With a loud crack an untethered gate pierces through the middle of the throne room. Chains spiral out of a shining pillar, phasing through solid stone. They spiral through the surrounding space as if in search of something. Staring in shock at the fact that someone would be stupid enough to open an untethered gate six statues watch in stunned silence as a length of chain phases through a black throne, wrapping around the churning soul held in its center. The chains retract with a yank ripping the soul from the throne and dragging it towards the pillar. To massive swords smash down as the statues on either side of the throne bring their blades down on the chain. It slides through them as if they don’t exist, dragging the soul closer to the pillar. A third statue dives from its pedestal along the hall, its armor glowing as it manages to grasp the soul bringing it to a halt. The two statues from the throne sprint forward grabbing their compatriot locking him in place.

The soul suddenly ripples the sphere taking a humanoid form. The chain slips for a second before adjusting coiling around an arm. The soul seems to stretch its arm elongating as the stature readjusts its grip as well.

“You have to let me go Beta. My soul cannot handle the strain.” The voice echoes through the throne room.

“Alpha will kill me if I do milord, I cannot.”

The soul chuckles as the three statues suddenly slide forward their feet grating on the floor. A blue sphere forms in the soul’s free hand and he tosses it towards the three statues. “Give this to her and the others when they arrive. You will understand then. Now release me.” With obvious reluctance the statue releases its grasp on the soul and it slides into the pillar.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

What idiot opened an untethered gate? Kalyin thought as he was pulled through. Gates were byways between planes and required stable connections on either end to properly function. Unlike portals which was a one-way transportation, Gates allowed unlimited travel in both directions at the cost of needing more mana and the tethering points. To open an unground Gate was near suicidal. If you didn’t immediately kill yourself in the multiple planer shifts as the gate attempted to find its connection then whatever got sucked into the planer tunnel and landed on your plane was bound to kill you anyway. What was odd was that whatever had come through the gate had immediately targeted souls. Gates were used to transport materials and troops. If you wanted to find souls you used a summoning.

As his arm was pulled into a plane the pulling sensation from the chain suddenly stopped and Kalyin found that he had to force his way out of the gate himself. Using the chain as a guide he pulled himself out of the planer tunnel the sudden feeling of a summoning magic giving rise to a new flurry of questions. Who mixes a gate and a summoning ritual? Did the mage want to create some kind of eldritch horror? Cause this is how it happens. Kalyin had a brief glance of a clearing through a swirling tornado of blood. A single mage stood chanting as several other figures rushed off. A very terrified and familiar demon caught his eye before his vision went black and fire engulfed his soul as it was subjected to the agonizing process of merging with flesh and blood.

There is only silence as an infinite expanse of nothing drifts. Without warning a voice echoes through it. Letting Out a sigh the nothing ripples and contracts and I open my eyes, the familiar ceiling of grey stone filling my gaze. Grunting I sit up the shifting blue lines, on the black stone slab that is my bed, dimming and going still.

“What is it? Narchis” I ask the pitch-black room.

“There is a messenger here from the Empire.” The darkness in the room ripples as if in apology. “It is not the normal human and he has been waiting for over a month while I waited for you to awaken. I was afraid that if I waited any longer, he would flee like the others taking the message with him. He is rather young and grows more skittish by the day.

With a snap of my fingers the rooms brighten, lamps lighting, the darkness vanishing until Narchis’s from stands in the center of the room. Wincing as my feet touch the cold stone floor, I pull a blanket from where it’s folded at the end of my bed and wrap it around my bare shoulders.

“Right.” I yawn. “I’ll meet him in the study.”

Narchis nods his approval, vanishing into the shadows to guide the messenger to my study. The lamps extinguish as I leave, depriving them of their source of mana. The Lamps lining the hall and flare to life as I walk past them traveling towards my study. Arriving at the massive oaken door I Push it open, warmth billowing out.

A fire burns in the hearth at the back of the room, Hand carved bookcases that I crafted and carved myself lining the walls on either side. My oaken desk sits in the middle of the room a high back chair on either side. I cross the room taking the seat facing away the door, allowing myself to be covered in the firelight. If the messenger is as skittish as I have been told seeing another person should calm him long enough to deliver his message.

“He is right outside” Narchis’s voices through our link as a knock echoes through the room.

“Enter.”

A thin boy probably no older than his twelfth year pushes the door open and slips through the crack; and about hits the ceiling as the door slams behind him with a bang. The Torean band of a royal messenger is clasped on his left forearm and he is clad in the national colors of green and gold. The boy stands in the doorway, his eyes shifting to every nook and cranny of the room as if he was about to be jumped by the books on my bookcases. I motion him forward and around the desk with a wave of my hand.

“You had a message for me?”

Flinching at the sound of my voice he warily crosses the room. He keeps an even distance between the desk and the chair as he stammers out a reply. “Y…yes. I am.”

“Well let’s hear it and remember you're a royal messenger.”

With a small flinch of shame at his behavior, he straightens standing as attention. HIs voice starts strong but quickly lowers becoming inaudible at some points. “His excellence Prince Asher Torean, heir to the throne…” The boy mumbles something continuing on… your presence on the glorious day of his father, Emperor Rayner Torean’s birth.” The boy quietly mumbles a few other words before going silent. With a sigh I motioning the boy closer until he is touching the desk.

“Name.”

The boy swallows. “Pawlin, Pawlin Nash.”

His last name is familiar and I tilt my head in surprise. “Your Harold’s boy.”

“He’s my father.” the boy confirms with a nod.

“So, you are the son Harold always spoke about, now that’s Interesting. The last time he spoke of you he told me you were accepted into the academy. Why are you all the way out here delivering this message instead of him? Last I was aware I was told that all messages to me were going to be delivered by your father.”

Pawlin stares down at my desk his shoulders slumping, “He died four months ago. I was pulled from the academy to deliver messages in his stead. He spoke about me?”

Frowning I rubbed my thumb and for finger together as I ponder the situation. “Mmmhmm mostly when he would deliver messages here. He would relay it then stay for a while. He was one of the few who was comfortable with the travel here. Most others couldn’t screw up the courage. Those that did never stayed long often leaving without relaying the message. It caused problems.”

A shudder runs through the boy's frame. “It’s so empty and quiet here. I see why they would leave.”

I shrug at Pawlin’s comment. “It doesn't bother me. But that’s beside the point.” Leaning forwards I catch his eyes with mine and the boy swallows. “A thing I liked about you father is that he always told me the entire message. Even if he knew.” The boy swallows again. “Especially if he knew, that I would not like to hear it.”

Pawlin pulls his eyes from my gaze “That’s how dad died.” His voice was loud in the silence as his shoulders shake with heavy breathing. “He told someone a message that they didn't want to hear.” his voice falters so I finish for him.

“And they killed him.”

Pawlin stares at the floor and I let the silence sit. So, Harold died delivering a message. He always said that was how he was going to die. It’s a shame really. I could always ask him what the meaning behind the message meant and more often than not his opinion was always on the mark. Harold was dammed good at his job and now his son had taken his place. Something he had angrily told me time and time again was something he did not want to see.

“Sit” I motion Pawlin towards the chair behind him. Grudgingly he sits, scooting back rubbing one of his arms. “It is unfortunate to hear of you father’s death and you have my condolences. But that does not excuse the fact that you have brought me a message and while I can guess what it states, I still need to know what it says. Word For word. So, I am going to tell you the same thing that I told your father on his first visit here, as well as every other messenger that has graced this place.” I rap a knuckle on the table insuring I have his attention. “You were made aware of my explicit instructions to all messengers coming to see me before you made the journey? Correct.” Pawlin nods in confirmation. “Good. So long as you do nothing against those rules, as long you are in my territory, you will not be harmed. Not even by myself. You should also know that I do not care to make statements using messengers. If I have a problem, I go directly to the source. Is that understood?” Pawlin nods and I sit back having leaned forwards during my speech. “Now start again from the beginning.”

Pawlin still swallows nervously before speaking clearly and loudly without a single mumble. ““His excellence Prince Asher Torean, heir to the throne demands your presence on the glorious day of his father, Emperor Rayner Torean’s birth. Failure to appear or reply will warrant an immediate investigation by the Royal Inquisitors and should the reason be miniscule, appropriate action will be taken.” Pawlin goes quiet as if awaiting some kind of outburst.

“There is no mention of when.”

Pawlin stares at me. “It’s the emperor's birthday. Everyone knows when that is.”

I shrug. “You seem to know. How long do I Have?”

His Excellency’s birthday is three weeks from tomorrow.” Pawlin tells me incredulously. How do you not know?”

Ignoring his question, I mentally ask Narchis to bring me a pair of memory stones. Doing Exactly what they are called memory stones are capable of storing messages and memories with in them, Replaying them once the someone places a portion of their Mana in the stone. There not widely used as message devices as they store everything, including the sender's thoughts and emotions at the time. Makes lying and deceiving especially difficult. They will suit my purpose fine however.

Narchis’s emerges from a shadow and deposits a leather pouch on my desk. Pawlin jumps in the chair at his sudden arrival. “You’ve meet Narchis?” Nodding hesitantly Pawlin keeps both eyes on him while I place a message in each of the stones. “Who gave you the message to deliver?” I ask. Distracted from his watch on Narchis, Pawlin thinks for a second before answering.

“His Highness Prince Asher.”

Nodding I hold up one of the stones. Drawing a finger across the top a red line marks the stone, sealing the message within. “This stone is to be given to his royal Highness and only his royal Highness. Understood?” Pawlin nods as I place the stone into the pouch. Drawing two of my fingers along the surface of the second stone I mark it with two red lines indicating that it holds two messages. “This is to be delivered directly to Rayner.” Pawlin stares at me in confusion for a second.

“Emperor Rayner?”

Nodding at the shocked look at his face I place the stone into the pouch and push it across the desk to him. “I would assume you would like to leave immediately.” Pawlin tries not to nod too enthusiastically as he picks up the pouch and I smile at his effort. “I’ll see you out then.”

“I’ll be...” I am already standing and placing my hand on his shoulder. There is a moment of disorientation as I Shift and we are suddenly standing on a road, in the sun, on the outskirts of a line of trees. Pawlin stumbles and I hold him steady “…Fine.” Shrugging off my hand he frantically looks around him as I point south.

“The capital is a week’s journey that way. As my apology for making you wait so long, I have brought you to the outskirts of the Night Forest to shorten your journey.” Pawlin visibly relaxes before how we managed to travel a two-week journey in seconds sinks in and he goes tense again. I pat him on the back. “You are a courageous lad and I wish you luck. Goodbye Pawlin Nash.” without another word I shift again stumbling to my knees as I reenter my study.

“I could have taken him.” Narchis states as he helps me into my chair.

“That would have terrorized him further. For one so young he did well extremely well traveling all the way here on his own. I am surprised that he even stayed for a month. Harold was right, his kid has courage.”

“So, will you go back to sleep then?”

“No. I’ll rest on my way to Rosemoor.” I reply shaking my head. I have several things I need to tend to on my journey there. If I leave tomorrow I’ll be able to make it with plenty of time.”

Narchis shifts. “I’ll have your gear assembled then. Also there has been...”

The burning gives way to a physical pain and Kalyin groaned at the familiar feeing of nausea. Shaking his head as the memory recedes, his soul settling, he finds his entire body encased in a viscous membrane cocoon. It really is a summoning, he groaned to himself.

There were three different types of summoning rituals. The most common two were your typical demon, angel or entity summon and the second the common elemental one. The third, the one you did not really ever want to attempt or experience, was a soul summoning. Pulling an intact soul from the river of death or another plane was an amazingly easy way to land on any number of god’s shit list. Not to mention that the one summoned was almost always never happy to BE summoned. Part of that was due to the complicated merging process between the soul and the body.

When any type of soulful entity is conceived the soul fuses with the body, merging and condensing into a whole as the body forms. By the time of birth the soul is housed in the best container that it could possibly have at that time. As the entity continues to grow the soul and body mature together becoming stronger throughout its lifetime.

Now take a fully formed body, created from mana and blood and force a soul into it. It burns, like dousing yourself in magma, multiplied by ten. There is too much information being shoved into the soul from the body and from the body to the soul. Memories, needs, nature and mana twist together and the soul either burns out or manages to acclimate. Weaker souls cannot handle the merger and are crushed in the process instantly becoming slaves to the created body’s nature, the body running wild. Strong souls have a better chance but it can take years for the body and soul to become acclimated in its entirety. The whole process is only made worse by the type of body created for the soul. Some souls find themselves in body’s that are the complete opposite of the soul’s nature. There are those summoned who find that their very magic causes the body pain and in extreme cases death as it goes against the flesh’s very nature. A soul in any body other than one that suits its nature never ends well. On the other side there are those that find bodies far to attuned for them and become lost in the never ending pursuit of power. Soul summons are dangerous and cause the creation of creatures of unimaginable power. A process that almost always causes more trouble than it is worth.

Reaching out his hand Kalyin pierces the cocoon around him light spilling through the slit. Mana floods through the slit as well pouring into his newly made core. The blood heats in his veins as memories of the past flow again.

“Thank you Narchis.” I say rising from the chair. “You are free to accompany me if you so choose.” A smile spreads across his face and the shadows ripple.

“It would be a pleasure.”

Nodding I turn walking towards the door. “If you need anything I will be in the springs.”

“Burn.”

The voice echoes through his mind and Kalyin pulls the gash wide. A massive wave of fury suddenly blossoms in his chest and his skin burns. “Burn” Struggling to contain the fury and the urge to lash out Kalyin steps out, the light harsh on his eyes. Everything is bathed in red. The voice howls.

“Burn, before it begins again.”

With an effort Kalyin places a hand on his chest and pulls. The mana flooding his newly made core lessens as he drinks it in, consuming it, the red veil lifting slightly. The voice lowers and Kalyin wraps himself around his core. Taking another pull the mama subsides again and he wraps a second layer around the first the waves of mana flooding his core weakening. A third and fourth layer follow, the urge to turn his surroundings into a burning expanse of nothing lessening. On the sixth layer the mana is trickling into his core and the voice goes silent. Kalyin sighs as the rage vanishes. This new body is not reacting well with my memories, though what body ever has.

There is a sudden spike in the surrounding mana as the mage finishes chanting his spell and lifts his hand, palm towards the demon. Kalyin is already stepping away from the line of fire, the metal shifting under his feet, as he feels the spell launch. There is a blast of light and a nearly invisible beam of light slices through the air. There is a ripple of air as the demon encases it’s self in its wings a red glow surrounding them. The beam strikes the demon, the red glow flaring as it reflects the strike, careening it upwards. Peering out from behind its wing the demon laughs at the mage spitting a foul curse in abyssal at him. One of the men standing on the board suddenly vanishes, the second following moments after.

“It would be wise not to forget who stands before you Ig’thurun. I have not forgotten the last time we met.”

The mage collapses as the demon cowers. Frowning Kalyin switches a form of Abyssal spoken by the lowest of the abyss. The mage would be useful for information and from the looks of it he was unable to stand the basics of the Abyssal Tongue. The demon cowers in the circles edge.

I did not mean to bring you here. The demon whimpers. As soon as I realized what had happened I stopped attempting to pull you through.

“It was far too late by then Ig’thurun and you know that. Looking around the ring he was standing in Kalyin’s frown increased. I am having trouble finding any restrictions placed on this gate, if you could point them out it would be a most appreciated. You are also well aware of the penalty in using souls to summon. What were you attempting to do? Call down a God? If that was your intention I am surprised there is not a chosen here all ready to see what the hell is going on.”

The demon raised its hands in defense pointing at the unconscious mage accusingly. “This is all his work. I was offered freedom in exchange for opening the gate. He holds the contract signed in blood by both of us. It is all perfectly legal on my end. I cannot be held responsible for the actions I took while under contract. That is the first rule of the abyss.

Kalyin steps towards the demon a note of anger in his voice. “Do not speak to me of Rules Ig’thurun. You and I both know you twist them to where they suit you. I expect answers. How many souls came through the gate into this God’s awful Summoning ritual?”

“Two.” The demon sighed.

“And then you decided to bring a third through hoping to kill off the mage that forced you under contract.”

The demon nodded dejectedly. Kalyin looked at the crumbled statues around the pentagram. Such a shame. His blood heated slightly at the thought of the souls breaking under the strain of holding the gate open. The voice whispers something in the dark recesses of his mind. He turned back to the demon.

“This is the second time you have pulled me into a summoning. I told you the first time what would happen if it happened again.”

The demon got to its feet the claws on his hand lengthening. “And I told you that I would die fighting not…”

“However” Kalyin cut the demon off, silencing him with a glare “In light of certain circumstances I offer you a second option. The demon lowered its arms listening intently. “You will take a message to Kuth’terak and tell him to find the one called Alpha. He is to follow the instructions she gives him, to the letter. If he does I will consider his debt to me paid in full.” Kalyin took another step towards the demon who cowered before the wave of menace that suddenly fell over it. “Should you fail to deliver the message or should Kuth’terak fail to do as I ask, politely inform him that there is no plane that you can hide on that I cannot find. And when I finally find you, for I will find you. Your end will be MOST UNPLESESANT. Understood. The demon nodded emphatically. “Then why are you still Here?”

A snapping noise caused both of them to look towards the now conscious mage. Two halves of a rod was in his hands and he pointed them at Kalyin. “Descend.” The sky rumbled overhead. Turning away the demon wrapped his wings around it’sself again and vanished in a flash of red light. Kalyin walked towards the mage who had jumped to his feet and was limping towards the rectangular platform. The moment Kalyin stepped out from inside the circle the sky thundered and he felt a spell form. A large spell. The mage broke into a stumbling run and Kalyin picked up his speed. He was having trouble walking, adjusting to the feeling of legs again.

With a massive clash of thunder the sky descended. Kalyin threw himself aside as a massive bolt of lightning fell where he had just been standing the concussive blast throwing him across the clearing. Landing on his arm he heard it dislocate with a pop. Gasping in pain, he rolled shoving it back into place. The mage had made it to the board, stepping on it and vanishing. But not before he turned throwing another beam of light at Kalyin. The beam caught him in the leg, charring the flesh and revealing parts of the bone. Before Kalyin could move a second bolt fell from the sky. Unable to avoid it Kalyin was hit full force. The bolt threw him across the clearing again his body skipping across the ground as his flesh scarred and peeled. The third bolt hit him midair, as he bounced off the ground for the second time, and Kalyin promised himself that if he ever got his hands on that mage he was going to fry him alive. His mid-air flight was brought to a halt as he smashed into a tree with a sickening crunch and lost all feeling in his lower body. Two layers slipped from his core as he lost consciousness, the trickle of mana turning to a stream.

A sensation of something cool flooded over Kalyin and he painfully opened his eyes. Two blurred figures knelt over him. One of them rippled making his head swim. “Home” The voice in his mind whispered and an image of a small cave filled his head. He was so tired. Something covered him scrapping against his skin, blocking out all light. The last thing he remembered was the feeling of shifting.