VEENA

I woke up feeling very refreshed the next day. All the exhaustion and tiredness I felt from yesterday seemed to have vanished. I felt the warmth of Shade near me. A name for my new companion had come to me just as I was waking up. My bond with him totally eclipsed all my other familiar bonds. The name seemed fitting for him. He stirred and woke up when he sensed me moving slightly. I couldn’t help but smile at the way he looked at me. It was too cute for someone as scary looking as him.

I tried to communicate a good morning to him through our bond and was rewarded with what I felt was a chuckle. I asked him how he felt about the new name I’d come up with for him and I got back what seemed like approval. By the time we made it outside our tent, I realised that I’d slept a lot longer than I’d thought. It was closer to noon than It was to morning.

Kate and Anna were sitting near a cauldron which was kept simmering hot.

“Morning sleepyhead”, Kate said, as soon as she saw me.

“Good morning”, I replied while Shade let out a small growl beside me.

“I see you both had a good rest, how are you feeling Veena?” Anna asked.

“I feel really great actually. Even better than I felt yesterday before the incident.” I replied.

“You’re sharing a bond with an extremely potent magical beast, that means your internal magical energy reservoir will be expanding along with your stamina and endurance.” Kate said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of an apprentice mage forming a familiar bond with a strygian wolf, even for fully trained mages, it’s an extremely risky venture.” Anna said while coming closer to me before engulfing me in a hug.

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again Veena. I almost had a heart attack seeing that terrifying beast standing over you in the forest. I’m gonna have nightmares about it for a long time” Anna said while continuing to hold me close.

“Sorry, and his name is Shade, by the way” I said rather sheepishly.

“You’ve already named him,” Kate said in a surprised voice.”It seems like you’ve inherited your mother’s naming sense, but I think it suits him though,” Kate said while throwing an appreciative glance at Shade.

“Where’s NIck and Maggie?” I asked.

“It seems like Nick won’t be recovering as fast as you, He’ll need a day or so to recover. Maggie’s tending to him. Don’t worry, he’s not hurt, just exhausted from overexertion” Kate added seeing my panicked expression.

Even though Shade and I weren’t linked when we were attacked, I still felt somewhat responsible for the suffering that Nick went through because of Shade.

“It’s not your fault Veena, you shouldn’t blame yourself” Anna said, as if reading my mind.

“In fact, if you hadn’t managed to pull off what you did, both of you would’ve been devoured before we ever had the chance to get there.”Kate said with a sombre tone.

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“How did you manage to do that anyway? Your physical energy and mental energy, even combined with your best effort in drawing in nature energy, shouldn't have been enough.” Kate asked.

“I don’t know if I can explain this very clearly, but forming a familiar contract with Shade was like having a tug of war. One that I felt that I was losing fast. It felt like I was going to get pulled into an abyss and that I’d never come back if it were to happen. I remember trying to draw every iota of energy I had into pulling my end of the rope. And then I felt as if something was cracking and I felt a lot of energy rush into me, enough that I was able to pull shade into me rather than it happening the other way around” I said.

“Your instincts were spot on Veena. If you were to get pulled into that abyss, there would’ve been no coming back for you. It’s a fate that had befallen to many an overambitious mage who tried to form familiar contracts with magical beasts far beyond their calibre.” Anna said. I gulped, knowing how close I’d come to sharing the same fate.

“Veena, can you try to create a Raven with your shadow magic now?” KAte asked suddenly.

“Kate! She’s just recovering from her ordeal yesterday. It takes a lot of energy for her to do that. What are you thinking?” Anna asked.

“Just a hunch I have Anna, Do you feel up to it Veena?” Kate asked.

Honestly, I was feeling better than ever. So I agreed to Kate’s suggestion and sat down next to a disgruntled Anna to try and form a raven familiar.

I concentrated my physical energy into my hands. I felt that it was coming on much easier than my usual practice. It wasn’t that surprising, considering my new bond with Shade which was bound to improve my Physical energy. Next, I focused on the mental image of me creating a raven with all the details like strong beak, light hollow bones and glossy feather before moving on to the final step of pushing out my energy and image into reality.

A beautiful raven was cawing and sitting in my hand as I opened my eyes. The raven immediately jumped off my hand and into the ground just as he heard Shade growling.

“How do you feel honey?” Anna asked.

“I’m fine, it was much easier than creating the raven the last time.” I said.

“How much of your reservoir do you feel like you’ve used Veena?” Kate asked.

“I’m not sure, maybe 20%, I guess,” I replied.

“Your physical energy has grown, and very quickly at that. It shows very good compatibility with your new familiar. I want you to make another raven and this time I want you to use natural energy while doing it.” Kate said.

I nodded in agreement before I started to repeat the process again. This time I could feel a bit of the strain that felt as if I was close to using almost 50% of my Physical energy. This time I tried adding natural energy into the mix before casting my magic out. The natural energy answered my call and filled in so quickly and in such quantities that it almost broke my concentration while casting the spell. Even more than that, when I finished making my raven, some physical energy seemed to flow back to me, even energising me a little.

I was full of surprise and wonder when I opened my eyes to the sight of another raven sitting in my lap, who also promptly moved away at the sight of a growling Shade.

“How did that go, Veena?” Anna asked.

I explained to them what I’d felt during the casting process, while both of them intently listened.

“What does it mean?” I asked them after I finished.

“It means, Veena, that you’ve now surpassed both Anna and I when it comes to using natural energy. You’re able to call in natural energy in vast amounts and are able to use that energy to recharge and replenish your physical energy reserves. It’s an advanced ability very few mages have. That said, you won’t be able to use natural energy in an amount that is greater than 10 to 15 times your physical energy reserve. There would also be a limit to how many times you can use natural energy to replenish your physical energy in one go. But, having the ability to replenish your physical energy with natural energy gives you a significant advantage in being able to cast spells” Kate explained.

I was left sitting there with my mouth half open as Kate finished her explanation.

“Brace yourself Veena, I feel like we’re just at the beginning” Kate said with a grin that sent chills down my spine.