Summoner: The Book of Dimension

15 Saving Josh

“What should we do now?” Zack asked again now that the summoning circle was closed.

Peter sighed. “I’m trying to think of an idea,” he said and looked at Zack who was holding on his neck. “Should we at least take him to the hospital?” Peter asked.

“Is it that bad?” Zack asked.

“You just kinda looked uncomfortable,” Peter told him.

“Not that bad. Trust me, rat snakes are not venomous. You’re bitten by the neck, if it’s venomous, you should’ve had some reaction, thinking that the blood will flow fast at your brain and heart,” Ray reassured Zack.

“Yeah, trust his gamer intuition—I mean, his survival intuition,” Peter joked.

Peter couldn’t keep but glance at Josh and sigh.

“Ray, you know first aid, right? Can you treat Zack’s wound? Go back here and let’s discuss what to do with Josh,” he said and scratched the sweat that trickled down his temple.

“Are we not going home yet?” Zack asked.

“We can’t, Zack. Get your wound treated and let’s discuss later. I’ll try and think of anything,” Peter said and watched the two walk upstairs.

He checked Josh’s state cautiously. Everything was still intact, fortunately, even after the chaos with Medusa.

Zack and Ray came back wearing fresh clean shirts and didn’t forget Peter.

Ray threw the clean white shirt at Peter’s face, which smelled like it was in a wardrobe for a decade. “What’s your plan?” Ray asked.

Peter wore a slightly loose shirt with a sigh. “Couldn’t think of any, and my brain feels dry. You guys have any idea?”

Ray sighed as well and looked at Zack. “Don’t ask me, I have no idea how to unstone a stoned person.”

Peter looked at the two as he tried to think of an idea. Medusa’s death didn’t make Josh go back to his normal state, and she never left any antidote nor Peter found any clue to unstone Josh.

An idea grazed his mind.

“I could only think of one way,” Peter started.

The three exchanged knowing glances.

“Summoning? No, summoning is too dangerous. We can summon worse than Medusa, and we might face more than just a stoned Josh,” Zack argued.

Peter nodded. “I know. I think so, too. I’m the one who’s against summoning from the start, right? But there’s no other way. Do you have another idea?” Peter asked, waiting for Zack’s answer, but he couldn’t give any. “Nothing, right? We have no choice.”

“Did you see? Two out of four summonings were an accident. First, you passed out and we didn’t even know you summoned a dream goblin. Now, Josh is stoned because he summoned Medusa instead of a mermaid,” Zack said, proving a point.

“You guys were so hyped at summoning yesterday and earlier, now, you’re chickening?” Peter asked.

Ray gestured his hands to calm the two down. “Calm down, guys. We’ll probably find out a solution.”

“We don’t have any choice,” Peter said to Ray. Ray raised his hands in defeat and just stayed and watched the two.

“Let’s just leave Josh here and come back if we find a solution,” Zack said.

Peter and Ray looked at Zack in shock. “Woah there, dude. We all came here together. You had your chance summoning and we helped you with that loud green goblin, and now that it’s Josh who needs help, you’re backing up?”

“Peter’s right. Besides, we don’t know if Josh will still be alive later if we hold him in that state for too long,” Ray said.

“His family’s gonna look for him if he’s suddenly gone. And, would it be weird for everyone who knew him if they suddenly don’t see Josh?” Peter asked and added, “If that happens, the situation might get worse.”

Zack bit his lip. “Okay, then let’s not leave him completely. Let’s ask for help. Police, anyone that could help us.”

Peter scoffed “Are you serious? Do you think the government and police will believe any of this? They’ll think we’re doing a prank. We might be jailed too if anything else,” Peter said, losing a little patience.

Ray nodded. “You wouldn’t want your face on the headlines for this. This is not a good way to be famous,” he shook his head.

“Then what should we do? Neither of our ideas will work anyway,” Zack said. He thought for a few seconds. “You know what? I have a better idea.”

Peter sighed. “Please let it’s better than any of your idea.”

“It has to do something with summoning,” Zack started. “What if we let summoner professionals take Josh and the book? Let’s turn them in. They might be better at handling it.”

Peter looked at him and his eyebrows creased. “Do you know what you’re saying? It sounds a bright idea but it might bring us higher risk. We don’t know if they could be allies or foes.”

He paused and thought for a moment, to think of what happened from the start.

They happened to find the book, and for some reason, they could read and speak the language of the book without even properly studying it. Now, they were in trouble for summoning. “What if we’re being studied like an alien?”

Ray stifled laughter, and Zack looked at him indifferently. “And you’re asking me for a better idea?”

“No, think of the theories that say governments might’ve been experimenting with us?” Peter asked them.

Ray laughed lightly, shaking his head. “It just goes crazier.”

Peter insisted.“No, but if you think of it, summoners like us must be enemies to some organization, even to the government. We all know what danger summoning will bring to people. Besides, there should be people who hold grudge against summoners.”

Ray and Zack looked at him, confused.

“They might be studying us to figure out how summoning works, and what benefit it would bring to them.” Peter then added, “Or how they could eliminate us. There should be an organization standing against us.”

“You’ve thought way too far,” Ray said, couldn’t believe what he just heard.

“If nothing, what we do next might determine if we’re really in danger or not. I’m not even sure if we’ll be able to stay alive even if we solve our problem with Josh,” Peter said.

“So, are we going to summon?” Ray asked.

“Let’s just go home,” Zack said.

Peter glared at Zack. “We came here together and we’ll leave this mansion with alive Josh. And don’t you ever feel bad for leaving him here?”

Zack pondered. “Of course I do feel bad for leaving him.”

“Then let’s summon. It’s one way to figure it out,” Peter said.

After a few more persuasion, everyone agreed to summon something that could help them.

“Okay, before we summon, we should think of what to summon first,” Peter said.

The two nodded and the three of them brainstormed.

The fairy could be of help, but they’re not that great. He wanted something superior creature, something that could easily give them a solution to their problem. A creature that had held a high percentage of hope than the ones that would mostly fail.

Witch, they might come up with a potion, but it might bring side effects to Josh. Aside from that, witches might be a disadvantage to them and they might run into trouble.

Wizard. Might be possible, but Peter thought wizards might be a little bit of high maintenance to summon. Not all the time they have perfect magic. Another thing was, they could be evil.

Peter reminded himself to ask the dream goblin he knew, Wiboe, about the creatures in the Book Of Dimensions. All he could rely on was his knowledge through childhood and fantasy books.

Sighing, he was stuck to recalling the limited numbers of creatures he had known, from literally any literature pieces he had read or heard of. If it’s out of the mantra, he’d probably just stick to the random mantra.

Then he remembered the old Greek mythology about a creature who’d devour into people who wouldn’t be able to answer her riddles. It had similarities with the Egyptian sphinx, although the latter was shown as a sphinx who had a head of a man.

A sphinx who had a head of a human, with wings and body of a lion.

He read one analogy on each of the creatures that consisted of the sphinx. The human head means intelligence and power, the lion body meant agility and ability, and wings meant to soar high.

Sphinx might know something, he thought

He suddenly had the idea which to summon.

He started to walk towards Josh and took the book from the floor where Ray last laid it to and flipped the pages of the book.

“What? Did you find anything?” Ray asked.

“I’m not sure, the mantra should tell if it’s what we’re looking for,” Peter said.

“Do you think this will work? What if it brings us or Josh to danger again?” Zack asked, looking over his shoulder.

“It should work. And if that happens, it’s better than not trying,” Peter said.

His finger stopped at a particular creature’s name. Sphinx. When he saw the mantra, he looked at his anticipating friends.

“Are you guys ready to summon again?.”