Part 22: The Figure Returns

The next thing I remember was Suma standing over me panicking and casting some kind of magic, also, I my nose was in tremendous pain. "UAHG!" I groaned and grabbed my nose.

"Jake! Thank the dragons, I was so worried when you collapsed after appearing and blood started pouring out of your face. I cast a healing spell on you, but I am not overly familiar with your biology, so I could not fix the bone in your nose. What happened?" Suma said in a panicked voice."Uhg… I think I got hey you'd." I said.There was a moment of silence before Suma replied with, "Hey you'd?""It means someone called my attention then hit me as soon as I turned around." I explained. I examined my nose, it was definitely broken and in obscene amounts of pain. My eyes were watering and my whole face throbbed. "Suma, I need you to set my nose, I'll try to explain how." Thankfully, after I first got summoned all those years ago, I did a lot of research into first aid treatment. I explained to Suma as much as I knew, and instructed her how to reset my nose by pushing it back into place. I couldn't tell, but that part seemed to make her uneasy. I also explained how human bones grow and repair themselves just in case I had any facial damage that the broken nose was distracting me from feeling. After a quick spell, and a lot of screaming on my part when she reset my nose, I was all patched up… and very tired. "Suma, why am I suddenly so exhausted?""Healing takes energy, you probably use most of your body's energy when I healed you. You should be fine after some food and rest, at least… that is how it works with Neame." She explained."Makes sense." I said laying on the ground on my back. "I think maybe you should send me back before I fall asleep here.""Do you not wish to find out who…. hey you'd you?" Suma asked."Not right now…" I said half asleep with my eyes already closed."I know we said I would teach you magic, but I think maybe we should do it after you recover." Suma suggested. I didn't say anything back, I just grunted in agreement. Suma sent me back after that, and I reappeared back in my living room… still laying on the floor. Normally I would sleep in my bed, but instead I just grabbed one of the pillows from my couch and a blanket and slept on the floor so that I didn't have to move.I woke up ten hours later absolutely starving but with more energy and no pain. I ate five granola bars, two cups of instant ramen, a whole box of pop tarts, and a bowl of cereal. Then I decided to call Suma and tell her that I was awake. "Suma, I just woke up, I'm feeling a lot better." There was no response. I figured she might have been asleep so I would just call her later. I checked the time; 12:39 am. "Well, there goes my normal sleep schedule." I said disappointedly. "All that time in Suma's world is messing with my body clock." I wondered to myself what Suma's world's proper name was, as it hadn't occurred to me to ask, and decided I would next time I saw her. I checked my phone for the first time since I woke up. It said I had twelve missed calls from work and three from family and friends. "Great..." I moaned. "I can't call them back now; they are all asleep; I guess I can later." Until then, I had some cleaning and junk to do. I put away my dishes, then searched for cool names for my sword and shield online and topped it all off with watching TV until 9:00 am.Finally, I called back most of the people who called me. It was mostly my mum asking how my day was and a friend wanting to know if I was free that weekend, but I knew my work wasn't calling about that. I had missed an entire day and hadn't called anyone to let them know I wasn't coming in. I called my boss back at about 11:00 and prepared myself for the worst."Jake?" He answered the phone."Hey Mr. Vidal." I said trying to sound much calmer that I actually was."Jake are you okay? You missed work yesterday and didn't call anyone." He asked."Um yeah, sorry about that. I was with a friend, and someone knocked me out. I spent several hours passed out from pain meds. I only woke up last night at midnight." I explained."You were attacked? Are you alright?" He asked."I'm fine now, the doctor had thought I broke my nose, but luckily I got away with only a mild concussion." I lied."You shouldn't sleep with a concussion Jake." Mr. Vidal said."Yeah, but those meds didn't give much of a choice." I laughed."Well, are you going to be able to come in to work today?" He asked."Yes sir, I will see you in a bit." I said. We said goodbye and I hung up the phone. I decided to try and call Suma again. "Hey Suma, are you there?"I heard a yawn followed by, "Hello Jake. Feeling better?""Yeah, I'm fine now. Hey, can you summon me in about ten minutes?""Um sure, I suppose I can. Why?" She asked sleepily."I want to name my sword and Shield, and I finally picked them. I just need a few minutes to get ready.""Okay," she said, "just let me know when you are ready." With that, I went around my house grabbing a few things I thought might come in handy and throwing them into my backpack."Okay Suma, I'm ready." My feet, legs, torso, and finally head all disappeared, and the world went black. Normally when I am summoned, it's like a long blink, then I'm in Suma's world, but this time was different. I stayed in that blackness for longer, too long. I began to panic, but calmed down once I saw the light… literally. I saw a small flicker of light distantly in that endless dark void."SENTINEL…" The light called out to me in a thunderous voice. It echoed in my ears and my mind, as if it were both telepathy and a physical sound. Some force began to draw me closer to the light, like I was falling towards it."What is going on?" I wondered. I felt strangely calm despite having no idea what was happening. Once I got close enough, I realized what the light was… it was the figure of flame that had been there when Suma named me. This time I could see it much more clearly; it was humanoid, for the most part, but had colossal leathery wings and a python sized tail with spikes at the end. It was made entirely out of what seemed to be fire or raw energy. Looking at it felt like staring at the sun."Sentinel…" It called out again, but softer this time, and its voice was more human now."What are you?" I asked as I came to a floating stop before it. I was maybe twenty feet away from him… it… and I saw that its body was shifting and remolding itself. Parts of it would be fairly human, then immediately shift to something more reptilian."I am," it said in a human voice, but instantly it switched to the thunderous voice again and its head took on more reptilian features, "YOUR DOOM!" The head transformed back into a humanish shape and spoke once again with a calm voice, "Your friend.""You have a real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing going on there." Just as I said that, I started falling again, this time away from the figure."KILL… Protect." The figure said just as my eyes opened and I was staring at Suma who was perched on a tree branch a few feet away."So, you decided on a name then?" She said cheerfully.