As I went into the pantry to grab a few things, I pondered what to make. Hmm, how about some egg and bacon? Sunny sides were tasty and healthy, after all. I looked over to the eggs, nothing to worry about there, what about the bacon… hmm, almost empty. Damn it, did I forget to buy more when we were in Nekkal? Well, guess I would have to take another trip into town later.

The reminder of the bacon, supplemented with some ham and bread, would have to do. I added in some more meat for Midnight and Winter, and voilà. Lunch was saved. I checked the fridge for bacon too, in case I misplaced it, but nope, I just plain forgot to visit the butcher when in Nekkal.

Well, I could focus on that later. For now, I should just get lunch done with. It was too late in the day to go into Nekkal anyhow, as I would be hard-pressed to make it to the butcher in time, so it would have to be tomorrow, anyway.

When I carried the lunch into the living room, it would seem my annoyance showed. Soot landed on my hat and bent over the edge to look at me. “Is there something wrong, Mistress?” I glanced up at him as I put down Miva's and Ivy’s plates. “We’re out of bacon, so what little that’s served is what we have.” Soot tilted his head. “We are? I’m certain that we bought more.” Midnight looked up from her food as well. “So do I. I’m not sure what’s going on there, as I have been very focused on keeping the pests out of the pantry.”

So all three of us were recalling I bought more? Weird, what in the world was going on? Well, it wasn’t like I could do anything about it short of going into town for more tomorrow. I tried to use magic to create food before. However, it was tasteless.

What’s worse, no matter what you conjured, it would have the consistency of molasses once you tried to chew the stuff. It would keep you alive, sure, but it would not be an enjoyable meal. How the Fae did it was beyond me. Maybe a limitation of witchcraft?

I grabbed the food for Soot, Winter and myself as well, and settled down to enjoy myself. The meal finished in relative silence, with everyone focusing on eating more than any light conversation we could have while eating. Besides, most of them wanted to finish, getting back to the tale at hand. I took my time, though. There was no rush, after all.

Once everyone was finished, I let magic take care of the cleaning and went back to my chair. “So where were we? Ah, Right!…”

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It didn’t take long before Midnight was feeling right at home. I also learned that Midnight was quite a mischievous little kitten who loved to raid the pantry for food, something I would have to wean her off. On the bright side, she also took care of a rather annoying vermin problem I’d had since the first winter. Rats and mice were all but impossible to get rid of by magical means, as they seemed to adapt to all spells I cast to drive them off in short order.

Midnight, however, viewed them as quite the tasty snacks and was more than happy to hunt them down once she started getting bigger, which she did at remarkable speed. I could only attribute her rapid growth as a side effect to the potion, or maybe it was normal for her cat species. In the end, the exact cause didn’t matter.

What did matter, however, was that both physically and mentally, Midnight was an adult within a month of her arrival. She wasn’t yet a familiar, however, as we still needed to wait for a blood moon. She was, however, on board with the familiar idea the moment I mentioned it.

Luckily for both me and Midnight, one was fast approaching, according to Ivy. And only two weeks later, we were standing at the altar as the sun was setting. “So, what do I need to do for this?” Midnight was sitting next to the bowl as I put the other items needed down on the altar.

“You will recite your part, and prick your paw on the knife so a few drops of blood fall into the bowl. Then I will say my part and do the same. Then it’s the part we say in tandem.” Midnight nodded. She eyed the knife with some reluctance, and I couldn’t fault her. “Remember that it’s once you drink the potion is when the hard part begins.”

Midnight nodded as I offered her the knife once the first light of the blood moon fell on the altar itself. “The Familiar bleeds for its Meowster.” The meow sound she made as she said Master was unexpected, but would hopefully not cause issues with the ritual.

She pricked her paw and suppressed further noise as a few drops of blood spilled into the bowl. I pricked my finger and recited my part. “The master bleeds for its familiar.” My blood mixed with Midnight’s at the bottom of the bowl. “So we bind our lives and souls together.” We both said as I poured in the potion and Midnight stirred it counterclockwise three times with her tail.

As she finished, I stepped aside and let the concoction bathe in the blood moon’s light, causing the same bubbling effect as last time. I looked at Midnight and nodded. “A bond for life, willingly forged. We drink for our lives together.” As we said so, we both drank deep from the concoction, while bracing for the pain.

It was as excruciating as last time, but at least this time I possessed the wherewithal to sit down before the pain hit. Midnight, who was also informed of the incoming pain, was likewise braced for it, though it didn’t make it any less torturous to withstand.

Once the ordeal was over, I immediately drank a recovery potion, while also offering one to Midnight. “Ugh, I will never get used to that.” Midnight finished her own mouthful of potion and looked at me with a curious expression. “Agreed, though I will admit that is not something I wish to do again, but it wasn’t so bad, all things considered.”

I gave her a weak smile as a spell sent the items used back to the house, and I scooped the little cat into my arms. “Well, we won’t have to do that now, do we, considering this is a onetime thing. Welcome to the family, Midnight.” I gently scratched her behind the ears, even as Soot landed on my shoulder, and gave her a few friendly chirps.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The next few days were pretty slow and relaxing. Which was nice, as it gave both me and Midnight time to recover from the ritual. However, the relaxing rhythm we settled into was interrupted when we received a message from Appleridge. Warg sightings in the area. Not to mention, we also received a letter with a request for aid from Nekkal to deal with wolf attacks on the livestock of local farmers.

It couldn’t be coincidence that the Wargs were spotted by the fauns and a sudden spike in ‘wolf’ activity. More likely, the wolves in this case were the warg pack going into full hunt mode so satiate their relentless appetites. The Wargs were keeping clear of Appleridge proper, however. Likely wary of the many snares and the vigilance of the fauns themselves.

Turns out, Alder was one hell of a shot with the bow, and darkness didn’t matter at all to him where accuracy was concerned. Regardless, I couldn’t let those things just use my forest as a damn hideout. It was absolutely unacceptable. With my mind made up, there was only one thing left to do. Start looking.

Which was easier said than done, as I already attempted a magical search, only to come up with absolutely nothing. That was worrying, but there was nothing I could do about it. With no other option, there was only one choice left, and that was to go looking.

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“Meowstress can’t we skip this part? I really don’t like to be reminded of it.” I shook my head. “No can do. That would cause several holes in the story for Winter, Ivy and Miva.” Midnight gave a displeased growl, but said nothing more. I gave her an apologetic look, then cleared my throat. “Now then…”

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Patrolling across the forest was yielding no results. The good news was that the warding totems I made to keep the damn things away from Appleridge and Nekkal were working. As no more sightings were reported. However, I knew that was just a stop-gap. Since they could hide from my attempts to magically locate them, they would need aid from someone, or something.

With another day of fruitless searching behind me, I headed home for the night. As I arrived back at my house, I immediately noticed something was wrong. Nothing seemed amiss at first glance, but Midnight was not sitting on the windowsill, waiting for me to return and make dinner.

Not a single day passed during my trips into the forest where she wouldn’t be waiting on the windowsill when I returned. Expecting trouble, I landed and put away my broom. If a fight broke out, it would only get in the way. As soon as I pushed the door open and stepped inside, I was jumped at by something big and burly.

It crashed into me, but because of my enhanced strength it just bounced off rather than pushing me over, mostly because I was expecting to be jumped and was bracing myself as I stepped inside. I lashed out with a kick of my own and the sound of cracking bones and a pitiful yelp told me I just kicked a dog, wolf or more likely, a warg.

There was another thud shortly after, followed by another pained yelp as the warg hit the wall and slid to the floor. I scanned the room. Three more Wargs were standing there, with a fourth, much bigger one lying at the foot of a hooded figure that was sitting in my chair.

“So you’re the one who has been messing with my pets.” The voice was high-pitched yet raspy. The figure reached out a pale gray hand and pulled a dagger from its left boot, then used it to rinse its nails, with little in the way of care or worry. I took a step forward and the Wargs all got to their feet.

“You got guts intruding into someone else’s home like this.” As I spoke, I scanned the room, but I couldn’t see Midnight or Soot anywhere. There was a snort from the intruder. “And you have a lot of nerve killing my pets.” I shrugged. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have let them attack me then.” There was an angry hiss from the intruder as it stood from the chair. “Lesser beings like yourself shouldn’t talk back to your betters!”

There was a slight tingling along my scalp as the figure spoke that faded away shortly after. I raised an eyebrow. The intruder seemed perplexed for a moment, then let out an angry shriek and chucked its knife at me. I barely dodged as it slammed pointy end first into the door. A moment later, I lashed out with a paralyzing hex of my own, which hit the largest of the Wargs as it intercepted the spell.

It hit the floor with a thud, unable to move, but I knew something was off with that thing. The amount of magic needed to keep the beast paralyzed was so high I needed to drain the local ambient mana, as my own reserves could not keep up with the demand.

Seeing the beast neutralized without a single word gave the intruder pause. It titled its head as if curious. “What… ARE you?” Then, from the folds of its cloak, exploded pure darkness that covered the entire room for a few moments. When it faded, the figure and all the Wargs were gone.

I looked around the room. Nothing. I entered the bedroom and guestroom. Still nothing. Kitchen, empty. Potion room, empty. Loft, empty. Pantry… a noise. “Soot, Midnight?” from one of the upper shelves, a feathered head poked out. “Mistress, you’re back.” Soot looked and sounded horrible. Feathers poking in every direction, and he was covered in some dark liquid I suspected was blood.

I reached up and picked him up. “Are you ok?” He gave a pained chuckle. "Barely. Midnight has it worse. She’s in the basket over there." He nodded towards a small picnic basket in the back corner. For anyone else, it might not seem too out of place, but I kept nothing but food stored in here. I walked over to it and opened it. Midnight was in an even worse state than Soot, with a broken tail and bleeding from several wounds.

“That vile… Thing… used us as toys, poking and prodding us with that damn dagger.” Soot’s voice was growing weaker, so I picked up the basket and rushed into the potion room. Most of the healing potions were smashed, deliberately, it would seem. The shelf with the tomes and the potions within was untouched, however. For what reason I couldn’t fathom, but that also meant some of my stronger potions were spared the destruction.

I carefully pulled out two of my strongest potions. And inspected them in case the figure messed with them somehow. I was unable to find anything wrong with them, and so I gave one to Soot, who drank it without hesitation. I uncorked another and after giving it the same inspection, I gently fed it to Midnight, who drank it without complaint.

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Midnight shuddered and crawled up in Miva’s lap. As I looked at her, I couldn’t help but feel bad. I took a deep breath. “I think that’s enough for tonight. It’s almost dinnertime, anyway.” Midnight peeked out from under Miva’s arms. “I agree, let’s end it.” I got up and stretched. “Well then, I’ll make us something tasty for dinner. What do you all say to Salmon?” Midnight perked up immediately.

Miva noticed and nodded as well. Soot and Winter seemed to approve as well. Ivy tilted her head and scratched her left antennae. “Salmon?” I held out my hand towards her, and she jumped into it. “It’s a fish. I was planning to boil it and serve it with carrots, potatoes and some other condiments.” Ivy looked thoughtful for a moment. “Never been able to eat fish. They are too big for me, so I’m all for it.” She grinned as we entered the kitchen to cook.