The Lord of Night exhaled in relief, and opened his eyes - actual physical eyes this time - and saw the sun cresting over the horizon in the distance, without the painful feeling of getting burnt anymore.

Giddy with joy like a newborn finally able to walk, the great Lord of Night raised his new arms with renewed vigour to examine them. Pale skin rested against subtle lean muscle, and he looked down his chest and spotted a black treble clef symbol was hidden on the inside of his left upper arm, and an end bar line on the inside of his right.

The Lord of Night experimentally tried to summon his signature weapon and instrument: his blackwood violin and bow. Both parts of the instrument erupted from the markings as streamers of shadow, shot down the length of his arm, and materialised in his hands.

The Lord of Night was immensely glad to finally have a physical body to wield his soul-bound weapons, and grinned with nostalgia. His smile only half formed before pausing to run his tongue over his teeth, and was surprised to find sharp but smaller canines than his last body’s.

Dismissing his violin and bow, though not completely willingly, he whispered a promise to play it later and continued the examination in a far better mood. The Lord of Night found himself standing completely naked besides a pair of black knee high leather boots with thick

soles and silver clasps lining the side, his feet comfortably snug within.

Immensely pleased to regain use of another old weapon, he noticed a comfortable weight on his head and tentatively reached up, past luscious black waist-length hair, his fingers bumped into two long smooth branch-like protrusions. The Lord of Night closed his eyes thoughtfully as he caressed a pair of magnificent silver antlers, gleaming in the first rays of sunlight.

He never had antlers for his previous bodies before, while not unwelcome - in fact their gentle weight was quite comfortable - , the Lord of Night puzzled over what had brought about this change.

A muffled shout snapped him out of his thoughts and his eyes flew wide open at the direction of the sudden noise. Narrowing his eyes warily, he stalked closer to the edge of the shield spell at the blurry silhouette, which got more blurry by the second as night turned into day and his eyesight and senses worsened.

Biting back a yelp, the Lord of Night flinched when the tendril buried deep in his soul was tugged on, and he could sense, no, feel the emotions of the human on the other side of the barrier.

He ripped at the tendril in panic and tried to push against the mental probing. Alas the Lord of Night’s clumsy attempts at blocking out the more skilled human was unsuccessful, and the human gently poked at the squirming Lord of Night’s soul and seemed to send an inquisitive mental command: will you hurt me if I let you out?

At least that’s what the mental message seemed to imply, the glowing bond only conveyed a general feeling, but the Lord of Night was surprised how the feeling was able to impress an abstract concept in his mind, and he could roughly but accurately guess the message.

Putting aside his surprise and thinly veiled hatred, he decided that getting out was his first priority. So to humour the human, the Lord of Night focused on the thin, steel-like bond connecting their souls, and tried to force his own thoughts down the bond.

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…

“Oh! He said yes!” Theodric instantly perked up in delight at the pulse of resigned confirmation and restrained anger. The anger was concerning, but - baby steps! - he just needed to give the new one some time to adjust, reminding him a lot of how Morvax did.

He sent a wave of happy feelings to the creature in hopes of reassuring it, and saw it visibly cringe in its cage. Too excited to be deterred, he delightfully ignored its reaction and turned around to prod his familiars awake.

“Hey Morvax, Barkly, get up,” Theodric exclaimed ecstatically. “I’m gonna let the new guy out!”

Morvax unfurled himself and stretched lazily, freezing mid-yawn when he spotted the figure within the barrier.

“Uhh…does it have a human form?” Morvax bared his fangs slightly, pawing the ground warily. “Creatures that can gain a humanoid form are extremely powerful, you know,”

“I’m close but even I don’t have a humanoid form yet,” the dragon raised its scaly hackles apprehensively. “This isn’t a good idea, Theodric.”

Theodric waved dismissively. “Bah, it’s fine. Besides, it said it wouldn’t attack me,” he said with a big smile and placed his hands on his hips confidently, holding in a laugh at the forest dragon’s unamused expression.

“Sure, your funeral,” Morvax grumbled. “But get that headmaster of yours nearby, though he’s an absolute monster, I prefer the lesser evil,”

Barkly blinked sleepily when Morvax nudged him and turned to lumber inside the castle to fetch the headmaster. Watching the tree wraith’s back disappear around the corner, Theodric spun around and skipped closer to the cocoon of red glowing shield spells and mentally beckoned Morvax to help him untangle the small mountain of defensive barriers.

It took quite some time, and Theodric’s enthusiasm had died a little since starting, but the layers of spells were finally thin enough that the red tint of the shields blurred less of the figure standing within, enough to see that his new familiar had crossed it’s arms and scowled with impatience. Its head tilted to one side slightly in annoyance. Which amused Theodric greatly.

When they reached the final layer, Barkly had returned with the ancient headmaster in tow. Headmaster Ravencrest stroked his smartly trimmed beard with interest as he strode beside Barkly, and stopped near Theodric, his sharp gaze never left the shield and its occupant.

The headmaster, despite being known to be over seven hundred years old, didn’t look a day over thirty.

Without the ancient cunning intellect behind those hazel eyes, he could’ve been mistaken for an average scholar, with his long tousled brown hair tied up in a low ponytail and silver rimmed rectangular glasses.

Headmaster Ravencrest lightly pushed his glasses up and peered through them at the professor's new uniquely strong familiar.

Theodric was sure he had caught the attention of Alaric Ravencrest, for better or worse, as if summoning a dragon wasn't noteworthy enough already.

“Good morning Sergeant Thornewood,” the headmaster nodded in greeting. “Good morning Lord Morvax of the Emerald Palace.”

Theodric and Morvax both stood straighter at being addressed by their preferred titles, Morvax even puffing up his chest in pride, and both returned their greetings respectfully. The headmaster certainly had a knack for diplomacy, Theodric mused.

“Shall I undo the shield spell headmaster?” Theodric suppressed his excitement as much as possible to keep his tone respectful.

“Ready when you are,” Headmaster Ravencrest nodded again. “To be honest, I was very much looking forward to this last night.”

Theodric’s calm composure broke completely, and he spun around to break the last shield spell like a child unwrapping a present.

With a soft crack, the last shield spell shattered, and the entity took a step forward.