Admitting the plan to himself sobered him. Summoning a familiar was an extraordinary feat, something even proven magisters failed at. Most went their entire lives without being able to summon a familiar. Marilax himself had never succeeded. There was something about it, the summoning didn’t follow the normal rules of magic. It wasn’t repeatable, the formulae didn’t work, two people could perform the exact same summoning and only one would bond to a familiar.

He’d read all about summoning during his studies. Most summoning was, relatively speaking, simple. You followed the rules, drew the diagrams, spoke the words and whatever creature or elemental you called would appear. You might still have to negotiate with it, trading for whatever you wanted it to do, but the summoning itself was relatively simple. Bonding to a familiar was completely different though. You needed the words and the diagrams, but you also needed to open your soul, call out to a kindred-spirit, to something that was both you and not-you at the same time.

That was probably the reason so many magisters failed, Jeff thought with a snort. Even if they succeeded in getting past their arrogance, their innate superiority, and look outside themselves, there was probably no creature in the world that considered those stuffy, old… notaries… interesting enough to bond to. Hela knew they bored everyone else to tears!

Jeff stood, grabbed his packs and emptied them onto his bed. He knew he couldn’t afford to give this plan too much consideration. Focus on the next step, and just keep going. That was the trick. He couldn’t stay here, Marilax would be bound to send him home. He couldn’t go home, he’d never be able to convince his parents that he was doing the right thing. He’d have to leave and he’d have to do it now. He’d be walking, mostly over fairly rugged terrain, so he’d have to travel light.

He changed into a set of exercise clothes, discarded most of his indoor wardrobe and packed only two changes of clothing into a single pack. He could get the reagents for the spell from the labs and food from the kitchen. He’d need something to make fire, and some torches for light. He could get those from the store rooms. It all belonged to the magister, of course, but Jeff figured he was owed at least that much for his years of service. Jeff considered how casually the magister had just dismissed him and resolved to add some of the more expensive food stuffs to his pack, maybe even some of the magister’s good beeswax candles.

There were caves in these mountains where he could take refuge while he worked. Several of them were well within a day’s walk and, being so close to the magisters tower, should be relatively secure from bandits and the like. His Zoologics studies should provide enough information to keep him from making any fatal mistakes with the wildlife in the surrounding area as well.

His immediate course set, Jeff picked up his pack and headed for the labs.

**********

Less than an hour later, without a single backwards glance at the tower that had been his home for three years, Jeff headed towards one of the caves he’d found while collecting alchemical herbs and mushrooms. The pack’s straps chafed his shoulders and the unaccustomed weight of it threw off his normal stride but, with the help of his walking staff, he still made good time. He had a couple of hours of daylight left so he should be at the cave he planned to use before nightfall. It was still a rough hike, and he’d likely have more than one blister before he was done. Should have packed basic medical supplies, he thought and wondered whether he should have given this desperate plan more consideration.

The crisp mountain air, the bright sunlight and the majestic landscape combined to dispel most of his misery. To Jeff, it was one of those summer days that occur only in stories, and it was difficult to remain morose in such glorious surroundings. He stood taller, and his step had a little more spring in it. Unbidden, his mind called up the Biologics text on the body and the effects that exercise had on the alchemical balances in it, and he realised that his good mood wasn’t purely a result of the scenery. Still, even that knowledge couldn’t fully dampen the experience.

There were no paths out here and the rough, sloped ground needed to be traversed carefully. A slip could result in a twisted or broken ankle, and a fall could result in significantly more serious injuries. Either of those would spell disaster for him. Although he kept an eye on his general direction, there were no direct routes and so he meandered back and forth, following the contours of the hills, climbing in and out of gullies and occasionally side-tracking to avoid heavy brush, cliffs or sheer drops.

It was cool up in the mountains and the thinner air allowed the sinking sun to beat down on him. His breathing came heavily and the unaccustomed amount of exercise had him sweating profusely. He wiped sweat from his forehead, and felt the grit of the travel dust coating his skin. It had never bothered him in the past as he always knew that a cool bath was waiting for him on his return to the tower but at these altitudes, the chance of finding a stream deep enough to bathe in was slim.

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Water! He hadn’t thought to bring any on his rash departure from the tower. He had a bottle of wine, and two of cider, but that wouldn’t keep him from dehydration. If he remembered correctly, there were no water sources near the cave he’d planned to stay in, so that was now out of the question. He’d need two, maybe three, days to complete the summoning and he couldn’t go that long without a water supply. He tried to think, tried to remember the walks he’d had, whether there were any caves with water nearby. Nothing came to mind but he was hardly an expert on this area. He certainly hadn’t memorised any maps of it. Water always sought the lowest point though and could often be identified by an increased abundance of plant life. Jeff surveyed the valley, looking for denser areas of plants. Along the valley floor wound a decent sized river, but Jeff doubted whether he’d find any shelter nearby. Unless he gave up, admitting defeat and returning to the tower, he knew he’d have to take his chances.

Jeff began his descent towards the river. If he walked upstream, he’d run across the tributaries that fed the river. One of them may have shelter nearby and he’d be able to bathe as well. The water would be icy cold but at least it would be refreshing after all the walking. As he walked he began to consider his food situation as well. The provisions he’d packed would only last the three days he’d planned on spending out here. It was already evening, and Jeff hadn’t even found shelter yet so his three day estimate seemed… optimistic. He’d need to stretch his food, supplementing it with whatever he could gather. He knew almost all the plants in the valley so finding edible food shouldn’t be a problem. It wouldn’t be nearly as appetising as what he’d packed but it would sustain him. Unfortunately, it would also slow him down as he’d need to spend time gathering the various berries, plants and roots. Three days… he really hadn’t thought this through, had he.

**********

It was nearly sunset by the time Jeff reached the river bank. He’d stopped on several occasions to pick handfuls of berries or unearth edible roots and he was now tired, scratched and filthy. He’d even found a small clump of herbs that were useful for soothing minor injuries so at least he had something to put on his blisters. He didn’t relish the idea of stumbling around in the dark, and was loathe to use one of his precious torches, so there was no way he was going to find decent shelter tonight.

He walked upstream until he found a brush thicket dense enough to keep the worst of the weather off him and dropped his pack on the ground. He rolled his shoulders trying to work out the ache of carrying his heavy pack. Stripping down to his underclothes he waded gingerly into the icy water. The stream was no more than thigh deep so he crouched down, ducking his head to immerse himself fully, and came up yelling at the physical shock of the cold. At least he’d get clean this way, he thought. Fortunately, the bottom of the stream was made up of gravel and coarse sand and he used it to scrub himself quickly down. He climbed from the river shivering and covered with goose bumps.

Opening his pack, he pulled on a clean set of clothes before heading back to the river with the dirty ones. He really disliked the feeling of pulling clean, dry clothes on over his wet body but hadn’t thought to bring a towel and it was far too cold to sit around unclothed. A quick rinse, to get the worst of the dirt off his clothes, and he hung them over a bush to try.

Jeff decided he could probably risk a fire. There was little chance of bandits here and it was unlikely that they’d noticed his absence at the tower already so they wouldn’t be looking for him. Besides, he could really use the heat about now. In the little light that was left, Jeff gathered up as much dry fuel as he could find, scraped an area of the ground clear of flammables and dug a small pit with his hands. Into the pit went some of the twigs and grass he’d collected, and he lit the mass with the firestarter he’d taken from the tower.

It took him a couple of attempts to get the firestarter’s spark to take in his tinder but once it did he piled on more sticks and twigs and soon had a pleasant little blaze going. He sat by the fire, holding his hands out for warmth. He opened his pack, pulled out the bottle of wine and some of the food. He had a quick supper of berries, bread and cheese, then watched the sun go down taking occasional sips from the bottle.

He only realised he’d built the firepit too near the thicket he’d planned to use as shelter when the leaves on the edge of it began to curl in the heat. Cursing, he kicked dirt over the fire, smothering it, and plunged himself into darkness. For the first time, standing there feeling foolish, he became aware of all the night noises that exist outside of cultivated and urbanised areas. It was clear that he was not nearly as alone out here as he’d like.

Feeling carefully around he located most of the items he had scattered around his campsite. He found his pack, pulled out his blanket and stuffed everything he had found back into it. He was sure he was missing at least a few items but there was no help for it now.

With nothing else to do, Jeff wormed his way into the thicket, wrapped himself in his blanket and prepared to spend a long, cold and uncomfortable night out under the stars. So far, he thought glumly, this was not going according to plan.