First Summoning

--- Jon ---

As he blinked away the pain in his (soul/)eyes he felt something inside of him shift ever so slightly. It wasn’t so much that anything was added or removed, so much as some part of him had become restless without his input. (And honestly, if it wasn’t for my time with the Man in the Mask I might not have even noticed it.)

(“You’re welcome.”)

A chill ran down his spine as he was forced to whirl around to the empty hall.

“It’s just in your head…” He lied to himself, pretending he couldn’t hear the laughter in the back of his mind.

A growling sound drew his attention back to his room, or rather the newcomer to his room. Standing in the center of the spell circuit where the Confidant Catalyst had been was what appeared to be a grey wolf. The glowing eyes, knife holster, and sparking blue lines wrapped around its front legs all warned him that he wasn’t dealing with a normal wolf.

(As long as it’s not a Mad Wolf I can deal with it.) He told himself, as he fought down his instinct to put the animal down like he had so many others over the summer. (No, Delacroix assured me, that while it might not be happy, whatever I summoned wouldn’t outright try to kill me.)

Nodding to himself he raised his hands in a placating gesture while saying in as calm a voice as he could manage, “It’s alright I’m not going to hurt you, this was just… just a bit of a mishap.”

Under normal circumstances he knew the wolf wouldn’t be able to understand him.

That said, he’d long since learned magic tended to make animals significantly smarter, and the wolf in front of him was clearly magical. Something that was then further enhanced by the fact that said magical wolf was standing inside of a spell circuit designed to allow a human to barter with any entity that may find itself within.

Which is why he was only mildly surprised when the wolf did in fact quit growling and instead watched him with what he could see as clear suspicion despite the species barrier.

“Okay, good. I wasn’t entirely sure that part of the spell would work.” He admitted, earning a curious tilt of the head from the wolf. “I… I don’t suppose you know what’s happening here?”

The wolf shook its head.

“Right, okay…” He considered the best way to explain this. “Do you know about magic?”

The wolf gave him a look before gesturing to the sparks along its arm.

“Right, stupid question.” He agreed, glad that Pix seemed to have disappeared with that burst of light. (Wait, no. That’s actually a very bad thing. Where did she disappear to?)

He glanced around the room, not allowing himself to take his attention completely off of the wolf in front of him given how many had tried to tear his throat out over the last few months.

(No. One thing at a time. I’ll find Pix just as soon as this contracting thing is taken care of. Actually, there’s an idea…)

“So, the spell I used, it’s supposed to allow you to summon allies to assist you.” Deciding to demonstrate, he pushed magic into the mark on his chest, before feeling a notable (and painful) drop in his magic as Pix appeared in a burst of light blinking around in confusion.

Taking advantage of the wolf’s surprise and Pix’s disorientation, he checked the flow of magic pouring out of his amulet and noted the way there seemed to be two threads of magic. A stable one connecting him to Pix, and another more unstable one connecting him to… more than the wolf, though there was a connection between the circle and wolf as well.

(Alright, something is happening there, and I’m going to need to figure that out…)

The wolf barked and he was surprised to find that he understood it, at least partially. (I guess the spell circuit really does work both ways.)

“Right, sorry, um, yes and no.” He answered as the wolf seemed to glance back and forth between him and Pix. “No, I didn’t intend to summon you specifically, but instead I used a catalyst to summon something I’d be… compatible with?”

The wolf gave him another look before barking a couple of times as Pix curiously circled the wolf while maintaining a healthy distance.

“I was specifically told that this does not make us soulmates.”

Pix’s attention snapped to him, while by contrast the wolf seemed to relax a little as it sat on the floor, before asking another question.

“I’m… not actually sure?” He admitted with a frown. “I just know how it was advertised and that it summoned you. Maybe it has something to do with our affinities?” (That’s another thing worth looking into.) “Either way, you were summoned and if you’re okay with it, I’d like to summon you again at some point.”

The wolf seemed to give him a dry look before kicking one of its hind legs back, earning a few sparks as a barrier momentarily revealed itself as bordering the spell circle and trapping the wolf.

“I think that’s in case I summoned an eldritch soul eating horror of some kind.” He shrugged. “Admittedly I do try to trap those ones when I can rather than taking them in an actual knife fight.”

The wolf blinked as if taken aback by something as it began to emit a keening sound.

He glanced at Pix who was giving him an even dryer look than the one the wolf had been giving him just a moment before.

“What?”

Pix made several gestures as she tweeted out a response.

“Oh, yeah that would be concerning wouldn’t it.”

It was odd to consider the fact that he’d grown numb to just how horrific the Corrupted’s existence was but supposed after dealing with them and being shoved face first into (the rotting corpse stared up at him as the vile black waters continued to soak into it, slowly sealing the space where a knife -his knife- had torn through its throat.

And as he pushed himself back to his feet, his eyes drifted to the dozens of other objects floating in the water, he began to realize why the Quartermaster had always been so adamant about burning the bodies of the Corrupted. A revelation that made him recall the little spark of life that always seemed to flare and die out in their eyes whenever he had to kill one.

“You’re not allowed to die…” He whispered to those decades dead.

A hand wrapped around his leg, and his eyes shot down to) Kenneth.

He blinked away the nightmares of the past, as the innocent toddler stared up at him curiously.

“Hey, little one.” He smiled in that way that was half hiding his true feelings and half embracing the reason he did so many terrible things to both himself and others. “What’s wrong?”

“Whaz wong?” Kenneth repeated in toddler speak.

“Absolutely nothing, now that you’re here.” He assured the little one.

Pix landed on his shoulder and began hugging him for some reason. (Not that you need a reason to give out hugs.)

He heard a whining sound and turned to the wolf watching him with a concerned gaze. (That’s nice of them, though I don’t know why they’re worried about me…)

“Oh, wait…” He walked up to the circle and crouched in front of the wolf. “Um, sorry but I sort of lost my train of thought there.” He admitted rubbing at the back of his neck. “But, uh, the basic idea is that if you don’t mind working with me we can make a contract and I can keep summoning you to help me out. Or if you’d prefer I can send you home, though uh… Give me a second, I’ll be right back.”

He left the room and made his way to the kitchen before grabbing something and taking it back to the wolf.

“Though you can have this as an apology.” He told the wolf, as he offered it a blueberry muffin, his hand slipping through the barrier as if it wasn’t even there. “Oh, and I know that sugar ‘s supposed to be bad for canines, but I made these special for the man with diabetes on the third floor, so you should be okay eating them.”

The wolf stared at the muffin for a moment before looking up at him with an odd expression.

(Oh, no, is the muffin not enough of an apology?) He began to fret.

The wolf moved forward before gently eating the muffin out of his hand and licking the crumbs off of it. Once it was finished the wolf gave him another look before placing its paw in his hand and shaking.

He smiled wrapping his fingers around the wolf’s paw, as electricity began to dance between their hands and the cool warmth of his magic began to brush against the wolf’s own wild and windswept magic. A mystical connection formed between them that they could both feel binding them together forevermore as a feel-good burn began to spread across his back.

“You’ve got my back and I’ve got yours.” He promised, hugging the wolf close. “So, welcome to our little pack.”