Under the Roaring Sky (Round Two)

[Ranarath]

OoC: Alrighty, I’ll be using Yami for this round. Good luck.

BiC:

The summonstress sat in a deep trance, her mind far from the area occupied by her body. Instead, she was standing in a deep darkness, her mind within the realm of the spirits. Several orbs of pulsating, purple electricity surrounded her. They were the immaterial forms of summon spirits; more specifically, the spirits of lightning. However, only three of the beings actually took an interest in her presence. One of them, her own demon summon Raizan, floated beside her in protection. Even though it had rarely expressed in concern in her well-being, it also knew that, without the caller, it wouldn’t be allowed into the physical realm. The lightning demon loved nothing more than ripping apart enemies. The second orbs took the vague shape of a bird. “Why do you come here, demon summoner?” Lighcrose, the bird of lightning, interrogated. Like so many other beings, the bird spirits thought summoners of Yami’s speciality shouldn’t even have existed in the first place. “You already have formed a pact with Raizan. You have no business here,” it continued.

“Please,” the white-haired lady swept in a low bow, “I have only come seeking information.”

“Seek it on your own plane!” the spirit harshly cawed as the lightning that composed its presence sparked in annoyance. The orb that represented Raizan sparked in response, ready to defend its caller.

The demon summoner remained in her bow, her head starting at the blank blackness with her white hair falling around her, “The information I seek has no knowledge among mortals. In all my travels, no one has told me a shred of usefulness. Therefore, I come to implore you immortal spirits to impart the knowledge I am searching for.”

The third orb floated towards her. “We know what you search for,” Haniel, the angel of lightning, stated, “but we cannot help you find the great summon. It is something the summoners must do on their own.”

Yami’s head snapped upwards. She opened her mouth to protest but instead replied, “I respect your decision, summon spirits.” Her burning red eyes said every differently, however. Standing up straight, she bid farewell to Raizan and broke her connection with the immaterial plane. Suddenly, she was back in the meditation chamber of the Temple of Lighting. The summoner sat in the middle of the room, her legs beneath her and Sevcis laid out before her. A deep sigh escaped her lungs, Well, that attempt was worthless. Perhaps not completely worthless. By what Haniel had said, none of the other spirits would help her, either. The red-eyed woman had figured that much but it never hurt to try. So far, all her trails about the final summon had led to dead ends. Things were getting... frustrating, to say the least. She reached out and wrapped her right hand around the cool metal of her staff and immediately felt the warmth of her sister’s soul.

Was the attempt a success? Rya questioned. She knew the answer without asking, however; Yami’s disappointment told the dark guardian that much.

“Nothing, of course,” the summoner stood up and straighten her clothing with her hands. The meditation chamber was sparsely furnished as the walls curved in a circle and the ceiling domed overhead. The floor was made of a glassly surface that was sapphire blue but still forced reflections to peer back at the people who entered. The walls and ceiling where made from a dark purple stone with intricate bolts of golden lightning zig-zagging down from a carved storm cloud in the middle of the dome. The only item in the room was a stone lamp that housed an orb of purple lightning. A gateway to the immaterial realm where summoners could make pacts with the elemental spirits. Yami had been here only once before and it was when she had requested the aid of Raizan. More than a little disappointed with her second visit, the summonstress turned and left the room via a stone door that blended in perfectly with the walls and raised on the magical command of any summoner. She entered into a small antechamber and then exited into the main chamber. This room was much more lavishly furnished than the meditation chamber. A circular rug woven of blue, purple, and gold silk adorned the floor. Several doors led into resting rooms for travelers and personal rooms for temple caretakers. Four pillars of violet stone held the flat ceiling above the people’s head and where also carved with golden bolts. The walls of the main chamber, though, were carved with images of the many spirits that could evoked in the name of lightning. Scenes of battles between them and lesser spirits told a story of their own that only a feeble-minded person wouldn’t understand. Strong magic permeated the building and almost made it difficult of breath. Yami stood in the center of the room with her eyes closed and reveled the sheer power for a second. Finally, she opened her eyes and walked out of the temple with her characteristic and confident smirk.

The outer expression of the temple did its importance justice. The center of the building, which housed the three chambers the summoner had walked through, was the largest part. The top jutted far into the sky and ended in a metal point. Lightning continually struck this, imbuing the magic with even more power. Two smaller, though not by much, circular pieces attached to either side of the main building. These housed the resting and personal rooms and their tops ended in five points spaced out evenly. Blues, purples, and golds where the common color of the building. The ground around the beautiful edifice was a sparse desert, however. Only tanned and scorched rock spanned miles around the temple. Overhead, due to the power of the lightning spirits, the sky was eternally overcast with dark storm clouds. Lightning cackled an insane laugh every few minutes as white-hot bolts leaped across the sky. The very air clung stickily to the caller’s skin and clothing. High humidity brought the promise of rain. Despite the ever-present clouds, rain was uncommon in this area and, in a desert like this, invaluable. The lightning had stripped away all vegetation in a furious rage when the spirits had first settled into this area. When rain did come, it came with such ferocity that it would pound the life out of any plant trying to grow. The only rain that gave life was the liquid caught in several containers stationed around the temple for the use of the caretakers.

Yami cast her crimson eyes to the roaring sky, I had better leave before I get soaked. As she turned to leave, a mysterious presence flitted across her consciousness. It was a presence interesting enough to capture the summoner’s curiosity. I wonder who, or what, that could be, her grin didn’t falter.