Bonded Summoner

Jake’s brush flowed gently through his ravenwolf lover’s fur, Tanda’s eyes narrowed in satisfaction. He had already brushed her featherlike hair, the fur around her hands and arms, and was now working on her tail as she sat in his lap on the bed.

In truth, the girl’s fur and hair hardly required brushing. The auril and magic running through her body and immense vitality kept her fur in perfect shape, but he was doing it because she liked it.

And he enjoyed doing it for her, seeing her smiling face and feeling her happiness over their bond. He continued the brushing even as her wing wrapped around him, the girl stretching as she shifted position on his lap in her tribal clothes. As soon as he let go of her tail, the brushing of it complete, it began wagging at a furious pace.

Jake was about to move onto Tanda’s legs when she bowled him over instead. While his ravenwolf lover didn’t lick, her little pecks and kisses all over his face and neck in excitement were not much different.

He chuckled, as he dropped the brush and wrapped his arms around her, and met her lips with his own. She gave off a pleased hum as they tumbled onto the bed, him returning her pecks and kisses from before. They enjoyed their time together for a moment, before she pulled away from his embrace and sat up.

“You should groom Ava next!”

“You think she would like that? She doesn’t really have that much fur on her lesser avatars, at least.”

“Tail brushing is the best part, and you could always just do the battle one! It’s too bad Lia doesn’t have any fur. You can run your fingers through her feathers and help align them, and that feels good. But if I had to choose one, brushing my fur and hair is a lot more enjoyable.”

“I’ll think on it. I feel like I’m just barely getting to know her. Something about her… feels different to me.”

Avalara more or less revealed that the reason their bond hadn’t moved forward was him. Of course, there wasn’t really anything for him to dislike about her–he just had a hard time understanding her as a person.

“I think I know what you mean, and I’ve heard your thoughts. She has ancient wisdom from her age, and yet she’s playful, teasing, and mischievous. To you, it feels calculated because of this…” Tanda shook her head.

“But you’re just overthinking it. She’s a world core who is thousands of years old and has heard countless people’s lives and songs from birth to death, but the truth is that there is only one detail that matters: she is beastkin. You’ve met hundreds, even thousands of beastkin, and she is not all that different from those–including me! She is the embodiment of them, loving and guiding them for all this time. If you love the beastkin and the world of Highlands she built, then you should love her. It’s that simple.”

Jake wasn’t so sure that sounded simple. “Loving a whole world and a people means I love her, a woman? That’s simple?”

“Aren’t you already fond of her? As for her, her desires are no different, and it is for these reasons that she already loves and desires her mighty stag: you.”

Jake chuckled at that, but felt like she was right. Ava was fun to be around, and interesting. She fit in well with their family just like Tanda had, showing that their clan’s hearts could all beat as one. Even the training with Ava’s Battle Avatar was fun bonding together, the girl showing a playful, yet bloodthirsty attitude–just like his other wives.

While they weren’t exactly at being able to read her thoughts yet–he could feel her emotions.

“I guess her stag is going to go pay her a visit.”

“I’ll come too! Looks like the girls are all having some fun without us.”

He sensed his girls throughout the refuge, and found all the others together on the front lawn. Despite being in transit to the Concordia Republic, they could appear as mental projections within the radius of their home base back on Highlands.

Jake and Tanda teleported outside to their front door, finding the girls surrounded by dozens of spriggons, beastkin, satyr, faun, treant and dryad children–playing. Due to the war ended, the mass migration arrivals of even the children were now present on Highlands. This was a minor welcoming party for the numerous additions.

Tanda was quick to fly over and join them, the children shouting with glee. Many of her cousins and younger siblings noticed her right away, happy to see her. Jake stood out in front of the door, unnoticed for the moment as he observed the small gathering.

Two copies of Ava’s lesser avatars joined Bloodberri and Ophelia, one directing the kids in their chosen games. What was interesting was this was the one that was actually present on Highlands–she had only brought one lesser avatar with them in their Refuge. Even the world tree hamadryad joined, hanging in that Ava’s hair.

Ava gave him a quick look, and he could feel her emotions over their bond–a warmth as her heart was set aflutter, as she had noticed his gaze on her. It appeared Tanda hadn’t exaggerated her feelings at all, even if he mostly already knew that.

The other Ava stood next to Nadessa, meeting with the many parents and having a small cookout. Whether beastkin, Elysian, or otherwise, they all spoke with fond smiles on their faces, or ones filled with pride as they pointed out their children to the living world core. They thanked her for the gift of her song and her protection, to which Ava just beamed with pride in response.

Since Jake was only there as a mental projection, he couldn’t really feel the auril in the air or the many presences like he should. The reverse was true for the people of Highlands, in being unable to feel Jake’s.

Nevertheless, he watched the somewhat chaotic, yet peaceful scene of the many kids enjoying their play. The child dryads weren’t really into roughhousing like the beastkin were, and it seemed like they were playing an odd game that was a lot like kick the can–a combination of hide and seek and capture the flag.

Except the ‘can’ they had to ‘kick’ to free those who were tagged, was a spriggon running around and hiding. Its odd illusions and growth magic also deterred their chasers, where the dryads seemed to have increased capabilities in capturing them–an intuitive control over the plants around them.

The parents were relaxing, conversing. If Jake was on Highlands in truth, he knew the auril in the clearing would be filled to the brim with vitality, every breath energizing him.

The many auril hearts would be beating their own songs of excitement and joy, or serenity and pride. Jake found that he already missed that he couldn’t feel or see this–his Umbral Gaze or Arcane Eye would normally be able to, but it couldn’t from here.

He still felt like he was at home since he was within his Refuge’s radius, but the lack of a connection to Highlands suddenly felt a little lonely. Tanda’s cyclical auril heart still beat in her chest, and this allowed her to intuitively listen to the song of her people as if she were on Highlands.

Of course, Jake could join her. He was just about to try to sync with Tanda and enter her state, when Avalara looked his way and gave him a caring smile from the group of parents off to the side. For a moment, it was like Berri had attempted her soul hug, and Ava enveloped him in a warm embrace over their bond.

Suddenly, the many heartbeats of the beastkin filled his ears, and he was able to feel their songs once more. He basked in their joy with a smile for a moment, listening to the beastkin’s anthem.

Once again, he was caught up to speed on the many beastkin happenings–births, people finding mates–even not among the beastkin, and their many triumphs in battle. A warmth filled his heart that he still heard how thankful and respected him and his family were for all the things they did.

Eventually, many beastkin’s heads turned his way.

A child pointed and shouted, “It’s Chief Jake!”

Jake realized that Ava was replaying his heartbeats, just like Tanda would do for him. The many beastkin waved, and some kids were quick to crowd him to get their hugs and head pats. Some sniffed the air with confused looks, though they seemed to accept the oddity of his projection quickly–after all, Ophelia and Bloodberri were the same way, only present as projections.

He spent some time greeting the kids and the parents, but eventually arrived by Ava’s side–the one that was with him in his Refuge, wearing his hairpin he gave her for Winter’s Giving. She had moved to stand a bit at the back of the many people, away from the rest so they could speak alone.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Thank you. I take it–”

Ava nodded. “I could feel it. You were longing for Highlands–longing for your connection to home, your people.” She gave him a beaming smile, and he could feel her pride. “Right now, hundreds of my kin, your Hearthtribe, are far away on other worlds. They also long for it, but the song of the world reassures them.”

“I can see how it would. The song of the world is truly an impressive thing to me. Was this… your parent’s creation, or…yours?”

She tapped her lips, frowning in thought. “Hmm… I think the short answer is that they made me and auril, all by design, and taught me how to sing the song of the world. I sing my own song now. The long answer…is much more complicated than that.” She gave him a coy look, as if shy all of the sudden.

Jake gave her a fond smile. “I would love to know more about you, and how you came to be.”

Ava looked at the world tree, as if gathering her thoughts. “I was born of love between my mother and father, and each gave a piece of their divinity to create me to match the people expected to live on the world. Becoming the Heart of the World and having a song heard by all was by their design.”

She continued, “Despite growing in my mother’s womb, I came out as a world seed. While I was in mother’s womb, and long after I was planted on what came to be known as Highlands, mother and father’s song reached me, carrying their love and guidance. For hundreds of years I listened, learning to grow and finding my voice and my own song. As my heart beat and I sang, the world was slowly forged from the energies of the cosmos and my song alike.”

Jake frowned in thought, having a hard time imagining the plant satyr man, an embodiment of nature’s vengeance, singing to his child. “Cernunnos sang too?”

She laughed, her ears flicking up and down. “Is that the hard part to imagine? Yes, he does. Eventually, my parents’ song and my own weren’t the only song heard by me–the many beastkin and treant races were eventually born of all the Celtic Divine. When I began to sing my song to them, at first I tried to convey all the love my parents had to their people like they gave me, to be my parent’s messenger, their Herald. This created a wonderful balance in the world, changing the path of rivers, causing mountains to rise, and so on. Over the years, I began to hear many songs joining the choir of the beastkin, and I came to love them too. Together, maintaining the balance of nature was as easy as breathing, our world a utopia for the people of the Celtic Divine.”

Jake could see where this story was going. “Until the Celtic Divine ran into difficulty off world, and the black dragon also appeared to finish the job against Cernunnos.”

“That’s right. When it appeared and destroyed all our connection to the Divine, I…was sleeping. They took advantage of this, though I have doubts I could have fully avoided the calamity. When I awoke, I did everything I learned to try to alter and send my parent’s message or divert the calamity, but it was challenging. At the time, my song was a constant, stable thing. Whether I was asleep or I was awake, my song persisted at the beat of my heart.”

“This happened while you were asleep? How…long do you sleep?”

She gave him a sad look. “At that time, I often slept for decades, being only awake for a few years as part of the cycle. I might be beastkin, but I am also part treant. What do you know about them?”

“If Highlands Treant are like the Elysian ones… many of them go through cycles of hibernation and growth. It’s accurate to say many of them spend more time asleep than awake. The hamadryads can rouse them from slumber, but…”

Ava nodded. “There is a reason why a majority of the Elysian Treants that arrived were the War Oaks, or those paired with dryads. The rest were too slow to awaken, and many had been slain early in their war. The Treants of Highlands often followed my cycle. While I was asleep…so were they.”

Jake couldn’t help but grimace at that. When the Death God arrived, they actually slayed most of the treants in their slumber. The Highlands people were truly unprepared for the attack.

Now he had an understanding of how things happened, but also understood Avalara a little better. While she might have been alive for a long time, she had actually spent much of her time asleep.

“Our people and I were ill prepared for this new struggle, the lack of conflict causing us to be weak. The cycle of hibernation and rebirth is a powerful force of nature that enabled significant growth, but a terrible weakness against an enemy. As unique or as special as we were, we were a separate people, unused to standing together. Easy pickings, until Timothy and his raven wife rose to the challenge.”

Jake remembered the play: The First Tyrant. Tanda’s ancestors, against all odds, defeated the Death god. However, after their victory, the curse had forced them to stay separate or suffer.

Ava continued, “When that happened, the Celtic Divine helped the beastkin change–but I had to fight for my own change. Over several hundred years, my song shifted as I changed myself to be more like the beastkin are now. I grew and learned, and conflict changed me along with the beastkin, changing my song to one where I was more present, able to direct them more. I chose my own path, and it strengthened us as I fought to defeat the curse.”

She changed along with the beastkin, though the effort was all her own. Things eventually led to the Trial where the beastkin failed, and then the Contested world where her and the beastkin’s efforts were not quite enough. Clan Hart was ultimately the deciding factor, one that Ava and her people would be forever grateful for.

“So you see, my ability to sing was my parents’ design, and my first song was for them. But my song has reborn, and I sing my own song of life, death, conflict and rebirth. In the end, I chose a song, a path, much like my father’s.”

Jake smiled. “Thank you for sharing that with me. You and the beastkin certainly struggled a lot.”

Ava wrapped her arms around Jake’s right, pulling it to her chest from the side as she looked over the beastkin, a proud smile on her face. “And we only survived thanks to you and your family. Your family and how you’ve changed the world by becoming King and the mass migrations, represents a second rebirth of the beastkin and the world–one where we all find harmony with the Framework, and the greater multiverse.”

“Our family, now.”

She beamed up at him and stood on her tip-toes to kiss his cheek, her lesser avatar a bit shorter than him. But he turned and met her lips, matching her kiss. Finally, Jake felt like he understood Avalara and the beastkin of Highlands much better than before. He had liked her, but understanding her, a living world, was a little more difficult and awkward for him.

He could feel the love and respect Ava had for him, and he wanted to reciprocate that love. His desire for her began to match Ava’s for him, his family’s hearts all beating as one.

Their bond reached the fourth level, her immense mind weighing on the whole family as it joined their mental link. It was an odd feeling, and it was one that actually made Jake worried about what was to come–the Hearth Bond.

Laughter echoed in Jake’s mind, [Not to worry, my mate. That you managed to bind me so thoroughly in our contest means you can handle the weight of my mind and soul. I told you before, did I not? Our contest mattered. It was for more reasons than just testing your resolve and desire.]

[Oh! It’s Ava! Yes, finally! We can talk about the castle all the time now! And not just when Blood–]

Blood groaned, [Sister, nobody wants to talk about baseball and castles all day long, even if they can do other things while they do it.]

[...I don’t talk about those all day long. There’s Jake and our babies to talk about too!]

Ava replied, [I don’t mind it, Blood. I am used to listening to the songs of thousands–]

Blood snorted, [Do not underestimate her ability to make you regret your next words.]

[Welcome, Ava! I’m pleased that you and Jake are now on the same page. I know you have been hoping for it.] Ophelia appeared delighted for Ava to join them. But not as overjoyed as Tanda.

[I’m so happy for you, Ava! Now you’re only one step away!]

[...This is the part where if Faye-faye were here, she’d say it was the best step.]

Ophelia mentally nodded. [With a very helpful, unsubtle reminder that the more, the merrier. Sharing is caring, double the pleasure, double the enjoyment, that kind of thing?]

Ava chuckled. “It’s lovely how well our Clan gets along.

They stood in silence for a moment, Jake looking over the kids once more. He felt a special warmth looking over his people’s enjoyment, and his girls all having a good time.

Ava broke the silence, giving him a mischievous smile as she twirled her odd green, black, and golden hair with her finger. “When you arrived, you seemed to want to have a chat with me. Was my story and me so charming that you forgot why you came?”

Jake chuckled. It wasn’t that he had forgotten why he came–it was that her telling him about herself had mostly accomplished his goal. “You are charming, and I did want to talk to you. I wasn’t all that particular about the topic, except I did want to invite you.”

“Invite me? Where to?”

“We should be arriving at the Concordia Republic soon. I was hoping to take you on a date. Did you have any preference for a type of venue, or would you like me to plan everything out like I often do?”

Jake could feel Ava’s excitement over their bond. She smiled in thought. “Hmm… I don’t know. I am excited to explore a bit. We were in a bit of a hurry in Ankhmar, but that was interesting too.”

“Explore? Of course, I’m excited to explore too. That’s different for a date, but I’ll see what I can come up with.”

Ava narrowed her eyes at him and teased, “And not just to capture more templates, right?”

Jake chuckled and nodded. “And not just to capture more templates. Of course, seeing a whole new magical world is exciting.”

[Aw, I want to go on an adventure too! You better explore with me too, Jake! You promised!]

Ophelia offered, [We can have another girl’s day out, but maybe we should also check out other places to explore.]

Blood hummed. [I’ll reach out to the regent, I do think it would be a waste to not meet with them while we are there.]

The buzzing in Jake’s head began, as all the girls began making their plans. It would take a little more time to arrive at the Concordia Republic, but he was looking forward to it.