Summoner? I 'ardly know 'er.

"How does this keep happening to me" I ask as Jess wraps some bandages she had taken from the village. The hunk of leather I had gripped between my teeth was on the ground next to the blade and a splatter of blood. The less said about the removal of the knife the better.

Alan, standing over at the cave entrance covering us briefly looks over and says "You're reckless, you only needed to draw them in as I picked them off."

"Shove off, he did fine" Jess retorts. "Don't listen to him, that was brave. Calm down, breath in and out, we still have to go in there. You good?"

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm good. He's right I don't know what came over me there, I'm sorry." she finishes bandaging me up and I slip back on my tunic. I manage to stand up and stretch to the left, then right. It hurts but i'm definitely mobile.

"You stay in the rear Mac, Alan you lead. Let's go" Jess says gesturing to the cave. Alan nods and heads in.

The cave appears to be a weather worn crevice creeping down into the dark, it's a wonder the goblins can see anything down here. Visibility is maybe 5 feet, I can see Jess sneaking but I only get the occasional glimpse of Alan. We walk for maybe a minute, following the short twists and turns until a light source becomes visible ahead.

"You can come out" says an ominous voice.

We step into the light of a circular study, clearly carved into the rock. A table with papers strewn about sits next to a straw bed nestled into a tight space. The rest of the room is dedicated to what appears to be some sort of summoning circle, containing a medium sized dog in its center. The dog is jet black and flowing with angry red cracks spewing small jets of fire. The circle leads to a small statue of said dog, carved from some sort of black stone.

We step into the light of the room, torchlight playing against the wall I catch glimpses of figures in the shadows.

"So the rumours are true, the travelers are returning. It seems you have caught me at a most inopportune time. My conquest of this land has barely begun." The man stood in the center of the room, dressed in a simple tunic and pants not unlike mine. He appeared to be entirely ordinary, average height, hair, but his eyes radiated fire. This was our summoner, the man who attacked a village and got me stabbed. Twice.

We all stand, staring at one another. Alan's bow shifts in his hand, My hand finds my stab wound on my back. The pain a very real reminder of the power of knives. Jess steps forward and says "Why attack the village? why attack us?"

"Those villagers are not as innocent as they seem, Traveler. If i'd had more time I would have had enough minions to be safe from the likes of you. Safe from everyone. I am no fool, I know the legends talk about how difficult it is to show you all true death, but I also know you also still suffer pain. Stand aside and we can all walk away from this unscathed" said the Summoner.

"Fuck that" says Alan and he raises his bow, in an action smooth and well practiced he looses an arrow. The summoner sidesteps the arrow as if expecting it. Jess and I react immediately and charge. The summoner raises an arm and a band wrapped around it glows red briefly, and a fireball launches itself. Ofcourse it streaks at me. Jess manages to shoulder me out of the way and I go stumbling into the summoning circle. She takes the brunt of the fire, screaming.

The Summoner watches me break the circle and starts a shout, which is cut off by an arrow sinking into his throat.

As I fall into the circle, my mind goes blank in pure agony. It's as if every part of my body is set on fire while being stabbed.

"My, my. Who do we have here?" comes a sultry voice, echoing in the deepest parts of my conciousness.