“I would not worry,” Ammu replied. “A Samantha without sarcasm would be like the sun without its glorious rays. You will simply have to shine your wit upon us all more evenly from now on.”
And with that, they all burst into laughter. Everyone but Sam, that is, who just flashed him a wry grin and rolled her eyes.
46
Instructor Report
“How the hell did it get rid of the paint?”
“I could not even begin to guess. We know so little about its—”
“I don’t want you to guess. I want you to make an educated surmise. That’s why I pay for your expertise: so we won’t all be standing around like piss-damn ASVAB waivers just making shit up by pulling it out of our asses and calling it an idea.”
“Well, if I had to… surmise… I would say it has to do with its composition. Its most basic physiology is very different from our own. It can literally slip through our grasp. I suspect it absorbed the paint into itself, assimilating it into its own form.”
“You’re telling me you can’t even touch it?”
“We can touch it. We simply can not hold onto it.”
“So shooting it might not have any effect.”
“That is a distinct possibility.”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out. Let’s try it on the next one.”
“What? No! They are already emotionally attached to this creature. They have touched it in awe and wonder. Daniel sang with it. If we injure it, they will never summon anything for us again. You must understand, it is not a matter of conscious will. They would be so traumatized as to literally lose the ability to do it, at least here, for us. Possibly anywhere. The results would be devastating.”
“Well, hells bells, Professor, I don’t care what we shoot. Summon something they won’t be attached to, then. We’re the good guys here, remember? Bring me something bad, and then let’s kill it. That’s our job.”
“Yes. Yes, of course. I will ask them to summon something that is moderately aligned with the forces of darkness. But I must warn you—”
“See? That’s what I’m talking about. Kill the piss-damn forces of darkness and go home happy. Tuck the kids in, knowing they’re a little bit safer, crawl into bed with the wife. That’s a good day.”
“As I was saying, I do not believe we will be able to control such a thing without Mr. Hunt’s presence. If he were permitted to return—”
“You’re not listening, Professor. I’m not trying to control the forces of darkness. I’m trying to kill them. Booyah. Good guys win. Promotions all around. Home to the wife. You follow? Just bring me something to shoot, and let’s put this puppy to bed.”
47
Trouble
After another two days of rest, Ammu led them back into the basement tunnels, but this time, instead of turning into the white room, he led them past it, turning into a side tunnel and opening a new door they had never seen before. Walking into the small, dim space, they realized they were now behind the observation mirror, looking out upon the summoning room.
Whoever might have been watching them before, there was no sign of them today. They were alone with Ammu, and Miller was alone in the summoning room, standing armed and alert in the back corner. The table was still there as well, but now it held a paintball gun.
“Today, I am going to ask you to summon something different,” Ammu said. “You would know it as an imp, more or less: a small creature, technically aligned with the forces of darkness, but not as vicious or cruel as… well, as other things that exist—things that you must never, ever try to summon, for any reason. Is that clear?”
“Like what?” Sketch asked.
“Do not try to summon anything unless I ask you to,” Ammu repeated, eyeing Sketch meaningfully, and they all looked down at the floor, feeling a little guilty despite having received his forgiveness for their midnight escapade in the workshop.
“Yes, Ammu,” Kaitlyn said, speaking for all of them.
“As I was saying, you will be summoning something that is inherently somewhat dangerous, due to its nature, so as a safety precaution, you are not going to be in the same room with it.”
“How is that possible?” Mackenzie asked.
“You will perform the summoning here,” Ammu explained, “but you will open the portal in there.”
“Oh, sure,” Sam commented. “Send the Asian kid in alone to die. I see how it is.”
“As I am quite sure you have already deduced,” Ammu said, raising one eyebrow but otherwise ignoring her sarcasm, “no one will be going into the summoning room to die, as you say. You, Samantha, will be standing here in this room, along with everyone else. You and Mackenzie will open the portal together, with your joint intention: yours for the timing, and hers for the place.”
“Where do I draw the circle?” Kaitlyn asked.
“Right here,” Ammu said. “The room is a bit smaller, but the space should be ample enough.”
Eyeing its dimensions, Kaitlyn decided he was right; she could fit a full-sized summoning circle here. The observation room was just as wide as the summoning room, with the same whitewashed floor and a small table to the right of the long window for the usual rag and bowl of water. The only limitation was the space between the window and the door, but still, it would be large enough.
“This is what you will be summoning,” Ammu said.
He opened his book to the page of a strange little humanoid creature, standing in front of a man, just barely tall enough to come up to his knee. It had a bat-like face with a squished-in nose, beady eyes, a mouth that protruded a bit, almost like a small beak, and tall ears that stuck out of its head at an odd angle. The picture made Kaitlyn laugh, but Daniel grimaced, peering at it over her shoulder.
“Its appearance is a bit laughable,” Ammu agreed, “but I assure you, this creature is potentially harmful, so you must remain here with me, in this room, at all times.”
“OK,” Kaitlyn promised. “I think I have the pattern. Should I draw the circle?”
“You may,” Ammu conceded. “But please do not begin drawing the runes themselves until I am certain that everyone understands how we will proceed.”
Kaitlyn nodded, taking the blue chalk and tracing the circle on the floor at their feet, the others all moving toward the left side of the window to give her more room.
“You will, of course, draw the runes here,” Ammu continued. “And Mackenzie will bless the circle, as she usually does. I apologize that there will be less space in which to move, but I believe it will suffice for our purposes.”
Mackenzie nodded. Whatever Ammu needed, she would figure it out.
“Samantha, you will stand in the center of the circle,” Ammu continued. “When you sense that the portal is ready, you will open it, just as you have been doing. Because Mackenzie’s affinity is for position, she will hold in her mind, all the while, the intention of placing the portal in there. Together, your combined intention should place and open the gateway properly.”
“What if it doesn’t work, and it ends up in the wrong place?” Kaitlyn asked.