Soon, the last of the students finished their pairing rituals and we were dismissed, but I was asked to be sure to make myself available for later questioning. I needed to be alone for a while, so I sent Ulok home. I wanted to have a conversation with my parents about what happened today at the ritual, and to discuss Ulok himself. When I arrived and opened the entrance to our home, I was surprised to see that several temple officials, a nun and a priest, were already talking with my parents.

“Daughter, there you are! These nice mages from the Citadel wish to have a word with you.” My mother said. She flew over to me and whispered very intensely, “What did you do? Why are nobles and clergy looking for you?”

“I… I do not know how to explain it.” I whispered back.

“Are you the young girl who summoned the fire spirit?” The priest asked.

“I do not think it was a spirit.” I said.

“Then you know what it was?” The nun, who was perched in the corner of the room, asked.

“… No, I do not.”

“What is this ‘fire spirit’ that you believe my daughter summoned?” My father interrupted.

“The nuns witnessed it with their own eyes. Your daughter summoned some kind of fire spirit during her pairing ritual.” The priest said.

“My daughter does not have the power to do something like that. She has not even finished her tenure at the academy.” My father’s words hurt, but they were true. As far as I knew, I could not have been the one that summoned that… creature. Ulok was my familiar now, but it would be another few hours, maybe even a day, before I would know how powerful he was. It usually takes somewhere between five and nineteen hours for the rituals to finish bonding our souls, and for me to know his magical attribute and strength.

“My husband is correct. My daughter couldn’t possibly have summoned any spirit.”

“And yet one showed up, demanding that your daughter name her familiar.” The priest said.

“Why don’t you summon your familiar now, so we can examine it.” The nun suggested.

“I-I do not know if that would be a good idea.” I said.

“Just do it so they can see that they are wrong and will leave.” My father said. I looked around the room and my parents and the clergy, and then at the room itself. Ulok was much too tall to fit comfortably in here.

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“He is too large, we would need to go outside in order to do it.” I said, still not truly sure what to do.

“Fine then, let us go outside so we may see the familiar with our own eyes.” The priest said. We all flew to the base of the mountain. They perched on a mountain, and I landed on the ground.

“I Summon you, Ulok!” I said, and cast the summoning spell. Slowly he appeared in front of us, although he looked different from before. Despite only an hour having passed, he was now dressed in different garments. With his new garments on, the magic circle that formed on his arm was clearly showing, and shined dimly until he fully appeared. He looked around confused for a moment, then he saw me and lowered himself before me. Through my control ritual, I felt that this was his way of showing reverence to me. It was his species’ version of a bow.

“I’m sorry my lady, if I’d known you’d need me tonight, I wouldn’t have changed into my pajamas.” Ulok said. I looked back at my family, and the clergy, and saw exactly what I expected to see: horror and surprise.

“Your familiar… it spoke.” My mother said.

“Yes, it was quite a shock to me as well.” I said.

“This is nearly unheard of.” The nun said.

“What manner of monster have you gained, child?” The priest asked, stunned.

“My lady, shall I kill them?” Ulok asked. I could feel his anger at the priest’s comment.

“No, no. They are members of the clergy. You cannot kill them.” I ordered.

“Yes, my lady.” He said, and lowered his head.

“How… how is this possible?” My father asked.

“Love,” my mother asked me, “what is this creature?”

“Do you want me to introduce myself, my lady?” Ulok offered.

“Yes, that might be a good idea.” I said.

“I am Ulok, a human from the planet Earth, born in the country of England seventeen years ago.” After that, he stayed quiet for several moments.

“Is that it?” The nun asked expectantly.

“Yup.” Ulok said.

“Well, what about your magical attribute, or your family lineage, or your titles?” My mother asked. I expected the priest to be more vocal during this, but he was staying only quiet, and looking very intensely at Ulok. He was clearly frightened.

“My name is Ulok, but it used to be Jake Vandel. My lady changed it once she officially put me under her service. As for magic, I don’t have any; no titles either.”

“Does that mean that you were able to rename this creature?” The nun asked.

“What do you mean, ‘no magic’?” My father asked. Actually, it had not yet set in, but Ulok did say that; I simply had not realized it yet.

“Until I met my lady, I didn’t even know magic was real. I just assumed it was a myth.” When Ulok said that, I knew he was wrong.

“You are mistaken.” I said. “While the ritual has not yet fully bonded us, it has progressed enough that I can feel some of your magic. Although, I still cannot tell what type it is.”

“I have magic?” Ulok sounded surprised.

“We need to go.” The priest stated suddenly. He was glaring at Ulok as if he hated him.

“But we just-” The nun tried to say.

“We are leaving!” The priest yelled, and flew into the sky; towards the grand sanctum. The nun followed quickly after.

That night, my parents asked me quite a lot of questions, and even more to Ulok. I had to skip my attendance at the academy the next day, due to not getting any sleep. Ulok was also tired, but said he would stay awake for as along as I needed him to. I ordered him to get some rest, and sent him home. When I woke up, I chose to check the progress of the rituals, and found that it had fully bonded us. I took a moment to sense Ulok’s magical attribute. I could feel it, as clearly as if it were my own, and the realization left me horrified.

“Ulok… has Chaos Magic.” I whispered.