A Familiar's Guide to Magic

a silver lining

I walked down the hallway next to Willow. It was hard not to be mesmerized by the world around me. The walls were made of dreary looking stone. This place must be ancient or at least that's the way it felt. Above us were hovering hundreds of candlesticks, not dripping wax despite their tiny flames flickering steadily.

My eyes slid from the candles to the pictures that lined the walls. They were shifting with each step that we took—colors, textures, faces—they were morphing into something else. I glanced back over my shoulder to see one return to its original state.

They were similar to movies. But they appeared more real somehow. Maybe it was better to say they were moments captured in time. Real places and people, trapped in an infinite loop. It was a creepy but amazing feat. Magic was incredible.

"Keep up, or I'll leave you behind."

I didn't even notice I'd stopped walking. With a sigh, I hurried back to my spot beside Willow.

After a couple of turns through the hallways, I'd given up trying to keep track of where we were or how to get back to where we had been. It was taking most of my mental capacity to ignore how people whispered to each other as we passed them.

It was as if we were an exhibit in a sideshow. A couple of girls snickered and pointed at Willow, who only hurried her pace.

I might have felt bad for her if she hadn't said,

"The first rule, as my familiar: Don't stare. It's rude."

"Who's staring?"

She cast a quick glance in my direction.

"Lower your voice."

I gritted my teeth to keep from telling her where she could shove her rules. Maybe I should warn her now that I was prone to rule breaking and troublemaking. No, that would be the nice thing to do—and she hadn't earned any kindness from me.

"I don't need you upsetting people, especially while my wand use is under restriction."

"Tell that to them. They're the ones breaking your stupid rule."

I averted my gaze from the boy with hair the color of rubies, only to find myself staring at a girl with blue skin. Blue skin. My eyes widened as the girl's lip curled back before she flicked her dark hair over her shoulder and turned away with a disgruntled snort.

"Why shouldn't they stare? There's a human walking freely through the halls of the Academy."

"Is that a crime or something?"

"No, but don't expect them to treat you kindly."

"Yeah, well it's not like I asked to be here."

Willow stiffened at my words, lifting her chin a bit as she threw a narrowed look in my direction.

"I'm not happy about this either. I was hoping for a dragon familiar like my mother, and her mother before that. Honestly, I would have settled for a Hobgoblin, but no, I got stuck with a human. Do you have any idea how embarrassing this is for me? For my family?"

We stared at each other in silence for a moment. And then she closed her eyes and breathed deep, soothing the rim of her hat.

"Never matter. There is nothing to be done about it now. We'll both have to endure it for now."

I curled my fingers inward, feeling my nails dig into the sensitive flesh of my palm.

"At least you weren't dropped into another world where you're expected to become a servant or whatever. I might feel sorry for you, then," I muttered under my breath as she cut in front of me, opening a door to my right.