The voices murmured incoherently for a brief moment, as if chatting among themselves to decide how to proceed. "You [b]dare[/b] summon me?" they responded. The runes pulsed again, brighter, but quicker, as though the summon's agitation was being transmitted through them. The corner of the thing's eye rose slightly, as if it were smiling just out of the mage's view. It held the advantage now. The two were to bargain, to make a deal, a binding contract that would spell out the summoned's service to the summoner.

Raven probably recognized the summon's expression from the last horse dealer he'd spoken to. Even if he didn't, the notes scribbled in the margins of the book would have detailed the mannerisms of the spirit: greedy, manipulative, defiant, [b]powerful[/b]. Along with her name, Alverdine. Just glancing over the script seemed to chill the air around the young man, though this wasn't the time to be impressed with her display. Elsewhere on the page, also scrawled in by hand were instructions on how to keep her under control: be firm, be strong, don't let her see weakness, offer time.

Time? How could anyone, even a mage, offer time?

The partially visible, still shifting creature at the center of the runic circle stirred, its many voices quieting, silencing extraneous ones with each syllable until a single feminine voice spoke alone, "Who are you? And for what purpose have you summoned me? Why have you [b]ripped[/b] me from my home and brought me here? Surely you know the contract that binds us now, the ramifications if you do not name your terms?" Alverdine's voice was neither melodic nor harsh, it lacked the pitch of a young girl's tone, seeming to favor the registers of a woman. It wasn't sultry, but carried a smokey sense about it with every word.