Note: This was written for a contest. The theme was “Summoning” and the entry had to be a short story under 2,000 words. It did not place, but I received good feedback and edited it accordingly. This is the revised version.
Consciousness.
The realization trickled slowly over it, its coming like icy tendrils creeping across its existence. How long had it been since it had last been in this place? Centuries? Millennia? Aeons?
They were preparing. It could feel them even though it was not fully awake yet. They were coming.
What kind of world would greet it now? The last time it had been awake, there was water, and curious creatures wrapped in plates of metal, brandishing shining sticks. A robed creature with a grey beard had greeted it when it woke, and it was the last thing it remembered seeing before returning to slumber.
There was a faint light now, but it was too far off. They would have to do more, same as the others had.
What had it been before this? Every time it was awakened, it tried to remember, and each time it was able to recall less and less.
The light faded.
That happened sometimes. It did not know why, only that it usually preceded the final release. No one had ever explained it; they always seemed be in a hurry, barking orders and making harshly spoken demands. It was never in a position to question. Only to obey.
It drowsed a bit in its semi-aware state. Time continued on, swirling around it, and at the same time part of it.
The light returned, brighter this time, forming the sigil that it knew so well.
Who would be on the other side, and what would they want this time? Riches? Fame? Maybe love, or even power—those were common requests.
Destruction…
The last one sent a ripple through its awareness. It never liked that one, though if that was the request, it had no choice but to comply.
Glowing lines appeared in the air now, their paths crossing over and over in an intricate design. It felt itself being pulled toward it.
The Door of the World.
The lines and runes seemed to move within the symbol, spinning slowly as they formed, but gaining speed as the summoning spell was cast. The whole thing became a great whirling blur as it felt itself move through it, its pure consciousness coagulating into a form the creatures could comprehend.
The air here was warm, and it looked upwards through its mask, seeing a sky full of dim stars. It bent its temporary neck, and there were tall pillars rising up from the ground below, forming a forest of glass and concrete.
It lowered its gaze. The Door appeared to have been drawn on the flat top of one of these pillars, and gathered around it were five of the strange creatures it had come to expect. These ones were different from the last—they appeared young, and wore strange clothing. There were others, dressed in black, lying on the floor, not moving.
“I AM TANIRE, THE BLUE STARBOUND,” it thundered, the words it had been cursed to say emanating from behind its blank humanoid mask, “SPEAK YOUR NAME, BEARER OF THE STAR KEEPER, AND I SHALL GRANT TO YOU YOUR ONE DESIRE.”
A woman wearing a flowing green skirt and a white tank top walked towards the towering faceless deity they had summoned. She had wavy black hair that faded to a blue color at the bottom, and in her hands she was holding a silver object that still shone, despite how old it was.
The Star Keeper.
It was a silver bowl resting on top of a long central pillar, with filigree coming up to support it from the thin, flat base. There were sapphires set into the scroll work, and ancient binding spells had been engraved on the rim of the bowl. It had seen the vessel many times before, but it had never looked this worn.
“Tanire!” the girl called out, holding the relic above her head, her long hair blowing wildly in the wind, “I am Mia, bearer of the Star Keeper—and my one desire is to set you free!”
Its mind reeled, and it let out a long, keening sound as it felt itself being compressed. It had never had a command like that before, and it did not know what was happening to it.
Fear.
The emotion smacked it, and the sound grew louder. Memories flooded back as it curled in on itself, attempting to obey both curse and command at the same time.
“Is this really how it’s supposed to work?” a male voice shouted over the din, “Because this doesn’t sound like it’s working!”
“This is what the scroll said to do!” Mia yelled back, holding the artifact up higher, as if putting it closer to the thrashing entity would change what was happening.
It clutched blue, luminescent hands to its chest.
Her chest.
She used to be a woman. A woman named Tanire, who was to be married off to a rich noble’s family. Instead she had been abducted. She remembered being taken while walking home from town. They used her as a sacrifice in a ritual—there had been others! There was magic involved…
She felt like she was dying, her essence being shredded and cast into the winds.
“We did it wrong,” a female voice called out, “I translated the texts wrong—we have to destroy it once we wish to set her free, or she’ll be torn apart!”
“Dammit Kate, I thought you majored in ancient languages!” A gruff male voice chided. A red-haired girl in glasses was holding a battered, leather-bound book against her chest as she tried to read it in the high winds.
“I did, but there are words that mean the same things, and—”
“We don’t have time, just tell us how to destroy it!” the first male yelled.
“I know exactly how to get rid of that damn thing,” the second man roared, striding forward and pulling a pistol from his belt holster.
“No, Sam, I have to do it!” Mia cried, pulling the vessel close to her, staring at it.
She seemed to be in several different places at once. She was simultaneously here, in the past, and amongst the stars. Though she did not recall having eyes anymore, she remembered now what tears were, and she felt them form in the empty sockets of her mask as she felt pain for the first time in thousands of years.
“Mia, hurry! She’s breaking apart!”
The woman named Mia took one end of the Star Keeper in one hand, and the other in her opposite hand. She bore down with a cry, and snapped the silver object in half.
The wailing ceased, and the flat, blank mask that covered Tanire’s face shattered, turning into sparkling dust in the air; revealing the woman beneath it. Her naked body fell from the sky, and Sam leapt forward, catching her before she hit the roof of the building.
The lines from the summoning circle faded as the group crowded around the large man and the girl. She rolled her head and groaned, her brown hair spilling down his arm.
Consciousness? Already? Didn’t she just… No. This was different.
Tanire’s eyes fluttered and she opened them, the gesture feeling foreign to her. She raised her hands and felt her face for the first time in millennia. She was… alive?
She was alive, and finally free.
**End**