The Summoned
Enslavement
The Dark Plane: Nexus of Summoning
Norax looked down at the unconscious form
lying on the floor of the room. The Nexus itself had reverted to
the thin silvery thread it usually appeared to be. Korenor had been
the one to alert Norax to the shift in activity in the Nexus. Norax
himself had been attending to... other things. Like preparing his
army for their next major offensive.
Asa stirred, shuddering and drawing in another shaky
breath.
"How long has he been lying like this?" Norax asked,
not taking his eyes off his prey.
"From the moment he came through, master."
Korenor said, not without a slight hesitation. Ever since he had
been forcibly ejected from his spy mission, he had tried to keep out of
sight of Norax. Taking up vigil at the Nexus seemed like a good idea.
By catching the moment that Asa came through, Korenor had hoped to redeem
himself. Apparently, it worked. "Nearly an hour."
Norax did not reply. His concentration was
trained upon the inert form of Asa. After some contemplation, he
spoke again. "Have the clerics arrived?"
Korenor nodded. "They wait only for your word,
master."
"Have them transport him back to my tower and heal
him, if it is possible." Norax ordered, exiting the room. Turning
back for a moment, he added "And take that amulet off of him. It
has impeded me long enough."
The Light Plane: Nexus of Summoning
It took several moments for the maelstrom to settle.
Leo had restrained himself from attacking during the storm - he did not
want to strike any of his friends. He had heard nobody else try to
battle, so hopefully there had been nobody hurt. He tensed himself
as he felt the wind die down. During the storm, he had heard a sound
that chilled him to the core. Asa was screaming, as though tortured,
and then had began running. Then Leo had heard nothing.
The dust settled. Leo made out the form of
Jamie, standing alert a few feet to his right. Paul stood expectantly
behind him. Elayna was sitting in the dirt, seeming as calm as ever.
Asa was nowhere in sight. And the woman who had stopped their passage
was kneeling in front of all of them, leaning heavily on her rod, and weeping.
That alone stayed Leo's hand. Slowly, the
arm holding the Halo sword lowered. "What have you done?" Leo said,
his voice uncertain. Paul and Elayna moved closer to Leo, not quite
sure what was happening.
The woman looked up. "I... I had to.
He forced me to...." she slowly shook her head. "I don't blame you
for what you're going to do. Just please make it swift." She
looked down, her eyes squeezed shut.
Before Leo could say it, Paul had stepped forward.
"We're not going to do anything."
"You- you're not?" she just looked confused
now.
Elayna spoke up, startling Leo who was sure not
to show it. "No, we're not. Tell us, who did this to you?"
Leo got the idea that she already knew.
"Norax." the woman spit the name. "He is no
longer the being that I once knew. He used to be a warrior of virtue,
a knight, like you!" she gestured to Leo. "But he has fallen far.
And it has been that corrupt sword that has dragged him down!"
"You know me?" Leo asked, perplexed.
The woman managed to shakily stand to her feet.
"Of course I know you. You're Leo Eastman, captain of the Light Guard.
Everyone in the Dark Plane knows of you."
Leo nodded. "Yes, but I do not know of you."
he said, still somewhat suspicious.
"My name is Rachel. And Norax and I... have
a past. He used a promise I made to him- he made me do this.
I hate being summoned, to do something so completely against my will.
Please believe me when I say I did not want to harm any of your group.
But Norax wanted the other summoner, so I had to distract you and break
the protection he had. I am truly sorry." she lowered her head once
more at this.
"Understand, we have to go after him." Leo said,
rather firmly. Rachel just nodded.
"Yes, I understand. I'll even help, if you'd
have me along. I can't open the Nexus myself, but if I were to see
Norax once more, be assured that there would be no mercy on my part." she
spoke this with such utter coldness that it made Leo want to shiver.
"Good." With that, Leo started toward the
Nexus, not waiting to see if anyone was following.
He arrived in the top chamber minutes later.
The Nexus itself was a thin silver thread, betraying little hint of the
rift which lie within. Rachel arrived afterward, followed by Elayna
and Paul. All of them stood in silence, looking at the Nexus, and
the trail of blood that led directly to it.
"I only wish that I could open it." Rachel
spoke up. Everyone turned to look at her. "I only mean - in
this state, you cannot travel through it. It takes a great deal of
magic to open the rift so that a person can go through." Her eyes
darted in every direction, afraid to make contact.
Leo took a few steps toward the center of the room
and passed the Halo sword through the Nexus, expecting very little to come
of it. He was surprised when it nearly flew out of his hand.
The sword seemed to refuse to even come near the Nexus. "Paul, did
you see that?"
"Indeed, I did." Paul was speculative.
He moved close to the Nexus and passed his hand through it, to no effect
whatsoever. After a few moments of studying the thread, he stood
back and announced. "I will attempt to open it. Leo, put your
sword close by."
Leo nodded and put the sword as close to the Nexus
as he could manage. Paul closed his eyes and began incanting.
For nearly a minute, that was the only sound in the room. Then, starting
from near silence and growing steadily more audible, came a sound somewhat
like a low humming. A white sphere of energy coalesced in front of
him and moved forward to engulf Leo's sword. Surprised as he was,
Leo still made an effort to hold it there. The humming grew suddenly
higher in pitch and the sphere darted off of the sword and struck the tiny
thread.
There was an enormous backlash that knocked everyone
to the ground and momentarily deafened the entire group. The nexus
remained as it had been before.
Paul and Leo were the first to pick themselves up
off of the ground. Elayna and Rachel, who had been thrown against
the wall, were nto quite so swift. "What happened?" Elayna
demanded, sounding irate. Her revenge was getting delayed, and she
did not like it one bit.
Paul shook his head. "I was hoping that Leo's
sword would act as a sort of wedge and drive open the Nexus, but that is
not what happened." He paused a moment before adding "I do not possess
the ability to open this any other way."
"What are you saying?" Elayna asked, already knowing
the answer.
"I'm saying that I can't get us to the Dark Plane.
Asa is lost to us."
The Dark Plane: Norax's Tower, Dungeon
Asa awoke on his second day in the Dark Plane.
His eyes fluttered open, taking in the filthy blankets upon which his body
lay, and the drab grey walls which surrounded him. Not much else
could be made out, as his only source of light was a small square hole
in the doorway. He tried to adjust his position, only to instantly
regret it. Every muscle in his body ached in unison, and the pain
threatened to make him black out once more. Caked in dried blood,
aching everywhere, Asa realized that there was only one good thing about
his situation: He could think clearly again. At the moment,
he did not want to make any guesses as to exactly how good that was.
There was no concept of time for him as he lay in
the cell. It could have been hours, or maybe even a day, until he
managed to get the courage to try moving again. It wasn't quite so
bad, but he did not want to overexert himself. He would need his
strength. His memories, blurry, faded, and laced with delerium as
they were, told him one sure thing: He was in the dark plane, and
no doubt within the clutches of Norax himself. He spent some time
wondering what had happened to his companions, and was still doing so when
he fell asleep again.
He was awakened by the sound of movement outside
his cell. The pain had lessened considerably, but he still couldn't
sit up. And now something was happening outside. Abruptly,
the door opened, flooding the area with light. Asa would have put
an arm up to shield his eyes but was incapable of doing so. Someone
who Asa assumed was the keeper of the dungeon stood just to the right of
the door, holding the keys that he had used immediately before. To
the left of the light stood a man in dark armor, an enormous blade at his
side, with a face obscured by his helmet. Asa did not have to guess
who this was.
"Here he is, master. He lives still."
the dungeon keeper said. Norax did not make a reply. Instead
he walked into the cell and faced Asa.
"Sit up." Norax ordered simply.
Before his rational mind could object, Asa found
himself sitting up. The pain was immense, but pushed back by something
else within his mind. The same insane power that had shoved him so
violently toward the nexus was here, demanding that he pay attention to,
and obey the whim of, Norax. So this is what it's like to be summoned
Asa found himself thinking. He didn't like it at all. He wondered
if the elementals he used felt the same way.
Norax didn't say anything for a while. Finally,
he stated "Good. You are obedient. It took a very long time
for you to reach here, and I am not pleased with that. In the future,
you will not resist my summons. Is that clear?"
Asa nodded without willing himself to. He'd
resist summons all he wanted. A sharp pain stabbed through his head,
and he found himself backing away from the thought without even realizing
it. Not good at all. He liked being summoned less and less.
"Excellent. I will leave you here to heal."
With that, Norax left the cell and the keeper closed the door after him.
Asa fell limply back onto the blankets, like a puppet
whose strings have been cut. Which was exactly how he felt.
Like a puppet.
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