By Rachel Dib
I stared at the animal perched on the Archmage’s hand. While its head resembled a dragon’s, it definitely wasn’t one. It was a brown, fluffy bird with big eyes and a tiny beak. The bird lifted a wing and began preening its feathers.
I bit my lip. “Are you sure this is my familiar? Because I pictured something scaley. Perhaps bigger.”
“I’m sure.” The Archmage held the avian out to me. The sudden movement disturbed the bird’s preening, and it popped out its wings to steady itself.
When I didn’t reach forward, the Archmage set the bird on my shoulder. I stiffened as its talons dug into my flesh.
“I’m not sure this is going to work,” I squeaked. “You see, I had a bad experience with birds when I was a kid and—”
“You’ll soon get used to him,” The Archmage interrupted. “Kameri, I’ve been matching young mages with their familiars for ninety years now. I haven’t been wrong yet. This nightjar is definitely for you.”
I sighed. “Right.”
“You’ll see.” Closing his eyes, the Archmage waved a hand over us. “From this moment onward, these souls shall be intertwined. They will be each other’s ears and eyes. Their thoughts shall become one, and they shall form a partnership akin to no other.”
I jumped as the wave of magic vibrated through my bones. Glancing at the nightjar, I noticed he was scrutinizing something on the side of my face. I swallowed. Please don’t bite me!
The nightjar tilted his head. “Philip.”
I blinked. “Oh, you talk.” This might not be so bad. “Hi, Philip, I’m—”
“Philip.” The bird ducked his head, lifted his wings, and launched upward. A moment later, he had landed atop my head. “Philip.”
Squealing, I threw out my arms.
“That is all he says, I’m afraid.” The Archmage gathered the nightjar and placed him back on my shoulder. “But you’ll soon grow to understand each other, I’m sure.”
I caught the bird staring intently at the side of my face again. Do I have a zit? A mole? What?
The Archmage waved toward the door. “Please send Marlon in on your way out. Oh, and Dycin is waiting for you in the courtyard. You two have an assignment.”
I grimaced. Oh goodie, my day just keeps getting better.
As I walked back into the waiting room, all eyes flicked my way. I noticed a few smirks, but no one said anything. They didn’t need to.
I’ll never live this down.
I mumbled to Marlon that it was his turn and quickly left.
“Hi, Kameri.”
I found Dycin leaning against a tree, biting his nails. Ew.
Seeing my familiar, he nodded appreciatively. “Great eared nightjar. Nice.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I got a fluffy bird. It’s great.”
“At least you didn’t receive an axolotl,” Dycin said, casting a thumb over his shoulder.
Glancing behind him, I saw a young woman with a salamander floating in a water bubble beside her head. I pursed my lips. “True.”
“Let’s go. We’re supposed to help Carthop Village with a ghost problem. It’s not far.”
I lifted a brow. “A what?”
Dycin sighed. “Obviously it’s not a ghost. The Carthopians are superstitious. I’ll figure out the real problem, and you’ll take care of it with magic.”
I swallowed. “And what if it is a ghost?”
Dycin pushed himself away from the tree and started walking. “It’s not.”
“And, of course, you know everything, so…” I rolled my eyes.
If the Knowledge Keeper heard my sarcasm, he didn’t comment.
As soon as we were on the trail toward Carthop, Philip tucked his head beneath his wing.
Good, he’s sleeping. And then I began to feel drowsy. What the…?
“Too bad your familiar is nocturnal,” Dycin said.
“What?” I shook my head, trying to clear it. The drowsiness didn’t abate.
“Nightjars sleep during the day. Don’t you know anything about them?”
“The Archmage didn’t exactly give me a presentation.”
That was the wrong thing to say. As Dycin entered into a spiel about nightjars, I was suddenly reminded why I didn’t like the Knowledge Keeper.
As if staying awake wasn’t hard enough before… I poked Philip, but he didn’t stir.
We finally reached Carthop at noon. While I’d hoped we’d be offered a meal, the frantic village leader that met us skipped over the common niceties. Instead, he ushered us toward a dilapidated building used for storing grain and other farm goods.
“The ghosts are in the walls,” he whispered, pointing to the door. The tassels on his magenta robe shook along his trembling arm. “They rot our stores.”
“Ghosts? Like, plural?” I asked.
Dycin placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Elder Hyton. We’ll rid the storehouse of whatever is plaguing your goods.”
Elder Hyton eyed us both warily but nodded.
As the elder hurried away, Dycin stepped toward the storehouse. “Well, let’s go see what it is.”
Not wanting to look like a chicken, I followed suit.
While the whirring sound in the walls didn’t scream ghost to me, it was definitely disconcerting. It was also loud.
Philip popped his head out and began looking around. I immediately felt more alert.
This nocturnal business really stinks.
“Interesting,” Dycin muttered.
“Coooonk.” Philip lifted his wings.
“Philip agrees,” I blurted. Wait, how did I know that?
Philip launched from my shoulder and landed on the wall where he clung to a detached board. He pecked at a gap in the siding and plucked out something bulbous and winged.
“What is that?!”
“A beetle.” Dycin leaned forward, but Philip swallowed the bug.
“So, the ghost is a colony of beetles?” I asked as Philip pulled another from the crack.
“Seems so.” Dycin shrugged. “Good job, Philip.”
As Dycin left to inform the elder of our discovery, I watched Philip devour beetles one by one. While I felt his contentment, it didn’t sate my own hunger. I sighed. “At least one of us gets lunch.”
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Great story. So fun! I love the protagonist thoughts throughout.
sounds like they have a lot to learn about each other. but so far, so good.
Haha, I loved the sense of humor in this story!! Philip and Kameri seem like such a fun pair! 😃
Very cute story! – gosh the nocturnal thing would be hard!
I enjoyed this story! The name Philip cracks me up for a familiar!
I enjoyed this story. The main character was very relatable. This familiar makes me laugh because one of my friends would do something like this to a mage player in a heart beat in his D&D games. Never expect mage elders to give you the one you are expecting. :)