The idiot moves around the room, taking girls down. They try to fight but for skin and bones, the idiot’s pretty strong. He wrestles them onto the floor without a problem and lays them on the edge of the circle, kicking those who try to squirm away.

When my turn comes, I simply go limp and lay in my place quietly. Fighting for survival when your chances are hopeless is stupid. I can’t muster the willpower to do so. If I’m going to die, I’ll do it with dignity. And I won’t die alone. The idiot will soon join me.

The circle would have fallen without help before but now it’s definitely going to fall. I mean, this guy makes a circle out of chalk and then places moving objects on top of it. The line is going to get smudged. It is inevitable.

Now, not only will he have a weak circle, it’ll be incomplete.

Yup, he’s so dead.

Ah, the knife. He’s going around stabbing the girls. A deep jab to the side to get them bleeding. Alright, not a total idiot. At least he knows that mana is concentrated in the blood. Spilling it on a circle can power it with a drop of mana from the caster to activate it.

My turn with the knife comes. I scream. So much for dying with dignity but I can’t help it. Getting stabbed hurts. And my side aches so much. I can feel the life leaving me. This sucks.

But it’s about to get better.

His preparations complete, the idiot kneels in the middle of the circle and places his fingers gently on the chalk lettering. The white outline begins to glow along with our pooling blood. Wah, this is pretty. This guy has the water affinity. Which is stupid for the spell because elementals can only contract with those who share their affinity but the pale blue shimmers are beautiful. At least I get to see something beautiful before I die.

“Great spirit!” the idiot shouts, his voice echoing. We must be underground. That’d be good to know if I planned to escape from this. But I don’t so it doesn’t matter. “I summon thee to this realm to grant my wish!”

Grant your wish? What the heck? Does this guy think summoning is like saying a prayer on the dawn of a new year, but that it actually gets granted? What? I’m not wrong. He has no idea what he’s doing. This is going to end terribly.

There it is. A vertical line going down the middle of the circle, a rift between dimensions. The elemental is responding to the summons and coming through to this realm.

I just realize that this idiot is still standing in the circle. Seriously. What is the matter with you? The whole point of the circle is to keep the elemental away from you until a contract has been made. There’s no point if you’re in the circle.

This is kind of sad to watch. How can anyone fail at something so completely?

The elemental arrives. If not for the gag in my mouth, I would whistle in appreciation. It has the shape of a man but its skin is the color of the night sky. Little pinpricks of light peek through the darkness like stars. I watch with interest as they shift, forming moving pictures for the observant.

People think the more exotic the elemental is, the better. Everyone loves it when someone brings out the firedrake. Real crowd-pleaser. Only the real summoners understand that the humanoids are the power-hitters. Why would something from another dimension look exactly like us? They don’t. What does it mean if it does? It’s really fricking powerful and smart enough to know that a familiar form will put the summoner at ease.

Here is this clearly non-human creature in the form of an unassuming man, not too tall or wide, with no features. If I was doing this summoning, I would run out of the room. Fast.

The idiot does no such thing. Instead, he steps right up to the creature and straightens up to his full height. “I am Crowley Cain. I demand to know your name, spirit.”

The elemental tilts its head, gazing about the room. It doesn’t have any features but I just know that it’s confused. Maybe disappointed? Yes. I know because it sighs. That was an unmistakable sigh right there.

“I answered this call because I wondered who had the gall to summon me after ten thousand years. Thinking about it, I should have known that it would be an idiot, not some great caster. My fault for raising my expectations.”

Ha! The elemental thinks he’s an idiot too. I like this guy.

“I said I demand your name!”

“Yes, yes. You may call me Cosmo. Now, what do you want from me, Crowley Cain? I surely hope it isn’t a contract. I’d tear you apart if our mana so much as brushed.”

Crowley clears his throat. “Cosmo. As an elemental of the cosmic affinity, you have dominion over time magic. I have demonstrated my worthiness by summoning you. For this, I ask that you turn back time and return to me my youth.”

If it could have, my jaw would have dropped. Wow. This guy. He thinks elementals just grant wishes like…like…well, like magic. I’m astounded. Truly. I wish I was going to survive this. The bards would love to sing about Crowley Cain. Father would fall out of his chair with laughter.

“I see.” Cosmo is not happy. I can hear the anger in his voice. He is offended. I completely understand. If a bug walked up to me and asked me to sacrifice my vast powers to give it uncountable fortunes, I would be offended too. That’s not how the world works. That’s especially not how summoning works.

The circle is filled with silence. Crowley, who had been standing with clear anticipation, is shuffling his feet, wondering why he isn’t a spry young man already.

I don’t want to be rude but can the two of you hurry this up? I’m dying over here. Seriously. I won’t last much longer. My body already feels weak, my head dizzy. I feel like I’m on the verge of going to sleep. A sleep I’ll never wake up from.

My eyes tear up but I blink them away. No, no, none of that. Already accepted that I’m going to die. Nothing to do about it. Dignity, remember? But before I go, I would like to see this idiot who kidnapped me disappear. That would be great. My dying wish. I know you have no reason to grant it but please, starry night guy?

As if it can hear me, the being turns toward me. “Very well. Is there any particular way you would like this to be done?”

He’s talking to me, I’m sure of it. Wah. He’s got the mental affinity. Not surprising from a creature with a coefficient of >5000. If you can hear me like I think you can, I would like to see something pretty before I go.

“I don’t care how you do it,” Crowley says excitedly, nearly bouncing on his toes. “Just do it!”

“It shall be done.”

The starry guy, no, Cosmo. I should memorize his name with the few minutes I have left since he’s doing me a favor. Cosmo raises a hand toward Crowley. My idiot kidnapper does nothing, thinking his wish is being granted. He begins to glow from the inside.

Crowley only has time for his eyes to bulge in surprise before the light bursts forth, turning him into a shower of sparks that gently fall onto the circle.

Wow, that’s even prettier than I hoped. The way its falling reminds me of the first snow of winter. This is how it would look if snow was made of light rather than water. I want to dance around in it but I’m too weak to move. I’m really tired. Won’t be long before I pass on now.

Cosmo walks over to me, kneeling so that I can still see his face. His head tilts in a clear gesture of curiosity. “Was that acceptable?”

Yes. It was awesome. If I could do something like that with my fire magic, I would look forward to studying. That’s how you kill someone with style.

“That’s quite an attitude for someone who just watched another human die.”

Ah. Are you saying I’m a bad person? I might be. Nowhere near as charitable as the saints. I’m glad he’s dead. It would suck if that idiot summoner got to live on while I died. If that makes me a bad person, whatever.

“How interesting. Unlike that fool, you have a glimmer of potential. Even more astounding is your will. All the others have died, yet you cling to life.”

I knew you were going to kill him. The idiot put in a coefficient of >5000 and he couldn’t even make a proper circle. I wanted to see that. Now? This conversation is interesting and I’m using it as an excuse to stave off going to sleep. I don’t want to die. But I don’t have a choice. I’m getting tired.

“What if I were to offer you a chance?”

I would ask what you got out of it.

Cosmo chuckles. “That’s a very good question. Let us say entertainment. You have an interesting personality, some aspects of which I don’t think you even realize yourself. The world has become so boring lately. Stagnating peace fueled by incompetents and cowards. It needs something to spice it up. I think you will do just the trick.”

In that case, I’m in.

“Oh? No other questions?”

Well, I’ve got a lot more but no time to ask them. I’m dying here.

“Like I said, very interesting.” Cosmo scoops me up with one hand. As he does, I feel my body come to a stop. I can’t move my limbs even a little and my heart no longer thumps in my chest. Even more importantly, blood has stopped spilling from me. That’s effective.

“This may be a little unsettling. I would like to explain a little of what’s about to happen but I don’t have much time before the powers that be rip me out of this realm and I’m sure you’re going to pass out. Actually, no. This way might be better. Should be interesting watching you flounder about in the beginning.”

I’m still wondering what Cosmo is talking about when suddenly his chest expands and I am thrown inside.

It’s like falling into a warm pool. Comfortable. Relaxing. Something is tugging at me. I can feel it pulling everywhere, taking me apart at the seams. If this continues, I know I’m going to die. Stupid Cosmo. This better not be a trick. I let my hope grow, you know? I was thinking about how lucky I am to survive this. If I don’t, I’m going to be pissed.

Not that there’s anything I can do about it once I’m dead.

My last thought before I am unmade is that this whole situation really does suck.