I stared behind me as I watched a young brown-haired boy, no more than ten or so, summon forth a strange beast from a bizarre...hole he created in the empty air in front of him. An old man seemed to be guiding and teaching the boy. As I watched, the beast came forward, stepping out of the portal. It was dark green, with yellow stripes. It looked like a small cat, only it had tiny black wings on its back and red eyes. It's tail ended in a curved moon-shape, like a very thin blade.
As I stared at it, it silently turned it's eyes my way. I watched, half-terrified, as its eyes began to glow a dark purple-red, almost a burgundy color, but not quite. Its pupils shifted, becoming thin and yellow, glowing. It's mouth opened to reveal a row of fangs that were like tiny daggers. It licked it's lips, drool beginning to fall from it's mouth. I felt fear fill me, unable to look away from those eyes. They held me paralyzed. I could see, feel, and hear nothing as I gazed into them.
I felt as if I was being pulled away, closer and closer to the hungry beast's mouth. Each breath, each heartbeat, was dragging me farther way. I tried to open my mouth to speak, but I realized with a start that I could barely feel my body any more.
Zane...I whispered faintly in my mind.
Two seconds later, a large rock wall burst forth from the ground between me and the beast. I heard a low hiss of outrage that didn't sound human from behind the wall, before Zane appeared in my vision. His face was bordering on rage and I watched as his eyes began to slowly shift. He was fighting it. They would start to change from brown, darken to black and the edges began to form the other two colors, before returning to brown.
Still dazed, but remembering myself enough, I reached out and grabbed his arm. "I'm...I am fine, Zane," I mumbled faintly.
He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "Yes, now you are. If I hadn't make the pact...hadn't sensed the pull of your soul starting to leave your body..." Suddenly, he turned and the rock wall crumbled away as he did. His arm snaked out and gripped mine tightly. Before I could blink, he was storming over to the boy, beast, and old man, dragging me behind him.
Both the man and boy grew pale at the rage on Zane's face. "You will make your pact with the anima-feles and then you will apologize to my wife. Now."
Hurriedly, the two returned their attention back to the cat creature. The thing was still gazing at me, licking it's lips hungrily. I hid behind Zane, peering from behind him. I was curious, but terrified of getting too close.
"Almat, hurry. Before it causes more harm," the old man rushed the boy.
The boy nodded nervously. He took in several deep breaths before speaking, his voice sounding much calmer than he had looked less than a minute before. "Anima-feles, I have called you forth to bind our souls in a contract. You will be my familiar and I your master. We will forever be connected through this pact. I, Almat Vanest, agree to this." Slowly, at his words, the cat's eyes were pulled from me and to the boy. It's tail twitched several times at it stared up into Almat's aquamarine eyes that held a little ring of gold around the edges. Tense silence filled the air for several seconds.
I watched quietly.
Almat's gaze remained steady, though I could see a little line of sweat beginning to form along the side of his face. He seemed to be in a staring contest with the cat. Neither of them blinked for a very long time. I was beginning to suspect the cat wouldn't give in, but it finally did. Stiffly, it bent its body forward in a deep bow.
Master Almat, I shall submit to this pact. Only, though, on the agreement, that once you pass, I may have your soul to feast upon.
Cautiously, Almat nodded, allowing himself to blink. "I expected nothing less from one such as you."
The cat blinked as well, nodding shortly. You are a powerful mage. I will enjoy the taste of your soul. I will follow the usual agreements not to cause any harm to you or place you in a position to die early, though. I, Felicitamitis, agree to all that has been stated.
"Let us cement the pact then." Reaching out his hand, Almat touched the top of the cat's head. A brilliant light, the same color as a mixture of Almat's eyes and the red of the cat's, came from where the two were touching. It moved, filling their bodies, making them glow for half a second. I blinked, startled by the light. Just as suddenly as it had appeared, it vanished.
The cat turned, glancing back at me. It's eyes stayed red though, instead of changing. Almat's eyes shifted over to Zane and I as well, his cheeks blushing red. "I am so sorry, sir," he began. He seemed to finally take in my fearful posture behind Zane and my confused expression. "I am terribly sorry, miss. I wasn't...I didn't think that summoning an anima-feles would cause so much trouble."
Zane's voice was still hard with anger. "What kind of idiot summons that kind of creature and doesn't put up a protective barrier?" he demanded. "Anima-feles feed on the souls of other living things. They more specifically like the souls of females. And if that female has magical abilities, especially as strongly as my wife?" His voice trailed off, but it was obvious by the faces of the other two that they knew what he meant.
The cat deemed to speak. I apologize for my lack of civilized behavior before. I saw the female and smelled her magic. So intoxicating...It's voice took on a cryptic tone. I find it very interesting, the smell of her magic and the smell of you on her...I have never seen a mage with such a complicated bond to another before. It is more complex and binding than even that of a familiar and master...
I raised an eyebrow at it's words. It must be talking about the pact-thing Zane made with me and possibly the vow as well, I thought.
Zane grew still. His voice was very careful. "Yes, well...'Love knows no bounds' and all that cheesy drivel," he muttered.
The cat's eyes hardened. Indeed...You are who I think you are, are you not? It is quite a unique, bizarre thing you have done. One that mere mortals will not understand and probably will not be able to accept. Your...wife is...remarkable...The only one even slightly like you in the world.
I couldn't see his face from where I was standing, but his voice was strange. It was a mix of weariness, humor, and sorrow. "Well, Noah's Ark and all that. It took me a very long time to find my matching pair though..."
The cat nodded. Yes, indeed, sire. I must thank you, personally. Your actions long ago caused my kind the ability to exist, grow, and thrive. Do not worry, I will do no more harm to your 'wife'. Indeed, I shall send out the knowledge so that all others of my kind know never to touch her. I fear, with her smell, she will be like a beacon to my kind, should she grow close enough.
Zane dipped his head stiffly. "I thank you. I wouldn't want to kill one of the anima-feles if I didn't have to. But if any tried to harm my wife, I wouldn't bat an eye at destroying them."
The cat nodded again. Slowly, it dipped into a bow, this one deeper and somehow more grand than the one it had given Almat. With your bond to her and your position, it would only be your right to do so. Indeed, all magic has no choice but to bend to your will. You are, after all, the Father of All Magic. It straighten, it's tail twitching. In that regard, I am humbled to have been given the honor of meeting you, Great One.
Zane let out a long sigh. "Okay, now you're just getting creepy with all of this. Anyway," his tone grew sharper as he returned his attention to the other two. "Old man, you should have known better. What would you have done if... Felicitamitis hadn't been stopped and completely pulled her soul away, devouring it?"
The old man hurriedly placed himself on the ground before Zane. "I humbly apologize, Great One," he was quick to echo the cat's title for Zane. "I did not stop to think about that happening. I was only very proud that my student was strong enough to be able to summon an anima-feles, of all things."
"Let this be a lesson to you then." Zane's voice was filled with disgust. Without another glance, he quickly swept me up into his arms. I blinked up at him as he took off, moving at inhuman speeds once again.
"Zane?" I asked softly, closing my eyes. "What was that about?"
"You have magic, great magic. You were too close to that creature and it acted on instinct, trying to pull your soul from your body. It was going to eat you, unless it was brought to heel and placed under the control of a mage. The boy made it his familiar and that pact makes it so that a familiar cannot harm another unless given permission from their master."
I shook my head. "I don't have any magic, Zane," I corrected him. "The purple light only showed up because our souls are bound together. It was only a reflection of you in me. That's all the...the anima-feles smelled as well. It's just all your magic on me."
Zane let out a breath. "Nope," was all he said. By then we had reached the library. Only...this library was the size of eight of my entire village. It was so huge it looked like it could easily be another city. Books were lined along shelves, going up at least twelve stories, all along the circular walls. The whole library was a giant tower. Many people were inside. I saw several people using magic to eat and read at the same time, the magic making the books float in front of them. Every minute or so, they would flick their finger and the page would turn.
Now that my attention had been drawn to it, I noticed something else. Nearly everyone here had some sort of creature with them. I even saw a few of the things my mother had told me were called pixies. Tiny human-like creatures with wings with the shape of a beetle's but the colorful patterns of a butterfly's. They were filled with different colored lights, and their voices were high and sharp, like a hawk's cry.
Other creatures were black dog-like things with flames licking around the edges of their bodies, fire-salamanders, and willow-wisps'. I also spotted some strange thing that looked made of water, but was constantly shifting it's form. By then Zane had found the book he was looking for. He pulled it off the shelf and began skimming through it.
I stood beside him, trying not to stand out and trying not to let my gaze wonder too far away.
A hand fell upon the top of my head. Startled, I glanced up at him. "Y-Yes?"
His eyes were very calm. "Would you like to read a book here? Is there any kind of magic you are interested in?"
I paused, thinking. I had always enjoyed books. I had already read the three I had brought with me three times over, plus the extra two times I had since starting this journey. "U-um...Is there any books on...on e-energy?"
He frowned in confusion. "Energy?" he repeated.
"Yes...L-like..." I trailed off, trying to put into words the thoughts in my head. I could feel something, deep inside myself. "Like the control of all things that can be seen as energy?"
Slowly, his eyes began to light up. "Ana, you are wonderful. You want the ability to control the very basic form of all magic, of all energy, of all power. That would be, let's see...Absorption, Augmentation, Bestowal, Conversion, Energy Manipulation, Force-Field Generation, Negation, Sensing, and Sourcing. Well, with the potential you have, I don't see why not. Honestly, I had been expecting you to be interested in something much more mundane. Gods, I love you."
I blushed despite myself. "I...I think so?" I wasn't completely able to grasp all he was saying, but most of it sounded like what I felt deep inside myself.
His expression grew into a huge grin. "Lucky you, I know how to do all that. You won't have to read a single thing." My expression saddened a little at his words. I like to read though, I thought. His face fell. "I'm sorry. I'll go ahead and grab several of the books for beginners right now. It's not stealing if they were mine originally," he muttered. Taking my hand, he quickly located another shelf. Without pausing, he pulled up his pocket dimension and stuffed five books inside, before closing it. "There, now, back to my book. Please, just wait quietly for a few more minutes. I'm almost done. You can start reading in awhile more. Once we get back on the road, I'll make sure of it."
I nodded as he went back to his book. I leaned against his side, quietly taking in the sights of the library around us. This place was amazing and I sorely wanted to spend the next ten years reading through everything here. Even though I knew I had no magic, it would be very intriguing just to read the books about it.
Zane had been reading for five minutes when a commotion started up at the entrance of the library. I turned my attention there as he slowly straightened.
A group of people stormed in. They quickly looked all around the room. The leader's eyes fell upon the two of us. "There they are!" the man shouted, pointing in our direction.
Zane let out a long, tired, bored sigh. "Man, I didn't even get to finish completely. All well...Four hundred and thirty-five out of four hundred and thirty-nine pages will have to do."
I glanced at him in annoyed confusion. I was a little surprised to see he had let the illusion dissipate. His eyes were purple once more and his markings on his throat and hand were evident. Glancing down, I saw mine were as well, the gold band gone.
Swiftly the group of ten soldiers were surrounding us. All of them wore armor. In the center of their breast plate was a strange crest. The background was dark blue. On the dark blue was a silver coin. Instead of the face of the king or queen, as was normal with most coins, it had a weird shape. The shape was circular, almost like a thick wheel, with square cut out edges along the outside of it. In the very middle of the circular shape was a hole and in that hole was another odd thing. It was a purple top hat.
I blinked. It was the oddest crest I had ever seen in my life, even if I hadn't seen more than that of my own country. But then again, my mind thought tiredly. Zane is the creator of this country and the 'king', so to speak...
The leader, a lean blonde man in his thirties, with sapphire blue eyes and streaks of red in them pulled himself to his full height, nearly the same as Zane's height. "You two are und-"
Zane quickly put up a hand. The man fell silent. I watched, as the man tried to speak, but nothing came out of his mouth. "Okay, on second thought, I can't handle not finishing this. It'll drive me nuts later. Once I'm done you can have your fun and give us the whole 'You are under arrest' spiel." He pulled his book back up, blocking his face.
The other men quickly stepped back and began to cast some sort of magic, their hands moving as one, their voices murmuring in a harmonic chant. Two seconds later, I watched in fear as a huge striped cat-beast, made of lightening formed above them. It grew until it took up nearly half of the space of the library. Screams of fright and horror echoed in the room as people quickly hurried to flee. On instinct, I moved closer to Zane's side, grabbing onto his arm that was holding up his book. Letting out a deafening roar, the beast hurtled towards us.
Not even bothering to look up, Zane lifted his hand and moved it in the air, making a circle and then pushing the circle out. I stared in silent awe as the beast was suddenly brought up short by a nearly invisible wall. I could only make out a small shift of the air, like water, once again. "It's only four pages, guys, so chill. It's actually only two pages now. Find a seat, park it, and stay still." His finger twirled in a circle. The bodies of the men all turned and moved to a large table a few feet away, sitting down in chairs. "That's better," Zane muttered.
The leader was still about eight feet away, glaring at us in anger. Two minutes later, Zane let out a long sigh. He pulled the book down and moved to place it back on its proper shelf on the other side of the room. Coming back, he smiled down at me. "That thing I did, with the wall around us? When you get a lot more practice in you could do that as well, love." He reached out and cupped my cheek. "Now, I'm sorry, but we're going to be taken in and arrested."
He yawned, looking bored. "I need to stop by anyway, check on things. I guess this will work out. The capital, Seattle, is only a few days' walk away anyway." He dropped his hand, turning to the leader. "Now, I will agree to go quietly, but only if you agree to something as well. You, and your men, will in no way try to cause any harm to my companion here. Do so and I will no longer be the willing, amicable prisoner."
Slowly, Zane moved his hand once again and the muting spell was lifted from the leader. The man glared at Zane. "Why should I treat a defective familiar, one which holds no magical origins, with any sort of respect?" he spat out. His eyes observed me with cold disdain. From his pocket, a small weasel climbed out and up his shoulder. I let out a soft breath. It had looked like a normal weasel at first, but now I saw different.
First off, it's fur was black, with streaks of yellow, hazel, and dark red. Second, it's eyes took up most of its face, a dark yellow. Third, it's face held a strange mark. It was bright green, glowing, and in the shape of an X with a line going through it, only made with three large claw marks, like an old scar. The animal's lips pulled back in a snarl, staring back at me.
"It's disgusting. How could any self-respecting mage bind their-self to a human, making them a familiar?"
I froze, glancing at Zane. What? I thought in confusion. Weren't we...married, sort of? What is a familiar and how is it a bad thing?
For his part, Zane looked surprisingly calm. "I did not make her my familiar, but mortals and low-leveled beasts can not see passed that, it would seem."
The leader shook his head. The weasel hissed at the insult. "There is nothing else two soul-bound beings can be, besides a Master and a Familiar. You have the greater magic, so you can only be the Master. That leaves this...human the Familiar."
Zane frowned. "Yes, she is human. What is so bad about that? When, exactly, did being human become a bad thing? What has been going on in my absence?"
The man sneered. "You are a wanted criminal. Taking you in alive will net us a nice, fat reward, plus bragging rights for a long time. Men," he ordered, "tether them."
Moving forward, having finally been released to stand from their chairs, the others were quick to do as he said. Zane did not try to stop them, remaining still. Trusting him, I did the same. The man who took over binding my hands jerked his fingers, hard. The gold magical bindings pulled my hands. They moved with such force that I stumbled forward. Unable to catch myself, I fell to the ground, slamming into it. I let out a hiss of pain. Blinking, I struggled to sit up. With the way my hands were bound though, I couldn't quite get the right grip to do so.
Zane's cold, hard, calm voice came from above my head. "That was uncalled for. What did I say to you earlier? Now, you asshole, help her up and to her feet. She didn't fight you at all and you treat her like that?"
There was a long silence.
"Help. Her. The. Fuck. Up. You. Bastard!"
I could only assume Zane's temper had won a little and his eyes had changed. Quickly, a pair of hands were lifting me up from my shoulders. Two seconds later, I was looking up into the eyes of the man who had caused me to fall. His grey-red eyes were wide with fright.
"Thank. You," Zane ground out. "Now...Tell her you're sorry and you won't do that to her again."
The man swallowed before doing so, his voice shaking. "I-I-I'm s-s-so-o-r-ry, m-m-is-s-s-s..." he stuttered horribly.
I tried to smile, but falling had busted my lip. I winced at the pain. "It's...it's okay. Just, I wouldn't try that again, okay? He has a nasty temper, if you didn't already notice."
The man gulped again, nodding. "Yes, ma'am, I noticed."
I couldn't help the laughter in my voice. "He takes some getting use to, but he isn't a bad guy. Just very misunderstood and a bit high-maintenance."
Zane's voice grumbled from nearby, behind me. "Hey! I'm a little insulted, even if it is true."