by Viola Grace
Bara remained in her room and started arranging things, humming to herself.
Reegar shook his head and came with them. “She was excited by the idea of an animal in the hall. Apparently, she always wanted a pet.”
“You are looking rather fit.”
He snorted. “I haven’t had this kind of influx of energy in decades. You are very powerful.”
“Yup, with no control. It is a lot of fun.”
“I can only imagine what it would be like when you were around the dead.”
“Well, I was able to make a good living at it just working part time as a death keeper’s apprentice.” She smiled. “You would be amazed at how much two days a week with the dead can bring.”
“Are funds a concern for you?”
“They were. I have enough for now. It will get me though the next few years. After that, I had better find a source of income in short order.”
He blinked. “Can you not simply return to your family home and seek a position at your leisure?”
“No. I am an unknown. A discard after a contract. My family and I have no connection. I am truly on my own. I will succeed or fail on my own merits.”
“So, it is in your interest to study hard and not engage in the normal frivolity that the college seems to bring out in the young?”
“That is correct. It is the same reason that I got Mr. E. I need him for my courses. A familiar is a prerequisite.”
She set the kitten on the floor and unpacked the groceries into the fridge in the lounge. She kept out the enormous steak and set it on the counter.
A little bit of rummaging yielded a cutting board and knife. With practiced motions, she minced up less than a tenth of the meat, segmenting the rest and stowing it in the freezer.
“Here you go. Now, table or floor?”
He made a mewling noise and reached for the small plate.
She scooped him up and put him and the plate on the tabletop. The small smacking noises made her smile as she set about throwing together a quick stir fry for her own purposes.
When Bara appeared, Imara asked, “Care for some?”
“I could smell it down the hall. I thought you would never ask.” Bara got two plates down, and the meat and veg with spices and sauces was split down the middle.
They sat near the fuzzy blob of black that was still making inroads on the beef and shared a meal.
It was her first dinner in her new home, and for the first time in a long time, it felt like she was right where she was supposed to be.
Chapter Six
Sleeping in was not an option. Small, fuzzy paws smacked at her face in a playful staccato.
“Mr. E. Get off.”
“Mew.”
She sat up and looked out her window. There was no light. “You have to be kidding.”
He bounced away, standing next to the door. “Mew.”
She grumbled and got out of bed, stumbling to the door. The moment she opened the door, he darted through it, stopped and meowed back at her.
Wearing nothing but a long t-shirt and her panties, she stumbled down the dark hall until she heard the distinct but subtle chime of her alarm. She had left it in the lounge.
“Dammit!” She ran forward and grabbed her phone.
Mr. E jumped up and stood on the table, making little squeaky sounds. She checked the phone and winced at the time. She grabbed him and cuddled him. “Thanks for that. I only lost a few minutes.”
He lifted his head proudly. She tickled his head with her fingers and the purr commenced. Time to get ready for class.
Mr. E had an uncanny knack for sitting quietly on her shoulder. The women who saw him cooed and even the men gave him fond looks.
The History of Magic class was full. It was a basic course that could be passed by anyone with a working attention span from elementary school.
Imara announced her name for attendance and didn’t have to do anything else but listen to the lectures on the suspected waves of magic and the effect they had had on early man.
Elves were an alteration of human physiology, as were shifters, but it was suspected that mages were exposed over and over before finally absorbing the magic that was being dumped into their geographic location.
Imara took notes, made note of the assignment and got up with the rest of the class. She must have startled Mr. E because he dug his claws in.
She trooped to the dining hall with her compatriots, and she began chatting with a few women who wanted to know about Mr. E. He loved the attention and loved having his own burger and fries for lunch.
Imara opted for a salad and a set of chicken fingers before she settled in to eat before her familiar could finish his burger.
One of her new companions asked, “So, what can he do?”
She looked at the kitten, who was happily munching away at his meal. “Well, he can put away food at an alarming rate, and he has excellent senses.”
He looked at her with a piece of cheese on his little, black nose. “Mew.”
The entire table laughed.
She removed the cheese and scratched his head. “Sorry that you got stuck like this.”
He gave her a sober look from his bright eyes and slowly nodded.
* * * *
The frustrations of having the instincts of an infant cat were becoming a secondary memory.
His mage’s sincerity was not in doubt. She hadn’t betrayed what she knew about him. As far as her companions knew, he was simply a small feline.
He finished the meal she had presented him with and returned to her, cuddling against her chest while she ate. His full belly made him awkward, but he knew she would take care of him if he rested.
One day with his new mage and he still didn’t know what she wanted out of life. The others had presented him with a list of demands, but she simply seemed to crave companionship. He could do that merely by remaining the small creature she had chosen him to be.
In all his centuries as a familiar, he had never before had a mage who didn’t want to tap into his power immediately. The previous incarnation of servitude had demanded that he start helping with the increase of power immediately and that mage power continued until he died. Eight decades of propelling Magus Yuman Smythe to success in his field of potion design while wearing the body of a raptor had been exhausting. This time, he was actually going to enjoy his punishment. Mage Imara Mirrin had power and no idea what to do with it. If he was careful, he could make her into the strongest mage of her age.
He let out a deep sigh and slumped bonelessly to the table. Life as a kitten might make him small and helpless, but it came with protection offered up by his own mage. It was a strange turn of affairs.
He flicked the tip of his tail lazily as he wondered if there was going to be dessert.
* * * *
Imara tucked Mr. E into her sweatshirt and zipped it up so she could carry her books. It was time for her Soul Casting class.
When she crossed the college and entered the Wayforth building, she was surprised to find only five other people in the lecture hall.
She was comforted by the fact that all of the other students had an animal with them. It appeared that she was in the right place.
Imara took a seat and settled the unconscious Mr. E into a more comfortable position.
The instructor came out, and the power that surrounded her was stunning. “Hello, I am Magus Deepford, and I am here to teach you how to cast your soul into the universe and bring it home safely again.”
The magus’s familiar was an elegant black panther that paced next to her with haughty grace.
“Does everyone have their familiar?” The magus looked around, and her gaze focused on Imara. “Do you have yours?”
Imara unzipped her sweatshirt and pulled out Mr. E. “Got him.”
The magus smiled. “Good. He’s adorable. Have all of you bonded to your familiars?”
Only one of the students raised their hand.
“Right. Well, we will cove
r that next week. This week is about the history of familiars. We will cover the reason that we use them and what they can do for us. Once you are aware of the capabilities, you will be tempted to use them. I can assure you that the restrictions of how you can use your familiar are strictly enforced. The Mage Guild hands out punishments to students on a regular basis. They do not make exceptions for youth or inexperience. You will have to take responsibility for everything done using your familiar, no matter its origin.”
She looked at the students, one by one, making eye contact and waiting for acknowledgement.
“Now, pull out the textbooks, and we will begin with the first recorded history of a mage using a familiar to extend their own power.”
Imara flipped to the first page in the textbook and got her notebook ready. During the lecture, she made notes on things to check up on, including the first familiar and the first hellhound.
The origins of the hellhounds were fascinating. Low-powered mages tapped into the demon zone to increase their energies and ended up bonded to the energies. The bond became genetic after two generations, and after that, there was no going back. Those born to hellhound families were bought, fought and traded amongst the mages until they formed an uprising.
That was the end of the first lecture.
“So, I want you all to identify the players in the uprising and have a list of five ready when we convene again on Thursday. Have a nice two days. Dismissed.”
Mr. E had made his way to her shoulder, and he was purring in her ear as she cleared up.
She bagged up her books and slipped her pack over one shoulder. Mr. E adjusted his position, and they left the class in silence.
She wanted to stop and chat, but she had studying to do. There would be time to meet the other would-be mages later.
Bara was at a table in the lounge with her own stack of books. She grinned when Imara staggered in.
“Rough day?”
“I think Mr. E ate his body weight in a cheeseburger and fries.”
“You shouldn’t let him eat that. He will get sick.” Bara was concerned.
Mr. E hopped to the table and flattened himself on the table with a deep purr.
Imara shrugged. “He picked it.”
She set her bag down and started pulling out her books and her laptop.
Bara smirked. “Use your student id and the password is ReegarHallRocks.”
Imara grinned. “I am guessing we have a fast network?”
“You can stream anything you like. It is wide open, and there is a printer on the network. It is in the kitchenette, next to the fridge.”
“I didn’t notice it.”
“Magus Reegar had it installed. He wants you comfortable.” Bara chuckled. “I am enjoying his sudden attention to the modern era.”
“I think he just wants to learn to use the internet himself. There is a lot of fey porn out there.” Imara grinned as she signed in to the network.
Reegar appeared and took the third seat at the table. “I don’t know what that is, but it sounds fascinating.”
Bara snorted. “Well, Magus Reegar, I am sure you have seen worse in your time. But, if you want to order a computer, I will help you choose one.”
Reegar inclined his head. “Thank you. I will check with the college administration first to see if they can help, but if it doesn’t work, I will come to you.”
Imara watched as he reached out to pet Mr. E. “You are definitely more solid today.”
“Thank you. I feel more alive than I did when I was up and in my own body.”
“My pleasure. This used to be my part-time job.”
Bara blinked. “How did that work?”
Imara set up her homework station and looked at the RA of Reegar Hall. “Ah, well, I took an aptitude test in high school. I needed an evening job, and Sakenta believes in aptitude application of talent. So, I was assigned to shadow the Death Keepers at the main repository, and a week later, they offered me an apprenticeship at an excellent rate for a teenager. Three years of evenings helping folks speak with their dead managed to pay for college.”
“So, you made them stronger?”
Imara sat back and rubbed the back of her neck. “A ghost, or disembodied spirit, loses cohesion over time. If their tether isn’t perfect, they will degrade much more quickly. When you have degradation and a strong ghost, you can have all kinds of spectral phenomenon.”
She reached down and grabbed a bottle of water from her bag, cracking it open and taking a sip. “My job was to maintain the anchor points that held the tether and warn anyone if they were cracking, clouding or degrading. Speaking to the dead to check their status was part of the job. I thought everyone could make the ghosts stronger when they needed to. Apparently, it is a weird connection that I have to those who are no longer flesh.”
“Wow. All I did was mow lawns all summer. Do you have an open mind?”
“Yup, and an open power-generating body. So, I need to find some warding spells or, at least, control.”
“I can help you with that. So, did you want to order in or are you willing to try whatever I make in the kitchen?”
Imara smiled. “I am willing to try whatever you come up with. I haven’t had much experience with delivery. The boarding house owners didn’t want any strangers on their property.”
“You are kidding.” The woman’s astonishment was nearly palpable.
“No. Whatever you choose is fine. I will chip in if you choose delivery.” She nodded and got into her books, checking on the assignments and working on her histories.
When Mr. E crept onto her laptop and looked at her with a murp in his voice, Imara cursed and lifted him up, setting him aside and removing the characters he had just created.
“You are no typist, Mr. E. Wow, did you lose weight?”
He murped again and looked smug.
Reegar snorted. “He was fat and then he was thin. He is using his own magic to alter his body.”
She picked up her little buddy and cuddled him. “I think he reset himself to summoning specs.”
“You know he is powerful.”
“I do. It was non-negotiable.” She scratched lightly under the kitten’s chin and watched as he closed his eyes, and the purr got louder.
Imara glanced around. “Where is Bara?”
“She went to answer the door. There was a parade of delivery vehicles dropping off parcels.”
Imara could feel the prickle of magic as Bara returned with a barrage of bags floating in the air behind her.
“My treat. Pick what you like and we will keep the menus on speed dial.” Bara worked her fingers, and a wide blanket covered the floor. Bags opened, plates and cutlery flew around, and in moments, a picnic was ready for a small army.
Bara settled on the floor and waved at the expansive selection. “Take a seat and enjoy. We are the closest thing to sorority sisters that we will have. Consider this a rush party.”
Imara had no idea what that was, but she set Mr. E on the ground and settled into the picnic space. “Well, then, sister, shall we dine?”
Chapter Seven
The droning sound woke her for the sixth night in a row. She nudged at the kitten snoring on her abdomen and tried to wake him.
“I told you, you are too small for a pizza.” She rubbed his swollen belly.
He squirmed on his back, all four paws in the air. She chuckled and checked the time. It was just after two in the morning.
She sat back and stroked his belly as she pondered her first week of school. The history class was interesting, and she had already prepared all the reports listed on the course outline.
Her financial-planning course was fun. She enjoyed the numbers and the absolutes of where they went.
Herbology was a tricky course. She had never taken much interest in the properties of plants, but now, it was a lot more than picking the right spices for dinner. She had found that it was taking a lot of her concentration to keep track of what each plant did at what poi
nt of the lunar cycle. The possibilities were staggering.
Reegar was surprisingly helpful. He not only had a grasp of herbology, but he also had found the ritual that would ease communication between Imara and her familiar.
The next day in class, in front of everyone and their familiars, she would bind her mind to Mr. E’s and finally confirm his identity once and for all.
He could be either Edan Stormborn or Eadric Hellborn. Both led rebellions against the mages regarding the use of demon energy. Both had been brought up on charges when they were captured and disappeared from history.
She had asked the fuzzy monster, but he wasn’t telling. He looked smug and then chased his tail the moment she asked. She smiled and laughed instantly, forgetting the question.
Cute and cuddly was the most devastating thing she had come across so far. As she played with him quietly, his eyes opened and he burped. Instantly, he went from roly-poly to his normal slim and dorky.
She chuckled and he got up, curled himself in a ball on her stomach and started sleeping again. He might have been a great and deadly mage, but right now, he was freaking adorable.
Imara settled, made sure her alarm was on and braced for what the next day was going to bring. She was going to do her first, actual, deliberate magic. Was there a word for excitement and eagerness mixed with terror?
“Ms. Mirrin. Are you clear on the protocol?” Magus Deepford checked on their placement in the warded circle.
“Yes. I reach for him and he should reach for me and we meet in the middle.”
“Without moving.”
Imara sighed. “Right. Ready for this, Mr. E?”
“Mew.”
Magus Deepford chuckled. “That is still the cutest damned thing. I have never seen anyone with a kitten for a familiar.”
“You haven’t?” Imara was suddenly a little nervous.