James dove for the bed as he opened an Astral Portal. Grabbing Onyx and his backpack, he Tumbled across the bed and through the open Portal.

&&&&& ASTRAL SPACE &&&&&

James checked himself over and found that a single crossbow bolt had struck him. He could tell there was poison on it, as he could feel it working in his system. The effect was minor, but it was clouding his thoughts. Onyx did not fair as well. She had two bolts sticking out of her side and was unconscious. Either from the poison or because of something else.

'James! Are you alright? I saw your Health drop. What happened?' Rocko shouted mental at him.

He was going to be petty and not answer, but this was not the time, 'I was ambushed at Ferdinand's. Got shot with a crossbow. Onyx is down and is non-responsive.'

James winced as he looked at the bolt in his side. He wasn't wearing armour, but his Harden Skin II seemed to absorb some of the damage. Still, he lost more than 40 health. A couple of applications of Heal Self III seemed to ease his pain, but the poison would have to work itself out of his system.

Meanwhile, Rocko was grilling him about what happened. Once he was caught up, they worked on a plan.

'You should retreat to your cave and rest up. You are down 300 Mana and have poison in your system.' Rocko advised.

'I know, but I would like to know what is happening. Also, Ferdinand and Veronika may be in danger,' James counted.

'Danger? For all you know, they are the ones who would set this up,' Rocko suggested.

James thought about that. It was true that Veronika had been the one to invite the man in black to the house, but that may have been unwitting. She was also absent when the man was roaming around. James was confident that Ferdinand was not behind what happened. There had been too many opportunities for Ferdinand to kill James without difficulty, be it with poison, an ambush at the warehouse, or just having Jones do it with a dagger in the back.

James thought about it and was convinced Veronika was not behind it either. She would use poison; since she usually brought him food and drink, he would never suspect her of anything and ingest it. They both knew he had a high resistance to poison, so they would ensure it was a triple dose.

This ambush seemed unplanned. It was in response to his sudden appearance, which seemed to confuse the guard outside his room. Meaning they didn't know about his ability to pop in and out of the house. Of course, now they did, but they wouldn't know where he would appear next. James didn't have enough Mana to open another Astral Portal unless he used his Mana Crystal.

James shared his thoughts with Rocko via the mental link while examining Onyx. He could give her a Potion of Healing, but he wasn't sure how to get her to drink it while unconscious. The two bolts were deep, and he was afraid to remove them.

'You can always dismiss her and then summon her again,' Rocko volunteered.

'If I do that, she loses all the experience she has gained so far,' James explained.

'What experience has she gained?" Rocko asked.

James had to admit that they hadn't done much, but he wasn't sure if she had only gained experience in combat. Using Analyze on her, James noticed her Durability was down.

Name: Black Onyx of Power Quality: Good Rarity: Rare Durability: 7/110 Special: Dog

"Shit," James said, reaching for his satchel. Unfortunately, he left it behind in his room. He just had his Bag and Backpack. Going into the Bag of Holding, he grabbed two Potions of Healing.

'Onyx is down to 7 Durability,' he explained to Rocko.

'Try using Heal Self on her,' Rocko suggested.

'That doesn't make sense. It is Heal Self, not Heal Other,' countered, annoyed.

'The Shard in the swamps identified her as a Familiar. Familiars are very much like being Bonded. It also means that Spells that are Self Only can affect her.' Rocko explained.

James hesitated, 'Are you sure?'

There was a pause before Rocko responded, 'No. I am not a mage, and I don't have a Familiar. In truth, it is something I remember reading once.'

James brushed it off and laid a hand on Onyx, activating Heal Self III channelling the Power to him, not Onyx.

'Didn't work,' James sent back to Rocko. He was getting frustrated. He had used a Potion of Healing on her, but he said no increase in her Health. Either they didn't work on her because she was an item, or he didn't get enough down her throat.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

'I found an Advantage that allows you to transfer Spells listed as Self Only to your Familiar when cast on them through touch.' Rocko said quickly. Much quicker than he usually spoke. 'It is 20 Advantage points and not doubled. It is listed as a Familiar Enhancement and doesn't say it works for Bonded Creatures or with PSI powers. It says 'Spells listed as Self Only'. It is all I got, James. I am sorry.'

James could hear more in Rocko's words than voiced. James sighed, 'Spend it. If it works, it will be a huge boon for us. Most of my Powers affect only me, and if I could use them on Onyx, that could change things greatly. If it doesn't work, that tells us something we can use when looking at future Advantages.'

'Done,' Rocko sent him.

James hadn't removed his hand from Onyx since he sat beside her prone form. He was petting her gently as he spoke with Rocko. James concentrated on the Power Heal Self III and willed it to her. When he activated the Power five seconds later, he was petrified it wouldn't work. The Power washed through him and into her. He watched as the wounds seemed to heal, and the two bolts were pushed a little out of her body.

'It worked!' James sent Rocko as he prepared the Power again. It may take a few activations, but it would get her healed.

James breathed a sigh of relief when the bolts were far enough out of her body that James could remove them without doing too much damage. It only took four healings to get her back to full. And James checked using Analyze to confirm that her Durability did reflect her Health. What bothered James the most was that she had not woken up. The bolts must have been dosed with some kind of sleep poison.

James passed on the news to Rocko, 'Which is encouraging since it meant that they wanted to take me alive.'

'Or it was all they had,' Rocko suggested

'I doubt it. If these guys are semi-professional, they would have access to more than one poison. But it may depend on their mission.' James corrected himself.

'What now?' Rocko asked.

'Now I rest up, get my pools back to full and then find Ferdinand. You said I could move through the Astral Space by focusing on a place. Do you know if it works on focusing on a person?' James asked.

'You were lucky we knew that much. A few Champions had taken races that travelled the Astral Space, but not many. We have very little information with regards to that subject. I think you have doubled our pool of knowledge.' Rocko explained.

'I have a few ideas. Let me meditate here, and I will get back to you when I am full. Hopefully, Onyx will be awake by then.'

----------------------------------------

James stayed in the safety of the Astral Anchor and meditated without incident. Once he was full, Onyx was still unconscious but was now making noises, and her ears twitched once in a while. Leaving her there, James tried to focus on Ferdinand and ascertain his location, but nothing happened. Deciding to continue with Plan B, he moved off to a different place that he knew would reappear in the forest.

&&&&& REAL SPACE &&&&&

It was still early evening, and the streets were busy. He changed his appearance again and stashed his backpack in the woods. The only weapon he took with him was his sword, dagger and boot knife. The only armour was his Boots of Stealth. He loathed to leave everything behind, as it amounted to most of his wealth, but he also knew the backpack was a massive giveaway to his identity.

Once he and Rocko were back in town, they headed to the warehouse and went inside. He was a little surprised that the Lizard-like man was still doing some work dismembering an animal. At least, he thought it was an animal. The man had a butcher's apron and blood up to his elbows. He looked as surprised as James was at seeing James return. To be on the safe side, they did exchange their passphrases, and then James told him that hostiles had seized his boss' residence. If he had a way to get in touch with his boss, he best do so before his boss returns home to an ambush. James avoided using names as was customary in operations like this. The man nodded and asked a few clarifying questions, such as the attackers' race and numbers. One of them had been a guard there already, and at least six attacked him before he could flee. James only knew they were human.

The lizard-like man had James stay at the warehouse until he got word back from his boss. Unfortunately, the word he called back as the boss had already left for home well before his inquiry. That meant that Ferdinand was already dead or captured. James asked after Veronika, but the man knew nothing of her whereabouts, which was well above his pay grade.

Over an hour, a half dozen humans arrived to talk with the lizard-like man. He spoke to them in hushed tones, but James could hear them well enough. The men were bosses who answered to Ferdinand. Each one had a team of 'specialists .'They would be ready to strike the place in a couple of hours. Already, their men were assembling and heading to the target site. During this time, Rocko stayed with James, but there was an uneasy silence between them.

The lizard-like man walked over to James when everyone else had left. "It is time," he said plainly.

James looked up, "Time for what?"

"Time for us to leave and head to the boss's house. You got out. You can help us get in." the man explained.

James grimaced and shook his head, "I don't think it works that way, but okay. What do I call you, anyway?"

The man looked at him carefully for a few seconds before saying his name. James had him repeat it twice more, but still, he had difficulty catching all the syllables.

"Is it okay if I call you Sasha?" James asked. Sasha cocked his head thinking about it and then just shrugged. Sasha went to the door and waved two human men over to him from a group who waited outside.

"This is Guard One and Guard Two. You need not worry about their real names," Sasha explained. The two guards were beefy and wore heavy leather armour with some chains tightly stretched in specific locations. They didn't seem bothered by the names given to them. They were used to using fake names to conceal their identity. James had dealt with people like this in the past. He once had an informant in Caracas who went by the name of John Doe. She was neither white, male or English speaking. But it served the purpose.

James smiled, "Whatever floats your boat." A moment later, he saw a blue box inviting him to a Party. When he accepted, he saw that the other three members were named Sasha, Guard One and Guard Two.

Whatever James felt about having three people with him, they didn't seem like dead weight. He was told to head back to the house, and the guards would follow. The only one that James could see following him was Sasha, who was a couple of meters behind him. Sasha was dressed in light leather armour and had a bandolier for throwing daggers and another bandolier of small cloth packets. James wanted to ask what they were but now was not the time. The other two guards were nowhere to be seen, which was impressive considering their size.

James advised them of the detour to the forest to collect his gear. He was relieved to see that it was still there, untouched. Turning, he saw Sasha and the other two guards facing him. With Sasha's help, it only took a few minutes before he was again armed and armoured.

"Are you ready now?" Sasha asked.

James nodded, "Yes."

Sasha nodded, "Then, shows us how you exited the house, and we will follow."

James smiled as he opened the Astral Portal. "Good luck with that," he said as he stepped through. He staggered slightly as sudden pain washed over his body. Suspecting treachery, he noticed the other three had stepped through the Portal with him.