Jason opened his eyes, and reached up to rub his eyes. On the edge of sleep, he couldn't remember anything, and he savoured the feeling. Outside the window, cars passed and dogs barked, gently drawing him into the waking world.
He blinked, sat up, and blinked again. He touched his neck, tracing the supple, unmarked skin where a noose had strangled. His hands drifted to his chest, gliding over smooth skin once marred by scars and injury.
Jason was alive, again. He looked around the room, tracing the familiar furniture. A small set of clothes hung over the back of his desk chair, small enough to fit a child. A small pair of shoes with special heels that flashed light at every step. A backpack, half full of books and pencils, with a stuffed toy dragon peeking out the open zipper.
He used to like toys. He especially liked toy dragons - there was something exciting about the idea of owning such a marvellous creature and keeping it with him everywhere.
If dragons were only toys that existed in dreams, then it wouldn't have been any harm to hold such dreams. But dragons are real, and dangerous, and no one can control them. Not completely. Even though the government tried.
Jason sat up, and looked at the date on his clock. It was THAT day. He started to laugh. Last time was like this too - he was reborn on the same day his mother was murdered trying to keep him safe, keep him with the people who loved him.
The first time round he was just a child, barely 6 - there was nothing he could do. Second time, he was a rebel soldier wearing a child's skin, and he fought hard to save his mother - but they still killed her. In fact, they killed all his family, just to make a point - that resistance is futile, and children have to obey.
But this time? Jason will make things different. He will keep his family safe.
He might be just a child now, and with no hope to succeed alone - but dragons are not toys, and Jason had learned everything he could about Magic in his two lives. Including how to summon a dragon of your very own.
Jumping up swiftly, without bothering to change out of his pyjamas, Jason grabbed his school bag. He pulled out a pair of safety scissors, and a bunch of pencils, and ripped a few pages from a work book.
Spreading the paper on the ground, he drew a circle with a five point star inside. He intentionally made the lines look shaky - not enough to let it fail, but to pretend it was done by a real child. Next he wrote squiggles around the outside of the circle, hiding the shapes of Runes and Marks of Power within them. He stuffed so many Magic related stuff into the design he started to think he had gone too far. A normal summoning requires 5 runes, but the runic alphabet has over 40 characters from different backgrounds and cultures. Jason repeated those 40 Runes around the circle as many times as he could.
Next, wrote his name inside the star, and sharpened the scissors against the chair. Once the edge was sharp, he cut his finger and traced his name in blood. Finally, he placed the toy dragon in the centre of the design, facing him with vacant glass eyes.
Using his blood again, he painted the cloth smile on the toy, and coated the eyes red. Sucking his finger to get the last of the blood, Jason spat it across the circle, which softly started to glow.
"I have lived this life before. I need it no longer. I sacrifice it for a better future. I call the Abyss to give me a hope. I call Yggdrasil to grant me despair. I have no stars, no joy, and no gods. I have nothing but dust. I am nothing but Vengeance. I call the One who is akin to my soul - I call you! I implore you! I need you! Please come. Please…"
Minutes passed and became hours, the glow grew blindingly bright, and Jason pleaded and begged by the side. He stared until he could see nothing, spoke until his voice was broken, and didn't stop the summoning even when the door was kicked open, and They came in to take him away.
At the last moment, when the men had grabbed his shoulders, and tried to drag him away - the room fell dark, all light sucked into the circle, and the toy dragon marked in blood disintegrated into glowing particles.
They moved like water through the air, rearranging into a solid sphere coated in scales and pulsing with darkness.
"Your Summons intrigue me, little one. I am the Avatar of Destruction, and you are Mine." A feminine voice echoed in Jason's mind, and the sphere shot out of the circle and into his chest.
As he fell back from the force, the room was filled with pandemonium, and the last thing he thought was - this time will be different.