Summoner 15, p.23
Summoner 15, page 23
If there was a way to get what I wanted without violence, we had to find it.
So, with my team of Mistral mages, shapeshifter wife, summons, and Archons watching closely, I turned back to Jace and cleared my throat.
“Veopa destroyed the library we stand in,” I informed the mysterious woman in a diplomatic tone. “She had an army of fucked up monsters surrounding the library in the Shadowscape. It was only a matter of time before the books were in her hands. You should be thanking me for saving them.”
The hooded woman listened to my words with a patient air, but then she chuckled. “You are blind to the truth staring you in the face.”
“What does that even mean?” I rolled my eyes.
Vague responses and mysterious appearances seemed to be this woman’s entire personality.
“I destroyed the building we now stand in,” Jace answered like she was stating the obvious. “Veopa couldn’t get into the library with all the monsters in the Shadowscape, well, until now. I’m not going to thank you for that.”
I glanced around at the barely standing structure. We stood amidst a pile of rubble and crumbled rock, and the collapsed wall behind us supported the falling roof. The smell of burnt paper filled the space, and burn marks covered the destruction.
Jace was responsible for this? Wasn’t that a sign the woman was our enemy? Why would she save me from drowning then draw a line in the sand now?
My thoughts spun as I processed her words. Everything she’d said to me only led me to more questions, but at least I’d gotten a somewhat straight answer.
“Keep talking,” I replied with a hard look.
“I don’t have time for this,” Jace countered, and she clenched her hands into fists. “Give me the books, or else.”
“Or else what?” I demanded hotly.
“Or else I will take them by force if needed,” Jace replied in a cold voice, but I could tell she didn’t want to fight me. She kept her hooded face toward me, and it was hard to read her with her face hidden and her monochrome outfit, but I sensed a hesitation in her body language.
“You could try,” I declared in a voice so low it was almost a whisper. “You would not win.”
Jace swept back her black cloak, and her gloved hand hovered over the hilt of her dagger.
My hands leapt to my belt as I steeled myself for a fight, and I sensed my team mirror my body language behind me.
If Jace thought she would be able to get the books away from the Mistral mages, she was the one blind to the truth. We’d worked too hard to get our hands on this information. Nothing was going to take it away from us.
Suddenly, the sound of voices yelling echoed throughout the dilapidated structure, and I swiveled my head toward the crumbled entrance. Through the open archway, I could see torches and weapons in the hands of tons of shapeshifters as they marched toward the library.
“Everybody grab a bag!” I shouted, and I reached down to seize one of the web sacs full of books to hoist it over my shoulder. “We’re getting out of here. Now!”
Everyone quickly followed my command, and the Archons didn’t even argue as they grabbed their share of the load.
“What’s the plan, Gryff?” Arwyn asked as she grasped one of the heavy bags.
“Once we get outside, we take to the sky,” I said in a rushed voice as I simultaneously gave my summons mental commands to guard our perimeter.
“Think this through, Gryff,” Jace told me in a cautious tone as she moved between me and the doorway. “Your choices affect all of mankind!”
“Get out of my way,” I growled, and I yanked my rhin dagger from its sheath with my free hand.
Jace sighed and stepped to the side. “Watch your thoughts, Gryff.”
“See you next time.” I smirked, then I shouldered past her through the entrance. I heard the sound of a portal opening behind me, and without looking back, I knew the mysterious woman was gone.
“She’s gone,” Varleth observed as he followed me out of the ruined building.
“Let’s get out of here,” I replied, and I jerked my head toward my vingehund. “I think she can carry you and your books.”
“Copy that.” Varleth gave my canine-like summons a dejected glance.
Suddenly, the crowd of shapeshifters rushed into the area in front of the library, but they skidded to a stop as I walked down the steps. I eyed the approaching crowd cautiously, and the fear in their eyes was obvious.
“I mean you no harm,” I called out in a loud voice. “Let us leave peacefully, and no one has to die tonight.”
“Evil!” a man with the tall furry ears of a rabbit yelled, and he waved his torch in the air in front of him. “Veopa take you!”
Freya stepped up to my side and stared at the citizens of Vyguard with an icy glare. “Veopa is the evil one! You flock to your deaths like ignorant sheep.”
“Traitor!” someone shouted. “She’s one of us!”
“Ignore them,” I instructed my wife in the language of the clans. “We have to get back to camp. Can you fly with the books?”
Freya’s gold-flecked eyes analyzed my face for the briefest moment, but then she nodded and started to shift into her hawk form. As she took to the sky with powerful pumps of her raptor wings, I could tell it was harder for her to fly with the extra weight, but we didn’t have far to travel, so I knew we could make it.
Then Braden’s king gryphon erupted onto the stone steps, and my friends struggled to mount the beast with their bags of books in tow, but my roommate helped them lift the web sacs onto the wide space between his summons’ wings, and then Mati and Arwyn clambered onto the hybrid monster.
“I can’t get through to Danny and the soldiers,” the red-haired squad leader told me from her position on the king gryphon’s back.
“They’ll be okay,” I reassured her.
“He was supposed to wait here.” Arwyn frowned and glanced around with a worried look.
Behind the lion-like tail of the beast, Kalon trotted out of the library, and Nia and Cyra clung to the bags of books as they rode the silver dragon out of the crumbled structure.
My Archons followed behind my friends, and each of the goddesses carried their bags of books like they were as light as a feather. The direct comparison to the strength of my human friends was difficult to ignore.
“Where would you like your luggage deposited?” Sera questioned with an amused tone.
“The airship, right?” Phi answered for me with an eager expression in her red eyes.
“Obviously,” Utuni commented in an annoyed tone.
“What are we waiting for?” Miralea hissed, and she leapt forward. The jaguar goddess cleared the stairs in one jump, and she landed on her feet by my side.
“Let’s fly,” I commanded, and I crouched down into a squat to launch myself up into the air. I groaned under the weight of the books as I extended my legs and pumped my wings, but a moment later, I rose up into the sky with labored movements.
My team followed me, but I kept my eyes on the citizens while my friends joined me in the air. Sera snapped her fingers with a sly smile, and then her snapdarner appeared on the ground in front of the library steps. The dark-winged Archon tossed her bag of books onto the dragonfly-like monster, then the others followed her example as all four goddesses climbed onto the flying creature’s back.
I watched them closely, but once Sera’s snapdarner buzzed past me, I followed my team over the buildings of Vyguard toward the perimeter of the city. Some of my summons couldn’t follow us through the air, so I recalled them with a wave of my will. Their essence crystals shot into my hands, but I kept my vingehund, kalgori, and bullet bass active.
Suddenly, arrows zoomed past my face, and then a barbed tip pinged against my bullet bass chrome, so I veered through the air to create a more challenging target for the archers on the ground.
Then I extended the chromatic coating of my rubbery fish-like monster to the rest of my team to protect them from the projectiles before I commanded my kalgori to multiply. Once I had a cloud of butterfly-like summons flying in my wake, I instructed the storm of knives to hunt down arrows before they reached my friends.
I repositioned the web sac on my back and refocused on increasing my altitude, then I scanned the area around us as I flew to the southeast behind my team.
It seemed like the city stretched on for miles, and the buildings below me all looked the same so it was hard to judge direction, but I trusted Arwyn to guide us to the airship.
A short while later, the city wall came into view, and I heaved a sigh of relief. It didn’t take us long to reach the campsite from there, but the sounds of angry shapeshifters faded away as the walls of Vyguard slid behind us.
I almost whooped with joy when I spotted the body of the airship over the tree line, and I collapsed onto the slope outside our campsite in a tumble of wings. The web sac on my back was sliced apart by my blade-tipped feathers, and books spilled out onto the ground around me.
Then my team landed nearby, and once I knew my friends and the books were all safe, I recalled the rest of my summons and the Archons with a wave of my will.
When I was free of my monster adaptations and the goddesses were safely tucked away back inside my consciousness, I scratched the jaguar paw tattoo on the back of my hand and gave my friends a wide grin. “Well, that was fun.”
“You need to relearn the definition of fun,” Nia countered as she slid off Kalon’s back.
“Hey, we have the books, don’t we?” I gave her a wink, then I pushed myself to my feet.
“I’d say our mission was a success,” Arwyn agreed as she hugged a bag of books to her chest.
“Where are the soldiers?” Braden questioned as he glanced around at the empty campsite.
“That’s a good question,” I said, and I frowned as I spotted the food spilt and the random boot next to the fire.
“Maybe they’re sleeping?” Cyra suggested with a shrug.
“Then who’s keeping watch?” Nia argued, and her blue eyes were wide. “No, they wouldn’t all leave at once for no reason.”
Arwyn’s amber eyes narrowed as she scanned the area. “Spread out, look around.”
We leapt into action, and my team investigated our base for the explanation to the soldiers’ absence. The tents were empty, and so was the airship, but all the platoon’s possessions were still there.
“I don’t get it,” I said to Arwyn in a low voice when we regrouped. “There aren’t any signs of a struggle.”
Suddenly, the communicator on the healer’s wrist buzzed with a static buzz, and her amber eyes lit up as she lifted the device up for a closer inspection. Then the sound of Lieutenant Danny’s voice came through in indistinguishable bursts.
“City… of hostiles… Return… base.”
“Oh, thank the Maker,” Arwyn breathed. Then she pressed the button to activate her device. “Lieutenant Danny, we are in camp, meet us here, quickly!”
“He’s alive,” I noted in a pleased tone. “I’m curious what happened, though.”
“I’m sure the lieutenant will give us a full report once he gets here,” Arwyn replied, and the professor gave me a wide smile. “I want to get the books inside the airship, they’ll be safest there.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said, and I returned her joyful expression. “Sorry, I spilled some during my landing.”
“No worries,” the healer replied, and she cast a scrutinizing glance over my person. “As long as you’re okay, we can gather them up. I’m sure they’re undamaged.”
“We’ll all help,” Braden offered, and the rest of my friends nodded in agreement.
Then we all scooped up the fallen volumes and carried all of the books into the airship. It took a few trips to get all the web sacs piled inside the vessel, but by the time the stack was complete, Lieutenant Danny marched through the tree line with his troops in formation behind him.
I saw Arwyn breathe a sigh of relief, and she smoothed down her wrinkled blouse as she crossed the distance to the young officer. I waited with the rest of the Mistral mages and my shapeshifting wife by the bonfire we’d claimed as our own.
“I can’t believe it’s almost over,” Cyra murmured as she stretched out on the grass.
“Are we going back to Mistral now?” Mati asked.
“Not until Veopa is taken out,” Varleth responded with a determined expression.
“We’ve accomplished our mission,” Nia pointed out. “We never intended on dealing with the shapeshifters’ goddess when we left Varle.”
“We can’t just let her keep gathering power,” I argued. “Varleth is right. We need to take her out.”
“I do not understand your words,” Freya said, and she tilted her head to the side with an expression of bird-like confusion. “You want to kill the goddess?”
“Veopa is an Archon,” I explained in the language of the clans. “So, she’s technically immortal, but I can trap her.”
“Like the other goddess women who come out of your skin?” the hawk woman asked. “They do not seem evil. They are powerful warriors who want to be your wives and can give you many children. Why not do the same with my goddess? Why not take her as your wife”
“I can’t marry the Archons or have babies with them,” I explained with a sigh.
“Phi told me you joined bodies to complete your bond,” Freya informed me. “You are already married to them, are you not?”
“No, that’s not the same,” I argued and dragged my hands down my face. “I can’t believe she told you that.”
“Do not be angry with her, please?” my wife asked with a worried look. “I just think if you can make another powerful warrior woman your wife and have more babies, then you should. I want more sister-wives, Gryff. I want more of your beautiful and strong babies in our family, and the angel-women want to have them with you. I think you should do it.”
“I have more girlfriends back home, you know.” I smirked. “I don’t need to resort to goddesses who rule over a land full of evil monsters.”
“It is hard to believe the goddess my people worship is an evil monster.” Freya shook her head, and her blonde waves of hair tumbled across her shoulders from the motion. “I am not sure what to believe anymore.”
“We will figure it out,” I replied with a sympathetic smile, “together.”
“I believe in you, Gryff,” Freya said in a voice full of emotion. “Nothing else matters.”
“I love you, Freya,” I murmured, and I pulled my wife into my arms. “Thank you for fighting by my side.”
“I love you, too, Gryff,” the hawk woman said into my chest, and she squeezed me warmly as I wrapped my arms around her.
Then Arwyn and Danny approached our group, and we all turned to hear the lieutenant’s report.
“It seems the citizens of Vyguard were waiting for us to enter the Shadowscape,” Arwyn informed us. “They attacked the troops as soon we went through the portal.”
“We held our ground for as long as possible,” Danny added, “but we were quickly overrun by sheer numbers and had to retreat. I returned for reinforcements, and we fought our way back to the library to ensure the team’s safe escape.”
“We thought something bad happened to the camp,” I told the young officer. “I’m glad everyone is okay.”
“We lost several men to the shapeshifters,” Danny replied in a solemn tone. “I just wish I could bring their remains back to their families.”
“They are heroes of Mistral,” Arwyn told the young officer. “We will make sure their families hear of their bravery.”
“Our victory makes all the difference.” Danny inclined his head. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to check on my men.”
“Of course,” my teacher said as she returned the young officer’s gesture.
Then the lieutenant saluted, and he turned toward the rows of tents on the other side of our campsite.
“What now?” I asked the question we were all thinking.
“Now, we get some rest,” Arwyn chuckled. “We will decide our next steps in the morning.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Braden replied in a grateful tone. Then he shoved his large form from the ground, and he reached out a hand to help his girlfriend back to her feet. “I’m ready for some shut eye.”
“Me, too,” Mati agreed, and she yawned for emphasis.
The couple waved goodnight, then they turned and headed toward their tent.
Varleth stood and dusted off his tattered clothes. “I’m going to leave before I have to endure the inevitable debate over who gets to sleep with Gryff tonight. You should all just go somewhere together and do it at once.”
Arwyn, Nia, and Cyra blushed, but judging from the blank expression on her face, Freya hadn’t understood the surly gypsy’s barbed words.
“Goodnight, man.” I smirked.
My Mistral women echoed my farewell, and then the banisher followed the young couple toward the tents.
“Would we just be proving him right if we discussed sleeping arrangements?” I laughed.
“To be honest,” Nia said with a self-conscious smile, “I’m too tired to care tonight.”
“Cyra’s turn,” Freya declared in a firm tone.
The dark-skinned summoner grinned. “It has been a while, hasn’t it?”
“You two have fun,” Arwyn chuckled. “Nia, you can share my tent if you want.”
“I’ll show Freya where she can sleep,” Cyra offered, and she gave my wife a warm smile. “I’ll meet up with you after she’s comfortable, ok, Gryff?”
“Sounds good to me.” I grinned. “You guys always seem to figure it out.”
“It’s worth it.” Nia shrugged, but her blue eyes danced playfully. “Most of the time.”
“I love you, too,” I chuckled.
Then we all went to our tents, and I pulled off my blood-stained clothes before I stretched out onto my bedroll.
A few moments later, Cyra peeked her head into the opening with a big grin on her gorgeous face. “Still awake?”
