Raven sighed as he once again made camp in the forest, his dark black raven black hair shining in the moonlight it was long reaching all the way to his waist, he had pale and flawless enough to make any girl jealous. he made a camp fire and sat down by it pulling out a large book, this was no ordinary book but this was a book used for mages who were summoners which were rare in the country. he studied it and started to speak a summoning chant out loud his sea blue eyes reading over each word he read.

Runes of purple and silver formed a circle before the man, each one appearing in time with the mage's chants as a chill wind kicked up from nowhere, sending his hair flapping like a sheet in a tornado. Traceries of arcane logic were drawn over, around, and among the runes, forming an odd network of angular, harsh patterns as the markings began to radiate, their illumination growing in intensity until the camp was aglow with a metallic purple tint. The ground at the center of the circle of runes rippled as though the soil had suddenly taken on the properties of water before smoke began to creep from the unstable ground, swirling about the little clearing and hugging Raven's ankles in particular.

The portal rippled one last time before falling still, accompanied by the chiming of a clear bell and the sense that the human was no longer alone in the forest. He could feel the pressure of something there, though he couldn't yet make the other presence out. Part of a scaly, crimson leg drifted in front of him, only visible in the runic circle. Then another. Then part of a whip-like tail topped and tipped with plates and spines. And then, a single eye, about the size of the mage's head, with yellow where his own would be white. Its pupil glanced about lazily before focusing, narrowing its piercing gaze on him.

A host of voices rolled into his consciousness, his senses telling him that he was surrounded by a crowd. Voices of men and women and children and... Other things all spoke at once, as one, "You... Dare?"

Raven was just reading when he felt the sensations and looked up he had just finished the chant and he was a little confused when he came to realizations he had just said a summon chant. he stood up when he felt his hairs start to flap around like a tornado was in the area, hard enough to blow his fire out. he watched as the symbols began to glow and his camp soon became engulfed in a metallic purple tint. He struggled to stay on his feet a little when the grounds just at the center of the runes began to ripple and the soil had suddenly taken on properties of the water shocking him as smoke began to cree[ up from the now unstable ground. he shivered when he felt the smoke swirl around his camp and began hugging his ankles.

He looked back up at the portal as it began to ripple one last time when the sounds of chiming of a clear bell filled his ear. he tensed a little when he felt he was no longer alone in the forest and felt the pressure of something was there. Raven tried to concentrate and see what it was but he couldn't identify the other presence which made him even more tensed. He saw something drift in front of him and he looked up to see a crimson leg in front of him, only visible in the runic circle. he watched as a part of a whip-like tail topped and tipped with plates and spines. he shivered when a single eyes about the size of his own head, with yellow covering the area where the white would be at in a normal human eye. He watched the pupil of the unknown creature glance around before focusing it eyes on him.

Raven shivered when host of voices rolled inside his mind and consciousness as if he was surrounded by a crowd of men woman children and some other things as they spoke all together and then answered in a shaky voice. "D Dare I what...who are you"

The voices murmured incoherently for a brief moment, as if chatting among themselves to decide how to proceed. "You dare 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, powerful. 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 ripped 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.

Ravens' eyes widened when he heard him said : "You dare summon me?" " and stuttered to say something but he could feel his tongued tied. Swallowing a large gulp of saliva e finally spoke trying not to stuttered. "I...I was trying to study my book I am a new mage in all this" he said trying to stay strong on the outside but on the inside he was freaking out his instincts tell him to run and hide, but he refused to listen to them, he didn't want to seem like a total wimp when he wasn't, at least, not all the time.

Raven looked at the summon's expression and recognised the same expression from a horse dealer he had spoken to just in the last town two nights ago. He looked at the note scribbled in the margins of the book and read the mannerisms of the spirit before him. "greedy....manipulative....defiant...powerful" he read over then noticed the part where it said her name. "Her name is Alverdine" he shivered feeling the chills as he glanced over the script. He then read back over the book quickly and saw an area of the book written by hand of ways to keep her under control and read it. "be firm, be strong, don't let her see weakness, offer time." he said in a voice barely above a whisper then froze.

Time? How the hell is that suppose to work, I barely have time for anything anymore...well until now...maybe.... he thought looking back up at the female before him.

He watched as the partially, still shifting creature that was still in the center of the runic area, the many voices around them started to silence themselves one at a time until a single feminine voice spoke alone saying " "Who are you? And for what purpose have you summoned me? Why have you ripped 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?" which caused him to nearly want to shake hearing the smoky sense about it.

"I am Raven and I did not mean to summon you I was simply trying to study since I am new at the mage power things. Yes I do know the contract that binds us to you and also the ramifications if I do not name my terms for said contract" he said strongly looking at Alverdine with his sea blue eyes.

The voice purred in the young man's ears, "New? There's so much for you to learn, young one..." The large eye of whatever creature could be glimpsed at in the runic circle settled slightly, hunching down as if the whole of the beast had laid upon the ground. "Pledge your life to me and I shall instruct you in every arcane discipline I know, which is considerable."

Even the densest of students would know this to be an unfair bargain. A lifetime of service in exchange for a finite amount of knowledge, no matter how fast, was not a favorable deal, but at least the summon was willing to start negotiations. Raven would simply have to haggle things down to acceptable terms.

Raven thought about what the female was saying and what she proposed his hand going to his chin. He wanted to learn as much as possibly since he didn't have a teacher, but what it worth his own life for it. He looked back up at her his black bags blocking his right eye for a minute before looking down at the book he had used to summon er with. "What will happen to me if you tired of me" he asked a in slight timid voice.

The corners of the creature's eyes indicated its smile had widened and yet, there was an edge of malice to the expression, "Do not concern yourself with such things, Raven." The voice softened slightly, a reassuring tone that did not match the look the man was receiving, "It would not do to have someone scurrying about with the right to summon me at will when I do not wish to be... We would renegotiate, of course. Something... Mutually beneficial, if such a time would ever come to pass. Simply say that you accept my terms and we can begin." Had Alverdine been standing before him, she might have worn the countenance of a woman helping a child lost in the marketplace, perhaps gently running her fingers through his hair to reassure him that all was well and she was someone to be trusted.

The chill in the air had settled, letting the warmth of the campfire take back the ground lost from the effects of the runic circle. The smoke on the soil had even seemed to dissipate, sapping the eerie atmosphere it had lent itself to. The presences that he had felt around him were not just silenced now, but had begun to depart, diminishing until he could only sense a single being beside him, though still unseen. "Just say that you agree, Raven, and we can begin your tutelage."

He thought about and relaxed when the warmth of the campfire touched his pale skin again and he slowly nodded. "Fine...I agree to your terms Alverdine" he said as the wind blew the tree tops the leaves making swishing sounds as they moved in protest to the wind rubbing against one another. He looked up at the dark treeline the moon was high in the sky indicating it was around midnight right now and he mentally sighed, he didn't even notice the time at all.

The young man felt... Something, a slight pressure that washed over him and then seeped into his being gradually. The creature within the runic circle rose, though Raven could only see glimpses of its unusual form as it strode away until the tips of several scaled tails whipped through the visible cylinder. The runes faded until only the light of the campfire provided him with the illumination to see his surroundings, and yet... He still held that sense that he wasn't alone. It dawned on him that this feeling would last as long as the contract with Alverdine did. He knew it somehow, as if the information had been planted in his mind, along with the means to summon her: a thought, a sign with his hands, and a bit of willpower and the summon would be with him.

For now, she seemed content simply to nest in his thoughts--he could feel her presence there. "Sleep well, little one. We have much to learn in the morning..." she cooed, maintaining the soft tone she used last to speak with him, though this time it came from within.

He felt like he couldn't breath when he came to realizations of what has finally came into his human mind and when he heard her voice coo to him to sleep, all he could do was nod and went to his handmade hammock laying down on it using his cloak as his blanket. He looked up at the stars on last time before allowing his eyes to slid close as sleep overcame him and he fell into a deep sleep, a little anxious and eager to start the new day.

Alverdine stirred in his dreams overnight, trying to lead the young man down the rabbit hole of arcane possibilities. She pried into his deeper subconscious looking for his fears and his follies, with the almost altruistic intention of reshaping them in his mind, changing them from bad memories to good ones with the powers that she could teach him. His monsters and demons were seared by his gaze, burned away and fled from him in fear. His slips and falls, in public and private, were saved with a wave of his hand, cushioning his tumbles with a blanket of air or landing with catlike grace only to be received by witnesses with impressed applause. The objects of his affection swooned at his approach, hanging off of his every word as he wrapped them in a spell and lured th--The summon decided suddenly to withdraw herself, unsure whether or not bending others to his will would be seen as a good dream or a bad dream...

Morning came gently, with the sounds of verdant life rising around Raven gradually. The smell of dew and the blooming forest filled the air, with just a hint of berries to motivate him out of his hammock further. Morning sunlight slipped through the gaps in the trees to fall upon the underbrush in little beams filled with dust and specks of debris that meandered through the air. Greens and browns painted the world around him, with the occasional splash of red or blue or violet to catch the eye upon the petals of a flower or the fruits of a bush. Bird calls broke the calming silence every so often, short chirps and cheeps as well as long notes and songs orchestrating themselves around him. The air was crisp, but lacked bite or chill and there was no wind this deep in the woods to nip at him.

His new summon pulsed in his mind, sending a pleasant shiver through his spine like when one hears the perfect song to accompany their mood. "Good morning, Raven," she purred from within, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes I did I never slept better than I did last night" he admitted as he packed up his hammock. he smiled his eyes clear of any stress for the first time in a long time. "What about you Alverdine" he asked being a gentlemen like always. He went to his bags and pulled out some new clothing ready to go to the nearby hot spring to take his morning bath and change into clean clothing. He stretched one he got everything he needed for his bath and started to walk towards the hot springs enjoying the smells that made him so relaxed around him.

Opening his eyes for the first time in a long time, he spotted a woman standing casually just a few steps away. She wasn't overly short, perhaps a head shorter than he, nor was she intimidating, though the expression on her face seemed oddly serene given her surroundings. She bore no armor nor weapons, but her bearing was of such confidence that he doubted she had any concern for threats she might encounter out in the wilderness alone. She was neither thick nor thin, but the curves of her body would certainly turn some men's heads. Her skin was as pale as milk, giving off a soft glow in the ambient light of the forest, contrasting starkly with her deep, auburn hair that came down just to her neck in waves. Her dress was of a crimson so dark it looked almost black, with what appeared to be some sort of corset above the waist, four sturdy buckles keeping it in place and a skirt with large frills hanging halfway down her thighs, only revealing a peek of the skin beneath before her long boots began. In addition to the skirt, a half-dress, of sorts, hung down, adding a bit of elegance to her shape that just a skirt wouldn't do. A thick, but short, coat covered her shoulders, the front held in place by a fine wooden ornament of unknown origin, coming down in long sleeves that had frills hanging past her fingers.

(( Alverdine ))

"I don't sleep, Raven," she said somewhat tiredly, the woman's voice matching the one he had previously only heard in his head. "At least, not in any way that you'd understand, yet." It was different hearing her out loud, gentler, less intense. Turning his attention away from the woman and towards his bags, he found her already standing there beside them, without having moved, as though she could place herself where she wished with a simple thought. The corner of her lip curled upwards slightly into sly grin, "This is... Somewhat of a figment," she started, answering a question he hadn't asked, "More than an illusion, less than reality... No one will be able to see or hear me but you, unless you make the sign and summon me properly. In this form, it won't take any of your concentration to communicate." She fell in step behind him as he made his way towards the springs, though he knew full well that she wouldn't have to actually walk anywhere, or even appear to him at all. "Now, I do have a question for you, little one," she called, despite her current form being noticeably shorter than him, "Why are you studying magic?" She didn't turn away as he prepared for his bath, but neither did she seem overly interested in it. She simply stood at the water's edge and awaited his reply.

"Because I discovered I was the only one in my bloodline that had magic and they allowed me to go away to learn more" he said smiling at her. "My mother understood that I had to leave as well as my father, but my sister cried and screamed when she heard I was leaving" his face down cast. "She didn't want me to leave but even she knew unless I left and learned my powers would overtake me" he said looking behind him to stare at her. He smiled as they arrived at the hot spring. Raven took off his cloak and hung it on the tree. he was wearing a tight black sleeveless shirt that shaped his chest quite good and someone black pants. He took off his shirt revealing his just as pale chest that was covered in some scars the major one was going across his stomach his long black hair going down to his waist.