Carla leads the way down the steps with Pele in her glove acting as a makeshift torch. Velora stuck close to stay warm so I was rear guard by default. The deeper we travel down the stairwell, the more frigid and dense the air becomes. We all continue without so much as a word towards one another. Carla seems the type to just wait and see what we run into, but I'm willing to bet Velora's head is buzzing with the possibilities of what lies at the bottom just as much as mine.

I pull out my switch and give her a ping so we can brainstorm in silence and have less of a chance of alerting what was down there.

"There's gotta be an elemental down there."

She pulls out her switch and looks back at me with a smirk. "If only we were so lucky. I'd make a second trip just to bind it to my boutique."

I raise an eyebrow at that, "You know how to bind elementals? Why are you still in school?"

"I've never done it before, I've never laid my eyes on one before. But in theory I have all I need to make a scroll that can do the job at home. Alas, I don't think it'll be much use here. I would expect the cold from an ice elemental to be far more intense than this."

"You've got a point. This could just be environment control to keep something dormant or docile. Either way it's probably good that we're not going to have Kurt blasting the place."

She shrugs, "I hope you're right. We do have Pele with us, and after that little debacle she seems to have energy to spare. A counter shouldn't be an issue if that's what we require in the end."

I start to feel a weird tension towards the back of my head and instinctively whip around. Nothing from up the way we came.

"Anything wrong?" Velora took notice.

"Long day. I'm probably just jumpy, but just in case lets save the chatter for now."

She nods and we both put our switches away for the time being while we continue or descent. We must have gone down a hundred feet or so at this point. The density in the air increased even more, I felt like I could practically go for a swim. Luckily we were reaching near the end of the stairwell so things shouldn't get much more uncomfortable, hopefully.

Carla motions with her hand to tell us to slow down while she checks things out. She limbers up for a moment before putting down her pack that hold Luchi. She then gets on all fours and immerses her self in this stance. The only word I could think to describe it would be catlike, but more like a jungle cat than a house cat. Carla glides down the last few steps moving like a solid shadow, keeping her head on a swivel as she assesses the area. She stops dead in her tracks after a few steps on the floor and jumps back. She's seen something, and she's not taking it well.

Velora and I start to run in to back her up, I grab luchi and sling the pup on my back as I draw a standard caster. We both make our first step onto the floor, and all at once that sense of danger and urgency is pushed out of our minds collectively. I struggle to remember why I was running in the first place and turn to face whatever Carla was looking at.

"Oh no..."

What laid ahead of us was a creature unlike any I had ever seen before. It was the about the size of my condo, with shiny, moist, mud-like flesh from head to toe. Its long neck cranes around as it looks back at us. Three azure stones were embedded into its head, serving as eyes beneath the antlers protruding from its skull seemingly made of the same material. I start thinking of escape plans as soon as our gazes meet. We didn't come here for another fight. As soon as that thought leaves my mind, I feel a tickle at the back of my neck followed by a sense of calm.

"Very good, I rarely receive guests down here. As long as you come in peace, you are welcome here."

This thing fuckin' talks... no that's not quite it. I'm not hearing anything it's more like the feeling you get when you read text, but without the reading? I don't know why I still get surprised by anything.

I stow my caster at the hip and signal Velora and Carla to standby as I step forward towards the beast. They don't respond in the slightest, each of their faces fixed with a thousand yard stare. Looks like I didn't have a choice in the matter. The creature returns to looking forward as it was before we entered, a white wall ahead of us flickers as the monster seems to study it.

"I am a wyvern, child. My kind still reside within this world. Quietly, and more important, safely from those who would exploit us."

My neck is starting to itch at his point. "That's you isn't it? I've only every read about creatures that can use mental arts like telepathy... Do you mind knocking it off? Since you're not at my throat I'll go ahead and tell you whatever you want."

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I can feel it giving me a hand wave in my head. "My apologies, you can never be too careful. I'm quite done now that I've confirmed your intent. I'm sorry to disappoint but there's no secret magical staff or high level spell lying in wait for you here. Just an old scholar trying to earn his keep."

I brighten up hearing that. "No way. Tina Tinworth managed to get a wyvern under her thumb? I gotta hear all about this."

It lets out a huff sending a cloud of steam brushing past me. "An ancestor of hers and I formed an arrangement ages ago, long before this keep was conceptualized. You see, I am a scholar by nature. I find useful tidbits for the Tinworths by combing through historical events. I report my findings in my logbook and the Tinworths use what I find to assist their research and development department. In return, I'm housed in a secure environment with air conditioning, and I'm free to scry through forgotten ages of history as a humble observer."

"Doesn't sound like there's enough of a take for them. They have to direct you somehow right?"

I feel him shrug, "On occasion they will make requests for me to look into specific events. To be fair they turn out to be somewhat interesting, I've yet to have any qualms with a task given to me."

There's still a way I can use this to our advantage. "Exactly how caught up are you on current events? There's a lot of waves being made these days. It's the whole reason we're here."

"I presume you're speaking about the rumbling that took place outside of these walls aa couple days ago? It was an inconvenience at most. I did have my hopes up to see if they would be able to pierce through defenses of my humble abode. That would have been quite the sight to see! Alas, the source of that disturbance disappeared as quickly as it arrived. At which point I no longer found it worth looking into."

I can't get a read on this thing at all. It seems I sensed a twinge of fear, doubt, or something like disappointment in that last burst of thought. I think I've found my angle though.

"How about a front row seat?"

No movement, but I can feel his attention. I'm getting used to this pretty quickly. " Long story short, we're probably going to have more invaders soon that are much more powerful than the last. The whole city is in preparation for an attack that is supposed to be coming within a few weeks or so. My friends and I here are more than likely going on the front lines. As you know we were hoping to find something of use down here. Depending on how you respond to my proposition, I think we've struck gold here."

The wyvern's head creeps back around its body to face me. The tingling on my neck becomes more intense once our eyes meet. "Go on then. I'm interested to see what you possibly think you could offer me?"

I do my best to hold in a chuckle. I can't believe it... this thing's playing hard to get. "Well, aren't you bored here?"

The moment I make that assertion, all of the pressure I felt in my head had left. No response for several more moments. Shock maybe?

"Before we continue, I must convey... Never before have I been more inconvenienced by my inability to speak. Try as I might, if I ever converse with someone who has even a slight amount of talent for mental arts, I'm rendered incapable of any kind of deception. You're an amusing young man Wyatt Thompson, what do you have in mind?"

My chest has gotten a little tight, things have never went well for me before just operating off the cuff. "If you work with me, you get to witness all of the action from the comfort of your study." Its eyes glow a little brighter, more than enough feedback for me to continue. "I propose a contract of familiarity between you and I. I'm technically under the Tinworth house, so that shouldn't beach any agreement you have with main branch."

A puff of steam jettisons from the wyvern's snout, and its the lights of its eyes flicker repeatedly for a few moments before any response. Laughter? "If we're bounded by a contract, I'll be like a relay point for you. In return, you can help me craft plans in real time. Heck, I wouldn't mind having someone well-read to talk to. I don't know how much digging you've done on me since we've been chatting here, but these days I'm mostly surrounded by bruisers and nimrods." Ah shit, I forgot Carla and Velora were right behind me. "Can those two hear me? Also can you stop whatever you're doing to them?"

Another mental-hand wave, "Oh yes, I will release them from their stupor as soon as we have settled our agreement." Both Carla and Velora slowly begin to make their way up the spiral staircase without saying a word. As creepy as this whole thing is, if I play my cards right going forward, this could be a serious asset to our side of things.

I recall some parchment from my work desk back home, usually this is for when I get a new design idea. I never actually thought I'd need it to get my own familiar one day. I approach the wyvern and place the paper on the floor between us. The wyvern's eyes brighten once more, and energy sparks from the paper, sending cerulean arcs across the ground. I place my hand over the top of the parchment and my new partner places the tip of their tail on the center from underneath. A rune forms a crude rendition of the wyvern's head, with my family's crest front and center on it's forehead. Just one more thing to do before it's official. "I Wyatt Thompson, of house Tinworth declare my fealty to you. Bound by the signature of my family crest, our covenant is born!"

This time the voice in my head booms to the point where my stomach drops, "I, ELBRY THE SCHOLAR HEREBY ACCEPT YOUR DECLARATION OF FEALTY AND IN TURN OFFER MY SERVICES TO WYATT THOMPSON OF HOUSE TINWORTH, BOUND BY THE THE BLOOD THAT COURSES THROUGH THIS FORM, OUR SOULS ARE BOUND!"

The contract bursts into flames that flicker between sage green and cerulean. The flames swirl around the two of us, then regroup before shooting into us both with a flash. My body runs hot as I get used this new sensation. Although he sits right in front of me, I can feel the wyvern's presence almost like it's part of my own.

The light show settles, and I don't really know where to go from here. I decide to regroup with the others for the time being and get to tinkering with what's left of the stuff we found today. I turn to my new ally before I leave, "Thanks for humoring me , Elbry. I'll be in touch!"

My neck doesn't tickle anymore, but I can feel that he's pleased with happened here today.

That makes two of us.