The Summoned
The Light Plane, Darren's Keep
Asa looked up at the ceiling, counting the various
miniature cracks and furrows. He couldn't sleep - he was simply exhausted,
but no matter what he tried, sleep would not come to him. The events
of the day had been too much, he supposed....
Sighing, he stood up out of bed for the third time
that evening. The cold stone floor of Darren's keep seeped into his
feet uncomfortably. After a few minutes of searching, he managed
to locate some slippers and a robe. He clutched the gatekeeping rod
in his right hand - that he hadn't let go of, and wasn't about to.
Not after what had happened.
Asa walked down the feebly lit stairwell that lead
out of his room and to one of the main hallways of the keep. He considered
stopping by one of his friends' rooms - it had been a long time since he
had spoken with Paul, Leo, or Elayna - but he discounted the idea.
It was far too early, and they all needed their rest. So he decided
to walk around the perimeter of the castle, as he had done twice already.
It hadn't made him any more able to sleep, but at least it gave him something
to do.
His footsteps, even slippered, sounded loud to him
in the ominous emptiness of the keep. A few times he caught sight
of a guard, more often he simply heard them on their nightly rounds.
They didn't stop to speak with him - he was recognized, of course, but
they had a job to do. So he walked his route in silence.
A different route than he had taken the past two
times took him into a basement, which was a great deal colder than the
rest of the building. The torches didn't add very much heat to the
room, and Asa quickened his pace in order to keep himself warm. He
shook his head as he walked, trying to keep the memories from coming back.
Those events weren't ones he wanted to relive in the dark, chill basement
of a sleeping castle. After a time, he managed to ascend to an area
in the castle that he recognized, and head toward his room.
He was slowly climbing the staircase when he heard
a coughing from above. Instantly, he tensed his grip upon the gatekeeping
rod. He had to fight to keep himself from summoning something, and
for a few moments he was simply standing on the stairwell, his eyes shut
and his hands trembling. The panic passed, however. He had
no enemies here. He was safe. Slowly, he ascended the stairs
into his room, trying to keep his breathing and pulse under control.
He entered, tensing himself against an assault his rational mind told him
was not going to come. Indeed, it did not. Instead, he saw
Paul, sitting on one of the chairs placed in the room, and looking toward
the door expectantly.
"Ah, Asa - I was hoping you'd come back here." the
young wizard spoke.
Still trembling, but trying not to reveal this to
the other, Asa walked to his bed and sat down heavily. "It is my
room." he said, a bit more harshly than he had intended.
"Of course. My apologies for intruding."
Paul stood up, but Asa waved him back down.
"Sorry Paul, I'm a bit tense. What brings
you here?"
"You, actually. I'd noticed that you're very
jumpy. The Seeker told me what happened to you in the Dark Plane....
If you needed to talk to me, you know I would listen." Paul trailed
off.
"It's not what happened in the Dark Plane... or
perhaps it is, but Seeker doesn't know all of it." Asa sighed, then
looked up at his friend. "You want to hear this?"
Paul nodded, and - not without a slight amount of
hesitation - Asa began.
"Seeker probably already told you about the cave
where I got this." Asa nodded toward the rod and, without looking
to see if Paul had indeed heard, continued. "Not the most pleasant
of things, seeing the world's most powerful wizard frightened. Though
I don't suppose he told you that part!"
"Actually, he did. My teacher doesn't want
me having anything to do with that man, or that library. And if he
was scared of it, I'm surely staying away."
Asa nodded. "That was my impression.
But the thing living there decided that we could go, and so we went.
It bothered me - I had already been under the shadow of Norax, who could
have me killed anytime he wanted. And then I was with another being
that could do the same thing, and that one not even in full charge of his
sanity. I'm safe now - I know that rationally, but my body and reflexes
are not quite ready to give up their preparedness. I can't sleep
- I'm too nervous, even though I'm exhausted. It's trying.
And that was only the beginning."
"Really? The Seeker had only told me about
the cave - he didn't mention anything that came afterwards."
Asa smiled wearily. "That's kind of him, to
try to keep what happened a secret. Though after what happened today,
I don't really see the point. After I had emerged from the cave,
Norax tried to summon me."
There was a moment of silence as Asa searched for
what to say next.
"You remember, when we were journeying to the Nexus,
how I began to lose control of myself the closer we came?"
Paul nodded, but didn't say anything. The
wizard had apparently decided to stay away from that particular topic.
"It was like that, all over again." Asa sighed.
"I was standing on the road leading away from the troop camp, and suddenly
I had to be at Norax's tower. I had to be. It was the only
thing that existed for me, the only purpose I ever had. I couldn't
think, I couldn't breathe, I could do nothing except run, as fast as my
body would take me, toward that tower. Except this time, there was
an out. Something in me pushed for resistance, and called out desperately
for aid. It found it in this rod.
"Seeker told me the history of this rod - over a
millennium old, forged for Telan. It has a portion of his power within
it, and it's that portion I touched when I cried out for help. And
then suddenly, it was over. There was no need to proceed to Norax's
tower. All the insanity that the summons had caused was gone, just
like that. I was free. But I touched some of that power - some
of the Higher Path magic. It has the power to warp men into demons,
though I didn't feel that then. I did later.
"Your teacher recognized what had happened.
Apparently, I had been screaming in my delirium, and I was spouting something
about Norax. Seeker tried to lead us to the Nexus faster, but there
were soldiers blocking the way - a lot of soldiers. They hadn't spotted
Seeker or me, but they seemed to have a good idea what general area we
were in."
"Your rod-" Paul interrupted. "When you used
it to fight off the summons, it acted like a beacon to Norax - he could
tell right away where you were."
"Exactly. He tried it a second time while
Seeker and I were coming up with a plan, though the results were not quite
so harrowing as the first time. I was able to react more quickly.
By the third time he attempted it, I had learned to interpret the Rod's
warning - it gave one, and I hadn't been able to hear it before, I suppose."
"Wait, the rod actually spoke to you?" Paul
looked incredulous, and just a tiny bit frightened.
Asa shook his head. "No - it didn't speak,
but there was a definite warning. Just a sudden sense of danger,
that's all. But by this time Norax's troops had nearly found us.
Seeker had tried to make false trails and phantoms for them to chase, but
as long as Norax kept trying to summon me, they had a good idea of where
they were. We were nearly surrounded when Seeker told me what to
do.
"I didn't want to at first. I mean, it meant
that I would have to use the rod again, to brush against the power that
could turn me into a demon. Seeker told me that the power within
the rod was tame, but I wasn't so sure. There wasn't any choice though,
the soldiers were getting too close to evade. So I did it."
"You used the gatekeeping rod to bring yourself
and Seeker here." Paul prompted.
"Yes." Asa paused. "It was the second
time that I had traveled through the interim... that emptiness that separates
one plane from another. I hardly remember last time, I was too out
of my mind to even think about what was going on. This time, I was
very aware of the nothingness around me. It was like being deep in
slumber, or even dead... it didn't last long, however. But... and
nobody knows of this Paul... something happened right before I emerged
here." There was a pause, as neither of them spoke.
"There was something in the interim." Asa
said finally, his words shattering the silence. "I had thought it
was completely empty, void of everything - life, even matter itself.
But in that final moment before I came back to reality, I saw something
- a great, vast field of light. It was conscious, and looking at
me. It didn't have a face, or anything other than light, but I knew
it was studying me, judging me. And it was as though it was about
to destroy me, right then. As though I were no more than a pest to
it, and it was going to wipe me out with a flick of the wrist. I
panicked."
"It was probably that panic that saved your life...
I thought you had just acted on your own." Paul said. Asa caught
the slightly disapproving note in his voice, but chose not to pursue it.
"Yes, it was that. I had begun the summons
even before I realized where I was and what was happening around me.
I don't think Norax's troops noticed me either, until it was too late.
After all, I just sort of materialized there, and they were busy paying
attention to the battle against you."
Paul nodded. "Yes, they attacked the castle
a few minutes before you appeared - our men were just about ready to begin
the counterattack."
Asa shut his eyes. "God, I didn't know that.
If I had been a few moments later, I would have wiped them out too...."
The apprentice sat quietly, not commenting.
Asa shivered and reopened his eyes, looking at Paul.
"I know you don't approve of what happened, but please believe me when
I tell you I wasn't in charge of my senses. When I saw Thalla materialize,
I was just as surprised as you. She didn't even seem to need any
direction from me - she simply waved one of her arms, and..." Asa
shuddered again and dropped his head into his hands. "They were gone.
One moment, living, breathing human beings. The next, ashes.
She vanished before I even fully realized what had happened. For
a while, I thought she had wiped out Seeker too... I was delirious for
a bit after that."
"We know." Paul said. "I was there with
the clerics who treated you... Elayna even helped. Personally, I
don't know how Seeker survived the blast, but I'm certainly glad he did."
Asa nodded. "Yes... Paul, how many of them
died in that?"
Paul shook his head. "I honestly don't know...
each battle we fought with them has become progressively harder, as they
keep getting reinforcements from the Dark Plane. Usually they would
engage us and then retreat - each time the fortification they retreated
to would be even harder to raze. Two battles ago, we were unable
to take it. In the last battle, it was hard just to maintain our
own position. And you've single-handedly destroyed the entire thing.
There's no evidence that it ever was there."
Asa lied down on his bed. "All of those people..."
"But you saved all of us." Paul pointed out.
"It'll take them weeks to regroup. In that time we can get people
here to a safe place."
"I know... but it doesn't help." Sighing,
he closed his eyes.
Paul stood up. "I should let you rest... you've
had a trying day, certainly."
"Thanks Paul...." Asa whispered. "Now
if only I could go to sleep."
Paul laughed lightly. "If I weren't conserving
my energies, I'd put you out myself. Unfortunately, I need as much
magic as I can muster for tomorrow." With that, the wizard left the
room. Asa heard his footsteps echo down the stairwell and then all
was silent once more.
Sighing, he draped his arm over his eyes and tried
to fall asleep.
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