Creature Hunters

Chapter 6: Summoner

John had forgotten how long he had been traveling. A lot had happened recently, and more questions arose. Two questions kept returning: Where are all the creatures? Where are the summoners?

Zapren was a creature unlike most, and John hadn't had many reasons to summon him. It was probably best to keep him away from the action. It was said in his studies, that creatures gain knowledge and skill far quicker than their masters. They even had a tendency to change after a while. All of that aside, it was strange to see no creatures in the city streets, nor the outskirts. Summoners used to awe crowds, and do large scale jobs. But now, none were in the open, and John wasn't about to stand out by using Zapren.

"So this blacksmith..." Lexaria started.

"Hmm?" Blakk looked up at her.

"They must be skilled. Right?" Lexaria added, lightly questioning the blacksmith's skills.

"Couldn't you make it, Blakk?" John added.

"Memphy armor is very specific.” Blakk shook his head. “Very few humans have knowledge of the architecture; they're a very picky race."

"I resent that! I'm not... that picky." Lexaria barked.

They continued onward, passing by many shops, each with a distinct personality. A shop for magic scrolls caught John's eye.

"Hey, guys. Would you mind if we stop by this magic store? I want to check something out."

Lexaria and Blakk stopped to look back, and they peered inside the magic shop.

"To be honest, those places give me the creeps. Human Wizards usually end up being creepy in their little rooms all alone. No offense..."

"If she's not going, I think it best her and I head to the Blacksmith's.” Blakk shook his head. “You're free to go in yourself if you don't go off anywhere."

"Yeah, none of that business with wandering off, following Bandits again. We don't want you bringing more stragglers along with us.” Lexaria put her hands on her hips and then looked at Blakk. “No offense, Cole."

Blakk glared at Lexaria, for a couple of reasons.

"Not to worry.” John smiled. “Take Zapren with you, he'll lead you to me if anything happens."

"Actually, the Blacksmith's is right over there.” Blakk pointed to a street a few blocks over. “We won't be far."

John nodded, and Lexaria followed Blakk. John noticed them starting to get along, and it was nice to see. He walked into the strange magic shop alone.

The magic shop was a strange place when compared to other shops. Books lined the walls, and cleanliness seemed to be neglected for quite some time. John looked at covers of many of the books and found the titles to be interesting. A lot of them seemed to be history books of some kind.

He opened one titled, "Tentallan War and the Lost Language". Strange that John had never even thought of learning about these people. He knew about their language, but he was more focused on magic instead. A lot of things were named using Tentallan language.

"You're the first to pick up that book out of sheer curiosity." An old shopkeeper softly spoke.

John was slightly alarmed. He didn't even see the person the voice came from, but there was an old man standing behind him, slightly shorter than himself.

"Am I correct?” The shopkeep inquired. “Or are you a Magic Student?"

"It was mentioned in personal studies.” John smiled at the old man. “A lot of magic books talked about some ancient race, but I never looked into it."