Moo? the sound echoed through her head even after the goat stopped sending it. She had never been near enough a goat to actually hear what sounds they made but she was fairly sure it wasn’t moo, at least they didn’t look like the sort of animals that went moo.
Again the goat thought at her, but this time there were no words, instead, there was just an image of both of them standing outside the castle walls, the goat munched on grass.
She considered for a moment, but then decided it would probably be for the best if she could get off on the right foot with her new familiar. After looking around for a moment she saw one of the instructors and walked over to her.
“Excuse me, but would be alright if I took my new familiar outside to let it graze for a bit?”
“I don’t know, normally we watch students for a little while after the familiar summoning to make sure that nothing went” then the instructor's eye twitched as a snapping, crunching sound came from behind Chloe.
Chloe looked over her shoulder to see her goat withdrawing its head from what had once been a well manicured rose bush. She winced and decided if the gardeners here were able to turn a goat mouth sized hole into part of a design then she might look into hiring a few of them away when she went back home.
“At the same time there is something to be said for getting to know your familiar quickly.” the instructor continued smoothly, then winced visibly as Chloe heard another a snapping, crunch “Yes, I think that spending some time with just your familiar would be the best way for you to strengthen your bond with it.”
“Thank you, I’ll be back before dark”
As she began to walk towards the arched gate the goat ambled up and began to walk alongside her. Taking one final look over her shoulder she decided that if that rose bush could be pruned into a presentable shape then some gardeners were definitely going to get poached.
As they walked her hand fell naturally onto the goat’s head. The goat looked up at her briefly but did not seem to mind.
After they passed through the gate the two of them kept walking for a while. eventually, Chloe found a tree that looked reasonably comfortable. She took her hand off the goat’s head and leaned up against the tree.
“So then, what are we going to do now?” she asked
The response was another moo through the link.
“I don’t think that goats moo.” she said softly “And anything with”
She was cut as another moo came into her head, but this time the moo sounded less like a sound and more like someone stating moo very firmly.
She blinked, but before she could come up with an appropriate reply the goat lowered its head and walked between her legs, stopping halfway through. While standing in between her legs the goat began to grow, rapidly reaching the size of a horse. As it grew the portion directly under her changed shape, while it did not quite become a saddle it was certainly closer to one then to the rest of the knobby spine of the goat.
As soon as the goat finished growing it began to trot directly away from the academy. As stirrups did not seem to be forthcoming she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the neck of the goad.
While she had considered trying to jump off the goat it did not seem the most logical course of action. After all, no familiar would harm its master and it would be easier to convince it of her way of thinking if it was happy with her for going along with it then if it was already angry with her for fighting it.
The goat trotted for a good ten minutes before it reached the edge of the nearby forest. Within a minute of entering the forest, the goad stopped and began to slowly shrink back down to goat size.
She took a couple of steps away from the goat before turning to face it and raising a single imperious eyebrow.
The response was not quite what she hoped for. While the eyebrow normally was normally able to elicit a swift and nervous explanation, in this case, the immediate response was an amused snort.
“Just wait a moment,” The goat thought at her “This is not the optimal shape in which to carry on a conversation. Now, you’ve trusted me this far, would you mind turning away for just a moment, a full transformation can be extremely disconcerting.”
“A familiar won’t harm its master.” she focused hard on that thought as she turned away from the goat.
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“Thank you. You can turn back around now.” This time instead of a thought conveyed through their link, the statement was made in a soft feminine voice.
When she turned back around, where moments before the goat had stood, now stood a woman even taller than her. The woman wore a black dress and had long black hair but her green eyes still had the horizontal bars of the goat.
“Thank you for answering my summoning,” Chloe said softly but fervently. “And since there does not seem to be anyone to introduce us hope you will not be offended if I ask what I should call you”
“Don’t worry, it takes quite a lot to offend me” the response was given in a clearly amused tone. “And you can call me”
The woman broke off suddenly and an annoyed expression passed over her face as she thought for a moment.
“In your language, Shub would be a boy’s name wouldn’t it?” she eventually asked
“yes”
“Well, then you may decide what you want to call me. And as for the summoning, the pleasure is mine. When you have as many children as I do believe me, no matter how much you love them, sometimes some time away from them is the most wonderful gift you can possibly receive”
“Ah, well then you are very welcome, and as for a name” Chloe’s eyes darted around, seeking inspiration before finally alighting on the tree that the woman was leaning on “How about Ash”
She had briefly considered lengthening it to Ashly but somehow the name ash fit the woman standing in front of her.
“Ash, yes that will do nicely. Now I am you have questions for me, ask away.
“Well then I can’t say I am not curious as to why you wanted to come all the way out here instead of just talking through our link in the courtyard or going up to my room”
“Simple enough. Your far from the first person who has summoned me, and a number of my previous summoners ended up building their own mage academies. spells to catch and record all the sounds within their walls are not an uncommon thing to include.”
At Chloe’s shocked expression Ash grinned “Knowledge is power after all, doubly so when it’s knowledge about the powerful. As for coming this far, the cleverest of those former summoners used the escape tunnels any good castle has as farthest points of a magic circle, extending the range of the spell well beyond the walls of the castle.”
“well, that makes sense.” Chloe said, then curiosity took hold “By the way who was your most recent Summoner?”
“Before you, that would be Mage Admiral Jackelyn Reed.” A smile crossed her face at the memory “That was an interesting run. Days after she Summoned me the Eltarie invaded the Telmak sector and by the time her task force arrived she was the senior surviving officer at the front, a most interesting run indeed.”
“I’m sorry,” Chloe said, baffled “I don’t recognize a single one of those names”
“Hardly Surprising, you didn’t think mages from this world were the only ones who could summon familiars did you?”
Well, that did make sense, Chloe realized, if there were familiars in other worlds, why couldn’t there be mages?
Chloe sighed “So since I assume there are plenty of people want a powerful familiar is the only reason you picked me because I happened to make the attempt at the right time?”
“Oh, no” Ash replied quickly “there was more to it than that, you promised me foes to crush, you promised me that there would be destruction and annihilation to mete out.”
Chloe winced, suddenly having a much better idea of the sort of creature she had bound herself to.
“You know, I also promised there would be protecting to be done.”
“I know.” Ash replied, “And that just makes it so much better, people are almost never as vicious, brutal, and ruthless as when they are protecting what they truly care about”
Chloe sighed and decided to let the subject drop for now, after all, Ash was not wrong . Then a realization struck her.
“So that’s the reason you just mooed at me when I first Summoned you, it’s possible to lay an enchantment that lets you record the thoughts that passed through the familiar bond isn’t it?”
“It is possible and before we return I intend to cast a shielding on our link so as that we can’t be overheard.” then ash grinned at her “But to be honest the main reason that I did it was you looked so adorably befuddled when you saw me in the circle that I just couldn’t help trying to push you a just a little bit further”