Jake’s POV

Night had come and gone, I got some sleep, but not much. We slept in shifts just in case the fire didn’t keep all the animals at bay. I was third watch, so I ended up waking up quite early, and I have a bit of a hard time falling back asleep once I’m awake, so I just stayed up and talked with Vindicta since it was her turn on watch. Once the sun came up, we all had some fruit that Suma grew from some seeds stored in my shoulder perch, then headed back down the trail.

“Careful on the rocks, they seem more unstable than they did yesterday.” I said as I regained my balance after nearly falling on my butt.

“No kidding?” Von-Pac said. “And here I was about to order Paxus to do a little dance.” He said sarcastically.

“How is everyone’s mana by the way?” Suma asked the group.

“I’m still drained, but not nearly as bad as I was last night.” Vindicta said desperately clinging to Argosa’s saddle as she skidded around on the loose rocks. Although, she didn’t seem to be out of control. In fact, Argosa was the only one of the familiars who seemed in her element.

“I am feeling better, but I would have preferred a few more hours of sleep.” Von-Pac complained.

“Jake?” Suma asked.

“I’m okay, I’ve been up long enough to not be too tired.” I said. Our journey down the mountain was long, tiring, and did I mention long? Because it was. We had to stop, eat, and rest on five separate occasions. Much of which I was the only one who could carry all three because their familiars couldn’t go on. At least the journey down was fairly easy, just time consuming. It took hours, but eventually we made it back to camp.

“Ah, there you are!” The drill instructor called out as he landed on a perch near us. “I was beginning to think I would either have to get a search party together, or start preparing your eulogies.”

“Sorry sir, we got caught-” Suma tried to explain, but was cut off.

“If you have injuries, go to the medical station for some healing. Once everything is taken care of you can explain in full. Dismissed.” He stated and flew back to the vine-hut he came from.

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“I see his concern for us hasn’t dulled his charm.” I complained.

“We may as well go get checked out, it might be the only break we get until this whole thing is over.” Vindicta suggested, we all agreed and went to get checked out. All of them were suffering from life-force depletion, their mana was running dry, but no one had any injuries that weren’t fixable. They each had muscle strain, and their wings were a bit battered from flying in the cave and hitting the walls, but nothing bad.

“I guess we should go give our report,” I said. I started making my way there, and the rest flew arriving much sooner than me. As we all entered the instructor’s office, he offered the other perches, then began asking us questions.

“Do you want me to make you a seat?” Suma asked me over our private connection.

“I’d like to try, if that’s okay? I need the practice.” I said. She nodded her head and refocused on the instructor. I had seen this done plenty of time, but never tried myself. I started channeling magic, then imagined the vines coalescing and twisting into the shape of a log; nothing fancy, just a cylindrical bundle of vines. As I pictured this, the plants began to twist and conform to the shape in my head. I was ecstatic by the event, but when I looked around, no one had even noticed. Well, it’s normal for them, I guess. I thought to myself. I took my newly formed seat and resumed listening to the instructor and the other’s conversation.

“And then Lady Suma summoned Sentinel to cover our escape from the cave.” Von-Pac said. “After which I collapsed the entrance to that area, and she unsummoned him.”

“And I assume you left the cave after that?” The instructor asked.

“Yes sir,” Vindicta said, “after we did, Von-Pac collapsed the cavern so that the creatures couldn’t follow us.”

“But I thought you said you were nearly out of mana?” The instructor asked.

“Jake… um Sentinel… lent him some.” Vindicta said.

“Why do they keep using my familiar name?” I asked Suma privately.

“It is a formal meeting, why do you think Von-Pac called me Lady Suma?” She explained. “We have to use our proper names. Which reminds me.” She said to me then interrupted Vindicta to address the instructor. “Sir, we have something else to report. Recruit six has received a name… Vindicta.”

The instructor seemed taken aback, “I sent you into the forest on a retrieval mission, and you come back a day late, beaten to the dragons, and with a new name…” he sighed. “Fine, I will make a note of it, and send off the report to the Royal Citadel.”

“Thank you sir,” Vindicta chirped happily.

“You’ll still need to present yourself to the Grand Duke when you return, but until his approval or disapproval you will be considered a named Neame.” The instructor clarified. Vindicta thanked him, and we got back to our report. We spent a solid hour being debriefed, and all I could think the whole time was how much I wanted to go home and shower, but I couldn’t just yet. “Okay, well take a rest for a few minutes, the rest of the recruits are just about to start today’s familiar combat training.”