Summoner 18, p.35
Summoner 18, page 35
Now that she didn’t have her monsters to protect her, Carth’s body language was much different than usual. Her arrogant smirk had been replaced with a dismayed frown, and her russet eyes were heavy-lidded with exhaustion.
I’d never seen the Archon look so weak before.
“It’s over, Carth,” I said to her softly, and her eyes flashed at me angrily. “Give it up.”
“I’ll never join you,” she spat in my direction as she tried to rise on shaking limbs. “And I’ll never forgive you for turning my sisters against me.”
“You did that all on your own.” I shook my head. “You only have yourself to blame.”
I reached out to her, but the Archon recoiled from me.
“I’ll never forgive you for what you’ve done,” she hissed. “You aren’t the man you were prophesied to be. You were meant to be our salvation, our savior. And yet you imprison us, spurn us, and fight against us while united with our sworn enemy. Damn you, Beastmaker.”
“We don’t have to fight, Carth,” I insisted. “This can all end, right now. All you have to do is join me. We can move on from this, and together, create that amazing world I know you want to live in. I can be your salvation, but only if you join us.”
Carth hesitated, as if she were considering my offer, but then her russet eyes flashed again. She finally stood and looked as if she intended to lunge, but after a moment, she relaxed her stance.
“You haven’t seen the last of me, Beastmaker,” Carth growled, and with a weak wave of her hand, a portal opened up before her. Then, with a final venomous glare, the horned Archon stepped through it and vanished.
Once the portal closed, I dropped to my knees.
“Damnnn,” I sighed.
I wasn’t sure what had come over me. The Archon insisted on our undoing, and yet, I’d offered to forgive her wrongdoings out of pity for her. I almost felt sorry for her, but if the horned goddess didn’t want my help, I couldn’t force it.
“You can say that again,” Cyra panted as she suddenly appeared above me. “That was a close call, Gryff.”
“Almost too close for comfort,” I agreed, and I looked the dark-skinned summoner over. “Are you hurt?”
“No.” Cyra shook her head. “Probably some bruising and soreness, but nothing’s broken or wounded. You?”
“I think I’m okay.” I nodded, but Cyra didn’t seem convinced.
“Gryff…” she began slowly, and the curly-haired mage studied my face with a careful stare. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Carth said she’d be back, but I don’t think we should give her the chance to regather,” I said after a moment of pause. “We have to end this before she has an opportunity to strike again.”
“What did you have in mind?” Cyra asked.
I took a deep breath and then carefully stood back up.
If Carth didn’t want my help, there was only one choice left: I had to defeat her and make her submit myself.
I wiped my grimy hands on my torn trousers and then turned to my lover.
“I think once the others get here, we need to talk,” I decided. “Carth can’t slip away again. We need to get a team together and go after her in the Shadowscape. It’s time to end this. I’m going to make the last three archons mine.”
End of Book 18
End Notes
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 by Eric Vall
Vall, Eric, Summoner 18
