Summoner school 5 a reve.., p.9
Summoner School 5: A Reverse Portal Fantasy, page 9
“Now that everyone is taken care of,” Franny said and took a seat next to Rarus. “Let’s hear all about this technomage that’s defected.”
“Not much to tell,” I shrugged. “She’s working with us to stop her people from committing genocide. Speaking of which, we need to figure out exactly what they’re up to. Tanner’s spies think that they’re going to try and make another amulet.”
“Could they do that?” Rela asked with a shocked expression. “Are they that good? I thought that they left arcane magic behind a long time ago.”
“Stacy made one,” Atlesia said as she piled meat onto her plate. “It works just as well as the ones that we have.”
“And there are plenty of others that can figure it out,” I said. “She destroyed all of her notes, but I have no doubt that Joe and Charles have a backup plan. Since torturing her didn’t loosen her tongue, then they’ll probably try to get their hands on another one so that the other scientists can make a duplicate. It might take a little longer, but we need to stop them before that happens.”
“And before they make friends with the cultists,” Sarya pointed out.
The table went silent for a few minutes as we all processed what that would mean for the nine realms. It was bad enough to have a war on two fronts, but if those two enemies joined together, then there wouldn’t be an army big enough to stop them. The magical council had trained soldiers, but even civilians would need to join in the fray if we had any hope of winning.
“I think that we should split the difference,” Rarus finally broke the silence. “Ramis and I have been talking to the other minotaurs, and it’s not looking good. The seas are not cooperating. My father and uncle haven’t brought home an entire ship full of fish in almost a week. And the storms have gotten worse.”
“Our aunt’s lily garden is dead,” Ramis said around a mouthful of tortilla. “She says that it’s some kind of evil filter. I think the shadow creatures have been hanging around. But I don’t know why they wouldn’t attack us.”
“Because minotaurs aren’t seen as real mages,” his brother snapped. “Whoever is running the show with the cultists must not think that we’re worth the effort of stealing our mana. Maybe they’re hoping to convince us to join and be their muscle.”
“If they’re anything like you two, then none of the other minotaurs will fall for that,” I chuckled. “In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if your people managed to wipe out a chunk of the shadow creatures before their mana could be stolen.”
“We’re not just bodies for your war,” Rarus glared across the table at me.
“I know,” I shook my head. “You’re like sleeper cells. Everyone underestimates you. And that seems to include the shadow creatures. I bet that they underestimate the flower nymphs and tree-people as well. That’s why they went after fairies and elves first, because those are the races that are supposed to have the most natural ability with magic.”
Atlesia nodded along as she devoured the giant fajita that she made. Flower nymphs didn’t usually consume meat, but my girlfriend had started to use more carnivorous plants, and it helped her to connect with them. Still, it was odd to see her so voracious, and even Franny lifted an eyebrow in question.
“What?” Atlesia asked as everyone started to stare at her. “I’m hungry. And those corpse flowers are bigger carnivores than my giant Venus fly traps.”
“You have corpse flowers?” Franny gasped. “How? Where did you even find them? How are you not dead?”
“I’m amazing,” the flower nymph shrugged and then reached into one of her leather bracers for a seed. “I can show you, if you’d like. This one is almost ready to germinate.”
“Outside,” Rela said and pointed to the front door. “House rule. No deadly plants allowed inside.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Franny said and stood. “Can I have a seed? I don’t know if I can actually grow it like you can, but maybe it can be used for a deadly poison. The pollen would be hard to work with… but I’m used to tree pollen, and that can be a complete pain as well, so I’m sure I’d find a way to contain whatever the corpse flower puts out.”
I finished off the rest of my fajita and followed the two ladies out to the front yard. It wasn’t every day that I was able to see Atlesia in action, especially since the flower nymph liked to work in her secret garden where no one would be able to see. I had seen her grow vines and apples, but the last time that she’d grown the corpse flower, I’d been pretty distracted by the shadow creatures.
“Can she really grow a corpse flower?” Rela asked as the others joined us on the porch. “Safely?”
“Yeah,” I nodded and grinned at the older tree-woman. “She figured out how to do it in just a couple of weeks.”
“I’ve met mages older than us that couldn’t pull that off,” Oklar said and leaned against the railing. “How’d you even find one?”
“In the bogs of my realm,” Rina said.
Mike lifted the gnomish woman up so that she could sit on the railing and then stood behind her. I watched them for a few seconds and fought the urge to laugh as Rina swung her legs like a little kid.
“She managed to grab the seeds before the pollen was released,” Sarya said in a proud tone.
“I think she’s working with them for her senior project,” I said and laced my fingers with my mate’s.
“Amazing,” Rela said in awe.
“Aren’t they illegal in the Elvish realm?” Rina asked.
“I’m not sure how she is managing that, actually…” I mused.
We all turned our attention to the front yard and the two women all the way near the fence. Atlesia’s lavender hair blew around her heart-shaped face in a cool breeze while Franny stood upwind at a safe distance. The flower nymph gave us all the thumbs up, bent down, and then pushed the seed beneath the soil.
The tension was so thick that I could cut it with a knife. Sarya gripped my hand tightly as if she was worried that this time things would go wrong, but I had faith in my girlfriend. There was nothing that Atlesia couldn’t do when she set her mind to it, and that included successfully growing the corpse flower whenever she wanted.
A green shoot poked above the soil as Atlesia poured mana into the soil. The others wouldn’t be able to see it since they weren’t summoners, but the magic that my girlfriend used was a soft green that matched her skin. It was beautiful to watch, but dangerous, especially as the corpse flower started to fully form.
Its leaves reminded me of a pineapple that my grandmother used to keep in the kitchen window, though the seed in the middle looked more like an upside-down almond. I forced myself to breathe evenly as it reached the part where the pollen covered the seed. Only a few more seconds and it would be ready to release the deadly substance into the air and kill us all, but then Atlesia pulled back her magic, and it stopped in its tracks.
“I can’t believe it,” Rela whispered under her breath.
“Did you guys see that?” Franny shouted across the yard. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“How is she keeping the pollen on it?” Oklar said and leaned forward. “It should be caught up in the breeze.”
“She keeps it at the gestational period,” Mike said.
“How do you know?” I asked with an incredulous look at the tree-man. “She hasn’t told me about that.”
“Because you don’t grow things with your magic,” my roommate shrugged. “And the only reason that I know is because I work with mushrooms.”
“She is really secretive about her plants,” I shook my head and sighed. “But there’s no denying the results.”
Atlesia bent down to scrape some of the pollen into Franny’s glass container and then quickly forced the corpse flower to decay before it could release its deadly attack. The two women strolled back up to the porch where the rest of us waited, and the tree-woman looked like a kid in a candy shop. My girlfriend’s turquoise lips were pulled back into a huge smile, and I walked over to give her a congratulatory hug.
“That was amazing,” I whispered into her ear and then gave her a quick kiss. “Even better than the last time that I saw it.”
“Because you were actually paying attention this time,” she winked as a faint blush colored her cheeks.
I stepped back as Sarya moved in to congratulate Atlesia. The two women had become best friends despite their rocky relationship at the beginning of the year, and I was sure that it had something to do with sharing me.
“If I can make a poison out of this,” Franny said and stared at the glass container. “Then Mike can make one of his bombs.”
“I might be able to make some from the shotgun shells that the Appalachian mages used,” Rina said. “Between Mike and me, we can create a better way to shoot them. And that pollen should work on the shadow creatures.”
“It does,” I said and then looked around at everyone. “Okay. New plan. Rarus and Ramis, you guys keep an eye on the minotaurs and find out if there’s anything going on there. If your aunt’s lilies are dying, then the shadow creatures have to be nearby. Rina and Mike, I’ll go to Bubba’s and see if he’ll let us borrow one of the shells and a shotgun so you can replicate that. It might come in handy if we have to fight the technomages, and it will definitely work against the shadow creatures.”
“We should bring this all to my father,” Sarya said. “He already knows about the shadow creatures, but we need to bring him into the loop about the technomages. I didn’t get a chance to tell him everything that Stacy said earlier because Caros wouldn’t shut up about my human mate.”
“Naturally,” I said in a dry tone. “You can let him know that it’s time for another meeting. I’m sure that Stacy has to be about done with the readings there. We’ll take her to see your father.”
“I’ll go with Franny and help her with the poison,” Atlesia said.
“I’m going to go cook some more,” Rela said. “You all come back here before you go on any more of your hunts, or missions. I’ll have to-go bags with everything that you’ll need for a camping trip. Including food.”
“I’ll help you cook,” Oklar said and then looked around at all of us. “I’ve never been more proud of all of you. And we’re here to help in any way that we can.”
“Thanks, dad,” Mike said with a smile.
“Thanks,” I said and then took a deep breath, clapped my hands together, and headed toward the front yard to open a portal.
Everyone broke apart to go to our designated spots while Rela and Oklar stood on the front porch with a worried expression. Mike’s grandmother came out of the house with a confused expression on her face, and her daughter-in-law scolded the old tree-woman for sleeping through all the important bits. It was a moment of normalcy in the middle of the chaos, and it reminded me of my own grandmother.
“She’s fine,” Sarya said with a reassuring smile like she knew exactly where my mind was. “I checked on her before I came to dinner. She’s still refusing to answer any questions and acting like the brain tumor is blocking her memory, but the nurses say that it’s almost completely gone.”
“We’ll have to visit her after we talk to your father,” I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “It’s time that stubborn old woman actually gave us some answers about what the hell is going on. And how she’s connected to it all. But first… I need to pick up a technomage. It shouldn’t take long. I’ll see you soon.”
“See you soon,” Sarya said and then gave me a quick kiss, opened her own portal, and walked onto the family estate in the elven capital.
I strolled through the portal that I’d opened into the fresh mountain air, looked around, and then waved at Bubba. The Appalachian mage was in the middle of the pigpen with a hammer in hand. I watched as he used vines to hold a board in place, hammered the nail in, and then glared over at the pigs still gnawing on the vegetable garden.
A year ago it would’ve been an insane sight, but things had changed.
And I was going to fight to keep my new life safe.
Chapter 6
“Hey, Bubba,” I smiled and strolled to the garden. “Finally getting the pigpens back in working order?”
“Yeah,” the mountain man said and handed his hammer to a woody vine that crawled up the fence. “Thought it was ‘bout time I gave ‘em their home back. Ain’t no sense in lettin’ ‘em run ‘round the garden. Granny’ll come back to haunt me if I don’t. An’ that’s one ghost that I ain’t ever want to see. She’d be pissed she had to leave heaven to come tell me ta get the pigs outta her tomatoes.”
I watched in awe as the woody vine worked together with its brothers to hold the boards up and nail them back into place. There was a sigil carved into the handle of the hammer that matched the one in the dirt near the fence. I was pretty sure that the Appalachian mage used it to grow the plants in the first place, but none of the nymphs at school ever used their creations to help with menial tasks.
Atlesia probably did while she was in her own garden, but that was one of my girlfriend’s private spaces, and I tried to leave it alone as much as possible. Our life had become a crazy battle for survival ever since the shadow creatures started to attack the nine realms, and we all needed a place to be alone and recenter ourselves. Hers was the secret greenhouse hidden somewhere she could easily access, and mine was the meadow in the south forest where I could work with my animals without interruptions.
“I wouldn’t want to piss off my grandmother, either,” I said with a shake of my head. “Although, at this point, it might be more helpful. We’ve been through all of her old journals and translated everything that we could, but the ones that are the most relevant were written when she was in her teens and early twenties, and the nicknames that she gave everyone are just a little too vague to figure out.”
“My sister used to talk about her boyfriends with secret nicknames that she gave them,” the tall man said and ran a hand over his long beard. “Damn glad she got married and moved halfway ‘cross the world. We’re still not close, but at least she’s alive. Been tryin’ ta reach her about the attack. Prolly gonna have to go visit, though. That’s why I need to get this garden and pen back in working order. Can’t expect the fellas from town to watch ‘em while I’m gone. Besides, them dwarves are sturdy, but these girls are just one wrong move from eatin’ ‘em.”
I looked over at the pigs and shivered at the thought of fighting one of them. The tapir boar had been hard enough with her tusks and giant frame, but there were plenty of true crime stories that talked about Porky eating everything from hair to bones. I could only imagine how hard it would be to fight them off when they weighed as much as me, though the dwarves that I’d met had plenty of rage to fight with.
“Probably a good idea,” I said and pulled my attention back from the creepy farm animals. “I’m here to pick up Stacy. Do you know where she is?”
“Last time I saw her she was over by the tiny houses,” he said and pointed to the buildings behind the larger farmhouse. “She was mutterin’ somethin’ about sloppy work. Where y’all headed to?”
“I need to bring her to meet with Sarya’s father,” I said and shoved my hands in my pockets. “He’s the head of the magical council, so we should keep him in the loop. At least, now that we told him that we’re involved with all of this.”
“I wouldn’t trust the magical council with my life,” the mountain man said.
Bubba waved his hand at the sigil on the hammer and in the dirt, and his dark green and brown earth magic flowed into it to reinforce the spell. The woody vines started to work faster again as if they’d just been fed, and the Appalachian mage nodded in approval. There wasn’t much that he couldn’t do on his own, and I smiled at the self-sufficient mountain man.
“I don’t trust them all,” I shrugged. “But Mr. Kaylen is one of the good ones. He’s misguided sometimes, but there’s nothing that he wouldn’t do to protect the nine realms.”
“Good,” Bubba said and then clapped me on the shoulder. “You come back anytime you need anythin’. I’ll be gone for the next few days, but the farm is yours, an’ the temple. Just don’t let nobody else down there.”
“Thanks,” I said and flashed a reassuring smile. “I’m sure your sister will appreciate that you made the trip to tell her in person about what happened.”
“It’ll help that I got shot, too,” the mountain man laughed and then winced as his stitches pulled tight. “Ain’t nobody scarier than a country woman who’s angry. They got cast iron skillets for a reason. Annie may have gone into the city, but she’s still from the mountains, an’ if I let everyone die… If I let everyone die an’ didn’t… didn’t…”
“I get it,” I said and reached over to pat the big man’s shoulder. “I’m sure that she’ll understand. It wasn’t your fault. It’s no one’s fault except the cultists that sent the shadow creatures in the first place. And we’re going to take them down and make them pay.”
“Right,” Bubba said and sniffed back the tears that had choked him. “An’ I wanna be a part of the fight when it comes ‘round.”
“I promise to call you,” I said. “Be safe. And maybe tell your sister when she’s not in the kitchen. Cast iron pans and all.”
Bubba let out a wobbly laugh like he was still on the verge of tears and then turned back to the fence. The pigs glanced up and nibbled faster on the vegetables as if the mountain man was about to bring them over, and I watched as woody vines erupted from the ground. The Appalachian mage used his plants like hands and picked up the fat farm animals, dropped them back into their pen, and started to check the perimeter for any weaknesses like there was nothing else in the world but that moment.
I watched for a few seconds to make sure that the big man wasn’t about to have a full mental breakdown and then headed toward the tiny houses. Bubba would probably be able to grieve properly with his sister, but I knew what he really wanted was to get revenge on the cultists who’d slaughtered his family. I’d have to convince Sarya’s father to let the Appalachian mage join the fight, but that shouldn’t be too difficult since he clearly had strong magic. Hell, I’d just seen the man grow vines in the half-frozen ground and then use them to repair the pen.
