Reborn From the Cosmos

“Saints save me, you’re huge.”

“Shuba.”

What feels like a lifetime ago, after I learned of the king’s vendetta against summoners, fearing for the future of my family’s traditional art and our lives, I summoned the shuba shuba, an incorporeal elemental that feeds on the negative emotions of others. My plan was the time-honored tactic of the carrot and the stick; I would show the kingdom the true horror of summoning before swooping in to save them, cashing in on their gratitude and ignorance.

The shuba feeds on negative emotions, which could be a good thing, if it also didn’t inspire those emotions. Wherever it goes, it magnifies the presence of fear, anger, and every dark thing the heart can produce. It expands as it feeds, before exploding, multiplying in an endless cycle of suffering. Theoretically, they could blanket the entire kingdom, draping the people in madness.

That would take many decades though, perhaps more. Or, so I thought. The thing above me is big enough to cover the city alone. Using its original size as a reference, I imagine it could multiply a thousand times, maybe more. More than enough to end humanity.

Are they supposed to grow so large? Maybe it’s because I sent it to Victory, the biggest concentration of negativity I could think of. Saints save them, how miserable must the people of the north be? Maybe the tragedy is worse than we think.

What would happen if I unleashed this thing on the capital? Forget my rampage through Quest; at least the hunters died relatively quickly and clean. I can’t imagine what the residents of Summer Spire would do to each other in the mire of enforced misery. They’d tear each other apart.

That’s…not who I want to be. Or what I want to be if I take Orum’s words to heart. It doesn’t take an evil heart to do evil. I can’t ask myself if I’m willing to do it, because I am, or if they deserve it, because even if they don’t, I think they do. I have to ask myself if I want to live with the consequences. If I want to walk through the ravaged capital with people still shaking from their waking nightmares. I don’t want to be remembered for that.

…I don’t want Father remembered for that.

If I want them to hurt, I’ll do it the right way. Up close and bloody. Very elven.

“My summoner, the circle is ready.”

I sit up from the ground and eye Geneva. Tail swinging lazily, she stands at the edge of a familiar summoning circle. It should be; I designed it. It’s the original circle used to summon the shuba, though it lacks the finer details, being nothing more than a drawing in the dirt.

It’s a bit of an embarrassment, but I don’t need to pretty it up. Not when I have a plump shuba to tempt the other side.

“Let’s get it done then.”

I stand beside her as she dips down, charging the circle with her mana. It’ll drain fast with such a poor medium, but this won’t take long and it doesn’t need much power.

“Speak with us.”

In no time, the air changes as the air trembles, a gate opening over the center of the circle. A small transparent blob passes through, floating in the center of the circle, but that’s not who we’re here for. The real player is the enormous presence behind the creature, one whose will can be felt despite the immeasurable distance and the fact that it can’t step into this realm. The Dark Lord joins us, the feeling of its satisfaction surrounding me.

“As agreed, your creature, full from feasting on mortal minds,” Geneva pronounces. She gestures to the shuba and it moves down from its lofty position. It seems to melt through the air as it passes through the gate between realms. A moment later, I feel a strange pinch in my core. I close my eyes, committing it to memory to document later. It’s not as if I’ll have many chances to experience a bond being destroyed.

The satisfaction in the air deepens, as well as a question. I don’t need Geneva to translate; it wants to know what we desire for our service, now and hopefully in the future.

“We will discuss as much later,” Geneva says, communicating my wishes. The Dark Lord is a malevolent being. A good person shouldn’t have dealings with such a creature. I don’t want to rule out our cooperation entirely, but I need to think harder on what I’m willing to do and what I should ask for in turn, since torturing people is no longer the goal.

Surprisingly, the Dark Lord doesn’t take offense to my reticence; the satisfaction deepens, tinged with…mischievousness? Playfulness? Something that reminds me of amusement and trickery. The air shimmers and something appears beneath the small shuba.

“Shuba,” the elemental pronounces before disappearing, the pressure in the air dissipating as the gate to another realm disappears. The circle remains, the lines faintly glowing and the strange offering remaining.

“What is that?” I ask. It looks like an unnaturally smooth, black rock, but it can’t be that simple. Not coming from that creature.

“You did make it plain that you wanted to trade for precious materials.”

“Precious means gems and gold. Shiny things. Not…orbs of darkness.”

“You are dealing with a creature dubbed The Dark Lord. Rather expected, don’t you think?”

She has a point there. Sighing, I step into the circle and pick up the rock, figuring I’d rather risk my godly constitution rather than Geneva’s strong but mundane flesh. Thankfully, the rock presents as harmless. It’s a bit cool to the touch but otherwise harmless. I turn it over, finding no faults or anything out of the ordinary.

“What do you think?” I ask, passing it to the succubus.

She takes it from me, eyes glowing as green magic flows into it from her fingertips. “Fascinating.”

I don’t like the sound of that.

“My summoner, do you know the rules of what can pass through the gates between realms?”

“Of course I do. Is this a joke?”

“Merely a prelude to my suspicion. A summoner’s intention summons a creature. No other living thing aside from it can pass through. However, a certain amount of nonliving material can pass through.”

“Yeah, sure. Otherwise, creatures couldn’t come through wearing their clothes or with their tools of choice.” There’s a limit; if Kierra were an elemental, she wouldn’t be able to bring an entire collection of skulls, but she could travel the realms with her bow and arrows, if she wanted. “It’s what makes my idea of inter-realm trading viable, if tedious.”

“Yes. A very clear rule. However, your gift makes me question the strictness of that rule and the abilities of this Dark Lord.”

“You still haven’t told me what you think it is.”

“I only have suspicions, and I would hate to guess. I can tell you it is very interesting. Very interesting indeed.”