Voidstalker

Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Spirits, Come Forth

The excited murmurs of excited seven-year-old hopefuls filled the air as they waited their turn. The first child gingerly stepped up onto the stage, where Mages motioned them to stand in the middle of the circle of runes they etched onto the ground.

I swear I felt the nervousness emanating from the line of children. They were clearly anticipating the moment when they summoned their Spirits and was able to jump in the world of Essence.

But the excitement meshed with the tentativeness was palpable. Everyone here was eager to finally be able to learn how to control such mystical power.

Me? Well...

I dreaded my turn. I had an idea as to what the outcome of me trying to summon a Spirit would be, but nothing conclusive.

There's always a chance that they find out about Condemner of Sinners and then I'd probably be dead again.

Lorelai placed a hand on my arm, snapping me out of my thoughts. Her eyes were narrowed. "Are you nervous?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No. I'm just wondering what'll happen."

She smiled at that. "We'll both get good Spirits. And then we'll go to one of the academies when we're seventeen. So don't you worry."

"I'm not worried," I said.

"Good, because I am."

I sighed, shaking my head as I turned back to the stage.

The first child, a nervous boy, stood in the middle of the rune circle. The Mages all focused their Essence, causing the circle to glow white, enveloping the boy. Everyone remained silent, watching as the light waxed in intensity. A wave of power rippled through the town center, and one by one our spirits shuddered.

Lines of flames streaked straight through the pillar, wrapping around it until it melded with the light. From the bottom, a blast of fire erupted, swirling around the middle, where the boy once stood.

Eventually, the pillar of light dispersed, fading away until sparkles of white and orange were all that remained.

"Incredible!" my father explained, his voice amplified using Wind Essence. "The first Spirit summoning of the day and we're already seeing a spectacle!" He smiled at the boy, who looked shaken up from the sudden display. "A Spirit has answered your call. And from the looks of it, it has an affinity for Healing and Fire Essence."

The crowd cheered, and the boy seemed to be caught off-guard, embarrassed at the attention.

Enzo stepped forward, grinning at all of us. "And remember," he said, "the ceremony will only tell you the Essence types your Spirits possess, but not the actual species. It is up to the Mage to discover that."

"On to the next," my father declared, and the boy bowed and excitedly walked off of the stage. The next child immediately went up when prompted, and the ceremony began anew.

One by one, children stepped up and summoned their Spirits. Unlike the initial summon, not all of them were automatic. There were instances where the hopeful would wait a few moments before a Spirit answered their call. But for the most part, it never took more than ten seconds.

The actual summoning was interesting. While every summoner was enveloped in pillars, not all of them were made of light. Some were made of water or fire or other aspects of Essence. I even saw one made entirely of darkness.

Other types of Essence formed lines around the pillars, adding onto the already-present Essence types. I suspected that the pillars represented the main affinity and the lines represented the supplemental affinity.