I shifted from foot to foot every so often, my nose was cold from the fall evening that was starting to border on winter. The plains were quiet tonight, not eerie quiet, but a relaxing, calm, content quietness that made you want to sleep. I knew that I couldn't fall asleep though, if I did I would lose my concentration.

I kept my eyes on the circle before me, waiting for the elemental to show itself. It hadn't surfaced the water yet, but I knew that before long it would.

I waited, patiently, quietly, a small part of my mind keeping the circle whole. As the sun started to rise, I had almost given up hope, thinking that I had botched the ritual somehow. But I, along with my master, had triple-checked the ritual and was sure it was complete. I kept on waiting.

It was noon now, and I was quite thirsty. My water had run out an hour ago and I was saving my rations for a bit later. There was a cool wind that passed through the grass and onto the plains that I was standing on. The small pond in front of me had not moved an inch, however, I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to see who was approaching me. It was my master, Drakevein. Drakevein was a druid and was teaching me how to summon elementals. This was my first summon, and I was anxious to hear what he had to say.

"Has it come out yet?" He asked in a gruff voice, reminiscent of when he used to be young. He's still plenty strong despite his age. Most druids grow in power when they age, and only by their deathbed do they lose power. Drakevein was no exception.

"No" I responded drolly, my cracked lips curving up into a smile as I replied, "I'm fairly certain that you and I messed something up. The summoning circle is correct, but it hasn't appeared yet."

"This will happen occasionally, Greater Elementals typically wait to test the will of their summoners. This must be one of those occasions. They tend to wait, testing their summoners to see if they are worthy to be their compatriots or not. If you break the circle now, the elemental will probably kill you."

That wasn't very reassuring, I had hoped for something not too big, my magical reserves weren't large enough to handle a Greater elemental smoothly. Most first summoners typically get a smaller elemental, like a mephit or a generic lesser elemental. It was just my luck that I ended up summoning a Greater. The only way I could control this one is if I formed a pact, or it really liked me (unlikely seeing as most elementals only respect power), or I could let it become a part of me, binding myself to it and it to me.

"What do I do now master?" I asked morosely, all thoughts of being able to tame whatever was inside this pond replaced by thinking about the many horrific and gruesome ways I could die. I could be exploded from the inside out, it could boil my blood, drown me, and if the Greater elemental was cruel enough, it would possess me and use my body as a vessel as an attempt to wreak havoc on the world.

"Nothing for now, hopefully, it will show itself soon, if not..." He trailed off, the ominous ending to his sentence was obvious, "if not, you're dead."

He left without another word Master wasn't very good at expressing himself, but I knew that he wished me good luck in his head. I was his only apprentice and his last one in more than half a century. Master believed in tough love, and for now, I had to deal with this elemental. There was nothing he could do to help me.

It had been four days since I left home to find an elemental. I had almost fallen asleep once, and when I shook myself out of it, the elemental was rising out of the pond. I squinted my eyes, attempting to capture its massive frame within my vision. However, it quickly sunk back into the water. The small glimpse I saw of it showed that it was a truly huge creature. It dwarfed the small pond I summoned it out of, stretching up for a hundred or so feet vertically, but luckily remained trapped inside of the border I had drawn. It had yellow eyes and was mostly a swirling mass of water, similar to a typhoon or a vortex.

I waited for an hour more, I was almost out of magic and could feel my control over the circle slipping. The circle flickered for the barest of a second, and instantly the elemental was out of the water. It stayed above the surface of the water this time, and I could hear it speak in a deep, smooth voice, "Do you dare to attempt to summon me mortal? I am Pontus, eons old, here since near the beginning. I have seen the sea dry up and the land break. I have seen kingdoms fall and continents rise from the depths. I have made cities sink with a breath, and had once made the sea climb and fall. Summoning me was a fool's errand, and you shall pay for it with your life."

I smiled grimly as a plan formed in my head. Based on the elementals words, he seemed prideful, and I opened my mouth to speak for what may be the final time, "If you are so powerful, then why have I never heard of you? Your name was Pontus you say? No sea god or elemental as powerful as you proclaim yourself to be is named Pontus in the history books. There are Poseidon, Neptune, and Varuna, along with the Elder Elementals, but your name is not alongside those. Why is that, perhaps you have been wasting away for far too long?"

The elemental was silent for a moment, probably pondering on what I had just said and whether to smite me or not. It finally replied, "I'm going to offer you a choice mortal. It is clear that I have remained dormant for far too long, and I wish to restore my name among your legends and impose my will amongst your world once more. You can either form a pact with me, swearing to help destroy the usurpers who dared attempt to take my place, or you can perish, the choice is yours."

I agreed in an instant, "Deal, but on the terms that you will not kill me, severely harm me or my allies, and will share part of your power proportionate to the situation I am in."

The elemental seemed to raise an eyebrow if it had any that is, though eventually agreed. "You have my word mortal, for as long as I have strength, it shall be yours in times of need, and your allies are mine. You shall also agree to act in a manner befitting of my strength, and shall destroy my enemies as if they were your own. But let it be known, if you ever speak to me in such a manner again, you will know pain, we have a deal."

"We have a deal" I replied. Eager for rest I broke the circle and sat down, my eyes finally closing as I fell asleep on the cool plains.