The Princess Summoner

In The Dragon's Presence Part I

A snowstorm rages over the new continent of New Altunia, the ancient continent that was formed hundreds of thousands of years ago. The storm flurries the west side and is blowing through the entire countryside. It forms a blanket of snow on the delicate harraba flowers in the field in the distance.  In the small cabin a young girl tosses and turns in bed. It is a fitful sleep. On this strange world that she has visited through a mirrored doorway, Teresa came upon The Grand Elder who she met and who then focused her path. She thought she was on a path of finding a cure for her friend’s sickness. Turns out she was wrong. A bead of sweat forms on her forehead while she sleeps. Her brown-haired curls on her head toss to and fro as she moves in the bed. She’s having a bad dream where she is running from something, but she can’t see what. It’s a shadow stalking her. And as far she runs, she can’t escape it. Her legs feel tired, but she keeps running until the ground appears to slip out from under her. Then she falls. She panics.  She has no way to stop herself from falling into a deep pit of…fire!

She wakes up suddenly…!  She gets her head up. Teresa wipes the sweat from her forehead. She then feels the cold. She also felt stronger. Somehow what happened yesterday made her change. What the Elder did. It felt easier to breathe.  But then outside, she sees something she hadn’t before. It looks like snow. She had never seen snow before. She had heard about it in stories her father would tell. But never like this. She realizes she is in…a cabin. The fire that heated the cabin was flickering its embers at her. The logs that must have been put on the place warm must’ve been put there last night. She goes over to the window. And just as she does someone comes in the cabin. The teenage elf that walks is shivering. Her cheeks and nose are pink with the blood rush.  “Oh…I’m sorry. I was hoping you would be asleep when after I left. You looked…tired. I know you would like to get dressed.” Aneka said. Teresa looked at herself and realized she was right. Teresa “ Yes.” The elf girl meekly put the logs next to fireplace and went in the small closet room to get the clothes. ” Teresa takes the clothes from Aneka. “I think they will. But I can make them if they don’t. Thank you.” The clothes did look like they fit a growing girl of fifteen.  Aneka showed her the girl’s room and she tried them on. A purple and green sweatshirt with white and purple striped pants fit snugly well. The pants had torn through the knee, but Teresa made it work.

She showed the girl. The girl clapped her limbs and jumped up and down. “” But before she leaves Teresa asks her a question. “Um…I’m not from here but I was wondering is that snow out there ?” The elf girl looks outside and turns to what she is pointing at. “Snow ?” Teresa “ Yes. You know, Frozen rain? Precipitation ? In science class, it’s when suspended ice crystals that grow in clouds…? Then they fall out of the atmosphere…? “ The elf girl looks at her. “” Teresa knew that what she was saying wasn’t making any sense so she did what anyone else would do. Teresa “ What does it look like to you?” The girl went over to the door and opened it. As she did a huge gust wind swept into the cabin. It got cold quick. Elf girl “…We call it Pow! Pow!” Teresa “ Pow? Pow?” Elf girl “When a gust a wind comes…” She uses her hands to make punch gesture to her face. Just then a gust topples her back. She stumbles around like she’d been knocked out. “…Pow! Pow!” Her eyes shake like in a can. They both laugh. Teresa “ Right…Exactly! “

  The elf girl looks at her with an innocent smile. She had not seen an off-worlder before. Teresa had not seen an elf before. Several firsts for them. Then the elf girl said “We are having some flossum for breakfast in the mess hall. Must I make you a bowl ?” Teresa wasn’t sure what flossum was, but she felt like she hadn’t eaten in days. And that moment she felt the remnants of her dream beginning to fade. The elf girl seemed nice and someone she could trust. “That would be good, thank you.” The elf girl attempts to walk out but Teresa stops her. “ Um…did you say “we” ? And I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name. My name’s Teresa.” The elf happily said “Cassimir said you were a recruit on our team. Come meet them.”

  Just then they hear a voice outside calling the elf girl. A gruffier deeper voice belonging to a teenage elf. A tall lanky one wearing a forest green parka over yellow shirt and grey slacks with tomi-tomi shoes.(snowshoes) He was yelling at her. “Hey, Aneka, what are doing? Come on, we need a fourth member to play Patchi ball!” He arrives and Teresa sees that the boy is an elf as well. He has flowing white hair and muscles on each side. “Well, haven’t we been busy… Aneka why are standing there ? Introduce us, why don’t you?” When he looked at her, it was half a smile. It was more of a smirk. His eyes were staring at her like he knew what she was thinking. She felt his energy quickly when he arrived. The elf girl hesitated and then began to immediately announce her. “This is…Cassimir Fox. He is the captain of our new team. The team that’s going to fight the Gerelta.” “ And you are ?” The boy asked. “Teresa Goldsplum.” Cassimir Fox “ My friends just call me Cass.”  The girl continues to stare at him. She knew there was something weird about them. Two auras that were flowing from the two of them. Her new powers, her new strength that she had felt within her seemed to grow when she came upon a new person she met. And she felt more confident as she talked to them.

  Outside the snow flurries have turned into a blizzard. Teresa is frozen going into the mess hall. They arrive and have a bowl of flossum berries with hot porridge that were picked. This flossum she thinks is a lot like her raspberries on Earth. It tastes rather good. She looks around where she sees the group of teen Teresians sitting at the table. There are more around several other tables in the cafeteria. Another group was huddled around the bulletin board. It had arrows and circles around positions of battle. Several teens were crowded around said board. “ I say we don’t wait. We take it to them. Those proud Gerelten dogs think they’re than higher everyone else!” A boy asked “We just go in?  Without any protection ? They’ll corner us than beat us down with their fire sticks if we do that !” Ferelli “ I ain’t scared of them. I know that if you don’t strike first you end up in the dirt! And I ain’t gonna be that for no one. This is our turf.  ” Teresa listening to this conversation knew that she would like this girl.  “Can we do that? Can we just overpower them ?” she asked.  “I’ve got weapons in this hangar down the field that says we can…!”Ferellie implied. Just at that moment Teresa gets a slight pain in her head. It startles her. Then she hears the Grand Elder “You are needed young one….”

 Teresa (In her mind) “ Grand Elder…?” Grand Elder “Yes, young one. It is I. You must hone your abilities because you are needed urgently.” Teresa “ How…?” “ Quiet your mind. Black out all distractions. This is key to honing your abilities.” Teresa “ How do I know they will work ?” The Grand Elder “Look all around you. The plants the trees the animals, the friends you have around you. You can feel them, can’t you ?” She looks at trees, the flowers growing in the field, the small animals chirping in the garden near the mess hall. Her new friends, she can feel each one of their heartbeats. She can see their auras. It feels a little strange. She feels a little frightened. She closes her eyes and tries to block it out. “Elder, my mission that I came here with. I want to fulfill it. How do I do that ?” Teresa asked.

 “One step at time one young one. First you must find your happiness.” stated the Grand Elder. Teresa “ My happiness ? What do you mean Grand Elder ?” Teresa closed her eyes sitting on the steps of the school. “ Everyone has one. It exists in the souls of every person you meet. To find it, you must search yourself. The answer lies there.” Her connection ends abruptly. “…But where do I search…? Grand Elder ? Grand Elder ?  Aneka “…Teresa...?...Teresa ?  She stares at the elf girl.  Aneka “ Are you alright ?” Teresa “…Yes.Why wouldn’t I be?” Aneka “Listen, some of the groups are going to the festival at Lake Oni. It’s in honor of the elven ancestors that still reside with us today. Teresa “ I don’t understand. Why would they need…?  “We, elves are very forward thinking. We honor them because they live to make this world better. Please I invite you.” asked Aneka. Teresa “ I must leave, Aneka…I would love to…but I have other things I must attend to....I…”

  She hears a sound. It is for off in the distance. She thinks about her mission. She must carry it out. Teresa “ I’m sorry.” Aneka “…Wait. Maybe I can help you…” She runs toward the fields just as Cassimir bumps into her. She jumps back slightly. Cassimir “ Whoa…princess. Where are you off to ?” Teresa “None of your business.” She punches him in the stomach hard. Cassimir “ Oof...!”  She runs off. Casimir “ …What was that about ?” Aneka “ She said she had to leave. I do not know where.” The older boy thinks if she’s headed to fight the Gerelta than he must  stop her. Cassimir “ That girl is going to get herself stabbed, eaten, hurt or all of the above if we don’t stop her, Aneka. Let’s go !!” Aneka “…Do we have to? I’m quite sure there is easier…” Casimir “This is our friend, Aneka !!” The elf responds, “Very well.” The two elves run after her.

   Meanwhile back on Earth the defense is done preparing. Now is the wait. The swirling dark vortex is still overhead with the valley’s inhabitants scared of the coming affront. The military has cordoned the area off. The men are spread out amongst the field. The sergeant observes the entity in the sky hovering not moving. “ What do you make of that thing up there ?” The admiral looks at the sergeant and responds “We have not met something like that creature before. We have men ready at the communication points at several cities across the seven Kingdoms. The points in Straus, Lotenhelm, Elsbeth and Tokkai have been notified, sir. They have the resources needed  to slow this assault but are nervous sir. They fear that the creature will annihilate them, they could cause such devastation that it would take weeks to recover.” The sergeant looks at the admiral “I know.” He looks at the creature through his binoculars. It is far into the distance, but he sees the outline of the creature.

   It is mostly a pale skinned humanoid but dressed in black, yet the opening of his eyes are like slits of red that sparkle in the sun. He floats there over the landscape. In fact, he looked like a vampire, but he was here in the daytime. He has this serious menacing drawl. He observes the valley knowing the primitive surface he hovers. The sergeant observes the midnight marauder just hovering there as the people point and stare. ”What the hell is he waiting for? The beasts in the distance have sat there for hours. Beautiful hunters of the night. They’re unusually large, aren’t they ?” Several of them sit along the adjacent hill watching the dark invader. Their mouths salivating with taste for blood. A group of them circling one of the townsfolk. A towns member has a fire stick and torch to ward it away. The marauder looks up into the clouds. He closes his eyes. Just then a fierce wind comes. It is blinding wind. It blows some of the fires out in some of the towns and knocks the caps off the military elite.

  The clouds in the sky grow dark and ominous. It becomes quiet. The sky crackles with thunder. The wolves stand at attention. The marauder’s eyes turn luminescent. He signals the band of them to turn on the military guards. They do. The wolves walk into the fields. The howling winds blur the men’s sight. Sergeant “Uh oh. The time nears. As the thieves turn their knives in, lest the hero never find them. Men, get ready !!” The men riding on their horses turn away from the hollering fields. Then the winds slow to a breeze. The midnight marauder flicks his hands in an upward motion and the scenery changes from humbling dusty towns to dense forests clouded in a thick fog. His dark wolves prowling the forest. All over the globe, the scenery changes to forests. The sergeant gets his men to charge in. As the fog descends, movement occurs, the sergeant’s men know the wolves are in this forest. They trek slowly through the forest watching their shadows change form in the dark. The young Timor stands with his sword and dagger at hand. He can’t see very far ahead. What he does know is that his family is in this pre-made forest. He had a family in this stand off against the marauder. And now they are covered in the forest. He hears screams in the distance. Someone crying.