"Why can't you open it with magic?"
Ivy hissed in frustration. A closed metal hook held the latch closed on the cage door. It reminded her of the lead rope and reins the farmer and his wife used for Bernard, except this one seemed too perfect to her eye. She couldn't imagine the elderly blacksmith in the village making anything like this.
"Because I'm an orphan Familiar. Once your master or mistress binds you to them, your magic is released." She batted at the latch, for once envying the humans and their dull-clawed but powerful hands.
The dragon clung to the cage bars with the small thumbs of his wings, and grasped the hook in his feet. He strained, groaning, and the hook eased apart. "How—how do they bind you?"
"It depends on the witch or wizard. Sometimes it's a spoken spell. Sometimes a touch with a wand." Ivy kept her paws close to the hook, ready to push it off the cage door's latch. "Sometimes a collar imbued with magic."
The hook snapped closed again. It pinched one of Sebastian's toes, and the dragon fluttered off, squawking.
Ivy thought it was the pinch, until he said, "A collar?"
YOU ARE READING
The Prophecy and the Familiar
Short StoryIvy is an orphan Familiar, a magical cat without a master or mistress, and she is just fine with that. Years before, after all, her mother was killed by a supernatural monster, along with her wizard master. Unfortunately, Ivy's simple, peaceful li...
