The Summoning - Part 2

The fire flickered from the breeze coming through the window, casting an eerie glow to the dark room.

Her futon had been folded and placed neatly on one side of the room, far from the magic circle she had drawn around the room. Candles had been set alight all around the circle and the red spear was placed in the middle of it. 

The girl sat at one side of the circle, her legs once again drawn underneath her. Her eyes were closed and she took a steady deep breath to keep her composure. As soon as she finished her daily training, she had gone back to her room, holding herself up in her room to once again look through the rest of the words, drilling the incantations over and over again until she could recite it flawlessly. 

She opened her eyes that glowed red for a second before her hand reached out to a knife at her side. With a swift slash, the girl cut her palm open and she let her blood drip down to the magic circle. 

"Silver and iron to the origin. Gem and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone," she began to chant, watching the blood hit the ground drop by drop. 

"The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate."

The fire flickered wilder than before as the breeze slowly turned into a gush of air.

"Yourself is under me, my doom is in your sword."

She gritted her teeth when she felt a surge of pain coursing through her body but words continued to flow out of her mouth.

"In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer." 

The wind blew harder and yet the fire continued to flicker back to life. Her hair whipped violently behind her, the bun that had been tucked nicely came undone.

"Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead."

The pain on her body throbbed harder.

"You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence-"

A sudden harsh coughing fit attacked her and she clasped a hand to her mouth, trying to stifle the onslaught. Her frail body chose the wrong time to strike her and she paled. Not now! Her bloody hand was placed to the ground to support her shaking body. 

"Come forth from the circle of bindi- " she tried to continue before coughing once more. She dug her nails to her lap and spat out blood to one side, eyes glowing red, determined to finish what she had started.

"O, Keeper of the Scales!"

The candles flickered out in a blast, their wisps coiling in the air. It was silent for a moment. 

The girl froze when she noticed her bloody hand had smeared the magic circle. Oh no, had she failed?

But then, a bright red light engulfed the entire room and Yumi shielded herself from the harsh glare. Even with the crimson light upon her, her shoulder sagged in relief. She hadn't failed! The coils of smoke had somehow formed themselves into clumps that prevented her from seeing what she had summoned. 

Waiting in anticipation, the girl scrambled up to her feet and clasped her hand tightly in front of her. The smoke finally cleared up after a while and someone stepped out from the white, gaseous smoke. 

**** 

He waited until the dead of night when the streets were clear and when the people were fast asleep. It took him hours to find a good spot where he can set up the summoning circle with ease. He stood outside the red magic circle drawn onto the grass covered earth with the catalyst placed in the middle, he reads the incantation not memorizing it but by feeling every line as if it's a part of him.

"Let it be a part of you, Let it be your guide." the words of his father ringed inside his head giving him the confidence he needs in order to succeed. 

He reached out his hands and focused on chanting the incantation, pouring all of his strength to release the flow of mana that resides within him.

"Let silver and steel be the essence, Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation, Let Red be the color I pay tribute to." 

Lightning crackled and flickered not from the sky, but from the magic circle. The wind grew stronger and gathered around him.

"Let it be declared now; your flesh shall serve under me, and my life shall be with your fist." the boy kneel down and spurt out blood from his mouth. He felt himself begin to be weaker, like every inch of his mana is being drained away but he stood, not succumbing to the pain.

"From the Seventh heaven,"

just a bit more. Nearly there, with his last bit of strength he shouts the remaining incantation  with what little strength he had left.

Attend to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, the embodiment of strength itself." 

He dropped to his knees and breathed in and out heavily, sweat trickled down from his body. He took his time to gather his composure and noticed that the raging wind grew silent and that the scattered lightning tendrils from a while ago were gone. What he saw was a towering bulky silhouette, that covered in a thick fog of black smoke.

He stood up to meet his servant eye to eye. First impressions always last and he doesn't want to think of himself as a pushover.

Thump. Thump. As it walked closer to him, the ground rumbled, and the servant emerged.

He kneels down to meet the boy eye to eye, "Boy, do you intend to challenge me?" the servants voice rolled deep, serious yet playful.

The boy stood strong and replied,  "No, I'm here to ask you to make my only wish come true."  

****

"It's time..." 

In the middle of the woods, a young woman stood right in front of a magic circle painted with blood. There's a small hilt right in the middle of the circle, and some gemstones on some part of the magic circle smudge. 

"Do you have any idea what you're gonna do? Meng Xixi!" 

An angry voice sounded behind her, as a man in his thirties walked out from bushes and stared at the woman in annoyance. 

"This is what I should do.. You know you can't change my mind, father." 

The Young woman's gaze was firm, as she stared back at the man. 

"What a folly... Our family has been peaceful for centuries! And you will be the first to break those peace!" 

Shouted at the young woman, the man waved his hand in the air and said, "So be it! The young are always the embodiment of recklessness! Let me see how far you can go!"

Smiled at her father's permission and care, the young woman said, "Thank you.. Father." 

Raising her hand to the magic circle, the woman chanted. 

"Let Skull and blood be the core 

Let gold and archduke of the contracts be the foundation." 

The magic circle began to glow as thunder started booming in the distance. 

"--Rise a wall against the fallen wind, the four cardinals gates shall close." 

Wind swirling and all the animals of the surrounding area began to howl. 

"I shall achieve all the truth of the heaven

I shall conquer all the devils of all hell." 

The magic circle started to shine so bright that it illuminated the entire forest. 

"From the Seventh heaven, compelled by the three great words of power, 

Arise from the ring of chain, Caretaker of the Sacred Stability!" 

The light started to make a pillar of blue ray that pierced right through the sky. Then, after the pillar began to disappear, a man with a big stature emerged from the magic circle. The man wore a skull mask and pointed his great sword to the sky.

"Thou who hath summoned me, I came for thee."