“The generals then went their separate ways, swearing each other to secrecy, but each promised to protect the knowledge, should it ever again be needed, by teaching this history—along with the ancient secrets of the true summoners—to a single, trusted member of the next generation. Sometimes this would be a son or daughter, sometimes a niece or nephew, sometimes a promising student of no blood relation at all, but always only one, who would, in turn, promise to do the same.
“Over the centuries, some of these lines of knowledge have been cut short, their keepers having departed unexpectedly from this life before their great secret could be passed on. I do not know of any others besides myself who remain, but there may well be a few, scattered throughout the world. How many, I have no way of knowing. It is not as though we advertise.”
He smiled when he said this—his usual, humble smile—and Mackenzie realized with a start how badly he had been wanting to tell them what he was finally telling them now.
“Seven years ago, after more than two millennia, a team of archaeologists discovered the tomb of Alexander the Great, buried deep beneath what is today an Islamic mosque—the mosque, in turn, having been built many centuries ago atop the site of the ancient Zoroastrian temple. Without understanding the implications of their actions, they broke the seal, enabling the ancient rituals of summoning to be completed successfully once again.”
Sam looked down at her hands and then shared a brief glance with Kaitlyn before pointedly looking away.
“Unfortunately, as you can see from the video, the rituals can be used for devastating results. Whether the knowledge has been retained by another line of descent from those ancient generals, or whether there exists a Zoroastrian sect which has also managed to protect these secrets across the centuries, or whether the process is simply being rediscovered by those who possess the strongest of pathways between the conscious and the unconscious mind, I do not know.
“What I do know is that the forces of darkness must not be released again upon an unknowing world. Which leads me to the ultimate point of this morning’s briefing: the true nature of the ICIC. We have brought you here for the sole purpose of completing a summoning ritual—hopefully, in fact, several such rituals—in a place where the process can be controlled and studied, so that we might learn how to put a stop to attacks of this nature.”
Ammu paused and turned the television back on, revealing the final image of the helicopter spinning out of control.
“Before more human lives are lost.”
40
Sketch
“I’m sorry, Ammu, but could we try this somewhere else?” Kaitlyn had been staring at the book for what seemed to her like a very long time, but the runes just weren’t coming to her the way they had the night before.
“Is there something we can do to make this space more conducive to the process?” Ammu asked in return.
“No, I guess there isn’t really anything wrong with the room,” she admitted, but her voice sounded dejected, exhausted.
“If there is anything we can do to help you focus more easily here, we will gladly do it, but I am afraid the experiments can not be moved. There are certain safety precautions in place, as well as equipment meant to capture the process.”
Kaitlyn nodded. “I understand. Let me try again.”
She looked back at the drawing, and after several long, awkward minutes—during which Sam looked more and more annoyed and Sketch actually sat down on the floor, threatening to lie down on his side until Mackenzie hurried over and propped the boy up with her leg—Kaitlyn finally nodded.
“I have it,” she said, but she still sounded tired.
“I know you are all sad to see your friend leave,” Ammu said, “but try not to think of the moment in which he left. Try to see him at his gaming convention, with a smile on his face, defeating the competition and earning his position on the professional team. Imagine him happy. It will help your minds to settle and focus.”
In the silver lining category, Mackenzie thought, tired and sad look a lot alike. Rush leaving still sucks, but it’s covering our asses right now.
Kaitlyn nodded at Ammu, trying to look grateful for his help.
“Excellent,” Ammu said encouragingly. “Places then, everyone. Let us begin.”
Kaitlyn took the blue chalk and began to trace the runes on the floor. She wondered how many times she would have to do this before she finally had the pattern memorized, so she could draw the complex figures without an image to prompt her.
“Hey, Gears?” Sam said, breaking her out of her reverie.
“Huh? Sorry, what?”
“Timing, remember? We all have to work together?” Sam sat cross-legged in the circle, watching Kaitlyn draw the runes while Mackenzie was still extracting herself from Sketch, encouraging him to sit up straight without her.
“Oh, gosh! I’m so sorry!”
“That is all right,” Ammu reassured her. “But please, everyone, let us focus as best we can. The summoning will not work if your minds are not attuned to the task. A tremendous amount of knowledge has surely been lost about this process throughout the intervening centuries, but of this much, at least, I am certain.”
Kaitlyn nodded, clearly chagrined, and she sat back on her heels, waiting patiently for Mackenzie to make her way over to the circle.
“Actually,” Mackenzie said, having finally succeeded in getting Sketch to stand back up, “I think Gears can finish drawing the runes first, and then she can trace them over again from the starting point when I come in.” That’s how we did it the first time, remember? She willed the others to understand what she was really saying. When we almost opened the portal right here, the time Ammu doesn’t want them to know about.
“Oh, um… OK,” Sam said. “I… yeah… sorry, Gears. Go ahead. My bad.”
“It is fine,” Ammu interjected gently. “We are all still learning how this works. Together, we will experiment until we are successful, yes?” He smiled at them encouragingly, and they all nodded in return, trying not to look guilty.
Kaitlyn finished drawing the runes on the floor. By the time she was done, Sketch was sitting down again. Mackenzie gave Daniel a meaningful glance, but Daniel was already moving toward him, taking her place to prop Sketch up since Daniel could stand still while he sang. He stepped behind Sketch, who leaned back gratefully against Daniel’s leg, watching the process with drooping eyelids.
“Here,” Mackenzie said, choosing their starting point. “Gears? You ready?”
Kaitlyn took a deep breath and nodded.
“OK, Tick-Tock. Count us in.”
“One… two… one, two, three, four.”
Mackenzie blessed the circle as Kaitlyn drew each rune, but she was as tired as the rest. Given her background in a military family, she knew how to hide things like pain or sadness or sleep deprivation, but she was still performing the ritual more by rote than through any conscious focus. She only hoped it would still work.