Who were the Summoned? -Chapter 3

"I understand why he's using ice instead of water, but why isn't he using fire? I know he lights the campfire easily."

"Because fire flying around, burning things and creating smoke, is bad in such a small space." Kes, laying on his back on the floor, recited the explanation he'd heard Elmerin give multiple times over the past year. "Fire in a closed space with dust around can also cause an explosion."

"Oh, that can't be true."

"Elmerin showed me." Kes studied the ceiling. "He took some flour, used <Spinning Breath> to mix it with regular air, then used <Spark > in the middle. He'd also used <Earth Shield> or we'd've been hurt. We were rather far back too."

"All <Spinning Breath> does is clear dust and stink away, though?" She looked back at the panel. "Oh no!"

*******

Out in the tunnel ways, Sky ducked and dodged, counting on their birth-talent of Agility to avoid the weapons aimed at him and maneuver around the goblins' defenses to strike. It was rapidly becoming exhausting, the goblins threatening every moment to get past him where they could aim at the party's backs.

Falchan held strong, forcing the goblins emerging from the narrow passage to go around or charge him, disrupting their swarm and mitigating the advantage of their numbers. His blade flicked and cut at goblins trying to climb over him, while more goblins pushed at his shield, trying to make him give way so they could charge in more freely.

Birth-talent: Immovable Mass.

Drysia struck and slashed, counting on her armor to shield her from thrown missiles while she shield-bashed and sliced the thinly-armored goblins. They tried to attack her from all sides or knock her off balance. But Drysia 's birth talent was Tenacity, and she wasn't giving in.

Elmerin was in no position to help any of the warriors; he was facing off against the infected goblin sorcerer who had come down the second passageway while the adventurers were focused on the first.

This was a particularly bad infestation. The sorcerer's green skin had darkened so much it was almost black, four horns protruded from its forehead, and it sported an extra set of arms. One fist grasped a staff topped with a firestone; all four hands had extra-long claws that glittered with a silver-steel sheen.

Silver-steel. The mark of Bolat. Not good. 

Why does this guy look different-?

He shook it off. Small magics wouldn't work on a sorcerer of this level, but Falchan and Drysia were the last people Elmerin wanted witnessing anything stronger; the results would be a serious obstruction to his plans.

Just as well there was plenty of dust to hand, with the fight kicking up even more. One more moment…

The goblin sorcerer pointed his staff forward, ready to cast a spell.

Now.

<Spinning Blast>

With the thoughtcast, a large wind kicked up, spinning around the sorcerer and Elmerin, capturing the dust in a screen and cutting them off from their allies while leaving them undisturbed in the eye. 

The goblin sorcerer pulled back his staff, confused. He looked behind him at the opening of the passageway, now cut off from retreat by the wind. 

<Light Bind>.

Threads of golden light appeared around the goblin, swiftly binding him.

<Dark Hand>. A hand of black moonlight grabbed the staff as the goblin dropped it.

Looking even more confused, the goblin sorcerer twisted his head to look at the human, his neck rotating much farther than a normal goblin's. Elmerin wasn't surprised by the befuddled look; as far as "everyone" knew, only priests could handle the energies of Dark and Light, and only one or the other. 

Which was utter crap, but it kept the greedy in power. 

<Item Box>. Elmerin pulled out a long, slender white sword, the blade forged from a single crystal.

The goblin's eyes grew wide. Item Box. A magic created than forgotten four hundred years past. A portable storage that grew with the power and experience of the skill holder. A hiding place that couldn't be searched without the owner's permission.

Lost in wonder, the goblin sorcerer never felt the shimmering blade split his skull. 

*******

Elmerin hated using the Blade of Velez. The skills it stole could be useful, but the memories it also stole felt like glue and were often hard to sort through. It would drive most people mad. 

Birth-talent: Mental Stability. What a joke. He couldn't go mad and forget even when he wanted to.

But he had to find out what was going on in the labyrinth. A corrupted this altered shouldn't be possible with the pooling of corrupted magic alone; something this severe usually only appeared in the last year or two before Bolat's visits, and there was about a dozen years to go before that happened again. To change that, you'd have to alter the course of the stars.

Later, though.

Banishing Light Bind, Elmerin took his long knife and dealt several more slashes to the goblin, then stabbed it through the chest. He cautiously wormed out the stone, carefully avoiding the damage that would advertise a stone had been removed. 

<Item Box>. Elmerin dropped the sword and staff in. Pulling out a piece of cloth, he wrapped the stone and dropped it in as well. 

And now… <Wind Blade>.

Elmerin gritted his teeth as the invisible blades slashed at him, duplicating the look of being attacked by a sorcerer using elemental wind. The most annoying part was having to damage his hair -he'd spent years growing it out, dammit. At least it wouldn't be bad enough to have to cut it short.

Okay, that should do it. He cautiously dropped to his knees by the sorcerer's corpse and dismissed the wind.

********

"You should have blocked off that other passageway!" Nera yelled as she fussed over Elmerin's injuries. "That goblin snuck right up on you!"

Elmerin waved her exclamation away. "Even if I had, he would have blasted right through anything I could do. I got lucky as it was; he got arrogant after trapping me and tried to play cat and mouse."

Nera gave the last bandage an extra hard yank. "Well, after Falchan dragged your stupidly injured arse in here, I've healed you enough you won't stupidly bleed to death for now. I'll finish if I have any energy left after healing the people who weren't stupid." She glared at him, hazel eyes filled with anger. "You get up and reopen one of those wounds and I'll skin you. Stay. Put." She flounced away to check on the other members.

While Nera headed over to the other side of the large safe room to work on the less nasty wounds of the other three, Kres brought the campfire plate to Elmerin to activate. An engraved metal disc thirty centimeters across, applying a fire stone or infusing it with fire magic made it heat up, providing at least six hours' of warmth and the ability to cook hot meals. An enchanted ceramic base made sure it didn't burn the area it was placed on, while crystals set into the base mimicked the colors of a campfire and provided light.

The thing was heavy enough it was often sold with its own item bag just big enough to hold it. Kres could just lift it, taking it from the item bag and placing it where a quick <Warming Flame> would start it. As Kres set up the stand for the soup kettle to hang over the plate, he read again the line, "With Thanks to the Summoned" painted on the side of the plate's ceramic base.

"El, how many Summoned were there?"

"Hmm?" Elmerin glanced up from heating the disc.

"The Summoned. How many were there? It seems half the things we use are claimed to have been invented by the Summoned, inspired by them, or improved by them."

"I doubt it's that much. Somewhere between a quarter and a third, I'd say. Here's the food supplies." Elmeril tossed Kres the correct item bag. "The answer to your question is no one is sure."

"That's ridiculous." 

Elmerin opened the item bag containing the cooking supplies and pulled out the kettle, hanging it on the stand. "<Water Bubble>. The problem is when the Summonings occurred around four hundred years ago, nearly every damn kingdom did their own. Including all four elf kingdoms, so don't let them tell you different. The only ones who provably didn't were the dwarves, since they focus their magic on their mines and craft, and the beastfolk. The Khrystan tendency is to make magic items rather than learning how to wield it from within, and a Summoning engine is next to impossible to make. The Laget beastfolk only existed as slaves.

"While a couple kingdoms Summoned one or two, most Summoned five or more, and a few Summoned large groups. Many of the kingdoms involved obscured the number they Summoned; there were several who fled the kings that had Summoned them; and there were several kicked out for having 'bad' talents -usually logistical or crafting abilities instead of fighting ones." Elmerin snorted. "Those kings didn't understand how military supply works -their kingdoms all fell in the ensuing war. But we don't know how many fled or were discarded -several of the ones we do know about signed up with the Adventurer or Merchant guilds. If others did that, but changed their names first, we'd never know. The registration system the different guilds use wasn't invented yet."

"Hey, Kres! I'll take over that." Sky, their now somewhat-shredded gambeson over their arm, nodded toward the dinner supplies. They tossed the gambeson onto the pile of supplies and item bags and hovered their hand to check the temperature of the water in the soup kettle.

"I can handle it-"

Sky shook their head. "You are eight. A very old eight the way you act, but eight. I-" Sky glanced over their shoulder and lowered their voice "-I don't care what those two were thinking getting their only kid a pass that lets them in the labyrinth, and at your age. You should get to be a kid, not a camp servant."

"The dangers of the labyrinth cover a multitude of sins." Elmerin's voice was barely audible, but his grin was vicious.

"In front of the kid?" Sky hissed. Kres rolled his eyes. It wasn't like half the city didn't know that Falchan would be happier without Kres existing. 

Giving Sky a look that clearly said he thought they were an idiot, Elmerin changed the subject. "The wards around the safe room door seem to be weakening. Make a note to tell the guild so they can send sorcerers down to restore them. Active traps in the tunnels are bad enough."

Falchan and Drysia came to the "fire", trailed by Nera, Falchan giving a lazy wave. "Hey, Elmee."

Elmerin's head snapped up with a glare that could freeze steel.

"Fine, El-me-rin." Falchan rolled his eyes. "What were you talking about while we were getting actually healed?"

"Elmerin was telling Kres about the history of the Summoned when I walked up," Sky said quickly.

"You know how it is, Lord Falchan." Elmerin had a slight, malicious grin. "I watch Kres at night and by day, feed him, teach him, bring him along when I go on safer and non-labyrinth quests, and in return you pay me five silver canaries a day. That's fifty bronze swallows, five hundred copper sparrows, eight silver tholas of Metsa, fourteen copper tongs of Dvergr, sixteen silver pads of Khry- Oof!" Elmerin picked up the bag of coins that had hit him in the chest, rubbing the bruised spot with his other hand. "Thank you very much."

"That's enough for a week. Just remember to keep him out of sight of my father the count -he'll be coming into town in four days." At Elmerin's arched eyebrow: "Yes, there's a bonus for that in the bag."

Sky saw Nera about to open her mouth. "Nera, since you banned Elmerin from moving around until you heal him, do you want to help Falchan and Drysia set up the tents, or take over cooking so I can help them?"

The "tents" Sky referred to weren't the full tents, but blue or grey tent panels secured to preset hooks in the walls and with the ends held down with weights, to give members of a party a small amount of privacy from practically living in each other's pockets while out in the field. Silence stones provided some sound privacy in both directions, although in this case only Falchan and Elmerin had them.

"I'll help with the tents." Nera looked at Elmerin and sniffed. "After dinner I might have enough energy to finish healing fools."

As the three began hanging the tent panels, Sky eyed Elmerin."Why are you letting her talk to you like that?" he hissed.

<Muted Sound> "The healer has to be able to assert their authority, whether they use magic, potions, or herbs and bandages. Having the confidence to override the party leader is a necessity. Diplomacy is a secondary concern."

"She's too naive," Kres said. "Landlady Glass had to teach her how sex works. Nera thought it was only possible to have sex when you're married."

"Kres!" Elmerin snapped. "Do not gossip like that. Only pass on what is needed to know, only to those who need to know it." 

"You talk like an old man, Kres. Are you sure you aren't thirty-something in your head?" 

"Sky!" Elmerin winced but still glared at them. "Don't insult Kres. Thirty is only ten years older than you." 

Sky and Kres both gave him an odd look. Elmerin dropped his head in his hands. "Nevermind."

"Maybe you should talk to the priests, El." Sky looked grimly worried as he dropped dried potato slices into the kettle. "That's the third or fourth time this trip you've confused what could be with what is."

"The head priest here is the count' second cousin. No thank you." Elmerin glowered at the campfire. "I'm pretty sure the count's beginning to suspect Falchan's lying to him about Kres having 'deficiencies' in his brain that make him inadequate as either an heir or a tool. I need to stay in a position where they can't leverage me to tell them the truth."

It was generally unspoken but public local knowledge that Count Lisko Cothmore was unhappy with Falchan. While the heir could fight, he wasn't spectacular enough to make a grand name for himself; indeed, rumor was Falchan was currently having trouble holding onto his Sapphire adventurer rank.

Falchan was also a poor administrator, terrible at judging people, and tended to rush to decisions based on flimsy evidence. The right partner could compensate for his traits, but Falchan had made it clear that he would marry no one else, even as a secondary partner, unless his marriage to Drysia was recognized. Since Drysia was a commoner and the legality of the marriage was shaky at best, the result was a stalemate.

Elmerin also knew of a few details he hadn't shared with Sky: One, there was a quiet but growing faction that supported recalling Lisko's much younger half-brother Firnen from the priesthood and having him declared heir instead of Falchan.

Second, two years before when Elmerin and Falchan were hunting together, Falchan had taken a bad injury from a jaculus. Thanks to the creature's venom, and Falchan's insistence on braving through the injury, Falchan would never sire another child.

Three, Count Lisko would die within the next five to seven years. How it would happen and when varied, but every path Elmerin knew of ended with the count's death before the eighth year began. 

Elmerin doubted very much the count would be happy with such news. But more important was Kres' fate. Lisko's death would result in a struggle between Falchan and Firnen, and Firnen would be the winner. Kres would never inherit. While all the current paths led to him becoming a great adventurer, those same paths held great pain before the child reached that rank. 

The only way out of it would mean defying all former futures, to change not small things but large. Elmerin knew it was possible -but he didn't know what price would have to be paid.

The other three came back to the campfire area, finished with setting up the tenting. Elmerin silently canceled the Muted Sound spell that had been obscuring the conversation by the campfire.

"Dinner ready yet?" Falchan asked.

Sky stirred the soup, then scooped up a ladleful to examine it. "A few more minutes. There's some dried fruit left if you want to start on that." They poured the ladle back into the kettle. "The bread is the hard kind, so best wait for the soup."

"Why isn't there any fresh food?" snapped Drysia. "I know we brought some."

"Eaten over the past few days. If someone who hires me wants fresh food beyond the one small timestopped item bag used for such food, they have to supply the extra or larger bags themselves. Otherwise it's regular item bags without the expensive timestop enchantment. The larger timestop bag is strictly for monster pieces." Elmerin waved for the couple and Nera to sit down. "You're always welcome to add whatever item bags you want to your belts."

Drysia and Falchan sat down with a thump, with glares in his direction, while Nera settled down a little more gently and nervously. Sky tested the soup again, hoping for it to finish quickly so serving and eating it would relieve some of the tension.

Elmerin was digging some papers out of one of his item bags. "First, usual watches tonight, safe room or no. Remember the wall lights dim if activity drops below a certain level. Next, the royal request sent through the guild was to map at least three rooms of at least four meters cubed each and their connecting tunnels, place Cleansing and Purifying crystals in the rooms, and place CaP glyphs in the connecting ways and any rooms we didn't have a crystal for. Then we were to swing back through a portion of the tunnels that haven't been explored in a while and report on them.

"We've mapped five rooms and marked or placed everything properly, well before the time limit, so we should be up for a bonus on that. We've also cleared out several corrupted monsters: five wolves, twenty sand worms, a queen earth ant looking to start a nest, two tangling orchids, twenty-three orcs plus the general, and fifty-two goblins plus the sorcerer. Defeating the goblins instead of hiding in the safe room means no retrieval penalty.

"With the monster items plus the local and royal bounties, we'll be looking at a generous payout for the party. I'm not counting the stones since that's an individual reward. And since there's royal funds involved, I'll personally make sure that the money will be split properly and everyone will get their share."

Sky flinched internally as they poured the soup into the bowls. Elmerin was warning the now narrow-eyed Drysia and sour-faced Falchan that if they tried to steal Kres' share this time, Elmerin would raise a stink. The royal auditors would not be nearly as accommodating as the local guild's financial people, and there was the chance they would find out about the previous thievery as well.

There was an uncomfortable silence for several minutes, with everyone focusing on their food.

Nera cleared her throat and took a drink from her water bag. "I was thinking… what is your dream? Mine is to rise high in the service of Idalin of the Bronze Sun and Vikesh of the Black Moon so as to help as many people as possible."

"You're going to serve both Light and Dark? Rough road, but I think you can do it." Sky grinned. "I want to save up enough money so my sister and her kids can live in comfort. Her store barely breaks even after expenses, so she can't afford to hire people or get better goods in."

"I want to become count quickly, make my marriage to Drysia be recognized as it should be, and have a lot of children as pretty as she is."

"So Kres will have siblings?" Nera asked.

Falchan looked at her blankly. "Who? Why would they be?"

Before Nera could recover enough to reply, Drysia spoke up. "I will become Black Opal rank, and gain the highest noble title. By the time I'm thirty, half the world will know my name."

"Aah." Nera turned to Kres. "What's your dream?"

"To be a great adventurer." Kres shot a look around Elmerin at Drysia. "One even Black Opals are in awe of."

Drysia looked furious, but Falchan's hands on her shoulders and Elmerin's raised eyebrow kept her in her seat. "Watch your mouth!"

Kres was ready to sass back, but a firm shake of Elmerin's head dissuaded him. Drysia tossed her bowl and spoon down, stood, and stomped off to the tent she and Falchan shared. Falchan, giving both Elmerin and Kres dirty looks, put his dishes down next to hers and followed her.

"<Clean >." Elmerin gestured at the dishes and floor where the food had spilled, and almost as an afterthought, himself. Then he gently placed his hand on Kres' head and recast the spell. 

"Watch your mouth around them, Kres," he warned. "As long as they're your legal parents, they can fire me any time and make us cut off contact. It'd be one thing I couldn't do anything about; the law is very much on their side."

"Nera, could you finish healing El up so he can help clean up?" Sky asked.

"Oh? Oh, sure." Nera got up and moved around behind Elmerin. "And I'm sorry I yelled at you before."

"Don't be. A healer has to be able to assert themselves. You'll never be able to override a party leader if you lack confidence. Just watch the insults."

Nera blushed. "Oh, you didn't say what your dream was."

Elmerin's expression was unreadable for a moment, then wistful and incredibly sad. "I wish… to see a future without sorrow."

*******

Characters in this chapter:

Elmerin

Kres

Drysia

Nera Faunford

Sky

Falchan Cothmore

Spells seen in chapter:

Clean: Removes all gunk, muck, and other yuck from the designated target(s), turns them to dust, and deposits them in a predesignated place, often the local latrine or toilet. Trash pits and other dumping areas work as well. Number of targets and distance to deposit depend on the caster's mana.

Dark Hand: Takes dark-type mana and forms it into a hand to pick up, move, or manipulate the target(s). Shape, delicacy of manipulation, and how many hands at once can be controlled depend on the caster's skill, the number, range, and size depends on mana level.

Earth Shield: A higher level spell than Earth Wall that creates a much stronger barrier. Shape and thickness depends on the caster's mental image or preset measurements. Strength, size, and durability depend on the caster's mana level.

Item Box: A magic developed in conjunction with the Summoned and various priests, including Meinz of Acorath from the priests and Agelum of Teresh from the mages. Gradually forgotten, partially due to the belief only the Summoned could use it, even though multiple people from Tas also used them when assisting the Summoned against the Demon King.

Light Bind: Calls up thin strands of light-type mana to bind and restrict the target(s). Number and strength of strands depends on the caster's mana. A fairly high level spell.

Muted Sound: A spell used to obscure what people are saying without blocking out their voices completely. Good for conversations when no sound at all would attract people's attention.

Spark: Uses fire mana to create a tiny spark, useful for lighting a candle, or making a pretty show if the caster uses several at once. One of the first spells taught to those seeking to learn fire magic.

Spinning Blast: A powerful spell that creates a whirlwind. Size and strength depend on the caster's mana. A caster with sufficient control can prevent people even centimeters away from feeling a light breeze from it.

Spinning Breath: A spell that creates a small breeze or spinning ball of air. Useful for dusting and shooing away nasty smells. One of the first spells taught to those seeking to learn air and wind magic.

Summon: One of a variety of spells, procedures, processes, or other methods of piercing the walls between dimensions and bringing back an object, animal, or person from the targeted world. Requires a VERY large magic energy cost, but isn't picky about the source. Anything from monster stones to stored energy to artifacts to human life will do.

Warming Flame: A basic spell to light a campfire. One of the spells learned after mastering Spark. Can also be used to infuse objects with small amounts of fire magic.

Water Bubble: A basic spell that creates or condenses water. Amount generated depends on the ability of the caster. Useful for adventurers to fill soup kettles, tea pots, and water bottles.

Wind Blade: A higher-level version of Wind Slice. One or more blades of air propelled by wind. Number and shape of blades depends on the caster's mental image or predetermined number. Range depends on the caster's mana level. Accuracy depends on practice.

Magic items first mentioned in this chapter:

Blade of Velez, aka the Mad Blade: a blade made of a single unflawed white crystal found in a dungeon sometimes in the past. Hafted in plain wood with a leather grip. 0.5 meters long. The wielder can use it to steal memories and skills from the target. 

   - Only one skill or one memory sequence can be targeted. Targeting a skill will bring random memories with it and 0-2 random other skills. Targeting a memory sequence will bring 1-3 random skills and other random memories 

   - The skills do not merge, blend, or stack with the wielder's current skills and are listed separately. A wielder with a guild card can choose to display the stolen skill(s) instead of or alongside their own.

   - If the stolen skill duplicates an existing skill, the stolen skill can only be used if it is the same rank or lower.

   - If the skill is a new skill, it defaults to level 1 if the wielder has no compatible skills, and levels 2-4 if there are compatible skills. So a wind-specializing wielder will have water ball come in at Level 1, but wind blade at level 2-4 depending on their wind level.

   - It is not necessary to kill the target to get the effect. Sometimes the target dies for no discernable reason.

   - A mind stabilizing talent or skill is required to even think about handling it safely.

Campfire Plate :An engraved metal disc thirty centimeters across, with an enchanted ceramic base to prevent starting fires on the area it rests on. Often has crystals set into the base to mimic the look of a fire and to provide light. Infusing fire magic into it, from a magic or monster stone or a spell, causes the disc to heat up. Meals can be cooked over it and it provides warmth, with heat dispersing according to normal mundane rules. The length of time it's effective depends on the settings when it is manufactured.

Cleansing and Purifying items: 

   -crystals: Crafted items infused with magic by the various temples. They purge corrupt magic and other negative effects from the area and prevent them from re-entering. Length of effectiveness depends on the crafting; a high class one can protect for years. 

   -glyphs: Writings and symbols that purge corrupt magic and other negative effects from the area and prevent them from re-entering. They can be painted directly on the wall or other surface, or be inscribed on paper, stone, or other material and set in the area. Length of effectiveness depends on the substances used to draw or the substances they are carved in and the environment they are set in.

Goblin Sorcerer's Firestaff: A simple staff with a magic firestone set in the top. Used a blue firestone, which is stronger than the red or orange varieties.

Silence Stones: Crafted stones that block sound in a designated area, usually indicated by a circle around the stone. A bell hung inside the designated area with the pull cord outside, or vice versa, can be rung to contact people inside the sound-blocked area.

   -Outer stones block in sound coming from the outside of their designated area.

   -Inner stones keep sound from exiting their designated area.

   -Dual stones block both incoming and outgoing sounds. 

   -Selective stones block incoming and outgoing sounds, but certain sounds can be designated to be allowed through. Very expensive.

Unusual monsters appearing in this chapter:

Jaculus: A small dragon with venomous fangs that lunges down upon its prey from trees. If its poison is not promptly treated with an antitoxin or a toxin healing spell, the person poisoned becomes infertile. The animal is from Roman mythology, the poison's effect is fictional.

Tangling Orchids: Back when the Demon King was causing everyone grief, there were a lot of magicians doing various experiments that weren't exactly safe or sane, and some of them eventually escaped into the wild. The tangling orchid came from the lab of one such magician who'd thought it'd be cool if his precious orchids could move around and act like kittens or puppies.

They're fine in their original form, small, cute, and friendly. Some nobles keep them as pets. But when they get overloaded with corrupt magic or Bolat's energy, they mutate into huge, vicious monsters that eat anything in their way. Unfortunately, they retain the limited intelligence they have in their smaller forms. Fortunately they're rare.

Money types (not exhaustive):

1 sparrow = 1 US cent (roughly)

Kingdom of Korrum:

-copper sparrow

-copper swallow

-silver canary

-gold falcon

Kingdom of Metsa:

-silver thola

Kingdom of Dvergr:

-copper tong

-gold hammer

Kingdom of Khrysta:

-silver pad