The Inquisition (Summoner, #2)(47)
‘Aye,’ Cress agreed, scratching at her wrist absent-mindedly. ‘Didn’t stop itching for a week.’
Fletcher shuddered, for the dead creature’s eyes seemed to bore into him. He hated to think what a full-grown Arach would look like, though he had seen diagrams in his demonology lessons. It was poor luck that Didric had one of his own, for it would be a formidable opponent if it ever duelled with Ignatius.
Electra hummed a merry tune to herself as she pushed a tube-like instrument into the orifice beneath the demon’s stinger, as if she were coring an apple. When she drew it out, she was left with a cylinder of slippery organs, which she spread out on the table with the tongs.
‘That is repulsive,’ Rory said, running his hand through his shock of blond, spiky hair. His face lost what little colour it had, and he went to join Genevieve on the edge of the group.
‘Don’t be such a baby,’ Electra muttered, grasping Fletcher by a gloved hand and dragging him in beside her. ‘What do you see there?’
For a moment Fletcher had the mad suspicion that she wanted him to divine the future, as orc shamans claimed to be able to do with the entrails of their enemies. But when he looked closer, he recognised a strange symbol, imprinted in one of the organs like a brand.
‘It’s … a spell symbol,’ Fletcher said, shaking his head with confusion.
‘Yes! Do you even know how spells and etching were first discovered?’ Electra asked, turning so swiftly that the corer dashed a droplet of slime on to Seraph’s cheek. He retched, pawing at his face with his sleeve.
‘Demons have always used their special abilities by channelling their mana through organic symbols within them,’ Electra continued, ignoring Seraph’s moans of disgust. ‘The first summoners must have realised that, dissecting their dead demons as I have just done and copying the symbols down. My mission here is to add to the roster of spells available to our battlemages through my research. It is a long forgotten art, which I have revived. I am not a summoner myself though, which does tend to complicate things.’
She turned to Fletcher and grasped him by the shoulders.
‘Your Salamander, for example, will have the fire symbol somewhere within its throat. If they would just let me teach here, you would all know this!’
She sighed with frustration. Fletcher caught Othello’s eye and they grinned at each other knowingly. Even compared to a zealot like Rook, Electra was obviously a little too eccentric to teach at Vocans.
‘So what’s with all the plants then?’ Fletcher asked, pointing at a large pot with a fearsome looking plant within that resembled a thorny venus flytrap.
‘They’re demons too, technically,’ Electra said, caressing the stem as if it were a long-lost pet. ‘Plants from the ether. I haven’t found a single symbol in any of them, but I have discovered one thing. The petals, roots and leaves of certain species can be made into an elixir which, when drunk, will have useful effects.’
She pointed to a wooden rack of vials nearby – corked test tubes full of red, blue and yellow liquids.
‘Fortunately, Captain Lovett volunteered to test them. This one, when consumed, will heal the drinker of his or her wounds, just like the healing spell. It helped Captain Lovett partially recover from her paralysis.’ She withdrew a vial, swishing the blood-red contents back and forth.
‘And this one will replenish a demon’s mana when its summoner drinks it,’ she continued, pointing to one of the blue vials as she replaced the red one. There was an awkward pause as her hand hovered over the tubes filled with yellow liquid, then she shrugged and turned back to the group.
‘I’ve only just started the plant research, but they’re a good place to start!’ she said brightly.
‘I’ll say,’ Seraph exclaimed. ‘That’s going to give us a real edge!’
‘What about the yellow ones?’ Sylva asked. ‘What do they do?’
Electra frowned and then shrugged with a shake of her head.
‘I have no idea. I know it has some effect on something, but that’s all. You drink it and feel the rush of something happening, but I haven’t worked out what.’
She slapped Seraph’s hand as he surreptitiously reached for one of the vials. Then the door behind them slammed shut and footsteps could be heard.
‘Ah, Jeffrey’s here,’ Electra said, clapping her hands together. ‘He’s my eyes and ears, you know. Risks life and limb to collect orc demon corpses after there’s a battle in the jungles. It’s their species of demons we rarely see in our part of the ether, so they’re more likely to reveal a spell we haven’t discovered yet.’
Fletcher turned to see Jeffrey walking their way, his sunken eyes and unhealthy complexion compounded by the light around them. The servant boy smiled at Fletcher through a thick mop of shaggy brown hair, styled similarly to Fletcher’s own.
‘Of course, his asthma slows him down,’ Electra said, ‘but his knowledge of the jungles will be invaluable to you. I’ve been training him as an alchemist for the past two years too.’
‘Hi everyone.’ Jeffrey waved shyly. ‘I look forward to working with you. I’ve always wanted a chance to contribute, but they wouldn’t let me join, on account of my lungs. Now I can.’
‘Wait, he’s going to be our guide?’ Seraph exclaimed.