard it had created. There was a nearby stream that we used to clean up and to refill our water canteens, and then we all talked until the wee hours of the morning.
Our first hunt had been a success.
And none of us had been hurt.
All I had to do was figure out how to summon it without using too much mana. The jackalope was magical, and the only things that I’d created were regular animals. I’d need to learn how much the mutated bunny required and how much mana I could use at once.
And I knew just the Professor to help me.
Chapter 15
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“I’m heading over to the staff rooms,” I told Mike. “The professors came back last night, and I need to talk to Professor Lovelace about some things.”
“Like your amulet?” the tree-man asked as he glanced up from his notebook.
He’d been stuck in the pages of his journal since we’d come back from the northern forest. His calculations for the sleeping smoke bomb should’ve worked on the jackalope like they had for the owls, but something had gone wrong, and my roommate was determined to figure it out. I’d given him some of the mutant rabbit’s fur to experiment with, and the tree-man had spent more hours than usual in the library trying to find out if some magical creatures had a natural resistance to sleeping aids.
The girls and I had promised that everything was fine, but Mike blamed himself for the close call when the jackalope didn’t fall asleep. I’d reminded him that none of us had been hurt, and the little meadow had been the perfect place to rest and restore our mana. None of the other creatures came anywhere near it even during the next night because of the smell of the jackalope’s blood, so we hadn’t even had to worry about other predators. Weirdly, once the jackalope was dead, I’d actually enjoyed the night in the forest, even though it had been years since I’d been on a camping trip.
“Yeah,” I said as I shoved the amulet in my pocket. “And summoning the jackalope. It’s going to take a lot more mana than the rats and snakes, so I want to be prepared. She mentioned once that we could store it, and I’ve read everything about it in the textbooks, but knowing and doing are two very different things.”
“You’re telling me,” the tree-man said with a sigh. “I think that I’ve figured out what went wrong with the jackalope. It needed to be more concentrated. And I didn’t take into account his thick fur. It won’t happen again.”
“Sounds good,” I said with a reassuring smile. “I’ll see you later. Did you want to come to the market with me?”
“I need to take care of my plants,” he said with a glare at the trees around his bed. “They’ve been acting out lately, so I’m going to have a long talk with them.”
“Right,” I chuckled and then waved goodbye.
He treated the plants like they were his rebellious children, but then again, they did communicate with him, so maybe their relationship was closer to parents and their kids. I glanced at the small forest, shook my head, and then headed toward the teachers’ cafeteria. My roommate could scold his plants while I was gone because that was a level of weirdness that even going to a magical school hadn’t prepared me for.
