Written for the Crowdfunding Creative Jam.
The circle was there to protect the summoner. I’m not entirely certain what she thought she needed to be protected from, but then maybe she got the incantation wrong. From the confused look on her face I’m guessing that’s the most likely explanation and with a sigh she looked down at the book in her hand to reread the incantation to check exactly where she made the mistake. Although it might not be her mistake. The other possible reason for my appearance in her circle is that the world she lives on didn’t want whatever she was summoning on it and sent me instead. Occasionally the worlds do things like that.
“Who are you?” she asked finally, looking up from the book with even more confusion than before.
I’m just grateful she didn’t ask what I was. “I’m Iola.”
“What are you doing in my circle?”
“I take it I’m not supposed to be here.”
She shook her head, glancing down at her book again. “I don’t know what I did wrong.”
“Sometimes all it takes is one mispronunciation and a summoning can go awry.” I smiled at her, even though she wasn’t looking at me. “Maybe if I have a look at your book I can tell you where you went wrong.”
Surprise replaced the confusion as she looked at me again. “You can read?”
“Yes, I can.” I was surprised I managed to keep the anger out of my voice. “Lesson number one: always expect the unexpected.”
“I’m sorry.” The girl looked as though she realised how offensive she’d been and I appreciated that. “Mother always told me to expect the unexpected when I worked a summoning, but I never thought I’d summon a rabbit to my circle.”
Running a hand over my ear I tried to be patient with her, even though it’s never been one of my strengths. “I’m a Terra Lepus, one of the races of Labyrinth, and your summoning may mean I can never get home.” I’d been summoned a few times before, so I thought I could get back, but the journey was going to be much longer than the one that had dragged me into a summoning circle. “Have you ever done a summoning before?”
“One, but I was working with Mother.” The girl suddenly brightened. “She’s in the other room. I’ll get her and hopefully she’ll be able to tell me what I did wrong.”
As she dashed from the room I made myself as comfortable as I could within the circle. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her and as I looked around the basement room I was in I couldn’t help thinking I’d been there before. The worlds liked to pick up one of the least dangerous races if they were uncomfortable with a summoning, so I’d been an unexpected arrival more times than I had been expected. To be honest I’ve never been entirely certain why a world would be uncomfortable with a particular summoning, but it’s different for all of them, and sometimes I think they just do it for fun.
Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.
