It started with the child. Many of the plans and schemes that had been laid ever so carefully over the past several decades had to be scrapped because of the child. At first her presence in the Vazeran family was but a footnote. She was simply the only child of two powerful summoners. The real issue lying with the child’s father. Calhoun Vazeran was the Court Summoner to the Royalty of Eldesaria, a Kassari level summoner who was known to be able to handle dozens of high-tier summons all at once. Definitely an entity to worry about, and one that had to be planned around very carefully. Of course given the amount of time that the plans had taken to develop, he was very well accounted for. But even if one attempts to account for everything, there is always something that slips through the gaps. In this case it was the child.
The first event where I began to get a glimpse of the frustrations to come, came when the preliminary stages of the plan were being put into effect. In order to remove the many of layers of protection that surround the Royalty and the Thrones of Eldesaria, one must first remove the sources of said protection. In this particular case one of those sources being the summons that Kassari Calhoun provides to the Royalty. After all, it is one thing to attempt a takeover on the most powerful individuals in the Royalties, but it is quite another when there happens to be an adult chaos dragon standing in between you and said individuals. So of course, the summoner had to go.
The plan, to eliminate him, was a succinct one. There was little to really worry about. Several individuals were hired from the Shadow Clans, individuals with a particular penchant for the slaying of mages. These individuals were to then make their way to the house of Vazeran and once night had fallen on Eldesaria then they would make their move, catching the summoner, his wife, and the child asleep and ending them before any commotion could be made. Several items would be planted, a mock struggle faked and for a final flourish a medallion fallen to the side, bearing the symbol of another mage house, one known to not be on friendly terms with the Vazerans. A clean job, one that had been performed several times before, with great success. However, this night was not to be one of those nights.
The plan went perfectly up until the Shadow Clan individuals went into the house. It seemed that that particular night in question was not a normal night for House Vazeran, it was in fact the night that Kassari Calhoun and his wife chose to have an awakening ceremony for their child. A ceremony that would establish a bond with the child’s first summon. Now according to research done after the fact, this is very unusual to do with a child this young, the child in question only being about 4 years of age. Most summoner families will wait until their child is closer to their seventh year before performing an awakening to establish a bond. As an awakening requires a rather large amount of mana and a large enough mana pool to sustain the bond. All things that a child generally doesn’t have until their seventh year.
In any case, the Vazeran family as it turns out had a tradition of passing one of their own summons to their children as a way to get around this mana cost and control. As the summons were often one that is passed from generation to generation, and in that case, the parent ends up controlling the awakening with the summon being a willing participant. A pretty smart move, and probably one that had helped keep the Vazeran family as one of the premier summoning families for many generations. All information that of course was only dug up after the fact.
Instead the Shadow Clan members finding none of the family in their beds had to spend extra time making their way through the Vazeran Manor in order to find the family. Which they did. In the basement, about halfway through the awakening ritual. This was fortunate, because Kassari Calhoun and his wife were unable to use their summons, as their mana was being poured into the awakening and used to try and transfer over one their own summons. It was unfortunate because, even though they were unable to defend themselves, they were able to at the last minute change the awakening ritual so that it defended their daughter. Their child stuck in the ritual, protected by the ritual itself, could only watch as her parents were slaughtered before her. The Shadow Clan members attempted to attack the child, only to be propelled by the ritual, and even though they attempted to dispel the ritual their attempts only to be absorbed into the ritual itself, fueling the defenses and the summoning.
The child meanwhile in the middle of all of this kept pleading and if by some instinct activated the ritual in search for a summons for her plea. Maybe it was the plea itself that activated the ritual, no one knows for certain. Because her pleas did not go unanswered. Instead every being in the city of Lothelen knew the moment the connection was established. A being of such power and darkness that it felt as if it was destruction incarnate, answered her pleas. The being was powerful enough that it roused even the Royalty from their palace on the cliffs overlooking Lothelen. I myself remember the trembling and cold sweats that had broken out when that being arrived. Never have I ever felt myself paralyzed so. To be so afraid that even my own heart seemed to stand still. Even now as I recall the events of that night so long ago, my heart seems to stop, as if that terrifying presence is still lingering.
The aftermath of that night should have been enough to make me forgo my plans and schemes. But I deluded myself. I deluded myself into thinking that the child was but one variable. An independent variable. Unrelated to my goals and desires except as a variable to tread a wide circle around.
The Child
I saw myself there again. The magic ritual glowing around me. The looks of my parents as they channeled all of their mana into the ritual, attempting to assist in creating that first bond. I see as those other figures walk into the basement, I look at them, at first not comprehending what it is that they are doing there, but then it dawns on me. As it has so many times before. I try to sit up and yell at my parents, try to get them to react, to turn and see the intruders, to do anything, except smile. They both smile at me, even as my mother is attacked first. My father as if knowing that this was going to happen all along, merely gestures toward the ritual, a sudden surge of mana is felt as both his and my mother’s remaining mana is injected in the ritual. I cry out as he too falls to the blades of the intruders. I try to move, try to reach out towards them, but the ritual holds me back, it vaguely registers that the intruders are trying to attack me, but I don’t care, I merely wish to reach my parents, to feel their touch once more. But I know I can’t and the magic surges around me as I cry out once more, something seems to open up inside as I feel this burning rush of mana passing out of me adding to the ritual itself. As my cry rings out I feel it brushing along countless other presences, I feel it touching the minds of thousands of beings, as if trying to bring them to my attention. But I refuse none of them are strong enough to meet my plea. I go forward now with my cry, searching for a presence powerful enough to destroy the intruders before me, powerful enough to avenge my parents, powerful enough that not even the heavens themselves could defy it.
I reach and I reach for what seems like an eternity, countless minds passing by as I try and continue with my cry, “Help Me.”
Finally.
I find it, I can feel my soul stretched almost to the limit. My cry even as strong as it is slowly starting to fade, as I make contact with the presence. At first I am overwhelmed by it. Almost losing sight of my purpose as I’m hit by these waves of fury. The sheer violence and chaos that is this entity, surges over me, stripping away all but the very core of the cry, I feel my soul beginning to fade back into reality as I bolster the last bits of my energy and leave those two words out there, a link to my pain, a bond to my soul.
I fade back into my reality, my eyes open to see that one of the intruders is lying on the ground, there are three others still facing me, I can sense a change in the three as they notice the ritual starting to fade. I hold on to the small thread of a bond that remains. Knowing that my time is drawing near. Hoping that the entity will respond.
As the last glimmers of the ritual fade, I see one of the figures move forward, and then I feel it. A pulse comes through the thread, and then a rush as the entity is summoned before me. The rush fills me up with so much chaos, I start to lose conscious, drowning in the energy, the darkness taking over, as I hear a voice resonate throughout the room.
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“She is mine.”
I wake up covered in sweat. The sheets below me are soaked. My first instinct is to sit up and hug my legs to my chest. But I resist it. I slowly unclench my fists as my eyes adjust to the faint light peeking into the room. It is still nighttime. The light comes from a street lantern outside. I try to calm down my racing heart by focusing on my breathing. My whole body is tense, and I know it will take me more than a few minutes to relax enough to fall back asleep.
Not that I want to fall back asleep. That dream is a recurring one, one that I’ve had ever since I can remember. There are few nights that I go to sleep without having that dream. Even though it has been 11 years since that incident. Or rather incidents, as I recall the second time that my summon appeared.
It had been several trying weeks since the first incident happened. Trying in that I had been moving about constantly. Being a four year old left me rather limited in my options. At this point there had already been far too many individuals getting in my face, asking me questions I did not know the answers to, and demanding explanations for events I was wholly unaware of. Also the responses I was able to stumble out were more than lacking as my mind was still reeling from the aftereffects of the summoning that I had accomplished.
At this particular point in time, I was sitting across from a Dolveran with a violet robe. Her hair was tied up behind her head and she was sitting ramrod straight in her chair. Even though she radiated primness and efficiency I could see a smile on her face. I remember earlier before she had walked in there had been a rather heated discussion outside the room. Being a four year old it wasn’t until later that I realized that the discussion was in regards to what was going to happen to me next. The Dolveran sitting across from me had been arguing with another individual about whether or not they could have a child be responsible for the actions of a summon. Neither side of the argument seemed to be convincing the other, so after a few more moments the other side stormed off. Then the lady entered and that’s how we got here.
The first couple of minutes were very awkward as the Lady just sat there staring intently at me. The gaze felt impartial, one that seemed to be evaluating the very essence of who I am. The longer it lasted the more nervous I got as she simply stared at me.
The silence was finally broken when she asked, “Do you know who I am.”
“No,” was the only reply I could manage even forgetting to add in the “fe” as is custom when greeting one older than oneself.
“Well, Salaria-vim, that makes things even more interesting considering I know a lot about you and your family.”
I just nodded my head. Considering the amount of people that had either interviewed me or who I had seen in the past few weeks that knew about my family and I, this did not come as much of a surprise.
The Dolveran leaned forward now stretching out her hands palm up, beckoning for me to place mine in hers. “Now Salaria-vim, I have been asked by several of the Royalty themselves to assist you in summoning your bonded summon. I understand that you have had difficulty since you first called upon your summon, but I will be here to assist you this time. Would you be willing to try again?”
There is a slight pause before I place my small hands in her palms. “Do-Dolveran-fe, I will attempt to do so again, but I believe my summon is choosing not to respond.” I notice the lack of understanding in her eyes. I have seen it many many times over the past week, whenever I was asked to call my summon forth only to feel it shrug off the call, leaving the individuals with the same distrusting expression as I see before me now.
As I place my hands in her palm, I hear her start to murmur a faint chant, as her own mana starts to flow into me. Closing my eyes I once again seek out the thread that is my bond to the summon. It had grown in size since the first connection was made but it still remains but a solitary thread reaching into the far beyond. As I grasp onto the thread I use the mana flowing through me to call out, Come to me.
At first there is no response. Only a little bit of many was actually used to make the call. The rest sits there collecting, waiting patiently. After a few moments go by, I start to give up that the summon will respond, thinking that once again it has shrugged off the call. But I am quickly proven wrong as I hear one word echo through my head.
“Fine”
And just like that, all the mana that had been pooling in my body is suddenly sucked up, pulling in even more mana from the Dolveran’s own pool of mana, until she becomes basically empty. Her eyes widen as she feels all her mana reserves disappear and before her eyes appears this roiling black mass, completely covering me in its dark chaotic presence. She hastily pulls her hands away from mine, recoiling from the writhing mass as its presence causes even her to scream in fright. As soon as the scream lifts from her lips, several doors in the room burst open. Several Kassari burst into the room followed by another Dolveran. Their attitudes at first grim and determined but seen falling into fear and panic as they feel the same terrifying presence they had felt only weeks earlier.
As they all stand there immobilized in their own fear, the voice of the entity that is surrounding me rings out, every word seeming to shake and disturb the very fabric of the universe. “Heed me now. This one is mine, if so much as a hair of her head is harmed then I will bring forth the fullness of my wrath to punish not only you but your world also.”
Then in an aside to me, it says, “Child I do not know how you have done so, but you have placed a bond on me. However your power is insufficient to even begin to pull a fraction of myself into your world. As it is now you can’t even maintain my presence in this form. Strengthen your bond and increase your power. Only when you can bring forth my full form, will I come again.”
With but a flick of its energy, everyone else in the room is forced away from me. Most end up slamming into the wall, the Dolveran in front of me is also pushed away, through the chair that she is sitting in. The pressure from my summon doubles for an instant, causing the already battered individuals to double over as some slump unconscious. I remain wide-eyed as the summon disappears. I know that it has returned to wherever it came from. Seeing that several Kassari and even two Dolveran are lying on the ground either unconscious or still reeling from the aftereffects, I am faced with the reality of just how powerful my summon is.
Unknown
I couldn’t believe the report that I held in front of me. Even though I had talked with several of the Kassari that had been involved or been influenced even outside of that room.
How?
How did that child bind with such a powerful summon? I thought to myself. Subduing even one Kassari is a feat in of itself, but to subdue several Kassari, and even two Dolverans? That goes beyond absurd. Even the strongest Royalty, who are at the godly level of Nelselph couldn’t subdue all those people with just their presence.
This second event was but another taste of the child’s influence on things to come. Even though I had heard all the reports and even had interviews with most of those involved in that incident, it still didn’t compare to the news that I was informed of the next day. While on my way to discuss some policy changes with the Retainers to the Royalty, I was informed by the Retainer to the Phoenix Throne that the Royalty had decided that the child would be under the protection of the Royalty themselves. Now while that is not too unusual, the real shock came when the Retainer told me that the Royalty had actually had an emergency convening, where they had declared the child’s rank to be that of Calamacy. When I heard this news, I was dumbfounded. This meant that they Royalty themselves, all ranked at Nelselph, considered this girl as beyond their equal. Up until that point I had thought that the Calamacy rank was just a legend, something mentioned only in texts of old, regarding legendary deities who single handedly built empires and destroyed continents. But now the child at only 4 years of age was given that legendary rank.
This child had already messed up so many different plans, that I knew I would have to start over from the beginning. An entity like her, could not be planned around, she would have to be planned for.