Humans Don't Make Good Familiars

Book 3- Part 8

Suma's POV

After flying for six hours straight, our squad finally landed on the eastern coast of the Island of Sangu. We spent the last several days preparing ourselves, and saying our goodbyes to our friends, just in case the worst happens. Now, myself, Captain Gigoales, Lieutenant Datahu, Nine, Rou, Odens, and Jake were all on the island. It was the dead of night, with only the light of the moon to help us see, but most of the light was being blocked by the rising smoke from the mountain, or volcano as Jake called it, at the center of the island. Landing in the jungle, we all immediately got to work making temporary cover for ourselves. Using different spells, we molded the rocks and dirt to form a hollowed-out space underground and covered it with the local trees and plants. There were two exits, and both were hidden with shrubs and tree roots. Captain called it a 'dugout'.

One by one, the other summoned their familiars, and they left to scout the forest. Jake went with them, but he landed with us so there was no need to summon him.

"Alright everyone, start sense sharing. Except you Suma; you keep watch." The Captain said.

"Yes sir." I said.

"Keep your eyes on both the sky and the ground Private. SUFs could be hiding anywhere, and we cannot be sure we were not seen on descent." The Lieutenant said; a SUF was short for Southern Union Forces. With that, the eyes of the rest of the team all started to glow as they began to share their familiars' senses. I left the dugout and waited in a tree branch, constantly switching between watching the sky, the land, and what little of the beach I could make out from the trees. During training, the squad had been taught various ways to hide at night while being on lookout, but the only one I was good at was the 'tuck-and-press' method. It is exactly what it sounds like. I was pressing myself against the tree as closely as I could manage, with my wings and head tucked in, trying to hide behind and under the canopy.

After an hour, and three wing cramps, Jake contacted me over our private connection. "Suma, everything okay there?"

"Yes, nothing has happened yet. Have you found anything?" I asked him.

"No, it's dark as crap, so I can't see a thing. Plus, I had to send the bike back. It doesn't turn it well, so flying it through a jungle didn't end up working. I'm walking right now. Only thing I've found is a black-sand beach, but I can see a light in the distance."

"How long will it take you to reach it?"

"A while, and I doubt I can get close. It might be a city, so they'd have guards."

"Okay Jake, avoid it for now."

"Have the others found the contact yet?" Jake asked.

"I have not spoken with them in an hour. Are their familiars still searching?"

"I don't know. We all split up a while ago. Some of them are pretty fast, even in a jungle."

"Okay, let me know if you find anything." I said, and the connection ended. Looking up towards the moon, it had not even reached the first quarter point in the sky. Sundown happened only an hour before we landed, and we have only been here for two. Nine hours till sun-up. I thought to myself. It ended up being a long night.

Just before sun-up, we all summoned our familiars, or sent them home, and I went back into the dugout. Actually, I was the only one who summoned their familiar, and Jake was not overly happy with being summoned into another tunnel. Luckly, I remembered to make him a larger space for him to sit down in, but he was still very uncomfortable.

"Alright, situation reports. What did everyone see?" The Captain asked, as we all sat in the dirt, with only the light from a single luminous braid to help us see. Roots hung from above us, occasionally dripping water down. Thankfully, we were several feet underground, so it would not get hot for several hours. Unfortunately, that also meant it was almost freezing cold.