Summoner 20, p.7
Summoner 20, page 7
“Let us walk you,” Mati urged, and I could tell the banisher wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “I’ll feel a lot better if I know you made it home safely.”
“Okay, okay,” I finally conceded. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Braden handed me my coat, and once I threw it over my shoulders, the pair ushered me out the front door.
The night air was cool, and the entire neighborhood glowed from the pale-blue light of the full moon.
“The moon looks lovely,” Mati assessed as she tilted her head up to get a better look. “I love it when it gets full like that.”
“Me, too,” I said.
“I like that we don’t have to worry about monsters,” Braden joked. “They definitely can’t do anything with a full moon, now can they?”
“No, they cannot,” I agreed with the large-framed summoner.
One of the benefits of having separate realms was that monsters couldn’t survive in the moonlight, so there was no worry about rifts opening up when humans were their most vulnerable. We could walk around in the dark as we pleased, but the moment the sun came up, there was always a possibility of a monster attack.
Aside from xanyarstone, the moon was our only protection, and if Hunnah and Quilla truly intended to bring the human and monster realms together, it could mean dire things for the people of Mistral and beyond. As I peered up at the glowing orb in the sky, I made a vow to stop the remaining Archons before they could make their plan a reality.
Braden and Mati walked me back to the mansion, and once we reached the circular drive, we parted with another round of hugs. I’d received more affection in the past few weeks than I had in a while, though I wasn’t about to complain. Once the newlyweds disappeared down the lane, I walked through the front door only to be greeted by Arwyn.
The beautiful healer mage was clad in a berry-colored velvet robe that hugged every curve of her sexy form in all the right ways, and despite the water Mati had forced into my system, I was still a little buzzed from the ale Braden and I had drank.
“Hello, Gryff,” Arwyn greeted me with a lovely smile as I closed the door behind me. “Did you have fun with Braden and Mati?”
“I did.” I smiled at her as I stepped into the foyer. “But I would’ve had more fun if you’d been there.”
“I suppose that’s fair enough,” Arwyn purred as her amber eyes trailed over me. “We could always go up to my bedroom and continue what we started in my office the other day.”
“I like the sound of that,” I agreed with her.
The crimson-haired professor held her hand out to me, and I crossed the foyer and gratefully accepted it. Arwyn offered me a smile, and then she guided me up the spiral staircase.
The next day, I had a meeting with Arwyn, Ashla, and the rest of the research team. Arwyn had requested for me to try and speak with Carth and get her help with some of the translations, and while I was a bit anxious to speak with the Archon after our last encounter, I hoped she would be of some use.
When I got to the research team’s office in the Academy, I was surprised to see only my lovers resided in the room.
“Where’s everyone else?” I wondered as I peered around the room. The space was cluttered with desks full of open books and loose paper, but none of them were occupied by people.
“We weren’t sure if you would need to summon the Archons into the room or not, so Ashla and I decided a private meeting would be for the best,” Arwyn answered. The gorgeous professor was clad in a simple green sweater dress and had her crimson hair pinned up in a bun atop her head, and the overall effect was incredibly sexy.
“We have experience with the Archons, but the other researchers do not,” Ashla chimed in as she pushed up the sleeves of her low-cut white blouse. Her long-lashed chocolate-brown eyes looked like they’d been enhanced by a little mascara, and she looked just as lovely as Arwyn. “We wanted to make everyone as comfortable as possible while still working to get these translations figured out.”
“Fair enough.” I nodded. “The Archons can be overwhelming, so it’s probably for the best anyways.”
“What would be the best way to speak with Carth?” Arwyn asked me.
“I think I should try to talk to her without unchaining her first,” I answered. “If she doesn’t reply, a physical approach might be the key.”
“I think that’s wise.” The healer mage agreed. “See what you can find out first, and we’ll make other arrangements if necessary.”
“Are you okay with us being over here while you speak with her?” Ashla asked me in a gentle tone. “If it’s uncomfortable--”
“I don’t mind,” I interjected. “You’ve seen me communicate with them before, and this time it’s for research. As long as you don’t mind, I don’t.”
“We’ll be right here, then,” Arwyn replied, and she held her quill to her papers as she offered me a smile.
As the professor and the ice mage sat back in their seats, I reached within my consciousness and loosened the wards that held Carth at bay.
“Carth,” I spoke to her directly. “I think it’s about time for you to finally tell me what you and the rest of the Archons had planned for Mistral. I’ve gone long enough without asking, but the time for pleasantries is over.”
I felt the horned Archon stir within me, and suddenly, my head was filled with her cruel, mocking laugh.
You think because I belong to you, I’ll just hand over the master plan? she hissed. Come, Beastmaker, surely you’re smarter than that.
“Yeah, that’s kind of the whole point,” I snapped at her. “You aren’t a part of their alliance anymore.”
They’ve betrayed my trust, but the mission is still important, Carth replied.
“Carth, you’ve lost, remember?” I sighed. “You aren’t on their side anymore, you’re on mine.”
Not willingly, the green-skinned goddess muttered.
“You submitted willingly,” I reminded her. “You may have been initially captured against your will, but you chose to lie with me--”
I chose to fuck you, Carth contradicted me. That’s not the same thing.
I pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers. Why wasn’t Carth listening to me? Usually, when I conquered one of the monster goddesses, they were more willing to work with me, so why wasn’t Carth doing as I said?
I decided to go for a direct approach.
“Are Hunnah and Quilla trying to merge the human realm and the Shadowscape?” I asked the horned Archon, and suddenly, there was a deep pause. My eyebrow raised as I waited for Carth to answer, but there was no reply. “C’mon, Carth, answer me! Are they trying to merge the worlds?”
All I will say is that their plan-- my plan, is to make this world a better place, Carth said vaguely.
“What does that mean?” I demanded, but Carth didn’t reply. Frustration began to build, so I decided the best move for now was to lock Carth away again. She wasn’t going to give me the answers I sought, so it wasn’t worth the headache.
“Does Carth have any insights?” Arwyn wondered with a slight tilt of her head.
“Not anything that would be of use,” I sighed. “For some reason, she’s playing coy and doesn’t want to ‘betray Hunnah and Quilla.’ Though I don’t understand the point..”
“Oh,” The crimson-haired professor frowned. “That’s problematic.”
“No offense, Gryff, but I didn’t realize the Archons could refuse you,” Ashla spoke up, and her dark eyebrows creased together in confusion.
“They usually can’t,” I replied. “But then again, Carth has always been more defiant than the others.”
“Do you think it has to do with Carth’s influence magic?” Arwyn observed as she tapped her pen to her mouth. “Perhaps since she has the ability to project her will onto others, her mind is more difficult to conquer?”
“That’s not a bad thought,” I agreed with the professor. “I didn’t think about it like that, but it would make sense that it’s harder to get into her head. She likely has a mind shield of her own that’s difficult to penetrate, even with our bond.”
“You may have to think about her as you would a newly captured monster,” Ashla suggested. “She’s going to take some time to tame properly.”
“You’re right,” I said as I slumped in my chair. “I only wish I could tame her quickly.”
“It’s not as if we have all the time in the world, but as it stands, we haven’t heard a peep from Hunnah or Quilla,” Arwyn pointed out. “We shall keep working to translate as much as we can, and you can work on getting Carth to cooperate.”
“Maybe in the meantime Xanrith can be of help?” Ashla proposed. “She helped us look at the book just before Carth’s quartzriel attack, and she seemed to recognize at least some of the language.”
“I can summon her out if everyone’s comfortable with that.” I said.
“Xanrith is one of the few Archons I feel as if I can trust,” Arwyn replied in a thoughtful voice as she tapped a quill to her lips. “If Carth won’t help us, Xan would be a good second option.”
With the mage’s blessings, I reached within my consciousness and called upon Xanrith.
I would love to help, my master.
My ribcage began to tingle, and suddenly, a stream of azure essence poured out from under my shirt and flew to the center of the room. Once it dissipated, Xan’s gorgeous frame was revealed, and the umber-skinned Archon carefully stretched her blue flame wings behind her and offered me a beautiful smile.
“How may I be of assistance?” the goddess inquired.
“We’re working on translating the book I took from the palace in the Shadowscape,” I said. “Carth isn’t being particularly helpful, so we were wondering if you could give any insights.”
“I can attempt,” Xan answered with a small frown. “Although, I’m not sure how useful I can be. The last time I glanced at the book, I wasn’t able to assess much of it.”
“The parts we’ve translated contain the words ‘bridge,’ ‘realm,’ ‘rift,’ and ‘one,’” Arwyn explained to the Archon. “What we’ve surmised from context clues is that the intention is to bring the human realm and the Shadowscape together and reverse the enchantment that keeps the worlds apart.”
“Carth never mentioned anything about this to you?” I wondered.
“As I’ve told you before, I wasn’t privy to her plans,” Xanrith sighed as she crossed over to us. “I was simply there to back my sisters. Carth didn’t trust me with information like she did with Hunnah and Quilla.”
“Can you take a look at the book and see if there’s anything you can make out?” I implored the goddess.
Xanrith gave me a firm nod and then leaned over the desk, and it took my all to keep from staring at the swell of the Archon’s perfectly pert breasts. Her one-shoulder black gown left little to the imagination already, and her position didn’t help matters.
The Archon’s amethyst eyes flickered over to me briefly, and she gave me an amused expression before returning to the text. She knew I was watching her, yet she didn’t say anything to deter me.
Ashla, Arwyn, and I waited in silence as the umber-skinned goddess’ eyes darted between the pages, and as Xan’s eyebrows creased further and further together, my heart raced in my chest. I wasn’t sure if she’d be able to translate anything, but I had to hold out hope that she could.
“There’s something here about the moon,” Xanrith finally said. “But the glyphs around it are illegible. For some reason, my eyes keep aching when I stare at the page for too long, like I wasn’t meant to read it.”
She pointed to a row of the ornately-scrawled glyphs, and for a moment a shiver ran down my spine. I felt like I’d been here before, reading these exact words, but how was that possible?
“Gryff?” Ashla’s voice made me snap out of my trance. “Are you okay?”
“The words seem almost familiar,” I sighed. “I don’t know how, but I’ve had this feeling before. I can’t read what they say, but there’s this sensation in my brain I can’t explain… like if I unlocked something, I could translate these glyphs into words.”
“That’s strange,” Arwyn assessed with a slight tilt of her head. “You made that observation last time, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “But the feeling is stronger this time. I’m not sure why it’s affecting me so strongly.”
I braced myself in my seat as my head spun. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Xanrith’s violet eyes wide with concern.
“Perhaps I should return to your mind for now,” the flame-winged Archon proposed. “We can attempt this another day.”
I was about to object, but the Archon was right. The book made me feel ill, and I didn’t want to stare at it any longer, so I recalled Xan back into my consciousness, and once the azure stream of essence disappeared, I let out a low sigh.
“I’d say we’ve accomplished all we can for now,” Arwyn decided. “I’m going to tidy up my station for a bit, but Gryff, you’re free to head out. We can reconvene on the translations later.”
“Are you sure?” I pressed. “If there’s anything else I can do…”
“We’re at a standstill,” the professor said. “I don’t see us making any more progress today, and I don’t want to push you too far mentally.”
“You might be a badass mage, Gryff, but you’re still just a man,” Ashla reminded me with a soft smile. “Don’t push yourself for no reason. We’ll get back to this another day.”
“Okay,” I finally gave in. “You’re right.”
“Of course, we are.” The ice mage grinned at me, and she swept one of her thick braids over her shoulder.
“We’ll finish up here and see you back at home later.” Arwyn smiled at me. “Go get some food and some rest.”
“Will do.” I nodded. Then I rose from my chair, walked around the table, and gave each of my lovers a kiss before I departed the room.
I’d taken one step out into the hallway when suddenly, a blur ran right toward me. My hand reflexively reached for the sheath at my side as the figure approached, and my heart raced in anticipation, but before I could act, the figure slammed right into me and nearly knocked me over.
I was about to shove my attacker right off when I recognized the swath of auburn hair.
“Layla? What are you doing here?”
Chapter Five
“That was not the reception I was hoping for, Gryffie,” Layla giggled as she wrapped her arms around me.
My heart rate began to slow as my brain processed that I wasn’t under attack, but I could still feel the aftershocks of adrenaline coursing through me.
“You scared the shit out of me, Layla,” I sighed, but the mage was entirely unbothered by my reaction.
“Oh, you loved it,” the petite summoner continued to laugh, and then she planted a wet, exaggerated kiss on my cheek.
“How someone so small can inflict so much damage is beyond me,” I joked once she let go of her grip around my neck. “I thought you were some kind of monster or assailant or something.”
“Nope, just your everyday adorable mage.” Layla gave me an impish grin. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
When she lowered herself back on the ground, I got a good look at the tiny summoner’s outfit.
Layla wore a forest-green trench coat, a pair of skin-tight black leggings, and a pair of leather combat boots that were both sexy and badass. Black fingerless gloves and a black hat finished out the look, and though I was still a little shaken from her sneak attack, I couldn’t deny how cute she looked.
“Trust me, I’ll take you over an attacker any day,” I chuckled as I continued to admire her. “So, what’s up? Why are you tackling me in the middle of the corridor?”
“We’ve come to kidnap you, Gryffie,” the auburn-haired mage declared with an uptilted chin. “In between all of your studying and teaching, and researching, we’ve barely seen you around the house, and we have a very important errand that requires your presence.”
“We?” I asked with a raised eyebrow, and the moment the words escaped my lips, a pair of figures rounded the corner and approached us.
“Yes, we,” Nia giggled as she came into focus. Erin followed right behind her, and the pair of mages wore expressions just as mischievous as Layla’s.
Erin wore a knee-length copper coat that made her hair look even more orange and her amber eyes more golden. Nia wore a similar jacket, only hers was shorter and a pale sky-blue, and she’d accessorized with metallic leggings that showed off her sexy long legs. The mages were clearly dressed for the colder weather, but they also looked nice enough to go out and about somewhere.
“This day continues to get better,” I laughed at my beautiful women as they crossed over to us. “So, where am I being taken?”
“We’ve decided we’re taking you suit shopping,” Erin announced.
“Suit shopping?” I replied. “What for?”
“Um, your wedding?” Layla responded with creased eyebrows as if this was something I should have known already. “What else would it be for?”
“What’s wrong with the suits I already have?” I asked her, and each of my women’s jaws dropped at the statement.
“Gryff, you cannot be serious,” Nia groaned, and the ashen-haired elementalist pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers. “You weren’t planning on wearing the same suit you wore to Braden’s--”
“Why not?” I asked genuinely. “It’s black. Won’t that work fine?”
“Oh, no, no, nooooo.” Erin shook her head determinedly. “That won’t do. Now you’re definitely coming with us!”
“Don’t I get a say in this?” I wondered.
“Nope!” Layla and Erin replied in unison.
The mimic took my right hand while Layla captured the left, and the pair began to pull me down the hallway. Nia followed close behind, and I couldn’t help but laugh at my women. After such a stressful afternoon, this kidnapping was just the kind of spontaneous excitement I needed, even if it was for something as mundane as suit shopping.
True to their word, the girls ushered me down the corridor, out the Academy doors, and right into a carriage that took us straight into town. The buggy stopped just outside of a small boutique in the square I’d seen a million times before but never stepped foot in. Like any man, clothing stores didn’t interest me much, though I knew my women frequented this particular shop quite often.
