The hunchback held the drawing up so he could use it as a comparison to the

landscape he was crossing. He was close. He felt that. He just didn’t know how close

he was.

He didn’t try to hush the voices in his brain. They were pointing out favorable paths

for him to walk. He thanked the gods they were finally proving their value to him.

The last thing he needed at the moment was for his inner voices to start arguing again.

He didn’t want to be the peacemaker until he could get them all harnessed together

again.

“I think we’re close.” He turned in a circle, with the drawing high so he could

compare the picture to reality. “We’re very close.”

He smiled when he saw pillars of rock sticking out of the desert. He looked at the

drawing. Then he looked at the pillars.

“We’re here.” He put the drawing away. Energy crackled at his feet as he touched the

Spring. This would boost his power immensely once he got started.

The spirits murmured for him to get started right away. Finishing the job had to be

done that day. Then they could reap the reward.

“Patience.” The hunchback walked to the edge of the ring. Some other magician had

put the markers in place. He felt the Spring bubbling to that spot. Once he started, the

energy would be used up rapidly. He needed to be ready with every tool at his

disposal to make the summoning work the first time. If it didn’t, he might have to

wait months, possibly years, for the Spring to renew itself in that spot.

The spirits would not like having to wait because he miscued his spell work. The

future would be full of whispered curses and vitriol.

And he already had enough of that. He wanted them to sing his praises and respect

his authority. He supposed that would be too much to demand from them.

He murmured as he crossed the threshold of the ring. The Spring coursed through

him. He could do his spell, but if a stronger magician arrived to stop him, the Spring

would answer to the magician faster on the attack.

Of course, that was why he had the spirits. They could operate for him while he did

what was necessary to carry out the plan. Then he could collect his reward from the

Destroyer.

It would be good to have a straight back after so many years of being a freak.

What would the Destroyer want in return? None of the lore suggested anything. He

doubted that simple passage to Earth would be enough to assuage any demand for

payment.

He could worry about that when his demands were met. Trading the world for fixing

his back seemed good enough for him.

He turned a circle in the center of the ring. A slab of stone had been laid down as a

table, or altar. Traces of prior work drifted above the slab. He didn’t see any

bloodstains. He would deal with the setting and then move on to work his own spell.

“Yes, I know.” He shook his head. Of course, he had to make the proper marks and

write the nonexistent words that were required. “I think I know a little better than

you.”

He had trapped them. What did they know about the things he was capable of as a

summoner? He definitely was going to check everything before he empowered the

spell. He didn’t want to open the door a little, and then get sucked in through the

opening to what lay on the other side.

He doubted it would be a desert.

Other places had their own laws. He doubted any place that housed something like

the Destroyer would operate like Earth did. He had to be ready to close the door if he

couldn’t make an arrangement with the other land’s king.

Of course, the Destroyer may be so powerful that once the door was open, there might

be no closing it. He might be dooming humanity without getting his back fixed at all.

He was willing to take that chance. Humanity would just have to suffer if he was

wrong.

He doubted his spirits would serve him well in the face of overwhelming power. He

expected them to try to break their locks, and only fight when they saw they would

die with him if they did nothing.

He smiled at their yammering. Soon he would be able to rework the various contracts

that held his servants in place. He expected a lot of anger to express itself as he went

about his business.

He would call the Destroyer. Then he would have the body he wanted with a part of

the world to match.

And he might be able to silence the spirits in his mind by fully absorbing them into

his being. Their intellects would be gone as they became engines of power he could

use at will.

And his head would only have his own voice in it instead of sharing it like he did

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

now.

He looked at the dimensions of the ring. The gate would be smaller than he liked, but

he still had enough room to work with by his calculations. It was time to start creating

the diagram that he needed to have to summon the Destroyer to Earth. Then he could

keep it bound until he got what he wanted from the spirit.

He saw a life of luxury ahead for him. No more drudgery, luck charms, or hovels. A

castle would be the start of his rise.

Anyone who survived the coming of the Destroyer would have to depend on him and

his skills for their protection.

He drew a circle around the pillars. That would prevent anyone from stopping him

while he worked. He started on the diagram, using his hand to draw in the ground on

the inside of the circle. When he had finished the last letter, he drew a circle inside

the words to keep the other world in its own place.

He doubted the inner circle would hold against the full might of the Destroyer, but he

just wanted a few minutes to talk to the fiend. He didn’t want to be the first thing

destroyed when the invasion started.

“You’re making a mistake.” A voice cut through his thoughts, and it wasn’t one of

his. He looked around until he saw a man in robe and cloak, smoking a pipe. One eye

squinted under naturally raised eyebrows as he examined the drawing in the circle.

“This summons is nothing but trouble.”

“Who are you to question me?” The hunchback glared at the creature standing there.

It wasn’t a man. He could tell that with a glance.

“No one important.” The stranger waved a hand. “I’m just telling you that you

shouldn’t use this incantation. It will cause a lot of trouble for a lot of people.”

“I’m willing to take that risk.” The hunchback glared at the entity. “And you can’t

stop me.”

“There’s some people coming who can stop you,” the stranger said. He checked his

pipe. He pulled a pouch of tobacco from inside his robe. He filled the pipe and put the

bag away. “I let them know what you were doing.”

“They won’t stop me.” The hunchback frowned at this intruder. “All I have to do is

start. They are too late.”

“Do you really want to kill everything in the world?” The stranger lit his pipe. “Don’t

you think that’s excessive?”

“As long as I get what I want, the rest is inconsequential.” The hunchback decided

the entity couldn’t cross the barrier he had set up. As long as he couldn’t, then he

couldn’t stop the spell. His friends were of no account.

“Don’t do this,” said the stranger. “You could be dooming the world.”

The hunchback started chanting. Talking to some ghost was not going to change his

mind at this point. He had set his course, and he should follow it to the end.

A cloud appeared over the ring as he said the words of the spell over and over. He felt

the Spring respond to him, lending him strength as he worked. He smiled as he made

the gestures. The diagram lit with blue fire as he sent his call across the dimensional

planes.

He spared a glance at his visitor as he worked. The expression he was one of

resignation. The warning had been issued. Things would have to be done to stop the

summoning.

He saw that, but knew the entity couldn’t breach the circle. He was unstoppable.

The cloud formed a disk in the air. The call had been accepted. The Destroyer was

coming.

A flying missile sliced through the standing stones and slammed into the hunchback.

One of his spirits roared and saved him from being killed by turning his body into

rock. He was still knocked out of the ring by the blow.

One of his spirits caught the hunchback with a stream of wind. He floated to a stop

on the ground. He smiled. His summons had gathered enough power to run on its

own. All he had to do now was stall until the Destroyer arrived to defend him.

The missile became a man in a light blue tunic with a green star on the shoulder strap.

He landed on the desert floor with a puff of dust. He looked mildly irritated.

“What are you doing, magician?” He grabbed the hunchback by the neck. “Stop this.”

Sand and dirt blasted the newcomer off his feet. It buried him before he could recover

from his surprise.

“Why should I stop?” The hunchback smiled. “I’m getting everything I want.”

He walked over to enter the circle again. Once he was back in place, he could speed

up the summoning portal until it was big enough for his intended guest to arrive. He

spotted more men arriving from the air. He grimaced. He should have expected others

would try to stop him from his goal.

He would not let them. It was time to let his spirits out to do what they liked to do

best.

A rumbling from the ground presaged the man in the tunic pushing out of the ground.

He appeared angry about what had happened. He would be even angrier about what

was going to happen next.

Hideous forms erupted from the hunchback. He sank to one knee outside of his

protective ring. His soldiers would have to fight for him. That was all he could do

now.

Without the Spring, he wasn’t strong enough to take control of the spell. He had to

get back to the inside of the ring while his minions did their part.

Then he could feed some of the Spring’s energy to them so they could be better

defenders for him.

The man with the green star was trying to fight his way through a mobile avalanche

that kept trying to bury him. Two magicians tried to disperse a walking fire and a

shark made out of water. Every time they did, the creatures reformed and returned to

the attack. A jinn fought his air spirit. The jinn’s master and a whirling tower of edges

swung swords at each other with the steady clanging of metal on metal. The last man

seemed ordinary enough, shooting arrows into the goblin maker the hunchback used

to make instant armies at his command.

He murmured a spell to get through the protective line. He realized the green star man

had not used magic to break the line. He didn’t know what was going on with that

one, but he didn’t have time to speculate. He had to get inside and take over the

Spring so his spirits could do what he needed them to do.

And these meddlers would be the first ones given to the Destroyer when he arrived.

He heard a hum. He looked up. The cloud that marked where the borders touched

expanded as it pulled more of the Spring’s energy into the sky. This was what he

wanted.

The Destroyer was coming and no one could stop it. He hadn’t counted on these

meddlers, but it didn’t matter. He was going to win this duel.

“There’s still time for you to stop.” The entity stood outside the circle. “You can write

this off and do something else.”

“It is not my concern what the Destroyer does with the rest of you as long as he fixes

my body as he agreed.” The hunchback glared at the spirit. “If I were you, I would get

away from here before he arrives and crushes you.”

“If you were me, you wouldn’t be doing this in the first place.” The spirit raised a

hand. He pressed that hand against the shield granted by the protective circle.

“It’s time, and I won.” The hunchback pointed at the expanding cloud above. A giant

ivory hand reached out of the cloud. “Now you will know what it means to cross me.”