The Summoner Guild (On Hold)

Sky Castle

Now hanging upside down from the tapi's saddle, Kyle's voice grew hoarse from screaming so much before he had to reach above his head as Gobby fell off of his back. Thankfully, he'd managed to grab hold of her arm before she fell completely, though his feeling of relief didn't last long as the tapi started weaving in-between the giant leaves of the tree-tops. Eventually, he started to lose consciousness from the blood rushing to his head, though he managed to wake up again when the tapi suddenly left the tree canopy and Kyle was able to see the top of the Elven Forest.

"Blmmm!" Kyle was in the middle of looking at the amazing sight of the tops of the giant trees before he suddenly felt whatever food he had in his stomach start rising to his throat. Thankfully, he was able to keep control over his nausea before the Tapi started circling around the tallest tree in sight while still rising through the air. This continued until they finally saw the Sky Castle, which almost seemed like a gigantic bird's nest with a green castle growing out of the center of it.

Covered in the giant leaves that they had seen on the way up, Kyle didn't know what exactly the actual castle looked like as the structure was completely obscured by plant life. It's compounds were also covered in different types of plants, though there was still enough clear ground for the tapi to land despite the low bushes, ferns and small pond taking up most of the space. There was a large fountain shooting water up and out of the pond, making the mist cover the nearby ferns and leaves which in turn made them sparkle in the sunlight. However, Kyle lost sight of all of that as his foot slipped slightly out of the saddle, flipping him through the air as the Tapi dived down towards the castle. They'd almost reached the ground before the Tapi suddenly slowed it's flight to land, making Kyle almost scream again as his foot finally detached from the saddle and he did a small flip in the air, miraculously landing on his feet with a small stumble before he managed to keep standing while Gobby fell onto his back.

"Well... I've never seen anyone fly a tapi like that before..." Livana stifled a laugh as Kyle shook from his near-death experience.

"I should have thought of it myself. A dark lord should always make his entrance eye catching, just as his generals generals should..." Morgan said regretfully.

"Please refrain from speaking openly about such things in public, Mr. Crenshaw." Guisen asked. "While I doubt that the public would take you seriously about becoming the next dark lord, I'd still rather not be labeled as a group of deranged lunatics."

"They will label me with nothing other than my appropriate titles or they will suffer my wrath!" Morgan declared.

"Yes yes, we've all heard it before." Livana sighed. " Now if you wouldn't mind, shut up. The servants are coming to greet us."

"Lady Livana!" The lead servant said in surprise as the group of maids and butlers approached them. "I apologize about out late arrival, but we did not expect you today."

"It's fine, Veil." Livana replied. "Would you happen to know where my father  and mother currently are? I must announce my arrival personally."

"They are currently in their studies, M'Lady. With your permission, I will lead you there." One of the maids bowed while answering.

"They should come to greet us personally. Do they not know who we-" Morgan was in the middle of declaring before Livana backhanded him across the chest.

"Remember, they are summoners, just as we are." Guisen reminded them. "And they are higher standing in our order than I am, so please do nothing to make them attempt to kill us."

"No promises." Morgan replied flatly before beginning to follow the maid along with everyone else save for Kyle as he stood in the same place where he landed.

"Come! Go!" Gobby pulled on his sleeves, attempting to get him to follow the others while he slightly cried to himself. None of his new 'friends' had even showed the slightest bit of concern for his near-death experience. His entire body was shaking as Gobby made him stumble forward before managing to get him moving again, though Kyle doubted that he would ever truly recover from the incident. Hanging from only one foot over certain death would do that to a person, and already Kyle was dreading the return journey to the ground until he eventually fell into line behind the others.

"Are my siblings here as well?" Livana asked, though her tone suggested that she hoping they weren't.

"Your brother, Lord Cylric, is currently here and will stay for three more days." The maid answered, and Livana's expression immediately fell. "Lady Naya will also be arriving this afternoon at the call of your parents."

"I see..." Livana replied softly before staying silent for the rest of the way until the maid finally brought them inside, and Kyle was surprised to see that the garden from outside hadn't stayed outside. The ferns and moss that had been covering the the ground and the outter walls of the castle had continued to the inside, making Kyle wonder if the castle were abandoned or not before he saw more servants inside actually watering the plants.

"A bit heavy on the nature..." Kyle laughed hesitantly before jumping pack as a nearby carnivorous plant nearly bit him.

"We're elves, what did you expect?" Livana asked before walking forward and petting the head of the plant that had attempted to bite Kyle. "Besides, Flori here normally has good instincts about people."

"About what kind of people it likes to eat maybe..." Kyle muttered to himself before he felt Gobby shiver at his legs. She'd backed up close to him as several more carnivorous plant heads eyed her eagerly, and she didn't seem to like it as Gobby quickly turned around and hid underneath Kyle's robes, much to the disappointment of the plant life. "These things won't try to eat us, will they?"

"Only if you get to close to them. Besides, they're a wonderful deterrent against intruders." Livana explained, and Morgan snorted in disgust as one of the plants lashed out and bit onto his gauntlet.

"They are more pests than deterrents." Morgan sneered at one of the plants that was currently biting his arm, though it didn't last long before he started following the maid again, shocking several of the servants behind him as the plant that had refused to let go of him snapped in half. Apparently, the destruction of the plant was a large concern of theirs, and Kyle was just thankful that Livana hadn't seen what Morgan had done as he followed them down a large hall with what looked like tree roots travelling across the ceiling. And after climbing one large tree root that spiraled up to the castle's next floor, the group eventually arrived at a large pair of double doors made out of what looked like extremely blurry type of glass. Most of the walls seemed to be made out of the material as well, and the nature theme of the decor seemed to be even more lush on this level as there were ferns that dwarfed even Morgan that dotted along the sides of the hall.

"Your parents are inside, M'Lady." The maid bowed. "Would you be needing anything else?"

"No, you have my thanks." Livana replied, and she breathed deeply before cautiously looking towards the door. "I'd ask for all of you to be respectful, but I suppose that would be pointless..."

"I've no reason to respect those who cannot even greet their guests in person." Morgan said in disgust, apparently keeping his anger from before until he shocked everyone by throwing open the glass doors without even knocking and walking inside of the room.