Heroine Creation: All My Summons Are Custom Made

The next morning, after a shower, breakfast and a fresh set of comfortable military-themed clothes (white shirt and navy blue trousers), Lancet went down the stairs.

He didn’t take any luggage with him, as did most of the recruits. Since it was only a two week holiday, they didn’t see the need to haul luggages about.

Espel was already waiting for him near the courtyard exit. She had on dark clothes — unlike her usual pink and purple — and gold brown boots.

On her face she wore the same indifferent expression she wore almost everywhere.

The Citadel crest was notably absent from her jacket. Lancet had left his in his room as well, deciding there was absolutely no reason to walk through the capital advertising that either of them had just been assigned to a highly classified military operation.

Espel looked at him as he got closer, staring at his face. She didn’t know she had zoned out, so he brought her back with a dazzling smile and a "You ready?"

Espel blinked, then unfolded her hands, acting like she hadn’t been staring. "Thor should be waiting."

Together, they headed towards the main entrance to the Barracks, the Golden Gates

Two enormous black-and-gold walls rose on the sides of the road, and they narrowed toward reinforced gates thick enough to stop something even larger than a siege rider.

Armed Brigadiers stood vigilant along the elevated platforms while magical scanners swept over everyone approaching the exit. The golden fog surrounding the Barracks was much thicker here, with tiny red lights moving swiftly inside the mist whenever another soldier stepped forward.

The departing recruits formed several highly ordered lines beneath the gates while officials rigorously checked their identification.

Lancet and Espel joined one of the queues, moving forward until a stern woman behind a reinforced desk gestured for both of them to place their hands on separate crystal plates.

The crystals immediately brightened, and golden writing materialized in the air right in front of Lancet.

He recognized it as the exact same secrecy agreement Alistair Bane had displayed inside the War Hall, though it looked much longer now that every restrictive condition had been written out properly in legal terms.

After he read it all, Lancet accepted the contract and a magic quill signed his name at the bottom of the text.

The contract vanished from the screen instantly, and Lancet felt a drag of magic in his chest as the contract knitted itself into his soul core.

Beside him, Espel’s eyes narrowed sharply as the exact same thing happened to her. The golden light disappeared from her skin a moment later, and she flexed her fingers with visible distaste.

"I disliked that," she said.

Lancet hadn’t been a fan of it either.

The official stamped their leave authorization without looking up. "The binding will release naturally when you return in two weeks."

Lancet gave the woman a diplomatic nod and he and Espel continued through the Golden Gates.

The dense fog swallowed them for several seconds. Red lights moved methodically across Lancet’s body from head to toe as the hidden machines inside the mist verified that the person leaving perfectly matched the person who had entered.

Another scan passed smoothly over Espel before the fog thinned, and the Golden Barracks disappeared behind them almost completely.

A neat row of Golden Riders waited outside the perimeter, and Lancet and Espel quickly boarded one heading directly toward the city.

The military transport carried them swiftly away from the hidden Barracks zone, passing heavily fortified roads and checkpoints before the architecture ahead began changing.

The military walls soon vanished and normal streets took over the scenery. Shops, crowded apartment blocks, civilian traffic lanes... It was almost like they were in another world.

They left the Golden Rider at one of the main civilian stations, transferring to an ordinary city rider to get to where they were going specifically.

Espel gave the driver the precise district she had told Thor to wait for Lancet. Back then she didn’t know she was coming with but it was easier for Lancet now that she was here.

The farther they travelled, the thinner the bustling city became. Towering commercial buildings disappeared first, and the busy roads steadily narrowed.

Hollow warehouses replaced residential homes, soon followed by fenced, overgrown lots filled with rusting machinery and abandoned construction material. Even the local traffic dropped off so sharply that several minutes could pass without another rider moving beside them.

Lancet looked out the scratched window, taking in the urban decay. "Good place to hide three wanted criminals."

Espel barely glanced outside. "You’re welcome

The rider eventually stopped near a cracked, old service road. Lancet and Espel climbed out, and after they paid the rider, the vehicle quickly disappeared back down the street behind them.

Nothing moved. Lancet looked around the empty road, the abandoned lots, and the broken upper windows of crumbling buildings that had probably not housed anyone in years.

"Thor?"

He could feel her close by because of the bond.

A shadow suddenly crossed the ground. Lancet looked up just as Thor dropped directly from the high roof of a nearby warehouse, landing heavily several feet away.

Lancet smiled. "Hey."

She feigned anger for him. "You kept me waiting, Master Lancet."

Lancet shrugged guiltily. "Sorry." Then he looked her over carefully. "Any problems?"

"None that matter," Thor replied flatly, folding her arms. "The girl was badly wounded and needed a healer. I got her medicine."

"Linzley?"

"She was worse than I first thought." Thor explained briefly that the brutal beating from the Extractor had left Linzley badly injured. She had been forced to go deeper into the city, find a discrete healer shop, buy what was needed, and return before the girl’s condition worsened.

After that, she claimed, the three had remained inside the bunker without causing her much trouble.

Lancet was worried that the healer would recognize her but she assured him that she had worn normal modern clothing.

He nodded, processing the complication. "What about the Extractors? Would they recognize you?"

Thor almost made a hissing sound. "Seeing that they’re dead I highly doubt it."

Espel looked at her. Lancet did too.

Thor raised a defensive brow at their stares. "What?"

"Thor. We talked about this. No killing," Lancet said.

"You told me not to kill the Terrible Three," she said matter-of-factly.

Lancet stared at her. Thor stared right back, entirely unrepentant. "I made no promise about anyone else."

Espel turned her face away slightly. Lancet could not tell whether she was hiding amusement or simply refusing to participate in the argument. He rubbed his temples. "Fine."

"Besides, they murdered the guards so they very well deserved it"

Lancet looked at her and sighed again. "You’re right. Besides, it might be even better this way." He looked at Espel and shrugged. "Dead men don’t talk."

Espel raised one brow at him, hands folded. "Noctis will be enraged out of his mind."

Lancet pursed his lips. He couldn’t really care less. "We’ll deal with him later." He glanced over at Thor. "Let’s go."

Thor stepped closer and abruptly wrapped one strong arm around his waist before he could say anything else. Lancet looked down at her vice-like grip. "Could warn me first."

"Are you scared of a woman’s body, Master Lancet?"

He immediately froze up and looked up at her face. She wasn’t being teasing or anything — it was an actual, genuine question.

Lancet gulped and said of course not. She pressed his body towards hers again. "Then stay close to me," she concluded.

Lancet barely managed to tighten his grip around her shoulders before the solid ground completely disappeared beneath him.

Lightning covered them both and propelled them into the sky. Below them, Espel remained standing on the cracked road for another second before a pair of enormous, glowing butterfly wings unfolded gracefully behind her back.

She lifted effortlessly into the air and followed their path.

They arrived at the bunker in a matter of seconds. Thor descended toward a massive abandoned site with part of its rusted roof collapsed inward, carrying Lancet behind the structure where a narrow, reinforced entrance led directly below ground.

Espel landed silently beside them, and Thor finally released her passenger.

Lancet straightened his rumpled clothes. "One day you’re going to remember I’m not luggage."

"You weigh less than my hammer," Thor said and shot him a smile.

Okay, so this time she was teasing him?

What a complicated character.

She simply pushed open the heavy, concealed door, and they went inside. The subterranean bunker smelled considerably cleaner than Lancet expected.

Thor had apparently done much more than simply dump the Terrible Three underground and chain them to a damp wall. Several old industrial lights had been restored to a steady hum, empty medicine packets sat neatly beside a fresh water container, and someone had dragged broken office furniture into a circle resembling usable seating.

The Terrible Three were gathered farther inside the room. Linzley saw him first, and her eyes widened in pure relief.

"LANCET!" She tried to rush forward to greet him, but the heavy chain attached to her ankle snapped tight, nearly sending her face-first onto the concrete.

Thor caught the back of the girl’s collar before she hit the floor. Linzley hung there for a second, catching her breath, then looked up at Lancet again with a bright grin. "You came!"

Lancet stopped several steps away, keeping his distance. He looked at Thor. "Did I miss something?"

’Since when has she been this happy to see me? Well, Linzley has always been crazy. So I’ll ignore that.’

But then Muskard rose from his seat. The tall Spirit Caller looked grim and gaunt, but his expression was a little more honest than it used to be.

"Thank you for coming." His voice also sounded genuinely sincere.

Caelem remained seated. He looked toward Lancet, then shifted his gaze toward Espel, and his expression changed immediately. Muskard saw her a second later, and both men tensed, ready for violence. Linzley stopped smiling.

"That’s... Seasnake!"

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