Jake’s POV
Around me all that could be heard was the scribbling of pencils filling in multiple choice bubbles. I wasn't too stressed about the test since the engineering course I wanted to enter wasn't particularly hard to get into, and I happened to be pretty decent at math. The class was ten minutes into the mid-year Math exam when, under me, a brightly illuminated circle patterned with lines and smaller circles appeared. Startled, I looked up, but no one seemed to notice. That’s when everything went dark.
Like a slow blink, the world came back into view again. Except, my view was full of little royal-blue colored, and almost sparkling, bird nymphs staring up at me. I staggered back in surprise before I managed to regain my balance and look around the room. The roof was just above my head, but since these little nymph things were what this room was designed for… I guess it made sense. To them it probably looked more like an arena or a school gym. In fact, there were definitely some kind of gymnastics bars and other assorted climbable bars scattered around the room.
Turning my attention back to the nymphs, I noticed a couple among them seemed to be a little larger and duller colored, like a steel-blue, and decorated in gold lace that definitely made them look more…official. There was one standing in front of a crowd of, what seemed to me to be, younger nymphs. They were almost holding them back behind a kind of invisible line; while behind the crowd stood three taller ones who definitely looked apprehensive.
My attention finally rested on one bright blue bird nymph facing me and standing in front of all the others. It looked like it was fidgeting, peering up at me with upturned eyes. It chirped, and as it did I felt… encouragement, demand and….
I should tell them who I am, I guess they wouldn’t know. I thought to myself. “Hey, I’m Jake,” I said to the large crowd while waving my hand. The group of brightly colored nymphs exploded in a cacophony of shushed chirps. Their chirps and tweets strongly reminded me of the excited whispering when someone does something amazing in a library or some situation where you need to be quiet. The four who I was starting to suspect were teachers seemed to relax a little; their feathers flattened closer to their bodies, but their gazes stayed wary. The little light blue one at the front seemed to gain a bit of confidence, holding its’ head higher and walking with a longer stride.
It chirped once again, but this time I felt authority… submission and…
I should go to my master.…
Wait… master? I thought, seemingly at odds with my own mind.
I cannot keep her waiting.
What? Why can’t I keep who waiting?
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In my mind, the back and forth raged. I would flip between desperation and a desire to serve, to confusion and clarity.
No, I just have to walk to her!
What the frick? Why am I thinking this?
GO TO HER!
Holy crap is this mind control?
GO TO HER NOW!
“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!” I screamed filled with frustration and unbridled rage. As I yelled, the crowd of birds shrank away, falling completely silent. Even the four teachers looked stunned, but they quickly recovered.
In the silence, the light blue one nervously repeated her chirp.
I should…
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“Good Work 13,” my instructor told me as I made the enormous creature fall under the Rite of Dominance. “If you keep up at this pace you will be a capable healing mage in no time.”
“Thank you, sir,” I told him.
“Now, take your new familiar and go join the rest of the class while 14 takes his turn,” He told me. I led this new beast to the back, and we took our place in line. We sat through a few more Neame summoning their own familiars, some of which were quite impressive, before our teacher moved on to the next part of the lesson. “Okay everyone, if you will all follow me, we are going to travel to the Grand Temple to perform your binding rituals to your new familiars. The school has made reservations and they are preparing for us now, but let’s try not to waste time. They have many others who need to bond with their familiars as well.” Once his announcement was finished, we were instructed to wrap our familiars in mana and carry them to the temple while we flew. All of the summoned familiars were larger than us, but only myself and three others had any difficulty as our familiars were abnormally large. Even still, the flight to the temple was exciting, the thought of having my own familiar exhilarated me.
Upon arriving at the temple, we dropped off our familiars in a handling area, and were greeted by a nun, I knew because she had completely dyed her feathers white, who explained how the ritual worked and what we should expect from it. “Has everyone already performed the Rite of Dominance on their chosen familiars?” She asked the instructor.
“Yes, we were able to have everyone do it before our departure from the academy,” he told her.
“Good, we expected you would, but better safe than sorry.” She turned to the class, “Now, I am assuming this is the first time any of you have performed this Ritual outside of practicing it at school, am I correct?”
“Yes madam,” we all replied; we were told that was the proper way to respond and address a nun of the temple.
“Well then, would you all like to watch a pairing before you actually perform one for yourselves? We have several that will be occurring soon, and I’m sure one of them wouldn’t mind.” She offered. We all happily agreed, and the nun left to check if any of the participants would mind an audience. Our little waiting room was filled with the elated whispers of my class discussing any number of things. I heard four separate conversations about what it would be like to have a familiar of their own, two conversations about how powerful their summons looked, and at least two males in the back discussing how attractive the nun was. After a short wait, the nun returned, “Good news children, one man has agreed to allow you to watch his pairing ritual.” She led us to one of the chambers where the rituals take place, and inside was an adult Neame, several armed guards, and the familiar… a drake.
“Hello everyone, I am Magistrate Gakheel. I hear you would like to observe my pairing today.” He laughed a little. “Well, I am more than happy to help educate our future minds and mages.”