Read Online Summoner (Ash and Magic 1) by Sophie Park - Free Book Online
Authors: Sophie Park
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him again.
"Listen, I'm really interested in the spell but I'm not stupid enough to try and summon something like Melketh. Okay? I'm going to try the same formulation, you know with the anti-magic inner circle, but I'll just summon something less powerful. An imp or something, I haven't decided."
"Oh..." Brad frowned, looking over his fresh stack of waffles and trying to read Ashley's expression. "That's actually a good idea."
"What?"
"I mean, you're right, when you described how the summoning worked it sounded totally strange to me! I mean, who would even think to set up a ring of spells like that? Everyone thinks summoning is just about containment and control."
"Right."
"And... you know, now that I think about it, doesn't that mean that Melketh chose to show up?" Brad ate while he talked, slurring half the words with mouthfuls of waffle.
"What?"
"You know, if the spell worked in the way you described, then that means that there was nothing compelling him to show up."
"I... you're right." Ash's heart dropped out of her chest as he said it. She was used to summoning spells which included some minor, or major, form of compulsion. To think that the most powerful spell she'd ever seen didn't include anything...
That did mean that Melketh had shown up out of his own strange desire. Maybe he had a contract with the University?
He certainly didn't have a contract with Ash. Would he show up?
Well, she'd have to cross that bridge when she came to it.
She wasn't even sure she'd be able to summon him in the first place.
"Anyway, I'm starting small. Don't worry! Just imps for me, imps all the way down."
"Sure."
"Nnnnngh, kill me."
After Ashley escorted the two of them back to their dorms and tucked them in, she sat and stared at the tome with Melketh's summoning in it.
Would he show up?
What could she do to entice him?
How had Professor Montgomery done it?
There were too many questions and not enough answers. She kept wondering how she could answer them, and the only answer that she could think of was that she would have to finish the spell.
Finish the spell... finish it and summon Melketh and see what happened.
For good or for ill, that was the only way.
When the spell had been written on the floor of her manse and everything was in place, Ashley looked at the clock. It was six at night on Sunday. She had to be waking up for class in just twelve hours, and she'd already missed an entire night of sleep.
She should go to bed.
She should wake up, go to class, and come back to this tomorrow night. Then she would be fresh and ready, able to face the spell properly.
Then she would have to wait twenty four hours to see if it had worked.
"Decisions, decisions." Ashley took a deep breath and looked down at the intricate pattern. She'd been over it top to bottom with an Identify spell one last time and everything looked like it was in place. Not even a single rune was incorrect or smudged. She'd been training for a long time to be able to write things so accurately using an irregularly shaped piece of brimstone, and even still, she hadn't actually expected to be able to do it.
That was the thing she'd kept telling herself: there was no way she would get this right the first time around. She would mess something up, screw up a rune somewhere, and then she'd be forced to abandon the whole thing. A part of her had wanted to do it, to be able to curse in frustration, put down the brimstone and scream out her rage. Then she'd be able to sleep.
Only, it hadn't happened.
She'd done the spell correctly, putting all the runes in the right place and completing the difficult pattern in the center of the three circles with little trouble.
Now she was ready. The only thing left was the spell completion word.
Melketh's name...
She just had to present the piece of coal she'd attuned to the circles, say his name and then...
And then...
And then he would appear, or not.
"Listen, I'm really interested in the spell but I'm not stupid enough to try and summon something like Melketh. Okay? I'm going to try the same formulation, you know with the anti-magic inner circle, but I'll just summon something less powerful. An imp or something, I haven't decided."
"Oh..." Brad frowned, looking over his fresh stack of waffles and trying to read Ashley's expression. "That's actually a good idea."
"What?"
"I mean, you're right, when you described how the summoning worked it sounded totally strange to me! I mean, who would even think to set up a ring of spells like that? Everyone thinks summoning is just about containment and control."
"Right."
"And... you know, now that I think about it, doesn't that mean that Melketh chose to show up?" Brad ate while he talked, slurring half the words with mouthfuls of waffle.
"What?"
"You know, if the spell worked in the way you described, then that means that there was nothing compelling him to show up."
"I... you're right." Ash's heart dropped out of her chest as he said it. She was used to summoning spells which included some minor, or major, form of compulsion. To think that the most powerful spell she'd ever seen didn't include anything...
That did mean that Melketh had shown up out of his own strange desire. Maybe he had a contract with the University?
He certainly didn't have a contract with Ash. Would he show up?
Well, she'd have to cross that bridge when she came to it.
She wasn't even sure she'd be able to summon him in the first place.
"Anyway, I'm starting small. Don't worry! Just imps for me, imps all the way down."
"Sure."
"Nnnnngh, kill me."
After Ashley escorted the two of them back to their dorms and tucked them in, she sat and stared at the tome with Melketh's summoning in it.
Would he show up?
What could she do to entice him?
How had Professor Montgomery done it?
There were too many questions and not enough answers. She kept wondering how she could answer them, and the only answer that she could think of was that she would have to finish the spell.
Finish the spell... finish it and summon Melketh and see what happened.
For good or for ill, that was the only way.
When the spell had been written on the floor of her manse and everything was in place, Ashley looked at the clock. It was six at night on Sunday. She had to be waking up for class in just twelve hours, and she'd already missed an entire night of sleep.
She should go to bed.
She should wake up, go to class, and come back to this tomorrow night. Then she would be fresh and ready, able to face the spell properly.
Then she would have to wait twenty four hours to see if it had worked.
"Decisions, decisions." Ashley took a deep breath and looked down at the intricate pattern. She'd been over it top to bottom with an Identify spell one last time and everything looked like it was in place. Not even a single rune was incorrect or smudged. She'd been training for a long time to be able to write things so accurately using an irregularly shaped piece of brimstone, and even still, she hadn't actually expected to be able to do it.
That was the thing she'd kept telling herself: there was no way she would get this right the first time around. She would mess something up, screw up a rune somewhere, and then she'd be forced to abandon the whole thing. A part of her had wanted to do it, to be able to curse in frustration, put down the brimstone and scream out her rage. Then she'd be able to sleep.
Only, it hadn't happened.
She'd done the spell correctly, putting all the runes in the right place and completing the difficult pattern in the center of the three circles with little trouble.
Now she was ready. The only thing left was the spell completion word.
Melketh's name...
She just had to present the piece of coal she'd attuned to the circles, say his name and then...
And then...
And then he would appear, or not.
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