Heir Apparent - a Summoner FanFic

Into the Fire

Of course, Dorien could not refuse, and so he strode forward and joined Samil on the sand. They stood on opposite sides of the Arena facing each other. The duelling field had been strewn with rocks and boulders to upset the footing and provide cover for the summoners and their demons.

Samil knelt, placing a leather on the ground before him. Dorien held his breath. He didn't want face either of the Inquisitor's demons but one would be preferable to the other. The summoning leather glowed and above it formed the shape of a bird. Dorien felt a wave of relief wash over him, followed by a stab of anger. His demon wouldn't take a beating but Dorien himself would be humiliated. The Phoenix fully materialised in front of Samil, it's plumage aflame. It gave a scream and landed lightly on a nearby rock.

Dorien focused, the summoning pentacle on his right hand glowing. A sphere of purple appeared before him and then a flash of light. In place of the sphere stood Toralu. The Lycan, nearly grown now, standing a little over five feet tall with jet black fur and yellow eyes. Toralu turned his head towards Dorien, glared and pulled back his lips in a growl. His usual show of defiance.

Dorien raised an eyebrow and growled back, pushing at Toralu's defiance with his thoughts. Toralu bowed his head after after a moment. Dorien was Alpha and the Lycan knew it.

"Now," Samil addressed the room, ignoring the interest and awe directed at his demon "as I am sure you are aware, when duelling during the end of year tournament a barrier is put in place by third parties. For the purpose of these classes this is not possible and so, in addition to the rules of the tournament, being that a demon cannot attack a summoner, if your demon is knocked out the duel is over, and killing a demon will result in expulsion, the duel will also be over if your shield is broken. Any attack on an unshielded opponent is illegal and 'accidents' will be punishable with court-marshal, confiscation of demons and stripping of all titles."

Samil waited for this information to sink in. This was a big deal. The nobles would no longer be able to inherit the lands and the titles of their parents, and the commoners would surely rather give a leg than lose their demons. Life would be unbearable for anyone in that situation.

"Your highness," Samil continued after a pause, "Aurora and I are ready. Are you?"

"Yes, Inquisitor."

"Good." The oily smile returned. "Begin!"

Dorien sent Toralu out to the left of the field and threw up a shield in the same movement if his tattooed hand. He used what he had learned to look through Toralu's eyes, a ghost image appearing over his own vision of what the demon could see. Dorien couldn't inhabit the Lycan's mind like some summoners could, but had learned and mastered enough of the techniques to achieve his goals.

His shield thrummed as Samil sent a ball of fire roaring across the Arena and a crack appeared just left of his face. Dorien strengthened the shield but otherwise ignored the Inquisitor, worried for Toralu as the Lycan would struggle to combat the bird demon's flight and fire breathing. Though technically weaker, the fire bird had manoeuvrability, higher 'ground' and mana advantages. Dorien used both his own and Toralu's eyes to try and find Aurora. Toralu found her first, just as another fireball struck Dorien's shield. He decided that the best plan would be to strike at Samil's shield whilst Toralu gave the Phoenix the run around. The Lycan disagreed but then he leaned more towards violent action in almost every situation.

Once the Phoenix had seen Toralu Dorien told him to start ducking and diving among the rocks that littered the Arena. Keep her busy. Dorien thought at his demon, who grumbled in response.

As a third fireball struck his shield Dorien raised his hand and directed a lightning bolt at Samil, which was easily blocked. He sent two more, followed by a fireball of his own before Samil change his tactics too.

The Inquisitor launched a telekinetic blast at a rock, which exploded, leaving Toralu exposed. The Phoenix plummeted from above towards the Lycan and breathed a great tongue of fire that struck him full in the chest. Toralu was thrown from his feet. Dorien felt an echo of the searing heat through his connection with Toralu and clenched his teeth against the pain.

As the fire bird came around for another pass Dorien aimed the next lightning bolt at her. A fist of energy struck the side if shield and the bolt went wide as he stumbled. He aimed again, realising that he was now drawing mana from Lial as well as Toralu, and let loose the bolt. This time Aurora swerved at the last moment and the bolt dissipated near the ceiling. Toralu regained his feet and leapt to a nearby rock, ignoring Dorien's instructions to stay down, fractured as they were due to the need to multitask. When the Phoenix came close the Lycan took a swipe at her with a taloned hand but also missed. Dorien heard a snigger to his left and knew that, as predicted, this duel was turning into a joke at his expense.

Samil's shot to his side had given him an idea, a plan he had one shot at with his dwindling reserves. Thanks to Rook's lesson with the fulfilmeter he now knew that Samil was weaker than him, though he had more access to mana because of his rarer and more powerful demon still infused within him. So Dorien just needed to mould the mana he had access to faster than Samil could.

He pumped power to the lightning symbol on his tattooed hand and began etching the same symbol with the other. The Inquisitor suddenly found himself defending against two separate lightning attacks from opposite directions. For a second Samil's shield wavered and Dorien felt a rush of excitement. He'd done it! His speed had outmatched Samil's experience.

The excitement turned to ashes as he realised that Lial and Toralu had nothing else to give. The lightning spluttered to nothing. The only mana Dorien had left was what he had already put into the shield. He crossed his arms into an X and braised himself.

A fireball struck the shield and a crack appeared. Another fireball and the shield began to buckle like glass struck by a stone. Samil finished with another fist of force that shattered the shield and threw Dorien onto his back several feet away. Toralu bounded over, heaving and smouldering, and stood over his master, baring his teeth at the rest of the room, daring anyone to approach. Dorien felt mild concern flow from his demon, but mainly frustration.

"An interesting idea, your highness." Samil offered, brushing a speck of dust from his sleeve as if he had done nothing more than go for a stroll. "I assume you have exhausted your mana reserves?"

"Yes, sir." Dorien replied between clenched teeth.

"Hmm." Samil infused his Phoenix and turned to the rest of the class. "You will pair up and duel in teams. Each of you will summon only one demon and duel together against another pair. Thus we will all have been able to participate in at least one duel this session." Samil looked at Dorien as Nadia helped him to his feet. "You should rest and observe, my prince." That same oily smile returned once more. "Perhaps you will even learn something."

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This was my first ever fight scene of any kind! I really enjoyed imagining it and writing it so I hope you have enjoyed reading it and that I have been descriptive enough.

Thanks for reading!

PS: if anyone knows if I have spelt "braised" incorrectly and know how it should be spelt please let me know because the more I look at it, the more my brain says it isn't even a word 😁