Jake’s POV

I was in the audience, sitting on a chair of vines, watching as the naming ceremony took place. Today was busy apparently, with twelve individuals participating and declaring their names. The Grand Duke had sent us a request yesterday to see him in his private chambers after the ceremony, and had given permission for me to attend it as his guest, since familiars weren’t normally allowed. Just as one Neame left, Luna, Suma’s mother, flew up, and took her place before the Grand Duke. He was sitting on what looked to me like a gold and wood pillar, reminiscent of a throne.

She landed on a perch in the center of the room, and spoke. “My name is Luna, and I reside in Count Thecoma Isbala’s domain.”

“Tell me Luna, who was it that gave you your name?” The Grand Duke asked.

“My name was given to me by a human called Jake, known to the court as Sentinel.” A series of quiet groans echoed in the room, to my confusion.

“This court knows of this Sentinel, you are not the first Neame to receive a name from him. For what reason did he give you this name?” He asked.

“It was at the request of my daughter and his master, Suma.”

Nearby, I heard several Neame scoff, and one mumbled, “you’ve got to be kidding me. Again?”

“It seems you have made quite the impression, Jake.” Suma said, using our private connection.

“I thought that might be the case. Thank you, Luna; you have been seen and your name is recognized by the court. A record of your name shall be made and stored in the city’s library. You may take your leave.”

“Thank you, Grand Duke.” With that, she flew out of the ceremony hall, and was escorted to the waiting area with the others. Suma and I stayed to watch the rest, which lasted another twenty minutes for six more Neame. Grand Duke Sopra took his time with some, asking one Neame fifteen questions before sending him out. But finally, we all met together again outside the waiting area.

Congratulations, Mother!” Suma said, landing beside her.

“Thank you, Suma, and you as well Jake. I have not been this happy since the day Suma hatched.” Luna said, her voice high and cheerful. She reminded me a lot of my own mum, but you know… smaller, and a bird-nymph.

The sounds of wingbeats behind me drew my attention. “Are you Jake, the familiar called Sentinel?” A brownish-blue Neame, only slightly larger than Suma hovered in the air, beating his wings furiously to stay in place.

“I am.”

“Please follow me to Grand Duke Sopra’s chambers, he is waiting for your meetings.” Suddenly, he pivoted and darted down a hallway.

“Oh, yeah. Okay,” I said, and Suma landed on my shoulder, followed by Luna on my other. Even with the both of them, I hardly noticed any weight. Together, they probably weighed less than three kilograms. Walking there, I noticed the little Neame shake his head, land on the ground, and sigh lightly. “Everything alright?”

“Yes, I am fine. Please take your time.”

“Jake, perhaps it would be best if Mother and I flew ahead, and summoned you to us?”

“The Grand Duke is a busy Neame, we should not keep him waiting for long.” Luna added.

“Oh… yeah. That’s probably smart. But, actually, I wanna try summoning myself. I’ve been trying to remember the feeling of when I did it in the desert, and I wanted to give it a go.”

“A fantastic idea. We will see you in a moment then.” Suma said, and flew off my shoulder with Luna. The Neame guiding them once again took off, and they all were out of sight less than two seconds later.

Fifteen seconds later, Suma told me that they’d arrived. Closing my eyes, I recalled what Zachariah told me in that void five months ago. To picture the red string that bound me to Suma, and pull on it while inverting the spell. In my mind, that string appeared, and I took a hold on it while using my mana. However, as soon as I tried pulling on it, my shoulder burned like someone had stuck me with a fire poker. Pulling up my sleeve, I saw the magic circle tattoo on my arm was glowing a necrotic black, and the skin around it was seared like cooked steak.

“Jake, what was that?” Suma asked over our connection. “Everything began to get dark, and I somehow felt it was you who was causing it, then it suddenly stopped.”

“Suma, I think you need to summon me. I guess I don’t quite have the inversion thing down yet. Also, I could use a healing spell.” I told her, clutching my burnt arm. The pain was as bad as the time that wyvern’s fire breath cooked my elbows and fingers. Somehow, it was even worse than when I lost my hand. Everything faded to black, and I reappeared in the Grand Duke’s chambers.

“Jake!” Suma said, seeing my shoulder, and immediately cast a healing spell on me. Slowly, my shoulder uncooked itself, and the pain went away.

“What happened?” The Grand Duke asked, sounding concerned. He was standing on a table, next two Suma and Luna. “Were you attacked?”

“No, I don’t know what that was. All I did was try to summon myself. Must have really messed something up. My tattoo even glowed.”

“It looks like what happened when Deyja…” Suma said, then went quiet. “No, never mind.”

“It’s fine. I was thinking about that too.”

“The Familiar’s Curse.” The Grand Duke said.

“Ah, Grand Duke Sopra, my apologies for this.” Suma said.

“It is no issue. As long as you are alright.”

“But why would the curse hurt me? All I did was try to summon myself to Suma’s side.”

“And yet, it was Suma whose body began to fade away. By performing the summoning spell incorrectly, and in reverse, the curse must not have been able to distinguish between an accident or an attack. Thus, punishing you accordingly.”

“Grand Duke Udoka Sopra, you have my sincere apologies for all of this. We have been so rude. Despite being in your presence for so long, none of us have greeted your grace properly.” Luna said, bowing to the Duke with her wings spread wide.

“Please, that is unnecessary. Suma and Jake are old acquaintances, and I am the one who invited you all here. Be at ease. Could I offer you anything to eat? I can have my assistant bring you fruits, or even meat.”

“Your kindness knows no bounds your grace, but we could not impose.” She said, still bowing.

“I appreciate the offer, but must decline.” Suma said.

“I’ll take some juice if you got it.” I said, half joking, but really… some juice sounded great. Getting healed still makes me tired, even though I was getting used to it, and something sweet would have been awesome. He didn’t know what juice was, and we continued with the meeting.

“I wanted to discuss a matter of your name, lady Luna. It is of the upmost importance.”

“My name?”

“Is there a problem with storing it, or perhaps something else that prevents its registry?” Suma asked.

“In a manner of speaking, yes. As the two of you well know, the nobles in this area are dissatisfied that Jake has named so many commoners, even going so far as to have attacked you years ago.” The Duke said, shaking his head. “Unfortunately, the problem has not improved much in your absence. One of the other Neame you named, a blacksmith commoner, was harassed by the nobles for some time, until I put a stop to it. I fear you, Lady Luna, will face similar pestering.”

“What? I do not understand. Why would they be so offended by my receiving a name?” Luna asked.

“Because they are selfish, entitled, and- oh… my apologies Grand Duke. I did not mean to imply you were-” Suma said, and began to stutter upon realizing she had accidentally insulted the Duke as well.

“No offence taken, Lady Suma. I am not nobility any longer, and was happy to free myself from that title years ago. Besides, you are correct. They are many things, not the least of which is deplorable.” The Duke said, cold hatred in his voice. That was something Suma had told me once; that the Grand Duke was a title only obtainable if you relinquished your noble title, and served the Grand Sanctum until your death. Apparently, it was more of a religious title, with an official position within the government. Some Grand Duke’s opposed the crown, others appeased them, but they were all free to choose. “I would suggest that you leave Zach-Ashem for a while, to let their tempers cool, and for me to navigate my way through them to protect you. I have had some experience with this in the past, so it will only take a few weeks.”

“Where am I to go?” Luna asked, concerned.

“Well, Suma and I were going to travel to the Royal Capital next week. You could join us.” I offered.

“An excellent idea.” The Duke said. “But if I may, why are you going to Ambos-Ompera?”

“We plan to resign from the army.” Suma said.

“I see, but that is easier said than done. Why do you need to go to the capital for that? It is normally done on you assigned base, or by proxy.” He said.

“We have… another method.” I added.

The Duke nodded, “so I take it the rumors are true then? You have met with her majesty, Queen Ompera.”

“Yeah.” I said.

“You met the Queen?!” Luna nearly shouted in surprise.

“Loud!” I said, holding my ear. From where I was sitting, she was basically next to my head. “Why do people always scream in my ear? This keeps happening.”

“I am sorry, but… the Queen…”

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“And I take it you cannot tell anyone why?” He asked.

“Pretty much.” I said.

He sighed. “Well, either way, it is a good idea to leave for a while.”

“Well, unless there is anything else you wanted to discuss, I need to see a Neame about a flying rune-powered bicycle… which sounds like a euphemism, but I assure you, it isn’t.” I said.

“Thank you for your warning, your grace.” Luna said, and both she and Suma bowed. With that, the Duke bid us farewell, and we were escorted out by the assistant again.

Later that day, back with Ceil, it was time to pick up my orders. “So, what do you think?” Ceil asked, having just presented me with the newly reconstructed version of the hoverbike I left him a few days ago. We were standing in his workshop, next to the forge.

“It looks totally different.” I said, surprised. Before, the bike looked exactly like that, a bike, but with scrap bolted to where the wheels should be, junk and glass jars hastily welded to the bars and seat for mana storage, and engraved with runes to make it work. Now, it was sleek, refined, and looked more like something made by someone who actually knew what they were doing. All in all, a massive improvement.

“Well, get on. Power it and try it out.” Ceil said, impatiently.

“What about the weapons?” I asked, sitting on the seat, which was the same as the original, only because Ceil couldn’t figure out how to make cushions.

“They are already finished. That scholar friend of yours, Sela-Car, came by yesterday and installed the runes on everything; you can get them later. But who cares about them, let’s see how this contraption works.”

“Fine, fine.” I said, summoning a daljar filled with mana, and inserted it into the power slot. A blue haze I’d never seen before swallowed the bike, then vanished as the bike lifted itself off the ground. Just like before, it was almost completely silent once it got started. She must have altered the runes, because this time there was not ear-splitting screech before the silence fell. It simply quietly turned on, and started hovering.

“Now take it up.” Ceil instructed, excited to see how it performed. Before, there were handlebars, but those were just to make it easier to ride. Since I only had one hand for now, Ceil instead installed something akin to a seatbelt for me; at my request. The bike itself, the old version and the new one, was controlled by six runes. Putting power into them made it go forwards, turn left and right, stop, raise, and lower. With my left arm, I managed the speed, and with my right hand I controlled the direction. The bike slowly rose from the floor. First one meter, then two, until I finally was close enough to the ceiling to touch it.

“Maybe we should be doing this outside?” I suggested.

“Can’t. It does not fit through the entrance. You will need to summon it to get it out, and you neglected to bring Lady Suma with you to forge that connection.”

“Ah, right.” I said, landing the bike.

“Speaking of which, have you decided on its name?”

“Yeah. I’m going to name it Pegasus, or maybe Sleipnir.”

Ceil sputtered, “Why would you ever call it that? Bit cursed I’d say.”

“What’s wrong with Pegasus?” I asked.

“No, Sleipnir. That’s bad luck, naming a summon after a beast like that.”

“You know what Sleipnir is?” (First Yggdrasil, now Sleipnir. How long did the Vikings stick around for exactly?) I wondered to myself.

“Of course, they were the shadows of death that the Vikings rode when they hunted Neame.”

“What?”

“Have you never heard the stories?” He asked. “Actually, I suppose you wouldn’t have, being a familiar from… wherever it is you’re from.”

“My world has stories of Sleipnir too, but it wasn’t like what you described; not exactly anyway.”

“Well, here, it’s bad luck. So, I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Maybe, chariot?”

“That is a good one. Does it mean something?” Ceil asked.

“No, it is just a type of horsedrawn wagon use for transporting people.”

“Right. Yes, indeed.” Ceil said, nodding his head.

“Do you… do you know what I just said?” I asked, surprised that he knew what a wagon, or horse for that matter, was.

“No, well not a wagon anyway, but horses are a type of familiar.”

“They are?!” I shouted, surprised.

“Sure. In fact, my father’s father had a flame-horse when he was young. And a friend of mine has a stone-horse. To think they could be used to move things around though. I always took them to be much too fearsome a beast to do anything more that fight in battles.” Ceil said.

“…Right. Anyway, now that you’re retired, will you be traveling to the capital soon?” I asked, changing the subject, and landing the, soon to be named, bike. Hopping off, I pulled the daljars free, and stowed them in my bag.

“Yes, within a day or two at most. Sorry to see this shop closed, but when you get as old as I am, you just want to spend time with your son and his son.” Ceil said.

“What will happen to the smithy?” I asked.

“It was already bought up for twenty gold coins and twenty large daljar by some lower ranked nobility. He is letting me stay here for five more days and six nights.”

“How about this then, I’ll be traveling to the capital soon too, with Suma and her mother. We’re leaving the day after tomorrow. Wanna join us for the trip?”

“Now there’s a great idea. If you don’t mind having a rude old Neame like me along, I’d love to join you for a few days.”

Ceil and I spent a little while longer talking before Suma arrived, and did the summoning spell for us. I told her about Ceil joining us, and she said she would tell Luna. After that, we left the smithy for the last time, and made plans to meet Ceil by the Citadel in the morning the day after tomorrow. I also stopped by Sela-Car’s lab and told her that I was traveling to the capital, explained why, and said that I would return in a few weeks. She wished me a safe journey, in her usual formal way, and I went back to Suma’s.

The next day passed really slowly. As big as the city was, that’s only by sheer distance between things. In actuality, it was pretty boring, with not much for me to do. Finding ways to pass the time was a challenge. For the first half of it, I spent hours combing through Zachariah’s memories, still holding out hope of finding more information to teach me how to invert my own spells, but was once again disappointed. During the second half, I tried to find meat. Like real meat, not bugs or fruits. Mum packs meat in my bag every day, usually sliced deli chicken, or a wrapped burger, but she can’t exactly fit a roast beef or rack of ribs in it, unfortunately. Once again, I was met with disappointment.

Finally, the day came, the four of us met in front of the Citadel, and left the city of Zach‑Ashem. I don’t know why, but I expected us to be flying in formation. That was not what happened. Once Luna and Ceil found out they could get there without flying, just by riding on Chariot with me, the two of them, and Suma, immediately climbed aboard. I spent the bulk of the next several days with three birds either hiding under my shirt, or perched somewhere on my body. One time, Ceil tried perching on the outer rings of Chariot’s base, but the wind runes sucked him off his spot and launched him straight down; very quickly and with a loud, surprised, squawking sound. He flew back up a few seconds later missing some feathers and suggested we take a break for a bit.

Thankfully, since we were approaching from a different direction, we didn’t have to cross the wasteland to get to the capital this time. On the fourth day, at sometime around noon, we saw the castle-tree peaking over the horizon. We had once again arrived at the capital, Ambos-Ompera.

A dome, that’s how I would have described it from afar. It was a little dome made of metal, wood, and stone bars, all interconnected, like a child’s toy on a playground. It was just a little ways outside of the city’s walls. From a distance, fifty meters in the sky and kilometers away, it looked small, but close up, it was much taller and wider than I’d expected.

“Fly there.” Suma instructed, gesturing towards the dome.

“What is it?” I asked.

“An inspection point. We need to go through it before entering the city. My traveling group did this on our previous trip here.”

“What happens if we don’t pass the inspection?” I asked.

“According to what I was told last time, we die.”

“What?”

“They are not the city’s guards, this inspection point is operated exclusively by Royal Mages, the Queen’s guard. If they deem us a threat, they will kill us.”

“That’s crazy.” I said. The dome’s top had several holes built into it, and we entered through one. Landing on the ground, I noticed we were surrounded by at least a dozen Neame; five of them were mounted on a verity of tough looking familiars. Now, with dozens of eyes watching and surrounding me and the others, I still thought it was crazy.

“State your business.” One of the Neame ordered.

“We are here to enter Ambos-Ompera, and seek an audience with her majesty, Queen Ompera.” Suma said, and turned to me. “Jake, the documents.”

“Ah, yeah.” I said, and pulled from one of the pouched I’d strapped to my bike, which I’d ended up naming Chariot, several wood tablets with mana-less rune engraved on them. Holding them out, the Neame used magic to draw them to him, and examined them intensely.

“You seek an audience with her majesty? For what purpose?” The Neame asked.

I could feel Suma’s nervousness through our connection, and it was not well hidden outside of it at all either. When she spoke, her voice cracked at first, and the feathers on her neck and chest were pressed flat against her body. “We seek to end our contracted time within her royal military. We have discussed this with her before, and have come to accept an offer she made us during our last visit.”

“Ah, yes. I remember the two of you. About four or five months ago, you had a meeting with Queen Ompera.” The Neame said.

“Yes, that is correct.”

The Neame’s eyes met mine. “If I am not mistaken, that meeting ended with many dead Neame. Including Court-Mages.”

“Uh… yes.” I said, hesitantly.

“Discussion.” The Neame said simply, and one by one all of their eyes began to glow. For what felt like an eternity, but was probably just a minute or two, everything was deadly quiet. “You will be allowed to proceed, and we will inform the Queen of your arrival, and intension, but while you are in the city, you will be closely monitored.” He said, and returned the tablets with magic. I took them from the air, and placed them back into the pouches.

“We understand.” Suma said, and bowed. With that, we flew out of the dome, alive, but much sweatier. At least I was, anyway.

Getting through the next inspection point was much easier. All they did was check our documents, then send us on our way; no questions, not even an inspection, despite the name. None I could see anyway. Although Chariot did turn a few heads as we landed and took off again. Once inside, Ceil split off from the rest of the group, going to see his son. We made plans to meet up again tomorrow at noon, to meet his son. Suma also suggested that Luna and I go explore the city while she searched for a place we could stay.

“I could help you.” Luna said.

“No, it will be fine. I can contact Jake as soon as I find somewhere, and then summon him to me. If he holds onto you when I do that, then you will come with him.” She said.

“I would rather help you search.” Luna protested.

“Are you certain? It would be much more interesting to explore the city with Jake.”

“I am.” Luna said. Suma relented, and they flew off, leaving me with some time to myself. I decided to search for some food, and ended up flying around on Chariot for a while. It was pretty nice, but I had to make sure not to fly too high, because Suma said flying higher that the city’s walls was illegal. At the center of the city was a gargantuan tree that made up the castle. Since it was so big, most of the city was shaded by its branches, which kept everything cool. Eventually, I spotted a crowd gathered near the tree’s base, and decided to check it out.

Landing on the ground, I sent Chariot away, and found someone to talk to; a young looking Neame with a mix of brown and blue feathers, and less than a head’s height tall. “Excuse me, what’s going on? Why are so many people gathered around?”

“It is the…” She turned to look at me, then stopped talking and looked up to meet my gaze, “… restoration festival.” The glitter she had before suddenly dimmed, as she spoke those last two words just barely louder than a whisper.

“Oh, a festival? Can anyone join?” I asked, kneeling down to get a little closer to her size so as to not freak her out so much. She nodded without saying a word. “Can… you tell me a bit about it?”

“It is to celebrate the Yggsdrasil tree, and everything it…. Are you someone’s familiar?” She asked.

“Yeah.”

“You can talk.”

“Yeah.”

“…”

“You good?” I asked.

“…Yeah…”

“You were saying about the tree?”

“What? Oh, yes. The Yggsdrasil tree. The festival is to celebrate it and its restorative magic that saved the country.” She told me a story about how the dragons made the tree before they disappeared, to restore the country back to what it was before the Chaos Dragon’s rampage. It had slowly made the country’s soil fertile again, and its sap could cure sicknesses. The festival is held every year now, and had been since the city was founded. It was also the only day that the noble district was open to the public, which meant that the citizens could buy things that the nobles used like meat, jewelry, fabrics, and other things.

After she finished explaining, I thanked her and went inside the festival myself. Everyone was flying all around, shouting to advertise their products, and generally having a good time. I walked around until I caught the smell of something cooking, and followed my nose to a Neame perched on a stone, cooking meat using a fire spell. I gave him one of the gold coins I had, and he gave me a slab of flame broiled meat. Taste wise, it was bland and gamey, but I was starving, and had eaten more fruit and vegetables in the last four or five months than I even wanted to think about.

Walking around with my meat slab, suspended with magic because I didn’t want to hold it with my hand, I found another Neame who was selling jewelry. There were different kinds, like things that hung from wings, necks, or even around a Neame’s clawed feet, but none of it would fit me. Instead, I bought some fabric to use as a blanket. As I paid, this time with mana and a daljar the vender had, I noticed a Neame in the distance was watching me. Deciding that it was probably just because I looked strange to them, I ignored it and went about my day. Until I saw the same Neame again, I think, still watching me a while later. Honestly, I could have been wrong, I still have trouble telling them apart sometimes.

“Huh, so that’s what they meant when they said ‘closely monitored’.” I said, finishing off the last of the meat slab.