Free Summoner (Ash and Magic 1) by Sophie Park

destroyed, of course, but that was the beauty of an AM Field.  Properly created, it could maintain itself indefinitely as it repurposed the magic it ripped apart to power itself.  Even without that property, as long as she was standing here she would continue to fuel it with new power.  It was literally the only thing standing between her and disaster.
    It seemed like a very long time since she'd activated the spell.  The manse was filled with the smell of smoke and flame, and every loose bit of material was rattling under the power of the wind that was trying to suck everything inside the manse onto the other side of the three magical circles.
    Was it supposed to be like this?
    She had not anticipated the amount of magical draw this would place on her.  Montgomery made it look easy to maintain two circles for an entire lecture, but she was already panting with exertion and questioning every decision that had led her to this moment.  For the moment, her magical matrix was holding and her flux was within normal levels, but she could feel the tax that the spells were putting on her.  Keeping them up like this was slowly overloading her whole system.  She only had, maybe, five or ten minutes before she reached her personal limit.
    Like a muscle, it was a limit that you could build up over time.  Ash had simply underestimated how much stronger Monty was than she...
    Or maybe something else was happening.  The Analyze spells indicated that everything was okay, but the abyss was not closing.
    Why wasn't it closing?
    What had she done wrong?
    She'd read the tome back to front three times, taking notes and memorizing everything important, including the name of the wizard who first attempted something like this and written about it.
    The tome didn't say anything about how long the spell should last, but surely it should be finished by-
    "What the Hell are you thinking!"  A voice, rich and male and powerful, boomed from inside the circle.
    Ash gasped and the second half of the spell that she remembered from class kicked in: a huge, red humanoid burst out of the abyss and the howling void closed, replaced with red hot rocky ground.
    Ashley Cook felt a very physical release of tension when that happened.  Holding the spells open had been on its way to killing her, but with Melketh's appearance the power draw tapered off considerably.  In fact, she started to feel a positive feedback!
    What was doing that?
    A quick glance at her Analyze showed that power was roiling off of Melketh in thick, palpable waves.  When it hit the AM Field it fed back into the spell until even that spilled over and started to rejuvenate Ash.  Her personal reserves were quickly replenished and all of her metaphysical organs stopped straining under the pressure of channeling all the raw power she'd had to channel to keep the spell operational.
    With Melketh here, she was actually gaining power.
    "That was really fucking stupid Monty!"  Melketh lashed himself in a rapid, angry circle along the inside of the spell.  "Why in the everloving fuck did you not tell me you were going to do that!?  Do you know what was trying to come through?!  Do you even fucking know- wait."
    Ash was staring.  She couldn't help it.  Melketh was just as beautiful as he had been in class, only now she was in a confined space and the only thing that separated the two of them was her magic.
    That actually made the meeting more intimate.  She could feel, right down to the base of her spine, every time he touched the edge of the AM field.  He was testing it like he had back in the classroom, only now she shivered in pleasure as his hands ran across the bounds of the spell.  It was like...
    It felt like...
    She could swear it felt like he was running his hands across her body, exploring it.  Possessing it...
    "You're not dear old Monty."  Melketh's voice was silken smooth and filled with a kind of admiration.  "Who are... oh, yes.  The little wannabe summoner.  I know