Thed’s eyes shot up to the ceiling to see what could only be described as a little gremlin. Yellow-green skin, seething red eyes, and an apelike face with lips curled back to reveal a row of jagged little teeth.
“Jyuk! Jyuk!”
Attempting to get to his feet, Thed fell ass first onto the hard stone floor and scrambled back. He shouted: “Holy Maker! What the hell is that?!”
The little gremlin dropped down, landing on the now vacant stool. Master Willousby crossed arms. “Now Thed, don’t freak out.”
“How could I not freak out? First you tell me I’m the son of a mythical forest creature and that my entire life has been a lie, and then you throw that little atrocity at me?”
“Your life has not been a lie, Thed. We kept these things from you to protect you! This was the only way that you could have a childhood and become the man—”
“Jyuk! Jyuk!”
“—become the man you need to be. The man the world needs you to be. And little Massudi here is just another tool to assist you in that, now that we know you need to restrain your baser impulses more than we had ever thought. Mixed bloodlines can be complicated like this sometimes.”
Thed stared at the hideous little creature. It stood watching him with its head cocked like a dog, cautious but not unfriendly. It looked slightly wet. Will it bite me if I pet it?
“No offense, Master Willousbhy, but when you mentioned a demon to assist me, I had rather expected something more… potent.”
The little imp crossed its arms.
Willousbhy chuckled. “He looks small, but as they say, ‘feed them and they’ll grow’. Massudi is an empathy demon without a bonded partner. I want you to bond with it, make it your familiar to stay with you through thick and thin. Once bonded it will be able to grow and develop in parallel with you, spiritually and physically.”
Thed laughed bitterly as he got to his feet. “You have to be joking. Bond myself to that thing.”
“Jyukkk…” growled Massudi.
“This wasn’t my first choice either,” admitted Willousbhy. “But once bonded, Massudi will be able to respond to your libido even while you sleep, and interrupt you from having nocturnal… accidents. And having him constantly in your presence will prevent some young girl from persuading you to make a fool of yourself — we suspect the consequences for intercourse are far more dire than that of other acts of imprudence.”
“I’ll kill myself if I’m to endure that little beast ‘Jyuk Jyuking’ in my ear all day! Does anyone in the world have a care for my feelings in all of this? Am I just supposed to sit back and listen to my mentor?
“Thed, I’m so—”
“Oh and ‘your family is a lie, take this little nightmare stuffed animal as your male role model now’. This is abuse! They’re supposed to be my parents, and you’re supposed to be my master, my protector against these kinds of lies.”
Thed was sweating, shoulders tensed as he finished with his finger pointed at his old master. Willousbhy, deflated, chewed his lip for a long moment as the little imp, Massudi, jumped up and down barking and yipping, also directed at Willousbhy, in a way that echoed obnoxiously in the crowded space.
“I am sorry, Thed. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I realize this is a lot to take in, and what you need is time and understanding, and that’s exactly what I want to give you. As a next step, if you are open to it, I would like to — quit your barking, Massudi!”
“Jyukrrrrr…”
“As a next step, Thed, I’d like for you and Massudi to take a short holiday in the country with an ally of ours. He’s the wisest druid I know, and can instruct you in the mastery of the Astral College, which will be necessary for what is to come.”
Thed raised an eyebrow. “What is to come?”
“Not for you to worry about now, Thed. But great things. For now you need only to concern yourself with becoming worthy, which you are already well on your way to. Remember that because of your Tautha blood you can achieve things no pureblooded human could dream of, but only if you are able to retain your vitae in order to foster your connection with the land and magickal leylines. As far as I know you’re the only living half-Tautha since the Age of Myth, so in some ways it is a lonely journey you walk, but you are not alone. I may not know exactly what you are going through and in what ways your powers will manifest, but I do know what regular human puberty was like, so I can empathize with your plight.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Thed took a deep breath. He didn’t want to go anywhere that Willousbhy or any of the “allies” that created him wanted him to go, but at the same time where else could he go? His supposedly “noble” family was wealthy, but Thedoran himself did not have more than a few coppers to his name. And apparently mother knew this all along, and father was just a fool (no surprise there), so returning home was not an option. More than anything he just wanted to curl up in bed with the sheets over his head.
“What are you thinking?” asked Willousbhy.
“Jyuk?”
Finally, Thed shrugged. “I suppose… it makes sense to study with your friend. Maybe he can explain some other things that have been happening to me.”
“Wonderful. I have a carriage waiting, but before we go, there is the matter of your bonding ceremony with Massudi. That is, if you want to bond with him. I must insist that you bond with an empathy demon familiar of some kind for the time being, for your own safety. If he’s not to your liking though, I can banish him and get a different one, perhaps something with wings?”
Thed looked at the ugly little thing. Those overlarge red eyes staring right back into his. It was gross, stupid, and so small as to be useless for anything but squawking. All the same, it was here.
“No. I’ll bond with little Massudi. But Master, I have only mastered a single sustainment node, and not even that very well. So once I’m bonded with him I won’t be able to sustain any long lasting spells.”
Willousbhy nodded. “True, but it’s not like you’ve been casting well lately anyway. And we’ll be keeping you safe, so really you just need to focus on study and mastery for the time being. Now to bond with him, just put out your hand with an open heart. No blood needed for an empathy demon.”
Thed did so, and the little creature hopped down from the stool, and mirroring his own screwed tight face, put it’s little clawed hand forward to be engulfed within his own.
They shook; Thedoran felt nothing.
Stupid little imp.
Thedoran had an hour to pack all of his belongings into an oversized luggage on loan from Master Willousbhy.
He stood over his bed in the small stone chamber that was his bunkroom that he shared with three other boys. It was getting late, and a single candle flickered to give him light to pack by. First he put in his two changes of outer apprentice robes (dark blue black in the poor light), poorly folded to occupy a large square in the luggage lower corner. In the opposite corner some of his underclothes and ‘town’ clothes.
He thought about writing a note to Thomas, his friend who slept in the bunk above his own, but decided against it. Thomas was likely off riding horses with his family in Diershire, and wouldn't be back until a week after the rest of the apprentices even. And what would he do anyway? I can't even tell him where I'm going since I don't know yet.
Thedoran took a steadying breath before packing in some personal effects: his journal, a boar-hair toothbrush, a study guide on summoned creatures and familiar, and a brass token of Mag-Arah which he'd won in a card game against the dormitory's biggest shit-heel, Jeremy Briggs.
Looking both ways, he threw in his library copy of Principae Magicka as well.
They owe me that much.
He clamped shut the still largely empty luggage and hoisted it, the brass token clattering about like a loose bell clapper. Thedoran took up the candle and began to leave, pausing at the threshold.
The old splintered wood of the beds, that cold stone floor that greeted your feet each morning. He dropped the luggage and ran a hand along the rough stone wall.
He'd hated it here. Called it a prison in his mind a million times when his mother had dropped him off for his first semester. But now, it was home; or at least the closest thing to a home he’d ever known.
“Goodbye, room,” he said, feeling quite childish but genuine nonetheless.
“Jyukkk,” wept Massudi.
Thed jumped, turning around to just barely make out the faint silhouette of the little imp in the dark hallway.
“How long were you there?!”
It put its hands on its hips and growled.
Thed hoisted the luggage. “Whatever, let's get out of here.”
They met Master Willousbhy down at the concourse. Night had completely fallen and the entire abbey was deserted, filling the halls with long shadows and echoes that made the familiar space strange.
Willousbhy paced beside the lone carriage that awaited them. Thedoran recognized Mr. Brice as the driver despite the man being buried in a massive fur hat and coat, he was the school’s bondsman, someone unable to utilize magick himself but who was bonded to a wizard in a way not totally unlike a familiar in a way that was mutually beneficial to both parties. Wordlessly, Willousbhy helped Thedoran load his luggage.
The cold air steamed from Willousbhy’s mouth. “You’re going to the highlands just south of Dunn. Mr. Brice will be with you every step of the way. Just remember your mission: stay safe, stay chaste, and learn everything about Astral magick which he can teach you. You’ll find peace there. No girls, just sheep for miles and miles.”
Thedoran’s eyes scanned the dark horizon for any sign of the three-eyed crow, but saw nothing. For a flash he thought he might ask about the three eyed crow, if it meant something or was just perhaps a mistaken thing he thought he saw. In the end he just shook Master Willousbhy's hand.
Probably not real, and even if it is, not important.
“I understand. Farewell, Master.”
“Farewell and good luck. And I’ll join you there when the time is right.”
Mr. Brice tipped his hat to Thedoran as he hopped aboard, laid several blankets over himself. Massudi grunted and forced his way under the blankets on the bench beside him.
Master Willousby tapped on the wood paneling, a horse snorted, and the carriage rattled forward.
