Vignette
Summoning a Snow Leopard, June 2009
Dismissed for not accepting need to know, despite having given my word that anything I was told wouldn't go any further. I particularly liked the parting shot: "We are done and your contribution will be noted". The ironic thing is, if he'd got off his high horse for one moment, he would have realised that at no point did I refuse to help. I just wanted more information.
You know, I'd lay good money on the fact that if our positions were reversed, the dismissive little SOB a) wouldn't have appreciated his word not being enough, and b) would have wanted more details about a major operation into enemy territory as well.
This Family can be a pain in the backside, it really can. But hey, it's his loss.
I let my friend know that I've been kicked off the party and apologise that I won't be there, but I'm pretty confident that he can watch his own back if necessary, even if a wingman would have given added security. Then I head back to my office, but the conversation has planted a seed.
When I'd first heard that Lucius had been grabbed, I'd kicked around a few ideas in my head about how he might be located. What if I took that further? Is there another alternative to their approach? After all, they wanted me for my ritual expertise, so obviously they think it could be useful. It makes me wonder if it's actually useful enough that this can be done surgically, without any form of mass assault at all. After all, I've learned a few new tricks lately.
I tell my Secretary to hold my messages and head home. I increase the time flow slightly, then go into my library and pick up a couple of books which I think may give me a couple of ideas. I find what I'm looking for in the second.
I read the section I'm looking for three times, to remind myself of all the intricacies, and make sure I won't forget anything. After all, it's a while since I've done a summoning ritual. Then I head for my store cupboard to pick up the necessary things, as well as my usual focus and athame. I also collect the ring Oberon gave me, and loop the chain of the power gem I've picked up along the way around my wrist.
Once everything's assembled, I head out to the Ruin. I check the wards around my Working Space. As strong as ever, which is always comforting. Especially as if this goes wrong, it could bring a Corwin-flavoured shit storm down on my head. Then I get to work.
I lay out the appropriate design, with the correct combination of doodles, candles, salt, a bowl of water for scrying, and other assorted goodies I can use to boost the power I can throw at this. Then I strengthen it all with a bit of my own blood for good measure: both to give what I'm doing more oomph, and because my blood is a form of arcane link to my target. After all, the blood of siblings means that somewhere in there, you have some of the same genes, and I've been getting better at picking them out. Especially as I got to know Lucius's genome very well when I had to perform open heart surgery on him a while back.
That done, I start phase one of what I need to do. Location. See if this is even a flyer to start with. I sit cross-legged by the bowl of water, and focus on my target. Corwin obviously has ritual pretensions, but I have no idea if he's actually any good, or whether he'd even think of something so old-school as a Celtic scrying pool.
It takes a while, but eventually a picture begins to form. I see the cell. Lucius is sitting on a comfortable bed that looks like it was stolen from Salon Kitty. Some kind of double chain contraption is keeping him shackled, and his hands are cuffed, but he looks surprisingly well. My impression is more pampered lap cat than feral stray. I even see pots of dorritos and slurpee cups in easy reach.
There's a nasty tang in the air, though, and from the impressions I'm getting, Corwin's been doing some way-out shit to him. I read some pretty out of the box nastiness, although it looks like our uncle has gone out of his way to heal him up afterwards. Because that makes everything so much better…
I put aside the impressions, and take a look at the chains. They aren't going to be easy - too much anti-magic crap in them to work them directly, which makes sense. There's something else bound in there as well, that I don't immediately want to mess with. So it's time to do a little outside the box thinking myself.
Keeping my eyes on the scrying pool, I start reaching into the earth beneath me. I pull on the strength of the world I have such a strong connection to, and begin to focus that power. I look back into the pool, and target the stone where the chains are connected, then hit it hard. It crumbles on cue and the chains fall limp. That seems to get Lucius's attention.
Now, for part two. I just have to hope that he actually wants to get out of there, and doesn't fight me, as I'm not sure I can pull this off if he's actively opposing me.
I begin the summoning. His soul name would have been more use in this, but our shared blood should hopefully be a decent substitute. Still, it's bloody hard work, and I'm glad I have time on my side. If Corwin has any form of surveillance on Lucius - which seems like a smart bet - it's not going to be that long until he realises that something's up. And there's also the problem of what Lucius himself does, as he realises he isn't chained to the wall any more.
I work as quickly as I can and still be sure that I'm not going to screw this up, and after an unspecified amount of time, I begin to feel a tug. Then the tug becomes a drag, and the drag becomes an almost gravitational pull. I throw more energy into it, but now I can feel resistance. I think Corwin knows I'm here. But I have the momentum, and seconds before Corwin slams up new defences and shuts me out, I feel as much as hear the bamf of displaced air, and Lucius is standing in front of me.
"Afternoon," I say as I catch his eye.