Summoner 20, p.32
Summoner 20, page 32
I waved my arm in the air and gestured for my monsters, the king gryphon, and the pair of hawk shifters to follow my pyrewyrm’s lead. Nia tightened her grip around my waist as we descended, and I enjoyed the feeling of her full breasts as they pressed against my back.
Once all of this was over, I was going to need a night alone with the beautiful elementalist.
We made an admittedly graceful landing, and once all of the monsters and the shapeshifters were on the ground, my team dismounted the creatures and collectively stretched out.
“That vingehund of yours is quite something,” Gawain remarked, and he scratched my canine-like summons behind the ears.
The pale-blue monster let out a contented sigh and leaned into the fire mage’s hand, and I stifled a laugh. Gawain was cocky when it came to his interactions with humans, but he had a soft spot for animals that always surprised me.
“She seems to like you, too,” I said.
“So, what kind of prints are we looking for?” Braden cupped his hands over his eyes to block out the midday sun. The large-framed summoner’s gray eyes scanned our surroundings, and I followed his gaze in hopes to find something.
“We were informed the mistwolves are essentially long-legged, slightly larger versions of normal wolves,” I replied. “So, my guess would be we’re looking for a set of footprints that resemble a wolf’s.”
“Like these?” Nia gestured at the ground beside her boot.
Sure enough, a set of four paw-shaped prints were embedded in the ground. They were larger than I’d suspected, and I stifled a shudder as I imagined the paws that had created them.
“Just like that,” I remarked, and I lifted my eyes to meet Nia’s. “Good looking out, Nia.”
“Thanks.” Nia grinned at me proudly.
“The trail goes through that set of trees there.” Freya pointed toward a smattering of trees just beyond Nattanger’s gates, and when we all gave her incredulous faces, the hawk-princess raised a dark-blonde eyebrow. “What? I have a hawk’s vision. Nia isn’t the only one with perfect eyesight.”
We all chuckled at that, except for Freya, who didn’t seem to understand the joke.
The woods surrounding Nattanger were simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar to me. Growing up in the Wilds, I was no stranger to wandering through the forest, but as my team and I descended into the expanse of dark emerald trees, dread built in my chest.
Freya took up the head of the group, and we followed the blonde princess as she navigated us through the forest. Despite it being the middle of the day, the thick trees blocked out a considerable amount of sunlight and gave the forest a dark, creepy appearance. I wasn’t scared easily, but even I had to admit the darkness was unnerving, especially when paired with the random bird calls and animal noises.
Gawain and Nia used their elemental magic to form small fireballs in the palms of their hands, and as I watched the fire smolder across their skin, I found myself jealous of their magic. I’d dressed warmly for the occasion, but my hands still felt chilled.
I considered summoning my baroquer so I could borrow the fire magic from his flaming sword, but the monster was about forty feet tall, so that wasn’t a possibility in the middle of a dense forest.
Suddenly, Freya came to a stop, so all of us paused as well.
“Freya, what’s--”
“Shh,” Freya shushed me as she held a finger to her lips, and then she inclined her head forward. “Everyone, listen.”
We heard footfalls in the distance, and I narrowed my eyes to get a better look ahead. The steps grew louder, and I heard the rustle of bushes about forty feet away from where we stood.
“Brace yourselves,” I warned my team in a quiet tone. “I think we’ve found what we’ve been looking for.”
I hadn’t expected the pack to find us so quickly, but then again, all of this had been a trap in the first place, so I couldn’t be too surprised.
I kept my hand close to my bandolier and steadied my stance. Then I gave my group a wide-eyed expression that made them take a similar position, and when I turned back around, I was met by several pairs of silver eyes.
Standing before us were the largest wolves I’d ever seen. While they weren’t particularly bulky, their limbs were long and sinewy, and they moved with a sleekness that was ghostly and unnatural. The creatures’ fur had an iridescent cast to it that was nearly identical to Hunnah’s wolf ears and tail. In the sunlight, they reflected every color of the rainbow, and their large, tilted eyes were like molten silver.
“Wow,” Nia breathed. “They’re… beautiful.”
Just as the words left the elementalist’s lips, the wolves let out low, resonating snarls and revealed their icy, razor-sharp teeth. Nia was right to say they were beautiful, but they had a deadliness about their fluidity that made them terrifying.
“Gryff?” Gawain whispered behind me as the pack stalked forward. “What do we do now?”
“Get your magic at the ready,” I murmured.
My heart thudded in my chest as adrenaline surged through me, and I kept my hand on my bandolier as the monster skulked forward. A wolf stood at the front of the pack, and his silver eyes glowed like fire as they bored into mine.
A chill ran down my spine.
I had yet to see them in action, but if their movements were any suggestion, I could see their deadliness I’d been warned of. This fight was going to be intense, and I needed to think quickly if I wanted my team to make it out of this unscathed.
Before I could think any further, the lead wolf ran straight at me, and I barely managed to duck out of the way as its enormous jaws snapped near my face.
“Gryff!” Nia screamed, and then her palms glowed with fire magic as they formed into fists.
I rolled on the ground, and as I stumbled back onto my feet, I retrieved an essence crystal and crushed it in my palms.
My maripor appeared as the plumes of smoke dissipated, and all it took was one gesture of my head for the monster to leap into action. I’d captured the creature after battling it in the Shadowscape, and while it was still one of my newer monsters, it was one I’d grown particularly fond of.
The creature was somewhere between canine and feline in appearance, with sleek, jet-black fur, large ears that were butterfly wing-shaped, and bright magenta eyes. The most important and deadly of its physical traits, though, was its tail. The maripor’s tail was incredibly long, corkscrew-shaped, and lined with pointed barbs that looked like thorns. Those barbs, along with the beast’s bite, contained a poison so toxic they’d nearly killed me when I’d been stung, and if it weren’t for Xanrith’s healing magic, I’d have been a goner.
I commanded the maripor to use its tail and strike at as many mistwolves as it could manage, and my summons let out a low snarl of approval before it began to strike out at Hunnah’s monsters.
The translucence of the mistwolves led me to believe the creatures couldn’t be struck, but apparently, I was wrong about that fact. The maripor managed to strike a blow to one of the smaller wolves, and the beast let out a howl as it was jabbed by one of my summon’s barbs.
While I tackled the monsters at the front of the pack, the rest of my team snapped into action and became a blur of various magics and movement.
Braden summoned a monster we’d gifted to him the night before his wedding to Mati, a rare creature known as a chimera. According to Mur, it was Moose Clan tradition to gift a weapon of some sort to the groom-to-be, so we’d opted to give the ox-like summoner an essence crystal instead.
I hadn’t seen the creature before now, and my jaw dropped as I took in the awesome sight.
Chimeras were a Grade-B monster, and a cousin to the gryphon, another monster Braden had in his possession. The incredibly rare beast shared the traits of a lion, a dragon, and a goat, and no matter the variant, they were always inexplicably female.
She had two heads, one that resembled a fearsome lioness, and another that looked like a goat. A pair of enormous wings rose from her back, and they were purely dragon-like in appearance. Her body was sleek but muscular, feline except for the hooves on her back feet and the dragon’s talons on her front feet. Her fur and scales were as white as snow, and her glowing eyes were a deep, dark blue.
“Wow,” I breathed.
The chimera let out a resounding roar that rivaled the mistwolves’ growls and sprang into action with no hesitation. She plowed right into a pair of mistwolves, and as the creatures tumbled and pounced, they became a tangle of limbs and snapping jaws.
Freya and Vahla shifted into their hawk forms and took off into the sky. I couldn’t keep my eyes away from the pack for too long, but I managed to watch just in time as Freya picked up a small wolf with her enormous talons, pumped her wings, and then slammed it back to the ground before it could even think to make another move. I referred to this technique as the body bomb, and I was impressed the princess had been ballsy enough to use the maneuver against an Archon’s monster. Freya was so much braver than I gave her credit for.
When I knew my hawk wife had things under control, I scanned the forest for the rest of my teammates. Nia used earth magic to trap the wolves in an elemental crafted ditch, and once the creatures were locked away, Gawain smothered them with a blanket of fire magic. However, much to the elementalists’ dismay, the mistwolves were able to float up and escape from the ditch with little difficulty.
The Archons had been right when they’d warned me about the mistwolves. They were impossibly fast and lithe, and their translucent quality somehow allowed them to slip through physical barriers if they concentrated.
I tried to decipher how Freya was able to lift them without a problem, and then I realized she was only going after the smallest of the pack. She was purposefully seeking out the weaklings to attack, rather than the older, wiser members of the pack. It was smart, and I had to commend her for her wise thinking.
Mur had shapeshifted into his moose form, and the shapeshifter bellowed as he butted heads with one of the wolves. His large antlers made it difficult for the pale wolf to get to his head, and despite the snarling and spitting, the creature was unable to take a bite out of Mur’s large skull.
Unfortunately, while he was busy trying to fend off one wolf, another lunged at his side and lunged at him with its razor-like teeth.
“Mur!” I cried out as blood streamed out of my friend. Suddenly, I heard a raptor’s cry, and then I saw a flash of red-brown fly right at the wolf. It was Vahla, and her talons tore right into the mistwolf as she screeched in fury.
Mur was able to step away, and when he did, he called back out to me. “I’m okay, Gryff! I promise. Keep doing what you must to defeat these creatures! The wound is not deep!”
Vahla’s cries filled the battlefield, and my heart thudded in my chest as I watched the younger hawk shifter swipe at the wolves. I debated running over to help Mur, but then I heard another familiar screech that made a chill run down my spine. A blur of golden-brown appeared as my hawk wife joined her sister. The pair of raptors dive-bombed, slashed, and attacked the wolves with impressive force, and I was momentarily frozen in awe.
Then I remembered Mur’s injury, and I snapped back to attention.
“Get somewhere safer in the woods, I’ll come help with your wounds as soon as I can!” I called out to Mur. “Will you be okay--”
“I’m fine!” Mur replied. “Go do what you must!”
Without another word, the moose retreated back into the woods, and once I was sure he was hidden away, I turned back to the battle.
My maripor was putting up a decent fight, but I could tell it was going to need some kind of backup, so I reached into my bandolier and summoned a few more monsters to assist the canine-feline creature.
Oh, fuck! Dio exclaimed as he manifested in the forest, and the tawny saber-toothed-cat let out a low roar as one of the mistwolves began to sneak in his direction. Fuck these guys!
My familiar wound his enormous head back, and when he swung forward, his curved fangs slammed right into the wolf. The iridescent monster was flung back but managed to scramble to its feet fast enough to attempt the maneuver again.
“Dio, do you have this under control?” I asked as I scanned the field. There was so much motion and magic flying everywhere that my eyes had trouble keeping up with it all, and I needed to focus on finding a single wolf to capture while the others were occupied by the other mages and monsters.
I’ve got this! Dio proclaimed as he headbutted one of the wolves. Do what you need to do, boss!
I gave my familiar a single nod and darted around the forest to find my target. Finally, I spied a wolf who was unoccupied.
I’d found my prize.
The she-wolf snarled at me with bared fangs, and a chill ran through my spine as the low grumble from her chest reached my ears. Her shining tail whipped behind her, and I knew the motion was meant as a warning, but I wasn’t afraid.
“You’re mine,” I murmured.
I reached into my bandolier and retrieved the empty essence crystal I’d made sure to pack beforehand. I had no idea if this was going to work, but I had to attempt anyway.
I took a deep breath, clenched the gem in my hand, and pushed a bit of my mana into the empty crystal. I focused on the visual image of my magic infusing with the gem, and after a moment and a brief tug, I knew I had enough to make this endeavor possible.
The she-wolf crouched back on her long, powerful legs, and I steadied myself. Even though there was a flurry of excitement beyond us, I felt as if time had stopped, and only the single mistwolf and I existed in this moment.
I was ready. I’d been waiting for years to end this war, and once I captured this creature, I would be one step closer to capturing Hunnah and Quilla. The world would be rid of the Archons, and I could finally have the normal life I was so desperately craving for.
I unsheathed my rhin dagger just as the monster launched itself at me, and before I fell to the ground, I slashed a long, thin cut into the creature’s side. Silver liquid similar to the color of its eyes streamed out of the sight, and the mistwolf let out a surprised cry before it fell down beside me.
I reacted as fast as I could as I plunged the empty essence crystal right into the wound I’d created and focused my magic. The mistwolf bucked and snarled beneath my touch, but I continued on anyway and concentrated on the mental image of the monster being absorbed by the gem. Suddenly, my arms fell slack, and the mistwolf began to disappear before my eyes. There was another brief tug at my mana, but I fought through the uncomfortable feeling and focused my energy on capturing the monster.
Finally, the essence crystal shifted in my hands until it took on a rounded shape and a milky-white appearance. I held it aloft and discovered that much like an opal, it had a rainbow shine about it.
The field suddenly fell silent, and the entire pack halted their attacks. I suddenly felt several pairs of eyes on me, and when I looked back down at the essence crystal, my blood rushed to my head.
By the Maker.
I’d successfully captured a mistwolf.
Chapter Seventeen
For a moment, I found myself swept up in the euphoria of my victory, and excitement flooded through my entire body.
I’d done it. I’d captured one of Hunnah’s monsters for myself, and I was one step closer to capturing the Archon in my consciousness once and for all.
The excited cheers of my teammates drowned out all other sounds in the field, and my lips curled into a contented smile.
However, the feeling didn’t last long.
As I continued to hold the essence crystal in my hand, the remaining mistwolves suddenly erupted into a chorus of growls that sent a chill down my spine and disrupted any of the congratulatory sounds from my teammates.
Then the mistwolf at the front of the pack took a tentative step forward, and its lips curled back to reveal a mouth full of sharp teeth.
Shit.
Were my friends and I about to be wolf chow?
So, uhhhh, boss? Dio’s voice rang out in my head. I’m glad you caught the mistwolf and all, but what do we do now?
I tried to come up with a good answer to give the saber-toothed-cat, but nothing came to mind. I was reluctant to look over at my summons for fear of the mistwolves striking, so I maintained eye contact with the iridescent monsters and mentally dared them to do their worst. I doubted any of them had psychic abilities, but I couldn’t be certain of anything.
We were at a complete standstill, and for once, I had no idea what to do.
So, I reached into my mind and unbound some of the wards around the Archons, just enough for the monster goddesses to be able to speak freely with me.
“What should we do now?” I asked them as sweat beaded across my forehead. “They don’t seem especially pleased.”
There isn’t much, Xanrith spoke up first. You’ve taken one of their own, and the pack is big on loyalty.
I’m surprised they haven’t struck already, Miralea added. Hunnah’s pack isn’t one to hesitate.
Are they waiting for Hunnah? Utuni wondered. That’s the only reason I can imagine.
They’re deciding how they want to proceed, Veopa assessed in a calm, silky voice. True, they follow Hunnah, but as Xanrith pointed out, their loyalty amongst one another is stronger than almost any other bond. You can see it in their eyes, they’re conflicted. Do they attack the human who captured one of their own like a wild animal, or do they follow their mistress’ orders, whatever those might be? They’re unsure whether to follow instinct or instruction.
“How do I speed this up?” I asked, and my eyes darted over to my friends. The mages and shapeshifters had frozen right along with the wolves, and I could tell they were waiting on my order to strike. “I can’t stand here for eternity and play chicken with the pack.”
You have to be patient until you see motion, Sera said softly. If you go on the offense now, they’ll rip you to shreds. Mistwolves with a normal temperament are deadly enough, but bloodthirsty mistwolves… they’re something else entirely.
