He sat up with a start.

Where was he?

He looked around the room he was currently in, there was no one else to be found.  The room was definitely lived in however.  It had a distinctly feminine feel to it, perhaps that was due to the organized chaos that was all around him however.  Everything was in its place, and yet at the same time it was also messy.

How this was pulled off he had no idea, but it was indeed a thing. He pulled the covers off of himself, and much to his surprise he found he was clothed in a red and gold robe that was exactly the same as those people he had seen before.

He looked out the window and found he was looking at a castle, or rather that he was looking out of a castle and down into the courtyard some two hundred feet below.

Where the hell was he?  With soft footsteps he creeped over to the door and peeked out.  Outside the door was a hallway that lead past ten or twenty more exactly like it and down a twisting staircase.

Softly closing the door behind him he stealthily moved towards the stairs.  He had no idea who these people were, but he was sure he didn't want to stay around to find out what they would do with him now that he was awake, they had after all chained him up and caused a lot of pain for him.

“How many fucking flights of stairs are there?”  he asked himself as he moved down them.  He abandoned all stealth in preference for speed as he took the stairs three at a time.  It didn't take long before he found the end of that winding staircase, it opened up into a sort of great room.

In the center of the room there was a mini arboretum of sorts, as landscaped trees and plants grew indoors, providing a contrast to the cold grey stones that made up the walls and ceiling.  He looked in all directions, good, there was no one around.

He decided to not question it and to rather count it as a blessing, he was going to go down the path to the right but he heard the sound of people chatting and footsteps approaching him.

The only place he could hide was up in one of the trees, with a curse he sprinted towards the trees and with a flying leap he caught onto one of the branches, he quickly pulled himself up the tree and hid in the leaves.

He was just in time, as a group of twenty or so people entered the great hall and started milling about. They were all wearing robes like when he had last seen them, this time however they all had their hoods down.

He looked at them, they had to be in their late teens, no matter how he looked at it they looked like high schoolers.  Standing around and besides these high schoolers was a whole host of different creatures.  From small dragons to blue wolves and any other thing you could think of.  They all stood around playing and petting their strange animals or conversing with one another.

All of them except one.

It was her.

That girl that had approached him, he felt the urge to go towards her but he fought it. If he was to leave his location now he would be found out.  She was standing slightly off to the side, looking down at her feet as though she was lost in thought.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

She really was a beautiful girl.  He shook his head clearing it off all the thoughts that had been circling through it and re evaluated his situation. He was currently surrounded by an unknown bunch of people, they may or may not want to hurt him, and he was stuck until they moved.

He looked at the girl again.  She was standing by herself, no one was around her, and there were even some mean unmasked sneers thrown her way.  Sh slowly walked towards the stairs that he had just came from, and disappeared up the stairs alone.

He watched as she departed before casting the thoughts about her aside, he had much more important things to think about, like how to get out of here.

Soon the sound of steps racing down the stairs sounded and the girl emerged back into the great hall, she was looking more flustered and frantic now.  It could only mean one thing, she had realised he was gone.  Which meant he had to move soon, before others could be warned of this possibility.  She looked around frantically and ran down the path to the right, pushing a group of students out of the way as she passed, red robes flapping as she ran.

So that was the way she thought he could have gone, and therefore it would be the way he actually went, he could've headed down anyone of these paths, but truth be told he didn't know if they led further into the castle or towards the outside.

Pulling his hood up he shimmied down the tree, now was the best time to move out.  If he waited anylonger her might be caught after she alerted others.  Thankfully his robes were exactly like theirs, so he moved slowly around the group of trees and integrated himself into the crowd.

Keeping his head down he walked through them, heading towards the hall she had just walked down. It was honestly nerve wracking to weave in between them all, but after the longest three minutes of his life he was able to make his way through without any problem.  

Trying his best to look inconspicuous he moved down the hall, and was greeted by the sweat smell of grass and open air.  With a slight smile he stepped out onto the lawn of a courtyard and angled himself towards the nearest exterior wall.

The wall itself was a good twenty feet tall.  He approached the wall and a voice called out to him.

“Where do you think you are going?”  said a female voice.  He froze up for a split second before turning around.  He found he was looking at the very same silver haired girl he had just been following.

“I asked you a question.” she said, hands on her hips. “Where do you think you are going?”  he looked at her lips in confusion.  He could understand her words, but what he heard and the shape her lips made were, off.  

Like he was watching someone else translate her words for him.

“Familiars can’t leave their partner’s side.”  she said, resting her hands on her hips.

“I am going now,”  he said.

She raised her eyebrows. “No, you don't understand, if you get to far you will just come back.”  he ignored her and turned back to the wall.  Bursting forward he ran up it four steps before launching himself up and over it.

She looked in shock as he cleared the twenty foot stone wall with ease.  “You will see...” she sighed, staring at the stone wall.

He ran as fast as he could flying through the trees and planes that surrounded that castle, putting as much distance between himself and that place as humanly possible.  After about two or so hours the sun started to set and he paused for a breath.

Even though the castle was surrounded by flat plains he could not see it due to the distance.  Sweat was dripping from his brow as he bent over and caught his breath.  After a short period of recovery he was going to continue his journey when he felt a strange tug that stopped him from moving.

The back of his hand glowed.  He looked down at it in shock as fire spread from the tattoo and covered his body in black flames.  They didn't burn, they just slightly warmed him, the effect however was horrifying.  It started with his arm burning away into nothingness.

In a panic he rolled around on the ground in a desperate attempt to put out the hellish flame.  In under twenty seconds however he was fully consumed and turned into a fine black ash.  Purple and golden runes and ancient drawings lit up the forest surroundings as a soft wind blew away the ash pile he used to be.

Much to his surprise he however didn't find himself back in the white place, he was instead laying on the floor of the room he had woken up in a few hours ago.  This time however he was not alone.  Laying on the bed was that silver haired girl, she was currently reading a book and without even looking up she spoke to him.

“What did I tell you? Familiars can not leave their master’s sides”  she casually flipped the page.  “What is your name?”  he checked himself, making sure he was all there, after he was sure he had everything still he let his head fall back and rest on the cold stone floor.

It felt good, the cool stone.

“Leon, my name is Leon.”  he said softly.

“Nice to meet you Leon” she said, still not looking at him. “My name is Lira Mila Vas Lirtus, and you are my familiar.”