Adventures in Summoning

Chapter 26

Have you ever accidentally cut yourself with a really sharp knife? I did once when I was making garlic bread, and the bread knife went too deep into the bread and sliced the top of my thumb quite thoroughly. I didn't even feel the pain at first, though I immediately knew what I had done. I stared at my thumb, and could see the incision, but the blood hadn't realized it could escape into the freedom and bright light yet. But seconds later, reality set in and the blood started welling up and out, running down my thumb and making a mess of the loaf of French bread while the pain set in and made me grimace.

Quin's roar was kind of like that, but instead of a sharp knife it was an insanely hot and naked dragon girl splayed out in front of me.

I didn't know what the outcome was going to be afterwards, but I knew it had the potential to be bad.

The first thing to happen was hearing Dee and Helen yelling from the other shelter, and I hurriedly cast my eyes about till I was able to find the scattered clothes on the floor. I tossed Quin's to her, though she still seemed dazed, and I slipped on my tattered underwear, and then made a doorway in our shelter and jogged over to make another for Helen and Dee before grabbing my still damp shorts.

"Hey, what was that?" Dee exclaimed, while Helen giggled uncontrollably.

"Uhh, nothing. Quin just had a bit of a shock. I need to get to the beach to see if the other island is doing anything," I explained as I rushed past them. I slowed down once I got close to the beach, the rain still pounding down around me. There wasn't as much thunder and lightning, but my hope was that was what the enemy had thought the roar was.

The other island was much more active now. No more torches to keep their little encampment lit up, there were now several floodlights illuminating the area, as well as a spotlight that was trained to the sky, searching for the dragon they must think was nearby. I watched for a few minutes and heard Helen creep up behind me to look over my shoulder.

When the light swept down in our direction, I dropped onto my belly behind the shrubs that we had been peering through in a panic. I turned my head, but Helen was already doing the same thing.

"Where is Dee?" I whispered over to her.

"I told her to stay with Quin, that we'd scout the situation," Helen assured me.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, Quin was a little out of it, and she probably isn't as good at hiding."

"Out of it huh? Should I even ask what you did to her?" Helen smirked at me.

I could feel my face turning red, and I just hoped the rain would keep that from her. "No, you most certainly should not ask me that."

"What if I told you that I had a vision of it?" She asked slyly.

I whipped my head back at her, praying she was joking. "You did not!"

"No, I didn't, but the growls and the roar were more than enough to get a mental image of it. Poor Dee was mortified until I told her I could do the same to her."

"Well, I think I can go drown myself now," I said, hanging my head in embarrassment.

"Don't you dare! With all the horrible shit going on here, Quin needed someone who could give her enjoyment, and you do as well. I'd imagine she hasn't had much happiness since our dear grandfather opened that portal, and I know you haven't had any while living with your parents. You could be good for each other."