Chapter 2: The Summons

By Conception.Creation

Disclaimer: The Bartimaeus Trilogy is property of Jonathan Stroud

It was past midnight when Kitty and Rebecca finally made it back to Siwa. The market square was dark and empty, waiting solemnly for the dawn when it would teem with the hustle and bustle of daily life in the Oasis. On Kitty's left, the crumbling mud-fortress of Shali towered above them. Its decrepit walls were illuminated by the thick slew of stars overhead. Shali had long lain abandoned, visited now and then by the occasional tourist. At its foot, the modern village of Siwa lay. Its thick-walled buildings echoed the architecture of the ancient fortress above them.

Kitty breathed deeply. The whisper of the warm evening breeze calmed her senses, making her feel drowsy. At her side, Rebecca was glancing around nervously.

"Is this where those people meet?" She asked, looking fearfully at the honeycombed passages in the fortress above them. She was probably wondering if hordes of anti-magician terrorists were lurking within its shadows, ready to spring at her the moment she got too close.

"No, not here" Kitty reassured her, "He told me to meet them at the Oracle of Amun. It's to the East, outside of town." Rebecca visibly relaxed at her words. Kitty hid a smile. She wondered how the timid magician could possibly cope with the stress of her everyday life as a politician.

Kitty led Rebecca through the narrow unpaved streets, back to her small home near the edge of the village. Groves of date palms pressed thick against its walls. In the distance, the flat topped mountains of Gebel Dakrur were silhouetted against the moon. Kitty pulled the door open and allowed Rebecca to step inside.

Kitty flipped the light switch. The bulb over head flickered to life, illuminating her brightly decorated kitchen.

"You're going to have to sleep on my couch," Kitty said apologetically.

Rebecca sat down at the kitchen table. Wordlessly, Kitty filled a kettle and placed it on the stovetop. There was nothing like a cup of good strong tea in the face of a crisis. She pulled open a drawer, looking for a clean spoon.

There was a terrible squeal and a buzz of wings as something the size of Kitty's fist burst from the drawer she had opened. Kitty stumbled backwards. The scaly thing landed on the tabletop near Rebecca, rubbing its feelers together. It resembled some kind of repulsive two-headed insect. It skittered towards a wide-eyed Rebecca, its spines clicking across the hard surface of the table. Rebecca stirred. She fumbled with something at her waistband. A silver-tipped knife. She managed to extricate it from the folds of her shirt, and brought it down, crushing the bug-like creature with the flat of the blade. The thing let out a dreadful wail before bursting into blue flame and withering away, leaving no more then a horrid lingering stench. Breathing heavily, Rebecca wiped the knife on her pants.

"What was that?" Kitty asked. She drew nearer to inspect the new scorch mark on her table.

"It looked like some kind of mite." Rebecca said, "They're a lesser form of spirit-"

"Yes, I know what a mite is." Kitty interrupted. "What I want to know is what on Earth it was doing in my kitchen."

Rebecca frowned.

"It shouldn't be here. Egypt's last magicians died out seven hundred years ago. Something's going on."

Kitty turned her attention back to the stove, where the kettle was now whistling cheerfully.

"This isn't the first time this happened." She said. Her tone was serious. "This morning I was attacked by some kind of foliot. There has to be some renegade magician here in Siwa. Perhaps he followed me to Egypt, seeking revenge."

Kitty turned around, placing a cup of tea in front of her companion. Rebecca twisted her hands together nervously, ignoring the hot drink. She spoke softly.

"I know there are magicians who resent you, and now you'll have that anti-magician secret society to worry about too. I shouldn't have asked for your help."

Rebecca looked very forlorn. Her head drooped guiltily, and her hair hid her face. Kitty suddenly felt sorry for her. She pasted a comforting smile on her face.

"This situation only makes things easier on us," She said with confidence, "Werfel's group trusts me, I even know where to find him. And I'll bet that any magicians in the area will seek you out. We can work together, like a double-edged sword."

Rebecca smiled a little, hearted by Kitty's confident tone. She stuck out her hand. Kitty grasped it tightly and shook it in a solemn pact. More at ease, Rebecca sipped from her cup of tea. They sat a while in companionable silence. Suddenly Rebecca spoke.

"Kitty, I appreciate everything you're doing to help me," She began, "And if there's truly a magician after you, well then you're going to be in terrible danger. I would be honoured if you'd let me summon one of my servants to protect you."

Kitty choked on her tea. Have a demon protect her? The only djinni she'd ever trusted had died more then a year ago. An empty, hollow feeling filled her stomach. Don't think about that.

"Thanks for the offer," She said, "But I'd probably be safer without a malicious spirit breathing down my neck."

Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"I'm good at what I do. It's perfectly safe. Please let me do this for you?"

Kitty gave in with a sigh. She understood Rebecca's need to feel useful.

Rebecca sprang from her chair, eager to showcase her magical talents. She opened her purse, pulling out several sticks of coloured chalk and a small plastic bag packed with dried herbs. She walked to the centre of the room, inspecting the evenness of the floor.

Kitty set down her tea. She might as well help Rebecca with the preparations. She rolled back the carpet to reveal the smooth terracotta tiles underneath, then stowed it away in the adjoining room. Then she sat down on the floor to watch Rebecca work her magic.

Rebecca knelt down, drawing the pentacle in her mind's eye. Then she lifted a piece of chalk and made her first mark upon the floor. Kitty looked on in fascination as Rebecca slowly drew the runes. Kitty had learned some magic earlier in life, but she had no where near the expertise of a magician who'd spent their life studying the craft. Rebecca finished the first pentacle, walked to the other side of the room, and began a second, using the same signs as before.

"This one's for you." She stated.

After the last line of chalk had been made to Rebecca's satisfaction, she moved to the centre of the room. Now it was time for the main pentacle, in which the demon would be summoned. She drew carefully. Marks of binding and containment. Thin red lines of just the right shape and thickness. Lines that would prevent the spirit from devouring them. Kitty watched carefully, keeping an eye out for errors. There was no sense getting eaten by a demon this early on in the game.

Herbs were sprinkled, incense was burned, and Kitty even managed to rustle up a few candles, which now flickered from the countertops. The young women took there places in the pentacles. It was time.

Rebecca called out the words of summoning in a fluid voice. Then she spoke the name of her chosen servant.

"Veruna!" She called.

There was a pause. They held their breath, listening for the tell-tale crackle of magic that heralded a spirit's arrival on the earth, but the summons remained unanswered. A line appeared between Rebecca's eyebrows. She tried again, speaking the name of a different entity.

"Hetshepsu!"

Nothing but silence. Rebecca was growing frustrated.

"Why isn't it working?" Kitty murmured. Rebecca gave her a worried look.

"I don't know. I summoned both of those spirits last week. Perhaps they were summoned by another magician."

Or maybe they were dead.

Well, if there was no spirit forthcoming, then what was the point of standing here? Kitty stepped out from her pentacle.

"It's alright, Rebecca," She tried to sound reassuring, "I don't really need a body guard. Let's just forget about the whole thing."

"Get back in the circle," Rebecca commanded. Kitty's eyebrows rose at her tone. "I'm not letting you gallivant around without proper protection. There are other spirits I know of. One of them is certain to answer my summons."

Kitty obediently sat down in her pentacle. She suspected this was going to be a long night. Who would have thought that little Rebecca Piper could be so determined?

Rebecca thought for a moment and then pushed up her sleeves, businesslike.

"Here's one I haven't tried before." She said.

Rebecca seemed determined to make the summons work this time. She raised her arms, speaking the most powerful summoning incantation she knew. Six different languages poured from her tongue in a jumble of alien sounds. Kitty could almost smell the magic building up around them. Then with a flourish, Rebecca spoke the final word. A word Kitty could scarcely believe she was hearing once again.

"Bartimaeus!"