Chapter Eight: Secrets and Summoning
Isabel searched through every room in the house, calling out for her brother. "Wicked! Where are you?" She finally decided to check his room. As she opened the door, she noticed the chaos inside—papers strewn across the floor and clothes everywhere.
As she rummaged through the mess, she spotted three love letters addressed to the blacksmith's daughters, each worded differently to express his affection. Among the letters was another paper filled with question marks that read, "How can I deliver these letters without each of the sisters knowing that I sent the other ones a letter?"
Her heart raced as she realized what he had been up to.
Feeling frustrated, Isabel quickly left his room and headed downstairs, where she found their mother, Lydia, in the kitchen preparing breakfast. "Mom, have you seen Wicked?"
Lydia smiled knowingly and replied, "Oh dear, I hope my boy isn't getting sucked dry by that succubus." Isabel felt a flicker of concern at her mother's words, remembering the love letters she had just found.
"I'll check the blacksmith's house," she muttered and hurried out the door.
When she arrived at the blacksmith's house, she saw the blacksmith's daughters outside cleaning the forge. "Wicked isn't here," she thought to herself, feeling even more worried.
After that, Isabel made her way to Tijuana's house. Sneaking inside, she headed straight to Wicked's room, where the sight of him sprawled naked on the bed immediately caught her off guard. T lay beside him, still asleep. The only thing that woke Wicked was T kicking him off the bed.
"Ugh, T, you did it again! You kicked me off the bed! You're so selfish!" he grumbled as he quickly threw on his clothes. T simply rolled over, smirking without opening her eyes.
Wicked continued, "When Wood decides to leave you and never come back, let's see how you act when you never get to see Wood again."
Isabel couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, I wonder how you could deliver these love letters without them finding out?" She waved the papers in front of him.
"Be quiet, Isabel!" he replied, trying to hide his embarrassment. "Let's just get out of here."
As they left T's house, Wicked rambled about how he should stop seeing her. His gaze wandered to the other kids outside, doing their chores. "Look at them," he said, spotting the blacksmith's daughters cleaning the forge. "I'm going to go talk to them."
Isabel quickly pulled him back. "No, Wicked! You know the blacksmith will kill you if you mess with his daughters!"
"Oh, come on! He's a good friend of Dad's. He won't mind me trying to be friends with them," he insisted.
"You know you don't just want to be friends," she shot back, teasing him.
As they walked, they heard a heated argument nearby. "I think that's Autumn and Junior," Isabel said. "Come on, Wicked, we're going to be late for training."
They approached the scene just as Autumn huffed at Junior. "I can like whoever I want! Why does it matter to you?" she argued, her hands on her hips.
Junior looked over at Wicked and smirked. "Hey, how was your night? You look like you've been sucked dry! A dead corpse would look livelier than you right now."
"What do you know about it?" Wicked shot back. "I think you're still in virgin heaven!"
Laughter erupted among the group, and Junior rolled his eyes. "Touché, Wicked."
As they arrived, Junior and Autumn quickly shifted topics. "Did you hear about the new training sessions?" Junior asked, trying to change the subject.
"Yeah, I heard," Wicked replied, trying to gauge what had just been discussed.
When they reached the training ground, Dragon Knight and Alexis were already waiting for them.
"Have you talked to him?" Autumn whispered to Junior.
Before he could respond, Dragon Knight interrupted, "Today, we're going to be talking about summoning."
Alexis chimed in, "We'll teach you how to summon different creatures and make contracts with them. This is crucial for understanding your magic and enhancing your skills."
As she explained the various creatures they could summon, Wicked felt a surge of determination.
"Summoning can give you access to incredible powers," Alexis continued. "Like fairies that can guide you to treasures, or wolves that will bond with you and protect your home."
"Not to mention," Dragon Knight added with a grin, "we'll introduce you to a special space creature today. It can give you a space pocket to store your objects in. It'll make things much easier when you're out on adventures."
Wicked exchanged glances with Isabel, Junior, and Autumn, eager to begin their training.
As they prepared to summon their creatures, Wicked felt excitement bubbling within him. He was ready to explore this new world and build relationships with the creatures he would summon.