Fletcher pressed his head into the soft leather, breathing in deep lungfuls of air. He could hear the others clapping and yelling incoherently. His mind was filled with extraordinary happiness and clarity, as if he were drugged to the gills.
‘What Fletcher will be feeling now is the temporary exhilaration of merging consciousnesses with another being. His demon is within him, yet he will be barely aware of it in a few minutes. Ignatius will see everything that Fletcher is seeing, though he will understand very little of it. This can be extremely useful should you need to summon in the midst of battle, as demons are prepared for the situation as soon as they reappear,’ Lovett lectured, pacing back and forth behind him.
‘Some summoners experience flashes of demonic memory in the months after they first infuse their demons. This too shall pass, but is an important part of how we learn about the ether. If this happens to you, make sure to take note of every detail and tell myself and Major Goodwin all of it. We need every bit of information about the life of demons we can get,’ she continued.
Fletcher stood with difficulty and walked back to the others, his head still spinning. Seraph patted him on the back with a jealous grin on his face.
‘Well done. I guess you’re the one to beat,’ he whispered.
‘Not likely. I think that almost killed me,’ Fletcher replied, feeling the warm glow of Ignatius within him. It was strange, he could barely distinguish between Ignatius’s consciousness and his own. The thread no longer connected them; they flowed into each other like the meeting of two rivers.
Othello gave him an encouraging smile and even Sylva touched him lightly on the arm before turning her attention back to Sariel. The elf buried her face and hands in her demon’s golden fur, clinging on to the Canid as if her life depended on it. Fletcher suspected it would be a long while before she would want to infuse Sariel again.
‘Now. Othello and Fletcher, let’s have a look at those heads of yours,’ Lovett said, beckoning them forward. Once they were in front of her, she whispered under her breath, ‘Is there anything you boys need to tell me? You and Sylva look like you’ve been in the wars, and I should know.’
‘It’s nothing we couldn’t handle,’ Fletcher assured her, looking to Othello for support.
‘We dealt with it,’ the dwarf agreed.
Lovett eyed them for a moment, before inclining her head in acceptance.
‘Well, if you ever change your minds, you can talk to me,’ she murmured, looking them in the eyes. ‘You don’t have to fight your battles alone.’
Then she stepped back and raised her voice.
‘Gather round, everyone. I’m going to use the healing spell; you might as well watch.’
The rest of the commoners approached them, chattering with excitement at the opportunity to see another spell. Othello removed his bandage, revealing a jagged cut across his temple.
Fletcher winced at the sight of it. He hadn’t realised how bad the wound was.
‘Watch closely now,’ Lovett announced. She etched a heart-shaped symbol in the air with wyrdlight, then pointed it at Othello’s gash.
‘The healing spell is perfect for cuts, bruises and even internal injuries, although it won’t do anything against poisons and diseases,’ Lovett declared, knitting her brows together in concentration. ‘It requires a lot of mana and takes a while to perform, especially for deeper injuries.’
She exhaled and golden light flowed from the symbol to Othello’s head. Nothing happened for almost thirty seconds. Then, to Fletcher’s astonishment, the wound began to stitch together, sealing itself until the skin was completely healed, leaving nothing but a crust of dried blood.
The group clapped, cheering at the feat. Lovett turned her eyes to Fletcher’s forehead, but shook her head.
‘You’ll have to let that heal on its own, Fletcher,’ she explained, pointing at the swelling. ‘You may have a fracture. The healing spell can cause broken bones to fuse incorrectly, leaving you permanently disfigured. Best not to risk it.’
Fletcher nodded in agreement, fingering the lump on his head with a wince.
‘Right, let’s get the rest of you trained up. Once you’ve mastered infusion we can move on to the fun stuff,’ Lovett exclaimed, clapping her hands.
‘What happens then?’ Rory asked as he unravelled his summoning leather on to the floor.
Lovett removed her goggles and smiled at them mysteriously.
‘We’re going to enter the ether.’
33