In this small village that no one had heard of, located in the middle of nowhere that mattered to the rest of the world, resided a very talented wizard. That wizard would of course be me, Aeri! I live in my tower, way on the outskirts of our small village, mainly because no one wants a magic user anywhere near their property in case a spell goes wrong. Of course, they also want you nearby to help protect them from magical and other threats. People can be really weird, right?
Anyways, that’s not important. What is important is that I am on my way to becoming the youngest summoner of all time! Any wizard worth anything could at least summon something. It usually takes years of study under more knowledgeable wizards than yourself before you even attempt to summon something. Of course, you could be like me and just be lucky enough to have found some really good books and taught yourself in a fraction of the time!
Thinking out loud, since it helps me concentrate, I make sure I have everything ready for the summoning. “Summoning circle is in place and looks perfect, my wards are in place, and the spell is right here in this book. I think I’m ready. Okay, let’s do this!” I open the book and begin the incantation. The words began to flow out of me, my voice taking on an alien tone as I pronounce these foreign words.
D͕͚͔̜̭ͅi͈̺̖͚̲̙̤̍o̟͎̯̥͍̟̅ͯͧ͋͑ͩͅ-̖̽̔A̲̙̖͔ͥ̿ͭj͙̉ͤͭ͗u͇͚͙͈̇͗̔ͨ̀p͉̱̘̖̖ǒ̹̬͚̜̜͒-͖̭̉͌̄̔N̮̱͑̊̈e̘̣̙͈̪̘ͪ̓c̥̖͈̠̣͇̼̈́̽ͦ̿̋̚r̲͔̯ͦ͂o͈͇̦͔͍͛s̭̻̮̰̞͑!͕͙͎̱̀ͪ ͈͙D͖͕ͨa̩̯͒̃̒ͩ̎ì̬̖̻͓ͪ͛ͯͅ!̝̙̾̊ ̞̳̙̯̼P͕͖̳͕̌h̝͖̜̬͎̊ͭa̺̓ͅa͕̓ͥ͗ṛ̪̗͔̻ā̤̼̫̙͖̠̓̍͗ͦz̥̩̙̩̘ű̪̱̹̳̱̯̓̃̇ͪ̇͌ͅ-͋̊J͓ͧͧ̓̅u̠j̙̼͎̳̖̅u̺ͤ-̳̗̘̱̱̦̝̄̎ͤͫA̞͉̗̱ͩ̏l̺̖̞̔ö̞̬̯̻̳̈́͑d̖̖͚̲̰͓͐̔̍ͅu̬͇͊͂ͣ͑͑̚ṙ̺̜̥̌̐̒i̖̹̲̟̳̥͊ͬͫ̓ͨ̓-͂̍U̝̰̹̖k̞͎̖̟̣̜̍͌͒ͯ̐ͬạ,͔̫̏́͆ͫ ͨ̈͛Ü͉̖͙̇ͬͪ̇͌̈́ṟ͓̺͓̒ͯ͆͛h̰̲̗̘̟ͤͣ̏̽ͤ̓a͖̹͉͙͐̌̾ͯ͑̓,̳̦̱̬͍̟̪̽ͫ ̭̪̹̼̞̳̫ͫÜj͎̯̗͈ͤͯa͍̼̦͇-͉͊ͫͥ͒ͭ̋N̙̱i̮̠͈̺͍̯̲̋͐ḵ̖̼̞̆̉̍ͣ̒ͭ̽a̲-̤̭̘͕̓̓̈ͦ́̌ͅͅNͥ̍̃ͣe̻̰̞̱͚͇̿̉ͩ̚c̻ͤ̑̄ͤ̚r̳͔̥̖̯̼̠͂́͛ͤͨ̾oͭ͐̽̚s̝͑ͫ̐̋̓ͭ͌ ̒̒͛ͫ̓͒̏O̗̘̰͍̙͂ͧ̽̃ͪ̈ͬp̞̳͖̹͒͑̔ͭ̒ͬṷ̖̥̦̟͋̃͛̊̍̐-̻͕͉͎̰̤ͩ̽̑͗͊N̩̮͚ik̻̭͍̼̪͑̆̎̒̆͊â̹̘̭̊̊ͤ͂̽̚-̱̹̞͍̤̦̪̆̎ͮD͕̼̘̪̼a̻̬̭ͩr̼̬͔̜̥̲̔͆ͤ̉̾͋̂ ̹͇̤̯̬̫̐̓̎̊Mu̞͙ͅt̞̠̪̫̞̻ͬâ̩̲͓̟̳ͨͅ-̙͈͖̻̤͍͌ͧA̟̫̥̮̣̙̤͛r̫͎̹͕̝̥͐͗c̯̱̳̼̞ͥ̈́̔̇ͮaͨ͌ͯ̓n̟̺͈̪͍̬ͤͣ̊ã̟ͪ͑ͩ͛̿-̱̜̼̟͍̳̃ͨ͆̉ͯ͊Ḇ͍̮̂̽̋a̎̋̅ͪṟ̙͉͓̹ï̬͕̼͔
With each word I speak a glyph in the summoning circle lights up. After I say the final word, the entire circle erupts in light, forcing me to shield my eyes with the book. After just a few seconds I realize the light is gone and I quickly look back at the circle to see what kind of creature heeded my summons. It is then that I realize my mistake. I severely underestimated this spell. The sky has gone dark, darker than night, the only light around me coming from the summoning circle itself. Of course, what is in the circle is even worse than the darkness.
Looking straight at me is a dragon! A dragon as black as night, its eyes gleaming white. I look closer, curious even in my fear. It has little specks of white of varying size all over it that gleam, reminding me of stars in the night sky. The dragon itself is almost as long as my tower is tall and maybe three times my height. I suddenly remember my wards and check them. I sigh with relief once I see that they are still intact.
Dragons are very powerful and intelligent creatures. I know I am going to have to approach this creature carefully, lest it decides to turn on me. Assuming it hasn’t already, I think with a bit of humor. It really is funny when you think of it. I am the youngest summoner of all time and not only is my first summoning successful, it’s also one of the most powerful mortal creatures in existence.
I gather my courage and speak to it for the first time. “My name is Aeri. What do you call yourself and what realm to you come from?” I know some things about dragons and knowing where they are from can tell a lot about how they will act.
The dragon looked at me for a few seconds, obviously sizing me up. “You called me forth and you don’t even know where I am from?” the dragon said while laughing. A very intimidating laugh. “What kind of half-rate summoner calls forth one of my kind without any knowledge of us?”
Its remark made my blood boil, but I kept my mouth shut in the hopes it would at least give me the information I wanted.
“I’ll humor you, little girl.” I bristled at that comment as well and it laughed. “I come from Raiw-qua'ien,” it said, relishing in the look of fear that swept over my face. “Or maybe you know it better as The Demon Realm, or The Forbidden Realm, or whatever other names your people think will sufficiently scare others into not meddling with my kind.”
Yep, I think I might have made a bit of an error here. Not only a dragon, but a demonic dragon! In a way I am proud of this accomplishment, but at the same time know that if I don’t find a way to undo it my whole village might go up in flames, and me with it! I raise up the book and the dragon’s malicious intent quickly becomes apparent.
As I flip through the pages to find the spell that would return this beast and seal the portal, it tries to engulf me in a fire as black as itself. Surprising both of us, though, are the wards. I had almost forgotten about them and was expecting to die horribly until the flame hit them and spread out within the protected zone. The wards worked! Of course, I’m not going to just wait and see what happens. I continue to search for the right passage. “Dammit, where is that stupid thing!” I curse at the book, still hurriedly searching.
In a booming voice, the dragon shouts, “YOUR WARDS WILL NOT PROTECT YOU FOR LONG LITTLE GIRL. WHY NOT SUBMIT TO ME AND BECOME MY SLAVE? IF YOU DO SO RIGHT NOW AND RELEASE THESE WARDS, I SHALL ALLOW YOU TO LIVE.” It waits a few seconds before realizing I am ignoring it. In anger, it fires another blast of its black fire, hitting the wards again, trying to bring them down.
My heart skips a beat and I turn back to the previous page. I found it! “Yes!” I yell out, startling the dragon slightly, though not stopping its actions in the slightest. I begin to speak again in that strange tongue, casting the spell that will rid my world of this demonic dragon.
Ḵ̬̱͎̪̮͉ͯ̇ủ̪̫͉̤͊̎͋̿̔̏ͅl͚̩͚̤͚̱ͯͥ̋͊ͯť̻͍̤̣͈͉̯ă̝̻̥͔̻̤̹͛̊ͯ͆̆ͭ-̗̲͍̹̙͊̂̈́K͍͚̼̰̓̓u̥̹̱̼̳̪̩͛̑a͍̮̭͕̘ͤ̀j͍͙̳̦̱a̼̫̖͖͚ͩ̋ͣͤ̊ͯ-̗̯͕̬̳̻ͣ̍̈͋̓B̟͉̀ͪͧo͍̣̮͖̭͕ͩ̍j̤̮̩̬̚i̱̭͓ͬ̃͒̓̿ͥ!͇͖̖͖̈́ ̯̺̘͖͋̌ͩ͊̇B̦̪͕͖̆̈́ḁ̭̟̖̦̿̇̑́̋ri͉͐̒́̓̑͒-̩̩̱ͪ͛̎̓͗̀ͨͅB̹͚̩͉͉̃̅a̘̓̃͛̍̇̈́r̖͕̖͙͎͈ͭi͙̼̩͓̥ͫ̐̓̈́̓ͩ,̰͈̮̻̿̂ ̼̻̠̖̠̮Z̮̭͕ͨͤ̽ͯ̌à̝̦ͯ̓k͈̫͙̖͖̩o̫͖̒̆͊́̍͂̓-̩̮̫̮ͥ̽ͭͦͣ̋U̪̥̦͎̤̜ͥ͋ͦ̑ͩ̐̌s̳͛͗͑͗ă-̼̟̤̙̥̞̩̾̾̎̿̓̋̈́K̦̆̐ȕ͎͕̱̦̞̼̱̒a͉ͣj̜̼̻ͧͨͅa!̦̠̼͎̂̋͐ͤͦ ͖Ḓ͚̪̣͊a̞̣̯ͦͤ͌r̖̮̲̝͓͉̗ͩͬ͊͛-̮͙͒ͪ̑̏ͪ̚A̋̊ͨ͋ͤr͚ͪͧ̈́ͬ̍͊c͆ͪ̈́a͉̙̗͖͓ͤ͊̚n̼̈ͧ̏́ͭa̩͇̠̳̅̈͑-͂ͣE̝̬̳̖͙̖̬̓̋ͥ̎̒̓r̯̱̳͎̙̮͕͋̄̃ü͎͔̭̻̙̩ͭ̑ͨ̒k̘̮͙̺̲ͭlͥ͊ͫͬͨ͋aͧ̏-̲͚̼͓̻͈̜̎͑͊͛D͈͔͎̰̹ͦͭ̊ͦ͐̀ạ̫̺̹͉̩͖̄̉͆̆ͦ̚ȉ̤͍͈͙͚̞̫͊̍̔́̚
With another blinding flash of light, and accompanied by a terrifying roar, the spell activates. I cover my eyes with the book once again, waiting until the light diminishes. Once it does, I take a peek and sigh with relief. Everything is safe once again. I think I might hold off on summoning for a little while.