Stepping out into the cool midnight air and closing the door behind him, Lewis stared at the being before him.

He gulped.

Less than a metre away, a pitch black wolf stood at its full height, staring straight at him.

Face to face with the wolf, he realised just how vulnerable he really was, and his instincts screamed at him to do something. To run, hide, anything that meant getting away from the wolf. However...

[I’m not going to hurt you.]

At the same time the wolf stepped back, and lowered its head, bowing to him, before standing back up.

Slowly raising his right hand, Lewis pointed at the wolf.

“Are you the -,” - Lewis stopped for a split second, worried on what to call the wolf - “one who’s been talking to me?”

[Correct. Please accept my apology for causing you such distress, and thank you for coming out.]

Lewis didn’t see himself in a position to not accept the apology, so quietly said...

“It’s fine.”

[Thank you.]

The wolf went silent as it examined Lewis, its golden eyes which glowed ever so slightly in the dark made him feel uncomfortable. Like food being appraised by a critic. Once the wolf had finished looking him over, it settled its gaze on his eyes, looking straight into him.

[You don’t know who I am do you?]

This time, Lewis felt that the wolf was sad, as if it had wished he would recognise it. However, there had been no change in the sound of its voice. Lewis didn’t know why he felt this way.

“No, sorry.”

[I see... well, I’m a familiar of the human responsible for you being brought here. You wouldn’t know what a familiar is though, I presume?]

“No...”

Lewis had questions of his own, but restrained himself. It was rather easy when the other individual was a big bad wolf.

[Well, I am, put simply, a companion. As to why I’m here? The person who I serve is absent, and without them nearby I cannot survive in this world for much longer. You are their chosen substitute, and to get to the point, I need mana. Now.]

The feeling that the wolf wasn’t telling him the entire truth permeated through him. Most notably, he got a very stressed feeling when the words “absent” and “chosen” were said, but, still under the wolf's gaze, he didn’t dare ask questions.

Slightly hesitating before he responded, Lewis said what he believed.

“You’ve got the wrong person, I can’t give you any ma-”

[When you spoke to me in that hut of yours, you were using mana. So yes you can.]

“You were reading my mind or something I wasn-”

[I wasn’t reading you mind, you were communicating with me using mana. As a mage it simply comes naturally to you, I do not have time to explain in detail so listen to me.]

“The-Then how did you know I was worried about my parents? I never told you that.”

[I can explain everything after I get mana, for now just listen.]

Desperation pervaded Lewis’ mind at the wolf's last word, and coupled with his previous feelings from talking to the wolf, he suspected that this wasn’t his own emotions flaring up. However, the desperation washed through his body, threatening to make him collapse in despair. Managing to barely control himself, Lewis continued to stand, albeit shakily.

[Your mana hasn’t fully awakened so I will have to forcibly release it, after which the infusion will be simple enough.]

“Wait forcibl-!?”

[Hold still.]

With those words, Lewis’ fears were confirmed.

The wolf before him exposed its fangs, and with only the light from the campfire to illuminate them, they looked all the more ferocious. Taking a rapid step forward, the wolf lunged at Lewis’ neck, breaking the gap between them in the blink of an eye.

Stunned and unable to move, Lewis could only watch as the wolves canines closed in around his neck.

Emotions stronger than he had ever felt before coursed through him. Fear, anger, sorrow, and regret overwhelmed him, forcing him to do nothing other than accept his death. But at the last second, Lewis closed his eyes, and had a single thought…

‘I don’t want to die.’

Lewis eyelids remained shut, waiting for the moment the wolf’s fangs would bite down on his neck. However, a couple seconds passed, followed by a dozen more, and Lewis was left wondering why he was still standing.

‘Huh?’

Slowly opening his eyes, and taking a look around, Lewis was bewildered. The wolf which had tried to attack him was nowhere to be seen.

‘Thank God it’s over.’

However crazy the ordeal had been, Lewis was simply happy to accept that it was over, and feeling mentally drained from event, he didn’t want to question where the wolf had gone. Only one thing was on his mind.

‘Time to get some sleep.’

Hoping that he could find some peace in sleep, and forget everything which had happened, even if only for a moment, Lewis took a step towards his home.

However, he never finished that step, as before his foot even touched the ground, he collapsed from a sudden surge of fatigue. The world going black as he fell into dreamland.

(Break)

“Sasha, draw the sigil.”

“Master, this is-”

“I wasn’t asking, now do it.”

Lewis was having a dream, a very vivid dream, and he was looking through the eyes of the woman called Sasha.

The man who had spoken, whom Sasha called her master, stood before her in a dark stone room, wearing a robe covered in strange markings. Surrounding the man was a large circle, and within it a star which he stood in the centre of. Each of the closed in regions of the shape had an unrecognizable symbol drawn inside, except for one region, the top of the star.

From Lewis’ view, Sasha hadn’t moved, and was simply standing idle.

“Sasha!” said the man, warning her one last time to do what he’d asked.

“Sorry.”

Sasha knelt down, and started to draw another symbol Lewis couldn’t recognise. He could see her hands shaking with each stroke of the white chalk she held.

With one final stroke, Sasha stood up, and took a step back.

“It’s done.”

“You’re sure that is the correct sigil?” said the man, looking Sasha in the eye.

“Yes,” said Sasha, after a slight pause.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The man continued to stare at Sasha, looking straight at Lewis in the process. Sasha looked back, unwavering as the man’s eyes tried to bore into her. Seeing that Sasha wasn’t fazed by his glaring, he moved on.

“Alright then… we will begin the procedure.”

Sasha let out a breath she’d been holding, and bowed her head.

“Yes Master.”

Lewis’ dream cut off there, and he returned to a peaceful slumber for the rest of the night.

(Break)

“...Urghhhh…”

When Lewis woke up, he sluggishly opened his eyes, and flinched as the light hit his irises. Closing his eyes momentarily as he adjusted to the light, he gradually opened them again.

Turning his head to take a look at where he was, he realised he was back in his room, rather than lying on the ground outside.

‘How’d I get back inside?’

He didn’t have much time to think, as the familiar voice of Gerald interrupted his thoughts.

“Ah, you’re awake Lewis! Sleep well? Haha.”

Noting that the rest of his family was in the room as well after he’d done a quick check, Lewis replied.

“Yeh, just feeling tired.”

Lewis had a gnawing headache, and a very empty stomach. He could still recall the wolf which had woken him at night, and prevented him from getting more sleep, thus linked his condition to a simple lack of sleep.

“You must’ve been really tired then Lewis, sun’s already going down,” said Gerald.

‘Huh?!’

“What time is it?”

“Well as I said Lewis, the sun’s already going down, so it’s around dusk.”

Gerald’s reply got Lewis concerned. If what he’d said was true then since he’d been sleeping for almost 15 hours, even if he overcompensated for the time he’d been awake during his encounter with the wolf.

‘I need to check.’

Standing up and getting out of bed, Lewis walked to the door of his family's home,  determined to check to see if the sun was indeed going down. Although he’d tried to rush, his legs hurt and felt heavy so he only managed to walk at a normal pace.

Opening the door and walking a mere metre outside, Lewis couldn’t believe it. Even with the sight of a dusk sky before him.

‘No way…’

“Are you okay Lewis?” said Ella.

Sleeping for most of the day, as well as suddenly waking up, only to rush out the door. It all had made Ella quite concerned.

“Yeh…” said Lewis. “I just needed some fresh air, sorry to worry you.”

“That’s fine, if you’re not feeling well just let me know, okay?”

“Yeh I will, thanks.”

Walking back inside, and closing the door behind him, Lewis sat down around the table with his parents. Three bowls had been placed down, indicating it was time for dinner.

Picking up his bowl, Lewis had a single thought.

‘What the fuck did that wolf do to me?!’

Devouring the contents of the bowl, Lewis still felt hungry, and staring at the empty bowl for a second too long, he put it down.

“Thanks Mum,” said Lewis, not using his hunger as any reason to be rude.

Ella put up a smile and nodded her head to acknowledge what he’d aid. However, on the inside, she felt disappointed in herself. She’d seen Lewis devour the contents of his bowl, and then stare at it when empty. Knowing that her growing son was hungry, and that she couldn’t give him anymore made her feel like a failure as his mother.

“Lewis,” said Ella.

“Yes Mum?”

Instead of saying anything, Ella held her bowl out towards him, offering him her food.

‘Shit, she noticed.’

Lewis now felt guilty for making Ella worry over him, and didn’t know what to do. If he accepted the food, he’d feel selfish for making his mum not eat. However, if he didn’t accept the food, he knew his mum would continue to worry about him.

‘I can’t win in this position…’

Making a decision, Lewis voiced his solution.

“Um, how about we split it?”

This was the only solution Lewis could think of that would be able to satisfy himself and Ella.

“Sure.”

Picking up his empty bowl, Lewis took half of what was in Ella’s bowl and put it in his own.

“Thankyou,” said Lewis.

The small scene between the two of them didn’t go unnoticed by Gerald though, and Lewis found his dad putting a little of what he had left into his bowl as well. The sight of it made Lewis smile, no matter what his parents were always trying to look out for him.

“Thanks Dad.”

“Haha, Eat up!” said Gerald, patting him on the back.

Eating the food he’d been given by his parents more slowly than last time, Lewis almost forgot his previous concerns with the wolf. Almost. Once he finished eating, he excused himself to go outside and try search for the wolf.

He needed answers.

Yet, even though Lewis searched until the sky went dark, he couldn’t find the wolf. He couldn’t even find any trace of the wolf having been there to begin with.

He tried speaking to the wolf in his head, like he had before, however that didn’t earn him a response either. Whether he was doing it wrong, the wolf couldn’t hear him, or was ignoring him, he didn’t know.

His search continued the next day, and the next day, but didn’t yield any results whatsoever.

‘I couldn’t have imagined it, no way.’

Not only did Lewis need answers anymore, he also needed to confirm what he had seen. He needed evidence that his encounter with the wolf was real, not so much for others, but for himself, and his family was starting to notice his change in schedule as well.

He was like a person who’d claimed to have just seen an alien, or a UFO. Put simply, he couldn’t let it go. But, whether Lewis wanted to let it go or not, he didn’t have a choice, and in the end gave up his search after a whole week had passed.

He didn’t want to worry his family. Especially when Ella also had the stress of taking care of Luna.

However, just to taunt him, on the first day after Lewis had given up his search, someone arrived at Eston.

Someone who would change the way Lewis would live for the rest of his life.