Lesser elementals

But I was more interested in how my Elementals had changed. As I’d told Bianca, I’d finally raised Summon Elemental to level ninety-nine and graduated from Basic Elementals, but…it was a sudden change in a number of ways. It went beyond the physical changes to something more subtle, something that resonated between us. They weren’t simply larger and more powerful—they were greater, deeper. It was enough of a change that I’d hesitated to unleash their full power, simply because I didn’t know what to truly expect. However much they’d changed on the surface, the true differences lied beneath, and like I told my sister, I’d been hesitant to unleash it.

Which wasn’t to say the physical changes weren’t striking. In a moment, my Elementals had gone from appearing like preteens to young adults, carrying with it a host of physical changes that made me wonder if this truly was some kind of magical puberty. Levant had grown until her white hair reached my shoulder, ever-shifting patterns growing into place on the fabric of her now formal-looking gown. Suryasta had grown until he was of a height with me, the flames he’d worn shifting into something at once more and less solid, at once writhing flame and glowing armor as heat and light gathered just above bronze skin. Ereb grew what looked like royal gems and jewelry from his skin as he grew to almost match Suryasta’s height, gaining a presence that made him seem both softer and more solid, while Vulturnus seemed to unravel even more, becoming an image that writhed and flickered between human and bestial shapes with something almost like disdain.

Perhaps the largest changes—or, at least, the ones most easily pinned down—had come to my Water Elemental. Xihai’s amorphous legs had…solidified wasn’t the term, but had taken shape, at least, growing into the long, scaled form of a snake up to her hips. Her blue gown had sunk into her skin and become something like armor, swathing her upper body in a fashion similar to her scales but gleaming blue and white. Even her hair had grown until it cascaded down her back like a waterfall to stir the waters at her waist, leaving only her gleaming black eyes unchanged. By contrast, Crocea Mors had barely changed at all, remaining a reflective image that merely seemed to have somehow gained more depth.

They’d all grown and so I let them stretch their legs in the hours before dawn, bringing disaster and ruin to a meaningless simulacrum of a city while I trained. It wasn’t until a dim sun began to rise in the skies of Naraka that I called it a night—or a day or whatever the term was in this case—and returned to reality to make breakfast and await my guest.