A flash of light was all Leto could see for a moment, and then the world around him vanished. No longer was there a tent. No longer could he feel the cold breath of Morwen's encroachment upon the world blowing down his back. His head spun, his body felt light as a feather. The feeling was entirely inhuman. Then, he felt like he was in an entirely foreign body. The veil that shrouded his eyes slowly lifted, revealing a circle that was on a scale not to dissimilar from his own, albeit much larger. It spanned a stone surface, a plinth raised just a few inches above the surface of the otherwise entirely wooden cottage. A quiet breath fogged the air before his eyes, but they were not his eyes. Everything felt odd, wrong, foreign, even. Nothing felt proper. Everything was at the wrong angle, everything just the wrong hue, as if he was seeing it from a different perception.
Then, he lifted his arms, but he did not lift his arms. Try as he might, it did not help him. The arms lifted anyway, and he approached the circle painted upon the stone, extending his fingers. As he bent down, Leto's eye's caught a single set of details. The numbers. 1069002583582104. The chain was familiar, but for the life of him, he could not place the number's origins on a specific World. It had to be Common, though, if he recognized it so easily. A needle pierced the pale flesh of the Summoner, and blood slowly flowed, dripping, spattering onto the stone plinth. A moment passed. Two moments. Three. His breathing increased, his eyesight sharpened, his pulse quickened, anticipating what was to come through the portal that he had gone through so much trouble to create. His eyes danced over the circle, studying its design scrutinizingly, trying to see where he had gone wrong. A slight tinge of panic pierced his mind, and he stepped forward. No, it was fine. The Hexagonal design, the circle of Six, was formed perfectly. Then, it happened. The link was made. Connection was achieved.
The smell of oil hit his nostrils, as lights flashed across the room. The Summoner turned his head aside, shielding his eyes, squinting against the white light that seeped between the cracks of his fingers. Almost as quickly as the portal opened, the creature, or in this case, creatures, found its other side. From the portal they emerged, three of them. One's skin was a sickly green, while the other two bore skin that was pink, as if they had been in the unrelenting sun for three days. That was only the beginning of the oddities. The green Visitor's left hand was literally shaped into wicked claws, each measuring around eight inches in length, truly a fearsome collection of death upon one wrist. In his other hand, he clutched a wicked, curved scimitar, drenched in blood. The pink ones were equally fearsome. One had a right arm that was grossly disproportionate to his body. The only way one could describe it was like a shield, one that stretched the skin it was under, and one that had obviously seen much use, judging by the scar tissue. In his free hand was an ax.
Moving to the final Visitor, his pulse quickened even more. He stood well over seven feet tall, with a third arm sprouting from his shoulder, and a mass of tentacles from his navel, each holding a separate dagger or small club. A thought that was not Leto's passed through his head, one that seemed fitting. What have I unleashed?
"What do you desire, Summoner!?" the tallest Visitor barked, his voice echoing through the entirety of the room, almost bursting the ears of the poor man. He had to stay strong. He could not show weakness to these Visitors. "A man! He is a rich man, residing in a cabin nearby, surrounding himself in gold, taken from travelers and other innocents. Kill him. Liberate the gold. Strew his insides across the roof, so that all shall know what happens to those who are guilty of crimes against the innocent." The Visitor brought his hand to his chin, as if contemplating it, but the Summoner knew that he already had his interest. Blood and money was all they needed. "Fine," he hissed.
"I'm going to let you out of the Circle," the Summoner finally uttered, after a long and obscure thought process that Leto could hardly follow. He simply snarled in agreement, and finally, was released from the circle. At that very moment, the Visitors lunged forward, crossing the room in less than a second. They were upon him. Tentacles wrapped around his throat, as the blade as the scimitar pressed against his gut. "Your blood is so much closer, though, your home so much easier to pillage..." the Visitor purred, as the Summoner struggled for breath, his lungs burning. He still had one thing up his sleeve, though. He had control of the leash. A quick leg shot upwards, slamming into the kneecap of the tallest assailant. It didn't do much, but it loosened the tentacles around his throat just enough for him to take in a sharp breath and exhale just a few words.
"Back to the Other Worlds with you, Visitors!" he screamed, tearing at the leash that still held the Visitors to the Circle. Hisses flew from the lips of the three Visitors, as, slowly but surely, they were drawn back across the ground. As the tentacles slipped away from his throat, he scrambled back, pressing himself flat against the wall, to separate himself from the restrained, sluggish movements of the Visitors. "Return to the Hells from whence you came!" More cries and hisses met his ears, but soon enough, they were just outside of the circle, on its border. "Sylir banished you for a reason, now I banish you once more!!!" as he cried those words, he pulled on the leash one final time, pulling the Visitors back into the portal, which promptly closed behind them, leaving the Summoner up against the wall. Slowly, he slid down, panting, feeling his neck as if to confirm he was still alive.
Once more, the world went white, and Leto was back in the place he called home. Morwen's hand was caressing his neck. The tent surrounded him. He was safe. He was at home. The Memosite eagerly plucked at his mind, picking a more specific memory from the huge collection he was trying to place into it, and then returned to its quiet hum, speaking a word in his mind once more.
"Interrogative?" |
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