“We offer you your freedom from that cage.” Despite his reservations, he could not help but pay attention to the Human female’s words. “That offer is non-negotiable. However, releasing you from the cage will require you to accept a Contract, at least for a short period of time.” His feathers bristled instantly at the suggestion. “Your Contractor would be the man sitting next to me, whose Elements are Fire and Light, and who has successfully taken in a Sundrop Seed.”
The Robin tilted his head in interest instinctively. The mixture of Fire and Light Magic melded together was unique and appealing, despite his misgivings. Before he could even give voice to his apprehensions, the female went on, “Look to the top of the building behind me.”
His eyes instantly shifted there, just as a golden winged Fox faded into view, sprawled out there and laughing at the caged Bird. Just a glance at the metallic fur, the gleaming horns, and the folded wings indicated the Fox was of a Lineage that bordered on the Divine. Just the sight of him had the Robin’s slender legs quivering with the urge to prostrate himself.
-Trust her,- the Fox /said, his /voice as amused as his grin. -She will not lie to you.-
His heart quivering, the Robin turned back to the female. “What is it you seek?” he trilled, and the Human crowd all erupted into joyous shouts at the sound of his voice.
“The cage you are in is Sealed against Dimensional magic which might be used to steal you away. However, it is not Sealed against a Contractor’s ability to create a space for a Contracted Beast. If you agree to a Contract, you can immediately enter the space, and we can walk away from this zoo and to your freedom.
“The Contract will also put you into spiritual contact with the Human beside me. You will be able to tell if he is a Human you are willing to stay in a Contract with. If he is not acceptable to you, then he will release the Contract, and you may go free.”
The Sunbreasted Robin hopped back and forth on his legs in agitation. Foxes were known to be clever riddlers and cunning, but this was not a time for cleverness. Indeed, there was such a sense of nobility about the golden Beast, as if it was above lying, and the same sense existed about the Human female.
He very much wanted to be free. If the Human Contractor was lacking, and that was most probably the case, then he would be free, as long as she spoke true!
He was a Beast, not a complex creature. He trusted in the words of the noble Fox, and chirruped, “I consent!” while flapping his wings.
“A little trickery, then, to conceal what is happening. Offer your Contract and emit a bright light as you spread your wings, accept it while those watching are blinded.”
He understood that this was to avoid retribution, and did as she asked, the brilliant orange-gold feathers on his breast flaring with warm light as he spread his gold and ebon wings. The watching crowd shouted and screamed in delight at the full display of his beauty.
Within the display of light, he offered his Contract, and Magic of Light and Fire took it in and accepted it.
He felt the Space open up next to him instantly, a location between here and the most holy Realm of Beasts, where Contracted Beasts could enter to rest and take shelter. With scarce a thought, he hopped into it, and was out of his cage!
------
The whole crowd erupted in shock and alarm when the Sunbreasted Robin vanished. Red and I looked around in dismay with everyone else, while Reynard vanished from the Penguin building opposite, chortling in delight at the trick.
Whistles began to blow as the Detroit Zoo’s attendants gathered, aghast at the loss of one of their star attractions. We wandered away as eyes looked everywhere, but everything was on camera, and plainly we hadn’t done anything important.
“How is he?” I asked softly.
“Very happy to be out, and very angry... but not at me,” Red replied as we leisurely made our way around the place toward the exit. “We’re... sort of talking? I don’t like bullies, and he was really bullied, and he can appreciate that. He can tell I never would have done that to him, but he’s really irked with Humans as a whole.”
-You really are such an unreliable species!- /sniffed Reynard, materializing around my shoulders, shrunken down to the size of a kit. -Can’t even keep your own species straight and on the same course!-
“Our blessing and our curse,” I agreed with the Fox. “Thank you for helping with this. Your words carry more weight than ours.”
-As is only right!- he /agreed haughtily, batting my cheek with his tail. A few people were pointing him out as I walked past, but Red’s scarred presence was enough to dissuade any questions.
“Sunbreasted Robins are a protected species in Michigan. They must have gotten a good price to not serve him up as parts. Is there a reason someone actually offered a price for a live one?” I asked Red, who squinted and scowled and looked even more ferocious, prompting a few families to get out of our way. He was in Hunter garb and looked like a bodyguard, after all.
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“If I’ve got the symbols right, the Fetzers have a Fire Mage in the family, who they wanted to Contract the Robin. It would have been a major social achievement for them, right? They paid the price rather than see it cut up, but the Robin refused their son, too.”
“Who originally captured it, if it noticed?”
His eyes focused elsewhere. “Their symbol was three stars on a metal background. That should be the Steelers. Rooney Family.”
“Regardless of whether he stays or not, make sure he can take a trip to his home stomping grounds and inform his family. The Avian Clans can be pretty fierce, and the Sunbreasts are a known noble lineage. I’m sure they’ll be interested in the Rooney’s efforts.”
“If they wanted a Contract, they should have braved the North to go see one,” Red agreed softly. “Family arrogance.”
“More likely realizing they wouldn’t qualify. Noble lineages are noble lineages, and have power and certain mindsets that have to be satisfied. Treating them like slaves or servants to parade around is really stupid.”
“Especially when they can carpet-bomb your estate!” Red grinned viciously, and I knew the Rooneys were going to be receiving some hostile attention.
I gestured us left as we exited the Zoo, heading for the parking lot. There were a lot of people about, but we just rounded a corner, illusions washing away our images as we broke line of sight from behind and never entered it ahead, and smoothly Teleported back north.
---
The Seal Focus outside the Gates of Coralost was there for this specific purpose. Reynard hopped down and grew to full size after I stepped off the Focus, and Red flicked up a Disk for the Robin to perch on as he did the same.
The Robin popped out immediately, falling onto the Disk and looking about worriedly.
“One moment before you take flight. I don’t want you to panic or anything.” I pointed at Reynard as we walked through the gates, nodding to the two attendants on duty, seated on Stelae to at least half-Meditate while they were on guard duty. Stars waited for no one, after all.
His wings fluttered urgently as he entered the White Mana Zone, but Reynard’s sniff of long-suffering tolerance calmed him down a bit. He bounced up and down a few times, able to tell he was fine, but his pinfeathers had been clipped, and he still couldn’t fly.
“This is a White Mana Zone, it has no Elemental signature. It feels still and empty to you because of that, but there’s still magic here. It just has no flavor to it,” I told the Robin patiently as we strolled along. “You’re perfectly fine here, it isn’t dangerous, it just isn’t helpful to you.” I pointed to the walls and the towers. “Those are the boundaries of the effect, and the creators of it. We’re going to visit the Tower in front of us shortly.
“Red here is about to promote his Fire to Mage-class. We’d like you to participate with him, which is one of the reasons why we went down and got you today.
“Red, demonstrate your Fire and Light for the Robin, if you will. We don’t want him thinking he doesn’t have a suitable Contractor.”
Red brought up his Fire, and the Avian fixated on it sharply. Tier-Six Basic magic was totally an eye-catcher, after all. It was nearly as strong as Adept magic by itself, and with Red’s Sundrop Seed, was actually stronger!
Red calmly cycled through the basic six spells of Fire, delighting the Avian with the show, who had naturally never seen Humans using other than the basic Fire Burst. The three iterations of each were naturally expanded to six iterations with Tier-6, and the Bird hopped in excitement to see them all, enjoying the flow and the differences in the magic, most of which he had never seen.
The display of Adept spells had to wait, however. Red wasn’t good enough to manifest them in the White Zone, with its massive ten-level Caster penalty, and that only if the person was Attuned to the Refractory Towers, experienced with White Mana, and was wearing one of the Coralost Amulets!
---
Everyone had already gathered and was waiting for him. They called out greetings to both the Robin and Reynard, bowing cordially to both, and the Robin happily imitated the lofty pose of the Fox as he finally received the respect due his lineage.
He warbled in blatant alarm when he entered the Cracked Mana Bubble under the Refractor, of course. The weight and intensity of the Elements was incredibly heavy there, even if it wasn’t that powerful. The gold on Red’s flames was almost metallic in there, and the Robin’s own sunny flames lit up in startled reflex.
“Please join Red in the center of the circle we are forming, and follow along with him as he breaks through to Mage,” I invited the Robin, and there was even a perch extending out from the Stelae for him to hop onto.
Rather excited despite any misgivings, and probably a little giddy at the weight of the Elements in the air after enduring the blandness of the White Mana Zone, the Sunbreasted Robin hopped over there. Red sat down next to him, and drew up his legs as the rest of us waited.
With Reynard there to keep the Robin calm, the Seven Stars Formation began its work. Things proceeded quickly, the Robin chirping and trilling and trying not to fidget as all the multi-Element power flowed over and past it, sharing in the magic due to his bond with Red, and sharing his own Fire in return.
When the Stelae lit up, the Robin wasn’t the only one startled to see the soft white light of Healing Magic!
The others had all expected Red to take Void or Chaos Magic, as both were rare Elements and would have supplemented his abilities a great deal. Instead, he was bringing up Healing Magic as his Element to Awaken!
=====
A few days prior...
“Are you sure about this, Red?” I asked him, a bit startled by his choice of Awakening Element. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t have been. Of the KIA guys, he had by far the most Golden soul.
“Yeah, Lady Fae, I thought it through. While I’m one of the mainstays on offense and defense now because of my Seed, that’s not going to persist. The others will get Seeds that are more specialized, and I’ll drop back to supporting them when that happens. They’ll take attack or defending Elements, and I won’t have that role as a main anymore... but I’ll still be a good second-stringer.
“But what we won’t have if they do that is support, and you aren’t and can’t be there all the time to help us. We need a Healer all the time with us, and I think that should be me. If I don’t need to heal, I can still contribute solidly in any role needed, thanks to my Fire and Light and the spells you gave us, but Healing is a specialized role, and I don’t think any of the other guys have the mindset to pursue it.
“Having a Healer really helps round out the team. Having a Sound or Psychic mage would really take us to the next level if we can do it, but that’ll be up to them.”