Despite the quite exciting day young Rodderick had yesterday, he was able to fall asleep quite easily. Opening his eyes he looked at the other bed in the room, however, he found it to be empty, Edeus was nowhere to be seen.
His heart shrank at the thought of being left behind by the wizard, with traces of tears forming in his eyes, he jumped out of his bed and ran after him, perhaps, if he was fast enough he could catch up to him, and if he did, this time he would not lower his guard.
Evading the people on the hallway and running down the stars Rodderick ran with all his strength.
"Yo, Ricky, morning!", Rodderick suddenly stopped and turned his head left, finding the familiar witch munching on a golden loaf a bread. "You are still here?"
"Yes?", the girl raised an eyebrow confused at the boy's attitude, but it didn't distract her for long as she continued munching on the bread.
Rodderick took a sit looking around. Many people were having breakfast like Ember, he recognized some of the faces from last night, many of them still displaying hostility towards the young girl who seemed none the wiser. She displayed the rare talent of being able to mind her own business despite the judgmental glares and muttered insults.
"Miss Ember, where is Edeus?", Rodderick asked with renewed hope.
"He's out swatting a fly that his familiar found".
"Familiar?", the boy asked tilting his head, he heard the term before, if the stories had any veracity to them, that meant Edeus had some kind of animal companion, however he hadn't seen any signs of it yesterday.
"You know, a talking pet, like a cow getting milked yelling for help. 'Moooo! Not my milk! My children need it! MOOOOO!!!', kahahahaha!", The witch laughed at her own impression of a cow in distress while raising her glass of milk in the air.
Rodderick surprised, awkwardly looked at the people around, who were annoyed at the woman's attitude. He involuntarily lowered his head in apology at them.
While doing so, he saw the doors to the inn open, behind the familiar image of Edeus appeared with staff in hand. Rodderick face instantly turned into a smile.
"Awake already, kid?", the wizard sat down next to the boy resting his staff on the side of the table. "Are you…looking for something?", Edeus asked to the kid who was looking around for something.
"Sir, where's your familiar?, what kind of animal is it? Is it magical? Can it fly? Can it cast spells too?!", The child once again fired a barrage of questions excitedly.
"One question at the time, please, you really have a bad habit of asking too much at once", the wizard stopped the child, however, he didn't dislike his attitude, he was once like him, a curious child hungry to learn the secrets of magic.
"How about I show it to you after we have breakfast?".
Rodderick's eyes lit up with excitement at the prospect of seeing the magical creature.
As they went through their meal that the innkeeper brought them, Rodderick's excitement grew. He couldn't stop bouncing on his toes and asking Edeus questions about his familiar. "Is it a dragon?" he asked. " Or maybe a magical creature that only appears to those who are worthy?"
Edeus chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm. "You'll just have to wait and see," he said. "But I promise, you won't be disappointed."
Rodderick had finished his breakfast long ago, he quickly ate up so he could go out and see Edeus' familiar earlier, however, he didn't take into account the slow eating habits of the old mage nor the insatiable hunger of the witch. But finally, after a long wait, Edeus took a final sip from his cup and left it on the table. "Alright kid, let's go".
"Yeah!", Rodderick stood up excitedly and followed after Edeus.
As Edeus, Ember, and Rodderick left the inn and made their way out, Rodderick saw a carriage pulled by a pair of horses, loaded with rocks and rubble, some dyed with a tint of blood. It was a reminder that the destruction he saw yesterday was very much real.
Looking back, he saw more people, some were working looking for people still buried under the earth, some treating the wounded, some simply giving up to grief and crying next to their loved ones who would not move, not matter how much they moved them.
Rodderick's heart ached at the sight of all the destruction and suffering. He couldn't understand why Edeus and Ember were just walking by and not doing anything to help.
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"Edeus", he said, tugging on the old wizard's sleeve.
"We have to help them. You have magic. You can fix all this."
Edeus sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Rodderick", he said. "But we can't just go around using our magic to solve every problem we see. Sometimes, we have to let people deal with things on their own. There's more important matters that require our attention."
Rodderick looked at Edeus with confusion and disappointment. But despite this, he trusted in Edeus's wisdom. He knew that the old wizard had his reasons for not helping, after all, he was the great hero that saved his life, he just hoped that one day he would understand them.
The group kept walking and walking. They walked along the winding roads, past fields and farms, until they reached a grassy field.
Rodderick looked around in wonder, taking in the sights and sounds of the countryside. He had never been outside of the town before, and he was amazed by the beauty of the natural world.
Edeus and Ember led the way, walking across the field towards a small copse of trees in the distance. Rodderick followed eagerly, his curiosity piqued.
As they reached the trees, Edeus stopped and turned to Rodderick. "Alright, my boy," he said with a smile. "Are you ready to meet my familiar?" Edeus extended his arms dramatically. He acted reserved, but he very much enjoyed taking a teaching role.
Rodderick nodded eagerly, his heart racing with excitement. He couldn't wait to see what kind of magical creature Edeus had as a familiar.
Rodderick waited for some kind of signal or spell but Edeus just stood in place.
"Um, sir.. Where's the familiar?".
"Such impatience", Edeus chuckled. Then Rodderick's face was covered by shadows.
As he looked up to see what was blocking the sun he saw a massive pair of silver wings, so big that you could fit two adults from wing to wing. Connected to them was a slender woman with dark skin and silver hair wearing leather clothing decorated by jewelry, gold and painted feathers. She looked almost human, if it weren’t for her wings and sharp talons like that of a falcon.
She forcefully landed next to Edeus.
The boy gasped in surprise at the realization.
"A harpy!", he yelled nervously, as he took a few steps back to distance himself from the demon.
The harpy was a fearsome monster, with the body of a woman and the wings of a bird, known for its cunning and cruelty. He heard tales of harpies attacking nearby towns, stealing their cattle or children, dropping heavy objects on people, killing them for amusement, or how they would slit people's stomach open with their sharp claws and take out their guts.
He couldn't understand why Edeus would have such a dangerous as a familiar. Humans were at war with demons, why would one become his familiar?
"Hahaha, that's right boy, it's a harpy, but fear not, it's binded by magic, she can't do anything to hurt you, no matter what, isn't that so, Athena?", Edeus said while poking the harpy with his staff.
The harpy, clearly annoyed put up with the wizard's antics and simply responded in a grumpy tone. "What do you want? Did you call me here just to show off?"
Perhaps Edeus wasn't the silent cool wizard he thought him to be, he seemed to have a more twisted personality that Rodderick first imagined.
Ember joined in the harassment, poking the harpy with her own staff. Which only made the creature angrier.
"Actually, Athena, I have a job for you. This is Rodderick, he wishes to learn magic, I want you to read his affinity with the wind", Edeus said putting his staff down.
"This shrimp?", Athena raised an eyebrow, she looked at Roderick with curiosity.
Edeus turned to Rodderick "Kid, listen well, I like you, you are a brat, but you have heart and courage. However none of those things matters. The most important thing for a wizard is magical talent. If you have none, you will can only aim to mediocrity"
Roderick gulped, the fears he felt this morning when he thought he was left behind suddenly came back, he believed Edeus would train him, but if he failed this test, then he may really be abandoned.
"Test me!", with newfound determination, Rodderick took a step forward towards the dangerous creature that was looking down on him.
"Very well", The harpy grinned, "Let's see what you got".