Suma’s POV
I was flying through the air above the city of Ambos-Ompera, keeping well below the tops of the city’s walls, searching for my traveling group. After spotting them near one of the city’s gates, I landed beside them on the ground. “Alright, now that Private Suma is here, our group is complete. It is time to go back to base. Fly in synchronization everyone.” The Captain said, and led us to the city gates to go through the city guard’s check again. One by one, we showed them our orders, and were allowed to exit the city. I was the last to exit, and just before it was my turn, I noticed one of my companions, another private, regularly look behind our group. I looked around as well but did not know what he was looking at.
After we had all made it through, we flew in a tight formation to the desert and met with our guide once more. Following the guide, we flew for two hours through the desert. I noticed the private talking to the Captain at the front of our formation, but I could not hear what they were saying. Eventually, I saw the private look behind him again. Once more, I searched for what he was looking at, and this time I saw it; a large group of twenty or thirty Neame.
“Land.” The Captain ordered, and dived to the sand below. We all followed him and landed in the desert as well. “We are being followed.”
“I noticed them watching us in the city.” The private said.
“They are most likely bandits. Everyone, take battle positions! Create barriers, and summon your familiars!” The Captain ordered, and began his own summoning spell. Before I realized what he said, the Captain’s salamander was already beside him, and preparing itself for battle. I was about to summon Jake when one of the others, a Lieutenant, made an announcement.
“Hold! Captain, it looks like those Neame following us are court mages.”
“Are you sure?” The Captain asked.
“Confirming…” The Lieutenant said, and cast a spell. His eyes shimmered a dull yellow for a moment. “Confirmed sir. They’re court mages.”
“Hold everyone, we do not want to start a fight with court mages. Let’s see what they want.” We all waited tensely as the mages drew closer. Within moments, they were close enough to see, even without a spell to improve eyesight.
“Sir! One of the mages is-” The Lieutenant did not finish his sentence, because from the direction of the mages, a bolt of flame tore through his body, killing him. What was left of him fell to the ground, and caught fire.
“Counterattack!” The Captain ordered, and launched a bolt of lightning towards the attacking mages. “Summon your familiars!”
“I summon you!”
“I summon you!”
“I summon you!” One by one each of my companions called their familiars, while I was left in shock of what was happening. “Lady Suma!” One of the privates, who had just summoned his own familiar, said and raised a wall of stone between us and the attackers. “You need to- AHHH!” An attacking mage had flown over the private’s hastily built wall, and launched an attack from above. It tore the private’s wing from his body, and he crumpled to the sand screaming in agony.
“Healing!” I said, getting myself orientated and quickly tried to stop his bleeding. The wound slowly closed, but his wing was never going to be able to be reattached now. Not that it mattered anyway, as it was currently burning to cinders in the sands nearby.
“Lady Suma, your familiar! Summon him!” The private yelled, still in pain.
“Y-yes! I-I summon you, Sentinel!” Normally, summoning Jake is more difficult than summoning anything else. Perhaps it is due to him coming from a different world, or because his world has no magic; I never knew the answer. However, this time summoning him felt as if I were trying to uproot a tree with mana molding; it was like he was stuck. In the end though, I watched as he appeared, and for a moment, I was relieved. But as soon as he appeared, I knew something was wrong.
“Finally.” Jake said, and took a deep breath. He stood motionless, eerily calm even, as the sounds of death echoed around him.
“The target has arrived; focus your attacks on it!” One of the attacking court mages shouted. Without a moment’s hesitation, three of the mages began flying around Jake, and attacking him relentlessly. Summoning him had taken all my strength, so I was too weak to move or help him. I was forced to watch as attack after attack pummeled Jake’s body; ripping his flesh away each time. The first attack took off a large section of his face, revealing the bones underneath. The next ones were aimed at his body, and burned holes through his stomach and ribs. The final attack was an explosion that threw his body through the air, and against the stone wall that was meant to protect us. As he slammed into the wall, I heard the terrible sounds of breaking bones.
“NOOOO!” I screamed.
“The Viking is dead, clean up the rest and-” One of the attackers said, but was interrupted.
“Hahahaha! Very good! I see the court mages of this era haven’t lost their spirit!” Jake said from the ground. Without warning, his body was surrounded in a mass of mana, colored blue and purple. With several loud pops, his broken limbs realigned themselves, and with a sickening squelch, the flesh on his body regrew and once again covered his bones. Jake slowly stood up, his garments ripped and covered in burns and his blood, and smiled. The mana around his body began to swirl and twist violently, like a funnel cloud. “I don’t have long, so I think I will enjoy myself.” He raised one hand to the three mages who had attacked him. “Rot…” He said simply.
“How is he… what is?” One of the attackers tried to say, but his feathers suddenly turned brown, then black. His beak corroded, and his feet curled in on themselves. His body began to bloat, until the Neame fell to the ground. His terrified allies all looked on in horror, before they suffered the same fate.
“Jake?!” I yelled, horrified, and not knowing what to say. “That- that was Death Magic.”
“Yes, and so is this.” He answered, and turned to the next nearest court mage. The mage tried to fly away, to escape, but failed. “Starve.” Jake said, and the Neame shriveled up, and fell to the ground. He was barely more than bones and feathers mere seconds after hitting the ground.
“Retreat!” One of the remaining Neame ordered, and what was left of the attacker all started to fly towards the capital. There were only three of them left, now that Jake had slaughtered the rest.
Still smiling in that same sickening twisted way, Jake cast one final spell. “They are your enemy.” At first, nothing seemed to happen, but as the three court mages retreated, one slowly started to fall behind. Without warning, the mage cast a spell that engulfed all three of them in a cloud of lightning. I imagine they were dead before they hit the ground, but if they were not, they were afterward. The cloud of mana around Jake stopped spinning, and dissipated.
“Jake… what have you done?” I asked, looking up at Jake.
“My name, little Neame, is Deyja.” Jake, or Deyja, raised one hand in front of him, and a black flame ignited above his hand. It was so turbulent, and hot, that I could feel it even though I was several wingspans away. It was so hot, even the skin on his hands was blistering as he generated it. He raised it above his head; he was going to throw it at me.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
(I’m going to die.) I thought, terrified.
“AHHH!” Deyja screamed, and a red magic circle appeared on his shoulder. It was the magic circle that appeared when Jake became my familiar, and it was spreading across Deyja’s body, burning him as it did. However, for some reason, the burns healed as soon as they appeared. A moment later, the circle disappeared, and Deyja was left breathing heavily, and angerly examining himself. “A familiar’s curse?” He turned to me. “Oh, you must be Suma; I should’ve guessed.”
“Who are you? Where is Jake?!” I demanded.
“Shhh, he’s slee-” Suddenly, Deyja seemed very upset. “That’s not- I have more time!” He clutched his head, and mumbled to himself. “YOU! NO! NOOO!” With that, I felt a summoning activate on Jake’s body, but I was not the one performed the spell, despite being able to sense it as if I were, and Jake vanished. This time, the summoning felt normal again.
“What just happened?” A voice behind me asked, startling me; it was Captain Razoen.
We were left alone in that desert, surrounded by the bodies of our murdered comrades. After a far too brief count of who had survived, we discovered that only four of us remained; myself, Captain Razoen, one Lieutenant, and the private whose wing had been… removed in the attack. I was still in shock, but while everyone began discussing what to do, I was treating the private to the best of my ability.
“What happened, why were we attacked?” The now anxious Lieutenant asked.
“Are we sure they were court mages?” The Captain asked.
“Yes sir, they were wearing the symbols of the court, and they were certainly powerful enough.” The Lieutenant answered. I saw the Captain glance at me for a moment, but I was too distracted with the dying private, and my own thoughts, to think about why.
“Captain, this private needs a full team of healers, not one. He will likely not survive if he does not get proper treatment.” I said.
“We will carry him back to the capital.” The Captain answered.
“Captain, are we sure that’s wise? What if more mages-” The Lieutenant interjected, but the Captain cut him off.
“Those mages, whomever they were, attacked us in the wasteland, after waiting for us to leave the city. They will not risk attacking us in a major population.”
“How do you know, sir?” I asked.
Captain Razoen looked at me, “I do not, but that Neame needs healing, and you cannot do it alone. We have no choice.”
“I am not sure he will survive, even if we do take him to the city, Captain.” I said. I looked down at the private, who was covered in his own blood. Where his wing was once attached now existed only a bloody stump, scarred over by healing magic and burnt feathers. The glow from the private’s besmears was nearly completely gone. “If I had not started healing him… if I had waited even a moment longer…”
“You did well, Private Suma. Your familiar saved us. I will have to give him my thanks.” The Captain said.
(Jake?) I thought. (No, that was not Jake.) I decided not to bring up what had actually happened; not yet. After wrapping the wounded private in their mana, the Captain and Lieutenant carried him back to the city. I flew closely to him and monitored his wound, occasionally casting healing spells as needed. The private was of course light enough that only one of them actually needed to carry him, but in order to keep his body as stable as possible, both worked together. We flew quickly, but carefully, and we all watched the skies for any more mages that may have survived, or simply been waiting. Eventually, we landed in front of the guard’s station, and one of them flew over to us.
“What happened to this Neame?” The guard asked.
“I am Captain Razoen, and this is my Lieutenant, and these two are privates. Our squad was attacked. This Neame needs the immediate attention of healers.” Upon hearing the Captain’s brief explanation, the guard’s eyes glowed yellow, and a magic circle formed on the ground around him. I felt my feathers stand up, but nothing happened. A moment later, the guard’s spell was over.
“The healers are on their way. Explain what happened. Do you know who attacked you?”
“We were attacked by mages bearing the symbol of the Royal Court. They killed several members of our group in the desert.” The Captain said.
“Court Mages? What? Why would they attack you?”
“I do not know. We were their invited guests just yesterday.”
“How did you escape?” The guard asked. At that same time, three Neame landed beside the private, whom I was still treating, and cast several spells on him. While four other guards landed beside the first who was already interrogating us. Some of the guards cast mana wrapping spells around the private, and prepared to carry him off with the healers.
“We will take it from here.” One of them said. I fluttered back, and out of their way.
“We did not escape. We summoned our familiars and fought them off. They retreated, but I saw one of them cast a spell as they flew away that killed all of their survivors, and himself.”
“Killed themselves? Why?” The guard asked.
“I believe,” Captain Razoen glanced at me, “that a spell was cast on them that effected their minds; making them turn on each other.”
“Do you know who cast the spell?”
“It was one of our familiars.”
“I see.” The guard said. “You all will need to follow me, so we can confirm your story.”
The guard led the three of us to a local station, a large structure formed from molded stone and reinforced with sculpted trees. It was half buried into the side of the city’s wall; a well defended location. Admittedly, I became nervous at the thought of going into the station. Even to the point that the Captain took notice.
“It will be fine. The city guards are not under the supervision of the council. They are controlled directly by the Royal Mages, and a local judge.” He reassured me.
“I… yes. I am sorry, Captain.” I said. We were led into a room, and a single guard joined us, along with two mages, one of which introduced herself as a memory delver. Immediately, I was struck with a sense of familiarity, and I realized I had been in this situation before, one and a half years ago, when Jake and I were attacked by those nobles.
First the Captain and Lieutenant were questioned by the memory delver and the guard; while the second mage cast a spell that linked the three of their minds together. He asked them both the same questions, and both the delver and the guard seemed to agree that neither was lying. Finally, it was my turn. The mage cast her spell on me, and the guard began asking his questions.
“How did the attack begin?” He asked.
“One of the Lieutenants saw mages in the distance, and then they attacked us.” I said.
“How many attackers were there?”
“Many, twenty or more. Everything happened so fast, it all became a blur during the chaos.”
“After you summoned your familiar, the one who drove off the attackers, what did you do?” During the Captain’s and Lieutenant’s questioning, they had discussed “Jake’s” actions.
“The private… he lost his wing; I cast a healing spell on him.” I said. The three looked at one another, most likely talking privately through their connection. They seemed confused.
“Your familiar, you are conflicted about him. Why?” The guard asked.
“I- he was not…” I looked away for a moment, and towards the Captain. The memory delver seemed concerned, and soon that demeanor was shared by the other two as well. “I do not believe the thing I summoned was Jake.”
“What do you mean?” The Captain asked.
“It looked like Jake, it sounded like him, but it did not act like him.” I said, nearly singing. After everything, I was only barely able to hold myself together. My breathing was ragged, and I can only imagine how I must have appeared. It took some time after the battle, but I eventually noticed I was covered in the private’s blood, and sand from the desert.
“The image of your familiar, and what you saw in the battle are conflicted within your mind, Private Suma. At the very least you believe what you are saying.” The guard said. “Please think about the events you witnessed.”
I thought about how I watched “Jake” cast those spells, mutilate those mages, and eventually try to turn on me. “The familiar’s curse stopped him from turning on you.” The memory delver spoke for the first time since she introduced herself.
“Yes. I do not know what it was that I summoned, but Jake would never try to harm me, and he would never use Death Magic to kill people.” I said, and the image of that noble in the alley way appeared in my mind.
“You have had an experience with Death Magic; it still haunts you.” The guard said, after a moment of silence. Suddenly, the mage maintaining the memory delve ended the spell. “We have all the information we need. Your group was attacked by mages, apparently from the Royal Council, and you defended yourselves. That much is clear.”
“Yes. I assume the city guards will pursue the proper course of action and get my fallen soldiers the justice they deserve?” Captain Razoen asked, intensely. As if he were asking if the guards would not simply forget about this to prevent themselves from entering the poor graces of the council.
“I assure you, we will investigate this matter fully, however it seems that since everyone who attacked you was slain, that may end up a more difficult task that you or I may wish.” The guard turned to me. “However, Death Magic, in all its forms, is illegal by royal decree. Private Suma, you will need to remain here for a while longer. Until a decision can be made on whether the actions of your familiar violate the decree.”