Summoner's Conundrum

~~~ Quick Recap ~~~

Miles is learning what his magic can do. He can summon a mouse and a cat.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Miles wandered through the streets of the village, keeping an eye out for creatures that he could use to improve his skill. He summoned the cat again and had it help him watch. He saw movement down an alley and followed the narrow path between the buildings. There was a cricket hiding at the base of the wall. Miles picked it up and held it in his hand.

He tried to send his magic into the creature but it would not work until he had crushed the thing. As soon as it was dead, Miles was able to start linking threads from his magic core to the tiny corpse.

~ New ability learned: [Summon Cricket] ~

Miles summoned a cricket and then dispelled it. He chuckled to himself. He started looking around for other insects. Soon he had added several new skills to his growing collection:

~ New ability learned: [Summon Wolf Spider] ~

~ New ability learned: [Summon Spinneret] ~

~ New ability learned: [Summon Moth] ~

~ New ability learned: [Summon Monarch Butterfly] ~

Spotting some pigeons hanging out on the roofline above him, Miles summoned the cat and sent it after the birds. This time, instead of directly steering the animal, he simply "told" it to hunt and kill one of the pigeons.

He "rode along" as the cat crept towards the five birds, picked its quarry, and then stalked the thing. The pigeon that the cat had selected was too quick. Instead, it ended up bringing down the weakest of the group - which had been unable to avoid the feline's attack. Miles didn't particularly care whether it was the worst of the bunch.

~ New ability learned: [Summon Pigeon] ~

Miles sent the cat back to the roof once again and told it to go hunting. Several minutes later, it died trying to kill a big rat. Miles summoned another cat and sent it to finish the job. It took him three cats to get it done - but he finally succeeded.

~ New ability learned: [Summon Sewer Rat] ~

"Damn!" Miles cursed. "That was a tough one. Guess I have a new go-to if we get into a scrape."

Miles continued walking through the town, looking for more creatures that he could turn into summons. Eventually, he came to the north side of the small town. There was a stream running past the village - several feet beyond the last buildings. A simple stone bridge spanned the narrow waterway. To the left of the bridge, a young boy sat on the bank with a fishing pole in his hands.

The boy gave the pole a yank. The hook was bare.

"Shit!" the kid cursed. "Took my bait again! Gods-damned demon-spawn!"

Miles couldn't keep from chuckling at the foul-mouthed kid. He decided to head that direction to see if he could make a new friend.

"Out of bait?" Miles asked him.

"I've got one fuckin' worm left," the boy told him. "I don't know what's stealing my bait but I've lost a full dozen of these things and I still keep missing him."

"Let me see your worm," he told the kid, sitting down.

"I need it," the boy insisted.

"Let me see it and I'll make a deal with you. I'll keep giving you worms and you and I split whatever you bring in - only you have to yank the line when I tell you..."

"For how long...?"

"As many worms as you need - for as long as you want to fish - just for today though..."

The boy scowled at him. Finally, he spit into his palm and held his hand out to Miles.

"Your word," the kid said.

Miles laughed, spit into his own palm, and shook the kid's hand. The kid handed over the worm.

Miles studied it for a moment.

"How do you kill it?" he asked finally.

"They take forever to die," the boy replied. "Why do you need to kill it?"

"I can make more of them - but I need its corpse. I can't do it with a live one."

"No shit?!"

Miles laughed.

"No shit," he answered.

The kid stuck the worm in his mouth and bit down on it. It was still moving - so he bit it again. The little boy had bitten the worm into a dozen small pieces before it finally stopped moving. He held the dissected worm out to Miles, spilling the mangled corpse into the [Summoner]'s hand.

"I guess that works," Miles said, as a golden outline surrounded the clump of worm chunks.

Miles began building his threads. The boy watched his palm. When the worm suddenly disappeared, the kid jumped back and cursed.

~ New ability learned: [Summon Earthworm] ~

"What in the seven hells?!" the boy gasped.

Miles started laughing. He brushed the tears from his eyes and looked at the 8-year-old kid.

"Hold out your hand," he told him.

As soon as the boy did, Miles summoned a worm into his hand.

"Oh!" Miles said. "I can do a couple of spiders too, if you think the fish would like those better - and a moth."

"No shit...," the kid said, staring at the worm. "This bastard seems to like my worms well enough. We'll start with this..."

"Give a tug on the line when I tell you...," Miles reminded him.

"How will you know?" the boy asked.

"I should be able to sense as soon as the fish swallows the worm - at least I think...," Miles replied.

"I hope this works...," the boy said.

"I hope so too...," Miles told him.

Miles sent his mind into the worm's. There wasn't much there. He felt a prick as the boy stabbed the worm onto the hook. Then he felt the cold from the stream as the boy dropped the line into the water.

They sat there for a minute or two - with nothing happening. Miles was getting impatient.

"Do you have to wiggle the line or...? Shit!"

The quick death caught Miles off-guard. The kid yanked the line - but the hook was bare again. Miles summoned another worm into the boy's hand.

"Let's try that again...," Miles said.

"You able to tell what it was?" the kid asked.

"Nope. It was really fast..."

They almost got it the second time. They were even closer on the third try. The fourth time, the kid yanked as soon as Miles flinched. The line went tight.

"Fuck!" the little boy cursed. "It's a monster!"

Without thinking, Miles jumped into the water, ran his hand down the line, and then yanked his hand back as he felt a beak start to clamp down on his fingers. His other hand caught the edge of a shell and he moved his injured hand to a matching point on the other side of the massive body. He grasped the slippery carapace in his hands and staggered backward - towards the shore.

"Fuck!" the young fisherman cursed. "It's a gods-damned snapping turtle!"

Miles fell backwards. He refused to release the thing. He knew if he did, it would likely turn on him. He was in no position to be trying to keep a huge snapping turtle away from his sensitive parts as he lay on his back - with half of his body still in the water. He grunted, lifted the thing up, and tossed it over his head onto the ground behind him.

Thankfully, it landed on its back. It was struggling to right itself as Miles rolled to his stomach and dragged himself up the slippery stream bank.

"They're a bitch to kill...," the kid told him. "You can cut the fucking heads off and they'll still run around for days. You're gonna need to stab its heart with that blade of yours."

Miles tugged his dirk from its sheath and approached the struggling reptile. Looking at the claws on the thing, Miles was surprised that he'd gotten lucky enough to get the thing out of the water without getting his hands shredded.

"That explains why I ain't caught any fucking fish today...," the kid said. "This bastard's done ate them all or run them off... Can I have him when he's dead?"

"If and when I manage to kill it," Miles said, "I'd like to do with it like I did the worm..."

"You can make snapping turtles?!" the kid asked.

"I guess we'll find out. If not, then I guess it's yours..."

Miles finally managed to stab the thing in the heart. It still took a bit to die.

When it finally did, Miles dropped his dirk and laid his hands on the body. The threads seemed to form quicker this way. Miles had really just been resting when he had leaned on the thing - but now he discovered that he could create the links faster if he was physically touching the body.

The boy kept watching him, growing impatient. Thankfully, he didn't speak. Miles couldn't answer. It was taking every bit of his concentration to continue holding the threads that he had already created as he built more and more links between his body and the turtle's. Finally, the corpse glowed brightly and then disappeared.

~ New ability learned: [Summon Snapping Turtle] ~

"Shit!" the kid cursed again. "Does that mean that you can make turtles now?"

"I need a minute," Miles told him.

"That's crazy!" the kid said. "Damnedest thing I ever fuckin' did see."

Miles rolled to his back in the grass and took several deep breaths. He couldn't keep from chuckling at the kid's constant stream of curse-words. The little boy sat down beside him and started giggling.

"What's so funny?" the kid asked, when Miles finally sat up.

"You," Miles told him. "You've got a dirty mouth."

"Yeah, well, Mum's the town whore, ain't she? Nobody gives a flyin' shit about lil ol' Buck - the foul-mouthed bastard son of the village slut..."

Miles studied the boy for a moment.

"My mum's a [Hedge Witch]," he told the boy.

"Folks shit on them a fair bit too," the kid said, nodding. "You seem to be doin' alright for yourself..."

Miles looked at his clothes. He was wet and muddy and still half-covered in road dirt. He laughed.

"I'm not dressed much better than you and I'm soaked to the bone..."

"Let's see that turtle now, magic man...," the boy said.

Miles summoned the turtle. The creature looked from Miles to the boy.

"You can control it?"

"Yeah. I think I can also tell it to go fishing for us."

"No fucking shit?!" the kid gasped. "Can I ride it?"

"Climb on," Miles told him.

The boy sat down on the turtle's back. Miles made the turtle walk around while carrying the boy. The boy was rail thin and didn't weigh enough to bother the turtle much at all.

"This is the craziest thing I ever did see!" the kid said, grinning from ear to ear.

"You want some more worms - or should we see if this fellow can do some hunting for us?" Miles asked.

"Can we do both?" the boy asked.

"I can only do one at a time..."

"You can't make a worm and a turtle?"

"Not yet... The Oracle's answer to that question was not yet..."

"Got it, okay... I'd rather catch my own, if it's all the same..."

"Works for me," Miles told him. "I'll give you a worm and start looking for sticks so we can start a fire."

"You can't make fire?"

"Not that I know of..."

"Well, shit... some [Mage] you are...," the kid said, laughing.

Miles laughed as well. The kid held out his hand and picked up his pole. Miles summoned a worm into the palm of his hand.

Miles headed off - down along the bank - towards some trees that stood nearby. He started picking up branches and sticks and carrying them back to where the boy was sitting.

"Pull!" he yelled to the kid.

Buck yanked the line - and then shrieked with joy as he pulled in a fish. He unhooked the catch and looked around for somewhere to put it so that it wouldn't flop back into the water.

"Can I use your knife?" the boy asked.

"Sure," Miles said. "You just gonna cut the head off?"

"Yeah - or brain it," the boy replied.

"Stab its head or just cut it off and then pitch it back into the water," Miles told him. "I'll fillet it when I get enough sticks for the fire."

"Okay," the kid replied.

He stabbed the fish in the head. It stopped moving. He set the fish and the dirk down.

"I need a worm," he told Miles.

Miles was farther away than five paces but he gave it a try anyway. The worm appeared in the boy's hand.

"Thanks," the kid said, threading the worm onto the hook.

Miles studied the distance between him and the boy. It was more like a dozen paces - maybe a bit more. Miles was excited that he'd extended the range of his ability to summon his creatures.

He was in the middle of picking up a small branch when the kid got another bite.

"Pull!" Miles yelled.

Buck pulled on the pole and then danced a jig as he brought in another fish.

"This is awesome!" the dirty boy cheered.

He killed the fish and then held out his hand.

"Got another worm?" he asked.

A new worm appeared in his hand.

"I love this!" the kid remarked. "I'm seriously going to hate having to dig for worms after this... I don't suppose you could teach me how to do this?"

"I don't know," Miles said. "When the Oracle gifted it to me, I didn't even know what it was. I'm still not sure I really have it figured out."

"Well, it's terrific for fishing - no doubt about that!" the kid said, casting his line again.

By the time Miles thought he had enough sticks, Buck had landed four more fish.

Miles got the sticks turned into a decent pile - centered in a charred circle in the grass where somebody else had previously cooked their catch. Miles used his dirk to shave a stick into sawdust and shavings and made a little nest of tinder. He cut a thicker branch down the middle with his dirk and made a little fire-plow. He shoved the plow-stick up and down the middle of the flat piece until he'd built up some charred wood dust. Finally, an ember popped free and ignited the char-dust. Miles spilled the ember into his tinder and blew gently on it - to see if he could get it to light. As soon as it started smoking, he blew a little harder. When he paused to take a breath, a flame popped up - and began to grow. Miles quickly got some tiny sticks and fed the little fire until it grew. Soon he had a real fire started. He fed larger and larger sticks into it until it was blazing well enough for him to add the rest of his fuel.

"No magic - but you've done that before," Buck remarked, watching him.

"A time or two," Miles said, nodding.

"Teach me next time?"

"I can do that," Miles said. "How much did you see?"

"Most of it," Buck answered. "I think, if you just watch me, I can figure most of it out."

"Works for me," Miles told him.

As the fire blazed, Miles began to fillet the fish.

"You want another worm?" he asked the boy.

"Can I watch you do that?" the kid asked.

Miles showed him where to cut the opening slice and then how to lay the blade against the bones to carve the meat from the skeleton. Miles did four of them and then handed the dirk to the boy.

"I don't know...," the kid said.

"Just try it," Miles told him. "We can catch some more if you mess it up too badly but it'll probably still be good enough to cook and eat."

Miles watched the boy do the first one and had him hold the knife a little differently for the second one.

"Perfect!" Miles told him.

"First time for everything," the boy said. "Ain't nobody said that word around me afore..."

Miles clapped him on the shoulder.

"You're doin' good, kid," Miles told him. "Looks to me like you just need a hand up now and then..."

"Hand up?"

"A hand up - like when you're sitting on the ground..."

"Got ya," the kid answered, nodding his head. "A hand up. I like that. You're good at this shit."

"We didn't have much...," Miles told him.

"I had even less until you caught that damned turtle," the kid said, grinning from ear to ear. "That was the funniest fuckin' thing I think I ever did see..."

Miles grabbed his dirk, walked to a nearby tree, and cut two branches off that were about as big as his thumb. He carried them back to the fire, split them down the middle - almost to the end - and then took half of the fillets and lined them up with the branch. He closed the two halves down on the fish fillets and handed the stick to the boy.

"Hold it over the fire - just in the heat - not in the flames. Turn it over every now and then to keep the sticks from burning. When the flesh turns white, it's time to eat."

Miles made a roasting stick for himself as well and then sat across from the boy. The two of them grilled their fillets, watching the flesh cook and sizzle in the heat of the fire.

"Smells good," the boy commented.

"If we had some lard and a skillet, I've got some spices we could add. I probably could have sprinkled them on these fillets but I figured they'd just fall off..."

The boy's stomach growled - loudly.

"When did you eat last?" Miles asked him.

"What day is this?" the kid replied.

Miles shook his head. He laid his stick by the fire and dug around in his bag for that dried out loaf of bread. When he found it, he handed it to the kid.

"You can eat it now or I can split it apart and you can put the fish in the middle and make a sandwich."

"A sandwich?"

Miles used his dirk and split the crusty roll down the middle.

"Put the fish in here and then you can just hold the bread and eat..."

"That's... Wow..." the boy said. "Not that I've ever had bread *and* meat at the same time though..."

"I know the feeling...," Miles told him.

The kid looked like he wanted to argue for a moment but then just shook his head.

"You're different," Buck said.

"So are you," Miles said, chuckling.

The boy chuckled as well.

"We make a pretty good team," the kid said.

"We do," Miles agreed.

The kid stared at him for a long moment but then shook his head, muttering under his breath.

"I can't promise you much," Miles told him, "but you're welcome to hang out with me. I don't even have a bed, though, just to warn you..."

"I got one... unless mum's using it...," the kid answered.

"Turn those fillets over," Miles told him.

"Yessir," the kid answered.

"Don't start none of that shit, now," he told the kid.

"Whatever you say, boss," the boy answered, grinning from ear to ear.

Miles just shook his head - and turned his fish over.

Several minutes later, the two of them were licking their fingers and trying to get the fish from the sticks into their mouths without burning themselves. Buck got two of the fillets tucked between the pieces of bread and bit into the thing. He chewed up his bite, taking huffing breaths to cool the mouthful of food, and then swallowed it down.

"Fuck, that's good...," Buck moaned.

"I'm glad," Miles told him.

Miles pulled a bite from his roasting sticks and popped it into his mouth. Moaning as he chewed. The boy snickered - and then took another bite of his sandwich.

Both of them moaned and chewed - and chewed and moaned.

When they were finished, they lay on their backs in the grass and rubbed their hands over their tummies.

"I don't ever remember eating so much," the boy moaned. "I hope I don't get sick..."

"Just lie still for a bit and let it settle," Miles told him. "I've got a waterskin if you need a drink."

"I don't think that would be a good idea right this moment," the boy replied.

Miles rolled to his side to look at the kid. The pile of fish carcasses lay between them. A golden glow surrounded each of the bodies.

"I'll be damned...," Miles said, sitting up.

Rather than touch the things, he just reached out with his magic and started building the threads. The first few strands locked onto one of the fish bodies and then that one became the target for all of the other threads. Soon, the fish disappeared in a flash of golden light.

~ New ability learned: [Summon Rock Bass] ~

The other fish glowed again. Miles started building threads to the next fish. It disappeared.

~ Improved ability: [Summon Rock Bass] ~

He quickly went through the other four of them.

~ Improved ability: [Summon Rock Bass] ~

~ Improved ability: [Summon Rock Bass] ~

~ Improved ability: [Summon Rock Bass] ~

~ Improved ability: [Summon Rock Bass] ~

~ Summoner ability improved ~

Miles pulled up his stat-sheet. There was a new entry.

[Simultaneous Summons - 2]

Miles tried to summon two worms. It worked.

He woke Buck up when he gave a triumphant whoop.