The Human Familiar (Familiar and the Mage Book 1)

by Honor Raconteur

  I put my pack, swords, and my heavily loaded belt down on one of the chairs before turning back to my opponent. I didn’t want anything on me while dealing with her—she was going to give me a run for my money, I could just sense it.

  “Rules in the guild are, don’t kill or maim, try not to break anything,” Mazey offered.

  Good rules. I had been wondering. “Then, first one to pin the other wins?”

  “That’s the aim.”

  Doing so would mean I would have to hold back a little and restrict how much force I could use, but such was the nature of sparring.

  No one shouted ‘Begin!’ or anything like that. Mazey came at me hard and fast, her hands up in a guard position and her foot aiming for my kneecap. What happened to ‘not break anything?’ She sure had a lot of faith in my dodging abilities on first acquaintance.

  I hopped over the leg, rolled to the side and was up again in a blink. I’m not one to be on the defensive if I can help it and went for her, aiming for her sternum. She blocked, twisted, tried to capture my hand to pull me in, but I flowed with the movement and foiled the attempt.

  She was good. I grant her that. But I’d fought better. I unleashed a flurry of punches that kept her busy blocking and used it as a distraction to get my foot in behind her knee and jerk her to the ground. Mazey went down with a grunt, trying to catch her balance, but I wasn’t about to let her do that. I planted a knee next to her side to keep her from rolling, threw my free arm straight, my fist an inch from her throat.

  There was a beat of stunned silence as she lay gasping, staring up at me with wide green eyes. Everyone else seemed just as stunned. Ahhh…by any chance did she have a reputation here that I didn’t know about?

  Mazey started laughing in true delight. It broke the tension and other people clapped or yelled out some sort of critique, all in good humor, from the sounds of it. I leaned back, regained my feet, and offered her a hand up. She took it, a wicked gleam in her eye as she regained her feet. “I now understand why you didn’t want to try it with weapons.”

  “Always better to get a grip on someone’s fighting style first,” I responded with a shrug. “Less chance for injury that way.”

  “Wise of you.” Turning her head, Mazey said, “Hey, Rena. I think I know why your magic liked him. Strong fighter, this one.”

  Rena had shown up at some point while I wasn’t paying attention and had joined the watching crowd. She gave Mazey a wobbly smile. “It would explain a few things.”

  Tarkington stroked his chin thoughtfully, head cocked as he stared at me. “If that’s the case…Bannen. While you’re waiting here, want to earn some coin?”

  “I never say no to jobs.” Because I’m constantly broke. Ah, the woes of being young and poor. “You got something in mind?”

  “I certainly do. I got contacted by a fellow guild about a situation that’s brewing down south. There’s an area that seems to be tainted by a dark magic of some sort. The local fauna and animals are becoming ferocious and unreasonably large. They’re recruiting help from any guild that is interested, and we’re slated to go, but it won’t be for another few days. If you’re intent on staying for a while, we could use another fighter.”

  “Large and ferocious beasts, eh? Sounds fun.”

  Venn belted out a laugh. “Fun, he says! Kid after my own heart, here.”

  I didn’t take any umbrage at the ‘kid’ part. The man had four decades on me at least; I probably was still a kid in his eyes. And would be until I hit thirty.

  “While we’re waiting for everyone to assemble,” Rena asked uncertainly, “I do have other, more minor jobs lined up here in town?”

  It had escaped my immediate attention, but because I had been summoned, she was without the familiar she needed. Granted, that didn’t mean I was duty-bound to fill the role, but at the same time, it seemed cruel to leave her hanging high and dry. She had done all of that magic because she needed help. I didn’t have anything better to do, she’d been kind to me, so I made a snap decision. “Rena, I am, after all, your familiar. I’ll guard you.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Really?”

  “No problem,” I assured her. “Just tell me what you need me to do.”

  “All she needs is for you to accompany her on jobs and to protect her,” Tarkington informed me. “It’s as simple as that.”

  I’d guarded enough people to know there wasn’t anything ‘simple’ about it. “Alright. That I can do. Then, Rena, what’s this other job?”

  “You know how you said my magic would be perfect for cleaning up a disaster zone?” She gave me a wry smile.

  “Yes?” I asked, word drawing out uncertainly.

  “Well, you’re not the only one to realize that.” Glancing out the window, she nodded to herself.

  “We don’t have enough daylight left to do it today, it’s practically dinner time, but we can go tomorrow. For now, I want to introduce you to some people.”

  Tarkington seemed to know exactly who Rena referred to, as he had an indulgent look on his face. “The trio?”

  “You guessed it,” Rena admitted easily. “We’ll be at the café for dinner.”

  Tarkington shooed us out, so I picked up my weapons and followed Rena amiably. When she said that she ate at the café a lot, she hadn’t been kidding. It was decent food, so I didn’t think about complaining.

  We didn’t actually make it past the door before three teenage girls ambushed us. They were all more or less the same age as Rena, cute in their own ways, although they all sported different styles. They took me in with immediate interest, eyes doing a quick survey from head to foot, which is always flattering to a man’s ego. I might have preened a little under their open regard.

  “Hey,” Rena greeted happily enough, although she kept chewing on her bottom lip. “So, um, I summoned a familiar yesterday—”

  “That worked?” the blonde asked in noticeable excitement.

  “—Uh, yes, yes it worked,” Rena answered with a glance at me. “And this is him. Bannen.” At that point her mouth faltered and she visibly floundered on how to explain.

  The three girls stared at me like I had just sprouted another head. I grinned and shrugged because what else could you do in these situations. “Bannen Hach, familiar extraordinaire, pleasure to meet you.”

  The brunette raised a hand and smacked it on the side of her head like someone trying to shake water out of her ear. “I’m sorry, say that again?”

  “Human familiar,” I pointed at myself, “summoned by the lovely mage standing at my side. From Z’gher. Anyone need to sit down yet?”

  “I do,” the other brunette said faintly, eyes bulging out of her head. “Seriously, Rena?!”

  Rena shrugged and looked sheepish. “Seriously. Bannen, this is Lori,” blondie, “Steph,” the brunette, “and Emily,” the cutie. “They’re all Master Vonda’s apprentices, and Vonda and my Master are long-time friends, so we all sort of grew up and trained together.”

  Right, so these were more like sisters than friends. Got it. This relaxed me, as sisters I knew what to do with.

  “Seriously, truly need to sit down and absorb this,” Lori pleaded. “Not that it isn’t nice to meet you, Bannen, it is, but this is beyond strange. This is…I’m speechless.”

  “Café,” Steph said firmly. “For dinner, I need dessert.”

  In mutual agreement, we stepped out the door and headed for the little café. It did not escape my notice that Steph swooped into Rena’s side and dragged her back three steps so that she could whisper, “Your familiar is smoking.’”

  That made me smile and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. I’m not oblivious, I know others find me attractive, but there’s not a man in the world that doesn’t appreciate having two cuties discuss how attractive he is. Also, I would never, ever, let on that I could hear these conversations. I was not above eavesdropping.

  Rena enthusiastically and quietly agreed, “He is.”

  “I find it c
ompletely unfair that when I summoned my familiar, he was not human.” Steph sighed a mournful sigh, the put upon damsel in distress.

  “Where is Pilot, anyway?”

  “Down with a cold. Bad cold, poor guy. I left him at home to recuperate as he was sneezing all over the place. Do not distract me, I have to ask, do you get to keep him?”

  “Likely not,” Rena said in a defeated tone that put my hackles up. I hated hearing her sound like that and my own emotions were uncomfortable for me. Why did I care about a girl I’d known only a day? Or was this the familiar bond at work? I shook the thought off and focused on what she was saying. “And really, even though he was summoned, we all know he can’t be my familiar. He’s just being really nice and acting as my familiar until we can send him home again.”

  “Pity.”

  Yes, indeed it was. I nearly stumbled at that thought. Really, why did I care? How much of the familiar bond was to blame for my attachment to her? Rena was nice, I liked her, but to be this…protective of her in such a short amount of time? I wondered if it had anything to do with why I could seemingly sense her? I’d noticed it when she’d left me alone in Tarkington’s workroom. I knew exactly where she was even through a wall and that was decidedly not normal.

  There was a momentary pause. “You’re looking better.”

  “You can tell? I’ve strangely been energetic most of today although I have no idea why.”

  “Not that, but your skin tone. You actually have color in your cheeks for once.” Steph waggled her eyebrows in a lecherous fashion. “His doing, perhaps?”

  The blush was fast and instantaneous. “Ha, no. He treats me like a kid sister. Or a buddy.”

  I blinked. Had I really? No…I didn’t think I had been at all. Weird, why would she think that? Or was this a case of her not having enough contact with a man her own age (three years older, close enough) that she didn’t realize I had been doing a low grade flirt with her off and on since my arrival?

  “All things considered, that might be for the best.” Steph shook her head mournfully. “The Council will probably freak about this as it is.”

  She let the matter drop as we reached the café.

  Rena had to read the menu to me, of course, but I basically ordered the same thing as earlier, only a different variety. What can I say, I can be incredibly repetitive with food. Especially tasty food.

  With our meals ordered, Lori leaned in over the table, staring at me intently. “You’re the first familiar that can answer this question. What’s it like?”

  “Narrow that down for me,” I requested, a little amused to have the undivided attention of four women at once. Normally only my brother could manage to hold court like this. “The summoning? Being a familiar? Both?”

  “Both,” she requested with an expression that suggested she would take mental notes on whatever I said.

  I thought about it for a moment, trying to figure out how to phrase it. “The summoning is incredibly abrupt. One moment you’re in one place, you blink, you’re in another. There’s no transition, nothing to suggest you have magic wrapping around you, you’re just there.”

  “Interesting,” Rena said in a way that suggested she hadn’t expected that answer at all. “It takes a considerable amount of time to get a summoning spell together so I would think you’d have plenty of forewarning.”

  “None at all. It’s why I was still kneeling when I came through.” The second question would be harder to answer and my mouth opened and closed several times before I decided to just talk, as I couldn’t think of the right words. “It’s really strange, actually. I have this sudden awareness of another person and it’s constant; not emotions—although that would be handy—but more like an aura. I sense her magic, I know exactly where she is at all times, like I can see her even with my eyes closed.”

  The other girls fell silent and moved in a little closer. Emily pointed a finger at Rena. “She glows?”

  “Yup. Not overwhelming, just a soft glow. Kind of like an aura if you had your back to a setting sun, that kind of lighting.”

  They seemed to understand what I meant and yet not at the same time. “How accurately can you tell where she is?” Steph pressed, apparently fascinated by this point. “I mean, my familiar always seems able to find me in a second, but I figured that’s because he’s a dog and his nose tells him.”

  “It’s weird, but it’s…” I frowned, frustrated. “I don’t know how to explain this. Let’s do a practical demonstration. I’m going to close my eyes, you and the others move at random around the room. I’ll point a finger and follow Rena with it as she moves.”

  The girls got out of their chairs and I sat stock still, eyes closed, head up. She appeared like an after image on the back of my eyelids. Rena slowly took two steps to the right, and my finger came up, pointing directly at her chest. Trying to move silently, she moved even further, Steph and Emily joining in, crossing paths and weaving in and around her. It didn’t matter. I knew exactly where she went. Rena went around tables, ducked under and around Steph, even came around to stand behind me, and my finger followed with unerring precision.

  Emily swore reverently. “He’s bound to you, alright. That is absolutely amazing. Especially with a new bond.”

  “How is that even possible?” Lori asked the question almost rhetorically. “I thought magic couldn’t bind a human like this, not without some very evil spells being used. Which I doubt you did.”

  Rena seemed to take a breath before quietly admitting, “I didn’t consciously complete the bond.”

  All three girls turned slowly to stare at her, slowly enough I actually heard neck muscles creaking.

  “I know,” she admitted and Rena still looked shaken by that.

  Not being a magician, I couldn’t completely understand why they were so unnerved by this, but I could imagine it well enough. It would be like having your right hand suddenly decide to do things without your permission and messing with life. I would be unnerved by that. (I would draw a parallel between my mouth going off without permission, but that happens all of the time, so the metaphor would fall a little flat.) Not wanting them to wig out—they were on the verge—I deadpanned, “It’s because I’m sexy and irresistible.”

  Rena blinked at me, literally jarred out of whatever dark thoughts she had, then burst out laughing. “Is that why?”

  “Of course, why else?” I waggled my eyebrows at her, just to get her to laugh harder, then smirked when it worked. “Seriously, though, I don’t feel like me being here is an accident. Your magic has a reason for it, we just haven’t figured it out yet.”

  “I call ditto on this,” Emily agreed just as seriously. “Your magic has always been strange, Rena, but I feel like this time there’s a reason why it’s done something so completely abnormal. Maybe have him stay, figure out why before letting the Council force you into sending him back?”

  “That’s the plan,” Rena assured her.

  At that point our food arrived, so we switched to lighter topics, mainly me answering questions about Z’gher as no one at the table, understandably, had ever been. We lingered a little, chatting, but the girls apparently had something they needed to get done before the light failed them completely and moved off. I noticed that Rena and Emily paused, whispering to each other, and two bags exchanged hands before Emily left.

  “Bribes or presents?” I asked Rena as we walked back to the guildhall.

  “Huh? Oh, these.” Her eyes darted away from me, elusive, and her tone was deliberately casual. “Payment for services rendered. Emily makes some of the best scones and creams ever, and in return I fix some of her spells if they’re not working as she wants them to.”

  “Ahh. Can I try a scone?”

  “Sure.” She wrestled one free of the paper bag and handed it over to me.

  I honestly had no real interest in eating anything but I did, making appreciative noises—they actually were good, light and fluffy and with an orange zest to them—so that she would
feel like she’d gotten by with that. I had a feeling that the cream had something to do with her obviously bad health but couldn’t put my finger on what exactly, not yet. I didn’t have enough information.

  Rena had gone out of her way to not look ill in front of me, and even that breathing attack she’d had earlier was quickly and firmly put aside before I could ask any questions about it. Being ridiculously healthy my entire life, I wasn’t sure why she had this attitude. A sore point, perhaps? Or maybe she thought of it as a weakness. If so, I could understand, as no one wants to admit to those.

  If I really was to stay any length of time and act as a guardian for her, then I needed to know, but challenging her on it was not the way, and I sensed this wasn’t the time either. So I let it lie.

  One way or another, I’d get the information I needed to know.

  Even when I’m in a wildly foreign country, I try to stick to the same routine. I had been given a guest bedroom last night that, while comfortable, didn’t have a lot of space in between the single bed and a chest of drawers, so I wandered outside to the back of the building. The Strickmaker Guild shared a training yard with another guildhall, or so I had been told, and people tried to share space. This early in the morning only a few were outside actively training, and the yard of packed dirt had plenty of space for me.

  I went through my routine of stretches first, limbering up, then through the first and second movements of the Xhii. The form, when done correctly, is slow and steady, and in truth it’s one of the deadliest forms of hand to hand combat ever invented. I’d grown up with it and have used it my entire life, so it felt a little strange when everyone in the yard abruptly stopped to watch me.

  I did a half crescent turn and knew the exact moment when Rena drifted through the doorway. “Morning,” I greeted her, extending my right leg out, arms coming up around in Floating Clouds, before shifting back and around.

  “Morning. That almost looks like a dance, but….”