Thomas raced from the library to the Eating Hall, fearful that they would have stopped serving, but he came up short, encountering his war band huddled around a fire. As he approached, Luran was the first to notice him, but he didn’t say anything, just continued ripping off chunks of meat from a bone in his hand. He was likely still pissed about their time at the bonesmith’s.

  “Hey guys! What are you eating?” Thomas asked, sitting down on the log next to Krag. Elarissé gave him a quick, accusatory glance before looking away—a significant improvement in his eyes.

  “Oh, hey!” Krag managed to sputter out in between mouthfuls of food. “It’s flurkusin. Some of the best meat there is!” he swooned as meat juice dribbled down his chin.

  “What about the shorlus we caught? I thought that was being served for dinner today.”

  “It is. But this guy isn’t a fan, so he went back out and caught a flurkusin,” Luran explained, throwing his hands up in the air mockingly, although he seemed to be rather enjoying the meal nonetheless. Krag beamed, unconcerned by Luran’s critique, and handed a small section of meat to a ferret-looking creature on his shoulder.

  “Is this Yishi?” Thomas asked with a curious smile.

  “Sure is!” Krag affirmed, gently stroking the creature as it nibbled on the meat. “Here,” he said, taking it off his shoulder and planting it onto Thomas’s lap. The ferret spun to look at him with unblinking eyes. He expected it to dive away, or perhaps even attack, but it just sat there contentedly nibbling on the meat.

  Starving, he joined in, tearing a hunk of meat from the mass suspended above the fire. As he bit into it, the juices oozed out, and he had to lean forward to avoid getting it down his clothes and poor Yishi. The taste was tantalizing. Salty and succulent, it reminded him of steak! And look how much of it they had. They were rich! It had to equate to thousands of dollars.

  “Good, right?” said Krag knowingly, giving him a playful shove.

  “It’s… it’s incredible!” Thomas gasped, mouth agape. “No wonder you went back out for it.” He tore off another chunk like a starved hyena; he didn’t need to savor each bite. They had more than enough.

  “Who cooked it?” he asked. “Do you cook Krag?” Krag shook his head as his mouth was full and swallowed. “I can’t take credit for that. Elarissé is the star cook! She uses all kinds of spices… I don’t know what they are, but they sure do taste good!” Krag resounded. A flush of red overcame her cheeks at the compliment.

  “Wow, Elarissé. Krag was right! You’re an incredible cook!” Thomas praised. She didn’t meet his eyes.

  “This good meat is wasted on you,” she grumbled, “but… I’m glad you like it,” she added, unnecessarily turning away from his direction. He tried suppressing his grin, but it was impossible. A nice comment from her? Was it his birthday? Granted, it was backhanded, but there was sincerity there.

  For a time, they sat in silence, enjoying the meal, but slowly conversation blossomed. Krag was the one to initiate.

  “How did you get here, Tommy, like, really?” he asked, sucking the juice from his fingers. “I know you said you were transported to the forest, but it doesn’t make any sense.” The other two said nothing, but noticeably leaned in, eager to hear what he had to say.

  “It might not make sense, Krag, but it’s the truth. One minute I’m in my world, and the next I’m here. The whole thing is a mystery to me…” he said, trailing off.

  “And you said you were dying, correct? Struck by lightning?” Luran added.

  He froze, forgetting the lie he’d told. He wasn’t yet ready to tell the truth.

  “Exactly. Death by lightning.” Luran nodded with a crinkled mouth. Whether he was confounded by the means of his arrival or disbelieving of his explanation, it wasn’t clear.

  “Tell us about your world!” Krag insisted, rocking back and forth eagerly as if this was the true goal he had from the beginning. Smiling, he polished off the last of the meat in his hands and looked up at the stars, imagining he could see his world.

  “Well, where do I begin? My world is one of innovation, and far more advanced than here. People can communicate with each other on opposite ends of the planet. It’s filled with gadgets, entertainment, and knowledge. If I were more capable, I could have recreated some of that stuff here and revolutionized the way you live, but I’m no genius. I’m a consumer like most of the people back home. Unfortunately, we don’t understand how most of what we use is made.”

  “Curious,” said Luran, running his fingers through his long hair. “You say you can speak with people all over the world. How does that work? It sounds like quite the ability!” Thomas raised a finger, eager to elaborate.

  “We call them phones,” he explained. Although he soon realized he didn’t have much to add. “They are handheld devices which carry your voice using… radio waves, I believe they are called. Basically, your voice gets converted into an invisible electrical signal, which the receiving phones then convert back into your voice. Neat, huh?”

  The three let out a collective, slow “Wow.”

  “And what about the monsters back home? What are they like there?” Elarissé asked. He raised an eyebrow, noting Elarissé was finally getting involved.

  “Monsters? We don’t have any monsters,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “What?!” Krag boomed. “No monsters?!”

  “Nope,” he responded.

  “No ekari?” Krag followed.

  “Nope,” he confirmed.

  “No Zudipip?” Krag asked.

  “I don’t know what that is, but I’m going to go with no,” he answered.

  “No—” Luran smacked Krag on the arm.

  “I think we get the picture, Kragtherion. It’s essentially just one big human territory.” Krag slumped in his seat, still trying to come to terms with a world without monsters. Thomas put a hand on his shoulder.

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  “Essence doesn’t exist in our world, Krag, so it’s impossible for monsters to exist. The huge ekari tilted his head back and pressed his lips together, before finally making sense of what he was saying. As Fizo had explained, monsters evolved as a result of essence. A kind of juiced-up evolution, for lack of a better term. Without it, they never came to be. Krag’s eyes widened at the realization.

  “Speaking of essence, how is your electricity coming along?” Luran asked, narrowing his eyes. “I’ve been keeping my eye on you, and I haven’t seen you use it once. Remember, it’s the whole reason you were integrated into the clan in the first place.” Thomas hung his head in shame.

  “About that…” he began. “It seems I have hit… a block,” he said tentatively.

  “A block?” repeated Luran. “What kind of block? As in, you can’t project it very well?” Thomas hesitated momentarily, not wanting to answer.

  “A block, as in, I can’t generate it at all.”

  “What?!” yelled Luran, a vein pulsating in his forehead. Elarissé shot to her feet, frowning.

  “Great. We let an all-mighty Summon into our village, and he turns out to be defective. Perfect. What’s the point of you even being here if you can’t do anything for us!” she roared, jabbing an accusatory finger at him.

  “Look, I’m trying!” Thomas protested. “I think my body is resisting it.”

  “Resisting it?” she laughed, “You’ll have to come up with a better excuse than that. Why would your body be resisting it? You’re a Summon, aren't you?!” she fumed, shouting in his face so close that spit landed on his cheek.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe on the count that I DIED?!” he raged, standing to his feet and matching her fury. The fire in her seemed to fade away at this reaction, as if snuffed out by a strong breeze. To his surprise, she seemed… empathetic. He sighed and sat back down, and Elarissé did the same. There was a long silence.

  “Remember, I died because of electricity, and now I’m trying to create it myself. It’s like my body remembers what happened to me. Whenever I generate a spark, it goes out. And then I’m slammed with cold sweats and memories of my death. Look. I don’t really want to get into it, alright.” The group continued to sit silently, and only the distant chatter of others and the crackle of the fire filled the air.

  “We could try and wipe those memories,” Luran suggested. Thomas scowled, unimpressed by the suggestion.

  “And how would that work?” he asked reluctantly.

  “We administer a special tonic known as Cognition Shroud,” Luran explained. “However, if we get the strength wrong, there’s a small chance you’ll forget your own name,” he said under his breath.

  “Call me crazy, but I’m going to go with no.”

  They went back to thinking.

  “Ooo! Let’s get a Stormfang Wolf to bite him,” Elarissé suggested rather too eagerly, biting her teeth together so that they clacked.

  “NO!” he protested. “We’ll do nothing of the sort!” Elarissé rolled her eyes, annoyed, and Luran scratched his chin studiously.

  “But…. Stormfang hide. Now that could work. Is there any at the armory, Krag?”

  “Afraid not. Haven’t seen one in almost a year.” Luran sighed. “There goes that idea.” Thomas’s eyes widened, an idea taking root in his head. If they couldn’t find a suitable electricity source, why not make their own?

  “Let’s make our own electricity!” he shrieked.

  “Make our own?” Krag asked, scratching his head. “Well done, Ela. You’ve broken him.” She threw up her arms defensively. The pair began to bicker before Luran hushed them to silence.

  “What do you mean we can make our own? You’re the only one who has a command of electricity.” Thomas rubbed his hands together like an evil mastermind. Why hadn’t he thought of this before?

  “Stormfang Wolf hide emits small bursts of electricity, right?”

  “Yes. So?” Luran said, not understanding where he was going with this.

  “Well then, we can make our own hide that does the same thing. No need for essence. We’ll use science.” Luran furrowed his brow.

  “We can make our own electricity using friction. We take the warmest fur we can find and rub it against metal. This will cause static to build up. It may be incredibly weak, but it’s electricity nonetheless. Besides, my body needs to become accustomed to it. Weak electricity is best.”

  “And you’re sure this is going to work?” Luran asked, not convinced. Thomas considered explaining the flow of electrons in his proposed scenario, which should result in a charge imbalance, but thought better of it. It would only make the group more confused.

  “It will generate electricity, sure, but I can’t make any guarantees whether it will help me overcome my block. I need some fur,” he said, rushing off to the furrier.

  “What? Now?” Luran called after him.

  “Of course. I’m not waiting until morning to see if my hunch is right,” he called back. “Wait here, I’ll be back soon.”

  Arriving at the furrier’s place, he smashed on the door and was greeted by a skinny woman with long blonde hair.

  “It’s a little late—oh! It’s you. What can I help you with?”

  “Your warmest fur!” he spluttered, gasping for breath, “I need your warmest fur hide.”

  “And what pray tell do you need that for?”

  “You want a powerful Summon, right?” he said, unblinking. She awkwardly laughed.

  “Of course. We all do.”

  “Then your warmest fur is the first step.” With a surprised look, she disappeared inside, not saying a word. She returned holding a heavy sheet of thick, light brown fur.

  “Thanks,” he said, taking it and running back to the group. “I’ll return it later.”

  The three ekari had moved so that they were all sitting on the same log waiting for his return. Luran was playing with his knife, and Krag was tapping his feet.

  “I’ve got it!” he said, screeching to a stop. “Krag!” he announced. “Rub this against your war club as fast as you can,” he instructed, handing him the fur. Krag raised an eyebrow.

  “Weird request, but okay!” he said, snatching the fur and rubbing it ferociously against his war club.

  “How long is this going to take?” moaned Elarissé.

  “Not long, just a little more,” he encouraged, trying to hide his apprehension. Krag’s hand was a pale orange blur as it motioned back and forth. That had to be enough. “Right, Krag. It’s time. Keep the fur in one hand, and with the other, extend your finger. Krag was still clueless as to what was going on, but complied with a puzzled expression.

  Letting out a small sigh, Thomas readied himself. He felt kind of ridiculous getting so excited about something so spur of the moment, but then again, it could be just what he needed. If his body felt something externally as weak as static electricity, it might not perceive it as a threat and help collapse his mental block. With trepidation, he extended his index finger to meet Krag’s, which was almost twice the length and thickness.

  As it edged closer, the others seemed to lose faith in the exercise, but he stood resolute. He knew there was an electron imbalance there, and any second, it would come shooting out in the form of electricity. When their fingers were around 4 inches out, doubt started to creep in, and the excitement slowly started to fizzle away, but then, abruptly, a blue line flashed from Krag’s finger to his.

  Thomas instinctively recoiled, but he didn’t feel any pain. There were no flashbacks or tingling either, but he did feel something. A force, like a wave washing over him, demolishing the obstructions from within. When it passed, he felt different somehow. He felt… greater. Looking down at his finger, he caught the remnant of tiny blue light that danced around it before it blinked out of existence. A wide smile overcame his face.

  Time to make some himself. Looking inward, he could quite literally feel the presence of free electrons flowing throughout his body. He called out to them, and they fizzed in excitement, travelling along his arm and collecting in his hand. There they buzzed, waiting for his command.

  He could feel them campaigning for release, like a prisoner banging on a door. Before complying, he pointed his hand at the floor away from the others; their safety was his priority. To his relief, the ions shot out without delay, zapping the ground. Finally, electricity was his to command.