The Summoned
The Light Plane: LePaige's Castle
"ASA!!!!" Leo cried out as he witnessed his friend vanish
before his very eyes. So many others - soldiers who had trusted him
to lead them to a better world, soldiers who had been his friends.
Now Asa had fallen.
He felt something snap inside himself - the part of his
discipline that had always kept him cool in battle, able to make
decisions that needed to be made suddenly left him. The calculating
coldness was gone, and it was replaced with blind fury.
Leo lunged forward, growling incoherently and thrusting
the Halo sword toward Norax. The fallen knight obviously was not
expecting this fury - he parried to save himself, but barely.
The battlefield was thrown into further chaos than it
already had been. Leo hadn't been the only one to notice Asa's
disappearance - LePaige's men were swarming toward Norax with
vengeance in their eyes. Many only barely knew Asa, but they
recognized him as the man who had saved them from Norax's abomination,
and they weren't about to let his death go unavenged.
Norax's soldiers rushed forward to defend their leader,
who shrank back among them, his movements unsteady. Leo's attack
faltered, allowing the warlord's guardians to come between them.
Leo found himself wondering what, exactly, was going on.
Norax seemed unable to fight suddenly - their nemesis could barely
stand, in fact. The battle had changed its nature in a very short
space of time - LePaige's men still struggled furiously against
Norax's men, but Norax had to be nearly carried away from the front,
and Leo could do little more than stand where he was.
Moments later, Norax's army began to retreat to a more
fortified position. Leo somewhat distractedly ordered his men back
into the castle -- he couldn't press the assault, not yet. Norax's
forces were still too strong, even while retreating. For now, the
overlord would live.
Leo felt nearly claustrophobic - though he had the
assurances of LePaige that the scouts would warn of an attack with
plenty of time to spare, he still didn't feel safe being inside.
Still, there was reason for the meeting.
Leo looked around the table. At its far end, King LePaige
himself sat, looking thoughtful. A number of his advisors were seated
near him. After them, Leo spotted Seeker and Paul. Sitting next to
him was Rachel, and across from him was Elayna. Leo had been forced
to argue for quite some time with one of LePaige's advisors for
Elayna's right to sit at the table. It wasn't proper protocol, to
have a child seated at the same place as the King. By all rights, the
aide had insisted, none of them should really be there. Only advisors
could meet with the king in any setting outside of the throne
room.
Leo had managed only by pointing out that Asa was the
reason for this meeting, not simply war planning -- and so Elayna
should be allowed in, if for no other reason than to grieve the
young summoner along with the rest of them.
In the end, the advisor had agreed. For the sake of Asa,
the child would be allowed. Leo's other suggestion was met with an
understanding nod -- there would be no argument there.
As per Leo's request, there was one empty chair at the
table - the chair where Asa would have been seated.
"All assembled, I thank you for coming." LePaige began,
immediately commanding everyone's attention. "Today's assault by
Norax was a surprise for us, as we had not expected it until the next
day. However, the counterattack was executed flawlessly. It came
with a price, however. Asa Brown, the young summoner which some among
us were charged with protecting, fell to Norax. He served this
kingdom well with his act of bravery. Were it not for him, Norax's
creature would likely have caused great harm. He will be missed."
There was silence for a few moments as all those assembled
who knew Asa reflected. Leo was slightly annoyed at the behavior of
the advisors, who seemed a bit disgruntled by the delay. The king
began to speak again, however, before any of them dared object to the
moment of silence.
"This war must continue." King LePaige spoke firmly.
"Norax must not be allowed to subjugate our people. The majority of
the Dark Plane is already under his rule. Norax will continue this
pattern of domination unless he is stopped, and I fully intend to stop
him. With that said, I believe we should begin to discuss our
strategies."
One of the advisors, an older man who Leo recognized as
General Milhoff - the former leader of LePaige's military, stood.
"Thank you, your majesty." he turned to the rest of the group,
nodding to Leo. "Sir Eastman has done an excellent job leading our
people into battle. His knowledge of the enemy's tactics have helped
us reinforce the men's training, and resulted in the victory
yesterday. In this light, I would like to ask him to continue leading
the soldiers."
Leo was more than a little surprised by this. For the
reasons that General Milhoff had mentioned, LePaige had ordered Leo to
lead the men on the battle earlier in the day. Leo hadn't been
certain he would be able to do so - the soldiers likely wouldn't be
used to a new leader, and it could affect the morale to simply have
the general off the job. Moreover, Leo wasn't sure that Milhoff
wouldn't mind. Apparently, however, the old general had been seeking
to retire for some time - and Leo had excellent timing.
Leo nodded. "I would be honored to lead your men once
more, General."
The general seemed pleased at the declaration. "Thank
you, Sir Eastman. Now, there are other matters that our forces must
attend to. Our supply lines have, of course, been cut off. We're
working on smuggling some food through the blockades...."
The conversation drifted from immediate actions, leaving
Leo free to begin planning near-term strategies. He'd let the others
handle the intricacies of siege warfare. He'd take care of the
offense.
Paul stood in the room he'd come to think of as his own,
contemplating to himself. There was so much that had happened - he
had spent all day thinking, and then had finally managed to get some
sleep. Thankfully, no attacks had come in the night. In fact,
according to the scouts, Norax's army seemed somewhat disorganized.
Paul suspected this had something to do with the warlord's erratic
behavior immediately after Asa's slaying. Leo had spoken with the
apprentice the night before, trying to find out if there were a way to
bring Asa back.
Unfortunately, chances of that seemed very low. Paul knew
very little about the swords save their history - he had no idea how
they worked, or even how they were created. None of the tomes he had
consulted gave him answers he could use, either. According to them,
there was no functional difference between failing to be able to wield
the sword -- and being pulled in as a result -- and being struck by
it. One was trapped, either way. Or perhaps destroyed - completely
disintegrated by the sword's power. The books were not clear as to
whether one who was struck was killed or merely trapped somewhere.
Paul intended to keep looking, though. Ever since he had
joined Asa's small group, he'd tried to look out for the summoner.
The man's family had long ties - the Brown family historically were
the holders of the Gatekeeping Rod, and usually had pivotal roles in
history. Interesting, then, that the great-grandson of Tonir should
appear and decide to bring Paul along. Paul felt he owed Asa more
than to just give up.
Before Paul could return to concentration, there was a
knock at the door. Somewhat curiously, he opened it to allow his
visitors in.
"Rachel, Elayna, it's good to see the two of you." Paul
nodded at the unexpected company. A slight uneasiness settled over
him - this wasn't just an ordinary visit.
Rachel gave the apprentice a weak smile. "Hello, Paul.
I'm hoping that you aren't busy...."
"No, you're always welcome, come on in." Paul moved back
to allow the two to enter. He appeared calm, but internally he was
wondering what was going on. It was obvious that the two had come to
him for advice, and that made him slightly nervous. Seeker had always
appeared at ease with others - jovial and casual, but serious when he
needed to be. Paul had nowhere near that sophistication in dealing
with people. He tried, however.
"Thank you, Paul. I hate to disturb you..." Rachel
trailed off, glancing toward Elayna. Paul looked toward the child, an
idea of what was happening beginning to surface.
"It's no disturbance, do not worry. This battle has been
hard on all of us - if there is anything I can do to assist, I would
be happy to do so."
Rachel nodded and looked toward Elayna, who stepped
forward. "Thanks,
Paul. I have a request... I'd like to be involved in the next
battle." Before Paul could object, Elayna continued. "You don't have
to put me at the front, I'd be willing to be in the back with the
healers! I've been working hard on my magic when I've had the
chance..."
"Elayna, I don't make that decision - that's up to Leo."
Paul began. "But I imagine you came to me because you didn't want to
speak to him about it." A quiet nod from the healer affirmed Paul's
suspicion. "Elayna, I don't want you on the battlefield. You've been
through a lot in a short bit of time, and if I can help it, I don't
want you to have to go through more."
Elayna looked frustrated. "Paul, I can help! I want to
be able to do something about what's happening! I - I can't just sit
here in the castle and do nothing!"
Paul looked over toward Rachel, wondering why she had came
along - possibly because Elayna hadn't felt she could come to the
apprentice herself. Or perhaps....
"Elayna, is this about Asa?"
The healer's gaze snapped toward Paul's, and he could see
a sudden fury burning in them. "If I was there, I could have helped."
she stated simply.
"Elayna, if you were there you might not have made it
back. Nobody could help what happened to Asa. I know how you feel -
"
"You don't know!" the child spat. "He took my father from
me! He took Jamie from me. And now he took Asa. I don't have anyone
left, Paul! I don't..." Elayna sat down suddenly, her voice
dissolving in sobs.
Before the apprentice could move to comfort Elayna, Rachel
was already there, kneeling alongside the child and holding her as she
cried.
So that's why Rachel's come along Paul thought.
She must be taking this hard, too - I think she cared for
Asa
Paul kneeled down in front of Elayna and tried to catch
her gaze. "You're right, little one." he smiled inwardly as he
caught himself using the nickname that Seeker had used on him long
ago. "Norax has taken what we love from us. Vengeance would be an easy road
to pursue, and few would find fault with us for doing so."
Elayna looked up through tear-filled eyes. "You can't,
though. Seeker says you can't fight for revenge..." her voice
betrayed confusion - and perhaps a bit of hope that the warlord would
finally get what was coming.
"Seeker's right. The Planeskeepers do not fight for
revenge. We fight to ensure that evil will not happen again.
Elayna, I fight this battle so that Norax will never be able to take
anyone away from anybody else, ever again. And if I let you out there
onto the battlefield, that could happen. You feel lost now, now that
Norax has taken what you hold dear. We would feel the same way, if
you came next. We can't allow that to happen."
Elayna was silent for a few moments, understanding coming
over her features as a few latent tears slid down her face. "It's so
hard..." she whispered. "I don't want anyone else to go.... I just
want to live, and to have people who aren't going to be taken from
me."
Paul looked at the young child, barely believing that she
had been exposed to all the horrors that had befallen her. She had a
right to a peaceful life - and it seemed that right continually was
taken from her. She deserved better.
The apprentice had a new reason to fight - to prevent
Norax's tyranny -- and to prevent Elayna's suffering.
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