The Summoner's Vendetta (First Draft) (Book Two)

The Guardians of the Grove

Sin walked a good ten minutes before finding an area that would be possible to search within for what he was looking for. Looking at the small grouping of trees, Sin threw out a small prayer to whatever God was watching over him. "Please allow me to get through this without causing a horde of Fae to seek vengeance upon me." Sin muttered before he pushed himself towards the grove.

Due to how close he was to the grove; Sin was able to make it to the entrance of the small grouping of trees before he knew it. Even though he wished to get what he needed before the sun completed its descent through the sky, he also didn't want to go through this grove on his own which is why he quickly grasped ahold of his pendent.

Pumping a bit of his mana into the pendent, Sin watched as the portal that kept his two Fae contained opened before him. "Inari!" Sin called out as quickly as he could in fear that he would be dragged into some creature's den and fed upon which would leave his friends trapped within this world. 

As usual, when he called out one of his Fae from within the portal; they quickly flung themselves out into the world. The moment that Sin spotted the small form of his Familiar, he allowed the portal to close and called for the Kitsune to come towards him and as it did so; Inari quickly sprinted up Sin's body to land upon his shoulder.

Even with knowing that it would be difficult for Inari to face off against a bigger Fae, Sin still felt slightly more secure with the Kitsune sitting upon his shoulder and now that he had secured this feeling; he quickly pushed his way through the opening that was between two of the trees. 

*

Another ten minutes had passed by and from the how the shadows of this grove were rapidly taking over, Sin knew that the sun was getting closer and closer to falling below the horizon. Thankfully, Sin had already gathered plenty of twigs and leaves that would easily burn and due to this; he was thinking that it would be time for him to return to the camp where his companions were waiting for him.

As he was getting ready to turn back in the direction that he had come, Sin noticed a small tree and while the tree was a few inches taller than him; it was partially sticking in the ground while the other half of its roots were ripped free from the ground that once claimed it.

Seeing at how this tree that would surely die could be useful for keeping the fire going throughout the entire night, Sin made his way towards it. Upon arriving at the tree, Sin placed his bundle of twigs and leaves upon the ground and was readying himself to pull the tree's roots fully from the ground.

Just as Sin was about to place his hands upon the tree, a noise echoed throughout the grove which pulled his attention from his current task. Looking around, at first Sin didn't notice anything that was out of the ordinary and was on the verge of turning back to complete his task when Inari, who had been exploring the nearby area came soaring through the air to land upon the ground. Once his Familiar had done this, small growls begin to rumble through the Kitsune's body and from the direction that he was pointed; Sin knew that the noise that he had heard was coming from the other direction. 

With pinpricks of fear rippling throughout his body, Sin turned back to face where he was previously looking which allowed him to notice that the tree that he was previously standing in front of; had moved a few feet away. 

Despite the fear the was swirling through him, Sin forced himself to examine the tree and as he did so; the two branches that were once raised into the air moved towards the trees side. While he could have told himself that this was all apart of his imagination, this possibility was ended when a set of eyes snapped open.

From that moment on, Sin knew that he was dealing with a Fae and though he hasn't had any personal experience with this species beforehand; from his months of studying the Fae bestiary, he knew what the species of this Fae was. "A Spriggan!" Sin cried out inside of his mind so he wouldn't cause the creature to react to his voice in a way that would surely mean that a fight between them would break out.

Continuing to use the time that he had to examine the creature in more detail, Sin started to allow his eyes to wander over the Fae. At first, Sin didn't notice anything that was out of the ordinary from how the images within the bestiary portrayed the creature though when his eyes reached what he assumed to be the Spriggan's chest; he noticed that pieces of the Fae's bark were damaged and around this area, what he assumed to be sap was leaking from the Spriggan.

While Sin didn't know what could have caused the damage that was upon this Fae's body, he assumed that this was the reasoning behind how he found the creature in the first place. Even though he didn't read the section on Spriggan's in its entirety, he did remember that this species of Fae could heal itself from feeding and with this memory being stirred within him; an idea began to spark within his mind.

Bringing his hand out in front of him, Sin allowed his mana to form in the palm of his hand before he began to approach the creature. While he wanted to bond with this creature before the sun fully set, he thought that it would be best to approach this Fae with caution. Moving in a way that would be like how he approached an injured dog, Sin watched for any signs of aggression coming from the Fae and since he hadn't seen any yet; he continued with his movements.

As he came closer to the Spriggan, Sin decided that he would try speaking with it and even though he wouldn't understand any of the noises that the Fae returned to him; he felt that if any of the noises were meant to be aggressive then Inari would warn him.

"I see that you are injured..." Sin called out in a calm voice that hid all his fear that this situation was causing him and upon coming to the end of those words, he arrived a few inches before the Fae. "...if you wish to feed on some of my mana to heal your wounds then you can do so though be warned if you do, then you will bind yourself to me."

Now that Sin had given the Sprigganthe choice to either bond with him or not, he waited for the creature to makeits decision and while he assumed that the Fae would decide to heal itself; heknew that nothing was guaranteed. 

With his hand still firmly placed before the creature, Sin waited patiently for the Fae to make its decision. Thankfully, this wasn't something that he would have to wait forever for it to do and within a few moments after spotting the mana; the Spriggan was leaning towards it.

While Sin couldn't see exactly what was happening, he could feel that the mana was being devoured by the creature and just when his hand was about to become empty; he allowed another portion to fill his palm. Just as quickly as the first palm full of mana was devoured, the second was fed upon just as quickly and as the Fae neared the end of the second portion; Sin could feel the Spriggan's presence connect to him.

Pulling his hand back to his side now that his goal had been complete, Sin looked at the creature that he had just bonded with and like how he had with his previous two Familiars; he knew that this Spriggan was female. Flipping through an imaginary list that he kept within his mind for just this situation, Sin was pondering what he should name the creature. Eventually, he came up with a name that seemed to suit the Spriggan and though he liked the name; he wanted to ensure that his newest Familiar would as well.

"What do you think of the name Myrin?" Sin inquired of the Spriggan that had already started to heal from the wounds that were inflicted upon her.

Though Sin was expecting his Familiar to do something that would tell him that she either disproved or approved of the name, he wasn't expecting what happened. Upon his Spriggan's face was a smile that he had never seen a Fae use and from the nodding head, Sin knew that she was in favor of the name that he had chosen for her.

Returning the smile that Myrin had given him, Sin turned from his Familiar so he could reclaim the bundle of twigs and leaves that he had placed upon the ground. "I am guessing that humanoid Fae have the ability to perform actions that are normally associated to humanoid beings." Sin chuckled to himself as he reached down for the items that he had come to lay claim upon.